Wednesday, March 19, 2014
The Compassion Experience
I took the kiddos to this really cool event called the Compassion Experience. It was a virtual tour through the life of a child living in poverty. You could choose one of 3 children from different parts of the world to follow their story and one of the three places just happened to be Uganda! They gave us headsets to hear the narration and we went from room to room to look at the different surroundings. They had their house, market, school, and street. It is amazing how God continues to prepare our family for this adoption. When we finished the tour the kids were so touched. They were ready to go to Uganda right away and bring their new brother or sister home.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Adoption Update
Well we had to call our adoption agency and let them know we are pregnant. We weren't sure how this was going to affect our adoption. When we signed up with this agency they had a policy that if you became pregnant you would be removed from the waiting list and not allowed back on the list until the baby was 10 months old and when you got back on the list they would start you all the way over at the bottom.
Needless to say we were a little worried about the pregnancy complicating things. But as always, God was in control. We called the agency and they said that they had just recently changed that policy and that pregnancy is no longer an issue! We also found out that we are 2nd on the waiting list with our openness to either gender, age, health, etc and that they have 2 children they will be referring soon...which means we will most likely be referred one of those 2 children!
Our case worker said it looks like 2014 may be a BIG year for us!
We are super excited about our 2 future blessings and cannot wait to welcome our baby into the world and our adopted child into our home!
We still have to raise about $18,000 but that means we have raised almost $8,000 already so we know that God can totally do it! Please continue to pray for our family:
a. Pray for God's provision
b. Pray for health for me, the new baby and our Ugandan child
c. Pray for God to work out the timing of everything
d. Pray that God will grant us favor with the Ugandan courts and that traveling will go smoothly
e. Pray for us as we prepare to go from a family of 6 to a family of 8
f. Pray that God would mold us into the perfect parents for all of our children
Needless to say we were a little worried about the pregnancy complicating things. But as always, God was in control. We called the agency and they said that they had just recently changed that policy and that pregnancy is no longer an issue! We also found out that we are 2nd on the waiting list with our openness to either gender, age, health, etc and that they have 2 children they will be referring soon...which means we will most likely be referred one of those 2 children!
Our case worker said it looks like 2014 may be a BIG year for us!
We are super excited about our 2 future blessings and cannot wait to welcome our baby into the world and our adopted child into our home!
We still have to raise about $18,000 but that means we have raised almost $8,000 already so we know that God can totally do it! Please continue to pray for our family:
a. Pray for God's provision
b. Pray for health for me, the new baby and our Ugandan child
c. Pray for God to work out the timing of everything
d. Pray that God will grant us favor with the Ugandan courts and that traveling will go smoothly
e. Pray for us as we prepare to go from a family of 6 to a family of 8
f. Pray that God would mold us into the perfect parents for all of our children
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Big News!
Well God decided that blessing us with another child through adoption is not all He has in store....We just found out we are pregnant!!! That's right! So now we are expecting from Uganda and Utero! lol Baby number 5 should arrive sometime in late October!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Every year we get the kiddos a special balloon for Valentine's Day. This year a sweet lady from one of Doug's properties got the kiddos little boxes of chocolate. Needless to say, the kids were in heaven!
Cake for the Nations
I participated in a fundraiser with my school to raise money for our mission trip to Belize. We had a cake auction and Doug made one of the cakes. He originally wanted it to be a flash light but after frosting it, it looked more like a trash can...so he started with this:
and ended up with this......AND WON for having the most creative cake!
and ended up with this......AND WON for having the most creative cake!
Birthday Party Fun
We got invited to a birthday party for a friend. The kids had so much fun bouncing around with their friends! Thanks again for inviting us!
Historic Home Tour
We got to visit a historic home and take a tour of their beautiful garden. Afterward we had a picnic lunch and then our friends treated us to some yummy Crave cupcakes!
Sleigh Riding
I took the kids to a winter festival at a local church and they had snow shipped in for the kids to sled on! Logan and Levi went down the big hill but Aila would only go down the one for the little kids. I wish I could have gone on because it looked like so much fun!
Stephen F Austin Park
We got a family pass to all the local state parks, It has been great because now we can go hiking and fishing!
