Life @ the Klobas'

NW India Adoption Gathering 2010

2010-08-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow is the big day for our first annual gathering...A group of families that have a passion for India adoption. We can't wait!!!! We have connected through our blogs and have helped carry each other through the ups and downs of adoption. What a blessing it has been to share a virtual life with so many and then now to meet in real life.

Good times will be had by all! To those that could not make it this year, we will miss you and are hopeful that next year we can add more to the gathering.

Be watching for an overload of pictures of some very sweet kids meeting for the first time.

Our Video...finally!

2010-07-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

1 year later...our Adoption Video. We have had this done since October but ran into a problem with having it loaded and now its fixed. Yay!!! I hope you enjoy watching our journey to Adia-leigh. Our friend did this video for us and I am so thankful for his work and the special gift this is to our family.

Adia from Boone Langston on Vimeo.

Happy "Adia" day!

2010-06-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that ONE YEAR ago today our precious girl was placed in our arms. It has been a year rich in so many ways, hard in many ways, but full of the Lord, His grace and tender mercy. We love you Adia-leigh and thank God for you everyday!

Side Note: Can you view my blog OK? Whenever I view it, its all messed up!

The dreaded "Night Terrors"

2010-06-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

Do you see that most precious smile? I have missed it so much and don't know what has happened. Just wanted to see if anyone else has dealt with Night Terrors. We have had Adia on a pretty good sleep pattern (with a few minor bumps here and there)for many months. Three weeks ago she stopped sleeping through the night and has been completely freaking out at nap/bed time. The last two nights I can officially say she is having Night Terrors. Last night was the absolute worst, my heart was crushed for her as she was trembling in my arms and acted like she didn't know me. It was awful!!!!!!!! Any advice would be helpful and please pray for both of us. Words can't even describe the fear I saw in her face and all I know is that my heart has never been more crushed.

June...Oh, how I've longed for you!

2010-06-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

June, if I can just make it to June. I said this a lot over the last several months with a few other things that I won't mention. These last 6-months may go down in history as the days in life that kicked my trash around the block and back. Having 3 kids at home by myself for 6-months was not my ideal situation. I have learned a thing or two about myself and it has not all been good. All, I can say is that I am thankful for God's grace and that his mercies are new every morning. There have been many a night that all I could say was "We will start over tomorrow." :)

I have learned that being loved by my 3-little's is one of the most rewarding things life has offered me.

I have learned that adoption can be extremely hard work but so rewarding and beautiful.

I have witnessed first hand that their is NO difference between the intensity with which a parent loves an adopted child and a home-grown child.

I have learned that a brief time away is vitally essential to my state of being more now then ever before.

I have learned that my house will still hold up whether it is clean or dirty. ( I must of had a good builder ;)

I have learned how much I really love to be at home and not running my children everywhere for everything.

I have learned that an extra NF/SF Mocha can solve many a problem. A few nice trips to the beach can do the same thing.

I have learned that their continues to be a strong desire for more schooling...so guess what? I start in the fall and couldn't be more excited.

I have learned I need my husband. I don't just love him, or want him around, or enjoy his company (though all those things are true)...I NEED HIM! I need his support, his help with kids, his input, his humor, his presence and participation in our lives. The last 6-months Eric has worked out of town M-F and it has been hard. Yes, we were very thankful for the work but that still did not make the day to day any easier. We have been blessed with such great friends and family who helped out. Thank you for saving the little bit of sanity I had left.

and now its JUNE!!!! This means that Eric will be coming home in about 3-weeks. We are so excited to have him home.

AND, this brings me to the next phase of this journey called life. It has been a dream of Eric's for quite sometime to own his own business. It has never felt like a good time but we feel confident that the time is now. You are probably thinking that we are crazy to take this step of faith in this economy, we really feel at peace and hopeful about this decision. We are excited to see how God can use us and want to be open to his plan. He continues to refine us everyday and we have lots of questions but are trusting that God has something in store for us.

This change comes with a ton of emotion (insert crying) as Eric is leaving a company that he has loved as his own for 10 years. We are forever grateful to Shannon and Gina for allowing Eric this opportunity and most importantly for the friendship that has developed over the years. We love you both so much!

