HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Happy Birthday Mom!!! I miss you so much. I wish I could be there with you celebrating. Look how good you and Daddy look! Enjoy that strawberry daquiri and don't forget to make a wish when you blow out your candles! Have a great day.....You deserve it!!! I LOVE YOU!

An Officer and a Princess

Ellie and Ashton. Precious doesn't even come close to describing this picture. Ellie is that a RING on your finger????? Remember what Daddy says? No dating until you're 45!!!!

Who Says Princesses Don't Exist?

It's Out Of My Hands....

We sent the forms with homestudy and information today. It was in the mail before noon so I'm hoping it makes it's way to Chicago by Monday!!!!!

4 Months and 3 Weeks Later.....

What a sight for sore eyes!!! This is our friendly FedEx guy delivering our homestudy. I would have hugged him and given him a great big kiss but he was already thinking I was a little nuts when I asked him if I could take his picture!! So I shared our story of how long and awaited this package was. He was very understanding and happy to be a part of our story!

Now I can say we finally have A COMPLETED HOMESTUDY in our hands. After so many issues of trying to complete an update we are ready to mail it to USCIS. I have to say I wasn't sure we would get to this point. I filled out the forms, double checked it all, wrote a check and will mail it tomorrow. From there we will wait to receive an appointment for our fingerprints and then wait on our I171h form. In the meantime I will begin collecting all information for our Dossier. Yippeeee.....more paperwork!!! I don't mind, anything to bring us closer to our little sweetie. After today, things are seeming a little more real. I believe things are really turning around.

Did you ever feel like you have had some kind of spiritual message being delivered to you? Just lately I have read or heard the words "new song" over and over. Of course me being me, it took me several times before I understood the correlation. As I put it all together, I believe that God is telling me that HE has a new song for me. It's time to stop the complaining and grumbling and move on. Receiving this homestudy today has made be feel like this is the first verse in the new song God is placing in my heart.

I am ready for healing in my mouth and some healing in several other hurtful issues....so tonight I will praise my God with this wonderful psalm...

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Can This Actually Be True?

Just received an e-mail....our homestudy will be in my hands by Thursday afternoon. Scott and I will review it, sign it and send it off to immigration. We will await a fingerprinting appointment and approval to adopt overseas.

There has been so many bumps in the road. I have been very discouraged and have questioned if we were really doing the right thing. Through lots of prayer I have definitely received confirmation that we are doing exactly what we are supposed to.

Sheryl, I know you read my blog and I want you to to know,I recognize you are always there for me. You have so much going on in your own life and you still find time to be strong for both of us!!!! In fact I know I am not the only one you have helped carry the load! I thank God for you daily. Everyone should be as blessed as I am to have a friend like you. Your strength amazes me everyday. If I ever grow up I want to be just like you!!!! I am honored that you count me among your friends. I love you girl!!!! It was so good to see you, Kevin and the kids!

Surprise Visit

Sunday I received a surprise visit from Matthew. What a great surprise. Scott has been gone on a business trip, the boys were hanging out with friends, Steph was busy in her room so it was just me and Ellie sitting on the couch watching TV. I heard the garage door but figured it was one of the boys coming in to get a drink. Suddenly I felt something softly scratch my face. I looked up... lo and behold there stood my firstborn!!!! He finally came to see his Mama! Ellie was so happy to see him she ran to him, screamed his name and jumped into his arms!!!! He had his standard candy surprise for Ellie. Kylie had sent a Dwight Shrute stress ball for Matthew to give to Ellie. Of course both items were a big hit!

He has been so busy with his new life and new home, not to mention car problems. I was so happy to see him at our house. When I am in town I usually have lunch with him or go shopping or something but this time was special because he was HOME with me!!!!! We sat on the back deck talked about life, politics and religion!!! I miss those deep seeded conversations with him. Stephanie came out of her room and they had a good visit. The boys came home and they all had a good visit too. It was a great day! Matthew you'll never know how much you are loved and missed!!! I don't care how old he is or how big he is...he will always be my baby!

