Official waiting list...

It is shocking that I have not updated this blog since February!  Shame on me : )

Oh well, here I am!

We are well into our summer vacation from school and all our other activities (except softball, of course!)  We have had fun days of swimming, sleepovers, VERY late nights, softball tournaments, BBQ's, time with friends and family.

To top it off, we travelled to my home country to spend time with family and friends.  We packed our car full to the brim and sped way up north to Calgary, Alberta to see cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.  It was a great 10 days filled with paintballing, swimming, movies, lots of food, soccer games, wild animal park and a day trip to Banff (unbelieveable...you must go if you have never been there).  Phew!  I'm tired just thinking back to all that we accomplished!

We got home last week and we have been busy ever since.  One of my dearest friends is getting married in a few weeks and we are busy planning showers, bachelorette party and getting everything ready for the big day!

For some reason, she wants me and our other "bestie" to be bridesmaids in her wedding.  We told her that if she wants "old ladies" in her wedding party then she will just have to bear looking at us in her pictures the rest of her life!  :)  We are super honored and unbelieveably excited to marry her off to an awesome guy loves Jesus and adores her!!  Pictures to come after August 5th!

But the most exciting thing to happen since we have gotten home is . . .

sorry, no referral!  : (

But . . . our agency sent an email sharing some changes in our waiting process.  They have decided to share the once secret "waiting list" for families to help them determine MAYBE how long of a process they should be expecting.  We got our first "official" number last week and we are #4!! Yay!!!

Since we do not know who is before us nor what they have requested, we might actually be the first in line for a 2-4 year old boy, or we may be fourth. God knows.

Jeff and I have such peace about His ultimate timing and when He is ready for us to go and bring our son home. And that is when it will happen! We are excited and anxious but ultimately we have total PEACE!

A couple weeks ago we entered our 13th month on the waiting list and now it seems we are so close to meet and bring home our son! Thanks for praying with us.

My horrible memory!

So, yesterday I was looking for a book and I came across an old journal that I used for my first trip to Uganda.  It was in 2007 and God worked out all the circumstances for me to be able to accompany my hubby on a missions trip to Soroti, UG.  I started to journal a few months before we left.  I don't know why because I AM NOT a journaler.  I wanna be.  But I am not!  For some reason (God), I sat down and wrote out my thoughts and feeling about our upcoming trip.  As I was reading the first page I was stopped dead in my tracks...I couldn't believe it!  Here is what it said:

In case you can't read my messy handwriting, it says..."Jeff & I have started to dialogue about adopting a child from Uganda.  Just thinking about it has changed my whole view of this trip.  Looking at my first experience to Africa through the eyes of possibly being a mom is really life changing.  But in my heart I have released this option completely to the Lord, so we will have to wait and see what His plan is for our trip and our family!"

That was almost 5 years ago that I wrote that down. Honestly, I DO NOT remember writing this at all.  Those of you who know my hubby and I know that we both have horrible memories.  We say that is why we don't really fight and why we have a great marriage because we can't remember why we were mad in the first place!

I love God's timing.  I had been praying for a confirmation from the Lord this past week and a word of encouragement for my heart. That was just what I needed!

 We are starting our 8th month on the "waiting list" with our agency.  We were anticipating waiting for around 6 months and once we hit that the weeks seem to have drug on.  Last week we got word from our agency that they are now anticipating the referral wait to be more like 12 months.  So, realistically we have another 4 months to wait.  But...that is international adoption!

We are at peace and we will continue to wait for His perfect timing to meet our son!

Sweet adoption song- Naleigh Moon

This song is too sweet not to share!

I don't normally post this many videos but there are some good ones out there right now:-)

The Jesus I know!

Those of you who grew up in "church" and got caught up in all the religion and missed Jesus... this gives a great perspective for all He has done and why this Jesus is worth following!

2012 is the YEAR!

What an amazing month of December we had!  We tried to be intentional and SLOW down our busy pace of life...AND it worked!!  We spent time with friends and family, going to the Muppets movie, splurging on frozen yogurt, rock climbing at the gym, crabbing at the coast, playing games, eating yummy food, celebrating Jesus birth and watching Christmas movies together!  I would do it all over again...it was so worth it!

Now if we can only keep our everyday life like that:-)

Adoption update:
Some of our friends who are also adopting from Uganda with the same agency got their referral a few days before Christmas.  What a glorious Christmas present!  But...if I am truthful...which I aim to be in EVERYTHING...it caused my heart to race and I kinda freaked out a little.  Just a little bit.

This whole adoption process became so real for me hearing their story and the precious little girl God has set aside for this awesome family.  It hit me...we could be next!  My faith is being stretched and I have told God how much I need him to strengthen my faith and help me to put all my trust in Him.

So we continue to pray for our little boy that God is moving in his life and preparing him to join our family and preparing our hearts for him too!!