Homestudy Down, Loads of Paperwork to Go

The homestudy/home visit are over. PHEW! And PHEW again! It was a great (dare I say fun?) experience and I even learned some things about Jaime that I never knew. Go figure. Someday I will learn to stress about the things that I need to and to let the rest go. Apparently I'm not quite there yet. Thanks to my dear friend (you know who you are) for showing up at just the right time with just the right advice. My Coca-C*la stash is your Coca-C*la stash.
Now comes the fun part. The dossier for Ghana. We're hoping to get everything ready before our vacation. Not holding our breath, but still hoping. One step at a time, right? Of course, I would prefer them to be double-time steps!

Please pray for another family adopting from the same orphanage. They are waiting on one piece of their paperwork that will allow them to travel this week. We would love to see them go!

Gray Skies and Sunshine

This morning I was feeling totally overwhelmed, totally frozen with doubt and totally alone. The gray skies and snow never help, either. I could not, no matter how I tried, shake the bad feelings. So I went about my day trying to seize any little bit of sunshine I could. Sometimes our Heavenly Father lets us feel like this so we can feel the "good stuff" much more intensely. I did a good bit of throwing things that could have been carefully placed into their receptacles and even let fly a few choice words while my kids were distracted with Thumbelina. (Yes, really. Just being honest here). It didn't make me feel any better but I got a lot done in my frenzy. I made progress. I took a break to check my email (which I have done obsessively for the past few days hoping for new pictures from Ghana). There I found not only MANY pictures, but the sweetest, most precious videos of our girl. OUR girl. She is amazing and funny and silly and lovely and did I already mention beautiful? Her smile is bright and full of joy. My heart was healed in an instant and I spent some time on my knees, humbled and grateful. Once again I am reminded that even when we have to trudge uphill against a gale of doubt, we will be blessed as long as we hold on to our faith and keep moving forward. And sometimes the Lord pours out his mercy upon us in unexpected ways that are JUST what we need. He loves us! He wants us to be happy and to feel all that this earthly life has to offer, the gray skies and the sunshine.

Can a kingdom be ruled by two Princesses?

It has been a long time coming and a long time working out the how, when and where, but we are so excited to announce that we are adopting again! We are hoping and praying for a little girl in Ghana to join our family this summer. She is beautiful, and we hear quite spoiled. She'll fit right in, don't you think? Soon (please?) we will be able to share pictures and more details. It is quite a process to get her home and there is a lot of unknown, but we know we will be watched over by the Lord as long as we allow Him to guide us. We pray that she will be too. She already feels like my daughter and I miss her so much as I tuck my kids into bed every night and say prayers with them in the morning.

Now, how many of you think we're a little bit crazy? We see you raising your hands!