Family Fun

We LOVE to vacation at Coeur d'Alene Lake in Idaho.






The little guys love to play in the inflatable kayak . . .





and ride on the tube with Papa.







The windsurfer board is lots of fun . . .





and so is skiing with Papa.










The big kids like to ride the "tubes" . . .







and waterski.







A fun time was had by all.

It's All About MIRACLES

Oh My! We were so very young.





We're not old, yet, are we?








Yesterday, Jim and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. Wow! Coming from families where our parents each had multiple marriages, making it to the big 25 is a miracle in itself. And, we didn't just "make it", we have had the most faith-filled Journey with Jesus imaginable. We are so looking forward to the next 25 years together, and beyond.

We are celebrating this week, at a friends' cabin on Coeur d'Alene Lake in Idaho, with 9 of our 10 children. Gregg was supposed to arrive from Iraq last weekend, but is still in transit. We are sad that he isn't with us, but look forward to our time with him when he does finally arrive. Anyway ... the cabin that we are staying at is where Jim and I got engaged, on the 4th of July, 26 years ago. It's great to be here, not only with our kids, but with our friends, who have always been "adopted grandparents" to our kids. We explored many options of places to spend our anniversary (on a cruise? in Mexico? etc...) but are so glad that we are here with our family.

The big girls disappeared into town all afternoon yesterday, and then told us that we needed to go out to dinner for several hours. While we were gone, they decorated with balloons and wrapped a bundle of presents. Upon our return, we had a laundry basket full of gifts to open. Each was a small token with a written note attached. The laundry basket had the question, "How many loads of laundry do you think you've done in the past 25 years?" The folding camping chairs were for "all of the added ball games that we will be attending with the new children". The Coleman Lantern key chain said, "Thanks for always having a hidden stash of flashlights when we went camping. We never got lost going potty." The decks of cards said, "Thanks for always making family game nights a priority. Cheers to the champs!" etc.....

After opening presents, we told the kids that we had been reminiscing all day about the many miracles that God had done for our family over the past 25 years. We asked them to share memories that they had of God's faithfulness. It was wonderful to hear them share, from their childhood perpectives, how they had seen God work in and through our family. They remembered ... the money orders from "Zaccheus" ... the Thanksgiving dinner that showed up on our front porch ... the Christmas delivery of a dishwasher from a Sears "Santa" ... all of the medical miracles ... etc ...

After hearing their stories, we told the children that we had one more story to share. We had saved this story, specifically for this evening, as we wanted to tell all the children in person ...

While we have pursued this adoption with no hesitation, we have not known how the Lord was planning to pay for it. When we began the process, we did not even know if I was going to have a job next year (our school was in the midst of a major transition). As the summer progressed, Jim's painting business sat pretty quiet. While we usually have summer painting jobs lined up by April, this summer Jim spent a lot of time at home, with the family. We enjoyed the time, but kept wondering where the adoption funds were going to come from. However ... we did not fret ... we totally trusted that the Lord had a plan.

And ... God has truly amazed us once again. An anonymous donor has given $15,000 to our church, to be distributed to us for all of our adoption needs. Wow! Wow! Wow! We stand in AWE ... God is AMAZING ... AWESOME ... A WONDERFUL PROVIDER ... We look forward to His provision for our family the next 25 years.

Laurel

The Joy of the Lord

The joy of the Lord is so very evident in each of our children's lives. We can only begin to imagine the difficulties they have faced in their short lives, yet, as a friend of mine said when she first saw their pictures, "You can see right into their hearts ..."



Rachel: she came to the orphanage with only an African name, so they gave her a new Biblical name. When we have named each of our children, we always talked about a daughter named Rachel, but, each time, chose another name. The Lord was, obviously, saving that name for this precious child.



Sarah: she arrived at the orphanage shortly after Victor and Rachel. Victor was given the honor of choosing his sister's Biblical name. (She, also, had arrived with only an African name.)



Victor: when he arrived at the orphanage, he not only had an African name, but he was also called Victor. So, they decided not to change his name. However, he has now requested that we choose a Bible name for him, "like (his) sisters". Victor will now be called ... Jacob.

Our Kids

Our first photo of Sarah (9), Victor (11), and Rachel (6). We knew immediately that they were to be ours.



Our 2nd photo. We are falling in love with these beautiful children.



Opening the presents that we sent. We gave them individual scrapbooks, of the family, our home, our yard, our church, and our community.



Wearing the new clothes that we sent.



Our biological children on a 2006 Christmas Missions Blitz to New Orleans: Gregg (22), Cassie (21), Jeremiah (19), Carissa (17), Lindsey (17), Joshua (16), Benjamin (13), Hosanna (10), Josiah (6), and Elijah (4).

The Journey

Hello Friends,

After sending many individual emails about our adoption process, we decided it was time to create a blog. This way, you are free to stop by and check in on us any time. I will spend awhile this evening, getting everyone up to speed on the new journey that the Lord has led our family on.

