The boys’ first ice storm

We woke up on this chilly morning to find the trees, grass, and outside toys encased in ice!  Of course we had to go explore

First Ice Storm

And here are a couple other pictures from this month.

Earlier this month it was nice enough for us to have our lunch outside.

One night last week as I brushed my teeth for bed, I was surprised (but only a little) to find a foreign object in the toothbrush holder.

Baba’s Birthday

Jesse’s dad, dubbed ‘Baba’ by Emet a couple of years ago, had a birthday this weekend.  To celebrate, the boys made a video.

Baba’s birthday message

Happy Halloween!

We took our cowboys Trick-or-Treating for the first time this year.  The weather was great, but the company was better!  Our friends the Eatons and the Okayasus joined us for a fun evening in the neighborhood.

It’s been a long time… an adoption update

June was a long, long time ago.  And there have been many reasons why this blog has not been updated once in the last four months, and maybe I’ll post about that another time.  Right now, I just wanted share the latest on our adoption front.

In July we submitted to Rwanda our updated home study and USCIS approval to adopt two girls under 24 months.  At that time, our lawyer informed us that our case would be reviewed soon.  And that was the last we heard until last Friday, when our lawyer finally replied to my emailed request for an update in September.

He forwarded us an email from the Ministry in Rwanda responsible for adoptions that stated we had been informed of our approval to adopt on August 8, and at the same time were advised that there were no children matching our request available, and that we would be allowed a 6 month waiting period.  Now, since we did not actually receive that email and do not know what details it might have contained, we have to do some educated guessing about what this means.

First, we guess that due to the date of our approval, our most recent and accurate documents were reviewed, and that we are approved by Rwanda to adopt two girls.  Second, that our waiting period began on August 8, 2011, and will end on February 8, 2012.  Third, based on information gleaned from a Yahoo group dedicated to Rwanda adoptive families, if no referrals are made by the end of our 6 month waiting period, our dossier will be closed, and Rwanda will no longer be an option for growing our family.

We are hopeful.  We have seen God do many great things in this process, and we anticipate Him pulling the whole thing off with the kind of glorifying flair He seems to delight in (ie sending a young boy to kill a giant, feeding a massive crowd with 5 loaves and 2 fish, or prompting ordinary church members to give over $10,000 in one night to help bring two Ethiopian orphans home- that story here).

So, we invite you to be part of praying our Rwandan babies home.  More than that, praying Gods will to be done for our family, and for His glory to be made known.

Potential upset

Tonight we read a post on a Rwandan adoption Yahoo group that may affect us.  It said a family heard from their agency that the Rwandan ministry responsible for adoptions will be issuing families who have not yet received referrals a “6 month regret letter” stating that if the family has not been matched with a child within 6 months, the dossier will be closed.  We don’t know the accuracy of this statement, and have emailed our lawyer to see what he knows.  But it has made us a bit anxious.  Will you please pray with us about our adoption?  Please ask that we will get to bring home two Rwandan daughters, that God’s mighty hand would continue to be seen through this process, and that we would exemplify Christ through whatever comes.  Thanks!

Videos

I’m sure you’ll agree that this blog is overdue for some boy-videos.  So, here are two of our favorite songs.  We hear them day in and day out.  Now you can, too!

Big Day

Today, I broke my Nalgene water bottle, simply by dropping it, full of water, on the dining room floor. Then Emet put his teeth through his lower lip tripping over some steps, resulting in an ER visit, four stitches, and scraped up gums. And when things were supposed to have calmed down, I opened our mailbox to find an updated I-171H form making us eligible to adopt not one, but two little Rwandan girls.  It’s a good day.

Early Mother’s Day

It’s fun to have a kiddo in preschool that helps the kids do something special for Mother’s Day.  Emet presented me with (reluctantly, he wanted to keep it!) a flower he planted in a Styrofoam cup, along with a butterfly pin he had colored.  And in his backpack was a little paper that made me laugh!  On the paper was printed statements about mom that Emet completed.  This was the final result:

My Mom

• My mom is 3 years old.
• My mom is prettiest when it’s her birthday.
• My mom likes to make lunch and food.
• My mom always says, “Obey.”
• My mom is funny when she is laughing and she tickles me.

The birthday thing cracked me up because Emet is obsessed with birthdays right now, and sings the birthday song to anyone and everyone, thinks if there’s a cake, there’s a birthday, and that putting a hat on his head (or a bowl or lid) makes it his birthday!  And what does mom always say?  “Obey” is dead on!  Ha!

A Happy Early Mother’s Day to moms out there, especially some special mommies, Becky and Aubri, who are celebrating their first Mother’s Day as mommies.

Families in Rwanda

Yay!  There are actually a couple families in Rwanda that are working on bringing home their babies!  Check them out:

http://lotstolearnbutmoretolove.blogspot.com/

http://theschulzfam.blogspot.com/

One sweet backpack

Weeks and weeks ago, I bought Jamin a backpack out of the clearance aisle at Walmart.  It said it was from “How to Train Your Dragon,” and it had a little design on it that was similar to stuff in the movie.  But I liked it because of its size and color.

I moved it with us, and we hadn’t used it, but when I was packing it up for church I discovered there was something inside.  Wings.  This little backpack has wings and a hood that attach to it, so it becomes a little dragon costume!  How perfect for a little boy who will unzip his sweatshirt and flap his arms and say, “My butterfly!”

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