Blessed Holidays!

December 27 marked the 3 year anniversary of the day precious Jadrian was welcomed into the arms of Jesus. It was a bittersweet day for us. Oh the dam of memories and emotions that come flooding like a river! I think I felt some emotions stronger yesterday than I did the day he passed when I was numb, and God was so graciously carrying us. God's gift of healing is a beautiful thing. I am forever grateful for the impact this sweet son had on my life! After the torrent of tears were over I could truly rejoice again for him....and the incredible blessing he has to be in the presence of Jesus! Some days I long to be able to join him.

Some day I will!

Until then, it is an HONOR to remember his life, and to strive to live life to the FULLEST until sweet reunion day!

This year we started a new family tradition that the children all loved. We had a Bethlehem Dinner on Christmas Eve.

 Eating what Joseph and Mary may have eaten transports us to a different time and experience, and keeps us more mindful of our Savior's birth. It also makes a meaningful prelude to reading the chapter in Luke.

You can create a very simple supper or a more elaborate experience.
Here's some ideas:
*Play instrumental music.
*Dress up in robes and sandals, pretending you are travelers at an inn in Bethlehem.
*Set the scene with oil lamps, simple pottery or wooden dishes, candles (no electric lights).
*Have guests wash their hands in a large bowl with a pitcher of water before eating. At our house, daddy washes each child's hands in a bowl while praying over them and they then go sit down.
*Sit on the floor on blankets or pillows and use a low table for the food. We spread the tablecloth right on the floor and eat.
* read the Christmas story during this time.

Here are some menu ideas to choose from:
Flatbread~Hummus~Fish~Chicken~Goat cheese (called "feta")~Olives`Raw veggie tray
Cheese and cracker platter~Pomegranates~Braided Jewish bread~Grape juice / wine
Grapes~Tomato and cucumber salad~Soup~Dates and figs~Orange slices

Contented sigh.....we had such a beautiful peaceful Christmas! We couldnt help but wish China treasure were home with us, and different times one of us would comment that "next Christmas little brother should be here with us"

Speaking of China treasure.... AAHHH!! (mini vent!) the waiting is getting soOoOo long and frustrating!!! We havent heard one word about if they have locked his file yet and we are past the approximate time frame they had given.
In HIS time...in HIS time!!!! It feels like we have been forgotten.....but we declare God is working in ways we cannot see yet.

So precious watching Kianna's delight and excitement with her gift this year.

After the ice storm the kids have been having so much fun in the icy shrubs. A lot of them are old thorn trees and this is the only time you could call them beautiful! They begged me to come tour their village..... this is the sign that welcomed us :) 

It was so much fun! I was so glad I went to the work to get Kianna & I all bundled up. It was so icy on the big rock we didnt need any sleds. Just sit and ...WHOOSH!!!! I doubt I sledded in ten years! And yes, I screamed the whole way down!

Oh the joys of winter land! That awesome feeling of coming into a warm house with red stinging cheeks!

The Winter sunsets are so breathtaking. Thankful a thousand times over for our beautiful view!!

Still Waiting!

Winter wonderland!!! The children are having a lot of fun with all this snow. And I'm super thankful for a warm cozy house. 

Decorating for Christmas is a family favorite! The smell of fresh pine and the cozy of twinkly lights...

This year we made cinnamon heart ornaments. Two ingrediants...applesauce & cinnamon! They were a fun project and turned out great.

Morning cup of coffee together. Such a cozy way to start the day!! The minutes always tick WAY too fast, and soon its time for Steve to leave for work. We love our morning time of connecting. Extra cozy these days with snow falling lazily and a fireplace burning. Ah...pleasures of winter!

Peek a BOO Miss KK!!

We are still waiting (Anxiously!) to hear from China that our little boys file has been locked. We expect it any day. Please let it be today God!!

We said YES!

I am thrilled to be able to post that Steve & I have ACCEPTED the referral of a precious 21/2 yr old boy. He has a repaired cleft lip and pallete, and otherwise appears healthy. His biggest need is a loving daddy and mommy and a family to call his OWN! That would be US!

We are SO excited to be adding another boy to our family!

Today our Electronic Acceptance (EA) was sent to China. This was a formal letter we needed to write to China stating our desire to be approved to adopt this specific child, and to notify them of how we plan to care for his needs. We spent a couple hours one evening compiling and signing all the required documents to accept this file. I could hardly believe we were really at this stage!

