Our Christmas Morning

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Christmas morning was a sweet time at our place.  I had been a little nervous because my plan was to go back to giving each child 3 gifts to mirror the 3 gifts given to Jesus (plus a few small family things thrown in that I couldn't resist) and try to keep it a little simpler (as best I could).  I shopped for our foster child the same way, but then our agency and his court advocate came in with bags of presents for him from local donors.  It was really super to see how all of these strangers had sacrificed to make his day special.  However it still left my other 3 kids with their 3 gifts and I wondered how they would perceive our foster child's 20+ gifts.  

Well it ended up working out fine.  Our sweet little guy came down with the stomach virus on Christmas eve and was pretty bed ridden Christmas morning.

So we let our other 3 come down and open their presents then we explained why the little one upstairs had so many.

Everyone carried a bag of presents and we took his to his room to open so we could all celebrate with him as he discovered all of the blessings people had sent his way.  About 1/2 way through he tuckered out and Ruthie was more than happy to assist him from there.

We finished up with the Christmas story and the true meaning of that day.  It was a great and relaxing day.   I guess once again, we got exactly what we needed.

They Aren't Little For Long

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Last week was a week of Christmas feasts, parties, and polar express day.   I am officially off for Christmas now and looking forward to a week of snuggles with my babies.  Oh and I am turning the adoption brain off.  

But Apparently You Get What You Need. :)

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IT IS A REAL SONG!! :)  If you don't have any idea what I am talking about, go read the post before this one.  

My friends were kind enough not to correct me with great spiritual wisdom but instead with a different kind of wisdom, The Rolling Stones. :)   I have the greatest friends on the planet! Love you girls.

So now to focus on what I needed. The week did have some redeeming qualities to it.

*Provision-  We have been abundantly blessed through the t-shirt sales, friends, and family such that there really is light at the end of this adoption expense tunnel.   I am really encouraged and continue to see God's faithfulness in providing for what He has called us to.  I think He has big plans for my dimply little princess.

*Blessing- Our foster child was "adopted" for Christmas by a local corporation and they sent 2 garbage bags full of wrapped presents to my house for him yesterday.  He is going to be over the top excited Christmas morning.  He still says that he has never had a Christmas present before.  He will definitely never say that again.

*Creativity- My completely awesome friend Bernie heard my cry for a personal and creative gift idea for the 20 nannies who have taken care of Maggie over the past year and a half and she helped me make these. They are words that represent what the ladies have given to my sweet girl while she has been in their care.  I can't wait to give them to the nannies.  I hope they are blessed.  There are 20 total.  Thanks Bernie. You rock!

*Friendship- When the t-shirt disaster happened, I called a few neighbors to come and give me their opinions.  My friend, Amy White, escorted me back to the print shop to get everything worked out.  She then stayed for dinner and our kids played together for hours.  My oldest, Jack, doesn't have many play dates because of his condition.  I haven't seen him that happy in a long time.  This also wouldn't have been possible if my youngest hadn't had his asthma attack which canceled my date night.

*Progress- When I received word that our LOA had not arrived, they were able to confirm that our dossier had been translated and was in the LOA room.

So no you don't always get what you want, but you do always get what you need. :)

You Don't Always Get What You Want

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When my kids were 2 and would throw temper tantrums, my husband used to sing, "you don't always get what you want. no. no."   I am not sure if it was an original song or one passed down through generations, but this week I heard it in my head several times.  It was as if God was taunting me like I used to watch my husband taunt my children.   Okay I know God doesn't taunt us so don't go sending me messages about his loving kindness.   I know.  It's a song in my head, that's all, and here's why.

* Our Foster Kiddo-  I was counting on some big things working out this week for him and his permanent placement.  It was all lined up to work out by Christmas, but it hasn't.  People whose opinions matter strongly have not been as motivated as we have to advocate for this little guy. So I didn't get what I wanted.  Not yet anyway.

*Maggie- Another case where people whose jobs matter aren't as motivated to move as quickly as I would like for them too.  No LOA means I REALLY DIDN'T GET WHAT I WANTED!!!  My husband still has faith for things to work out by Chinese New Year.  I, however, am still throwing my temper tantrum.

