Please Help the Newbold Family

The Newbolds are a fellow Reece's Rainbow family. Their adoption journey has not been a smooth and easy one. In July, they adopted their handsome son, John Paul from Eastern Europe. At that time, they fell in love with another sweet child with Down Syndrome, Dasha. Her paperwork was not ready, so they were unable to bring her home with John Paul. They have been waiting 5 months to go back and get her. After spending a few days with Dasha, they learned that their adoption cannot be completed until after January 12, which means they have to return home empty handed,again. Not only do they need to make their 3rd trip this year, they also learned that the cost of the adoption is going to be $2,000 more than they were told in July. They are not sure where the additional funds are going to come from. If you can help out, with even $1, please click on the picture of sweet Dasha, and it will bring you to their paypal account. If you cannot help out with a donation, please pray for the Newbold family. Blessings!


Please click on the Donate button on Dasha's blog to help!
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I've Been Keeping Busy

These are the mittens I have made so far. I'm having so much fun! They are all traditional mittens of Maine and Atlantic Canada. The top right picture is the Fox and Geese pattern. I am making this pair for Dan. The blue and white pair are Connor's. He picked the Peekaboo patterned cuff and the Spruce pattern for the mitten. They are so easy to do, but look very pretty. The green and natural pair are Gavin's. Actually, I've torn them out and started over. Now that I know the pattern, I want to make a longer, tighter cuff for him. The striped cuff and the Salt 'n Pepper pattern are true Maine patterns.:)The natural and gray striped pattern fits Meredith, Connor and Gavin. They will be an extra pair for whoever needs them first.:) Right now I have started a fleece-lined mitten for Meredith. I suppose I should start working on making the second mitten of each pair. I like to have two different patterns going at a time in case I get bored with one. These mittens are called "double knitted" because of the two colors. The colors overlap on the back and act as a second layer of wool within the mitten. Most of the airholes are covered over. It makes the mittens very warm, but not too bulky. Oh, the little black things are called "wristers" of fingerless gloves. They can be worn in the house or as an extension under mittens with a short cuff. They work amazingly well at keeping out the snow that likes to creep inside mittens and up sleeves.

Mission Accomplished

We made it to South Portland and back. The weather is horrible, but the driving wasn't too bad. The office was open and we got fingerprinted right away. The technician was worried about one of my prints. Please pray they are accepted so we don't have to reschedule!!

Prayer Please

Our fingerprint appointment it scheduled for tomorrow at 8am in South Portland. Right now we are getting a nasty freezing rain/snow storm that is supposed to last into tomorrow. Please pray that we can get there and back safely and get our fingerprints done. I don't want to have to reschedule because it could take a while, and who knows what the weather will be another day. Eek!

We Have an Appointment for Fingerprints

We both got our letters this morning. Our fingerprint appointment is scheduled for Friday, December 12, at 8am. Any guesses on how long we will have to wait for our approval once they get our fingerprints?

Good News, well- a bit

On Saturday we received a letter from USCIS confirming that they have accepted our application, and have assigned us a USCIS number. This is big news for us because we were told to expect to have our paperwork returned the first time around. The entire I-800A process is new, and ABSOLUTELY NO ONE could help me with the 9 page application. So, I sent it in with what I hoped were the correct supporting documents and started praying hard. It worked! Now we are waiting for our fingerprint appointment. We are so thankful to be one tiny babystep closer to finally meeting Andres!

Wet Weather

I have a habit of checking the weather forecast on the Weather Channel. First I check Auburn, Maine and then I check Tallinn, Estonia. Even though Estonia is much farther north, our weather is very much the same. The current weather in both places is 43 degrees and rain. The big difference is in the hours of daylight. We still have sunrise before 7am. They have darkness until 9am! Because of daylight savings time we actually have an earlier sunset, but that will even out in December. Overall, we have 2-3 more hours of sunlight each day. I know this is pretty boring stuff for most people unless you live in the North. The hardest part of winter for me is not the snow or the cold, but the DARKNESS! I start counting the minutes of daylight gained on Dec. 23! This year, with my thoughts always in Estonia, I am feeling blessed to have those 2 extra hours of daylight!

