A Year in Review

May you have love that never ends, lots of money and lots of friends.
Health be your's, whatever you do, and may God send many
blessings to you! - Irish Blessing

It's been an amazing year, we look forward to celebrating the great things God is doing in 08'!

Merry Christmas Little Princess!

Merry Christmas Princess Bella! A year ago, we thought that we would have a new baby home, and although she is not physically in our arms, we know our God has already done it and that she is on her way home.

We received our December update today. What a wonderful Christmas Gift. Bella will be 4 months old on Dec. 28th. She now weighs 13 pounds and is 24" long, and although she has grown so much, I am reminded by these pictures just how tiny she still is. The outfit Bella is wearing in these photos is the same outfit we brought her when traveling to Guatemala and took photos of her in when she was 3 weeks old...and it still fits. I have struggled with the fact that I am missing days with our daughter, sad that she is growing to quickly, yet I was quickly reminded how tiny she still is. She is still our baby girl.

Our report told us that she is happy, alert, playful, sweet, slightly extroverted and loves to imitate others. That's my Girl! She is giggling now and cooing....we cant wait to get our update DVD and expect to be blessed with that little laugh. We take great comfort in the love and care she is receiving at HH.

It has now been 5 full weeks in the Guatemalan Government PGN. We believe everyday for her PGN Approval with No previews. Again, after that point, she is legally ours and we will enter in to the Guatemalan Civil Registry to have her name changed to ours....oh I so love that! There are some issues with the Civil Registry right now, but we are confident that God has already resolved that issue and praise Him for it.

Please continue your prayers and support. It means so very much to us and we truly can feel it.

Specific Prayers Needed:

God Bless and Merry Christmas,

3.5 Months!

We are blessed to have new photos of our Elisabella so early! Our friends the Buwalda's traveled to Guatemala and to meet their daughter, for the first time last Wednesday. They took the time to not only visit with our daughter and hold her, but too also take photos of her. They said "Bella was so responsive and happy and smiley! She smiled very quickly when I was interacting with her. Her special mother was very loving with her. I went & saw her both of the days we were there and each time she was very content and happy. She is nice & chubby, too! So cute!!" We cant even express our gratitude for the time they took to love on our girl. And having pictures of her HH "sister" is pricesless. Not only do we take comfort in knowing that our Lord is with our daughter, but also that our baby girl has forever friends with her at HH.

There are so many blessings we have experienced in the international adoption process, the greatest being that "we are new creatures in Christ", but one of the other is the gift of the incredible families God has brought into our lives throughout this process...the Harkemas, Vanzantens, Culps and Buwaldas. Adoption is a journey, and although the unconditional love of the child is no different than the love of our biological children, we can never express the sincere love and connection we have with these 4 families. We will forever be connected with these people and we are excited at to get all these girls together very soon, home with the families God intended for them.

We continue to ask for you prayer in our adoption journey. On Thursday, we will have been in PGN 4 weeks! This is good news...as we know that God has already approved our Bella in PGN with NO previews TODAY!!

The Ortega Law was passed today, and as of yet, we have no idea what that means for us....but we are not worried. For we stand on the Word of God and we know that God "will complete that which He has started" not to mention that "All things are possible with God"! We live on the scripture:
" Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the (action of His) power that is work within us, is able to (carry out His purpose and ) do SUPER ABUNDANTLY, far over and above all that we (dare) ask or think (infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes and dreams)! Eph 3:20 Amplified Bible

PLEASE continue to pray with us that Senior Barios will sign Bella's PGN Approval today, that our new Birth Certificate with be signed immediately by the Mixco Civil Registry and that the US Embassy will schedule our 2nd DNA and FINAL US Embassy Apt's immediately! We must be present at our US Embassy Apt's and will return a day later will Bella in our Arms in Michigan a day after this appointment. The VanZantens need your prayer as well for Civil Registry approval and the Culps just received their Family Court Approval and need PGN Approval with NO preview as well.

Thank you all for your love, prayer and support. You will never know how much it means to our family.

Blessings to all,

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!

USE Pre-Approval!