*Romantic Date with my Husband- Had a great weekend date planned with the hubby.  The kind of let's get away, refocus, look each other in the eyes again, and prepare for this next journey God has called us to date that was, yes, canceled due to a child with acute asthma.  

And, Drum Roll Please...

*T-SHIRTS-   Oh the t-shirt drama around here.  The ones that were supposed to be ready Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday, then Friday that came home all printed in boxes to turn out WRONG! They were missing the verse on the back along with a few other things that did not turn out as I had planned.   Okay that was the biggest temper tantrum of all.  I think maybe it was the culmination of my trying to play it cool all week, have perspective, and all that stuff good people do but I was no longer capable of. 

Guess what friends- YOU DON'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT and that will go down as the theme of the week of December 15th, 2013.  

If you ordered a t-shirt, round 2 is supposed to be ready on December 30th.  Let's hope I get what I want this time because I am really excited about getting these out to people who have been so kind as to support us.

G'night. 

We Have Another Mountain And It's a Biggie. Please Pray

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NOW ONTO THE BIG PART:

Well we are up against our next mountain and God's next chance to do some moving.

Because of Maggie's severe heart condition and need for surgery, we are in the expedited process.   We are currently waiting on a very important document from China called our LOA (Letter of Acceptance).  We have to have that document for immigration to process her paperwork here to be a citizen which is required before we can travel.

China will shut down for 2 weeks at the end of January for Chinese New Year and since we spend 2 weeks in China for travel, we have to be out by the time that begins.

I know this is all very confusing but here is the breakdown for you:

We need our LOA to arrive this week in order for the other processes to be expedited and completed in time for us to travel by mid-January.  

On Sunday night, it will be Monday morning in China.  I need someone to come in, grab our paperwork in whatever stage it is in and complete it on Monday.  That way it will arrive to the States by the end of the week and we can get it to immigration to be processed before Christmas.

I told you it was a big mountain.

I just keep thinking that if God does call us to write a book about seeing Him move, this could be the climax.

**I need to make a very important clarification.  I am not talking God into anything here.  I know that he determined His course for this child before any of us even came into the world but He has allowed us to be a part of her story and I believe He wants to reveal Himself through his hand in her life.  Lord please let this be your next miracle for this child and move this mountain.

WILL YOU PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE join me in praying today?

Ask, Seek, Knock

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Matthew 7: 7-8  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!  So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

This is the 2nd day in a row that God has pointed me to this passage and then He went onto prove it, not once, but twice. 

First Time-  We have meetings set up with 2 different Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgeons.  One of them comes highly recommended by his hospital but I didn't know anyone who had personally used him.  I have some pretty specific desires for our surgeon and was praying for someone who could tell me about their personal experience with him.  Then last night, a friend sent me an email of a friend whose child had heart surgery.  Guess who their doctor was?  Yep- it was him.  Ask, Seek, Knock.

Second Time-  We stepped out on a limb and pre-ordered 100 shirts instead of our original plan of 50 because they were cheaper per shirt that way.  I told the Lord that it sure would be nice if we could make our investment back quickly so I didn't have to worry about losing money on this.  In 24 hours, we sold enough shirts to cover our investment.  Ask, Seek, Knock.

So why do I still have fears in this process?  I guess it is time to go back and meditate on Matthew 7 again and probably ask for a little forgiveness in the process.  

ASK, SEEK, KNOCK, ASK, SEEK, KNOCK, ASK, SEEK, KNOCK, ASK, SEEK, KNOCK

So What's Next... If...

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Now back to my post.

So What's Next...

Oh isn't that the magical question.  I feel like my world revolves around the word "IF".

I have the "Well IFs"
*Well if China is able to expedite then you could bring her home in 1-2 months from being matched.

The "But IFs"
*But if they don't expedite, then the average wait is 4-6 months from being matched.

The "And IFs"
*And if we don't get your TA by Chinese New Year, then you will experience a slow down due to China shutting down for 2 weeks.

And the "What IFs"
* What if we don't get her in time and she gets pneumonia and doesn't make it?
*What if something happens to her while we are there?
*What if it is like Ruthie and stuff just doesn't arrive and no one knows why and then it takes forever?

At uncertain times like this, it is so good to know the God of "IFs"! Oh how much better is this IF...

Matthew 17:20
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, IF you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

MOUNTAINS FOR MAGGIE!