So now we wait to receive our Referral Approval (RA) from China. This is the official letter that China sends us giving us approval/permission to adopt this child and his file becomes 'locked" for us.
As soon as we receive our RA I can post a picture of our darling treasure on this blog for you all to see!

Oh my! It is so exciting to feel like the end of this journey, as in the paperwork and waiting part, may be winding to an end. I know the real journey is yet to begin, and we walk into it with anticipation knowing God walks before us, and this is HIS doings.

That Anticipated Phone Call!

Yes!!! It really happened! On Wed. night, Nov. 6 we got that long anticipated phone call from our agency wondering if we want to review the file of a special little Chinese treasure! 

We are SO amazed and blessed that two wks after getting our Log in Date we had a referral. 

As much as I would love to share more, I am bound to confidentiality until his file gets locked. His medical files are currently being reviewed by our doctors. This is one of the requirements before we could accept him so we can make a well informed decision on what care or therapies he may need.
I am trying to guard my emotions because until legal paper work is done I really can't claim him as "mine."

Let's just say, a lot of emotions are being stirred :)

Hopfully I can share a more detailed post soon. But until then, know God is working at putting pieces together and we are so blessed to be part of this special journey!

We have a Log in Date!!

 Happy Fall everyone! We are enjoying our cozy warm house while the weather keeps getting colder outside. Bring on the candles, soups and warm drinks! 

I love this time of the year! The children really miss not having a lot of leaves to play in. I would love to have a bunch of big maples on our property! When we drive by leaf strewn lawns the children always notice. Sometimes they even they even think we should move back to Church St so they could still have fall leaves to play in!

Derek had so much fun growing pumpkins this year! In the picture above, he and his best buddies are cleaning out the biggest one. He is planning to plant a lot more next summer.

For an adoption update...... Our dossier is finally in China!! And on October 28 we received our Log in Date (LID). This means our paperwork is logged into their system and we are now eligible to get matched.
So the waiting begins! Praying we get matched soon!

SO many times one of the children will say, "Today would be a good day to get THE call!"

Someone's waiting for the first snow flakes!Her daddy and mommy arnt in any hurry though. They just think about all the snow plowing that it will mean!

Green Light....Red Light

Did you ever play that game "Green, Yellow, Red Light"? I remember clearly, playing it as a little girl with my school classmates. The person that's "IT" Says "Green light" and you quickly move forward....
"Yellow Light".....cautiously moving

"RED Light!" ....and you come to a screeching halt!

 I've been thinking how many times life is like that. At least in the adoption process how many times have we felt like we got a GREEN light and have quickly sped forward. Only to sometimes come to a screeching halt shortly after.

GREEN LIGHT!! Last week we were so excited to send our FINAL documents to the NYC consulate. It felt like such an accomplishment. We did some quick estimations in our head. Approx. one week till we send these documents off and have them back again. Make photo copies and by all means get our entire dossier in the mail to our agency the very next day. Figure 3 days till they arrive at the agency.... and one week for our agency to process the documents and then...finally, mailed on to China. So close to getting our dossier to China.

RED LIGHT: The NYC Chinese consulate denied stamping our home study and are sending it back to us all because of a staple! Yes, you read that correctly. An. offensive. staple punch!
See, when we sent it to Albany to be state certified they attach their certificate with a grommet punch, which is how it is required. However, our home study is fat, 24 pages, and the one grommet didnt hold so they stapled it instead. Big no no! Any stapled on papers are strictly prohibited because any Tom Dick or Joe could have put it on. So now we need to resend it back to Albany. This will add on another two weeks at least.

Disappointing!

On the home front here... we are back in swing with school, I'm hoping to post pictures soon of my sweet scholars and their school room.

End of season canning is wrapping up (Yay!) and we got to celebrate the end of summer with a final trip to the beach.

Next wk.end we are planning a little family trip to PA. Cabella's and Sight & Sound are two exciting places we can't wait to take the children too. Also catching up with dear friends, and a buisness meeting for Steve.

~~Live expectantly of the MORE God desires for you!"

August update

August is really almost over!!! Hard to believe! It's been an incredibly busy month. Loaded to the gills with fun and lots of work! 

