Our life is nothing short of an adventure...

Wind in our hair and screams of delight but also unpredictable turns and unknown outcomes. We are a family of six; Dave, Susie, Nate, Jake, Sam, and Bella.

God has been faithful in our marriage and through the birth and blessings of our boys.

God has been faithful during our adoption journey and united Bella with us in May of 2008. We were privileged to visit with Bella's birth mother; therefore, Bella's family in Guatemala will always be dear to our hearts.

On October 16, 2008, Bella was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia. We are now battling the disease with 2 years and 3 months of treatment. We believe God will continue to be faithful!

Our family is committed to living life to the fullest...even on the hard days. Thank you for checking in and journeying with us!


Tuesday, November 27, 2007

3 Month Update!

Wow! Our baby girl is growing, she is now 11 lbs. and 22.8" long....growing beautifully, but too quick for me. They say she is "sweet, peaceful and serious". What? Serious? How is a 12 week old "serious"? :) We are so anxious to see her again.

FC Approved on to PGN!!

We received word that we were officially approved with Guatemala's Family Court on November 5th, on the 15th of November, we were registered in to the PGN of Guatemala which is the "biggy" in the world of Guatemalan Adoption. What is PGN? As summarized "PGN or Procuradoria General del Nacion is essentially the solicitor general's office. They have an adoption unit which reviews and approves or rejects adoptions. When a file is submitted, it will be reviewed by reviewer # 1 to ensure that all the information required is present. This generally takes 1-2 weeks. Once you pass the 1st reviewers approval, you move on to the 2nd reviewers desk. The 2nd reviewer will review your file to ensure that it is in compliance with Guatemalan law. If they don't like what they see, they can issue you a "previo" or "kick out" and ask that corrections be made. The length of time to correct a previo ranges from 1 day to several months. Generally, a file is approved or kicked out by the second reviewer within 6 weeks. There are three 2nd reviewers for all of the cases in PGN. Once you are approved by the 2nd reviewer, your case moves to Senor Barrios who approves your adoption as final through the PGN. Typically, Senor Barrios will take 1-2 weeks to sign off and approve. He can also issue a kick out for corrections but that is rare. Once you've made it to him, there is a good chance you will be approved soon. At any point during this process, if you receive a previo, you start back at the 8 week timeframe again. We are almost 2 weeks now into our PGN wait-- so the longer we go with staying on the 2nd reviewer's desk without a previo- the better likelihood we have of being approved through PGN in 8 weeks." Now understand that these are just the FACTS! As believers of Christ, we know that "all things are possible with God" and that the Lord "will complete the good work He has started", this is the TRUTH!

At this time, we are asking for prayer on the following:
1. That the Lord will continue to bless our adoption process in an expedient and efficient manor.
2. That the Lord will and has guided our file to the PGN case workers who have a heart for God, adoption and our family as well as bind His mind to the mind of these caseworkers.
3. That the mind of Christ will be bound to Senor Barios and that our file will be signed immediately upon it appearing on his desk.
4. That God's perfect will and plan will be carried through.
5. For strength and joy in all things as we move forward in the end of our journey to bring Bella home to her Forever Family!

Thank you for all your love and support, we will continue to keep you updated. Please check back soon as we are expecting our photo updates of Bella any day who will be 3 months old tomorrow!