AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!

I am going to UGANDA in July! I am thrilled about the chance to go and experience traveling to Africa, Ugandan culture, food, and just see what God does during the 10 days I am there. I am going with an open, but guarded heart knowing that I will be interacting with a bunch of beautiful and wonderfully made kids that I can't/won't get to adopt. I am sure it will be so hard...yet so rewarding and I will come back with more knowledge about Ugandan Culture, what our time in Africa will be like, what kinds of things to expect when traveling and being there for the extended period of time like we will.

BUT...that is not the only exciting news...

So maybe we got some good news on Friday...and maybe I am a tad bit enthusiastic about it!

Our agency was approved and can now continue with their adoptions under the new law! I talked to our agent on Friday and was so pleased to hear that they got their approval. So we are excitedly finishing up the loose ends with our home study and preparing for our next GIGANTIC garage sale. We had an impromptu garage sale a couple of weeks ago with just what we had collected in a few weeks and it was very successful! If you want to know details, just ask me :) I am anticipating our sale coming up on April 26th. It will be our biggest one to date and I cannot wait to see what the Lord does this time. We have been amazed at what he has provided thus far and I am anxious to see what happens next.

So while all this is super exciting, we still need your prayers! Please pray for our process in this crazy world of adoptions. Pray that our agent and the orphanages would seek God in our placement (of course this is >9 months away), Pray that our hearts would be prepared for new lives coming into our home and the challenges that will present for our heart-grown littles and our home-grown littles, pray for our marriage that we would make time to be together and enjoy one another, and pray for the protection of our heart-grown littles who are not with us.

Leaving you with recent pictures of the shenanigans going on here with the first 2...

I tried my first cornrows and Foster actually sat still and liked having them in.

Foster's hair when we took the cornrows out

Foster loving on "our" dog Sandy. Sandy lives with "Baga Sue" but we still claim her as ours :)

Noah at his first Pray then Play Flag Football Game

Noah holding the Praying Mantis I found

Nate helping Foster hold the Praying Mantis

The hardest part about adoption is...

The money is probably the smallest part of my daily struggle with our adoption. I am not sure if that is because we have AWESOME friends and family who have already supported us beyond what we could have imagined or because God has promised to provide what is needed or because I have an amazing team of women who are brainstorming, organizing and fundraising with me. Maybe it is just all of the above. When I think of the HUGE amount all at once it is overwhelming. But I am pretty sure on a daily basis, money is not what the struggle is. Here are the top 10 things that are HARD about adoption. I think they could be true of adoption through foster care, domestic or international. What do you think?

10. Wondering who they are? Will they be younger or older than Foster? Will they like to cook in the kitchen with mommy and daddy as much as their brothers do? Will they love having people over and inviting people in? 

9. Hearing nothing. Waiting on the government to make decisions...seriously hard. Waiting on agencies. Waiting. Thankful for a God who is faithful- who will not delay.

8. Hearing about corruption. Wanting to be able to do something. Wanting desperately to NOT contribute to it. Wanting to help create income for families who would parent their children if they just had resources to do so. Not knowing what to do. Feeling like we are just one family, what can we do? Asking God to show us how we can be used by him to help others.

7. Wondering who tucked your babies in tonight. Wondering if they cried and no one noticed. Wondering if they needed their nose wiped and no one did. Wondering if there was a Band-aid for the scrape on their knee

6. Watching my home-grown kids reach new milestones, knowing we are missing our heart-grown kids' milestones too.

5. Asking- the money itself doesn't seem to worry me...Asking people to help is MUCH, MUCH harder than then number itself. 

4. Holidays- hard when you have lost someone but also as hard when you are missing someone. Feeling like your celebrations are not complete because their are people missing in those memories.

3. Hearing my home-grown kids talk about their "brothers and sisters" and wondering when they will be able to know them. Asking when do we get to pick them up. When do we get to play with them.

2. Thinking about my heart-grown kids and wondering what they are doing. Are they playing or sleeping or eating or learning? Are they caring for other people? Are they wondering about their first mommy and what she was like? Do they think about having a family to call their own?

1. Waiting for the day I will finally get to hold them and love them. Welcome them into our family and help them become a part of us. 

The whole waiting thing is just plain hard...BUT I am sure that just like holding your newborn for the first time (and in adoption sometimes this part comes so much father down the road), the first time our kids say "I love you mommy and daddy," that moment will make time stand still and all of the waiting, in that moment, will somehow all be worth it. 

