I Fed Ex'd our dossier last Thursday, April 12th!  For those of you who don't know what a dossier is, just take a peek at the papers in the picture.  These are letters, forms, certificates, home study, passports, etc. that have all been part of the last nine months of our lives.  They were authenticated by Arizona Secretary of State and are now in the hands of our agency, the U.S. Government, and Ethiopia. Woohoo!  Now we wait to hear when we are officially on the wait list, and wait some more to meet our kiddos.  I've felt butterflies in my belly every day since Thursday! It feels so much more real now that we've pretty much completed our end of the process (other than fundraising and travel).  We are SO excited!

Closer

My emotions flew into overdrive today at church.  What an amazing, spirit-filled, loving, loaded with servants, church family we have.  I feel so at peace and at home when I'm at church.  I want to be there all the time.  Not because the thermostat is set perfectly or because potluck Sunday is heavenly, though it is, but because my heart aches to be with my church family. There is nothing like the love between believers who are filled with the presence of Jesus when we are together in worship and praise and studying the Word. 

Why aren't more churches like this?  Our pastor said it perfectly today.  Too many churches see themselves just as this - a building where religion takes place.  What we do at our "church" is different.  We are the church.  We gather together as the Saints, made holy and righteous because of Jesus.  Thank you God for loving us and forgiving us as we fall in repentance at your feet!  Thank you for adopting us as your own and hearing our cry as the needy and desperate children who need your grace and mercy.

Our church knows what this means - this spirit of adoption.  They carry the heartache of orphans to their beds at night, and they do what God has called them to do for the least of His.  We are so blessed to be part of this body of Christ.  We have dear friends who have walked the path and cleared the road before us.  We have friends investing in our journey.  This is what I call true family. 

We are getting closer to being on the waiting list.  We've been through the fingerprint scan and the police stamp of approval.  Now we prepare the last pieces of our dossier and get it ready to send out.  I pray that God continues to hold our hands through this process.  He has provided just what we need, just as we need it.  How true He is to His word.  What a faithful and loving God we serve.

November in Queen Creek

Bye, Bye 2011

Fall came and went, and winter is here in its usual Arizona fashion.  Our nights are downright cold, but when the sun is high in the sky we enjoy the beauty and warmth of living in the desert. We have been busy since July - a quick trip to Southern Cal, Rhyan turned 13, the start of a new season with our worship dance ministry, Ty's baptism, a bountiful Thanksgiving, very blessed Christmas and New Year's Holidays, the surprise purchase of a new home, and Ty turned 10!

We are patiently waiting to hear that our home study has been approved. We don't know if the papers are simply sitting on a judge's desk somewhere, or if the official notice is traveling through the Postal Service world. What is a "home study" you ask. It's an experience in exposure. It involves opening the doors, windows, and peep holes of our lives and home, but when all is said and done, its worth it to be closer to bringing our children home.

We had an amazing social worker who made three trips to interview each of the four of us and see our new home. Still, I have to throw this one out there, regardless of how amazing our social worker is. How does one answer, "So, why do you want to adopt?" Well. Let's see. "Because God told us to." Some people get that, but the majority of the population simply want to hear some sort of twilight zone explanation that involves lots of emotional babble. The crazy thing is that the emotional stuff is there too. And when questioned, "Do you think you will love these children like you do 'your own'?" My response was and is, "I already do."

God has shown favor on the process throughout. He has graciously provided just what we needed at the exact time we needed it, so we trust that He will continue to fund the journey. We now have a few papers to pull together and have notarized, and our CIS background check needs to be completed. It feels great to be this much closer to having our dossier ready to submit. Then the real crazy waiting begins. Yup. Definitely like a pregnancy... a real long one.

One of the myriad of "block heads" at Legoland posing with me and Rhyan.

The Star Wars Lego creations were amazing!

One of Rhyan's friends made her an Origami birthday card. Very Cool.

Sea World 2011

Dinner with Shamu. Definitely Rhyan's favorite.

Ty is baptized by Pastor Eric, Pastor Emmanuel from Ghana, Africa, and Daddy.

Thanksgiving 2011 at Mom and Dad's

Our new home! 

We're Approved!

I received a phone call today from the Director of the Ethiopia Program with Children's Hope International.  We're approved!  It's real and official.  Now the mountains of paperwork and hurrying up to wait begins.  I know God's hand is all over this.   

Summer Swim Team Time - Go Rhyan!

Gabrielle and Rhyan enjoying their first ribbons of the summer.

Rhyan missed practice the morning they learned their dive start.  Call me biased, but I think she looks pretty good considering.

Rhyan, Jenna, Gabrielle, Addi

Spring Baseball for Ty

This spring was exciting for Ty!  It was his first season playing kid-pitch ball and really learning many true baseball rules.  We think his favorite thing about the season was learning how to steal.  How is it that throwing oneself to the ground and eating dirt is so thrilling? 

Paul coached.  I learned how to keep score...and ended up with that task every game.  Rhyan made a great, new friend.  It was a blast!  We also celebrated when the boys won the play offs and earned the title of "Champions".  They worked so hard and were so humble the entire season.  They truly deserved the #1 spot.