We are headed to Guatemala...

YES!!!!! You can say it is a "dream come true"...if one trip could do some of our "TOP" things on our "bucket-list"...this trip has the potential...

*get to see & experience Zach's birth country with him at a stage that he will remember ("Happy 5 years Home Day" TODAY, Precious Boy, oh, how we love you"!)
*meet our sponsor boy, about 5 years ago we started sponsoring him, he has "grown-up" with our family
*have our children see & experience people that do life with "less"
*serve as a family (we will see how much actual "serving" we get done with 9,6,3 year old children, but we are praying we can some)
*see some of the "ministry" my parents have been at for many years...they will be visiting Guatemala at the same time & we will get to connect with them & see several of the schools where they have advocated to get children sponsored
*and for an added bonus we get to go with my cousin's family, they adopted their daughter from Guatemala about the same time as Zach, here's Zach & Cristina shortly after they were both "home"..

We are excited to spend a part of our trip with this ministry, AMAZING what GOD is up to caring for HIS precious children in Guatemala!

Http://buildingtheblocks.blogspot.com/

Oh, there are a lot of prayer requests on our hearts,
but we have such peace & JOY for our time there...we just can't wait...(we don't leave till the end of the month)...so we do wait & pray!!!!

So where are we with this adoption journey?

In December we "announced" that we are adopting again, we were thrilled to finally "spill the beans"!

In another whole story we can post how God "called" us to adopt again, and in June 2010 we began the paperwork to bring another little one HOME!

On August 26, 2010 our paperwork was complete and we began on the "waitlist" at #90 for a baby girl. We knew it was going to be a long wait (that is why we started "early")...we have inched our way down the list. In December 2011, we were #14!

As exciting as it sounds, they say because of logistics the lower the numbers the slower things move, so that is where we are now, slooooooooooowly waiting!

It is crazy how much the timeline has moved out as we have furthered in this process, so it is difficult to predict when we will be bringing home our precious bundle!!?!

With Zach's adoption it was 13 months from the beginning of paperwork till he came home, 15 months from start to finish with Ellyana's adoption...and they both felt like an ETERNITY! With this adoption we are already sitting at 19 months and it easily could be another 12.

Life is full now, so that helps the "wait" fly by...I'm trying my hardest to not get "emotionally" drawn in...that happens very naturally once we get the referral ;)

And so we go on in faith, trusting the Lord, we appreciate prayers! Stay tuned, I'm sure there will be many more updates along the way...

Lovin' this video...

Beautiful music, adorable pictures & our kids love the ending...ENJOY!!!

The Purpose of Adoption

“The ultimate purpose of human adoption by Christians

is not to give orphans parents, as important as that is.

It is to place them in a Christian home that they might be positioned to receive the gospel, so that within that family the world might witness a representation of God taking in and genuinely loving the helpless, the hopeless, and the despised.”

– Dan Cruver “Reclaiming Adoption”

This quote was taken from today's blog post from Loving Shepherd Ministries...

http://loving-shepherd.org/blog/

So what did this Christmas bring?

LOTS of babies...and Ellyana is loving bathing, feeding, carrying around & packing them up...for as much she wasn't into dolls earlier...things have changed!!!

Precious time with the great-grandparents...Time with the newest little cousin...she's "for real"...and Ellyana was in her glory to get to hold her!Some time bowling

Getting to wash dishes with Grandma's gloves on...always a highlight

Guy time at the Bass Pro...Girl time at the Depot (no pictures...but it was a beautiful place to be this time of year)

Mom getting in on BJ's Christmas field trip

Our own family Christmas

And the kick-off to the season...a birthday party for Jesus with friends!We have so much to be thankful for...great time with family (our Mom's did amazing hosting the families for days)...fun with cousins, seeing lots of old friends & celebrating the newborn KING!!! Our kids have grown-up...we had to say 1 week away did not feel near as exhausting as years past...so that made it all the more fun!!!

We are soaking in the last few days of "break" (even though BJ went back yesterday)!

And as we thank the Lord for the many amazing blessings to 2011, we look forward & commit 2012 to Him!

We are adopting again!!!!

We are thrilled to share the news...we hope and pray to be bringing home a new baby sister from Ethiopia by this time next year! It has been an amazing journey...we will share more soon!

Blessings to your Christmas! We are thankful & humbled by God's amazing gifts!

Bravo, Dad! Much to be thankful for...

Brian got voted on for "tenure"...hoorah! Too funny, to try to try to explain this to the kids...we did a surprise dinner to Bravo! for him (thanks to a gift card :) "Tenure" sounds too much like "ten year" to get too far in the conversation with the kids & Zach's response as he was bewildered why we were celebrating..."don't you think Dad has worked long enough?"

The other 2 kids get to celebrate their "coming home days"...and BJ does too...we were so happy to have him home after almost 3 months in the NICU...his pick...Panera!!!

Uncle Jay sent BJ his 1st circuit board...he LOVED it & it came pretty easy to him...extra fun to have Grandpa here to help figure it all out! :)

Zach & I got to ride the bus with our church choir to visit my sister's church. Fun to see my sisters & their families, parents, aunt & lots of familiar faces from my college years. It was a quick trip...but we did get in a trip Custard Cup...thankfully that never changes :)

Zach with his buddies on the bus!

BJ's teacher coordinated their Friendship Feast...the full Thanksgiving meal celebrating with his class...it is a special time!

We had friends over & a few International Students for a full Thanksgiving dinner here (bought a few things pre-made) The one International student was saying how much she loves to see kids "dressed up"...we have enough costumes around here to fulfill her wish!And BJ & Brian won 3rd place in the Annual Turkey Shoot...BJ won 3 Turkey Drumsticks...perfect addition to the meal for the Internationals!

We did not get in everything we had hoped to for this Thanksgiving...but we feel so very thankful!

As was said at the Thanksgiving Eve service...

Thanksgiving is really a Christian holiday...for without the Lord and what He has done for us...it is just an act of comparing ourselves with others who have less.

We are so thankful for the Lord & what He has done for us...and we our hearts go out to those who do not have as much on this earth...and it does make us THANK-FULL!!!