Safe and Sound.....

tucked into our apartment in Fiona's country :)  We had a bunch of delays sitting on various run-ways, due to mother nature and President Obama - but we made it!!!!

It is very green here and we are excited to explore the city!!! And - even more excited to meet our girl on Monday!!!  It almost seems surreal that the day has finally come!

Our apartment is in a nice building, it is open and airy and close to a grocery store :)  yayyyy :)  It opens on to a courtyard and is close to a park with a playground :)  It will be good for our girl!!! :)

We cooked mac and cheese (that we brought with us ;) for dinner - skped with our kids and went to bed :)

We had a good night's sleep and are looking forward to exploring and getting our bearings today :)  We have an online friend who is also here adopting 2 girls, who has lived here before who is going to help us get a car seat for Fiona :) and  show us some of her favorite places in the city :)

Pictures to come!!!

Almost there!!!!

I can hardly believe I am writing this post!!!  We are almost to the most exciting part of our journey - not the beginning, not the end - but the best part - meeting cute Fiona!!

For so many months it seemed like this would never happen - between paperwork delays, immigration delays, why oh why haven't I taken our American citizenship delays ;)

But - through all the delays - the day IS coming!!

And though I never ever doubted the Lord's hand in this - I did allow myself to get discouraged from time to time (the news that it might be 6 months for our immigration clearance - that was a toughie) but I never doubted that the Lord would see this through.  He brought us here, I knew he had a plan!

So - here we are - on the brink of a new parenthood adventure.  We are excited, we are a little nervous, we are ecstatic and thrilled, and maybe a bit worried, worried about Fiona's heart, and worried about how difficult this will be for her, and how brave she will be.

So - if you could spare some prayers for us and our cute girl, they would be so appreciated.   You see, we love her, and we want to make this transition as smooth as possible for her - so pray that we will know the best way to help her with her grief, with her fear, with her confusion.  We are praying for the same things, and have been praying for her since the day we first saw her little face.

We are coming cute girl - we are really coming!!!

We are so blessed - thank you so much for your prayers and support and encouragement!!

We will keep you updated!!!  :)

Remembering......

So - this post isn't really adoption related ;) ha ha ha  But - it has been on my mind today, as it is Memorial Day - which is a fantastic day off of school and work - but is also so much more!!!

Today I remember and pay tribute to all those who have given so much to ensure that I have the right to have a job, to vote, to worship freely, to all the liberties and freedoms I enjoy.  I am so grateful to them for their service!

When we have taken our kids on their senior trips (thank you air miles and hotel points), we have had the chance on two of the trips to visit American military cemeteries - and I can't tell you what a solemn experience that has been for us and our kids.  While in Germany, although we didn't go to an American cemetery, we did visit the Dachau concentration camp - and it is was also a sobering experience.  In France, I looked over the thousands and thousands of crosses in Normandy - and walked and looked at the headstones and realized that so very many of the young men and women buried there were hardly older than my own children.  I was, and am, grateful to them for their service - and I am sure that a lot of those buried there were drafted and did not volunteer to go and die for their country, as our service men and women do today.  I thought of their parents and families.  Freedom is never free - it always has a price - but that doesn't mean it isn't right.  I am grateful for those men and women who know that, and who love their country so much they bravely stand up for freedom and liberty around the world - every single day.  In Hawaii we visited Punchbowl Cemetery, and it was equally emotional - and Pearl Harbor, as well.   Dachau was a different experience - but still - I could feel the echoes of men who were imprisoned there, imagine their pain, and their only crime? Their religion...  I could also imagine their joy when they were liberated, by men fighting for their freedom.

So - today I am grateful for the freedom I enjoy, because so many fight and work so hard to keep those freedoms safe. I am grateful for the good in the world and that we seek to provide the same freedoms for others.  I am grateful for all those past, present, and future who believe in America, the constitution, and liberty.  Thank you!

God bless you - and God bless America!!!

Soooo behind...

on so many things - including blogging!!!

School is swiftly coming to a close here, and you know what that means.....  We will be traveling to meet and bring our cute girl home!!!   We are sooooo excited!!!

I can't be excited without thanking all of you who donated to help make this possible - monetary donations, prayer donations, positive thought donations, encouraging message donations - each and every one of those things has made a huge difference for us!!!  Thank you so very very VERY much!!!  I am so grateful to each of you, because without your support - this would not be happening.  So - thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The Princess is beside herself with excitement for her little sister, Littlest Dude is excited too, but it is still sort of an abstract kind of excitement - I can't wait to see both their faces when they meet her :)  Hopefully they will all be well acquainted through skype and face time :) and it will become more real to Littlest Dude :)  He doesn't quite understand the concept of adoption yet :)  But, I am sure it will become a little clearer to him within the next month!!!

We are excited, nervous, anxious, and soooo very happy and feeling so very blessed.  The Lord hears and answers prayers - we are a living testimony of that.  We are soooo grateful to him - he is soooo good.

PS - look at sweet Veronika - could she be yours?  Isn't she a cutie?   She needs a family so badly....... http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=Veronika - and she already has over $5,000 in her grant account towards her adoption!!  :)  And - because she is in another region of the country - you wouldn't even have to spend an entire month there, like "some" people we know ;)   Go - take a peek at cute Veronika - you know you want to!!!!

Thanks for sharing in our journey and in our joy!!!!

The Lord WILL provide :)

He really will......