November 2006

After 2 years of dialogue with the Lord, about whether or not to continue expanding our family, He showed me clearly that our family was going to grow through the adoption process. I believed that we were to adopt 4 children and that they were to be African American, African, or Haitian. At that point, Jim was not open to adding to the family, and 4 more children was absolutely out of the question. However, I began to research domestic adoption vs. international adoption. I perused many adoption web sites. At every site, I was continually drawn to sibling groups of 4 children and of African descent. Three or five children just didn't work for me. And, the Caucasion, Hispanic or Asian children ... just didn't catch my attention at all.

February 2007

We were approached by a couple at church, who asked if we would be interested in being involved in a new ministry: His Kids Our Homes. They really didn't know why they were asking us, as most everyone else they asked were involved in the foster care and/or adoption process, but they believed that the Lord had told them to include us. (They had no idea what the Lord had told me 3 months earlier.) I was, of course, thrilled; while Jim was wondering what I was getting him in to. (Me? No, this was the Lord's work.)

May 4, 2007

Over the course of 6 months, Jim and I had discussed the adoption option many times ... or, I had tried to discuss the option, but his answer was always a firm, "NO!" However, one day, I was working at the computer when Jim walked in and said, "So, if we adopt ... how will we arrange the bedrooms?" Yea! He was ready to at least think about it. However, he was still definitely not open to adopting 4 children.

June 15, 2007

While at a party, I was sharing with a friend all of the specifics that I believed the Lord had told me back in November. Jim casually walked by, and loudly said, "No!" My friend and I just smiled.

June 16, 2007

I was out-of-town for a day, when we received an email from Kelly (a woman that attends our church). She knew that we were on the His Kids ministry team and she was currently in Ghana, in the process of adopting 5 year old twin girls. While at the orphanage, she had fallen in love with 4 beautiful children, and she couldn't get our name off of her mind. So, she emailed a mutual friend to get my email address, and she wrote us a quick note with pictures of 4 beautiful children. Since I was out-of-town, Jim checked the email and immediately fell in love with each of the children. By the time I got home that evening, he had told all of our children that we were adopting 4 children from Ghana. Yea! Emails quickly flew between Accra, Ghana and Lynden, U.S.A. We were excited to bring Victor, Sarah, Rachel (siblings) and Lydia (only child) home to America.

June 21, 2007

We received $100 from friends, as "seed money" for this new journey. We are excited to see how the Lord will provide the remaining $15,000 (approx.)

June 22, 2007

I went to the bank and opened a new savings acct. We are praying for the Lord's direction as to how to fill the acct.

June 24, 2007

I contacted a private social worker and made an appt. for our Home Study.

July 2, 2007

Mike came to meet the family and evaluate our home. We enjoyed our visit with him ... not nearly as stressful as we thought it could have been. We had no idea what to expect.

The paper chase has begun ... biographies, family histories, financial statements, references, medical appts. and blood work all need to be done.

July 8, 2007

We found out today that Lydia will not be able to be adopted at this time. We are so sad, but know that the Lord is in control of all of the details. We believe that we are supposed to bring home 4 children and that the 4th (in addition to Victor, Rachel, and Sarah) is to be a girl. We are anxious to see who the Lord will bring to round out our family.

July 10, 2007

Kelly emailed, telling us that her husband, Ryan, would be travelling to Ghana at the end of the week and that if we wanted to "sneak anything in his suitcase for the kids", we could. Wow! I can really go shopping for my children?!!

July 11, 2007

When we first asked Ben what he would think about adopting a boy near his age, his response was, "If he knows how to play baseball." We laughed, and assured Ben that he could teach Victor how to play. Well ... today, I emailed Kelly and asked what types of things would be good for me to buy for the kids. What would make them really feel loved? Her response:

"Victor really likes all things related to baseball. He loves his baseball caps but he may enjoy being introduced to baseball cards."

Shopping ... clothes, jewelry, backpacks, scrapbooks for everyone, and a baseball mitt and ball for Victor. As I wandered through Family Christian Store, Michael's, and Wal-Mart, by myself, I wanted to tell EVERYONE who I was shopping for. The excitement was growing!

July 12, 2007

Back to Wal-Mart to exchange the clothings. Kelly emailed again with new sizes. The children are much smaller than she had estimated in the first email.

While I shopped, Cassie (who was home from Oregon for the weekend) went around Lynden with her camera. She took pictures of our house, the baseball fields, the church, our backyard, and the city park. We needed pictures for the kids' scrapbooks.

July 13, 2007

Pictures developed at Costco first thing in the morning, so that the scrapbooking could begin. I made an individual scrapbook for each child, with different pictures for each. Victor's book focused on the older brothers, the baseball fields, and Ben & Hosanna on their baseball teams. Sarah's book focused on the older sisters, the church, and the house. Rachel's book focused on the 3 younger siblings, the backyard, and the city park. All of the books included a photo of all 10 siblings, our house, the ocean, Mt. Baker, snow, etc.... We were so excited to "show" the kids their new home and community.

