!!!!!!!!!LID!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never been so happy to have been wrong in my life.  I just checked my email and apparently we were logged in on December 22, 2010!!  YIPPEE!!  So we did have a log in date before Christmas, we just didn't know it.

We are now officially "EXPECTING" and could receive a call about our little angel anytime!!!  I know it will probably be awhile yet before we actually get a referral, but I am so happy just to be this far into the process.  It is hard to believe that we started this just over a year ago.  Time goes by pretty fast, so I am sure we will see her before we know it.

It is kind of funny that I just finished putting the first coat of paint on her room and thought I would check my email before bed, (as if painting a room full of pink wasn't surreal enough) LOL.

Even though we have done tons of paperwork, etc, etc. and planned for this, it still seems so strange that in the near future we will see the face of a precious baby girl on the other side of the world that will be our daughter.

Thank you God for being so faithful to us in our journey and I pray that you will go ahead of us and prepare the way for the rest of our adventure. Amen

No LID For Christmas!

Well December 25th has come and gone and we never received a Log-In-Date; (which is the date that we are finally logged into China's Center of Adoption Affairs.)  Once we are logged in we can receive a referral anytime after that.  We can't get a referral until we are logged in.

So this means we probably won't hear anything until the New Year.  Which is fine, I was a bit disappointed, but I am fully aware at how unpredictable this whole process is and believe God is in control.

We had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends, made Christmas cookies, watched movies, ate lots of food and opened presents.  There has definitely been enough going on to keep me occupied so I am not sitting impatiently waiting for an email. (I still check it everyday though. LOL) 

Our 13' Grand Manan grown tree

With Cinder and Fuzzy

The boys opening their tv's and me opening my gift from Chinatown.

My boys were spoiled as usual and got everything they wanted, (except Noah said he didn't get an Ipad, I said get a job and buy it for yourself next year) ;0)

Cass was home from Montreal and of course had some presents for me from Chinatown, and she bought some adorable clothes for our little China girl, who will definitely look adorable in them.

I am so in love with this lantern!

I think this week I am going to start painting what will be 'her' room so that should keep me busy for a day or two. Then I have some quilts I will try to finish before school starts again.  Hopefully very early in the New Year I will be posting that we have a LID.

So Happy New Year, I hope that 2011 will be a year of wonder, love, happiness and that great things will come to those who patiently wait.

~ MERRY CHRISTMAS~

I came across this video today that someone had posted on an email and I just had to share it.  For every family waiting for their child, it will definitely bring some tears when you watch it.  I can only hope and pray that by next Christmas we will have our little girl home!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy8RW6aHXWQ

Moving Right Along!!

     Well me being me, couldn't wait any longer for FOI to contact us to let us know when our paperwork was sent, so I emailed them today.  Apparently our documents, as of today were sent back to NB and then will be forwarded to China from there.  

     The agency director said it should be in China by the end of next week and we should have a log in date within two weeks.  So basically putting us directly around Dec. 24th for our LID!!  MERRY CHRISTMAS OR WHAT!

     Something else very exciting is; as it stands right now we are 7th in line in the set of families requesting a baby girl under 24 months.  SEVENTH!!!!!!!  Mind you we have to be logged in first before we will get a referral, but hey we are seventh.  

     The agency said that the competition for under 24month girls is very vigorous across agencies around the world so they have a difficult time predicting how many such children they will be able to match in a given month.  Over the last year, they have averaged about 2 placements a month. 

     So in keeping along the same track, that would hopefully put us getting a referral in APRIL???? Fingers crossed, eyes, toes and anything else that you could possibly cross!  

     I know this process is very unpredictable and things can change in an instance, but God's plan and timing is ultimately what I need to focus on.  He knows the exact date and has specifically picked our baby girl for us and we just have to wait on Him.  Whether it is 5 months from now or 18 months.

    Also, I am literally so excited to think that she is already in this world right now, especially if we get a referral as soon as April. 

     God I pray that you keep her safe, warm and healthy.  May the nannies love her and comfort her when she is crying so she feels that someone cares.  Just until we come, and then she will know the love of a family that prayed, waited and loved her before we even seen her sweet face!   Amen

December??

