16 Things about me...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you have to write a note with 16 random things, shortcomings, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 16 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. You have to tag the person who tagged you.

1. I'm overly zealous. I'm excited easily and very passionate about a lot of things.
2. I am truly grateful for my husband! He is so amazing and I can't say it enough.
3. I love Springfield, MO. I really do. I know, back to number one...lol. But we really are thinking about retiring here!
4. I used to have really low self-esteem.
5. I talk a lot, sorry, I can't help it, I have a lot to say.
6. I would really like to do some missionary work. I think I might go to Ethiopia a little early and pair up with some missionaries while I'm there.
7. I tend to over analyze things way to much, like... did I say something wrong, etc..
8. I check facebook, myspace and cafe mom everyday at least once. I know, I need to drop one of these babies. Oh, and I maintain a blog. Yeah, one of them HAS to go....hmmm, which one?
9. I love my God, I really do. I know what grace is and have experienced an awesome level of forgiveness and truly appreciate it.
10. I interrupt people all the time. I hate doing it, I just talk too much (#5). I'm working on it. Oh, if I ever interrupt you, please let me know...kindly...lol!
11. I cook everyday and I bake at least two times a week and I LOVE it! It's never been a chore for me except for when I worked outside of the home. I just got my kitchen aid mixer, so watch out Martha...here I come!
12. I secretly...okay, so it's not much of a secret, want to live off of the land. Like, really. Solar panels, gardens, animals and all. I even want an alpaca, for it's fur, so I can spin and knit sweaters with it...lol, seriously!
13. I scrapbook everything. I even scrapbook pictures of me scrapbooking! Thank you Aunt Leslie for introducing me to it! And Chawn, you better get those pictures to me soon, or I'm not going to have time to scrapbook Jordan's album until he's five...lol!
14. I have no regrets for the life I have. Sure I have some "what if's," but not often. I'm so content with my circumstances. It's taken me awhile to get here, but I'm here.
15. I love coupons! I joined this coupon exchange here in Springfield and LOVE getting coupons everyweek! So if you want to mail me all your coupons, I'll take them! I saved $40 last week!
16. This was surprisingly really hard for me to come up with 16 things!

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful day it has been! Here are a few pictures of our morning. More pictures will follow. Miles absolutely LOVED all his toys and was really excited to get a truck! He also got a remote control dinosaur that is out of this world, we will picture that soon. Miles received many movies, books, games, and clothes. He was lavished with gifts from Santa and the many relatives and really enjoys everything!
He went outside this morning to pick up his friend Tyler in his Hummer, it was hilarious. He drove Tyler to the house to check out his new loot! When Tyler was showing Miles how to work the remote control dinosaur, that is almost 3' tall, Miles jumped on the couch and almost wet his pants with fear. It was so funny.
And.........guess what I got? A Kitchen Aid Mixer!!!! And it's the Professional one. I was so excited, I whipped up Jesus' birthday cake with it and couldn't wait for Brandon to document it. I promised him that this mixer will last so long, it will be passed on to Marley...lol! My parents and Brandon's parents bought me this, what an amazing gift!

New Hair Again...Merry Christmas!

I LOVE coloring my hair! I am hooked! I went to The System again and saw my favorite hair dresser for the last time. He is graduating in January and moving on to bigger and better things. So Mikey, if your out there, make sure to let me know when you get to a salon and I'll shout you out on here to get your clientele started! If any of you are in Springfield, you HAVE to go to The System for an amazing Stylist and an amazing price! This color is AMAZING! I almost have the same color as Meg. Let me know what you think. I got the reds for Christmas.
By the way, we are officially, number 15 on "The List!"