I am behind in blogging - but mostly because I am trying to get everything ready to go to Fiona's country!!!  Whooo hooooooo!!!!

Our plane tickets are booked.  Our apartment is reserved!!!!  The Lord helped us work it all out :)

And - you know what?  It ended up being the 2nd apartment we looked at :)  The one a very kind, sweet foster mother in Fiona's country found for us, as she has done for many adoptive families.  She has such a big heart for these kids and knows what a difference a family can make for them and she wants them in families. She has been so patient with us and so helpful, we are so grateful for her!!!

The countdown has begun!!!!

We'll be there soon cute girl!!!  Hopefully we won't rock your world too much, but know that we love you and can't wait for you to know the love of a family!!!

You know those moments....

the ones where you just have to turn everything over to the Lord and pray that he helps you work them out....  In our apartment search for our time in Fiona's country - well - we are having to do that.  The one, really great apartment, at a great price that the most darling foster mom from Fiona's country found for us, fell through - and we are in a mad scramble to find something now that our flights are booked.

So - any extra prayers you have would be greatly appreciated that we can find an apartment for a good price that will be appropriate and safe for our month long stay. 

A month - a whole month away from my kids - it's hard for me to even think about it.  I am so grateful for my married kids who will stay with their siblings, for their sacrifice and love for them and for Fiona.  They are truly a blessing. 

On the name front - we have narrowed it down to 9 :)  I keep trying to get The Dad to narrow  it down a bit more, but he keeps saying we have "time" :)   I think he might be doing it to purposely drive me crazy ;)  They sure are cute names though!

So - we are praying hard to find the right apartment, that the Lord will provide the answers and that it will be a good place for us and our cute girl.  We know he's got this - just praying he will help us to know asap - since we have to submit the address as quickly as possible to the Ministry of Fiona's country....

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support on our behalf - they mean the world - seriously - we couldn't do it alone.  THANK YOU!!!!

After much debate, and decision, and number working.....

The Dad had to make a decision he never wants to make......

to fly a non-preferred airline....  gasp........

our favorite just wouldn't work with us to fit in our budget.....

So - you know what that means......

COACH baby...... 

not a single chance of an upgrade (which never meant a thing to me until - well - we got upgraded on an international flight last summer - now it means WOWZA - those people in first and business class - yup - they are lucky lucky lucky!!!!)

but - in the grand scheme of things - it really is unimportant - because - we're going to get our sweet girl!!!!!!!!

What's in a name????

Let me tell you - over the years - the naming of our children has brought about much debate, indecision, and discussion between The Dad and myself :)  The first baby was easy - he let me name her the name I'd been dreaming of naming a daughter for years.  The 2nd baby - well - that got a little more complicated - but luckily we both found a name we loved.  The 3rd baby - well - it all went south from there on out ;)  Finally by baby #5 we did a "hers and his" trade - I got to name The Princess and he got to name Littlest Dude....

Which brings us to #7 :)  Lucky number 7 (lucky US to be getting #7!!!)

Here is the back story on Fiona's name :)  Fiona is not really the given name of the little girl we are adopting - it is her "screen" name :)  When adoption agencies or ministries list children, they don't use their real names - they use names they make up - to protect the children's identities.   So - our little sweetie doesn't even know that we have referred to her as Fiona all these months (not that she knows anything about us yet ;) or that so many people have been praying for her, as Fiona :)  And - Fiona is most definitely not her real name.  We know that now, because we now know what her real name is :)  

It is a beautiful name - and one that we plan on keeping either as her first or middle name :)  We also think Fiona is a beautiful name, just not the name we would have picked for our little one (partially because of Littlest Dude's former love of all things Shrek :)

Why a whole post about this?  Well - I just don't want anyone to be surprised or offended when or if we change our little sweetie's name :)  We have always said that we needed to know what her name really is, and then to hear the story behind it (who named her etc...) and meet her - see how attached to to it she is and then decide whether to change it, or keep it the same :)

So - we will definitely keep you all updated!!!!  But - don't hold your breath, because we won't be able to officially announce what it is until our adoption is final - which could be in about 6 months :)  Holding your breath for 6 months just "might" not be a good idea ;)  

So - for now - "Fiona" - she stays :)

He hears and answers prayers....

seriously - our adoption journey has just solidified my testimony of that truth.  Our Heavenly Father knows each of us personally, he loves us, we are his children - and how could a parent NOT love their child with all their heart?  He is always there for us, wants the best for us, loves us - listens and answers - not always in the way we want, or as quickly as we might like - but he does answer our prayers!

And - he answered ours!  We have travel dates, and we have our little EE beauty's real name :)  And - wait for it - it's going to be a shocker.......  It's NOT Fiona ;) ha ha ha

I can't post what it really is - but it is a very pretty name and there is a good chance we will keep it as her first name, but definitely as a middle name, if not :)  It's not going anywhere :)  We can't wait to meet her and discover who she is :)

It really hit me this week - we are actually going!!!  The culmination of all these months, of everyone's prayers and support on her behalf - it is actually happening!

My corner "pile" of things to take to EE is growing.  We are working on what to take humanitarian wise for the orphanage - diapers? clothing? books? medicines?  Not sure exactly what is best - but we will figure it out :)  Maybe a combination of all of the above? 

I still feel like I need to pinch myself - but - I'm not dreaming - it is really happening! 

And  - my heart is full of gratitude to the Lord for all of his blessings and for his answer to our prayers.