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THANK YOU SO MUCH!  We have sold out of shirts.  

Front

Back

You can buy a t-shirt by filling out the form below.  If you want to buy more than one, you can hit  the "continue shopping" button in the PayPal screen and you'll be directed right back here to add more.

Why Transformed?

I am so glad you asked!

At our church we frequently say, "It's okay to not be okay.  It's just not okay to stay that way."  We believe that the Christian journey is one of being transformed into the image of Christ.

Had my life not been transformed by Christ, I would not be an adoptive parent.  His call for me to step out in faith and adopt a special needs child is a reflection of His transformational power in my life.

But it doesn't stop there.  Maggie's life is going to be transformed by being removed from the orphanage and being placed in our home.  I pray that some day her life will be transformed spiritually as well.

I wanted the t-shirt to represent that transformation and that is why you not only see the word Transformed, but you also see the butterflies being transformed from the cherry blossom flowers.

So it is more than a t-shirt.  It is a picture of the transformation that Christ is doing in each of us who have put our faith in Him and of the transformation He is doing in the life of my Maggie Mei.

Tomorrow I will tell you how you can order one!

Want to Help Bring Maggie Home?

Okay I am so excited about this that I can't wait another day to share it!

Several months ago, I had a t-shirt idea as a fundraiser for this adoption and my friend Genny helped me put it to print! I love how it turned out.  I need a few more days to get my stuff together and set up paypal and all of that good stuff, but I wanted to go ahead and show you the design!

Please help spread the word!

Want to share it on your blog? You can grab my button here.  Please let me know if this doesn't work. I am a little new to this button stuff.  Like I said, I am still getting my stuff together. :)

<a href="http://www.4uruthie.blogspot.com"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpDqAH2Iw6M_D9mEvZ8-u_yvdDLgLSGae7t5IxFhPdFxWXlgLRPYuF-UEwCiywJSJif3oJp9RqMM1tAwjGCcuRwND7BELnpash5zgA1bLtHjhog0T2bCIMvWnCANj1GLh9-7lxjj9jmf8/s1600/Blog+Button.jpg" height="150" width="150"/></a>

A Disaster or A Blessing?

I guess it is all in how you view it.

Okay so "disaster" may be a strong word for a winter storm but it was the only one I could think of at the time.   So let me just go ahead and tell you about how sometimes our plans are turned upside down.

I started out the week with a quick trip to Dallas, a reunion with some friends,  and 6 photo shoots planned back home between Thursday and Sunday.  I took Ruthie to Dallas and it all changed.  

That little winter weather event arrived a few hours earlier than I expected and there was ice falling on my windshield before I could even get to my hotel from Ruthie's appointment. 

 Okay so "don't feel sorry for me #1"- I scored a free night at the Gaylord Texan with my hubs Marriott points.  The plan was to see some friends and go home in the morning, but the weather made that little reunion impossible. 

Then we woke up to THIS! Yes 3-4 inches of ice!  We were clearly not going home that day and my baby girl was more than excited to play it out!

For the record- snow angels don't work on ice.

But writing your name and then adding "mom" to be sweet does work and it buys you a few more minutes in the cold.

Going home on Friday was clearly out and then came Saturday.  I woke up to news about people sliding off of bridges and 100s of 18 wheelers abandoned on the highways around Dallas.  I heard reports of 10-18 hour waits on the roads and advice to pack food and a blanket if you have to get out.
Looks like it is one more night in paradise. :)

Oh and did I mention it will be night #3 free on points?   I guess this husband traveling to Chicago for school stuff is paying me back. :)

So the downside (other than not being around to help my husband and having to cancel 4 of my shoots) is that it aint cheap to eat around this place.  Ruthie and I have been sharing meals, watching a lot of TV, and trying to make this little adventure as cheap as possible.

But today I splurged.  I mean who can pass up a character brunch when you are trapped for another day?  I am so glad that I decided to go for it.

Okay I am not going to suggest that God froze north Texas for me to have some uninterrupted time with my baby girl who is about to be a big sister, but I think He might have worked it into the plan and given us a sweet little blessing in disguise.

Our Christmas Card Outing

 My super resourceful friend, Angie, found this great truck for her photo shoot and of course I had to return for one of my own.   I love those people!