5 MONTHS WAITING!!!

Today marks our five month waiting day! To be honest, it hasn't been that bad. Well, I suppose if you look to our past posts, you might think differently. But overall, I'm feeling pretty calm and collected about it.
We had almost 3 weeks of no referrals at our agency and I was getting a bit antsy, but so far this week there have been Eight referrals, yes I said EIGHT! Here's the breakdown of the eight: Boys, 7 weeks, 2 months, 10 months, 2 months, 5 1/2 months. Girls, 2 years, 19 months, 2 months.
Where are we? I still don't have a definite number, but it's around 14 according to my calculations, which are never really right...lol! One of my blog friends is #9 for sure, for girls under 12 months and #4 for girls over 12 months and we are just a few families behind her....so YAY for us!!!!!! Optimistically, I am hoping for some more referrals by Friday because our agency will be closed for two weeks over Christmas. I know, I can't be that greedy, eight referrals in one week are AWESOME!

Shout out to my dear friend Audrey! Yesterday, I talked to my dad. He will be in a rehab/nursing home for 80 days and they will care for him until my mother heals from her broken ankle. It really breaks my heart everytime I talk to him. But anyways, I asked him what he needed, since my mother can not drive and relies on friends to take her places. He, very humbly asked for a few things and to avoid the Christmas mail chaos, I called someone I knew would help me get this stuff to my dad. I can't wait to hear about his reaction! Audrey, you are so amazing and I really love you for doing this for me! My dad is all alone right now and you bringing him this stuff is such a blessing to us! Thanks again!

Our Family Pictures

I mailed our Christmas cards out a couple of days ago, so now you can see our pictures! They turned out GREAT! I can't wait to finally be a family of four!
We are staying in Missouri for Christmas and don't have any plans. I can't believe it! I'm not even cooking. I'm not sure what we will be doing that day. Hey, maybe we'll open presents and then catch a movie. That sounds like fun!

Not Much of an Update

So we are almost to our five month waiting mark and when we joined our agency, we were told the wait could be around 4 months, then when we submitted our dossier the wait had moved to around 6 months, all due to a rise in adoptive parents in Ethiopia. So now, it's looking more like 7-9 months. There are still some families that submitted their dossier (the paperwork) in April that are waiting for children. We submitted our paperwork in July. There have not been any referrals in almost three weeks. It is probably due to the fact that there is only one Judge hearing all these cases. The other Judge is on maternity leave. So for now, not much news. We are fine, not too anxious. It's almost like we are guarding our hearts, you know?
We got our family pictures done and I CAN'T wait to show them off. I will post some pictures after I mail my Christmas cards. I was thinking, what's the point in mailing pictures and cards to everyone, if I post the picture on my blog? So for now, you get to know what it feels like to wait...lol! Okay, that was supposed to be funny!
I do also have some prayer requests. My father is really sick. He has Parkinson's Disease, COPD, amongst many other conditions. It seems that he is rushed to the hospital and put in ICU on a monthly basis. The other day, while in ICU, my mother, his caregiver, broke her ankle. So the are both in need of prayer and much help. Luckily, some people have stepped up and have offered to help with transportation for groceries and doctor's appointments. Please keep them in your prayers. They need help and healing. I really appreciate it!

The Junky Car Club

This post is dedicated to a woman that introduced me to the idea of the Junky Car, thank Kara!

I just found this new blog, The Junky Car Club, I have to say...I'm impressed! Thanks Gretchen! We are frugal people, that's no secret...lol! We've never owned a brand new vehicle and began the Dave Ramsey program very early in our marriage. Right after I graduated from college, I wanted to reward myself for paying for my own schooling, with a brand new lavender colored Ford Explorer, that's what everyone drove in those days. Yes, I said lavender! Well guess what, I kept my 1985 Toyota Camry hatchback until 2003! When the a/c went out in New Orleans in the summer, it was time to get another vehicle. We bought our 2000 Toyota 4Runner and paid it off in 15 months! We haven't had a car payment in over 5 years, and yes...we are members of the Junky Car Club! I say this with pride because it has been hard work. We lived off of Brandon's salary for the four years that I worked full time before Miles came. During that time, we paid off about $5,000 credit card debt, $25,000 student loans, and about $28,000 in car payments. Now I don't consider our cars junk, but in our society's eyes, we aren't living up to the American dream of flashy cars and flashy car payments. Sure I would LOVE a newer vehicle. But my 4Runner is running just fine. Yeah, I have a big dent on my back door, and the torn leather seat is driving my crazy, but it's paid for!
You'll have to check out the Junky Car Club blog and read about it. It's really our own philosophy, and it takes guts. I challenge you! Really, I do! "Live with less, so you can give more!" Man, have we been a testimony for this! You always hear things like, "you can't outgive God." It's really hard to take that leap, but we are proof that when you do start living on less and giving more, your life takes on a whole new meaning. We don't worry about money. God has provided for us and we know He always will. Like my grandmother just said the other day, "you don't see U-hauls attatched to coffins!" Give, and be generous! Support the things that mean the most to you. You don't have to be the most "spiritual" person to do this. Believe me, we were very early in our walks when we commited to this.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34

