While we are waiting...

So I still have not yeard yet when our court date will be so I can not yet show you a picture of Zoe (our little girl) I thought I would show you all pictures from our trip that we took for almost 3 weeks to Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. We left the day after Christmas and headed straight to Vietnam, then to Cambodia and ended in Thailand. We had a wonderful time. My sister Lindsay came with us to Cambodia and Vietnam and we met up with the rest of my family once we got to Thailand. It's crazy to think that the next time we take a family vacation we will have 3 children. YIKES! We will finally be outnumbered!!
I know there are so many things to pray about right now, especially with everything that is going on over in Haiti, but right now I am asking that you also keep our family in your prayers.
We had to change our immigration forms with the U.S. government because our application was for a 0-18 month old girl and our daughter is actually almost 2. It can take up to 3 to 4 months to get this application changed.
We would really like to pick her up in February or the first week of March at the very latest. So, will you please pray that we will be able to pick her up soon and that our paperwork will be done in the next couple of weeks!! We don’t want to wait until April or May to get her!
I was at the immigration office today begging and pleading to get her here. I am going to keep going every week until it is done. So- thank you for any prayer you send our way!


Here we are in Vietnam. We went to the Cu Chi tunnels which is where the Vietnamese soldiers hid out during the war. We saw lots of boobie traps and it was really sad to see all of this from the war. Vietnam is still Communist but is doing good. However, we learned some very crazy things about their country. They have a lot of orphans and that is so sad. I just wish more people were willing to adopt children, as there are so many out there who need our help. Vietnam was nice to see. I wish we were able to get out to the more greener part of Vietnam, but that is a long drive and we didn't have much time to go there. However, we did make it Hard Rock Cafe.

Here is what all the houses look like in Cambodia. They are built on stilts because of the flooding. We loved Cambodia. I must say that it was one of the most remarkable places I have ever visited (and considering the fact that I have visited around 100 countries that means a lot!!) We all enjoyed Cambodia and thought it very beautiful!

Here we are on Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia. This is a place where people actually live right on the water. It was neat to go and visit this place. I realize how lucky I am to have this nice house on dry land.

The main method of transportation. There are hundreds of people who live on this lake.

Here is kind of how the houses all look in a row. They fish during the day and then just sleep and hang out the rest of the day. The children take their own boat to their floating school.

Here is just a typical house on the lake.

Little girls waving hello. It was so cute because everyone was loving my boys. I don't think they see too many white children in Cambodia. Everyone especially loved Martin! He would bow to each person he met, and he would be loved and touched by everyone!

We spent a lot of time looking at all the ruins in Cambodia (with the most famous one Angkor Wat). The ruins were incredible! I have never seen such beautiful and amazing ruins as these. We have been able to travel all around the world and I was blown away with these ruins. Calvin and Martin were very excited as when I showed him the picture before we went he said they were the Indiana Jones Temple so we let him believe it. He even was able to find a hat from a local market that looked just like an Indiana Jones hat before we got to the ruins. The boys had so much fun. Lots of ruins, monkeys and adventure around every corner!

It was so hot while we went all over Cambodia. We were sweating like crazy. However, it was totally worth it to see what we saw! And believe it or not, this was actually their cool time of the year!

Aren't my boys so cute! Here they are with some locals dressed up in the old style of clothing that they would wear around the royalty.

Martin wearing a scarf around his little sweaty head! Just taking a rest. We walked for miles and miles. They did so well!

All throughout the ruins were these huge trees growing right around and through the buildings. It made the sites look even more ancient and fun.

If you have seen Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie, where this is where it was filmed.

Yummy! We loved Cambodian food. It isn't too spicy so we could eat everything!

Cal just walking around one of the many ruins. We had so much fun exploring. It is the best place on the earth for little boys to explore!

Here we are at the back of Angkor Wat. This is the biggest and one of the most famous ruins. It is absolutely incredible. Believe me, the pictures do not do any of these sites justice. It is amazing to be standing right in front of these sites!

Here is Calvin with our guide Seth and Josh. This was Calvin's face almost the entire time we were going through Angkor Wat (because he was of course going through Indiana Jones Fortress). It was so fun to see him and his excitement.

Here is the entrance of Angkor Wat. We were so sad that we finally had to leave all of these amazing and beautiful ruins. This was definetly one of the best places we have visited.
I'll try to post the pictures of Thailand soon. It has been crazy since we got home from our trip. We are getting everything ready for our little girl and trying to catch up on everything we missed while we were away.
It is good to be home and I am nesting like crazy!!! My poor boys. I think I am organizing every room in our home!
Well, I'll post more pictures soon!

Exciting News!

We are in Thailand right now. Last night we went to an elephant show in Phuket. We got back to our villa around 12:30 at night (which was just when our adoption agency in Texas was open). I asked them if they had heard anything yet. I knew that I would sleep much better if I wasn't waiting all night long for an email. They hadn't received anything yet. So I fell asleep not knowing what was going to happen next.

