Happy 30th Birthday Nick!!!!

For Nick's 30th birthday we went to Athens for the UGA opening game. Nick had never been to a UGA game and was very excited. It was ridiculously hot but we had a great time. They unveiled the new UGA bulldog which as pretty cool to see. We had a blast and had awesome seats. When we got back home we went out to eat and hung out with family.

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY NICK! Love ya!

CIS Problems! More Waiting....

Well, after being so excited about receiving our approval from CIS/immigration we realized that they put my maiden name on the document and not my married name!!!! UGGGGGGG! How frustrating. There is no way to get a person on the phone to have this corrected so we had to make an appointment with CIS. We figured since we could not send in our dossier until we had the approval corrected we might as well have any changes made in the meantime. We had our social worker do an amendment to our home study approving us for a little girl up to 4 years old. We thought about requesting siblings but decided 2 under the age of 4 at one time would be difficult, especially with me working. We are thinking a toddler or older child might be better for us than an infant since Austin will be going on 9 and Olivia going on 6 when the adoption finally takes place, due to the extended wait times. We also hope that with such a broad age range we may get a referral a little faster. We'll see what happens. We are just so ready to get our dossier processed and in the country. There are so many families that started the process much later than us that are already on the waiting list which is difficult to think about. Dealing with the CIS has been ridiculous and has held up our entire process. I know it is all in God's timing and that there are reasons for the delays but it is so frustrating not being able to control the situation at all.

Austin's 8th Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN!!!!!

I can not believe my little boy is 8 years old! It is weird to even think about. Wow, how time flies by. We had family and a few of his friends over for a "surf party". We had a kiddie pool, slip n slide, and water sprinkler for the kids and cooked out. I think everyone had a great time. The weather was not very good but it worked out fine. The kids did not seem to mind a few sprinkles since they were already wet. :)

IT IS HERE!!!!!! :)

OUR ADOPTION APPROVAL CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!!!!! Whoooooooooo! :) I have never been so excited about a piece of paper in my life. It was a long hard 4 months, but we made it. Now the long wait for a referral begins. More prayers please. :) We are considering increasing our age range or possibly siblings. Who knows what blessings God has in store for our family. Right now I am just celebrating this huge step forward!

First Day of School!

Today was Olivia's first day of Pre-K!!! I can not believe she is now going to "big girl" school. I did good though, I did not cry. I teared up and had a huge lump in my throat but I did not cry. She was so funny, she did not want me to walk her to class. She made me walk behind her and the whole time she was telling me she could go by herself and not to come with her. She is miss independence. She was so excited when I picked her up and had a good note from her teacher. :) I knew she would do well.

Austin had his first day of 3rd grade, oh my goodness. Where has the time gone? He is really growing up fast. It seems like just yesterday was his first day of Pre-K. He loved his first day of school and also came home with a good note. He was glad to see his friends again and excited to move up to the "big kids" playground.

It is so sad to see how fast they are growing up. I am afraid that it will start going even faster.

Steven Curtis Chapman

We went to the Steven Curtis Chapman Concert this past weekend at Turner Field. It was an amazing experience. Check out the pics and videos on my Picasa Web Album. After an unbelievably hot day at the Braves game with no rain in the forecast a huge storm blew up during the first song of the opening act and John Smoltz giving his testimony. Perfect timing huh? Huge dark clouds, awesome lighting, strong winds, and heavy rain rolled in. I felt something was trying it's hardest to keep the concert from going forward and so did Steven Curtis Chapman. After about 30-40 minutes of the storm he came on stage, just him and his guitar, and announced that due to safety issues his band could not perform but that Satan was not stopping him from doing the concert. He put on an intimate concert singing, playing his guitar, and speaking to the audience alot. He spoke often of the adoption of his 3 girls, and the recent death of his youngest daughter, Maria. He told the story of how he came to meet Maria and bring her home. He told of her personality and how she lived so passionately in those short few years. He sang "Cinderella" and I am sure there was not a dry eye in the house. I cried through 90% of the entire concert and even thinking of it makes me cry. His wife and children were there and he said it was the first concert they had been at since the tragedy. Seeing the Faith in a family that has gone through the worst situation imaginable was inspirational. It really makes you think about your own family and faith. Would we have the Faith if faced with a similar situation?

The night before the concert Austin had asked me some difficult questions while I was putting him to bed. I stayed up until late talking to him. He is such a deep thinker, it scares me and brings me to tears. I am convinced he will do great things in ministry some day. He asked me to tell him the truth about EVERYTHING; the tooth fairy, Easter bunny, Santa Clause, God and Jesus. WOW! I knew right away I had to tell him the entire truth and hold nothing back. Nick and I had discussed this very issue last Christmas. We were afraid the kids would believe Jesus was all made up just like Santa Clause. Well, need less to say Santa will not be in our house anymore! Austin was upset I had lied to him about Santa, the Tooth Fairy, etc. He of course started asking deeper questions like why we can not see or touch God or why when he prays to God for help he does not actually see him helping. These are hard things to explain to a 7 year old. I found a great book in Barnes and Noble yesterday and sat right there in the store and read it to him. It asked/answered a lot of the same questions Austin had just asked me. I am glad he thinks about it so much, but he really thinks on a much deeper level than most his age. He may struggle in some areas but I think it is because his mind is so busy on other areas. I would rather his faith be strong as a rock than be on the honor roll any day. I am grateful that God has led us to a wonderful new church that will support our entire family to grow stronger in our faith and build a strong foundation in our home.

Ok, to give an update to the adoption, we are STILL WAITING on our approval from the CIS/Immigration, it has been 4 months now! We need prayers! Please pray for us that our approval will come soon so we can officially be on the list waiting for a referral. Also please pray that we will be led to the child God has chosen for us. We are struggling with what age of child to request.