Angel Tree at Reece's Rainbow

This is an exciting time of year for those of us involved with Reece's Rainbow. It is time for the Angel Tree. Each year pictures are posted of all the beautiful angels with Down syndrome who are hidden away in orphanages around the world. We all spread the word to help raise awareness about these special children. There are many families who are willing to adopt but are unable to because of the cost of international adoption. The Angel Tree is a great fundraising opportunity for these precious little ones. Please visit the website and consider sponsoring one of these Angels. Feel free to share the link with anyone you know who might consider adopting or sponsoring an Angel.


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Lyme Disease?

While I was working Wednesday morning I noticed a sore spot on the back of my left thigh. When I touched it, it moved-GROSS! So I skipped into the bathroom to check it out, and sure enough, it was a tick. I enlisted the aid of one of my coworkers to remove the tick because I couldn't reach it. She managed to remove the entire tick, and we examined it closely. It was not big for a tick, but larger than the deer ticks I have seen, and it did not seem to be engorged so I was not really concerned. The spot on my leg was sore though. The next morning I noticed it was still sore, so I checked it out. I had a tiny (smaller than a dime), but perfect bullseye around the bite. When I got home I looked up bullseye rashes. It looked like a small, less vibrant version of the rash. At bedtime, the pink outer ring was more oblong and wider than a quarter. I decided to call the nurse in the morning. By the time I got to the doctor's office yesterday afternoon the pink ring was barely visible. My doctor decided to play it safe and prescribed two weeks worth of doxycycline which I started taking today. This afternoon I started feeling lousy. I've probably talked myself into thinking I'm sick.:) Anyway, I'm glad now to be taking the antibiotics.

Projects

Today I came home to find an envelope containing 4 official copies of our homestudy. I just knew it would come today. So, hopefully, tomorrow I will file our I-800A. I am trying to be positive, and I've come up with a waiting strategy...projects. My first project is to complete our dossier just in case things happen faster than I imagine they will. Next I am going to start applying for grants. Then I am going to buy some soft, lightweight wool yarn and make a beautiful(handsome) hat and mitten set for Andres. My dad is going to help me make a treefort playhouse. I am hoping to carve/whittle some rough pieces of furniture. The idea is for it to look like one of those very expensive, but adorable elf homes in the toy catalogs. I want to make swings and rope ladders and all kinds of little detail things. Not really sure if it will actually happen, but it gives me something to think about.:)

Bad news, but it actually made me feel better.

I was so bummed when I opened our mailbox and once again our homestudy was not there! I skipped right over anger and frustration and dove into despair. I moped around in a fog for a few hours and then decided to call Barbara at AHI. She told me that Estonia has changed the rules again which means we won't be visiting any time soon.:( For some reason I started to feel better right away. Now the missing envelope is only keeping my from filing our I-800A. It just doesn't seem as important anymore. It isn't keeping us from travelling and meeting Andres, so I can wait. When it does come, probably tomorrow, I will send in the paperwork and wait, wait, wait. Our dossier is just about done and when we get our INS approval we can go visit. If we are lucky, we will get to visit in midwinter. Did I mention that Tallinn is on parallel with Stockholm, Sweden and Juneau, Alaska? Doesn't that sound like a fun time to go? Okay, now I'm getting sarcastic, I guess it bothered me more than I thought.
Anyway, I am not in despair, and I am no longer pulling my hair out. Today has been very busy, but I have had alot of quiet time to pray. The Lord has been good and has comforted me. He has also impressed upon me, my need to live in the present. If I can focus on doing the task at hand to His glory, I will see how precious my life is right now, and be greatful for what I already have. It is amazing how my outlook changed in a second. My 11y.o. son, Connor called me on my cell phone. He is so mature that I forget he is just a little guy. When I heard his voice on the phone he sounded so young and sweet that my heart just bubbled over with love. I would have missed it if I was still moping! A few minutes later, I was able to connect with, and comfort Meredith on the way home. Thank you, Lord, for adjusting my focus. We will get to Estonia, and Andres, in Your time.

My Connor boy.:)

Estonia, What a beautiful place!

My favorite part of Estonia...whether it's Sunshine

or Storm clouds



The Estonian Crest-notice the oak branches and acorns? That sure is appropriate for us.:)




Images of Old Town, Tallinn We will be staying here. Isn't it gorgeous!





These stamps show the knitting heritage of Estonia. I love folk knitting! The woman is knitting as they walk to church in their Sunday best.