Well, our paperwork is currently going through the authentication process at Family Outreach International in Ottawa.  I am not 100% clear on what that exactly means, but I do know that that is the last step before it is sent back to the NB government and then forwarded on to China.  YAY!  The authentication process usually takes 4 to 6 weeks to complete so I am hoping and praying that before Christmas that everything will be in China. MERRY CHRISTMAS! (I hope)

I received our first substantial invoice from FOI and sent them a good chunk of change which takes care of what they are doing in Ottawa and the translation of all of our documents once in China.  I have never been so happy to get rid of that much money in my life!  

Now that our paper cut days have passed, and we are now in the waiting mode, sending money seems to be the only thing you can do that helps you feel included in the rest of the process. I would like to have the agency on the phone constantly so they could walk me through everything they are doing, but I would imagine they may find that annoying?  So we wait and wait some more and I hold myself back from emailing or calling everyday. 

God give me strength, the wait will be worth it!! 

TEN YEARS AGO TODAY!

This little bundle was born.  I can hardly believe that it could possibly have been that long ago.  I can remember bringing him home for Noah to meet him and he was sooo excited to see his little brother.  He would wake up the first few days we were home and ask immediately "me see Isaiah, me see Isaiah".  Seems like it was yesterday.......but obviously it has been 10 years.

Isaiah the animal lover!

Isaiah the brother!

I could never have pictured  or imagined that Isaiah would have grown into the thoughtful, caring, hard working and determined young man that he has become.  He has is an old sole at heart and just seems to know how to do things that most kids his age wouldn't know anything about, like how to build tables, tree stands, camps and how to fix things.  Oh and save money, can that kid ever save his money.  He sets a goal of what he is saving for and he will do odd jobs and collect bottles until he saves enough.

Saved the $ for this!!

Isaiah doesn't love to read or do school work, but I believe he is a scholar in the "real" world where sometimes the smarts of a book are out-numbered by hands on "life".  He loves to know how things work and his favorite channel is the discovery channel and shows about real life and hard work.

Isaiah the Fisherman!

 So am I worried that he doesn't love to read or sit for hours and write a story??  NO, when I see him outside for hours on end piling wood, building things with his own two little hands, or taking care of little ones and being so helpful in whatever way he can!  I am not worried at all.  I AM INSPIRED!   So here's hoping your day was special and I pray that you continue to grow into the wonderful man I know you will become.   HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY!

Isaiah with two of his favorite people!   

XO

Not Much To Tell

Well I guess you could say that I am officially a blogging slacker, but I really haven't had a whole lot of info to blog about.

Our paperwork, is still at the agency in Ottawa.  From the sounds of it, everything should be in China by December.  After that FOI says they keep at China to get us a log-in-date quickly.  Once we are logged into their Waiting Child Adoption program, then we are "Officially Expecting". So here is hoping that we will be logged in before Christmas.

Our agency currently has 12 families waiting for babies, they currently have been matching 10 babies with families per month, but they also have 10 new families join the program per month.  So our social worker told us to expect a 18 to 24 month wait.  I am definitely terrible at math equations, but that doesn't seem like it would be that long of a wait or am I crazy?  Maybe they give you the worst case scenario so you won't be disappointed?

All I know is this process is so unpredictable and everything takes sooooo much longer than you think it should, but it will all be worth it in the end when we are bringing home our little Starfish.

A Busy Few Weeks!

The past month has been extremely busy and some new things happening.   First off I made the decision to homeschool my boys.  Noah who is in Gr. 7 pretty much has been begging me for the past year or two. Isaiah who is in Gr. 4 detests school anyway, so going into homeschooling knowing that he would be done his work at lunch time without homework at night was definately a selling point.

So I will not lie and say it is always easy and wonderful, because it isn't and I have no problem whatsoever sending them back to public school if I have to.  For now though we are trucking through and taking one day at a time.

As for our adoption process, our paperwork has been sent off for a few weeks now and I just recieved word today that it made it to the agency in Ottawa. FINALLY!  They then arrange it how China will accept it and send it back to Elaine in Fredericton who then sends it straight to China.  I am not really sure why the agency doesn't send it, but I don't care as long as someone does and soon. lol

In the mean time the fundraising continues.  I just had another GIANT yardsale, which was a lot of work and my house looking like hoarders for weeks, but it was worth it.  With the money we made from the Adoption Sunday on Sept 5th and the yardsale money, we will have enough to pay the first fees to the agency which is over $3050.