We received our USE Pre-Approval on M0nday, Oct. 29th! It took only 3 weeks.....good news as it has been 60 days. We are now waiting on our Family Court Approval from Guatemala and expect that this week as well. Upon our FC Approval, our file will then be turned over to the Guatemalan PGN, it will be given to a PGN advisor who will then review our file of over 300 documents to determine that we meet all the requirements to adopt a child from Guatemala. They will review all documentation that has been gathered on our adoption. Once reviewed, the advisor can either give their stamp of approval or ask for clarification on any document thus "kicking" families out of PGN. We are praying for NO "previews" and believing that we will be out out PGN by Dec. 31, 2007! One thing we are confident in, God is bigger than all of this.....

Thanks for checking in, we are rejoicing in the journey of bringing of Bella home!

Blessings,

Missing our Girl

It's very late Sunday night, 2 am in the morning. I am up ,not because I am sad, but because I desire to draw close the Lord. I cant express yet this entire adoption experience, I pray that the Lord will give me the encouragement and grace to write what we have expereinced through Jesus Christ. The utter joy, humility, and awe that comes from following God's leading. Not everyone understands our journey or even supports it, and at times, it can hurt. But we are so steadfast and confident that "He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion".

When we started our adoption journey, we knew their would be tough days, we knew the wait would be difficult...we had no idea the pain that would be associated with leaving our daughter back in Guatemala and the absolute anxiousness in not knowing when we will be allowed to bring her home. It's hard to miss all those precious little moments, her first burp, her first hick up....her first smile. Yet we know that the Lord will still bless us with those, for when we are united, her smile will be a first for us. Its just that we know how very much she sill change over the months, how much she will grow. OUr update this week said she is already 9.2 lbs and 21" long! I should be recording that info, but this journey is different, the pain is different. It's not pains of labor or delivery....its perseverance pain, its having faith greater than a mustard
seed pain, it's the pain of learning to trust a God that is so much bigger than we could ever imagine and then BELIEVING Him to hold true to his promises. It's a true walk of faith.

Yet I can say with the utter most confidence, the pain is subsiding, the Lord's strength is taking over and we are truly in a place where we BELIEVE! We have no reason not to, for we have experienced his miracles in the referral of our daughter. From her picture, to meeting with our birth Mother, the travel plans and the time spent with our daughter. It is so evident to us that God's plan is at hand and we are lucky enough to be gift receivers.

The uncertainty of the Guatemalan Govt. is not an issue for us. We know that God is already there and he has already answered the prayers of thousands of families and children. For He is the children's one and true Father, and it is not his will for these children to sit in foster homes or institutions. The Lord said to "father the fatherless" and we will do just that. There is no devil in hell that can stop the love of the Lord....did I mention the love of a Mother through the love of the Lord! Look out Satan, you are stoppable now!

When I have those brief moments of doubt, I think of a scenario my Mother shared with me.
Imagine dropping to your knees in front of Jesus and looking up in to his beaten and bloodied face, tired and exhausted from the weight of his cross and see him look down in to your face and say "My sweet child.....Do you believe I will do this for you"? Although my tongue would be swollen and the words would be difficult to mutter out, my response will and could only be "YES Lord, I believe....I believe"! How could I not. This is the same Jesus that was beaten, bullied and humiliated and then went to the cross for me so that I may have life. And He didn't just do it for me, but for anyone who chooses to believe. You see, that's overwhelming, that's a love that no human can ever fathom....except a parent. As parents, we would willingly lay down our lives for our children. walk the ends of the earth to find them. So why would our Jesus not do the same? The point is, He would do the same and he does it everyday. The good news is, He's already there, you just need to ask.

I enjoy sharing our ministry of adoption with all of you. Believe us when I say, it's been an indescribable journey for our family as well.

May God bless all of you and thank for you checking in on us. We expect news this week from Guatemala on many counts. The Joint Council Announcement on Grandfathering current cases as well as a possible Family Court Release Date of our case and a US Embassy Pre Approval! Please stay tuned.

God bless all of you and may he hold you in the palm of his hand.

Family Court Complete!

Today we received word that our Family Court went through with flying colors! We are currently awaiting our DNA results which will send us in to the US Embassy for Pre-Approval. The Family Court Study will be done in 4-6 weeks and when complete will be submitted in to Guatemalans PGN which can take 6-8 weeks with out any previews. Previews are when the Guatemalan PGN case worker questions a document in case file which is over 300 pages! Please be praying for God's mind to be bound to our US Embassy Caseworker and that our Pre-Approval will be processed quickly and efficiently as well as for the PGN case worker who will receive our referral that he/she will have a heart for adoption and our family. That the mind of Christ will be bound to his/her mind and that they will process our file to approval with out any previews.