The Estonian flag and a flag stamp





Estonian Money 10.7 Eesti Kroons= 1 US$

Passports are here

Dan received his passport today. Mine came on Saturday. Yay! That was one thing that went amazingly fast. Mine took exactly 1 week!! We are still waiting for the agency to type up the finished draft of our homestudy.:( In the meantime,we are scurrying around to complete our dossier so we can bring it with us to Estonia. Hopefully we will have it done by the time AHI gets our homestudy. Knowing we are so close to meeting Andres is agonizing in so many ways. I know it will be soon, but when exactly? Will he like us? Will he do something to freak us out? It is too exciting and too scary at the same time!

Scratch That

Scratch everything I said about the adoption. I actually have GOOD NEWS!!! There were lots of misunderstandings yesterday. Today, I had a long conversation with Barbara at Adoption Hope. The medical form just needs to be signed by my physician. I don't need to schedule a new appointment! Yay! Dan had his signed this morning. I am hoping to get mine done tomorrow or Monday. Then, off they go to the homestudy agency who can forward our COMPLETED homestudy report to Adoption Hope.:) AS SOON AS they have our completed homestudy, we can schedule our preview trip. That means we can probably go in October. I was so hoping to go before the days get too short. In December the sun is only out from about 10am-4pm. And we think we Mainers have it bad when it gets dark at 4:30. At least the sun comes up at 7am! Anyway, I am walking on air this afternoon.:)

Thanks, Kris, for your support! It helps to know I have a friend who understands.

Tough Day

Today was not much fun. One of my co-workers is leaving at the end of the week. We all went out after work, but farewell parties are kind of a bummer. I'm gonna miss you, Jessie!!!

The other work related issue is that our boss has decided to stop paying for our continuing education courses.:( That is a huge bummer!!! I could easily spend $400-$600/year in registration fees. That is a big loss of benefits. It only affects four of the staff, but we are all feeling bad about it. It pretty much negates the raise I just got.

So, while I am moping and complaining......

Our homestudy agency called today. I was hoping to hear that our homestudy report was completed and on its way to our house, but instead I learned that Adoption Hope requires a particular medical form as part of the homestudy. Now, I need to schedule physicals and tons of testing for both of us. I have never gotten an appointment less than 2 months out. Also, neither of us are due for physicals until Jan. and Feb. so our insurance won't cover. I'm guessing it won't be cheap.:(
So, instead of filing our I-800A next week, I will be waiting again. Can you tell I'm depressed? I'll feel better tomorrow. I know there is a reason for every delay, and that it is all in the Lord's hands, but it is still hard.

Sometimes it feels so unreal. It is kinda like when I was 10 days overdue for Connor. When the contractions started up again(for the 4th day in a row)I just got angry. I remember thinking that he would never be born and the labor pains were just my body's idea of a cruel joke. I refused to call the doctor until things had really progressed because I was so afraid it would stop again. At least with Connor I had an end date because the doctor wouldn't wait past Feb. 24th. Right now there is no end in sight.

Awesome Video

Our Homestudy is finally done!

It seemed like it would never happen, but at last it did. Our social worker interviewed our reference(Thanks Clarke family!)on Tuesday, and we received a rough draft of the homestudy yesterday. We looked it over for errors and sent it back today! I have downloaded the I-800 which I will surely need help filling out.:) The minute the final homestudy report is in my hands it will be off to INS. Yay! We are one step closer to meeting Andres, one step closer to bringing him home.:)

Not such a good blogger

I was hoping I would do better with blogging. I have been very busy trying to pull together a new school year. We official begin today. I have also been busy getting the house cleaned up and organized. That was a HUGE job!! We moved in 10 years ago this weekend. We have accumulated alot of stuff in 10 years! The house is looking pretty nice, and much bigger without all the clutter. Our social worker was here for our first home visit on Wednesday last week. It went well, I think, even when Gavin told her we spanked him for not eating his garlic bread.:) She is coming again today for most of the afternoon. Then she just needs to visit with our reference and write up the report. The end (of the homestudy) is in sight. Yeah!!

Gavin tries Tubing with Jenny

Lost and Found

LOST

First, Connor lost a tooth.

Then, a few minutes later, Gavin lost one, too!

FOUND

One tiny toad,

One camp creature,

Peter Pan's Shadow?

Thanks

Thank you for the kind words. It is so hard to lose a pet!

We had a great camping trip. We did get some rain, but much more sunshine. We managed to pick and freeze 6 quarts of wild blueberries-my favorite!!