Sharing some pictures that the lovely Linda Bainter at Lovin' the Light Photography did for us. I just LOVE the way they turned out. She always seems to capture more than just photos...PERSONALITIES too!!!

Family day minus two

Were were so excited to get to participate in the Okoa Refuge Carnival Fundraiser in Jacksonville Beach this past weekend. This is the orphanage we hope to adopt from and the people who run it are pretty amazing because of their love for Jesus and the sacrifices they are making to follow His word. We had fun times, great food and got to bless some of the kids there with a card and a message from our family. One of the things Okoa is in need of right now is sponsors for many of their kids. You can check out the kids who are in need of a sponsor, learn about their story and know that the money you are giving to sponsor one of these precious kids, all goes to the kids and their needs for school, food clothing, shelter and care. As you scroll through, the kids who need sponsors have a drop down menu. The three I have pictured here are all in need of a sponsor...go ahead...check it out...

Because we were only 3 blocks from the beach, when the carnival was over we headed to the shore. It was SUPER windy that day and only about 70 degrees so we did not venture into the water (well except for when a wave came up much further than the rest and knocked Foster down), but we did build a Sand Turtle. We also saw the sand blowing like snow does in Iowa (or I guess anywhere it snows) and that was interesting. The biggest difference was that the sand HURT when it hit you like being sandblasted! 

Our one family "selfie" that we were all actually in

Blowing sand. If you look just in front of the water you can see it.

Another blowing sand shot

Sea Turtle decorated by Noah and Foster

Complete with a smile :)

Wishing our new family members could have spent the day with us!

The wait...

We started this process in January of last year. We got on the waiting list for the agency we were planning on using in March. But now the agency we were going to partner with is not going to do international adoptions anymore because of a law that is going into effect July 2014. All adoptions on the American side BY LAW will have to be through Hague Accredited agencies. So the agency we were going to partner with is not accredited and has decided they are just going to stick with domestic adoptions. The agent who was working with us is going to work through another agency that is accredited. So she is saying January is when we will get to start. We haven't had our Home study agent sign off on our home study yet because we don't want our home study to get too "old" waiting on the new agency to be ready. I am hoping we can bring our kids home by next Christmas...but who knows! Waiting is so hard but the positive is that we have more time to fund-raise!


In other news, we had our 4th garage sale last weekend. Over 155 hours went into the sale. It is a lot of work but rewarding at the end of the day when you get to count! Our Silent auction closed on Wednesday and although we still had several items not even bid on and most items nowhere near retail value, God blessed what we had and our fundraisers were both super successful. Thank you to all of my many friends who donated and a HUGE thanks to Krystle Williams and Jen Searby for spending over 30 hours each on our garage sale. I am blessed to call you friends!

Silent Auction in FULL SWING!!

Thanks to so many of our friends and friends of our friends, we have a great silent auction going on right now on Facebook. What? What is that you say? You don't have a facebook account? Have no fear, Facebook photo album link is here! You can view the pictures and comment here on the blog your bids. I can update FB with the bids for you. From purses to diaper bags, pearls to matching mother-daughter aprons, cupcakes to Turkish scarves, there is something for everyone. Make sure to check it out.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1460783420814674.1073741828.1460778587481824&type=1&l=d7c2502b44

Some items below, many more at the link!

Necklace update

Necklaces are almost all sold! Make sure to get yours ASAP! Let me know which one you want. The necklace is $24 and shipped it is $26. Contact me to let me know which on you want.

Sponsor a piece of the puzzle

Our adoption puzzle has a beautiful photo on it and I absolutely love the quote on it. The suggestion per piece sponsorship is $5. When you sponsor a puzzle piece, we will write your name on the back of the piece. Then when we get our kids home, there will be a record of who was a "piece" of the puzzle. So get your piece today! As we build the picture, I will post new pictures so you can see the progress of the image. Maybe you want to sponsor one for each member of your family? Or maybe one for your business? Maybe even one for your family pet! You let me know what name you want on the back of your puzzle piece :) 

I saw this idea and immediately fell in love with it. I told my adoption team about it and they gave me the ok to do it!  So, will you sponsor a piece, or 10 today? You can give directly through PayPal or our youcaring page on the sidebar. Make sure to comment on what you want your piece(s) to say!