Around 3:30am I got a phone call from Claire (our amazing representative from Children of All Nations). She said that she received our picture and was forwarding it on to me.

I couldn't even believe it. I just was shaking as I was trying to download the picture.

Unfortuantely I can't show the picture yet as they first must go to court for us in Rwanda. Then after they go to court she belongs to us and is our daughter! Then I can show pictures.

What I can tell you is that she is almost 2 years old and is beautiful. I can't wait to hold her in my arms. They don't have much more information for us. She is healthy (although very skinny) and she was abandonded right after birth. We are the luckiest family to have her!

I'll post more as soon as I know more!

Whoo Hoo!!!!!!!

Some News but no photo yet

Sorry it has been a crazy few months. We still have not received a photo yet, however we did receive our acceptance letter from the Ministry of Rwanda. Our adoption agency (Children of All Nations) representative in Rwanda has it right now. She also said that on Monday January 4th, she should receive our photo and child's information. She is going to try and scan it for us and email it. If she does this then we could possible see her picture Monday or Tuesday. If not, she will mail it to our adoption agency. This could take a week for them to get it. We are just so excited to know that we are so close to receiving our information.

Right now we are in Thailand anxiously waiting to see a picture of our little girl. I will post any information as soon as I have it. Unfortunately I won't be able to post any pictures until they go to court for us in Rwanda. But I will give you as much information as I can. Aren't my boys cute? They are so excited to see their sister. Anytime I say their names they ask "Did you get a picture of our sister?" What an exciting New Year!!!

Sorry I have posted so many pictures. I have been so busy and have not been able to blog. And so much has happened with Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here is our family in Hawaii. We went to Hawaii with our kids, my parents and my siblings. My friends even joined us there. We went to the island of Kauia. I love it there! It is one of my favorite islands. We didn't do anything but just hang out on the beach!

Here is the entire family enjoying a dinner in Hawaii.

Thanksgiving on the beach! How fun! We ate our turkey dinner together as a family. It was beautiful and warm (not like the snow at home!)

Here is me with my friend (and next door neighbor) Dayna and my sister Lindsay. We were so lucky because Dayna and her son Ashton came with us on our trip to Hawaii. it was so much fun!

Josh with our boys.

This is the best babysitter we have found. The kids would stay in the holes for at least 20 minutes. They loved it and we loved it also he he!

The month of December flew by. We did a lot of fun stuff with the kids. We went to our church party and had yummy scones and Santa came.

Calvin is doing french immersian at school. This means that half of his day is spoken only in French and the other half in English. He was in a french play in school of Rudolf. It was so cute. He played a bear who liked magic. I didn't understand a word of the play but was so proud of him!

We did a lot of fun activities before Christmas. Here we are at breakfast with the Grinch and Santa. We also went on the Polar Express Train (really the Heber Creeper) and we also took Calvin to see the Nutcracker. It was a fun and busy December.

My entire family went to dinner for Christmas Eve. After we went back to my home. The kids got their jammies and opened a present.

Here is the tree at 5:30am. The kids were begging to go down. I always go down first to make sure that Santa came. I also took this picture before all chaos errupted.

Christmas morning is one of my favorite days of the year. Here are the boys just coming down. Martin immediately saw his bike and jumped on it. We had so much fun opening presents together. I was also excited this morning because I got a Kindle (which I really wanted) and Santa surprised us with snowboard racks for my car. This will be so helpful when we all go up and not get the back of our car messy!

Josh and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary this year. He has had a wedding ring for 10 years that is so basic and really scratched up. Here he is with his new ring I gave him. I think he didn't get much sleep last night. Actually neither of us did! Christmas Eve is a long night!

My parents came over to our home with my siblings to celebrate Christmas with us early. My parents got each other the same gift- The Kindle. We all knew and were laughing when they opened them the same time.

My mom and I got matching jackets.

This is a picture of Martin with my cousin's little girl Alissa. Isn't she so beautiful? She was adopted and it was completely finalized right before Christmas. It is always so fun to see her! It makes me even more excited to finalize my adoptions!

Martin had a lot of fun eating all the pies on Christmas at my mom's house. Especially the whip cream.
This was such a fun Christmas. It was just crazy because the day after Christmas we left for Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. We are now in Thailand as I am trying to catch up on our blog. We are having an amazing time!
We'll keep you posted on our updates with our daughter. I am also going to post some pictures tomorrow of our trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. We love you all!
Happy New Year!