The best part for me was that I was able to hike!!!! We were out for 4 hours and it was not all level terrain. I didn't climb a mountain, but it was a real hike.:) I was also able to jog short distances with Kody. I am in heaven! I am going to try to start jogging again this week. I had almost given up. It's been 2 years since my last roadrace! Even if I can't run, I am so happy that I was able to hike again.:) We saw the most beautiful waterfall, and we all had a great time.

Remembering Sadie

We picked up Sadie in September of 2000. She was 8-weeks-old, and Gavin was 5-weeks. Sadie was one of a litter of 10 puppies! We chose her because she was the quiet one of the litter. She sat looking up at us sweetly while the others jumped and yipped and fought for our attention. It didn't take long to understand why she wasn't jumping like the others. Sadie had 2 bad hips. Over the next year we helped her through 2 surgeries. She was able to walk and play without pain.



Last year, Sadie developed a mast cell tumor on her left leg. It was removed. We hoped and prayed it would not come back. A few weeks ago she began to act a little unusual and started to become aggressive towards our other dog, Kody. Then, 2 weeks ago Sadie attacked Meredith who had bumped her with the refrigerator door. It was terrifying! Meredith jumped up onto the counter to get away. Sadie ripped through her jeans and managed to just break the skin. We were devastated.



We knew what we had to do, but it was so hard!! After that incident, Sadie was her usual sweet self. We began to see that she was not well, and not herself. She wasn't eating well, she started limping and coughing, so we took her to our wonderful vet. Dr. M has taken care of all our pets. She cried for us, but assured us we were doing the right thing. It looks like the cancer may have spread to her lungs. Wednesday we spent the evening hanging out in the yard with Sadie. She tried to run and play, but she had to keep sitting to rest. We truly knew it was time. We all miss her so much!



We are off to Cathedral Pines for a week of camping. That is a well-timed distraction. I'm sure we'll all be feeling a little better when we return.

Goodbye Sweet Sadie

Oh, how we miss you!!!

Way to Go, Gav!!!

Gavin chose to have a Reece's Rainbow birthday party. Instead of receiving gifts for himself, he encouraged his friends to give a donation for a special orphan in need of a family. Only a few friends were able to attend, but they donated $30. Gavin had fun choosing a child to sponsor.

He chose handsome and happy Aleksey in Eastern Europe. You can see his sparkly blue eyes at Reece's Rainbow. Here is the link. http://www.reecesrainbow.com/angelboys.htm (scroll down a bit to find him) This wonderful boy is 3 years old, and he desperately needs a family. He was born with spina bifida, but he has so much potential.! In a loving family with therapy and support he could have a great life. If he does not find a family by the time he is 4 or 5, he will be sent to a mental institution where he will get no love, attention or stimulation, and no schooling! Please consider saving Aleksey from that kind of life!

Thanks, Gavin, for making a great choice! May the Lord bless you for your generosity.

Happy Birthday Gavin!!

Yesterday we celebrated Gavin's birthday. He is easy to celebrate! I so wanted just one more, but I was trying to be content with three. Driving home from work one evening I suddenly KNEW I was pregnant. An amazing joy washed over me. The dates did not make sense and it was too soon for a pregnancy test, but I just knew. A week or so later the pregnancy test confirmed it, HOORAY! I was a little concerned about Dan's reaction so I hadn't told him yet. He already knew, too.:) He actually seemed more excited than ever before.

Somehow the question of planning always came up. People asked if he was a "mistake" or an "oops". What a horrible thing to call a baby! I called him our Bonus baby, an unlooked for reward. I once overheard Gavin telling our friends, "God knew my Mom needed one more baby so He gave her, me. I'm her Bonus boy." I sure am glad we never called him a mistake!

Gavin is confident, outgoing, and funny! He is happy to tell you that he has an amazing vocabulary which is true. Otherwise, he is a very typical little boy. He loves to play with weapons of any kind. Swords are by far his favorite. When Gavin was 3, I walked into the living room to hear him shout, "A sword, a sword! My kingdom for a sword!":)

He is as dramatic as the rest of the family. He has a sweet little singing voice, too. This past winter he played Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol. It was a huge part for a 7-yr.-old!! He had to sing a solo and a duet. It was alot of work, but he did it! He was adorable with his perfect British accent.:)

Today is Gavin's turn to spend the day with Mimi and Bump(Dan's parents). They will be picking him up anytime. They will spend the day at Uncle Chuck's camp on Sebago Lake. All the cousins and kids will be there. Gavin may try tubing today! After a fun day at camp they will go out for dinner at Cole Farms and finish with a stop at Frozen Custard! Have a great day, Gavin!!