No word yet on the results of the Guatemala 5000, please continue to make your calls, emails and faxes. Leaving a message is just fine to the senators, congressman and UNICEF!

Thank you for all your love and support,

CALL TO ACTION, WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Dear Friends and Family, It has been 2 weeks now since we first laid eye's on our new daughter. In the 10 days we have been home, we have received numerous emails regarding the possible threat of a Guatemalan Adoption Shutdown. The pages of information basically stated that President Berger (the president of Guatemala) has made a formal announcement of his plans to “indefinitely suspend all adoption cases which are not completed by December 31st” – including pending cases. The information we received was the best that our agency had at the time, but not very specific as far as what exactly this would mean for Bella and for the other friends we have at various stages in the process. Since Friday, we have been able to learn more information about the situation in Guatemala, and while it definitely is not good – it quite possibly could be just an outgoing president (his term ends January 14th) trying to leave his mark. Realistically, he does not have the power to pass such a law on his own. It needs to be voted on by the Guatemalan congress. Additionally, the attorneys in Guatemala are huge advocates for adoption – not always for the right reasons, but they have an enormous amount of power in Guatemalan society. And, on top of everything else, Guatemala has no way to care for the estimated 3000-5000 children that this proclamation could potentially leave orphaned. That being said, we have been asked by our agency and the Joint Council (oldest and largest child welfare organization for International Adoptions) to participate in a “Call to Action” in response to the current situation. I have included this as an attachment in hopes you will participate with us in making a few calls or sending a few emails to help not only bring our daughter home, but our friends children as well as the 5,000 current orphaned children in process to families right now!

All of you ask, “How are you doing with all of this?” And the honest answer is – “We are doing well.” While it is definitely heart-wrenching to think that Bella may have to stay in an orphanage much longer than necessary, we also feel that God’s hand has been in this journey from before we even began our first paperwork. We truly believe that it is God's will for Bella to be home here with us and not sitting in an orphanage. Although her care is amazing and her surroundings beautiful, we know that no one can love her like her Mom, Dad and Big Brothers.

We continue to be amazed at the DAILY blessings her adoption has been to our whole family and trust that what God has started, he will bring to completion.

Please pray with us that God's mind will be bound to President Berger, All Guatemalan and US Government Officials who are handling Bella's Paperwork, Our Legal Team at AGCI, the US Embassy Case Workers and PGN Case Workers. Please also pray for Bella's continued health and growth development and for the VanZantens and Culps whom we have become good friends with and also have baby girls waiting to come home from our Agency.

Again, thank you for all your love and support. And Please, help us make a difference in the lives of all these children by pariticpating in the CALL TO CATION Oct. 8, 9 & 10. SEE BELOW

