Spring Break - Washington Coast - Part 3

The annual trip to the arcade in Long Beach.

Luke always plays this game and wins BIG.

Look at ALL those tickets!

Martin counting his tickets with grandma

This arcade had Guitar Hero so Martin was thrilled.

Building forts out of driftwood at Cape Disappointment.

The top view of Martin's fort

Martin inside his fort

Luke

Luke inside his fort.

Spokane - March 5-7, 2010

The first weekend in March we drove up to Spokane, Washington to visit my brother and his family. It was great timing as it helped me get my focus off of not having my baby girl home for her birthday. Our boys travel so well and be had the most beautiful weather. For the first time that I can remember as we drove through the gorge there was NO wind and the Columbia river as a sheet of glass. Totally bizarre!! We had an awesome weekend of playing, hiking, relaxing, visiting and going to a great church service before we headed home. Thanks Dan for a great weekend. Next time we visit we will be bringing your new niece with us :-)

Cousins (Sophie was at a b-day party)

The kids had a blast climbing on every rock they could find.

Darin, Dan, Martin, Maddie, Luke and Spencer

My brother, Dan.

Beautiful scenery

Tether ball and campfires. Go Sophie!

Luke and Uncle Dan building the campfire. The kids

roasted hot dogs and biscuits for dinner.

I decided to get in on the fun the kids were having.

When I was little I had something similar to this, it was called a lemon.

It was yellow, shaped like a lemon and harder than a ROCK!

This seemed a bit harder to do than I remember. Shoes probably would have helpedand being really close to 40 years old didn't help either. I think I got it around about 76 times before I couldn't breathe anymore and had to stop. Martin got over 200 and Sophie got well over 100.

All the cousins together before we left for home

Me with my kids and nieces and nephew. Crazy these kids are almost as tall as me!

Baking a Special Cake

The boys decided that they wanted to make Alesha's birthday cake ALL by themselves. It made my heart so happy that they wanted to take an active part in celebrating their sister's 1st birthday (which was March 1st), even though she wasn't going to be home with us to celebrate. They picked out the cake flavor, frosting color, design, and added their own personal touches. Very sweet! It tasted yummy, too. Alesha has two big brothers that love her very much and can't wait to fly to India and meet her for the first time.

Look at the excitement on their faces.

Mixing it up.

The best part of baking :-)

Frosting...loving the pink!

Decorating - The only thing I did was write the

words they wanted on the cake.

More decorating

Adding sprinkles

The finished product!

1-1-1-1

Today, Alesha, is 1 year, 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day old! Boy do I want my baby girl home. I have been having dreams lately of being in India. Today I received a quick note that said Alesha is doing well and close to WALKING!!!! Oh, how this makes me happy that God is answering my prayers of her getting stronger, but I want to be there to see these milestones being met :-( I am so proud of my girl!

This last week has really been a whirl wind for me. I am discovering just how difficult is for me to homeschool my two boys, take them to their classes, keep on top of an adoption and not let any details go unnoticed, plan a trip for a family of 4 to a foreign country, and making sure I am prepared to come home as a family of 5 with a new baby!! Since Thursday of last week, Alesha's carseat has been purchased, we rearranged furniture, put up valances, put up closet clothes rod, sorted through clothes, and reorganized Alesha's room (I still have some finishing touches, but the bulk of it is completed), shopped for baby items for travel (still lots more to get), received the visas for our boys to travel, shipped off our education requirements, CPR certs, copy of wills, and Travel Waiver, ordered malaria meds for all family members, and the boys received their typhoid vaccine. This is all on top of my normal wife and mommy duties. I am SO thankful to have all these things checked off the list. I will continue to work through the remaining list as each day comes. I am so thankful and amazed at how God is working all the details out despite my moments of "freaking out" that it won't work out and I won't get it all done. He is blessing me with incredible deals all the time and providing enough money to accomplish everything before us.

As I sit here tonight, my arms are just longing to hold Alesha. It is as though I can feel what it will be like. She will probably start to cry when I hold her the first time, because I will hug her so tight and won't want to let go. I am thankful that my youngest son is a cuddler and I get big hugs from him. It helps to ease the pain. I am hoping it won't be too much longer before I receive word that her passport is ready and we have clearance to travel. We are trusting in God's perfect timing and I will continue to persevere so I am ready when He says it is time to go to India and bring your baby girl home!

Alesha, I love you so much and pray that God will prepare your precious heart for all the changes that are coming your way. It won't be long now and we will be together forever! Love, Mommy, Daddy, Martin and Luke

HE IS RISEN!!!!

This is such a GREAT song! It is the true meaning to Easter. I hope you all have a blessed day celebrating the gift of Christ.

New Pictures

Here are a couple new pics of Alesha! I am always so happy to see her precious little face. I see changes in her from the last pictures we received. Her hair is starting to grow back a little after they cut off all her bangs :-) I tell ya watching my friend Liberty's video of her picking up Ben and reading her updates on facebook and blog are REALLY making me want to hop on the next plane to India. I am SO happy another baby is home with their forever family. It won't be long and we will be on our way. We just need Alesha's passport and visa to come ASAP!

