old news, new house, and no news

We are back in the swing of things for another fall. Kelton started school a week and a half ago and Oliver starts tomorrow. These pictures are of Kelton's first Day, Oliver's 5th Birthday Party and Buster's baptism. My husband has gone through an incredible transformation over the last year and it has been humbling to watch as God has turned him into a man that I almost cannot recognize from a year ago. He is different... in a great way... and he decided to have our church baptism him as an adult as a testimony to all God has done for him in the last year. (He was baptised as a child but decided to do this as an adult as a proclamation of his faith too.)

We also moved in the last three weeks. Actually this was our second move in the last six months but I never said anything on blog-o-sphere because I new our prior move was temporary and we wanted to wait till we were here in order to update our homestudy (which we will do this week or next and get it off to our POA in Rwanda). Our new home is a rental... and probably temporary as well. We actually own 5 acres of land close to where we are now that we will build on if we stay in Spearfish... although my husband loves it here and I don't think any of us would mind staying where we are for a while.

Our home-for-now is a turn of the 20th century farm house that was an original stage coach stop before SD was even a state. It sits on 1300 acres with a pond, creek, cows, barn, fire-pit, frogs (which the boys love) amazing views, and even a clothes line! I grew up on a farm so it kind of feels homey to me. :) The exterior could use some paint but the interior is well maintained and kept up. All in all it works! And we like it! Some friends of ours own it and were glad to have us move in till we're ready to build.








I am getting a crib from a relative soon and look forward to decorating our baby girl's room. I've been sort of waiting till we get our referral so that I can customize to some extent.

No other adoption news... we'll be working on our home study update in the next couple of weeks and will get travel vaccines next week too. Hopefully we will get a referral before my birthday Nov. 3rd! :)

reality by the moment

Well this process is getting more and more real with each passing day. Today I am scheduling appointments for our family to get travel vaccines which need to take place about six weeks, minimum, before travel. Just a few more months (hopefully that's all) and we will have a new baby in our home to love and adore! We cannot wait! :)

Last night we sat around a firepit in our backyard and each member of our family took turns praying for baby sister. Kelton (my oldest) is sooo cute. He has the most wonderfully sincere prayers for his baby sister. He prayed that she would be safe, and that Jesus would hold her in his hands until we can come for her, and that the mosquitoes wouldn't bite her. :) He will make such a great big brother to a baby girl!!!

what is meant to be

So I am a tiny bit of a control freak... I just simply like to have a plan and have the plan go as planned. With adoption, of course, nothing ever goes as planned. And quite frankly 2009 has really been a year of dealing with the unexpected for us. So, it is of no surprise that God's adoption plan for us right now is just one child. For whatever reason the minister's office only approved us to adopt one baby girl. We requested two, our homestudy noted our desire for two, and all along we have been communicating back and forth with the powers that be about getting two. However, despite our written requests the approval only came back for one. We are not sure what the reasoning was, or is, or why. This whole process has been difficult, challenging, and full of unexpecteds. But... we are glad, joyful, grateful and elated that God is in control and if one child is His plan for our family right now than we will love that child with enough fervor for a thousand. Perhaps a sister for our baby girl is meant to be... someday... and only God knows the who or when that will happen. If it is not this time, this year, then that is ok with us.

Our approval letter noted that we should have notice of a match in two months or so. Hopefully, by the middle to end of October we will have a picture of baby girl Vincent. After the match we go through court and then can travel which might... might mean a trip to Rwanda around Thanksgiving. We'll see...

Letter is here

Got our approval letter this morning. Hip Hip Hooray! Yeah and congrats to other families who also received good news!

waiting...

Well 1 year has passed since we began our paperwork, 7 months since we submitted our dossier, over 5 months since our dossier hit the desk of the minister's office in Rwanda, 1.5 months since the minister said they finished reviewing our file and would email us a letter so we could move on to the next phase of the process, which we are still waiting for.
Ironically part of the reason we ultimately choose Rwanda was becuase it seemed a little bit faster than other countries and we really wanted to make a home for a couple of sweet baby girls as quickly as possible. We have officially waitied longer than most of our friends who have adopted from the US or Ethiopia. I'm also pretty sure we've been at this longer than anyone else that's adopting from Rwanda right now from what simple blog-o-spher research I've done. (not that we are comparing too much... though its hard sometimes not to. :) )
But, it is obviously not our time yet and we are gonna keep smiling, praying, hoping, and waiting. I cannot wait for those families who will soon meet their children... I am also anxious for those of us in que waiting for approval letters... hopefully the bright side of the extra waiting might be the ability to travel alongside another family or two. That would be fun!

Keep prayin for us... all of us waiting for news... the wait can be awfully daunting and tedious and we need Jesus to hold us up once in a while. :)

Every day we get a little bit closer to God's chosen day of meeting our beautiful baby(s)... that I can be sure of!

colorado and update

This weekend we took a quick trip to Colorado and checked out colorado springs. Went to Garden of the Gods and the Air Force Academy etc. Sunday was Waterworld in Denver and the kids were absolutely exhausted after a full day of water fun.








I do not have anything too exciting to report on the adoption front. I had emailed the ministers office last week to let them know that our email address would be changing at the end of this week and got a response from her that confirmed the change and said our "file is being analyzed and we would get a response soon." I think this is a pretty typical response though... That same office reported over a month ago that our file had already been processed and we would get a letter in a few days. So we wait some more :) I know the minister's office is busy. I'm sure a letter will come, eventually. :)

We have officially been at this for a year, we started our initial paperwork this same time last August. Definiately did not think we would still be waiting for an approval from the government a year later but it is what it is.

lemonade stand

It's Sturgis Motorcycle Rally week here in the Black Hills. Lots of bikes, leather and NOISE.
Kelton is going to set up a lemonade stand today and take donations for the adoption.
He is sooo excited.
I will take some pictures and post in the coming days.

No adoption news. Would love to hear something soon, but not holding our breath.