Adios 2010!

2010- wow, what a year it's been! A year ago, we were newly-weds hoping to start a family soon. We were enjoying our time as a couple and looking forward to where God's path would lead. I can very truthfully say, we really didn't have a clue what God had in store for us in 2010. It was in the long cold late months of winter that God quietly began revealing to Wes and I that adoption was where God wanted us to start building our family. We were sponsoring children and had always viewed adoption as a realistic possibility in building a family. It was on a date-night to Applebee's that Wes led off the conversation of "what if we adopted?"... After lots of talking, praying, researching and questions- we started this walk of faith to build our family. We could see the incredible ways in which our hearts, finances and lives were being prepped for what lay ahead. God had blessed us with the sale of Kim's house and Wes' wise savings. Realizing the process is long and at times cumbersome, we decided to get started right way.

Thus, the remaining timeline of the year has revolved around the milestones of our adoption. Trips to the police department, physicals, visits to the courthouse, driving to Pierre for state seals, binders full of paperwork, re-doing our home-study wording three times for USCIS, and finally turning everything in for its flight to Ethiopia. Then came the wait...the long quiet wait. There have been days and weeks when it has felt very long. And, we've been keeping very busy in pursuit of staying distracted and occupied during the big wait. We've been to Chicago, painted the outside of our kinda big two-story farmhouse, completed the world's cheapest bathroom renovation, worked hard, played hard, traveled to see friends and family, and learned a lot about the needs of adopted children.

So, here we are...at the close of 2010. We're excited and anxious to see what 2011 brings- we pray its the year of family. Prayerfully, 2011 is the year 'we' become 'three'! Oh, we can't wait!!! : ) Keep us in your prayers and keep talkin' to God about expediting the process of getting Baby Roth home!

God Bless in 2011

Merry Christmas Baby Roth!

It was a very blessed and Merry Christmas as we celebrated as a family on Christmas Eve. I couldn't help but think how very, very good we have it. Under the tree, we found clothes, shoes, and practical things we'll get a lot of use out of. We're so blessed to be able to have new good shoes, good clothes and useful tools. And, Baby Roth was also blessed this year with some sweet gifts from the to-be Grandparents.

I absolutely love the Please, Baby, Please book- super cute!! And, this fun looking toy from Aunt Ashley...

Ohh, and one of the most exciting parts- more shoes!! 2 more pairs bring our tally to 78 pairs :)

Berry Merry Christmas!

We've had a wonderful weekend celebrating the birth of our Saviour with the Berry's in the country! Here's a peak at our fun-filled day of amazing food, good old fashioned sledding, opening presents and lots of time catching up!

On the center sled is the future Grandpa... definitely still a kid a heart : )

The Happy Birthday Baby Jesus Cake...

And, even though Baby Roth isn't here to celebrate with us... doesn't mean he/she was left out! We received a super cute Cherished Teddies coin bank that looks like a baby bootie from David, Tonya and the kids...

And, we received a super special gift from the future Great Grandma and Grandpa... a hand stitched baby blanket. It is super cute, very warm and will be cherished forever! We totally can't wait to wrap our little one in Grandma's handi-work!

I'm sure there will be even more spoiling next year when Baby Roth will likely be with us in person!! Oh, we can't wait : )

Its Christmas-time!

Its really, really beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house. The advent calendars are starting to look very empty, the shopping is super close to being done and by this afternoon... the house will be smelling like Christmas M&M cookies, peanut butter kiss cookies, seasoned oyster crackers and maybe a few others. The one thing that was missing...our 2010 Christmas ornament. I've looked and looked but nothing seemed right and I wasn't going to spend $17 on a really cute one on etsy. So...an even better solution was to whip out my long forgotten scrapbooking box (yay)! I think its a perfect summary of our year- lots of love and that we can't wait to meet our sweet Ethiopian baby!! We just keep praying and know that God already knows the day in which we'll be matched with Baby Roth. Of course, there's nothing we'd love more for Christmas but know that God has it all under control. Till next time... Merry Christmas and hope you find a few minutes in the coming week to soak up the spirit of the season. To God be the Glory!!

Box of Blessings...

We got another box in the mail...and, it had some shoes in it!! Thanks to Wes' awesome co-worker Adrian, more Ethiopian kids will have good shoes to keep them safe from disease, parasites and all sorts of stuff. Thanks Adrian and family- we really appreciate it! Last weekend I picked up another pair of sandals as well. So, our total is now up to 76 pairs : )

Four

We've made it to month four. 122 days since our paperwork took flight to our child's homeland. Ahh, these last couple weeks...its really starting to feel long and quiet and slow. More and more, the anticipation is building and recently its been very quiet on the boards. But, we're getting there and we've got to keep in mind that God works no matter if we get to see that progress or not. We'll continue to 'just pray' and let God pull all the details together in due time.

This past month has been filled up with a fun trip to the ranch, a wonderful vacation to Colorado and an awesome Girls Weekend Shopping Extravaganza Trip 2010 to Sioux Falls. Which brings us to December! Yikes, its Christmas-time, just 19 days till Jesus' Birthday! The tree is up, the house smells like fresh cut Christmas tree and the porch is a-glow with Christmas cheer too. We're confident that the busyness of Christmas activities will help this next month pass more quickly than usual. We'll just keep praying for Baby Roth and that the process continues to move smoothly. Hopefully, the referral numbers for November will be posted soon. And, hopefully... there have been LOTS of referrals! God Bless everyone and happy, almost Christmas : )