I am also doing a coffee fundraiser over the next year, that hopefully will bring in some funds.  As for yard sales, I don't think I will be having another one for quite a long time.

Does This Mean We Are Officially Expecting?

Well, finally today after waiting for about 5 or 6 weeks, I sent the last document that was to be sent.  That was Chris's medical form.  So hopefully things will move along full force now.  These are the next few steps:

1. Gentle Path receives the medical form and that gets put with the rest of our dossier.(Tomorrow)

2. It is then sent to Elaine Babineau who gives it a stamp of approval and sends it off to our agency in Ontario.(Hopefully within the next week or two)

3. The agency then sends the documents off to China. (I will gives this a couple months?? =0) But who knows if everyone is done their vacations for awhile!)

4. Then we wait, raise $$ and wait some more and raise more $$.  They say it could be 18 to 24 months, but I am going to believe that it won't be that long.

So our part as far as paperwork is finished!  Our part or I should say my part of being creative and finding ways to raise the funds is just beginning. 
I am going to have another yard sale along with a car wash and barbeque on September 25, so hopefully this will go as well as the previous one.  I am also starting a coffee fundraiser too with help from some friends. 
So continued prayers and support are greatly needed and appreciated.  Thanks everyone for helping and donating to bring our daughter home someday soon!!

All children come from God, for some the journey home just takes a little longer.

I LoVe ThiS FaMiLy!

Thanks again Green family for everything!!XO

ADOPTION SUNDAY

     Tomorrow at our church, our friends Nathan and Marion are having an international adoption awareness/fundraising Sunday for us. Nathan and Marion live in Virginia with their three boys and two months ago adopted a beautiful little 3yr old girl from Ethiopia.  
     I am so grateful that they are willing to take time out of their family vacation to help us with our adoption.  
     We also have friends in Quispamsis whom were the first to buy t-shirts from our Adoption Bug fundraiser.  They just brought their little girl home from China a few months ago.  
     Thank you to everyone who helps in any way!

Patience!

Well this is definately the word I would have to use for the past 4 weeks.  Waiting for Dr.'s, passports, marriage certificate and notarizing.  I must say I have done pretty well, knowing that I have no control how fast things are going to go, so I might as well enjoy the ride.

At this point all of our paperwork is notarized, (thank you God that the lawyer did not charge us for it), and now I have to make copies for everyone and there dog(well not really,but that's what it feels like).lol  Anyway, Chris has to get his final medical for China done on Monday and then...........it is off & out of our hands!!!  I just pray everything is done properly so we have nothing sent back. 

I am not sure how long it is going to take for everything to actually reach China, but hopefully very soon!!

We're Still Here!

Well, we have been waiting and waiting for our paperwork to be sent back to us so we can have it notarized.  The reason we have been waiting and waiting is because one person who needed to sign a piece of document has been on vacation!!  Good for him, but frustrating for me. 

Anyway, apparently he has returned and we will be getting our stuff probably Monday.  We had our passport pics done yesterday and they were as beautiful as ever!lol  So hopefully it won't take too long to get them back.

I called the agency we will be going with the other day just to have an update and was informed that if we were willing to accept a baby with cleft lip/palate that we would get her substantially quicker and possibly under 12months of age. OKAY?????  This was one thing we weren't really considering because of well it was facial and requires possible future surgeries, speech therapy and a lot of dental work.

It sounds really aweful to say you won't accept a baby with this, but I guess we were thinking where we live on GM that she may have enough issues without there being a visible facial scar, etc.  Also, we aren't exactly a step away from a children's hospital that deals with this. 

Yet I have been thinking, researching and asking others on the yahoo adoption groups about this and have gotten very positive responses.  Many say this was not something they first would accept and eventually adopted 3 or 4 kids with clefts and say it is a very managable condition. There are some others though who say less positive things and maybe give you a picture of reality of the condition.  This scares me!!

So, we haven't completely come to a decision yet and have to do a lot of praying about this one, but it sounds really selfish and horrible to say you won't accept a beautiful little baby with a correctable condition.

P.S. I just noticed that this baby is laying on a rag quilt!!  Maybe it's a sign??  This is one of the latest babies that was brought to the Starfish Foster Home in China!  Her name is Elise.
P.S.S. Check out our T-Shirt store and order lots of shirts, PLEASE:
http://www.adoptionbug.com/drawneartotheheartofgod

 

Where Have 12 Years Gone?