A Day At The Pumpkin Patch

What a fun day! The weather was perfect, the company was good and we had the choice of the best pumpkins ever!

An Unexpected Play Date!

Yesterday Dawn stopped by with Maria, Lance and Tucker. She lives around the corner and decided to take a walk. Maria can't walk by our house without having to come and say "Hi" to Ellie! It is the same with Ellie when we go for a walk. Their friendship is growing everyday. Especially now that the weather is so nice
It's a bonus that Dawn and I are enjoying our friendship grow with the girls! I never realized how much I was missing out having a stay at home mom friend so close. I love the surprise visits it really breaks up my day and the adult interaction is the cherry on the cake. When Dawn was ready to go Maria wasn't. I asked Dawn if it would be ok if Maria stayed a little longer. The girls played so well together. They went to Ellie's room to play, then to the play area in the basement. They never even asked me for one thing. I finally had to ask them if I COULD fix them something to eat. Macaroni and Cheese was the selection. Here they are enjoying a bowl. The special thing about Maria is that she is adopted from Korea and has 3 big brothers too! The girls share a lot of the same experiences and it will be fun to watch them through the years!!

To Be This Cute!!

What would it be like to be this adorable?

Sisterly Love!

I'm so glad they love each other so much! Steph will be leaving for college next fall. I need to take advantage of the time we have to capture more of these precious shots!

Homestudy Interviews Finally Completed

It is so hard to believe we started our adoption process June 9th and we are still not done with our homestudy. After we were done with our interview in the beginning of September we were told things had changed and we needed to have a total of 4 interviews. AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!

I feel like every time I get something accomplished the rules change! I know in the end none of this is going to matter. It's kind of like delivering a baby.... once you see that precious face, hold the baby close and smell the top of their head.....nothing else matters!!!!!

Our 2nd interview was September 25, 2008 at Apple Bee's. Ellie was with me and we had a nice time with our area SW. She is very sweet and has done everything to make the process go smoothly. Our 3rd interview was October 1, 2008 at our home. Our final visit was October 6, 2008 at the school where Pamela's children attend. As far as the homestudy is concerned Scott and I have done all we can do to this point. We are waiting for Pamela to organize the information in our homestudy and complete her side of it. She will then send it to the main office and they will go over it. They will send it to me, I will fill out the I800a form then send it to UCIS in Chicago. After it leaves my hands we will wait to receive immigration approval and I will begin working on gathering information on our Dossier. YEAHHHH more paperwork!!!!!

Their was a lot more paperwork that I needed to fill out concerning what special need we were willing to accept. This is definitely a very hard process. I hate having to pick and choose because I know their are so many who need a home. I just have to rest in the fact that God already has our child picked out. She is already our daughter and it doesn't matter what boxes on the forms I check. I will get the child He has already hand picked for our family.

I am still dealing with my mouth being numb from my surgery in August. Tuesday and Wednesday were really bad days. It hurt so bad. I had couple of weeks where it hurt, but it was tolerable. I guess maybe while I was feeling a little better I ate too much solid foods and talked too much. Today I am going back on my liquid diet and I will talk much less. I think I will call the girl in my church who had the same thing happen to her and see if she had times of relapses.

Yesterday Stephanie went to have her senior pictures taken. It was an awesome day!!!! The girl who took her pictures was like a clone of Steph! They had so many things in common. I loved her style and after looking at her books of photos I loved what intrigued her. She has a passion for Christ and it shows by her work! She also has a passion for the Asian culture. She has been on many trips overseas shooting photos for various people. She took Steph to different locations while Ellie and I went to Fazzolis! Ellie would not be good after we arrived at the studio so I bribed her with one of her favorite Italian eateries!!! I knew those endless bread sticks would make her smile! After we got back from eating she was like a totally different person. Why does food have to be so important in a woman's life?? It starts so early!!!!!

I will post the pictures of Stephanie when I get them!