Please remember us in your prayers. We have no doubt this change will come with stress and anxiety until Eric is established. We are up for the challenge!

We are continually reminded that we live a beautiful life. We are blessed. We are loved and oh so happy to have a few lazy summer days as a family of 5 coming soon.

Please Pray...

2009-12-17T13:52:00.000-08:00

for a sweet lady friend and her 7yr.old boy that she just brought home from India. This has been nothing but a nightmare situation and I am crushed for N(the boy) and S(the mom). They have been home just over a month and N has had a few seizures and some very extreme behavior. She thought they had discovered that his behavior was because he had not had any medication since leaving the orphanage and it was more like someone going through detox. S, was told that he hadn't been taking any meds and had no seizures for quite sometime but...N told their Hindi speaking Pediatrician that he was still taking meds everyday back in India and if he did not he always had seizures. Someone did not give them the proper information on his medical report! :( The seizures I know are really scary but they can handle, the hard part right now is that his behavior is completely scary. She has had to call 911 a few times because she can't tell if he is having a reaction to medication or he really has a serious behavior disorder. I can't list everything but you get the idea of the stress and frustration they must be going through. Please remember them in your prayers and pray for peace in their home and for S's heart as I can't imagine the emotions they are all going through.

Some Days are Better than Others...

2009-11-28T22:58:00.000-08:00

**Edited** Rejoicing that Adia's adoption was finalized last week. So thankful to close that chapter of the adoption process...God is good and faithful!

That sums up how life has been the last several months. It is hard to believe Adia has been home over 5 months now. The first 2 months home seemed so easy compared to the months following...WOWZERS! In the back of my mind I knew it was to good to be true but was still hopeful that we wouldn't have those more serious struggles. But..the honeymoom is over and life has become quite difficult. I am not talking about attachment and bonding, I believe those things have gone really well. It's the reality that we brought home an almost 3 year old that is a super strong willed toddler, figuring out her new life and also being diagnosed with significant hearing loss. Yep, you read it right our sweet girl hears only about 20-30% of what is being said. This explains so much and I am sad that we knew nothing about it. I am hopeful that her shrieking fits will come to a hault once she can hear what a God awful sound she is making. Haha, I can dream right? :) We have had to make several trips to our local childrens hospital for the developmental testing, Hearing procedures etc... Adia seems to be doing pretty well considering she can hardly hear. Most of her results showed her at the age of a 2-2.5 year old and fine motor skills at 3 yrs. old. We were very pleased with the results and know everything will improve very quickly once we get hearing aids. Our insurance does not cover hearing aids(another huge stress)and they cost thousands of dollars. We are very THANKFUL to have Adia in early intervention for speech and physical therapy. This program has hooked us up with temporary hearing aids in January that we can use for 6-months until we can buy our own. Our audiologist gave us a great way to explain her hearing loss. She said its like reading the news paper with only vowels for words...everything else is all jumbled. :( It just breaks my heart but I am sooooo excited to see the difference in our lives after she hears at 80%. Her language is not horrible, so I can't imagine how it will take off in the next couple of months.

Other than our stressful visits to the doctor and getting Adia the services she needs, volunteering at the older kids school and being a taxi cab life has been good. We are definately having more better days than not right now and it makes my heart happy. We have also had two great weeks at church, the weeks before that not so great. Adia is just a doll and has a smile that melts everyone's heart. It's hard for people to believe she can be such a challenge when she is a charmer to EVERYONE else she meets. We are blessed to have her as a daughter and I wouldn't want anything different.

We've had our adoption video done for several weeks and I haven't had time to figure out how to post it. I love it!!! We watch it all the time and still cry everytime. Hopefully soon I can share it with you. I am still reading everyones blog and following on FB but responding is a challenge. Please know that I do pray for all of our journeys and am thankful for the friendships made. Hopefully someday I will be able to blog more frequently. For now, some days are better than others and I am just doing what I can.

Here are a few picks from the last several months. Happy Holidays to everyone!
Family pyramids after our Thanksgiving feast...fun times!

Halloween 2009= skeleton, leapord and a goth girl.