I even had to miss the wedding of a friend of Cassie's (Jim and the girls went) so that I could complete the scrapbooks. At 8:30pm, Jim came home and we rushed the filled backpacks over to Ryan's house so that he could get them into his suitcase before tomorrow's trip.

We can hardly believe that our kids are going to be able to get these presents from us. We so want them to know how much we love them already.

July 21, 2007

The last pieces of paperwork are in the mail. Whew!

I received the following email from Kelly today:

"Here are some photos from Monday (the first two) and another photo of Victor just taken today. The first two were taken when they first received their backpacks. Sarah brought down the tags that are for name, address, tel. etc...... and wanted me to help her fill that tag in with her new name. I wrote it down for her to fill in. She then handed me Rachel's tag and again I wrote the name Rachel D................ on a piece of paper so that Sarah could fill out the tag with Rachel's new name. Victor then asked if I would write out his name in full too. They seem very excited by their new family and new name."

I cried when I saw "Rachel D.............." in print. The Lord is good!

July 27, 2007

I received the following note in an email from Kelly, today:

"Victor came to me today with his album asking who is mom while pointing to the photo of all your children together. I had to explain that there are no photos of you in his album. I promised to ask if you would send one along for him. Also, although I don't think Romana would implement a name change at Beacon House, Victor wants to know if he gets a new name. I get the impression that he wants a new name."

Oops! Looks like I need to have someone take a picture of me. I'm always behind the camera.

Oh my ... we get to choose a name for an 11 year old boy? We didn't expect this ... we were fine with the name, "Victor". However ... if he wants a new name for his new life, we will certainly pray about just the right Biblical name for our new son.


July 28, 2007

We came home from a week in Oregon, only to discover that the paperwork we had mailed on the 21st had been returned for $ .23 postage. While we thought that the social worker was completing our Home Study this week, he was actually still waiting for the paperwork. We are so frustrated. I had had the package weighed and postage put on at an independent postal shop. I can't believe they mis-weighed it. We had planned to travel to Yakima next week for our Federal Background Check fingerprinting, but now that will be delayed another couple of weeks.

August 4, 2007

I went to Kelly's today and met her 2 beautiful new daughters. It was sooo... exciting! Not only did she give me a CD of 100+ pictures of our kids and the orphanage, she also gave me a dvd/video of our children. Rachel is dancing. Victor is showing us his artwork. All 3 kids tell us "God bless you, for all that you have done for us." Victor tells us that his favorite present is the "beezeball" (baseball).

Their accents are sooo... cute. The words they say are so precious. I must have watched the video 5 times today, as I showed each of the kids. Tears come to my eyes each time. I can hardly wait to hold these precious children in my arms.

Jim is out of town today. It was so hard to watch the video and not be able to share it with him. I spent hours trying to download and send the video through email, but couldn't get it to work. Very disappointing ... especially for Jim, as I, of course, told him all about the video.

August 5, 2007

I couldn't sleep last night ... thinking of all of the adoption details. I finally figured out the best bedroom configuration for the 12 children that will all be living at home (Gregg & Cassie having moved out already.) Now we have something very fun to think about ... painting, decorating, new furniture. How exciting!

August 11, 2007

I casually mentioned to a friend that we would need to get a larger table ... and, she emailed that she had found one for us on craigslist.com. Jim and I drove 175 miles each way, and brought home a beautiful solid oak table. New, it would cost over $2,000, but we got it for $425. Thank you Lord.

Last month, we bought 14 dining room chairs for only $75 from a cafe that had gotten new furniture. So, we had the chairs and were just waiting for the table. The chairs we bought last month very closely match the 4 chairs that came with the table. God is good!

August 14, 2007

Our notarized Home Study finally arrived in the mail. Whew! It's taken longer than expected, which is very frustrating. But ... we are one step closer to bringing the kids home.

August 17, 2007

Last night, Jim and I (along with Jeremiah, Carissa, and Lindsey) drove to Yakima (4 hours away). We stayed at a hotel, in order to get to the immigration office first thing in the morning. The 3 kids had to go with us because everyone in the household that is over 18 has to have a background check done. We let all of the younger kids stay with friends.

This morning, we all had our fingerprints done, for the Federal Background Check. Another major step towards brining the children home. We couldn't do this step, until we received the notarized Home Study. So, we have now filed our Home Study with the U.S. Gov't, and now must wait, patiently (?) for approval. We were told it would be 3-4 weeks before we hear from them. Oh ... the waiting game is so hard. It would have been so much easier if we could have travelled to Africa this summer (when school is out), to bring the children home. All in the Lord's timing ......


* * * * *

Well ... I hope you have enjoyed getting updated on our family's journey. I will try to write more at least once or twice per week, to keep things up to date.

Thank you, friends, for all of your love, prayers, and support. Only with the support of the Lord's family, could we walk this journey.

Laurel :)
mama of 10 + 4 = 14