If I Lived In Bible Times

I think if I lived in Bible times, I would have been one of those people that Jesus shook his finger at.  You know like someone He would have said, "O, ye of little faith" or "Get away from me Satan" to.   I have seen God's hand move over and over and over and yet I still fret.  I doubt and I fear.  I have what ifs when it comes to getting Maggie that include words like "mistake" and "death" and "money."  I am just keeping it honest here, people.  I would have been one of those shake His finger at Bible people.

At times like this, I hear the song verse in my head, "Here I raise my Ebenezer.  Hither by Thy help I come."  It comes from this passage in the Bible,

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, "Thus far the LORD has helped us." So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel; the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The towns that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites. (1 Samuel 7:12-14 NRSV)

An Ebenezer is a reminder of God's help and presence.  It represents those times when we have seen God move.

The Hendersons are praying for some big things this week for our foster child and for Maggie.  Will you help me by sharing your Ebenezers either in the comment section of the blog or in the comment section of Facebook?  As I pray for God to move and I fight the battle to doubt, I would love to read about the times that God has shown Himself in your life.

Mountains For Maggie: Part 5 November 19, 2013

I left off last time with us being Dossier to China.  You non-adoptive people are learning way more about this process than  you ever bargained for.  Anyway, we received confirmation that we were officially logged into China's database on November 13, 2013.  That meant whenever Maggie's paperwork arrived, we would be eligible.

A little back story- while I was in the orphanage, I connected with one of the employees.  I even gave her an American name and my email address if she wanted to keep in touch.  She is just one of those kinds of people that if I lived in China, I think we would be big buds.  Now fast forward.

On November 19, 2013 I woke to an email in Chinese.  It was from my friend and basically it said that Maggie was doing well, that her condition was stable, she was learning to walk, and to keep an eye out for her paperwork.  It also said they were taking good care of her until I could get there and not to worry.

I was over the top excited to receive that.  The peace of knowing she was doing well was such a gift but I had no idea what God was up to next.  Two hours later my phone rang.   It was my family coordinator and she was telling me that Maggie's paperwork had arrived!!! She warned me that it looked serious and wanted to know if I was still interested.  Of Course!!!!

Okay friends, on paper this child looks near dead.  So how good was God to give me that email 2 hours before her official medical report was in my inbox.  I know what the paperwork says is going on with her heart.  But I also know how she looked on November 18th.  She is stable and learning to walk!  The Lord gave me the assurance I needed so I could conquer that mountain of fear.

She is officially ours!

So you may be wondering what's next.  Here are our next mountains we need God to move.

1. We are praying to travel by Chinese New Year.  That is a giant mountain.
      *We need her LOA to come in the next week
      *We need immigration and China to process her TA expeditiously
      *We need favor for a quick consulate appointment

2.  We are praying for an amazing Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgeon.  Here is what I would like.
      *I want them to meet with me before I leave for China.
      *I want medications and possibly oxygen that I can take over with instructions on when to use  
        them.
      *I want access to them while I am in China in case I have questions or an emergency.
      *I want to land in Houston and then take her to see them the next day and possibly be admitted  
        for testing and a plan of care.

3.  I need God to hold my baby's heart in His hands.  I need him to oxygenate her blood and protect
      her little body until I can get her home.

Will you be praying with us for God to move our next mountains?

Mountains for Maggie: Part 4 Our Dossier- That Mountain of Paperwork

A dossier is the stack of paperwork that you send to a foreign country to adopt a child.  When we adopted Ruthie, it took us close to 6 months to put together our dossier.  The process involves a lot of documents that have to be taken through several steps and some of them take a while to collect like your home study and immigration approval.   We knew if we were going to do this, it was imperative that we beat her paperwork arriving to the States and we had no idea when that was going to be.  Having seen God move, we trusted He would take care of that detail and we just needed to do our part.

I contacted my social worker from Ruthie's adoption and asked if she would be willing to do this home study.  When I told her our situation, her words were "As a social worker, I need to tell you that what you are pursuing is impossible.  As a fellow Christian, I am telling you all things are possible through Christ."   She expedited our home study and we did our part to have everything ready before it even arrived to us officially.  My fellow adoptive moms were amazing about forwarding paperwork  to me ahead of time so when I received emails from our agency, I immediately replied with the completed tasks.  I think they were a bit stunned and were quick to tell us that we were breaking records.

