Merry Christmas!

Hello to all of you blog-checkers! I cannot believe Christmas is here. This is such a sweet and busy time of year. Our kids are out of school for two weeks, and I love it! We are going to have so much fun. Wearing jammies until noon, playing games, and of course - with a mother like me - doing crafts! Our latest discovery is the hot glue gun - low temp. Oh, man that can bring hours of creativity! We made a whole town out of saltine crackers, marshmallows, and sugar cones. We are so so blessed!

I'm sure you're waiting for an update on our adoption. For those who are reading our blog for the first time, I'll back up a bit and condense the past year as quickly as possible. Also, for major dates of interest you can see our "time line" in the right margin.

Well, in November of 2005 Rob and I first discussed adoption. We went through the rational reasons NOT to adopt. We have three kids already, we're a healthy, happy, strong family. Why would we want to mess that up? But, our hearts were softened, and we began to realize, what a great situation we have to offer a little child who has NOTHING. Another thing, I am a huge supporter of Life, and oppose abortion with a passion. Adoption is such an active way to take personal responsibility and thank a mother who chose life for her baby - even though we will most likely never meet her.

Through lots of prayer, research and confirmations we submitted our application to adopt in January 2008. We decided on Russia pretty much through the process of elimination. China has a three year wait, Guatemala is closed, Columbia won't adopt if you already have three kids, etc. We knew for sure we were to get a little girl and she should be "older". We have specified a little girl between 24 - 48 months old. Initially we had pictured the little gymnast with blond hair and blue eyes. But, we learned that Russia is so huge - making up 1/3 of the world's land, they have many different backgrounds. So, we are totally open to Gypsy or Asian features. Whatever, it doesn't matter to us.

We completed our "dossier" - the major pain the rear paperwork nightmare - in April. And less than two weeks later we received a referral - which means a child matched for us. That was amazing because after Russia receives your paperwork, it has to be translated into Russian before the Department of Education in Moscow will begin the process.

To make a long story short, in August, that little girl in the region of Vladivostok, ended up being adopted by her grandmother before she officially "cleared the data-base" - which is when the child is still open to domestic adoption. So we were back on the waiting list.

Then in September we received another call for a referral in the region of Astrakhan. We had to re-do some additional paperwork for that region very quickly. They asked if we could travel in October. Typically after you receive your referral from the Department of Education in Russia, you receive your official travel dates within a week. After waiting two months, there was some confusion, and that referral fell through as well. So, here we are just playing the waiting game, and back on the list.

I have gone through a series of emotions. Being excited, sad, happy, frustrated, etc. And, Rob - he's a rock. So steady and patient. He just says the time has not been right, and it will happen when it happens. What a guy! We have come to the realization that just because we are following God's call, we are not exempt from heartache. Man-kind is so full of failure. Even if the people in Russia are making a mess of things, our God can make it good. Besides, He is much more concerned about shaping our character than making things happen when we think they should. God is not bound by time. "He makes all things work for good TO THOSE WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE". We believe that!!

It is seriously such an honor that God placed this call on our life. We know whatever challenges we will face, He will be faithful to our family. Hopefully you feel caught up on our process, so I'll wrap it up now. Rob just looked over my shoulder and said, "You're really bloggin' it up".

Please check back again! When we receive news, I always report it on this blog site. Thank you so much for caring about us! Keep praying for God's purpose to be fulfilled in us. Pray for our little girl over in Russia - her health, comfort, diet, care, etc. Love to you all.