Gavin is 8

Spotlight on Garrett

Garrett is fifteen and just successfully completed his freshman year at Edward Little High School. This was his first year as a full-time public school student. Two years ago he started begging us to let him go to public school. We wanted to let him, but knew he had his work cut out for him if he were to be prepared for college prep courses.

Those of you who know Garrett have probably noticed that he is kind of clumsy, slouches alot, and isn't great at most sports. If he has written you a note, you will have noticed that his handwriting and spelling are very poor. Here are the labels to match those difficutlies- coordination disorder, low muscle tone, fine motor impairment, dysgraphia, specific learning disability in written language and spelling. You may also have noticed that Garrett has an amazing memory for Bible verses, jokes(not necessarily funny ones), and movie lines. He is also very good at learning accents and song lyrics. The label for that is highly to profoundly gifted auditory memory. He can still recite entire scenes from a play he did in 7th grade!

Armed with these labels we set to work. It was amazing to see how hard Garrett ws willing to work to achieve his goals! First we met with Lori, our wonderful OT. She se up a new plan with Garrett, he jumped right in without complaint. He was already swimming 3-5 times a week which helped tremendously with the coordination and strength issues. Finally, I found, Phonetic Zoo, by Andrew Pudewa. I would highly recommend it for auditory learners. Garrett's spelling improved by 4 grade levels and he only got through 2/3 of the lessons!!! The last piece of the puzzle was writing. I was relentless in making him write, write, write.

At the end of 8th grade we met with his high school guidance counselor. I had to push a little to get Garrett enrolled in college prep courses, but it was done, pending his test scores and a writing evaluation. His test scores came in above grade level, and the English teacher felt his writing was only slightly below average. He did it! We are so proud of him!!

Garrett is a fun, outgoing kid who loves to perform. This past year he played percussion in the school band, and sang in the school choir. He was also very busy in the theater. Garrett has had large roles, but is perfectly happy to take any part on or off stage. This year he was involved in:
Annie Get Your Gun with CLT, Guys and Dollswith EL Players, A Christmas Carol with CLT, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with Kingsbridge Theatre. He had small roles in each of these shows. He had some wonderful auditions, and we are so proud of how well he handled his disappointment at not getting the parts he really wanted. He had a great attitude and earned the admiration and respect of all the adults he worked with.

Garrett's other passion is swimming! He may not be the fastest swimmer on the team, but he is probably the most loyal. No one could have been prouder to wear the Red Eddies uniform. Garrett was the only freshman to get a time in every event. He placed at the regional meet and went to the State championship as an alternate. He had a great season, especially considering he lost 3 weeks of practice to a bout of pneumonia!

He is enjoying the summer. Most of his time is spent at home, but he does have a cool job. He gets to go out on "sting" operations with a sheriff. His job is to try to buy tobacco products. If he succeeds, the sheriff goes in and fines the store. Other than work his only activities have been youth group. He attends 3 at 3 different churches. It is great for him to network with Christian teens. He is hoping to join a teen worship team at our church.

Weekend Fun with Grammy and Papa

More Positive Responses

I dropped off some paperwork at the adoption agency today. The secretary acted very happy to see me. She told me that everyone in the office is really excited for us. Now that vacations are over they are going to try to speed things up. Hooray!!! She also said every single employee asked why we did not choose to adopt domestically if we were interested in a special needs child. The social worker gave them my answer and they were all impressed.:) It was the same answer any of my Reece's Rainbow friends would give. I am sure I wasn't impressive with how I said it. I just asked if she was aware of how special needs kids are treated in Eastern Europe. Even though she said yes, I reminded her of the institutions they are sent to where they get no love, no attention, no stimulation. Even though Andres isn't in a horrible place like that, he still doesn't have a Mommy and Daddy and siblings to cherish him.
It felt nice to see her enthusiasm. It makes me a little less nervous about not being "good enough" to pass. It was also great to think they would try to "hurry things up". Nothing in Maine gets hurried much.:) Maybe our sweet boy will be cherished sooner than we thought!

Responses

I am beginning to get positive responses from friends and family about our adoption of Andres. We did get some very positive initial reactions from many people, but most just seemed shocked or confused. It was disappointing. Maybe people needed to let the idea sink in?