This was my first born little boy just a few short years ago, which feels like forever ago.   He has now just celebrated his 12th Birthday and I am so proud to be his mom!  I remember when he was a baby and I couldn't even picture him being an "almost" teenager.  I always wondered what his voice would sound like, how tall he would get and what his favourite things would be.  Now I look forward to watching him grow into a remarkable young man.  His kindness, love for his family, goofy sense of humor and love of sports pretty much sums Noah up.  I am so amazed at watching him with little ones that I know some day he will become a remarkable dad (not for a long time yet though), great sportsman and an awesome person.  I am not sure what to expect in the coming teen years, but I have no doubt that it will be interesting, but for now and for the next year he is 12 and IS NOT A TEENAGER! 

Next!

Yesterday, we received our homestudy report to review and make any corrections before Judy presents it to "the panel", which I believe she said she is going on June 2. Panel is just another stage of approval before everything goes to Fredericton for Provincial Approval. 

Anyway, it was really strange to have our whole lives summarized into 21 pages, but the most amazing and wonderful thing I read was:  
After carefully considering all information available during the preparation of this report, Chris and Kim Rayner are recommended to adopt from China a female child as young as possible and under age two at the time of referral. 
EEEKK!!!!  This absolutely brought tears to my eyes.  Sometimes I can't believe that this is actually happening and that some day in the not so far away future we will have a Daughter, Noah and Isaiah will have a mei mei (little sister) and our parents will be grandparents to a special little girl. (Other than Cass)lol

Did you know: In China there are more than 40,000 orphanages with an estimated 3 million orphans.

 2 out of 5 babies entering the system die.

Matthew 18:5 "Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me."

~APPROVED!!!!!!!!!~

 

There has always been a special branch on our family tree just for you!

I know this is a few days late, but things have been very busy lately with me starting a new job at Sailer's Landing and a number of other things.

So last Wednesday, May 12th; the day after our 14th wedding anniversary; I picked Judy up at the ferry at 11am.  Well it was supposed to be 11 but the wonderful crap ferry was a half and hour late.  No worries though we had lots of time, she wasn't leaving us until 3.

Our last meeting was very casual, I showed her around our house and she loved our view.  She finished up with Chris's last interview and then just basically asked some more questions.  I can't even really remember what questions actually, so it was nothing too serious.  I had made us a little lunch, and then Chris went to pick up the boys from school.  They were quite upset as you can imagine.(NOT)  If I have talked with any of you before this you knew I was a bit nervous about her talking with the boys, because after all kids will be kids and you never know what they may come out with.  With our boys being almost 12 and 9 they know how to freak you out.  A few different nights while trying to get them to have showers or go to bed at a decent hour, they would threaten us, yes threaten us!  "You wait till Judy comes, I am going to tell her you beat us".  Well you know what it didn't work, I know better and I assumed so would Judy.  Worries aside though the meeting with the boys went really well, as usual they were kind of shy, so they really didn't say much until she started talking hockey with Noah. 

Around 2:30 she started to pack up to head to the ferry.  It was killing me to know whether she had approved us or not, so I said "when will we know if we are approved".  She said, " I would have never went this far with you if I wasn't going to give you my approval."  PHEWWW!  So in a week or so we should be receiving our dossier to proof read and then she will send it off to the NB government.  It should take about a month or so to "officially" get government approval.

I contacted the agency we will be using in Ottawa, Family Outreach International, and had a really encouraging chat with a guy about the waiting child program.  He really can't give us a time frame, but it really might not be that long of a wait. I really hope this will be the case!

So all of my doubts and stress thinking we may not be approved for some reason, was well rediculous.  I feel so priveledged and blessed to be given this opportunity.  Thank you to everyone who prays for our adoption and please continue to pray for a speedy adoption and for our daughter and her caregivers.  I pray that if she is born that she is being well taken care of and if she is not born that her birth mom is healthy and is taking care of herself.  Amen

Now more fundraising!! Prayer for that would be excellent too!

~ BLesSed ~

So I had my GIANT yard/bake/quilt sale on Saturday, and was completely blown away by it.  I went into it thinking I possibly might make around $600ish, but didn't want to over estimate and be disappointed.  I had so many people donate a lot of great stuff, that it looked like it was a 3 family yard sale.

