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!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

So this is the wetlands that are behind our back yard, or should I say, are part of our back yard. This is what we see when we go out on our deck in our back yard. Well this evening is soooo beautiful, I had to share it with y'all. The crickets and birds are chirping,the weather is about 72 degrees and will drop to 62 degrees tonight!!!

So that is why we have the WINDOWS OPEN in August!!! Just ignore our laundry, I refuse to connect the dryer, I'm waiting on Brandon....lol!


This is my beloved orchid! I have been wanting one for a very long time, and waited until we moved to avoid having to move with a flower...lol! She was on sale and her name is Ophelia...lol! Some of you will get that! Also notice my new kitchen curtains I just made today, and the paint samples behind Ophelia, I'm changing the kitchen to a buttercream, and I think I'm going to be bold and border the top part of the wall with a thick chocolate stripe? Did you notice the window open...lol, don't be jealous!
This is another reason that it's a BEAUTIFUL day....My new friend Cricut! For my scrapbooking friends out there, this is an essential tool to scrapbooking and I've wanted one forever. But.....they are like $200 new, and that's after they have dropped the price. Well I found this one on ebay for $50!!! HOLY COW! I finally got one and CHEAP!

So Miles and I have been having "school time" and have been working on letters, following directions, cutting, days of the week, months of the year, and counting to 50. So a lot has been on MY calendar lately, that I decided we needed to make Miles a calendar so that he can keep track of when Daddy is coming home, his play dates and most importantly when he starts playing soccer! Yes, my baby's first sport! It's offered right here in the little town of Willard! I love it here! So here is his calendar...

One Week Down!

Well we have been in our home for one week now and I can honestly say, everythings in it's place. Minus a few manly things. Our dryer is a 3 prong and the wall is a 4 prong, so I'm line drying our clothes on the deck. I've been saying I'm going hippy, green or whatever you want to call it. My birthday's coming up, y'all could send me a washboard! LOL!
We've met some really cool people so far, thanks to my friend Audrey, who hooked me up with one of her friends. We are trying another church this weekend, I can't wait to find one! I have a lunch date with another ET adoptive family that are getting their son in aobut 6 weeks. A REAL LIFE ETHIOPIAN BABY!!! It will be my first real life ET baby to see in person. I stalk blogs all day, but wow, and they live really close to us. Hopefully Marley will be coming home soon too.
Adoption News: Nothing right now. Courts are closed until October, but referrals can still come in, we are hoping they do. Honestly, I'm starting to see a bit of God's timing. During this move and transtitions, have not had much time to focus on Marley's room, hair bows or petty coats. I'm gonna have to focus on getting settled in and in a routine before I can really realize that we are about to have another child! Miles has been asking about a baby in our house lately. We haven't really talked much about it to him, other than some babies come from tummies and some come from airplanes...lol. I know, I need a better explanasion, any advice is welcome!
Looks like Miles will be starting his first organized sport...soccer. The town we live in has a non=competitive league for his age to teach him about organized sports, so itlooks like a go.

WE ARE IN MISSOURI!!!

Well we finaly made it here on Wednesday afternoon and the movers came on Thursday afternoon and I got internet and cable (or not so cable) on Friday. I am proud to say that my house all unpacked! The garage, that's another story...I'm saving it for Brandon. But the house is all in order and I cooked my first meal tonight, Spaghetti and asian green beans from the farmers market....WHICH I LOVE! They have it two miles up the road and they have two organic farmers and one who sells meat!!!!!!!!! For those of you who know me, THIS IS HUGE! I was so worried about where I was going to find my organic products and I settled and went shopping at Walmart and the next day I found this Farmers Market and fell in love! Anyways.....lol!

So here are some pictures of our 5 week adventure of staying with friends and family...

HOLY COW!

Okay, so maybe not a cow...lol! I just found out that their are only 15 let me say that again 15 families ahead of us asking for the same age and sex! Oh My God, yes I said OMG because that's all I can say! There have not been any referrals for the last two weeks, but last month they referred out 12 children. Again, the courts will be closed until October, so we would not be able to travel until after a court date, which looks closer to November, if we get a referral before October. OMG! I'm just in shock because we are actually going to have a daughter and it's becoming so real that I just can't believe it. Yeah, we knew it would happen some day, but wow, only 15 families ahead of us!

As for the move, we are in Houston and will be going to Sea World this weekend and then to Dallas for 2 days, Oklahoma for a day and then...............HOME SWEET HOME!!! I'll be sure to update everyone once we get there. I don't have my wire to upload pictures, so you'll have to wait until we get home to Missouri.

WE ARE PAPER PREGNANT!!!