Our pastor from Corpus Christi used to always say, "show me your checkbook, and I'll show you your treasure."

I suppose now would be a good time to announce that it looks like we have almost all the money we will need to pay for our adoption! Travel expences can vary by the thousands, so that's why I say almost, but we have done it! With His help of course. There was a day when it was very overwhelming. We knew we were called to adopt, but coming up with $20,000 plus dollars, cash, was not easy. We prayed for God to give us wisdom like he gave Solomon. We didn't expect people to throw money at us, just because we were adopting, we prayed for God to show us how to come up with the money. I'm not going to lie, it was not easy having the faith at times. I'd hear of people who were adopting and thier family and friends showering them with money and sometimes I would think, "man would that be nice!" But God called us to adopt and this was our journey. Sure it takes a village, but we needed to pay for this, and I'm so glad for all the lessons we learned. He showed Brandon that he needed to sell his 1965 mustang, what a faithful act on his part, I'm so proud of him for that. He also showed me that I needed to work for awhile. And the rest was just faith. Giving faithfully, saving faithfully, and living below our means...faithfully!

So join the Junky Car Club with me, I dare you! Sell your cars with car payments and buy your next car with the cash that you have! Live on less, so that you can give more!

4 MONTHS WAITING TODAY

Today marks our 4 month waiting mark. Today, four months ago, we turned in all of our paperwork to Ethiopia and officially became a waiting family. Most families in our agency are getting their referrals around month six. We are still hoping for a referral by Christmas. The past month has been amazing with the referrals of about 20 children. As for where we are on "the list," who knows.

Livingroom Colors

We painted the livingroom this weekend! The colors are a kiwi green and a cafe brown. I think the flash is a bit bright and I think the green is a bit darker than the pictures. We absolutely LOVE it! Here are our before and afters. Let me know what you think.

Our New Kitchen Color!

Here are the before and after pictures of our kitchen. When we bought this house the walls were crimson RED in the kitchen. I love red, but for a narrow kitchen it was just too dark. So it took three coats of primer to cover it up and now we have a beautiful buttercream! We are going to do our livingroom next. It's going to be an almost kiwi green and a coffee brown! I'm totally stepping out of my comfort zone here. Let me know what you think.

Halloween Pictures

I suppose I could lighten up this blog from the last two posts and show y'all what Miles was for Halloween. He picked out this costume only after we couldn't find a chicken that was in his size...lol! I told y'all we have a clown on our hands!

