our hands

We completed another "exciting" step in our adoption journey today :)

We attended our very important appointment to have our biometrics taken...

In other words; we had our finger prints taken by Homeland security in St. Paul.

An interesting experience forsure

Now we wait for Immigrations approval to bring home "our" children from Ethiopia

"Children" of our heart, only God knows by name for now.

We expect to wait 4-8 weeks for this approval as we work on finishing the last few pieces of paperwork in our dossier.

We are so excited to be making continual progress... We are getting close, Friends, very close!

Thank you for your prayers & support.

God is Good!!!

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might," Esslesiastes 9:10

water

World Water Day Video from Charity: Water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEnlrE4iMBU&feature=player_embedded



Click the code above ... ^


The video's moving


And distressing


Something can be done


We can make a difference!

lil' leprechaun

Our week has been busy... as many of our days can be.

The busyness seems to catch up with little S. the quickest.


Our lil' Leprechaun asleep in his lunch is a sure sign it's time to slow down a bit & take time to just be.


I'm blessed by the sweet reminders of my "children".


God Bless & Take Rest Today =)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patricks Day from our Irish home to yours!!!

Good Day to ya...

.59

And it's off...

Fifty-nine cents postage and our I-600A is on it's way to the US Department of Homeland Security.


This makes us very happy =)


Soon we'll receive an appointment to be finger printed and get pre-approval to bring our
child(ren) home to their forever family.


In the mean time we continue to gather letters, certificates, & documents for our dossier.


In God's time our completed dossier will be on it's way to Ethiopia!



Thank you for your continued prayers for our adoption journey... We couldn't do this without you!


Blessings to you.

a little fun

My Kiddo's are on Spring Break this week.

We enjoyed some time swimming today, at

a some what near by Community Center.

It was just the ticket to add a bit of excitement to our regular routine.

We all had a little fun!

stories.

Where do we begin?

We kicked off our first fund-raising campaign
in February... "Spare Change-Change Lives Campaign"

Friends, Family, Acquaintances, and perfect Strangers

have participated... And continue to!

As of March 1st our campaign totalled: $576.08

We have since received additional bottles (a new total coming soon)

And we are AMAZED ... GRATEFUL... BLESSED... & in AWE!

We are humbled to be a part of your selfless sacrificial hearts.

The stories are many...

• Two 'church family' friends put our campaign bottle out at the Bread of Life bookstore in Elk River. They had the privilege of witnessing (and sharing) a young man read about our campaign and selflessly gift us with a portion of his earnings. Thank you!

• A momma of an adopted son from Korea, whose birthday they celebrated in February, sends her prayers up for our journey... filled a baby bottle with many $1 coins. Thank you!

• To our friends children who think our adopting is "cool" and contributed what they have, you inspire us to persevere. Thank You for your "faithfulness"!

• To the countless families who have given sacrificially on our behalf & continue to do so... with your time & prayers, your coins, your dollar bills, even your checks. We Thank You!

• We even recently had a bottle anonymously delivered to our home =) We are moved by your encouragement... and find it hard to express our gratitude sufficiently. But we thank you!

• To the family who heard about our journey from one of our daughters, reached into his pocket and handed her what he had. He went on to compliment our children for their enthusiasm & excitment toward growing our family through adoption... We are truly blessed. Thank you.

Our hearts are filled with renewed HOPE by your expressions of encouragement & support. We continue on this challenging journey of the heart with the "help" of people God has put in our lives & path during this adventure of life.

Thank you for being our "Aaron's" and "Hur's" that hold our hands up when we grow weary & afraid (Read Exodus 17:10-13) Thank You!!!

We are GRATEFUL & BLESSED beyond what words can express!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

I did it!!!

Hey "Blog Readers" (the few & far between)


I think I did it!!!


It's not as nocticable as I would like, I'm still working on that...


Click the pinwheel pic in the margins on the LEFT.



The "Start of our adoption journey" video will play.


I so am NOT computer saavy, but I try.


And thanks for stopping by.

ribit...tgif

It's Animal Day!



The Humane Society will visit school this afternoon


Students are bringing their favorite stuffed animal



E. is bringing her webkinz frog - "Leapster"


J. is bringing "Runner" a little mink - I think


M. is bringing her red fuzzy valentine bear...Who by the way,
was not in the mood for pictures this morning - a little on the sad side :(

S. wanted in on the "Monkey" business too.... Even though

he doesn't go to school.

And this is the end of School Spirit week.

Have a great weekend...

Hoping to post those adoption campaign stories soon:)

snow friends

a 40 degree Minnesota day

Makes for lots of sticky snow

Conditions that can make a heart happy :)

And we've got some new "snow friends"

thursday.

Today is "Comfy Day"


Students could wear their pajama's or any other comfortable clothes


This days theme is very much enjoyed by my kiddos


So off they went - in pj's... spider man, spongebob, Hannah Montana, High School musical,
slippers, and warm hoodies!


The special activity for the afternoon is "Buddy Reading".


May we all have a good "comfy" day!

Dress up & Christian symbols Day

School Spirit Week Continues...


Today was Dress up Day.



Kids got all decked out...






We had ties




Skirts


Curls




And Smiles :)




J. is particularly fond of getting dressed up... Handsome boy!



I thought they all looked beautiful - naturally!






Adoption News:






We've got the beginning totals of our "Spare Change-Change Lives Campaign"






And some awesome stories...Coming soon!






We are blessed!!

Green & Gold

Today is School Spirit Day...Wear school colors!

So Green & Gold it was.

We've got the spirit...Yep, yep!

Go Crown Crusaders Go!

Happy Tuesday to you all :)

Western day

It's "School Spirit" week

They kicked the week off with "Western Day"

We all enjoyed coming up with each cowboys "get up" for the day

It took some creativity and the help of some friends & family...Thanks guys!

(*My brother & girls even graciously made the treck to our home last night to bring us some desired items)

But each kiddo was pleased with their "western" look :)

Hee haw... Happy Western Day to you!