Our dossier is in Ethiopia and we are officially waiting for a referral of a girl under 18 months. We have been gathering paperwork, having visits with the social worker and going a bit crazy for the last 7 months, but it's finally here. We've done our part and now we just wait! I've attached the prayer list again and have highlighted the answered prayers.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR US...IT'S WORKING!

• CIS San Antonio will process our application in the next 5 weeks
• God will provide us with the money we will need to pay for the remainder of our adoption expenses (WE ARE GETTING CLOSER!)
• For our baby girl. For her health. That she feels the love of God and that He is her Father always and she always finds love, peace and faith in Him. And wherever she is right now, that He is creating her to be our daughter and she is loved and held and fed and cared for
• For our baby's birth parents. For the toughest decision they may ever make. Or for their health. I truly feel the pain that this family may be going through and please pray that this is their only and last option
• For our agency. That they continue to understand the anxiousness that adoptive parents feel and process our paperwork accordingly and ethically
• PLEASE pray that our dossier will be out of our hands and in Ethiopia before we move on August 15, 2008!
• For a referral of a girl under 18 months, court date and travel before December 31, 2008
• For us to become the parents that God has called us to be to this baby girl. To give us the knowledge and wisdom we will need to be her parents
• For Miles, that he bonds and loves his baby sister
• That we will continue to stay focused and not to want this adoption more than we want our God

Please share in our joy this day! We should have our little one in about 6 months!

Her name will be Marley!

Life as a Nomad

Nomad : 1. a member of a people who have no fixed residence but move from place to place usually seasonally and within a well-defined territory

We are living as nomads! I had been previously referring to our lives as homeless, in my sarcastic, trying to be funny, kind of way. A friend of mine approached me at church asking about our nomadness (is that a word English teacher)? Then I realized that while we technically are homeless right now, we are a member of a people who have no fixed residence, but move from place to place usually seasonally, and the people that are housing us have homes and have been very generous in offering their home to us, therefore we aren't homeless. We are just nomads! LOL!

We have a few more weeks of this and then Miles and I are off to Missouri to set up our new home. I will be driving myself, so we are breaking the trip into 4 different stops....I'm the one who sleeps in cars, not drives. But along the way, continuing our lives as nomads, we'll get to visit with family and dear friends.

While living out of a suitcase may not seem glamourous to most, I think we are enjoying it. The way God has provided for us so far has been amazing and has shown us that wherever we are, even if we are nomads, He's still with us and still uses us, and blesses us. We are trying to live a life of anticipation. Anticipating God's will on our lives. We have seen many many times what obedience does, and how He uses it to teach us and reach us. So whatever He has for us, we are ready! Bring it on!

ADOPTION UPDATE
Our Dossier is in DC getting authenticated by Ms. Condaleeza Rice and should be in Ethiopia next week, after that we are official, and believe me, you all will know when that happens! Our wait will probably be about 6 months and our daughter will probably be about a year old. We sold the mustang and are just a few thousand short of funding our adoption....!!!!!

This is What a Dossier looks like!

Thank you Toni for taking the time to take this very important picture for us! Basically, it's all of our birth certificates, marriage licence, police records, homestudy, power of attorney, financial statements, employment letters, medical letters, references, and much much more. All notarized and then certified by our Secretary of State in the state that the document originated. So we have Secretary of State certifications from PA, IL, AR and TX!

Brandon's Entry!!!

All,

Elisa has done such a wonderful job with her blog entries, I am so thankful for her and her Godly words of wisdom and encouragement. I also believe that she is a much better, and more eloquent speaker than I am.

But today, I am putting aside my shyness because I am too far overwhelmed by God's blessings to not say anything. Pastor Bil said awhile back in one of his sermons, "If you are obedient to God in everything you do, God will bless you until you are completely overwhelmed." Of course I heard and understood what Bil was saying, but I don't honestly think I had been obedient in EVERYTHING I was doing. So I made a promise to myself to try to be obedient in all things I do everyday. And along the way, God started to pour His blessings upon me, and my family.

In a span of less than 30 days, my family and I have moved out of our home here in CC, rented out our home to another family, bought an additional home at my new duty station in Springfield, MO, helped Miles through a minor surgery, and submitted our COMPLETED dossier to our adoption agency!!!! Throughout all of this, God gave me a calmness I cannot explain. I feel stress free, and I am so thankful for what God is doing in our lives!!

And God still was not done! Today I sold my beloved 1965 Ford Mustang (yes the one I have had for over 17 years) and I didn't even blink an eye! God put it on my heart that selling it and using the money to go towards the adoption was the right thing to do. Again, it is sometimes a struggle, but I now have the mindframe to say that I must be obedient to what God is telling me, and God is blessing me for it.

I am in total awe of what God is doing in my life, and I am so excited to see what He has in store for me and my family. THANK YOU LORD!!!!

In His Glory,
Brandon Hyman