On the 10th Steve & I celebrated eleven years of marriage!! We had a blessed day together, ALONE. Ah, it was so refreshing and relaxing to have no one else to care for and just focus on us. The whole day was covered with God's blessing and sweetness. My heart feels so full of gratitude to be married to such a noble and loving Man of God. ....

We are excited about our future together......

We LOVE DREAMING together......

We love parenting together......

We love that every year we grow deeper in love and in our commitment to each other. We have gone through some really hard things together, but Because of Jesus, it has drawn us closer to each other.




Anticipating many more years of God's favor TOGETHER. Best Fiends and soul mates. Thank you Jesus!




GARDENING! That's the word that describes August. Lots and lots of it.

Sampling our very first watermelon! From garden to mouth! Cant get better than that!!

Proof that I can actually grow melons!! Rather proud of it! I never grew any before but will def be trying it again. The watermelon wasn't overly ripe. Never having grown one before I wasn't sure how to tell when the thing was ripe. It was still yummy.

Garden Goodies! I cant believe the abundance we had despite competing with massive weeds all year. I feel so richly blessed! The children love gardening as much as I do. We get to do hands on science!! We love talking about the ways we see God in creation. From sticking a tiny seed in dirt to watching a spindly plant grow strong from sun and rain to harvesting it's fruit.

 This year we enjoyed Corn, Broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, okra, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, melons, potatoes and sweet potatoes.  And Derek's pumpkins. He has the above small carving kind and some mega prize winners still in the garden.

 Does eggplant smell yummy?? Baby dear likes to sniff everything!

Speaking of egg plant, I really enjoyed some of the new dishes I tried. The family, not so much. I am the only one who eats the okra too!

The month was filled with hauling semi loads of peaches up every week for the Amish communities. I canned over 50 quart and was so amazed at the help I had! Karilee cut the peaches and Derek filled Jars. Can't forget to mention my mom! She is the fastest peeler I know and peeled 2 bushel peaches for me faster than I could keep up with!

As much as I enjoy this season of putting food away for the winter, I'm ready to see it come to an end. My house feel's sticky from all the canning and I am anxious to house clean it from top to bottom. Anxious at least for the clean organized feeling!

I'm ready to throw my focus on home schooling and doing projects inside the house. A season for everything!!

As for the adoption.... We received our approval from US immigrations (I800). This is our final document and it is on it's way to Albany to get authenticated. As soon as we have it back we will send it to NYcity for the final stamp and then our entire dossier is ready for China!! We will mail it to our agency and they will send it to China. Feel's like we've been waiting forever and like things move at a snails pace, but I'm learning to be okay with that. Embracing the moment, and knowing our new son will join our family in God's perfect time. Hoping it's sooner than later :)

Picture Post..

Some snapshots from the last few weeks. In no particular order.....

Enjoying the summer so much!

Found Karilee & Derek like this early one morning when I got up. One got scared during the night, called to a sibling and both came down to snuggle in the living room. When I asked them later why they were both on the recliner they said because the leather couch was too cold :)

Derek ready to go off the diving board. Both Karilee & Derek took a 2 wk swimming class and enjoyed it so much, and learned alot! So worth it! And will def be doing it more!!

Summer eve fishing. Something Steve & the kids enjoy. "Mom, can you help me dig worms"

So glad I remembered to snap a shot of one of the many "forts" the kids build in the living room. Its worth putting up with the mess for the fun it gives them. Love the creativity!! 

I see you Derek!! 

Sometimes its lining up all the chairs they can find and making a bed under neath! 

Miss Climber  pushes a chair to the counter to reach a favorite perch. Added bonus is having a water faucet to play with. Hopefully mom wont find her too quickly. 

Love how she props her feet while she eats:) 

First year to pick strawberries from our own garden! So rewarding and fun for all of us!! The children love having strawberry freezer jam again! 

"Help Mom!!" This is what I found when I went to investigate. lol I've often regretted not getting a front loader washer so it would be more child freindly to change laundry loads.  

Peaceful slumber ...(in mommys bed for a nap) 

A surprise foot massage from a 6 yr old. Talk about feeling love!!
Said this son one day, "Mom you always look nice, but today you look DOUBLE nice!" Awe!!

We've been enjoying the sun, sand and water alot this summer. 

Yes life truly is GOOD!