Fingerprinting done!!!

we were in and out of there in under 10 minutes!
those FBI people are efficient!
{except it was 3+ hours for my mom...and 2 hours driving for me...}

it was really nice to be with pat in daylight hours...just the 2 of us!

ignore the tired, wrinkled eyes...can you see the joy behind all those wrinkles for being 1 step closer to those 2 kids??

according to my calculations, we should receive our approval in about 2 weeks - 1 month from today. then we will get new physicals {because the one's we got for our home study will be too old...they only last 3 months} and then send all our paperwork {our dossier} to Rwanda!

i'll let bailey tell you the news...

we were riding in the car earlier this week...bailey had a friend in the backseat with her...i started listening to their conversation in the middle so i missed the beginning but this is what i heard:

bailey: "i'm getting 2 more brothers."
grace: "really?"
bailey: "yup! from africa!"
grace: "have you been to disneyworld?"
bailey: "no."
grace: "i'm going to fly on a plane to go to disneyworld."
bailey: "they give you food on planes. i'm going to go on a plane to africa to get my brothers."

we are taking Rebekah, Joshua and Bailey with us to bring their brothers home!

when we started the adoption process we didn't even think about it.
it was just pat and i going and we were counting on our parents to help us by watching the kids while we were gone.

as time went on, both our hearts started wondering if we should take Rebekah with us...since she "gets" it so well...so we started talking about it...praying about it...asking others that had traveled to Rwanda with kids about it...and feeling more and more like we should take her.

and if we should take her, why wouldn't we take Joshua?? he'll be 6 years old and would totally remember it!

and if we take him, why wouldn't we take Bailey?? she's only 18 months younger than Joshua and would remember being left behind {she has a fear of being left behind...she's always yelling as she's getting her shoes/coat on, "don't leave me!" i just can't do that to her...}

we will leave Sawyer.
he won't remember and he's too young.

we just feel like this is a once in a lifetime experience and we should do everything we can to make it happen.

it's been a process getting to this point.
the money was (is!) a big factor...but we feel strongly that this is the right decision so we aren't going to let money be the deciding factor.

selfishly, i want it to just be pat and i on this big adventure...but that's not really the stage of life we are in...we are a family and we do things as a family and we will go to Africa to get the rest of our family together.

feel free to ask questions :-)
or offer encouragement.
or send money {just kidding...kind of...}

from a mom who's been there

part 2

from a mom who's been there

part 1

christmas with my family

we celebrated Christmas with my family last night.
this was the cozy scene we walked into!

all the grandkids

we all just enjoyed being together and then my parents set out our stockings!

we ate a YUMMY dinner and actually lingered a bit over the meal...
my dad even included our children in Rwanda in his prayer...they are never far from our minds!

did a fun "Christmas quiz"...



the kids shot downstairs after dinner to play...so the adults exchanged our gifts in the quiet!
we have simplified Christmas quite a bit the last couple years on my side of the family.
my parents still spend too much on us...but they just do our stockings {which is my FAVORITE part!!! socks...candle...a new worship CD...book...gift card to your favorite store...i just love all the "little" stuff! but it still totally adds up, i know!}

then the adults each draw one other adults' name so we each have 1 gift to open.

rebekah spent her quiet time yesterday wrapping gifts for each person.
she went all over the house finding an appropriate gift for them...a {used} baseball for papa...a book she's already read for andrea...a picture for Phill.
she wrapped each one in plain white computer paper.
and attached a "Merry Christmas" card made out of white computer paper.

the look on her face...she was SO very excited to give...i love watching her!

papa with both of the babies.

and then the kids.
they each had 1 gift to open - the one that they got to pick for each other when my parents took them shopping.
they were SO excited to see each other open the gifts because they were a part of it!





and the evening wound down with a piano lesson for rebekah...

it was such a GREAT evening!
it was noticeable to us that things were simpler and that allowed for more conversation and enjoyment and gratitude.
thanks, mom and dad!!!