So that morning as I was getting ready, I had a little conversation with myself and God.  I thought: wouldn't it be amazing if I actually made enough to pay for the rest of the homestudy!!  Oh really Kim, it is a yard sale!?  As then I continued to say to God, "I know it is possible with you", but I still didn't want to get my hopes up.(Oh ye of little faith!)  God had a plan!!

So at 10am we opened the doors of the hall and the people came.....A Lot of people came!  I was quite overwhelmed and basically in a panic as people piled up to pay for things, but thanks to Joy and Kim Cruikshank they were great at handling the madness.  So I took care of the food aspect and was perfectly content to do so.  Thanks to Jenni and Terri Parker who also were amazing help!

So as it slowed down, Joy counted the total, she looked at me and smiled and said, "you did really well!! You have over $800 so far."  And this was maybe an hour into to the sale.  I was completely shocked and very happy!  One o'clock came and she totaled the rest and it was over $1200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20

Got it God!! I knew or I wanted to believe that I knew that God could do this, but He wanted me to KNOW that He could do this!!  So I officially have enough to pay the rest of the homestudy fee!  Praise God, that is such a huge relief.

Oh really Kim, it is a yard sale!?  I am sure God laughs at our lack of faith sometimes and gets really excited at the chance to show Himself to us.

Thanks again to anyone that helped in anyway, and to those that purchased, prayed and donated.  Especially God!XO

MAY 12th!!!

  Officially have a date set for our last meeting with Judy and it is on May 12th.  I was hoping it would be a bit sooner than that, but it is what it is I guess.

   I contacted Family Outreach International today and they said we can officially register with them now that we are just about done our homestudy!  YaY!!!!  So I am heading off to the mail to mail our registration form.

I am having a giant yard/bake/quilt sale this coming weekend to help with the remaining homestudy fee.  So hopefully we can get that taken care of before the other fees come flying at us. I am so thankful for all of the people that have offered to bake and to those who have donated items for the sale.  Now hopefully a lot of people will get out to the sale and buy it all!LOL (Really though I hope!) =)

ALMOST DONE!!!!!

We had our last visit with Judy in St. George yesterday, and now she will come to us at our home.  Still waiting for her to call to let us know what day works for her.  I am assuming it will be sometime next week.  Then we will be officially finished our homestudy!!!!!!!!!! 

Yesterday, we had seperate hour long meetings, basically about our childhood and family life.  I feel a lot more confident that we will be approved with no problems, than I did at the beginning.  Overall, I feel these are necessary steps to ensure that the homes that children are placed in are safe and loving enviroments.  It is unfortunate that only adoptive parents have to go through such scrutiny to have a child, it should be made manditory for anyone in child bearing years to do the same.  There would be a lot less frustrating/sad situations if this were the case.

Anyway, our next visit will be about 4 hours since she is coming over on the 11am ferry and heading back on the 3.  Our boys will love her because on that day we will have to pick them up early from school so she can chat with them.  I am hoping they are in a good mood that day, but who knows??

VISIT #2 DOWN - 2 MORE TO GO!!!

We went to St. George yesterday to meet with Judy.  Today we talked about our marriage, faith, discipline and adoption.  The two hours flew by and I left feeling confident and so thankful for the man I am married to and our life together.

This process so far has had many ups and downs, and has been eye opening and fulfilling.  Talking about our marriage, faith and discipline, helped me to realize even more why Chris and I are together.  We are definately on the same page in life.(Minus my dislike of sports)  I am so thankful for that!

Talking about adoption and how our community will react, also helped make this all more real.  As a parent of kids already I never want my children to have to go through discrimination, judgement, or knowing that they are stereotyped a specific way, etc.  But for our future daughter, unfortunately this will be a common occurance.  NOT only for her, but for all of us.  As we learn and grow through this process, we have to prepare ourselves, the boys and our daughter for situations that may arise.  I love our community and I know we have a lot of support, but somewhere, sometime a situation will arise that will be heartbreaking and appauling, but we will be prepared!!

So we have one more visit in St. George and then Judy will come to our home.  I can't believe we are halfway finished our homestudy!!  This is very exciting and hopefully the rest of the visits will go just as well.