Adia turns "3" with all her cousins

Summer 2009-RECAP

2009-09-07T00:09:00.000-07:00

WOW, I can't beleive I let over 2 months go by since a blog update. As I sat to reflect on the last two months and all we have done I quickly realized why. We have been crazy busy enjoying many firsts with Adia. Life this summer has still been wonderful for the most part with a couple weeks being extrememly tiring and stressful. I will say, that I am thrilled school is starting this week and I can't wait to get back on some sort of schedule. The older kids are definately ready to get back in school and have been asking for a count down the last few weeks. What perfect timing for Adia to come home, the kids had the whole summer with her and I know it was extremely helpful for their bonding.

Adia continues to do really well and surprise us everyday. I think this girl is brilliant, she has learned a huge amount in her 2 months of being home. Her language is improving everyday. She has about 20 english words and uses them quite a bit. This girl never stops talking and I mean NEVER! She also has about 5-words in sign language. She has such a wonderful spirit about her. She is really happy most of the time...minus those couple of weeks where we had continuous wining 15 hours a day and I wanted to cry. She brings a HUGE smile to everyones face as she greats them with a wave and a HI! She is also known for always blowing a kiss and saying MWAH to anyone and everyone as we leave somewhere. We are blessed by this precious girl in so many ways and can't believe she is actually home. We are always saying how it seems she has always been here with us. She was a perfect match for our family...Only God can do that!

We are still fighting Giardia and have been given another new medicine to start tomorrow. They are hopeful this will finally kill any parasite. It will be so nice to change a normal diaper and be able to start potty training. Afterall, my girl will be 3 October 26th. She is a great sleeper at night but naps have become a little problem. She has only been sleeping about 30 minutes for naps, UGH!!! I do have to lay down with her to get her to sleep and sometimes this can take up to 2-hours. I have really been struggling with this the last few weeks because I don't have 4-hours of my day to spend laying down trying to get her to sleep. I'ts not fair for the other kids. Last week I started laying her down at nap and letting her fall asleep on her own and she has done pretty well. She only cries for about 1-2 minutes and she is out. This has been a huge relief! I don't mind laying down at night because Eric is home and able to be with the other kids. If anyone has ideas please let me know????!!!

We started our adoption finalization a few weeks ago and should be done with that in November. We also had our first post-placement visit this last week. It went really well and Becky was thrilled with Adia's progress. She said if she didn't know any better she would have thought Adia had been home 6 months or more. :) I was thrilled with that statement. The other kids were not on their best behavior that night which was quite frustrating but thankfully Becky has been with us several other times. Nothing like going to show her the kids bedroom and finding horrible graphic pictures that my son had put on his door. Animals with blood coming out and a few pictures that he had drawn of swords and guns...YIKES!! Not Good! My 6-yr old is a very talented artist but... We are going to our agency picnic next Sunday which will be soooo fun. I am really looking forward to meeting some other families that have adopted from the same orphanage. A few weeks ago we went to the India Festival and had a great time. We were able to meet up with April and her family which was a real treat. I made a conection with an Indian christian church that is about 30 minutes from our house. I visited with them and they spoke to Adia in Hindi and she loved it. We are hoping to start going to their congregation once a month to develop realationship and have Adia be a part of their community...SO EXCITED!

OK...I wont ever take that long to post again and if i do I will just try and catch up with pictures. Happy Fall to everyone!

The good life with LICE!

2009-07-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well, today marks the day that we have been home for 3 weeks, WOW! I must start off by saying I am in AWE everyday at the amazing gift we have been given in Adia. She brings pure joy to our family. We have had an absolute blast with her...she is always laughing and being silly. She has so much personality in her little body, it always surprises us. We are adjusting to life with three kids surprisingly well. Adia couldn't of been more of a perfect fit for our family and life. Thank you, God! Life has been slow but good and I am looking forward to getting out and doing more next week. The older kids are getting a little restless. Oh Yeah, we also have been infested with LICE. I think Adia must have had it when we came home and gave it to me and Kaylin. It is disgusting and I am very tired of dealing with it. We are hopeful we will be done with the nasty bugs by the begining of this week. It makes it really hard to go anywhere or have anyone over but maybe thats been good. I have done soooooo much laundry in the last several days trying to kill anything that might be lingering. My hair is so thick, it takes 1.5-2 hours to go through it...EVERYDAY and then I have to pick through Kaylins and try and get Adia to sit still for a few minutes to get her nits. NOT FUN!!!!! In fact I am so mad at myself because I had heard of this happening to other people and I was going to take stuff with us to treat while in India and I forgot. Bummer for us!

