Our little girl...

We were notified that our Dossier was officially "logged in" on October 8th.  We sent our letter of intent to adopt this sweet little girl on November 2. 

This is our sweet Ava:)  Her chinese name is Xu Jiajie.  She lives at Jiamusi Social Welfare Institute.  She has been at there all her life.

We cannot wait to get you home sweet girl.  We are praying our paperwork moves fast.  Our LOA (Letter of Approval) wait officially began on November 7th! 

Here are some other pictures we have of her.  These pictures are from July.  We are hoping to get updated information and pictures soon!

DTC!!!

As of September 29th, are Dossier To China!!!   This means all of our paperwork is headed to China.  I am so thankful we have gotten this far.   We are now waiting for the paperwork to be logged in.  As soon as it is logged in we can be officially matched with a child!!  So exciting!!  We are praying that things move quickly.  We are estimating that we will be headed to China around February. 

On another note, here are some fun pics from this the beginning of school...

Noah's first day of Kindergarten

Gabe's first day of preschool

Gabe and Luke

Adoption Update

So I guess I am not so good at this blog thing...considering I haven't posted in 4 months!  We are currently waiting.  It seems like that is pretty much what you do in the adoption process.  Submit paperwork, then wait.  We are currently waiting for our I800-A approval and then we can get our Dossier together and sent to China...woohoo!!!  As soon as it is logged into the system we can be matched with a little one.  We are interested in a little girl.  She turned 3 this summer.  If the timing works out, and if it is God's will, she will be ours!  We are estimating we will be traveling to China around December or January, depending on how fast the paperwork moves.  We are excited!! 

A book I recommend...

 

I just finished reading this book with a group of women.  It is an awesome book.  It will challenge you. 

The message of biblical Christianity is not, "God loves me, period," as if we were the object of our own faith. The message of biblical Christianity is "God loves me so that I might make him--his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness--known among all nations." David Platt

Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends."
 George Mueller

Depraved Indifference

There was a time when we were struggling with whether or not to adopt.  SO many doubts crossed our mind.  We already have three kids under the age of 5, what if the other kids don't get enough attention, what will other people think, where will they sleep, and on and on and on.  But we realized that God is bigger than all those things.  He will equip you to handle the things he call you to do.  Plain and simple.  You just have to trust.  After watching this video we knew what God wanted us to do.

 We are His hands and His feet. 

 

I should be cleaning

Today is our first home study visit with our social worker.  I am a little nervous, mainly because my house is a mess.  It is hard to keep a house clean with three little boys, especially this guy.  We call him Luke the tiny tornado.  He so active.  He climbs everything.  He rips apart the garbage and cabinets.  I guess that's why God made him so darn cute:)  And yes, this pic is from Christmas.  I don't have any updated pics on my computer.

My sweet boys.  Noah is 5, Gabe is 4, and Luke is 15 months.

My sweet Gabe turned 4

  On April 7th Gabe turned 4.  He is such a sweet, funny, loving, energetic, and curious little guy.  We love him so much and he is such a blessing

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Why adopt?

All Things New

I LOVE this song...

All Things New
Like the sun Your mercy shines
A brand new day a brighter life
Jesus Your grace restores our life

At the cross the a great exchange
Your righteousness for all our shame
Jesus Your grace restores our lives

You can make all things new
only Your power can raise us
You can make all things new
only Your love can save us
all hope is not lost
cause You make all things new

All our words and broken dreams
We lay them down at Calvary
Savior Your grace restores our lives
When we're weak you make us strong
You lift us up You lead us on
Savior Your grace restores our lives

You can make all things new
Only Your power can raise us
You can make all things new
Only Your love can save us
All hope is not lost
cause You make all things new

You give beauty for our ashes
in a hope that everlasting
The past has been redeemed
Now forever we will sing
You give beauty for our ashes
in a hope that's everlasting
The past has been redeemed
Now forever we will sing

You can make all things new
Only Your power can raise us
You can make all things new
Only Your love can save us
All hope is not lost
all hope is not lost
all hope is not lost
Cause you make all things new

by Brett Younker

Sixty Feet

I have come across many great ministries while learning and reading more about adoption on various blogs.  Sixty Feet is one of them.  Sixty Feet is an action-based organization created to bring hope and restoration to the imprisoned children of Africa.  That's right, imprisoned children.  Awful does not even close to describing what these children have to go through.  I am going to share these organizations because they need our support. 

More to come on the details of our adoption....

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."

Mother Teresa

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog!  We have some exciting news!  In less than a year we will be a family of 6.  We are adopting!!  I will be using this blog to keep everyone informed and updated on our journey.  As of right now we are anticipating bringing home a little girl from China in about 9 months.  We are excited!