Introducing My First Grandchild

Introducing my sweet grandbaby! Everything our friends told us about becoming grandparents is true - it is as wonderful as they said it would be! 

Omar and Savannah welcomed Lenah Kaye on March 11th, and they are AMAZING parents. It's been so fun to watch them enter this new chapter of their lives and to enjoy lil' Lenah!

We think she is the cutest! And if you think so too, go VOTE for her at The Honest Company's Baby of the Year! 

**Voting ends September 10th

Before Lenah arrived, we had a family meeting at her baby shower to discuss the all-important matter of our grandparent names...to be shared in another post!

Lessons from my East African Sister

I found this draft that I had started in April 2018 on my blog. I don't know why I never posted it--probably just got interrupted by the daily busyness and never got back to it. This was written when we shared our home with a family of 7 for 11 months...

Laura, Mari and Lily

"My sisters are very important to me." 

Laura is 13, the oldest among the three.  As I watch their video and look at Laura's face when she talks about her sisters, I recognize her face.  The worry, the concern, the sadness if they were separated.  

My daughter, Katerin, will tell you the first time she prayed was when she begged God to keep her and her siblings together. She prayed,

God, if you are real, keep us together...

At the same time, God was preparing us and we were asking, "Lord, where are our kids?"

He answered both of our prayers....in each other.

And in doing so, He drew Katerin into relationship with Him and grew our trust in Him.

You know these girls need a family, but what you may not realize is that your family needs them.

You can know more about them here and contact All God's Children International to learn more.

Not just a bag of oranges

A cool thing happened yesterday. When I was making my kids lunches I put the last orange in Omar's lunch box and thought, "I'm not going to the store until tomorrow so Omar won't have oranges in his lunch tomorrow." Insert disappointed emoji.

I wrote it on my list and that was it.

My friend Jean has brought us a couple meals lately.
 
Just because.
 
I'm not pregnant and nobody died but she has brought me two meals in the last couple weeks.  (So grateful! That's being the church.)

She brought us a meal yesterday – – chili, Fritos, cheese, brownie-cookies, and guess what else… 

a bag of oranges!

When I saw the bag in her hand I just smiled. 

Really God? Really?

Who brings a bag of oranges when you bring somebody a meal? I have never brought anybody a bag of oranges when I brought a meal.

I just smile every time I see the oranges. God is so sweet.  Just a little reminder that He is real and cares about the small things.

Pine Cove

I want to share with you about one of our favorite places to go on the planet.

A friend told me about Pine Cove a LONG time ago but we never made it a priority to go.  While we were in Colombia getting our kids, we received an email that our family of nine had been gifted a week at Pine Cove Family Camp.

We had NO idea what a gift this would turn out to be!

One friend from camp described that she felt like they were crash landing with one wing on fire as they entered camp.  

WE KNEW THAT ALL TOO WELL.  

 Pine Cove has been spiritual refreshment.

It has encouraged renewal in our relationship.

It has helped strengthen our family.

Pine Cove has provided exceptional experiences for our kids to grow closer to God, each other, and new friends.

 

The counselors are over the top AMAZING!

OVER.THE.TOP.

And it is just FUN!

 

We have been blessed to attend 2 family camps and also serve other families over Thanksgiving Camp.

 

Pine Cove has so much to offer!  You can find out more here.   You can check out Camp in the City, Castle Rock, and Overnight Youth Camp.

I want to pass along a special message from our friend, Randi Shaffer, about discounts you don't want to miss.  Don't let cost deter you from signing up.  Scholarships are available!

Mark your calendar for February 2!!

 

February 2nd is Super Goal Monday. It's the day after the big game, and it's registration day at Pine Cove. If you've never been to Pine Cove or you're a long time camper Super Goal Monday is the day to register.

Camp in the City is Pine Cove's summer day camp right in your neighborhood - and registration opens February 2nd. Register on Monday to reserve your spot, space is limited.