We have taken Adia to the doctor to start some tests etc...I think she is fine but just want to make sure. She has had blow-out diapers since we came home so we are also testing for parasites. I can't wait until we figure that out. I was always lucky with my other children to never have that happen, not now I get 2 a day and I mean it gets everywhere. Her eating is still a bit of a challenge. We just keep trying new things and hoping she will like something else soon. She loves to color and draw and play outside all the time. The weather has been really nice so we spend most of our day outside. She loves bathes so we decided to let her try a little pool and she had so much fun splashing around.

Life is good and we are so happy with our girl home.

Picture Post

2009-06-25T19:54:00.001-07:00

Life after India

2009-06-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

Holy cow, I never knew how difficult it would be to get over jet lag. I am really struggling and still having tummy problems. I am soooo thankful for my husband who has been Super Dad and very helpful. Everyone seems to be doing pretty well except for me. Adia still seems very happy and laughs and plays all day long. She is a very busy girl. I am still her least favorite person. I am not sure what that's about but it's kind of hard when she prefers everyone but me. I can't make a toddler let me hold her while she is screaming etc...What to do??????? Any suggestions would be great. I am sure it will get better over time. She is very independent and plays by herself but loves to be with older kids. Our kids LOVE her and are having a blast. She is eating pretty well, I have started mixing everything with rice and then she will at least try it. She loves yogurt, fruit, graham crackers etc... She takes a 2-hour nap in the afternoon and goes to bed around 9pm. She has been getting up around 5am which is way to early for our family but it is so light out she can't sleep anymore. I think we are going to look into getting some blackout shades for in our room. I am not a morning person and 5am everyday is not good!!!!

I better go and clean something since she is napping...pictures to come later today.

Home at last!

2009-06-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

We are home and just trying to get adjusted. I am having a really hard time sleeping since we have been home. I've only gotten 3-4 hours a night. Adia is doing wonderful!!!! She is such a happy girl and loves her brother and sister. She did great on our flight home, Eric had her belly laughing for the last 30 minutes of our flight. She has a great laugh! I will hopefully post some new pictures soon. We had an amazing homecoming to lots of family and friends. We are a happy family of 5.

Headed Home!

2009-06-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well, today is our last day in India, we fly out tonight. We are really excited to get home to our kids and our own home. Adia hates our hotel room...she screams and cries every time we come back to it for a LONG time. It is very sad! I have had a really upset stomach for the last couple of days and am not feeling real great. We are going on a Delhi site seeing tour today before we go to the airport. There are so many beautiful monuments in India. Adia loves her dad!!!! much more than her mom! I have had to put Eric's belt and shoes on for him so he did not have to put her down...FUNNY GIRL! Prayers for a safe flight and that we all sleep well.

Cheryl

So in love...

2009-06-15T03:59:00.000-07:00

with our girl. Adia is a doll and we had such a great time meeting her this morning. She was very shy when we first came in to see her. She was eating lunch and when Eric and I knelt down beside her she just got up and left. It was funny! We just sat on the floor while all the kids were playing and tried to include her as much as possible. We had brought a few books (she loves to read) so she slowly was warming up and we would look at books with her. She is VERY busy! Did not stop moving the whole time we were with her. She is also very smart. She did not speak the whole time we were with her but hopefully as she gets more comfortable that will come. By the end of our visit we even got a few smiles. She hugged me goodbye and shook Eric's hand...so cute! The kids at SOS Childrens village are all wonderful. We loved playing with the older kids too. The girls loved me taking pictures of them and then looking at my camera after so they could see. They would giggle forever about the same picture. V-jay the orphanage director is fabulous!!!! We really enjoyed our day with her and her daughter. They treated us to wonderful chinese food and it was so fun to sit, chat and share stories. This evening we are going to go and do some shopping at a local market. Tomorrow is our Embassy Day and we have to be at the orphanage to pick up Adia at 9:00. I am praying everything will go smoothly, we'll see! We are really enjoying our time in India and I feel like we all have adjusted pretty well. The driving is still scary but we are already used to it.

