Getting so excited!

Early morning hours I wake and think of Toby. 

I think of the funds we have yet to raise.

I think of to do lists like packing, meals, childcare for the others, itineraries and visas.

And although it was maybe NOT the smartest use of wee-morning-hour-wakings...I made a word cloud!

You can make one of your own on the tagxedo site too! Would love to see what you come up with! :)

...Is it naptime yet?

New Toby Pictures!!!!

WOOOO HOOOOOOO!

We get to feast our eyes on this little one to whom God has called us!

ABUNDANT JOY blooms in my heart!

Just look at Toby now!!!

 And while you're here...look at the  picture in the sidebar...that was him ONE YEAR ago. He's gotten even CUTER!!! :)

Are you falling on the floor from all that CUTENESS!?!??!?!!?!?

I MELLLLLLLLLT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The update on this child is INCREDIBLE too...

1) Does Toby understand that he is being adopted? Not really, he is too young to understand that.

2) What therapy is he having for his arms and hands? We asked the doctors before. They said he needed surgery than therapy for his arms. So we haven't given him any therapy yet. But we always show him to use him hands more and more. Now he can use hands to hold food to eat with head help sometimes.

3) What are his favorite things to do? Favorite toys? He likes to play games outside. He loves play toys which his hands can handle better, not balls.

4)Does he enjoy music? Yes, he loves music. He always sings songs when he hears from TV or CD.

5) Please tell us about his personality. He is very outgoing and active. He is also very loving and likes to share. So he plays so well with other children.

{oh my. "outgoing and active also very loving" YES!!! he IS my child!!}

6) Do his knees, hips or ankles have any problems with stiffness? Is he able to run as well as walk? He has no problem with his lower limbs. He can even run well.

7) Has he been healthy? If he has been sick, what sickness? He is always healthy and hardly to get sick.

8) Does he play with other children or mostly alone? He likes to play other children very much.

9) How is his language development? What words does he say? Is he talkative? His language is normal. He can say many simple words and sentences.

This is just too much happiness for me to keep all to myself!!! PLEASE SHARE!!! :) :)

And...

               ...one more picture...that I think is my all time favorite!

Just look at this boy's personality SHINE!!!

My friend to whom I showed these pictures immediately sent me a link to this picture of myself from last summer: She was saying how MUCH he is going to fit in with our crazy-sauce style of life!!

A-hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!! 

Oh sweet Toby, we are coming for you!! SOON!

Dear friends, please join me in praying for the remaining finances to complete his adoption. I am beside myself with JOY over this update and pictures but also really feel the URGENCY to get his medical needs attended to. It appears they may be something "else" joining the list of his special needs. We will not have answers until we meet him and then get him in to see some specialists. 

Click here to be directed to our fundraising page.

God Said to Our Mountain, "MOVE!"

“I tell you the truth, 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. ”

Matthew 17:20

It is with tears of joy that I sit to type out this news....

WE GOT A COURTDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and what's more amazing????

IT'S WITHIN OUR ALREADY PLANNED TRIP !!!!!!!!!!!

 OH PRAISE HIM!!!

OUR AMAZING, ALL POWERFUL, PHENOMENAL GOD WHO MOVES MOUNTAINS!!!!!!

And thank YOU for praying with us!!! What a HUGE answer to prayer!!! Hallelujah!!!

Ya know what? ...we are gonna bring home our little Z!!! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

ETD is coming soon...

My days lately have centered around two things lately: Annie (more on that soon!) and Africa. Two "A's" that pull me in very different directions!

Just so you know...although it will probably not matter to you in the slightest...

I'm not a list maker. 
                             I'm not an organized person. 


...but sometimes, I do what I don't want to do for causes I love. And let me tell you, going to Africa is something I  know I'm going LOVE!!! :) And I already love a little boy "Z" very very much!

And just in case you are worried, I have some wonderful friends who have given me THEIR lists to prepare for Africa and I'm just working from that! ;) Thanks for your concern!

But this post really isn't about that.

Nope.

We are going to pack all of our necessities in our carry ons. Guess what that means? We get two 50 pound bags EACH to load up with goodies to take to the children in Uganda!! I'm so excited to love on them!!!

We have three types of destinations: orphanages, remote villages, and the children's prison that Sixty Feet works with. One of the orphanages is (of course!) where our little Z is living. We also will visit other orphanages. Our goal here is to simply show love to the children and encourage the workers who work day in and day out with these precious little ones. And of course to meet and bond with our little Z! I AM SO EXCITED TO HOLD HIM!!!! (Sorry, all this excitement bubbles up and it gets a little boisterous and loud sometimes!!)The bulk of our time will be spent in his orphanage.

We have several rural villages on our docket as well. Brian has received some great donations from a vet and a pharmaceutical company that will enable him to do some specialized work with their cattle and dairy goats. We are very excited to meet all the children in these villages and just play. I may not make lists well, but I play well!!