And for one day only on February 2nd Pine Cove is offering a special discount for first time campers at any of their overnight youth camps and Castle Rock, their on-site day camp. If you use the Coupon Code SUPERGOAL you can receive an extra $50 off each overnight youth camp registration and $20 off Castle Rock. 

To register, go to pinecove.com or give them a call at 877-4-PineCove to find out more.

 

And we have 1 $200 OFF coupon for a first time student camper!

It expires February 2nd so be the first to comment below if you want this coupon!!

Sentencia!

And when they arrived and gathered the church together, 

they declared all that God had done with them...(Acts 14:27)

We are not home yet, but we want to "gather" the church together and share all that God has done with us to bring us to this point today....

Sentencia.  

Adoption Finalization.

May we introduce you to our new kids

Marian and Katerin

Omar

Saimon

Our family at the Judge's office with our awesome agency representative,

Maria

God is good!  We are a new family of nine today.  Just 3 1/2 weeks after arriving here in Bogota, adoptions are final.  He answered our prayers for favor and quick finalization.  We are thankful.

I have been thinking about how all this started.  When Jeremy and I first talked about expanding our family back in December 2008.  We did not know how or when but we started praying.  I thought about that January 2010 when we told our adoption agency to put us on their radar for sibling groups or older kids.  That same month, 4 siblings were given to the care of the state and entered an orphanage in Bogota, Colombia.

I've been thinking about how God confirmed for us that we could love older kids just as much as we loved the babies on that first mission trip to Rwanda.  I remember first praying I Thes 3:11 "Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you."  And those 4 kids in Colombia were declared adoptable that same month.

And then we said "yes" to just hosting orphans for a vacation program last summer.  We did not commit to adopt them before they came, but we were willing to say "yes" to whatever God had in mind.

It was not a week after they left that Jeremy confessed, "I don't need to pray to know if this is the right thing to do, I know it is the right thing to do.  I need to pray for courage."  All those months we were asking the Lord, "Where are our children?"  And then He brings.them.to.our.home.

We said "Yes, Lord, do whatever You wish."

And we started the adoption process and only knew to follow Him one step at a time.  A hundred things could close the door.  He never promised that these kids would be ours.  And now we have passed through the final door.  

And they share our last name.

Here is a short video taken by Orphan Hope International last Fall as we began the adoption process

http://vimeo.com/32647939

Now what?

We will keep believing, trusting, following, depending, hoping. 

Thank you for your prayers, support, encouragement along the way!!

 God has done great things and we give Him the glory.  

The credit in NO WAY belongs to us.

We know that He has not called us to this task of parenting kids from hard places to leave us to ourselves.  We need you.  We need your continued prayers.

Give thanks with us today for ALL that God has done!

Enjoying some ice cream tonight as we celebrate!

Still counting

Blessing #10 ELECTRICITY:  We are back up and running after about 30 hours without power.  Friday morning power was cut--found out later that it was because the bill had not been paid.  We were told it would take about an hour and should be up again.....an hour passed, nothing.  By the late afternoon the office manager of the guest house showed us where candles were "in case" we did not get power before dark.  Here is how we spent our Friday night....

a nice candlelit dinner

#11 Thankful for a gas stove!  We had hamburgers and fries.

One big UNO game with a flashlight hanging from the ceiling

(this is really how dark it was)

 goodnight!

Today we spent some time on the puzzle and playing outside

 #12 All the electronic games slowly died and could not be recharged

 We love playing with other people's dogs!

 And we have taken on tree climbing

I have to reiterate #10 again....I'm really thankful for la luz!!  The pictures make our time Friday night look special and cozy, which it was, but you know, open flames, rowdy boys, and dark bathrooms are not a great combination.
Thanks all for your continued prayers and notes!  Hope you have a blessed Holiday weekend!

Gotcha Day!

 BEFORE

 ANTICIPATING

 FINALLY

 REUNITED

BEAR HUG

HOLA NANA

LUNCH

 PLAYING

DOWN TIME

 BROTHERS

 ACTIVIDADES

 FRISBEE!

 GOTCHA DAY!!!!!!