Overcome with Emotion

I am overcome with emotion, all of a sudden and totally unexpectedly! Yesterday was truly an amazing day in our history! While initially, I didn't support Barack Obama, I did vote for him. See previous post to see why. After finding a quote from another blog, I began to realize the depth of this election. I knew it was important. But now I see how far our country has come. Whether you voted for him or not, we will have our first "Black" President. I quote black, because technically he is half black and half white, like my son, but America considers him black. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed, because I thought Miles would be the first bi-racial President...LOL! Nonetheless, we as a country, have come to time when race wasn't as important as it has been in the past.
For those of you that know me, and have known me for sometime, know that this is an issue that I was called to deal with. From a very young age, I was very passionate about ending racism. I have lived an extremely diverse life, lived in many different cultures, surrounded by diverse races, religions and cultures. I never really understood how people could have racist views of other people that just had darker skin than theirs. Espeacially Christians, claiming to know the love of God and then shunning interracial marriages. I grew up in the 80's and early 90's. I experienced racism beyond belief. Yes, as a white girl in an all black school, I experienced some pretty horrific things. Yet, I overcame that. I don't like to use the titles "black, white, etc." because I dream of a day when we are all Americans and not labled by the color of our skin. Yesterday is one day closer to that day and I just realized it! Wow! I can show Miles, who already knows who Obama is (thank you Nonnie), that someone that looks like him became our President. I will be able to tell my daughter, that someone from her motherland had a son who became our President. I will be able to encourage highschoolers, who think because they come from a broken home, they can't succeed, they they too can accomplish great things. I can say, proudly, that my husband, also the result of a dead beat dad, can succeed and overcome (which he already has in many ways)! I didn't realize the magnitude of last night until just now and wow...

We are going to have a new President, finally!

I have never posted political rants and I rarely contribute to political arguments. As many of you know, I taught U.S. History last semester to High School juniors in Texas. As we learned of our nation’s history, we were also watching the candidates for President talk about changing our country. My students noticed that history was repeating its self heading toward another Great Depression. Every Candidate said their way was the way to change. I personally do not consider myself a Republican nor a Democrat. How can we put ourselves in those categories? I like to look at the whole person, not just their party affiliation. I voted for Ron Paul in the Primaries. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I liked what he stood for. Yes, he was a Republican, although he claimed to be the only REAL Republican. So Ron Paul faded away. We were left with John McCain and Barack Obama. Honestly, I didn’t like either one of these candidates. I do know that I do not like Bush and the path that we have taken under his leadership. I do not give him total blame, because we as people elected him (although, I didn’t vote in that election) and he can’t be at fault for every bad thing in our country.

That being said, I did vote for Barack Obama. Only because Ron Paul wasn’t on the Ballot…lol! Seriously though, I was very torn. I was not sure either candidate was the “saving grace” that we needed, only God can fill that role. I am a Christian. In my eyes, a strong faithful Christian. Having that in my life has been amazing. Yet I do need to speak out here. I am surrounded by Christians. I have always loved that. They have been my rock and helped build me up and strengthen my faith. It seems as if it is a given, “if you are a Christian, you vote Republican.” No, no one has said this to me, but it’s an unspoken given. I have people all around me saying, “you’re voting for McCain right?” I have heard people say they are not voting for Barack because he is for abortion and he’s a baby killer, and that is ungodly. Yet, John McCain had an affair on his previous wife with Cindy McCain whom he met in a bar. That too is ungodly. In our world, abortion is the worse evil. In Gods eyes, they are equal. People have called him a Terrorist and have vowed not to vote for him because he is Muslim. I have received so many emails telling me that Obama is the Anti-Christ!

Do I think Barack Obama is going to make a better President than John McCain? Honestly, I don’t know. As an educator, neither of them had a good plan, in my opinion, to reform our countries education system. What was my deciding factor was Sara Palin. I don’t feel she was at all ready to be a President in the event John McCain was unable to be. And Joe Biden made me feel much more at ease if he had to take the role. I feel like my fellow Christians are already on the defense, attacking our newly elected President and honestly I am sick of hearing it! Come on guys, we need to unite as Americans and support the person that was elected. Even John McCain has vowed to support him. If we are divided now, it is not going to get us anywhere. And please, don’t assume that he was only elected because of his color. It makes me sick hearing that. He has very strong qualities that brought him to where he is today. No, he hasn’t been in politics all his life. But he does have a great education, a strong Christian marriage and values, experience as a Senator, and a desire to lead our nation. If his race was the sole reason for being elected, we would have had Jesse Jackson for a President a long time ago.

So to conclude, to my friends and fellow bloggers, please let’s unite as Americans. The election is over and we as Americans have elected Barack Obama as our next President. He had a tremendous victory and Americans have spoken for who they wanted and let’s give him a chance.

I saw this on another blog and HAD to post this:

Rosa sat so that Martin could walk.