Yes, we are working to bring home a child with Down syndrome. Yes, he really will turn 10 on September, 17. Yes, we really have thought this through, and we have an idea of what we are getting ourselves into. No, I don't think it will be easy. No, I don't know all the answers, but I am being faithful to the Lord's call. No, I am not crazy, and no, I am definitely NOT a saint! Just ask Dan and the kids.:)

My sweet and true friend Steph made my day just by being honest. She admitted to being a little nervous because she wouldn't know how to treat Andres. She has not had much experience with special kids. I know she will be wonderful with my new son because she will love and except him for who he is! She will know how to treat him as soon as she meets him. She is a pro at dealing with little boys, and after all, Andres is a little boy.

One of my co-workers was very open in asking, "why would you want to do that?" A few weeks have gone by, and now she is full of questions. "How did you pick one child over another?" - I didn't, God picked us for each other. "How will you teach him English?" - I don't know! It's scary!! I'm learning as many Estonian words as my brain will take in. But, my favorite response came today when I was saying how scared I am that we won't pass the homestudy. "What, are you thinking? You must be crazy to think that!":) That comment made my day, too.

My boss, a new mom who can't even talk about the adoption without tears in her eyes, asked for an update. She was just beaming as she talked about how lucky Andres is to have our family waiting to bring him home. She is so happy that he will have a family and schooling and opportunities to enjoy life. It felt great!!

Mommy and Daddy

I just learned how to say Mommy and Daddy in Estonian- I think.

Emme ja Issi
emme- mommy pronounced(I think) ay-may
issi- daddy pronounced ee-see

If that is wrong, please feel free to correct me!!

The 5 "snapshots" of Andres I'm longing to see.

5. Walking into church with us
4. Playing in our backyard
3. Sitting with us at the dinner table
2. Cuddling with Dad in front of the tv
1. Tucked into his bed in the boys' room

Here's the Story (abridged version)

Twenty years ago I visited Haiti. The kids broke my heart. I wanted to bring them all home with me. Since then I have felt called to adopt. We looked into domestic adoption and foster care, but never felt comfortable with that system. We looked into international adoption, but that was too expensive. So I began praying for orphans.

Over the years I prowled the photolistings praying for particular children who were put on my heart. I always believed that we were meant to adopt, and that God would make it happen.

Once I tried to force the issue. I picked a little Haitian girl who I decided was the one. I prayed for her, begged Dan and the Lord to let her be the one, but it was not His will. I ended up with a broken heart, but I believe my prayers were used for her good. I still pray for her. She was 8 in this picture. She will be 13 next month. I sure hope she is loved and safe

After a few months I went back to the photolistings. I was drawn more and more to the kids with special needs. Sometimes I learned when they were adopted, but most often they just disappeared. My heart was still in Haiti waiting for the Lord to give me a daughter.

At Christmas, I stumbled on Reece's Rainbow, an international Down syndrome adoption ministry. There was a picture of a little Eastern European girl who looked just like Meredith as a baby. When I inquired I learned that we probably would not meet her country's requirements or expenses.

Andrea, the director of RR, invited me to join the yahoo group. It was confusing to follow at first. I decided to look at the photos section in hopes of putting faces to names. The first thing I saw was a photo album for Andres in Estonia. I had been praying for him for years, but had no intention of adopting him. I clicked on his picture and there he was in the red cap. My heart felt like it would explode!! I knew, "He's the one". It was the same feeling I had when I knew I was pregnant when it was too soon to know. I just knew. I told Dan right away. He just said, "we can't afford it". I told him I didn't know how it would happen, but that I truly believed it would.

I started praying and asked my friends to pray with me. When we started praying Andres had $960 in his grant fund. In 2 weeks he had $3,500. A few more weeks and it was $6,000. Finally, he was given a incredible gift of $14,000!! Dan was convinced, and we put Andres on hold.

We hope to finish our homestudy soon and have all our paperwork done by the end of the summer. Then we get to go meet our little man. After that we have to wait for a court date to go back and get him. Please keep praying for us as we go through this process.

Even bad pictures are better than no pictures

Meredith and Garrett

Dad and Connor

Mom and Gavin

Under Construction-again

This is my third attempt at starting a blog. It started out as an adoption blog, but I soon realized I am not creative or witty enough to make much out of just one topic. The kids wanted to be included as well, so we decided to set up a family blog. I am very new to all this computer stuff so please bear with me. I am hoping Dan will help me add some family photos soon. I hope you like it.:)