Blessings,

GUATEMALA 5000

Dear Friends, Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has announced plans to suspend all intercountry adoption with American families on January 1 2008. The Joint Council on International Children’s Services strongly opposes such a suspension and asks for your support in their efforts to ensure that all children retain the right to permanency through Intercountry Adoption. President Berger’s plans also call for the suspension of adoptions currently in-process. Such a suspension would be extremely detrimental to the children referred to adoptive parents. If President Berger’s plan is actually implemented, up to 5,000 will unnecessarily remain in foster care or orphanages indefinitely. This situation represents a pending crisis for the adoptive families who have lovingly chosen to provide permanency, safety and love to a child in need and most importantly a crisis for 5,000 children of Guatemala. What can you do? Make six simple phone calls and one email. 1. Call your U.S. Senator. · You can find your Senators’ phone numbers at www.senate.gov · Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff 2. Call your second U.S. Senator. 3. Call your representative to the U.S. House of Representative. · You can find your representative at www.house.gov · Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff 4. Call or fax UNICEF Headquarter · Ask to speak with Ann Veneman, Executive Director · Their number is 212-326-7000 · Their fax number is 212-326-7758 5. Call or fax UNICEF Guatemala · Ask to speak with Manuel Manrique · Their number is 011-502-2327-6373 · Their fax number is 011-502-2327.6366 Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls 6. Send and email supporting Intercountry Adoption to guatemala5000@jcics.org · Write briefly or at length · Joint Council will use the cumulative email petition in our advocacy for Intercountry Adoption When should you call? Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (October 9th, 10th 11th) · For maximum affect, we are asking you to make these calls within a 72 hour window! What should you say or write to member of the U.S. Congress? Speak from your heart and give them the following information. · Inform them that you are calling regarding Guatemala 5000 · Ask them to sign the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) sponsored letter to President Oscar Berger · Ask them to sign the Joint Council on International Children’s Services sponsored letter to UNICEF · Inform them that the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. · Inform them that President Berger’s announcement also indicated that there will be no ‘grandfathering’ of adoptions already in process. · Inform them that if children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. · Ask that their office get involved and sign the sponsored letters to the President of Guatemala and UNICEF. These letters ask that all adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws. Sample Statement Hello, We are calling/writing on behalf of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative. We, as your constituents, are asking that the Senator/Congressperson add their signature to two letters. First, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute sponsored letter to Guatemalan President Oscar Berger. Second, the Joint Council on International Children’s Services sponsored letter to UNICEF. As you may be aware, the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. Their announcement also indicated that there will be no ‘grandfathering’ of adoptions already in process. If children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. Your office must get involved and sign the sponsored letters to the President of Guatemala and UNICEF. These letters ask that all adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws. Sincerely, What should you say or write to UNICEF? Speak from your heart and give them the following information. · Inform them that you are calling regarding the Guatemala 5000 · Ask them to support the right’s of children and lend their considerable influence to ensuring that intercountry adoptions currently in-process be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws. · Inform them that the Guatemalan government has announced that all adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. · Inform them that President Berger’s announcement also indicated that there will be no ‘grandfathering’ of adoptions already in process. · Inform them that if children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. · Ask them again for their support of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative. Sample Statement Hello, We are calling/writing on behalf of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative. As financial supporters of UNICEF (through our tax dollars), we are asking that UNICEF lends its support and considerable influence to the Guatemala 5000 initiative. As you may be know, the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. Their announcement also indicated that there will be no ‘grandfathering’ of adoptions already in process. If children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. UNICEF must get involved and help ensure that all intercountry adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws. Sincerely, Can you explain the problem behind the pending crisis? Here is some additional information… · Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has announced plans to effectively stop all adoptions into the United States including those children who have already been referred to adoptive parents · Over 5,000 children have been referred · The birthparents for these children have already relinquished their parental rights. As a result, they currently have no family and the Berger suspension will result in these children having no prospect for a permanent, safe and loving family · The government of Guatemala currently does not have the finances or facilities to even provide housing for these 5,000 children · The Berger plan is a crisis waiting to happen

What else can you do? In addition to your primary calls to U.S. Congress and UNICEF, you can call the following. SOSEP (Guatemala) · Director Teresa Echeverría de Bastarrechea Office Phone- 011-502-2383-8400 · Assistant Director- Edin Palma- Same office phone Office Phone- 011-502-2383-8400 · Jaime Tecu Office Phone - 011-502-2239-0000 ext 2766 Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls Guatemala Ministry of Foreign Affairs · Minister Gerth Rosenthal Office Phone 011-502-2410-0000, 2410-0010 · Vice Minister- Marta Altoaguirre Office Phone 011-502-2410-0020 Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls Procuraduria of Human Rights · Dr. Sergio Morales Office Phone 011-502-2424-1717 Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls Embassy of Guatemala in the U.S. 2220 R Street N.W. Washington, DC 20008 Office Phone 1-202-745-4952 Office Fax 1-202-745-1908 Website: www.guatemala-embassy.org/ Best Wishes,

Making Progress!

We have made it through the first step in the process with our DNA Apt being last week Friday. DNA is a US requirement. Next week Tuesday, Oct. 9th, is our Family Court Apt, this is a Guatemalan requirement where our birth mother meets with an apt. court social worker and Bella. This process is to determine that our Birth Mother desires to give her daughter up for adoption. I can only imagine how difficult this apt. is. Please keep her in your prayers, that God may fill that hole in her heart with himself. The next step in the process is United States Embassy Pre-Approval. Thanks for checking in,

First Trip to Guatemala!