Martin walked so that Barack could run.

Barack ran so that my children might fly.

Our Past Week

So we had many eventful times over the last few days. My in-laws flew into town for Miles' Birthday Party and guess what people actually came! It ended up being an outstanding birthday party! We will be working on writing Thank You cards this week and since he knows how to write his own name, he'll be the one signing all the cards. Here are a few pictures of the event.
Then he had a basketball game to go to. Daddy had drill weekend so PaPa stood in for him.

THEN, I felt like we really didn't do enough a a weekend and decided that this would be a great opportunity to teach Miles how to Ice Skate. Ha Ha...we'll be trying this again at a later time......

My New Hair!

It's not a big secret...I'm going through a mid life crisis. Well kind of. Ever since I turned 30, a few years ago, I've been trying to look younger, be hipper, etc.. I've been wanting to add pink highlights to my hair, seriously! So I didn't get the pink today, but I did get four new colors! I gave the stylist total control of my hair and it was so much fun! I went to the Paul Mitchell School and wow was it a steal! I'm going to do it again in a few months and I think I'm going for the pink next time!

6 Referrals in the Last Two Days!

So for those hundreds of you out there that check my blog daily (sarcasm attached), there have been six more referrals of children in the last two days! 3 boys and 3 girls, ages ranging from 6 months to 6 years. The family that saw their six year old for the first time today submitted their paperwork the same day we did! How excited they must be right now! I can't imagine the elation! So where does this put us on "the list", you ask? Haha! I really don't know. I just emailed our caseworker to get a better idea. In the world of adoption forums, we have an unofficial list and according to it, there are only 4 families ahead of us requesting a girl over 12 months old. The referrals that came in today were not newborns, so the possibility of us getting a child over one is still there. For those of you that know me, you know I over analyze things and that's exactly what I've been doing with this adoption...lol! I have the printed "unofficial" list and I stalk our agency's forum all day long and wait for referrals to come in and then I excitedly cross their names off MY list! My list is in no way accurate, because people add their information voluntarily. I like my list because it's probably shorter than the actual list and it makes me feel like this adoption will actually happen some day.
Are you ready for more over analyzing? Soooooo, IF our agency gets another batch of referrals like they did today in the same age range, we could very likely receive a referral REALLY soon, like REALLY SOON! I know I've been saying that for like ever, but it's the wishful thinking part of me.

Miles had a really great time at school with his classmates on his birthday! Daddy surprised him and snapped some pictures! I will post soon. We went out to eat as a family and he was overjoyed to receive some birthday presents! I wonder where he gets his zelousness from? HaHa! He has his birthday party this weekend and I really hope some of his new friends show up. If not, it will be Miles, me and Brandon and his grandparents watching a magician show and running around the Willard Recreation Center....lol! That would be a great photo op!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MILES!

So my baby is four years old today! I can't believe he is that old! I am just simply crazy about him!

Updates

Family
Everything is going great here! Brandon loves his new job and has started classes online. I am involved in everything! And Miles just learned how to write his name! He will turn four next week and I am so proud of him. He is just a sponge.
He just finished his soccer season and boy was that work! He really didn't like it until he "won" a trophy. There was eight weeks of drills teaching them the skills to play soccer and then the final week there was a game. It was hectic! Every parent was on the field with their child and cheering them on to make a goal and about 10 three and four years old were throwing tantrums when they didn't get the ball. This is him upset because he didn't get the ball.
Miles did make the first goal! I was trying to let some of the other kids get a chance and he didn't like that. Well they issued trophies to all the kids and this is him realizing that soccer isn't so bad.

So we received our team pictures and Miles is such a clown, I tell you! His personality is really starting to shine and it's becoming VERY obvious that we have an entertainer on our hands. He loves to be funny and I think we are going to look into getting him into classes at the local children's theater. See if you can find the teachers child in this photograph...lol!

He will be starting basketball next week. What are we doing to ourselves?

