Happy Valentine's Day

I feel so thankful for all of my little Valentine's today!! I mean aren't they just the most precious things you have ever seen :) 

 Look at that mouth full of teeth!!

 So thankful for her and thanking God that we listened to his call...just think we could have missed this!!

Wanted to capture all of my Valentine's before we piled in the car for school (we were late because of this...oops) but well worth it because it is so hard to get all of them together. Lyla Grace wanted Ada in the picture so she held up the Valentine she made her.

Most of all today I am thankful for God's love for us!!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Teacher in Training

I love my sweet girl Lyla!!! When she comes home from school she counts down the minutes until Tate's nap time so she can play "baby class". She makes name tags to place on the carpet for "Circle time", she says the pledge, reads them a story and they sing songs...everyday for the last few months! Sometimes they even do art projects. I'm so thankful for her excitement and enthusiasm!!!

We were submitted to Embassy

We are praising the Lord today...our case was finally submitted to the US Embassy!!! So you are probably wondering when we can bring her home (we are too). We have been told by our agency that in the next 2 weeks we should here from the Embassy via email telling us that they have received our case and it is being reviewed. Once they have reviewed our case they will write us to tell us one of the following things:

• We clear immediately and can come pick her up.
• They need more information and will conduct interviews and investigate our case
• They determine our case is "not clearly approvable"and then forward our case to the USCIS office in Nairobi, Kenya for further review.

Once it is clear to the Embassy or USCIS that they have enough information they will issue her US visa and we will be able to bring Ada home. The time frame could be anywhere from 2 weeks to several months.
We are so thankful that we have made it to this point in the process to bring her home. I went to an adoption retreat over the weekend and one of the speakers talked about waiting. It was interesting to hear that the spanish word esperar not only means "to wait" but it means "to hope for" and "to expect". I found that so comforting and it gave me a new excitement about "the waiting". Yes every moment of her life that we are missing while she is in Ethiopia makes us sad but there is so much hope. I was reading my bible and looking for scripture on hope. "those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength" Isaiah 40:31 So what does it mean to hope in the Lord? To hope means having trust and patience. Trust involves confidence in God's power to deliver and faith that he will keep his promises. Hoping in the Lord also implies the patience to wait for God's promises since God works according to his own timing. In a few months we are going to have our precious baby girl home with us and there is so much HOPE in that!!!!

Another week passes...

I'm guessing since we didn't here from our agency today it means another week has passed and our paperwork has still not been submitted to Embassy. God has given me so much peace about our situation this week and I'm so thankful!!! We so want her here but trust that God knows when is best.  My sweet friend Tammy is in Ethiopia right now and sent some great pictures of Ada (i think her top 2 teeth are poking out)...so thankful she is growing and smiling!!!

I'm so excited to be going to the Created for Care adoption retreat this weekend in Atlanta. It will be great to learn more about adoption and meet some other families who are going through the exact same thing.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may over flow" Romans 15:13

Still nothing!!

It has been almost 11 weeks since we were in Ethiopia and our paperwork has still not been submitted to the US Embassy. Praying that I will understand God's timing and continue to trust Him. We have received several new pictures from a few families who have traveled recently and are so thankful for that :)

 She is getting teeth!!

She is pulling up!!

It has been so hard to miss these milestones but it has been so nice to have an awesome support system!! The families I have met through our agency have been amazing and so encouraging!!! One friend emailed me last week and reminded me that God loves these babies like crazy...it was nice to be reminded of the bigger picture. This is not about me and God has an awesome plan that I feel so blessed to be a part of. I was sent an encouraging card this week with a bible verse that reminds me:
            The LORD your God is with you,
            He is mighty to save,
            He will take great delight in you,
            He will quiet you with His love,
            He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

I feel so thankful today that I'm a mommy to 4 of God's children. Looking so forward to the day we are all together and praising Him for the process!!!

Catching up

So life has gotten in the way yet again and I haven't been able to keep up with a lot of things...blogging is one of them. And since I keep this blog in hopes of having it made into a book for my kids one day it is important for me to catch up!!!

Lyla Grace had her school Christmas pageant. She was an angel and took the performance very seriously :) Love hearing her sing about Jesus...melts my heart!!!

We went camping with the Wright's at Disney's Ft. Wilderness campground. The kids LOVE it!!

 Carter and Mason 

 Our 10 person tent

 Mason roasting marshmallows with Chip & Dale

Group pic with the kids chowing down on some Smores

We celebrated Mason's 7th birthday. We went to the mall for lunch and some playtime at Pottery Barn Kids (for some reason they think that is the coolest thing to do??). I was able to capture a picture with all 3 kids looking at the camera...rare moment!!

 That night we went to the Armstrong's for a wonderful dinner and some cupcakes!

 Kendall, Lyla Grace & Brooke

Garrett, Jonas & Tate

Then it was off to Nashville for some Christmas fun!!! 

 Yes everyone is looking at the camera...AMAZING!!

 Cookie decorating with Nanna (a Christmas tradition)

 Christmas morning

 Tate loved his new cars

 Hard to get the cousins to pose...too excited about Wii Star Wars game

The girls :)

One of the best things about going home to Nashville is catching up with my girlfriends. We have been friends since elementary school and this was the first time in years we have all been together at the same time with all of our kids. Among the 5 of us we have 10 kids (only 9 pictured missing sweet Ada).

Jamie, Tanil, me, Courtney & Steph

It is hard to believe that we have been friends for almost 30 years...crazy!!!

My most favorite place to be in Nashville is Radnor Lake. I have so many good memories hiking with my mom growing up. The kids love exploring so we met my brother's family for a cold windy day.

 watching the waterfall

skipping rocks

Love this picture...so hard to get all of the cousins together!!! Makes me excited to think the next time we are all together Ada will be with us!!!!

12 years of bliss

Today Clay and I have been married 12 years!! I'm so in love with this man!! God has blessed our family with a wonderful leader, father, husband and friend!!! Thanks Clay for being the man of my dreams!!!! To celebrate our family we spent the day at Sea World with the kids...awesome day!!!

 Petting the stingrays

 riding the carousel 

 Tate passed out in the stroller