Dear Friends and Family, We just returned home from our initial visit to meet our daughter and sign POA papers for our legal team. Words cant describe our emotions or the incredible awe we feel in God's perfect plan and provision in our adoption journey. Below is a small snap shot video we put together of our 2 days spent with our daughter. Please be sure to have your volume turned up as we have put the video to a song by Stephen Curtis Chapman called "Speechless", this song sums up our adoption experience up to this point. We truly stand in awe of what God has done in our lives. We hear all the time that our daughter is blessed, but the truth is, WE are the one's experiencing the blessing from this journey.

We have chosen to name her Esabella xxxxx, xxxx is the name her birth Mother gave her. It had special meaning to her, so we chose to honor the birth Mother and make it her middle name. We plan to call her Bella...pronounced "Beya". Bella means "beautiful" in Spanish.

Our trip was all to quick, amazing, joyful, emotional and exciting. It was heart breaking to leave her...but we have no doubt that she is in amazing care as we experienced that first hand. We met the birth Mother and her almost 2 year old son....that moment was emotional for all of us, she is a treasure and very beautiful.

As for Guatemala, its a beautiful country surrounded by mountains full of greenery. However, Guatemala City itself was lacking in that same beauty. Every building is surrounded by 15-20 ft gates or walls with barb wire on top of them. Armed Guardsman stand at every entrance to every building adding a sense of security but sadness in the corruption of this country. Never in my life have I appreciated my FREEDOM and our country more than this return trip home. We are all the more anxious to get her home.

Our Family Court appointment and DNA testing was today, we are confident that Birth Mom arrived....although we can imagine it was a painful experience for her as she was required to testify before a Guatemalan court with Esabella stating that she desires to put her up for adoption as she cant care for her. These two appointments are the first major hurdles in getting her home. US Embassy Pre-Approval will be next.

We have so much love and admiration for our Birth Mom as she has made the greatest sacrifice for the good of her daughter and has given us one of 4 of our greatest gifts (the boys being the other 3). Please continue to pray that God will give her a spirit of peace and joy in her decision for our family. That the mind of Christ will be bound to all AGCI employees, US and Government Officials that are handling all of Bella's paperwork and strength for our family as we embark on the last part of the journey in bringing our daughter home for good. Lastly, that God will "complete that which he has started".

Thank you for all your love and prayers, the support has been overwhelming and we are so grateful.

"The Lord did this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the Day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad"! Psalm 118:2324

Love to all,

Dave, Susie and The Boys

Everythings Coming Up Pink!!!

Our Baby Girl was born the end of August....6 lbs. 8 oz and 18.7" long. She is absolutely beautiful and we are all overwhelmed by God's amazing perfect plan and provision. We fell in love with her the minute we laid eye's on the first email picture.

We will be off to Guatemala Sept. 19th to hold our beautiful daughter, sign Power of Attorney Papers and meet the Birth Mom.

It will take several months to finish the international adoption proceedings, it may be early spring before she is home. But we are believing for God's miracle in getting her home sooner.

We need prayer for the following:
*Safe Travel and God's Love to surround our meeting with Birth Mom
*That the mind of Christ is bound to all AGCI Employees, Us and Government officials that will be handling any and all of Bella's paperwork to finish the adoption
*That our boys will enjoy their time with their grandparents as we fly off to meet their new baby sister
*For God's Love and Peace to fill our Birth Mom in her decision of choosing our family for her daughter. We love and admire her greatly for her sacrifice and gift to our family.

Again, there are not enough words to express how much we appreciate all of you. We are in awe of not only our God in all of this, but in the love and joy we have received from all of you.

Watch for updates and new photos after our trip.

Blessings,

We received word this afternoon that we are now #6 on the girl wait list! We anticipate a birth the end of this month...possibly the begining of August. It's hard to believe we are nearing the finish line...it will be another journey to get her home, anywhere between 3-9 months. Please keep up the prayers and support. It means everything to us. We will be updating soon with news of her birth. Blessings to all,

On the Last Leg!!

We received word yesterday the 5th that we are now #13! Praise God we continue to move up on the waiting list. We are still believing and hoping for a June referral of our daughter with a travel date in July, however, we are even more confident in Gods perfect will and plan for our family and daughter. We have no doubt that she will be placed in our arms upon her birth. It's been hard to wait as its been over a year now since we started this process, but the blessings and teachings from God in all this have been profound. It's a calling to adopt a child in to your family, but its also one of the most amazing blessings in life. How grateful we are to be chosen.