Then came immigration.  That step can take months and the government shut down was threatening to slow it even more.  We prayed.  Begged. Sent a few extra emails and made a few extra phone calls. We even showed up for fingerprints weeks before our appointment and received favor.   Finally, it was expedited and we received another completion faster than expected.

Trent's mom jumped in to help us with authentication steps by hand delivering materials.  Church members notarized documents again and again.  Friends prayed and sent their example forms.
All said and done, we completed in 2 1/2 months what should have taken us 6 months and we were dossier to China in record time and before her paperwork arrived.

Mountain of paperwork moved- Check.

Mountains For Maggie: Part 3 Coming Home Mountains

I returned home on a Sunday and wondered how many days it would take for me to get this baby out of my mind but every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was her dimply cheeks smiling and those little fat legs kicking when I turned the corner and approached her.   I just couldn't shake it.

Trent and I decided we should present the possibility of pursuing her to our kids and see what they said.  Jack, my oldest, is pretty sure the world would have been perfect had he just been an only child.  To our surprise, Jack quickly said, "Let's go get her.  She needs a home and we have one.  What are we waiting on?"  That was coming home mountain #1- moved.

Her Chinese name has Mei in it like Ruthie's Chinese name did.  Trent and I felt like God gave us the name Maggie several years ago.  So Maggie Mei would be perfect.  She and Ruthie could share a Chinese heritage and a middle name that they had both been given while in China.  Ruthie Mei and Maggie Mei.  The thought of it was both exciting and a little encouraging to take the next step.

So I did it.  I emailed my old family coordinator at our agency with the "what's the chance" inquiry.  Her response was less than encouraging but completely understandable.  She basically said it was impossible.  There were people ahead of us open to a child with a heart defect and her paperwork was due any day.  Also, her paperwork would likely be "log in date only" and we weren't even in the China program so we wouldn't even qualify until we completed our dossier which would take about 6 months.  This is all even if her paperwork came to our agency.  While they have a partnership with this orphanage, not all kids go through them so they might not ever even see this file.

I was confused and disappointed.  I told Trent and then turned on the TV to the Hallmark Channel to clear my mind.  This is going to sound crazy weird but the show that was on was a movie about a girl named Maggie May.  I yelled for Trent to come in and all we could do was laugh.  God is that you telling us not to give up yet?   That night we completed our application for the waiting child program in faith.

Hmm should I stop here or tell you what happened next?

Okay so the next day she called me.  My old family coordinator is now the assistant director of our agency and she called me because she had been reviewing some initial paperwork our team leader brought home on the kids in the orphanage.  What she found was that Maggie's heart condition was more serious than she realized and they actually didn't have any families in the program willing to take her!  It occurred to me that I had never even inquired as to her diagnosis.  Honestly, I didn't care.  I just loved her so nothing else really mattered.   She warned me that nothing was guaranteed but encouraged me to start my paperwork if I was serious.  Little did she know, we had already done that.  :)

Coming home mountain #2- moved.

Mountains For Maggie: Part 2 The Moment

First let me remind you, I did not go to China looking for a child.  We had been assigned a foster child 6 weeks before and we had our hands full.  I was headed to China in July to serve as part of a mission team in an orphanage there.  My assignment was to teach PT techniques to orphanage staff to help them work with their special needs kids there.

So it was my first day in the orphanage.  The other team members had scattered to their room assignments and I was spending time in the therapy room.  I wrapped up there and walked outside to check on my teammates.  There were several toddler rooms playing outside with their nannies.  One group was lined up in baby walkers all tied together.  I looked out over the group and a specific child caught my eye.  I remember thinking immediately about my friend who has had a dossier in China on hold for almost 2 years now.  The little girl smiled at me and my heart melted.  I stepped back inside and immediately texted my friend, "I just met your future daughter and I am not kidding."

Later that day I was making my way from room to room to evaluate the little ones and see how they  were doing developmentally.  That was when I spotted her again.  That time I walked over and picked her up.  She looked into my eyes and said, "Mama."  I kid you not!!!!  For those of you who don't speak Chinese, mama in Chinese sounds the same as in English.  Anyway, the nannies started squealing and my teammate buried her head in her hands.  This child didn't talk normally.  She was only 1-year old and she had a heart defect that made vocalization difficult because every breath was labored.  I went on about my business but just couldn't seem to shake my new little friend.