Necklaces

This is our second set of adoption fundraising necklaces. They have gone so fast that I never got the chance to post them here the first time. I did post to Facebook last night and sold several again before I was able to get a post up here. The necklaces are $24 each and half of the money goes towards our adoption. They each come with a small muslin bag made by Scarlet Threads, a fair trade deal for women in China. Beautiful, handmade, one-of-a-kind. Each necklace also has a verse reference inscribed on the back. Comment below and I will send your necklaces to you for $2 shipping. You can email me for payment instructions at julyrose1026(at)gmail.com. Thank you so much for supporting our adoption!

His Treasure- Gems of Love from Your King- by Sheri Rose Shepard

I just love this little devotional bookBy Sheri Rose Shepard! It is written from God to you and addresses the reader with names such as My Child, My Beloved Daughter, My Precious Girl. Really feels like a father having written notes to his daughter. The pages are colorful and include a scripture to go with the subject of the devotion. My favorite devotion in the book came from the subject of His Timing. My husband and I are in the process of adoption and as many people know, and many others do not, there is so much time of waiting and wondering. When I came to this devotion, we had been waiting on our final home study, being told it would be done, for over 8 weeks. It is so hard sometimes to wait...but this devotion was a great reminder that it is God's timing not mine.

I would recommend this title to any woman who needs uplifting from a father in her life. Most importantly this book repeats truth to you and reminds one of what the truth in life really is. Its size is just perfect to throw in your purse, use it in the waiting room, in the parent pick-up lane, or anytime you are feeling defeated. I also loved that it included a table of contents that was subject searchable! When you are struggling in a certain area, you can turn to the truth God wants you to know about him and His love for you. As the timing devotion said..."Now is the time, My Beloved, to ask Me to use you in someone's life today." I think that Sheri, the author, was used in my life and will continue to be when I grab this little book! I did receive a copy of this book for free to review

Garage Sale #3

 Our third sale was at our friends, the Searby's house. It was a great day and we lined their very long driveway with many sets of tables, tarps on the ground and a huge clothes line about 50ft long. We also had a wonderful bake sale provided by friends- Krystle Seidel, Michelle Thomas and Jennifer Moises. The kids always have such a good time manning their station and this Saturday was no exception! We had another very successful sale and plan to do another one at the Searby's house at a later date. Thank you God for your provision for this adoption!

Patriots Day- 9/11/2013

On Patriots day we decided to bake some goodies for our local fire station and bring them up to the guys. It was a wonderful night. We got a private tour with two of the officers and they even invited us to come another day and wash fire trucks with them! We are so thankful to our first responders and they really blessed us that night!

Noah as the driver.

Noah checking out the back seat. "I can even stand up in here!"

Foster gets his turn as the driver

Foster looking at the tanker truck from afar.

Noah checking out his favorite truck- the tanker

Foster trying on a helmet for size

As we were leaving, the boys found a butterfly and the firemen showed their softer side :)

Noah rides his bike!

Noah has been working on riding his bike for a while now. Today the light bulb went on and he got it! We let the boys ride up and down the Haile Trail and then he picked up his bike and rode in the driveway. We have always been thankful for such a big driveway, but today even more so! Yay Noah! Here's to being seven years old!

Nothing to talk about?

I know, I know. You are probably thinking... "When is the last time she stopped talking?"

I am a talker! Anyone who has spent time with me knows this! I do try to make sure to give others equal time talking too. It is something I really have to pay attention to and make sure I am conscious to not take more than my fair share of time. But at our dinners, I find the strangest thing happening. I feel like we (as a family) have nothing to talk about! It bothers me to no end. I am not sure if part of this problem stems from being a stay-at-home mom who also homeschools. And because I also inform Matt about everything we have going on at his lunch. Past what goes on here, I feel at a loss for words. I don't want our entire family dinners to be filled with, "take another bite...keep eating...be careful, you are making a mess...etc." I want them to be meaningful and enjoyable. I want to laugh and joke and share life with the littles in our lives and also with my husband. I loathe the day that the kids move and we "have nothing to talk about." So, I decided something had to be done about this lack of conversation.

Like any "good" person would do, I consulted Pinterest for ideas. I came up with some questions off of a couple of blogs and an idea of how to keep the questions on the table and have them look pretty. I am super excited to have the kids home tonight and try them out. So if you are at a loss for words, look no further- Conversation Stones! I put them in a mason jar and they are the centerpiece for our table now.