The Old Switcheroo!

Haying rake in the woods of upstate New York

Bo--such a handsome boy

Just a nice picture in New York


So, we had our homestudy just about finished when suddenly....our agency told us we no longer qualified for China! What? I take antidepressants--very low dose, but still--and AGCI said that's a disqualifier. I asked about waivers, after all we are looking for a waiting child, but they said no. I asked about other Asian countries' programs. AGCI said they can't work with us for 3-4 months. We were devastataed to say the least.







So after mourning our loss for a whole 20 hours, I started calling and emailing and researching other agencies and countries. I really believed that China was no longer an option. Then, I learned from three different agencies that we COULD get a waiver for China! Praise God! We had to shuffle things around a bit, but we ended up going back to ASIA--the agency we first spoke with. So far it has been smooth sailing. We have our contracts in, our homestudy is done, and now we are just waiting to have the dossier packet together.







I wondered what God was teaching me in that lesson, that was so painful. Then I realized that I am selfish and impatient, and I should have stuck by my original decision to leave AGCI. They are not a bad agency, just not right for us this time around.

Long Time, No Post!

We've been so busy getting things moving in the adoption world, I haven't had time time to update the blog. Here are a few photos to show what's up in our house.

Here's our recent birthday boy! So cute. he was so happy to have a party for him.




And the birthday cake, decked out in tractor attire! Check out those massive bales of hay!



Here's our handsome boy, Thomas. He is so excited to get a little sister from China, and is saving his pennies to put toward a plane ticket to go with me.



Here's Grace, looking very serious as she demonstrates her newly-acquired cycling skills. She showed me that she knows how to ride with only ONE hand!

And Sam--looking exactly like his Dad here!

And finally the update:

We signed our contracts with AGCI, completed our adoption education classes and are expecting to have our homestudy completed by October 30th! Once it is done and approved, we will be able to accept a child from the shared China list of kiddos with special needs!

Next up is the dossier (ugh!). This means mega amounts of paperwork and money. We know this will all come together, and just pray that each day is productive. God is good and will provide.

Orientation Packet!

After two months of fundraising, as well as wavering between agencies, we received our welcome packet today from All God's Children! I tore open the package and saw this little girl's face; I melted. My heart cried out with joy because I realized LilyBeth is no longer just a figment of my imagination: She's so real! In fact, she's already born and living in an orphanage in China. Oh how great is our God!

Now we need to finish up the homestudy--which should be done in a week or two, send in the orientation paperwork and the fee (ugh!), then we will officially be swamped with work to bring her home. Can you believe it? I'm in awe of God's wonder.

After adopting twice already, I have no fairy-tale images of how this process will go. I know it will be hard, expensive, and emotionally draining. But I also know that God has brought us this far already and whatever His plans are for LilyBeth, we will support it.

Please pray for us to finish raising the funds. Adoption is very expensive, and although you get much of it back in tax credits, you still have to have it to move forward. I welcome any fundraising suggestions.

Fundraising and Update

So our spaghetti supper was a huge hit! God has blessed us with amazing friends! We were hoping to make about $1,000 but ended up making $2,000! God is so good!

I am mailing off the next big batch of cookbooks today and am so happy to see the pile dwindling down. If you ordered one and haven't gotten it yet, it's going out today. If you haven't ordered one yet, please click on the donate button to your left.

An update on our girls: Ruby and Asia are now in a new foster home. We tried to help the girls, but with so many kids needing our attention, we felt the girls needed to be in a place where they didn't have to share my attention and could get the therapy the needed. We love them and can't wait to see them again!

Now I'm trying to come up with some more fundraising ideas. Any suggestions?

Detour, But it's all good

So while we are raising funds, through cookbook sales and a:

Spaghetti Dinner & Silent Auction

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

5pm - 7pm

Messiah Christian Church

2700 Post Road

Wells, ME 04090

We are blessed to have two little girls with us temporarily. They are foster children ages 3 and 5 and are as cute as can be. I wish I could show you, but I can't--laws and all. Well, I guess I can give you a peek: Just don't tell anyone!

Delivery!

I am happy to report that the cookbooks are ready for delivery. If you ordered one, they will be delivered next week.

There are still lots left, so please tell a friend! Our third fundraiser is coming up on September 18th, 2010. We will be hosting a spaghetti supper with a raffle, desserts, and lots of great food! Our donations are coming in and we are so thrilled to see God working through this process. He is so good!

On a bittersweet note, our foster daughter, T, will be moving out on Monday. She will be starting college in two weeks and has found a house to share nearby. We are happy that she is moving forward into adult hood, but worried that she will face many struggles. We will playing musical rooms so everyone will be ready for our newest addition.

Until then, here's a picture I painted for our cookbook sales:

Cookbooks

They are finally done! Cookbooks are ready to be delivered this week. I am a binding fool right now, but so happy to be working on a fundraiser to bring our second daughter home.

If you would like to order a small cookbook for $5, or a large cookbook for $10, just click on the "donate" link to the left. Let me know how many and your address. I will be thrilled to get one in the mail to you. All proceeds go directly to LilyBeth's adoption fund. We can't do this without your help. Thank you!

Also, we are happy to report that we have chosen to go with All God's Children International for our third adoption. They are family by now and I absolutely love the staff.

So far we have raised over $200 in cookbook sales! God is so good.