*The Joys Of Living On An Island*

Well this sums up our day:

~  Wake Up at 5:30 a.m.
~  Get to the ferry at 7
~  Sail for an hour and a half
~  Drive 45mins. to Saint John
~  Wait until 11a.m. for our appointment with Judy
~  Have our appt., which was overall pretty good and only 1hr long.  I hope we answered everything "right".  It basically is in God's hands now if we didn't.
~  Walked to Cora's for lunch(YUM) by the way!
~  Went to look for shoes for Noah, which took maybe 1/2hr.
~  Drove around Saint John and went into furniture places, just to basically look.  Trying to kill time until 3, when we would have to drive back to the ferry.
~  Went to the Super Store and bought a Chinese Money Tree!!(Hoping it works)lol
~  Drove to St. George to get a sub from Subway.
~  Went to the ferry and got home at 7.

It has been a long day and apparently we have to do this 3 more times before she is coming to us in our home.  Hopefully she will combine 2 visits in one, especially considering our ferry is going off for 6 weeks and we will have the "crap" one.

I guess this is another time that I get to practice patience! So here we go....... I am glad this is one step closer to where we want to be.

Chris said to me on the ferry, "This is the part, like pregnancy, where you just wait and enjoy the journey.  There is nothing you can do to speed it up, so just enjoy it and don't stress."
He surprises me sometimes and this was definately one of those times, but I have to admit he is right.

It Begins Next Wednesday!!

Just an update, we got a call from Judy yesterday, who will be our socail worker for the homestudy, and she would like to meet with us in Saint John on Wed. April 7th.  Then in her St. George office on Tues. April 13th.  She is leaving the homevisit to the last in order to save us paying so much mileage.

So very exciting!!!!

Waiting For The Call!

I finally got our paperwork and first fee sent off on Thursday, March 25, 2010.  The paperwork had been done forever, but coming up with the $1350 without using any of our regular money was a bit challenging.

We have wonderful friends that stepped up and donated the profits from her bags towards our fee and others who bought more quilts.  So slowly but surely we got the money.

I guess when you asked God for patience, he demonstrates ways that you have to be patient.  I am sure this will not be the only time during this journey where we will need a truck load of patience.

So now we are waiting for a phone call from Judy Urquhart to set up a day to start the homestudy.  Also, working on coming up with the rest of the money to finish the homestudy.

Sometimes, I can't even believe we are actually in the process of international adoption.  It has been a dream of mine for so long and NOW IT IS HAPPENING!!!  Wow, somebody pinch me please!!  Can't wait!!

Dave Ramsey Would Be Proud!

My youngest son Isaiah, has been saving, working, saving and working to buy his very own dirt bike.  He has been collecting recyclables, cutting wood with his dad and grandfathers, and saving $ from his Birthdays and Christmas.

The day came yesterday that he had enough and the bike he wanted was on sale so..........through much hesitation on his mothers part, we brought it home to him from Saint John.

I am soooo impressed with his determination to save for and work for something that he wanted. It is funny how a nine year old can teach you that if you want something bad enough, that you can get it through hard work and saving.  Dave Ramsey Jr. lol

 Isaiah has a list made already of the things he is saving for next: A New Xbox, A Chainsaw,(yeah I know, not sure what to do about this one!!!!),  A Flat Screen for his room.  I have no doubt in my mind that he will achieve this, minus the chainsaw until he is 25!

Anyway, I love my boys so much and can't wait to bring another beautiful child into our lives through international adoption. Here is Zay on his hard earned dirt bike.  Noah too, because he wanted people to see him on it!Haha

A Little At A Time!

 I did our local market yesterday, my mom and good friend baked some goodies, my sister made some kiddy grab bags, we cooked hot dogs and of course there were my quilts.  I was a little disappointed that I didn't sell any quilts, but then again I wasn't really expecting to.  The hot dogs were a big seller and we did sell most of our baked goods.  So now we are down to $409 dollars left of the $1350. 

It seems this part is taking the longest to get going and it is somewhat frustrating, but I have to stay positive and believe that everything is in God's timing and it is all going to work out.  Here is a pic of my wonderful helpers:  Also thanks Joy, I so appreciate you!  Here are some quilts that are still for sale as well.......

Just About Ready!!