Our garden is coming along. We added mulch to the raised bed and I'm hoping to plant strawberries in it. Imagine a yearly supply of fruit from about 30 strawberry plants! I have to talk Brandon into it first. Originally, that bed was supposed to be for spring vegetables. But I was thinking we have so much room in our yard to build another raised bed, so why not use it now and plant our strawberries? He is going to kill me! It was a lot of work, but it all for the good right? We also added four blueberry plants that are two years old (pictured on the right), so they will produce a handful of berries this summer and in the years following each plant will produce about ten pounds!
Adoption
So we passed our 3 month waiting mark and didn't even realize it! There haven't been any referrals in the last week and a half, so there hasn't been much news. We do think we will be given a referral by Christmas and are hoping to travel by February. It's just hard to know much right now because it really depends on when the families ahead of us are given their referrals. The families that are getting referrals right now waited about 6 months.

Our First Missouri Garden

Those of you who know me, know that I get really excited about my vegetable garden. I know it's not the time of year to start planting things, but I had to get it started. We modeled this garden after a friend of mines. This garden is the same size as our Corpus Christi garden (4x20), but it is raised. We laid down chicken wire, landscaping cloth, mulch, and then the cinder blocks. We won't plant any veggies until next year, but I couldn't wait to get it laid out. I did order some blueberry bushes and am working on finding some strawberries. As you can see from the pictures, I have plenty of room for some corn, wheat and some apple trees...lol! You think I'm kidding. In the spring, we'll be fencing in the yard and planting all kinds of goodies. And then we will be Little House on the Prairie...you know Laura Engles was from this area...Ha!

8 Referrals in the Last Two Weeks!

So I know I haven't been the best blogger lately. Honestly, there has not been that much news for us. Some of our blog friends have received their referral, which is always exciting to see someone else go through the motions. After the Ethiopian Courts opened, there has been a flood of children being referred to families. Last week there were 5 referrals, 4 girls and one boy. And this week there were 3 referrals, 2 girls and 1 boy. The girls are coming in really young, like under 2 months. I'm kind of freaking out here, because it's looking like we will get a referral of a young girl before we'd get a referral of a girl over one. Don't get me wrong, what God gives us is our child. I was just mentally prepared for a toddler. It's exciting either way!
As for where this puts us on the waiting list, who knows? But in my own research, and from what our case worker told us a few months ago, we are probably around 15 families ahead of us for babies and the same for toddlers. So hopefully really soon.
We still haven't worked on her room. After a few years of disappointments, I am kind of scared to do it, honestly. I know it's going to happen, I just want to give myself a little more time. From time of referral until travel is looking like 2 months, so at the rate I go, I'll have plenty of time then!

ETHIOPIAN COURTS OPENED TODAY!!!!!!!!

The Ethiopian Courts opened today a week early! Praise God! So there will be many adoptive parents and agencies trying to get a court date for their referrals they received before or during the court closure, so the back log may be there for a little while, but they are open and can process orphans, so this means the referrals of children are in the near future and we are just a little bit closer to baby Marley!

Because of the age range we selected we know our baby is on this earth right now. We have been praying for her to be here by December 31, 2008, which means we would have to receive a referral like right now for that to happen. It's possible. Please continue praying for our baby. Right now the only thing I can think of is how hard it must be for her family to give her up. We, as adoptive parents, don't go into this wanting a child so much that we forget that someone is loosing thiers. Our daughter will probably be about a year old and that is a whole year she has gotten to be with her family. I truly hope that we are able to meet her family.
In the midst of waiting, we are settled into our new town and love it! I'm involved in multiple play groups, a prayer group, I volunteer at the church and I'm working on updating our family scrap book, I'm about a year behind. Brandon loves his new command and is active with Miles' soccer team. Miles really enjoys his new school and church. He goes to pre-school two times a week for the whole day and when we pick him up, he doesn't want to leave. He really enjoys learning and playing with a bunch a kids all day. I swear sometimes I think we should be brining two home for him, instead of just one. He needs siblings bad! It was 49 degrees this morning...brrrr! You guys know me, I got my heating blanket out!