At this point in the process, we can expect a call any day. Once our wait list number gets to #5, our Family Album could be given to a birth mother with 2 others giving her the ability to chose the family for her child. Even at #13, this could happen this month. Upon being chosen by the birth mother, we either accept or reject (can you imagine that) our referral and if we accept, we are to travel to Guatemala within 2 weeks from our referral to meet our daughter and the birth mother if she so chooses. We are required to travel to sign POA (Power of Attorney) forms in Guatemala....not doing so could delay the process of bringing her home by 2 months! We will spend 2 full days at The Orphanage and then travel home with out our daughter. We anticipate this will be difficult as we have never had to leave our babies behind. However, God promised that "where we are weak, He is strong" and we are counting on that. General wait time for our child to come home to the US is anywhere between 3-8 months with the average being 6 months. It is our confession and hope that she will be home by Christmas.

Please continue to check this site as we will be sending more frequent updates as well as specific prayers needed.

God Bless,

Moved up 5, were now #25!!!

Weve moved up on the Waiting List!

We are thrilled to announce that we received word today that we are now #30 on the girl waiting list. 6 baby girls were placed last month. We received notice of our new number the first week of every month. Our progress is significant and we are excited that things are progressing this well.

Last night I was priviliged to be part of a friends daughters Home Coming from Guatemala. It was a precious moment to watch them walk down the runway with that beautiful little girl. Although we are excited for our own moment, I truly enjoyed the their moment and I am so thrilled for them that their daughter is finally home at 6 1/2 months of age.

We are on the Waiting List!

I apologize, the last update did include where we are on the waiting list. We are #36. As new babies in the orphange are brought in or born, we move up until we are finally #1. They expect that will be around May or June. It's all in God's perfect timing and plan.

Stage 2 and 3 of the Journey

In November, we sent in our official application to AGCI. and received our Dossier package in the mail along with our first installment payment. On January 10th, we sent the completed Dossier with our 2nd installment payment to AGCI. and on January 11, 2007, we were officially placed on the girls waiting list and #36. Now we wait, we pray, we plan and we let God control his plan. How Great is our God for guiding us on this journey to bring a daughter in to our family. We all anxiously await and celebrate her homecoming.

The Journey Begins

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:5What a gift it is to be called to celebrate and participate in the "miracle of adoption". This of course comes at a time when we felt our family was complete. Our youngest is now 6 1/2; he will be in school full time next year. We had plans to travel more, to continue the my already blessed real estate business , plans to move to a new home, ballroom dance lessons, more golf, the list goes on. And then ever so gently, slowly and without recognition, God conceived Esabella in our hearts. So our hearts are pregnant and growing bigger every day.For those of you that do not know about the adoption process, it has already been quite a journey. As I recall when having the boys, the only question or concern anyone had was "do you have a car seat to take him home in? And "Insurance card please". Adoption however included DH and I being finger printed, having an FBI and Police Report run on us, ordering official birth certificates and marriage license, physicals, HIV tests, completing a 51 page booklet, each, on our past and current life, participating (along with our 3 boys) in an 8 hour interview with a social worker, who by the way is amazing and made it fun for all of us, ordering passports, copies of drivers licenses, 8 referral letters from friends, and a Financial Study. Oh...and let's not forget the Government and agency fee of close to $33,000. All of this red tape to give a beautiful child a home, a family, and life. It's no wonder more families do not choose adoption. Yet, with all the work required of us as well as the cost, we feel compelled and fortunate to expand our family in this way.We know the journey may be long; there may be times of great disappointment, anxiety and worry. We have been told that adoption is a "roller coaster" ride. It's starting to feel like pregnancy more and more everyday. Yet...we press on. Everyday we get closer to receiving the first picture of our future daughter, the first glimpse of "God's Eye's". We want to take all of you on our journey with us. There are several ways that you can experience the journey; continue to visit our blog site for updates and photos, pray for us that the Lord will guide us and provide all the funds needed to bring her home, pray for health and protection over Esabella and her birth Mother as well as the Lord's hand in guiding them to All God's Children. We need your support and prayers. This is a bold and new journey for our family, but one we accept with great joy. May God Bless all of you a thousand fold, and may he hold you always in the palm of his hand.