Throughout the rest of the week I found myself dropping by to see her first thing in the morning, before lunch, and at the end of the day.  I corresponded with my friend back home about how she had to re-enter the process and adopt this child.  She would respond, "I don't think she is my kid.  I think she is yours."  Oh no I don't even have a dossier in China!  She couldn't be mine!  I inquired about her paperwork and found out that she should have been in the set that had just arrived to the agency but there was a spelling error and it was sent back to the orphanage.  Hello God???

Then I told my husband about this precious child I had met who had called me "mama" 3 times by then.  His response floored me.  He suggested that I stay in China with her while he completed the paperwork and then just bring her home with me.  Did he not remember how long that took?  I am not sure if that was his excitement about my love for another foreign child or if it was a reflection of how much he was enjoying not having me around that week. :)

Okay so the nannies in her room are awesome and they could see my fondness for this little one.  They started keeping her up last for me to spend extra time with her at the end of the day.  I love her nannies and consider them friends today.   They would say to me, "She loves you. You should take her to America."     The seed was planted.

I wonder if God was having as much fun watching this all play out as I am having re-telling the story?
Oh how I can't wait to tell you what all He did next.

Mountains for Maggie: Part 1 The Call

From the time we adopted Ruthie, I found myself continually following the stories of families who adopted children with severe heart defects.  I admired their willingness to say yes to something that absolutely terrified me.  As I followed these stories, I saw God move in their families in incredible ways.  My friend, Rebecca, and I would have long conversations about these children as we prayed and kept each other up to date on their progress.  Not to mention we would order every necklace, bracelet, and t-shirt that was sold to help bring them home.  But that was not enough.  Little did I know that God was planting the seeds of a future calling on my heart.

Something else struck me about these kiddos.  They were hard to place.  Most families are understandably hesitant to take in a child who might not survive and I totally get that.  But it stirred my heart even more to pray about being someone who would say yes to the unknown.

So fast forward a year or so and I finally felt like I had my junk together enough to add another person to our crew.  I will be honest though-  The wounds on my heart from the wait for Ruthie were still tender.  Trent would suggest international adoption and I would look at him like he had lost his ever loving mind.  I told him I was sure someone was going to walk into his office or call us and ask us to take their child now and here so I didn't have to go through that again.  But what about the heart baby?  Why could I not get that off my mind?

I decided foster care was the way to go and frankly had less expense and less risk.  Just keeping it real here folks.  Don't hate me.   At our home study, I even asked the social worker if they ever get children with heart defects and she looked at me like I was nuts.  The Lord didn't give us a child with a heart defect but he did place one in our home that I am still confident we were supposed to have for that time.  It was just part of the journey to the next step.

So here we are moving forward on the adoption of a baby with a severe heart defect.  I will save meeting Maggie for another post.

The lesson here-  The Lord is patient and He knows us so well.  He knows our wounds.  He knows our fears. He knows our passions and He knows it just might take 3 years to get us to where He wants us to be.

More to come...

Maggie Mei Henderson

Maggie Mei Henderson is no longer a dream but now a reality who will Lord willing be in our home in just a few short months!!!!!!!

Thank you for your prayers and please keep praying as we prepare to bring our baby home!!!!!!!

A Date With My Girl

Ruthie had her cast removed last week and we decided it was a good excuse for a girl date.   I took her to the Dallas Arboretum to see their pumpkin exhibit and have lunch.   We had a great time and I am thinking we need to do it again real soon.

Arrr Matey

Well it Halloween and 1/2 of us dressed up.  Jack is at that in between stage where it is temporarily not cool to wear a costume.  Sam and Ruthie were thrilled to be pirates together and our foster child dressed as a football player.

Ruthie started the day with a book parade at school and ended it handing out candy to kids at church.

Dossier to our Agency and Playing Catch Up

Well we aren't quite dossier to china for another week but I did want to announce that we are dossier to agency if there is a place for celebrating that.

In the meantime, here are some catch up pics from what we have been doing lately.