I received notice on Friday that the boy's visas have been processed and I should receive them by Tuesday! So happy to have that out of the way. My mom bought us a carseat for Alesha (there is a big God story with this one....I will type it out when I have more time). Last night I visited my cousin, Michelle, and she blessed me with even MORE stuff! She has 2 precious girls and since my cousin has such a giving heart I am getting blessed with lots of stuff for my sweet, Alesha. I also did some shopping with my mom and grandma for items on the travel list. I still have more things to purchase, but I made a dent in it and feel a bit of pressure lifting. It is so wonderful to witness God's hand at work in this process. He continues to answer my prayers and provides for our needs.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter. Celebrate the gift we have in Christ!

Happy 13 months!

Today our little girl turned 13 months old! I am so excited to know that there is a possibility that we could have her in our arms by the time she turns 14 months. I am still in shock of how fast the courts have moved and that we are FINALLY at the end of this LONG journey. Today, we received an email with a copy of the official guardianship paper stating that Alesha is officially our daughter!

God is so faithful and His provisions are amazing! I am reminded of how many prayers have been answered throughout this process and I am excited to see how the rest of this journey plays out. The next 2 months are going to be life-changing months for sure!

Stay tuned for updates and travel dates!!!!!

UPDATE

Just a quick update on the adoption. We received word last night that the judge signed off on our guardianship papers!!!!! I am telling you there seems to be a trend going on these days. Every time I leave town or leave the house for the evening FANTASTIC news shows up in our email inbox! I was running errands last night before I was to meet a friend at Marie Callendars for our weekly treat and chat. I was standing in Target checking out when my cell phone goes off. The battery was about dead so I was surprised that it rang in the first place. I picked it up quickly and my husband says "We just got an email from a lady named Tami. Do you know anybody by that name." What a FUNNY guys, right???? I knew exactly who he was talking about and he then says "The judge signed off on the legals for Alesha's guardianship!" I am so happy I can hardly contain myself as the checker is looking at me and scanning my items. I am so flustered as I try to hold the phone, scan my credit card that I tell him I will call him back in a minute. The checker looks at me and says congratulations on whatever news you just received. Apparently my face said it ALL, because I didn't say anything, except what? and really?. I told her I was sorry I was on the phone and I didn't mean to be rude (it a pet peeve of mine when people are just chatting up a storm when people are trying to provide a service to them). I then tell her we just received word that the judge signed off on the legal documents for our daughter that we are adopting. She says that is great news and that is definitely a call you didn't want to miss. I left the store jumping out of my skin with probably the BIGGEST smile you have ever seen on my face. When I got to the car I called my husband back and we celebrated and then I panicked a bit thinking of everything that needs to be accomplished in such a short time! Then off to meet my friend and share the good news over a delicious lemon muffin!! FYI, Marie Callendars has the most amazing, huge, lemon muffin and it is only $1.89! It is SOOO yummy.

So what is next you might ask. The paperwork will be submitted this week for Alesha's visa and passport. Our agency will apply for ICPC travel clearance next week and then we will be set to book our flights to INDIA!!!!!!!!!!!! My mind is having a difficult time shutting off these days. I went to bed last night at around midnight and then laid there wide awake until about 2 a.m. with a billion thoughts running through my head!! I have decided that I need to just prioritize the MOST important things so they are completed and the rest will just have to fall through the cracks. Those who know me, know that this is going to be REALLY difficult!!!! I love to have all my ducks in a row and have everything completed perfectly right down to the littlest thing!!! At this point I just want to have my daughter home and if little things don't get done before I fly to get her then so be it. My priorities right now are getting malaria meds for all 4 of us, buying a car seat for Alesha, so we can bring her home from the airport, working on purchasing the items we need for travel and getting everything in the travel packet completed!

We finished painting Alesha's room on Sunday. It needs a lot of detail work, but at least the main part is completed. I sent off for the boy's visa's Monday morning so they should be here within a week or so. I am still in shock that we will be traveling in May to bring our baby girl home. It has been such a long journey and we are finally at the end. The thought of having Alesha in my arms brings tears to my eyes! Our boys are jumping out of their skin with excitement!

This has been such an exciting week with Liberty flying to pick up baby Ben, and Gidget, Laura and I receiving guardianship. Thank you judge for your speediness! I had a dream early this morning that I was able to meet my blogging friends in India. It was really fun! I hope this dream comes true. Alesha, we are SO close to meeting you for the first time. I pray that you won't be too scared and that God will prepare your heart for all the changes that are before you. We love you so much and will do everything we can to make your transition to your forever family as easy as possible. I am longing to hold you in my arms, give you lots of kisses, and tell you how much I love you. It won't be too much longer baby girl, hang on, mommy is coming!

SECOND SURPRISE!!

Our baby girl is not only sitting, but STANDING!!!! I was shocked to see this (see last post).

Not only is Alesha standing, but she wants to tell you something.

"MY MOMMY AND DADDY ARE NOW MY LEGAL GUARDIANS!!!!!"

Isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen!?
I am LOVING the dress and her precious little face. I just want to kiss my computer screen!!!!

I just got back in to town after being gone since Sunday without Internet access. I will post more in the morning, but had to let you all know of this amazing news! We are in shock, crying tears of joy, and praising God ALL at the same time!!!!

SURPRISE!

These pictures are such a blessing to our family! We haven't had any recent photos of our baby girl so these are precious to us.

I can't believe how big she is getting. The last report we received she could only sit up with help and look at her sitting up so big with her pretty dress on!!!! Makes this mommy really happy to see this. I have been praying that Alesha would get stronger every day and be able to sit up by herself and here is visual proof of an answer my prayers!

I cannot believe how much she has grown. In our last photos she looks like this tiny little baby and now she looks so grown up! Can't wait to get her home so she doesn't continue to grow up without me. Have I told you lately how much I am in love with this little girl!!

Alesha's Bedding

I finally picked out a bedding set for Alesha's room. I had been looking around for several months trying to find something that I liked that didn't cost a small fortune. I just prayed that when the timing was right I would find it and know it was the set to buy. So one day I was looking on Craig's list and I saw this ad for a complete bedding set with extras for a baby girl's room. Of course I clicked on it right away. The ad listed everything that was included

Crib skirt
Crib bumper
2 sets of sheets
Crib quilt
Lampshade
Light switch cover
Diaper holder
Growth chart
3 wall hangings
Brand new baby blanket
2 window valances
1 flower floor rug

It stated that the set cost $500 new and she was selling the ENTIRE set for $100.

I thought the set was ADORABLE and so fun and was SURE that this was indeed my daughter's bedding. Keep in mind this is all happening on the Friday before Alesha's first birthday (March 1st) and I decided that since Alesha wasn't going to be home like I had hoped I thought I would just purchase her bedding as her birthday gift. A little something to take the sting out of her not being here.....back to the story....

I quickly emailed the seller and said that I wondered if she still had the set available and that I was VERY interested in purchasing it for our daughter that we are adopting from India. Please let me know ASAP. I compulsively checked my email over the next hour hoping for good news. The email shows up and it says "First, congratulations on your adoption! At this point I still have the set, but a lady said she was coming to pick it up for the last two days and didn't show, but assured me that she was coming today." I was crushed!!! I really felt like this was the set. So I email her back and say that we are really excited about our adoption and can't wait for our daughter to come home. If the lady decides not to show up today, PLEASE call me, because I REALLY would like the set and I won't make you wait for me to pick it up. At this point I send the email and to be honest started crying (already beyond emotional that I won't be spending my daughter's first birthday with her) and I pray that if this is indeed the set that is planned for Alesha the lady won't pick it up and if she does there is something else out there and I just released it.

Of course I check my email again and there is another message. It says "The lady is not coming if you want to come look at it call me and set up a time after 12:30. I am jumping for joy at this point!!! I call her back and she tells me this is only the second time she has posted anything on Craig's list and people say they are going to come and then never show up. She said she decided to call the lady and find out if she was coming or not and the lady said that she bought something else, but she didn't bother to tell the seller this. I told her I would be right over to take a look. The boys were so excited to go and check it out with me. The set was in perfect condition. She told me that her daughter wouldn't sleep in her crib (she ended up sleeping with them ) so her room was basically for show. It was absolutely perfect. I thanked the lady and told her what a blessing this set was and how I really appreciated her making the call to the previous potential buyer. I showed her pictures of our precious daughter so she would know who the bedding was for. She fell in love with Alesha and was so happy for our family. She also threw in a brand new in the package changing pad cover.

We rushed home and the boys couldn't wait to put everything together in their sister's room. I was just blown away at what a great deal I had gotten. I was so amazed and thankful at how God had been there for me during such a difficult time. He had blessed me with a beautiful bedding set for Alesha at a price that was perfect, from a seller who was excited about our adoption. Simply amazing how everything fell into place after I released it to Him! God is SO faithful!

My mom bought this duck for Alesha, cute huh?

Our homeschool group had a couple representatives from the House of Reptiles come and show our group a number of very cool reptiles. The boys thought this show was very cool and touched everything they were allowed to touch. Some of the reptiles were off limits to touch for the kids. This guy was extremely comfortable with every reptile, spider, snake, etc that he showed.

Scorpion - They have a fluid inside them that makes them glow.
If you shine a light they turn blue so you can find them when it is dark...cool!

I am NOT a fan of spiders. This creeped me out.

He is so casual for having a spider this big crawling up his arm!

Can't remember the name of this one, but the both boys pet it.

Young alligator. Pretty cute at this size.

This alligator sat like this for quite some time. It looks so funny.

Notice he kept the head away from the kids....good idea.

It had been devenomized.

I told the mom sitting next to me that when you see a tool being

held by a handler you know the danger level just went up!

This snake was mean and not in the mood to show off!

CREEPY!

FREAKY!

Can't remember the name of this one, but it was really

mellow and super soft. I even touched this one.

Not something I would wear around my neck!

This snake was really long.

Luke touching the boa constrictor - Martin did too,

I just didn't get it on camera.