Thirdly, we will visit the place referred to as "M." This is the place that I have lost sleep and shed many, many tears over. There is something about this place that draws me...like bees to honey. And I know it may be different than what I expect. But truly, I cannot wait to be there in person and to look into these precious boys and girls' faces and be with them. I am honestly not sure what good I will be there, but I pray that God will love them through me. I pray that Brian's agricultural/animal husbandry background can go far to help them on their 300+ acre site. I pray that God does big things. I am so excited about this I am tearing up just writing about it! I will take our photography equipment too. Who knows what God might do!

Our case for the adoption of Z is filed in the high courts. We do not have a court date. It is fully conceivable that we spend this amazing time in this soon-to-be beloved country and return home only to learn we've been assigned a court date. If this happens, we will scramble to arrange life for our children and fly back. Of course it would be easier if we could get a court date while we were already there. We pray for it! We ask YOU to pray for it! But we also know that sometimes, God does not do things in the timeframe or way we think would be best. (Wow, what an understatement!!) So we just trust. ...and we pack for our adventure!!


 Oh, and remember those bags we have? You can help us fill them! Already we have bubbles and frisbees, pick up sticks, bookmarks and some granola bars. If you would like to send some tangible love to the children of Uganda you can bring your donations of the following items to Pettisville Missionary Church no later than August 4th:

• children's sizes of underwear (new please)
• infant formula
• rubber gloves
• hotel sized soaps and lotions
• granola bars (the chewy kind that won't crumble)
• durable children's books
• small toys: jump ropes, deflatable balls, dolls, toy cars 
• toothbrushes/toothpaste

All this is going to bless their socks off!! I cannot wait! Pictures will come soon!!! :)

DQ is TWO!!!

Our little DQ is now TWO YEARS OLD!! What?!?!?!?! How can that be? Just a wee tiny bit ago she looked like this: (this is back when we suspected she was "he!")

Then out came a GIRL!!!! What????? Totally shocking to us all...she acted like a busy boy in there...but she was indeed not--just preparing for a vibrant life of a daredevil!

What? You don't think this looks like a daredevil? hahahaha!!

What a precious bundle of baby she was!! Oh! My heart aches for baby days!

Definitely tons of potential here... hee hee!

Now you recognize her!  At 4 months of happiness!

6 months old!

17+ pounds of LOVE!!

In Grandma Thomas' baby dress! 9 months old

All American Baby!

Happy 1st birthday, DQ!!!

And now, for a more REAL LOOK at life with DQ...
one of many LIPSTICK episodes:

"So sad that I did that!!"

Repentence is so genuine. She'll NEVER do it again!
(If you don't know, she ate ALL of my mail-order lipsticks that are now discontinued.
 Got to Grandma Shaw's last weekend too!)

On to HAPPIER times...
Nothing is greater than when it's your BIRTHDAY!

Now the daredevil in her can be seen! :)

Cherishing the card!

Opening the biggest present! What could it be?

This is the child whose first trip to the beach had her barrel running down to the ocean. Had she ever been to it? No. Did she know what it was? No. But adventure called. She tripped, got a face full of sand and her first ever wave crashed over her head. Did this stop her? No. She got up and began to run AGAIN into the ocean. Wow!! Don't you just want to live life JUST LIKE THAT!?!?!? 

I do.

Thanks, DQ, for teaching me how to have a zest for life, a love for adventure and the non stop curiousity that brings the flavor to life! Happy 2nd birthday!! We treasure you and cannot imagine life without you!!!

And if you are still here...why don't you take in a sweet moment before bedtime with DQ?

So Excited!!!I

I am SO EXCITED to announce things to you but I cannot yet...and it's killing me!!

I just thought that if I say

 THAT MUCH

then at least we can suffer 

together! ;)

MMPH!!!

(that's muffled screaming!)

Home study happiness!!!

Did you hear an enormously loud squeal from Ohio around 2 pm EST??? If so, I 'fess up! I was in all out happy-land as I peeped out our front window and our mailbox was full of home studies!!! WOOT WOOT!!

The only sad thing was that it has been a most drenchy kind of day. The weather that makes you wonder how the skies could POSSIBLY have that much water to dump! That means our home study (especially the top copy) was SOAKING WET!

So we got out the hair dryer.

:)

Within the hour it was in a new envelope on its way to Texas where the necessary people (Department of Homeland Security) will schedule us for our biometrics and we will begin waiting for that approval. This is where we petitition to make an orphan our immediate relative. That wording is crazy good!! Don't you think?

For some, the adoption process takes years. So far, we've only been at this since September of last year and have spent just shy of $3K. However, it FEELS like we've been at this for a lifetime (waiting does that!) and we have much much more money to spend!! We trust the Lord for him to bring in the needed money and to help us be patient in the interim.

Hoping to hear soon soon soon about the two children we are pursuing for adoption!

(Again, I put out a plea to anyone who might know what in tarnation is wrong with our blog to help me!! Please find me on Facebook--badge below--and send me a PM that you might know how to help!!)