Kaylin and Blake we are going to try and call you tonight. We miss you guys so much and talk about you everyday. You are going to be so in love with your sister. She is so funny and very tiny. Oh, ya! we put on the white beaded slippers(from Amelia) for her at the orphanage and she would not take them off, she loved them and wanted to take her nap in them...So Cute!

Our trip to Agra

2009-06-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a great day in Agra. Our driver is wonderful in the crazy traffic but it did get really scary a few times. We visited the Taj Mahal, Red Fort and a Duty Free market where we learned how they made gorgeous marble decorations. It was neat to watch some of the process of how they were made. We ate at two YUMMY Indian restraunts. The drive to Agra and back is 8 hours. So we are really tired again and looking forward to a good night sleep. The heat was sooooo HOT today it took an hour for us to cool down in the car. We have so many great pictures but are unable to get them to load, hopefully tomorrow.

Tomorrow is our big day to meet our precious Adia. We are really excited!!!!! She will not be coming with us tomorrow because they want to transition her to us. Hopefully on Tuesday! Please, pray for our day tomorrow!

We arrived!

2009-06-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

We made it to India and are very glad to be off the plane. When we arrived we had only had about 5hrs of sleep in 48hrs. We are sooooo tired but excited! Our driver is a very sweet, very old man and he knows what he's doing. Driving around here is CRAZY!!!! No Rules!!! We all felt peaceful in our car, I was so scared for the people on motorcycles. We even saw two beautiful ladies drivng a motorcycle really fast down the road with no helmets and the one in the back was riding side saddle. SO SCARY! We arrived at our hotel, The Claridges! Beautiful and wonderful service. We leave this morning to Agra for a day tour of the Taj Mahal and other monuments. We will hopefully post pictures this evening.

Kaylin and Blake we miss you sooo much but know you are having a great time. Talk to you soon!

Cheryl

We are on our way!!!

2009-06-12T01:38:00.000-07:00

Still up all night getting everything ready. What a whirlwind of a few days. I don't recommend leaving in 2.5 days....lots of work! :) We leave at 7:45am in the morning. We can't wait to meet our sweet girl on Monday. We hope to be able to post from India can't wait to share our "Family Day" with you.

Cheryl

We leave Friday!!!!!

2009-06-09T15:37:00.000-07:00

I really can't breathe now...we are leaving on Friday! I better get busy I have tons to do to get ready for our baby girl. :)

We are headed to India!!!!

2009-06-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

We are leaving June 17th...Thank you, Thank you for all your prayers. I will write more when I can breathe. :) Yahoo!!!!!!!!!

Cheryl

No Visa!

2009-06-06T19:20:00.001-07:00

No Visa last week, hoping for the beginning of this week. We spoke to our case worker and she said she really thought it would happen by Wed. We are hoping to leave June 17th. Please continue to pray, hold your breathe, cross your fingers, say happy thoughts whatever you do for us. We appreciate it!!!

Cheryl

Will you pray with us?

2009-05-31T22:09:00.000-07:00

Will you pray with us? We are waiting for Adia's visa to be issued so we can travel. I know, I know you are all probably wondering why it hasn't been done yet. Without going into all the details our case got extrememly mixed up. Things were all done in the wrong order and there has been little we can do about it. This is the very last thing we need and then we can make our travel arrangements. We are really hoping to leave on June 10th. Will you pray that we get our "OK" to travel by this Wednesday. I know I'm asking for pretty specific times but we are sooooooo ready to bring our precious girl home.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and prayers! We are so thankful for this blogging community to share this experience with.

Cheryl

Catching Up!