2 Months Waiting Today!!!

So today marks the day our dossier arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia two months ago! AND, the Ethiopian courts open in three weeks! Yeah!

Preparing for Marley!

So last week our agency had 6 referrals! They are starting to come quickly and as soon as the courts open they will be coming faster! Our agency also added a 6th orphanage from which they pick children up from to refer to waiting parents like us. This 6th orphanage is only working with our agency, and they work towards trying to help mothers keep their children. Being PAP, prospective adoptive parents, it's so easy to just want this child. But we have to remember that in our anxiety, there is a family that is struggling with their live or struggling just to feed their family. We encourage you, our blog friends and family, to get involved in helping with humanitarian aid in Ethiopia. We have contributed, even in the midst of trying to pay for our adoption. So the referrals that our agency had last week didn't move our place on "the list." They were mainly infants and boys.
I went to a consignment sale for Mother's of Multiples at a local church this weekend, looking for jeans for Miles, he's growing so fast. I didn't find any jeans, but I did find Marley's crib set! And what a steal! This is a Pottery Barn set and is in Imaculate condition. I got this set for $20! Yeah! We won't be painting for putting up her crib until we recieve the referral, and because her room is currently my scrapbook room...lol!

Ethiopian Courts Open in ONE Month

The Ethiopian Courts open on October 9, 2008! That's one month from today. After the courts open, they can start the process of processing orphans and declaring abandoned or children as orphans and put them up for adoption. Many of the children in Ethiopia are not abandoned, but given up by their family for a better life, or because they can no longer care for them. These babies in Ethiopia are very loved.
So when the courts open, we should start seeing some more referrals of children. We are still praying for our daughter to be home by December 31, 2008. We have been praying for this date for about 6 months now and we have faith that it will happen. Honestly, it's beginning to look like it might take a miracle, but hey, we are always welcoming miracles! So for our prayerful friends out there, please keep us in mind and be praying that our daughter will be home with us by the end of this year.

Our Agency had Two Referrals Today!

Great news! Our Agency had two referrals today, one for an infant boy and one for a 9 month old boy! Our agency had not had any referrals of children for the last two months most likely due to the court closings in Ethiopia. So, as soon as it reopens, around Oct. 6, the referrals should be pouring in! So yeah for those two families. I can't imagine that day when our phone rings and it finally us that is assigned a child. Wow, what a happy day that will be!
I added a new feature to my blog. It's in the upper right hand corner. You can click on the "Follow Me" link and receive updates when I post a new post. This can be really cool to see how many people actually read my stuff I post, or it can be really sad, to see that I have no following and am just blogging to myself...lol! Anyways, check it out.

Miles and his Trumpet

Miles and Daddy have been having jam sessions with their horns. It's so funny actually. So we named Miles after Miles Davis, because we both LOVE jazz and we thought it was a really cool name. We never want to force an instrument on our children, but honestly, it's in our family. My dad, as many of you know, was a professional musician for 22 years and played the saxophone. So anyways, last Christmas, Miles asked for a trumpet. We couldn't believe it. A three year old wanted a real trumpet for Christmas. So we bought him one on Ebay for a penny...and $65 shipping...lol! Well he's toyed around with it a little, he has built up his chops and can play. He doesn't really hit notes yet, but him and daddy listen to a kids jazz cd and he matches the beats. It's really becoming an amazing thing to watch and I'll try to get video up soon. But here are few pictures. I know he makes Daddy and Papaw proud!

Is My Baby Ready for Soccer or What?

So Miles starts his first sport in a few weeks and we are busy trying to get his attire ready! Or gear, whatever! LOL! He is so excited, we count down the days on his calendar. We found him some shin guards, they are so tiny! So here is my baby posing for Sports Illustrated!

Can you tell who he gets his smile from? Lol, he's overly excited, just like his Mama!

Our Family is Back Together!