Next Week

So today I got an email stating that next week they hope to send me a photo of my little daughter. My daughter. I held my breath for a while so that I wouldn't scream and wake my boys. I am so excited.
First though- Next week could mean 2 or 3 weeks later in African time but that is so much quicker than I ever expected. I had been waiting so long that I wasn't expecting a photo until January or February. Now that still could happen. But I felt so good to see that it could be as soon as next week.
The crazy thing is that we will be in Hawaii next week. Thank goodness for emails. I hope to be emailed a picture soon. What an awesome week that would be. Spending time on a beach in Hawaii with all of my family and being able to share a photo of our daughter.
Everyone keep us in your prayers. Especially our little daughter.
Thanks!!

Adoption Today Magazine

We are so excited as we have been spotlighted in the Adoption Today Magazine. This is a great magazine that has lots of amazing articles on adoption. You can find the magazine at adoptinfo.net

Well, for the month of October they were doing an article on Rwanda. They are trying to get it out there that Rwanda is a great option and hopefully more people will begin adopting from there.

A couple of months ago my adoption agency (Children of All Nations) asked me a bunch of questions regarding our adoption. I went ahead and answered them. They contacted me a few weeks later to ask if our family wouldn't mind being in the magazine as a spotlight. I said of course. They used my quotes in the magazine from the questions I had answered earlier. It is so fun for our family to see our picture in the magazine. My boys love it. They can't wait to have their little sister here.

As far as our adoption is concerned we are still waiting for the approval letter from the ministry in Rwanda. I am hoping that it comes by the end of the month (as that is when they said it should be here).

Our family is doing well. We just got back from a Mexican Riviera cruise. It was fun. I will try to post pictures later as I am having trouble with my pictures on the computer. Keep our little girl in your prayers.

Affordable Adoption

Alright- here is one of the biggest concerns for adoption- Can we afford it?
Well, there are many ways to help make adoptions affordable.
Here are just a few tips that I have found from myself or others thinking of adopting.

1. I think that if you decide to adopt that many times the sources will just appear to help you with your decision. Why would God (or the Universe) not want to help you out if you decide to help out with a child. For me personally I have found that God has been with me all along the way helping our family come up with the necessary funds for this adoption. If you have read the book "the secret" that is another way that you can get help. If you put it out into the Universe, the Universe will send it back to you.

2. Service or Charitable Contributions. There are many things that you can personally do to earn money. Below are just some ideas.
* Neighborhood Garage Sale: This is something that I did. I sent out fliers around my neighborhood explaining that we were collecting all unused items to sell in our garage sale. Many items were donated for this sale. We were able to raise a bunch of money to go towards the adoption and the orphanage.
* Bake Sale: I know of many people who have made cinnamon rolls or pizzas or other type of food items. You can either set up a stand in a place with lots of traffic and try to sell your items (we actually sold a ton of cookies, cupcakes and cinnamon rolls at our garage sale) or you can actually go around your neighborhood and take orders for food items. I know of another family adopting that raised over $3,000 taking orders and making cinnamon rolls.
* Selling t-shirts: There is a great website called annifororphans.com. This company allows you to create a design for a shirt, or they can help you create one. After you have a shirt created you are able to sell and it keep all the profit. This is awesome. I am actually in the process of designing a shirt right now and will hopefully have it up and running soon.

3. Adoption Tax Credit: When you adopt you are able to have a tax credit. Although the amount might be changing you will still be able to have an adoption tax credit for that year. Right now the credit is $12,150.

4. Adoption Financial Aid: There are many different places who will help you financially afford the adoption. If you google international adoption financial assistance- you will be shown many different sites that you can assist you.

5. Employment: Many larger companies actually have plans that can assist with your adoption costs. The other option is to ask your employer if there is anything the company can do to assist with your costs.

6. Donations: Some people are not in the position to have another child, however financially they may be able to assist in helping you have your child. If you have a blog or myspace or anything like that you can actually set it up to receive donations. Sometimes just getting the knowledge out there that you are interested in adopting but need help, you will find that someone may volunteer to help you.

I am sure there are many other ways to pay for adoption. If anyone else has any tips please post them.
Adoption is a huge investment, but I know that it is all worth it in the end, especially when you are able to hold that child in your arms for the first time.

I Saw What I Saw

15 years ago a plane went down in Rwanda carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana. The Hutu people immediately claimed that the RPF shot the plane down. This began the most devestating 100 days on earth as neighbors killed neighbors and family killed family. 1,000,000 million dead in 100 days.

I saw this video a while ago when the anniversary of the genocide happened (in April), however for some reason I found it again. I feel very touched as my daughter is in Rwanda right now. Her birth mother very well could have witnessed this destruction. It might be this past destruction that caused her to give up her child that will soon be in our family. I am so grateful and feel such sadness for this strong birth mother. I am so grateful for these strong Rwandan people. I am so grateful for my daughter who has no idea that she will soon be with her family. Tonight our family will say an extra special prayer to bless all of those in Rwanda. I ask that you all do the same.

Please watch this amazing video of the people of Rwanda. Maybe you can understand how beautiful the people are and why we can't wait to bring one of these children home.