Quotable

"What makes the difference between wishing and realizing our wishes? Lots of things, and it may take months or years for a wish to come true, but it's far more likely to happen when you care so much about a wish that you'll do all you can to make it happen."

~ Fred Rogers

"Waiting for the Prince of Peace"

This morning at church, our message was titled "Waiting for the Prince of Peace"! Our minister gave a beautiful sermon about how much time we spend waiting on things to happen - from waiting in lines to waiting for things to pop up on the computer. One of my many admitted faults is that I am very impatient. I do not like to wait, but as I sat there this morning, I found myself reflecting on how much time I think about waiting for Emma's referral. A large focus in our family right now is waiting for that "call" - especially this past week. I do know, however, that there will be a wonderful blessing at the end of our long wait just as Baby Jesus' birth was a blessing to all here on earth 2008 years ago just as it is today.

Isaiah 9 (New International Reader's Version)

6 A child will be born to us. A son will be given to us. He will rule over us. And he will be called Wonderful Adviser and Mighty God. He will also be called Father Who Lives Forever and Prince Who Brings Peace. 7 The authority of his rule will continue to grow. The peace he brings will never end. He will rule on David's throne and over his kingdom. He will make the kingdom strong and secure. His rule will be based on what is fair and right. It will last forever. The Lord's great love will make sure that happens. He rules over all.

This afternoon I had the boys draw a nativity scene with Baby Jesus in the manger. Below is a depiction by a seven (the first drawing) and a five year old of the traditional nativity scene.
~ And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, Which shall be to all people. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, Lying in a manger. ~ St. Luke 2:10-12
photo borrowed from http://www.links2love.com/

"May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!" ~Author Unknown

A Little Taste of the White Stuff

This weekend we took the boys to the NC mountains to go snow tubing. We don't get a lot of snow where we live so Butch and Lil' Roy were ready to go!!!

Lil' Roy

Butch

Making Dad do all the work...

After the fun in the snow, we all went inside for some hot chocolate and a rest by the fire!

Adoption Update

I got a call yesterday from our agency! There is a little girl who may still be available for International adoption in the region of Sakhalin (the island north of Japan). All we know is that she is between 2 to 3 years old. That is a lot older than we had originally had our hearts set on. Almost immediately, I decided to not even persue this little girl. From the very beginning, we had told the agency that we were open to any region of Russia except for Sakhalin. The main reason was because it is an eight hour flight from Moscow, and there are extra costs involved with adopting from that region.

Anyway, our agency coordinator kept talking about the region, and the successful adoptions that they are seeing there. She also reminded me that most of the other children are older coming out of every region because of the foster care system.

The Disadvantages to this region

1. More travel...longer flights

The Advantages

1. Medical information is available before travel

2. Possibly up to 2 photos available before travel

3. Most adoptions are having the 10 day waiting period after court waived

The more she talked, the more interested I became so I asked if she could forward me the information. That's when she told me that our dossier will need to be filed in Sakhalin before the information will be released. That scared me a little - like I was thinking, does this lock us in to adopting from this region only if this little girl does not work out? I asked our coordinator to find that out for us. I told her that I would call TheDentist and see how he felt about it too...

So...I hung up the phone very excited. I called TheDentist who actually answered his phone. He immediately said to go for it...have our dossier filed to get the information. He didn't even want to wait to see if we would be locked in to that region.

I called our coordinator back and had to leave all that in a voicemail. I finally got a call back from her about 5 hours later, and she had spoken with the facilitator in Russia. She requested our dossier be filed, and she found out that we are not locked in to that region!

The information will hopefully be sent out, translated and forwarded to us by the middle of December!

I am really trying hard not to get excited since this is the second little girl that could be our daughter.

We shall see...we'll just wait and pray taking it one day at a time until we receive the information.

The Wait

Well...

Our paperwork has officially been in Moscow for 2 months now. Those two months have really flown by with the end of summer and the start of school. However, I am really starting to find myself getting impatient! ALREADY! Of course, I know that it will do me no good!

I broke down and called our agency coordinator yesterday! She has informed me that our wait will probably be extended even more than 8 months (more like a year from now) before any little girls under the age of 18 months become available for international adoption! My heart just sank. TheDentist and I have lots to think about! We are considering redoing our CIS paperwork and reapplying with a minimum age of 2.5 years!