Monday, February 17, 2014
News about our Adoption!!!
Well Doug and I have been prayerfully considering something about our adoption for a while now and we feel like God is leading us in a certain direction...in a direction we never would have thought but isn't it awesome how God's plans are better than our own!
We have decided to be open to adopting an HIV+ child.
I did a report on Uganda for my school and when I put it together I learned about the major AIDS devastation there. Over half the orphans of Uganda or orphans because of AIDS. God really stirred my heart and now I realize that it was for a reason. Our adoption agency contacted us to let us know they are working with an entire orphanage of HIV+ children and than no one that is adopting through the agency is open to that. There are all these children and no one wants them : (
So we have been praying, discussing it with others, and doing lots of research. As a result of our research we realized that we were really uneducated in regards to HIV. The more we prayed, the more we felt like God was leading us in that direction. Once we learned more about HIV we realized that we are willing to adopt an HIV+ child.
Here is what we learned:
1. Our biological children are at no risk of contracting HIV.
2. That the HIV + child will have a normal life expectancy and a normal life
3. That medication can make HIV relatively undetectable and that an HIV+ child can actually be healthy
So what does this mean? Well this means that we will be adopting an HIV+ child. Being open to an HIV + child when no one else is means that we will be specifically matched with an HIV+ child. It also means that our adoption may be sooner than we had anticipated. We have lots of fundraising to do. We have lots of preparing to do. We have lots of praying to do!
So please will you pray for us? Pray that we will be prepared. Pray that God will provide the funds we need before they are due. Pray for our future child.
Thank you all for your love and support! For your prayers and encouragement!
We have decided to be open to adopting an HIV+ child.
I did a report on Uganda for my school and when I put it together I learned about the major AIDS devastation there. Over half the orphans of Uganda or orphans because of AIDS. God really stirred my heart and now I realize that it was for a reason. Our adoption agency contacted us to let us know they are working with an entire orphanage of HIV+ children and than no one that is adopting through the agency is open to that. There are all these children and no one wants them : (
So we have been praying, discussing it with others, and doing lots of research. As a result of our research we realized that we were really uneducated in regards to HIV. The more we prayed, the more we felt like God was leading us in that direction. Once we learned more about HIV we realized that we are willing to adopt an HIV+ child.
Here is what we learned:
1. Our biological children are at no risk of contracting HIV.
2. That the HIV + child will have a normal life expectancy and a normal life
3. That medication can make HIV relatively undetectable and that an HIV+ child can actually be healthy
So what does this mean? Well this means that we will be adopting an HIV+ child. Being open to an HIV + child when no one else is means that we will be specifically matched with an HIV+ child. It also means that our adoption may be sooner than we had anticipated. We have lots of fundraising to do. We have lots of preparing to do. We have lots of praying to do!
So please will you pray for us? Pray that we will be prepared. Pray that God will provide the funds we need before they are due. Pray for our future child.
Thank you all for your love and support! For your prayers and encouragement!
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Adoption Update
We had our home study right before Christmas and we passed : ) A home study is when a social worker comes to your house to inspect it and also to interview everyone living in the home. Our house was pretty childproof already but to get ready for the home study we had to get a fire extinguisher, put up fire exit plans and practice fire drills.
The next step was to submit a form to the United States Immigration Services with an application, lots of other paperwork and our approved home study report. We have submitted all this and are just waiting for them to set up a fingerprinting appointment. Once they receive our fingerprints we should be approved!
Once we are approved we have to pay $3,000 and then we go on the waiting list to be matched with our future child/children. Please be praying that everything goes smoothly and that God will help us raise the $3,000 by our deadline! We will update again once we have our approval!
Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of our adoption journey! We really appreciate all of you!
The next step was to submit a form to the United States Immigration Services with an application, lots of other paperwork and our approved home study report. We have submitted all this and are just waiting for them to set up a fingerprinting appointment. Once they receive our fingerprints we should be approved!
Once we are approved we have to pay $3,000 and then we go on the waiting list to be matched with our future child/children. Please be praying that everything goes smoothly and that God will help us raise the $3,000 by our deadline! We will update again once we have our approval!
Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of our adoption journey! We really appreciate all of you!
Sunday, December 29, 2013
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