The paperwork is done, record checks done, autobiographys done, just waiting for Chris's medical to be filled out.  Have $560 more dollars to get to make up the $1350.  I am working on a couple more quilts that may possibly already be bought if the people like them so that will be another $300.  I am thinking that I may get some things ready for the farmer's market next weekend (Mar.6).  Will plan on some baked goods, quilts, baby beach balls, hot dogs and some place mats.

 So now I just have to figure out who can make what and how to get a lot of stuff made, while taking the kids skiing and to a hockey game for 3 days next week.  Hmmm, I am hoping I can pull it all off.  Sure I can!!!

I am sooo excited, nervous and impatient about getting this Homestudy done, this is the initial step that will officially put us full fledge On the Road to China.  It is nerve racking to know someone is coming into your home and judging you on your parenting, relationship with your spouse (in every intimate area), finances and I am sure there is a lot more that I am missing.  I keep thinking maybe there will be a reason that we won't be approved, I am not sure what that may be, but it is always a thought that nags at me every once in awhile.  Could it be that same annoying voice that tells us we are not good enough, smart enough or worthy enough?........... I think so.  So I have to choose to think positive, and believe we are worthy enough to raise another child, whether it is biologically or from half way around the world. 

We are reading, 'If You Want To Walk On Water, You've Got To Get Out Of The Boat' in our Sunday School class, and I find it amusingly appropriate at this point.  It talks about Peter having faith enough in God to get out of the boat, and walk on the water.  Peter knew the joy and freedom of experiencing God's power after taking an enormous risk.  That is my desire throughout this entire process, to experience God's ultimate power, feelling the joy and freedom of relying completly on Him.  Now let me be the first to admit that I am still working on this and learning, and it is not always easy, I know I need to spend more time with God and get to know Him better.  As I am obedient with this, God will reveal himself to me more clearly than ever......so why don't I do it?   Good question right?  Yeah I thought so, but unfortunately I have no excuses.

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him.  1 Samuel 1:27

One Step Closer.......

This past weekend we had our info/training session in Saint John at the Fort Howe Hotel.  Brent and Joy traveled with us and despite our husbands harassing each other all weekend, we had fun.  It is so awesome to know we have such great friends that have the same strong desire to adopt from China.

The Friday night session was very informative and we had guest speakers that had adopted from Russia and it was quite an adventure for them.  The next day we started at 9am and went until 3:30pm.  We met some really awesome people whom also are starting their adoption journeys.  I think it is so neat to meet so many people that have the  desire to adopt and have so much in common.  You definately feel a connection to each of them. 

Now we have to finish up our paperwork and a couple other things before our homestudy can start.  Oh yeah and come up with $2700+.  So hopefully before spring we will have started or finished our homestudy and will be approved.  Yay, then I guess we will start the waiting, and waiting and waiting......  Hopefully we won't have to wait too long, but we are thinking it will be at least 3yrs.  Good things come to those who wait!!!  I am not sure if that means waiting patiently or impatiently though!!! 

~My Boys~

Paperwork and More Paperwork!

The paper run has begun, and let me tell you what it is a lot.  I am not complaining because I actually don't mind filling things out and writing an autobiography on my existence, but Chris may say different.  He made fun of me because he thought I basically wrote a novel for each answer, but I just have more to say I guess. 

I am really getting anxious for the training session on Feb 5th and 6th in Saint John and have a lot of questions that hopefully I will get answers to.  I was a bit discouraged the other day when I looked on Children's Bridge adoption agency and they said the process right now is going so slow that families that have been trying since 2006 won't get their babies until 2015.  I can't even imagine why it would possibly take that long, but I am praying they get in gear before we get going.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAu6OM6l0Yg

Happy 2010......Expecting Only Good Things!

     Well the new year has begun and I am filled with many different emotions as we begin 2010.  I always, for some reason feel a bit sad when Christmas is over and we ring in a new year.  I think it is partly because time goes by soooo fast and the older I get it seems to go by a little more quickly than I would like.  On the other hand the new year has soo many possibilities, opportunities and it seems like as good a time as any to reflect on the past year to see what changes we may have to make whether with ourselves or situations we may be in.
     This year I am especially hopeful and excited to be starting our adoption journey.  Last year this time you probably couldn't convince me that it was actually going to happen this soon, but that is how wonderful and amazing God is and he works when we least expect it.  I am soo thankful for the support and well wishes from all of our family and friends.  Love you all!