So daddy made it to Missouri last Monday afternoon and Miles was ecstatic! So our family is back together, not yet complete, but the current family is happy here in southwest Missouri and especially love our little town of Willard. We believe we have found a church, North Point Church.We plan to attend a newcomers dinner and an expo night for the different ministries to get involved in. Elisa is interested in the teens and high schoolers, and Brandon is thinking about ushering. We can't wait to get involved in this church and become a family with them.
Elisa and Miles have met some great friends in our weekly prayer group. We alternate houses for lunch every week and eat delicious food prepared by all the mommies! Most of the children are going to be Marley's age, so she already has a playgroup! Yeah!
Miles started preschool at Christian Schools of Springfield for two days a week. They teach the ABEKA homeschool curiculum, which I love and am delighted that he will have school time AND play time. I'm finding that having an only child preschooler is hard. I feel like he needs brothers and sisters bad! Yes, I said brothers and sisters...lol! We are starting out with little Marley, but who knows where God will lead us after her!
Brandon doesn't have to be at work for a few weeks so we are going to be building an AWESOME organic vegetable garden and doing some landscaping and painting.
There are so many things to do here in Springfield and Willard. Miles will start soccer in a few weeks and we try to bike daily on the wonderful trails throughout our new town. We want to eventually build up our endurance to bike one of the many 25-35 mile bike ride events they have all the time. I promise to take pictures of the farmers market that I frequent every week that has TWO organic farmers and one that sells meat!
During our move and the unbelievable things God has done in our lives over the last few months, we have learned, unlike our last move, that we are responsible for our own spiritual growth. Which is something we are both working on right now. We have felt the amazing favor of God in our lives with our move, renting a house, buying a second house, living in a beautiful family friendly town, finding a new church so soon, finding some of the BEST friends so soon and His hand in our adoption. We, as believers tend to rely on our church building or pastors to grow us and I am SOOO guilty of this. But part of growing in your faith means understanding how to grow and accepting responsibility. So today I was brought to:

1 Timothy 4: 7b-8 "train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."

So in this transition time in our lives, we are working on training ourselves to grow, of course with the help of attending a church and fellowshipping with other believers. But this time is different. We want to make ourselves more accountable for moving to the next step. We want to be examples of great Christians. We want people to see the difference God has had on our lives and help them get there.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2

Brandon and I aren't perfect and just like Steve Harvey stays "He ain't through with me yet!" But we are trying to live by the above verse and not conform to the traditions, patterns, worldliness and selfishness of our world, but we want to be transformed and renew our mind all for His glory.
I'll be reading Beth Moores new bible study, "Stepping Up" for anyone that wants to join me! We've also commited to 30 minutes of "God Time" daily.

As for the Adoption:
I know many of you are wondering what's going on. Well as we have mentioned before. Their are only 15 families ahead of use asking for the same age and sex. In June, there were about 12 referrals of children and none really since. It's probably due to the court closure in Ethiopia for the rainy season. We are trusting God and knowing that our daughter is there already and that He and the many people that love her are caring for her. For those of you familiar with our prayer list, many have been answered, we thank you for your prayers. We are still praying for a referral of our daughter, a court date and travel before December 31st of 2008. It's actually VERY possible, we just need to rain referrals really soon! There are many many other adoptive parents that have been waiting much longer than us and I pray that these children get matched really soon and get to be with their forever families as soon as possible. Our adoption is almost funded. Brandon sold his mustang and we were able to put 90% of that money away and give the rest to our agency for humanitarian aid. Ethiopia is going through a very tough famine right now and if you can help, like Christ calls us to, your help could save a life! Please consider sponsoring a child.

Look What Came to my House This Morning!!!

WHAT AN AMAZING HUSBAND I HAVE!

Have I Mentioned that I LOVE my New Town?

Today was the YMCA Dream Big in the Park. Baisically, they had several booths set up for the kids and parents to see all that the Y and the programs they have and opportunities in the community. Miles had a blast with the instruments set up and here are a few pictures.

Adoption Update: This is not one...lol! Just waiting. There have not been referrals for our agency in about 6 weeks, and I'm sure it's because they are trying to get the families that are traveling before and during the court closure taken care of. Hopefully soon!