2009-05-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

Well, the last few months have been filled with activity. The kids are both playing sports so our evenings are spent at practices and Saturdays with games. Kaylin is loving basketball and getting better and better. It's been really fun to see her passion for this sport grow...just like her dad. Blake seems to be a natural at baseball and deosn't seem to let his size hold him back, he's a little guy. He plays really well.

Blake celebrated his 6th Birthday on May 1st. I can't believe my boy is getting so big. We decided against having a big party and let him choose 1 friend to take to Bullwinkles. We had a great time and played late into the night.

Eric's mom came down on Sunday to surprise Blake with a huge bin of all Eric's lego's from when he was a kid. What a fun surprise! Uncle Kirk spent hours building with Blake.

I had a great Mother's Day celebrating with all the girls and kids in the family. We had a BBQ at my parents and the weather was perfect. All the kids love to be at Nana's exploring on their property. I am so thankful for my husband and kids that always make Mother's Day so special.

Hot/Sunny weekend in Portland means do anything and everything outside. On Saturday after the games we drove up the gorge to Multnomah Falls.

These pictures are a great reminder of why I love the NW!

On Sunday, my friend Christy and I took our kids to Cannon Beach for the day. It wasn't quite as sunny as we were hoping but warm enough to play in the water.

Sorry this is such a long post I really needed to get caught up. On the adoption front we will hopefully have news this week. I will keep you posted!

Hotel Ideas for Delhi, India?

2009-05-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

I am looking for some Hotel ideas! We will be staying at a christian bible camp for 1/2 of our time but would like to stay at a hotel in Delhi that is nice but not real expensive. I am hopeful those of you that have traveled will have good ideas. Anything else you want to recommend (restraunts, tours etc.) would be helpful. This whole planning thing is hard for me, I am not a risk taker when it comes to food or places to stay. I like to know that I will like it!!!!

We are just starting to plan our trip and it looks like we will be leaving in 3 weeks. Hopefully, this week we will have exact dates.

Thanks in advance for the ideas!

Cheryl

New pictures...love that girl!

2009-04-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

India Christian Ministries

2009-03-31T19:04:00.000-07:00

Operation Princess
Ever want to do something to make a difference? Ever wanted to know that you were a part of something bigger, something grander, something sweeter than you could have ever dreamed? Ever wanted to swoop in and make someone feel like a princess? Well, here is your chance!!

~Sarah lives in India with her husband and three kids. They run India Christian Ministries, and Sarah "adopts" children from government institutions and places them in various homes that she's set up in her area. We're not talking healthy, robust children here. Sarah has a heart for those who are left behind... those with severe mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, birth defects - those who were never adopted from an orphanage and "aged out" and were put into institutional care.
There's Rachel - who's leg was in a cast for so long - who was never taken of - and who now needs an amputation.
There's little Noah, who has scoliosis, whose hip is out of joint and who has bilateral microphthalmia.
There's Promise - sweet Promise - who most likely laid on her back on a bare floor for the last 14 years. She is blind and has so many health problems that I wouldn't know where to begin. Was she ever held? Did anyone ever wipe her tears and tell her she was beautiful? That she is loved?Sarah does just that. She takes these kids and see them how Jesus sees them. And she doesn't just put them in homes - she takes care of them. She makes sure that they have access to the best possible resources - OT, PT, Speech Therapy, Special Education - and all the operations they need to help them have a full life.
She fights for them.
Loves them.
Grieves for them.
Cares for them.
42 of them. All wonderfully made in the eyes of the Lord.
Today, Sarah started Operation Princess. Her latest three posts are about this new endeavor. You can find Sarah's full blog sarahscovenanthomes.blogspot.com .Please read about Operation Princess.
If anyone has a dress to donate, please contact Leslie at lesliebucknerthomas@yahoo.com
Leslie is hoping to collect as many dresses as possible to send to
Sarah so that these wonderful, beautiful girls can feel pretty and special. Because they ARE.
And while you're at it, please look through Sarah's entire blog. It is truly an act of God. You will be amazed.

Please feel free to put this on your blog and get the word out and let's help these precious little ones not only look beautiful but feel the love!!! :0)

God's Faithfulness!

2009-03-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring Break to our family this week. It came at a perfect time and has been a wonderful week. God's goodness has shown itself in so many ways and I am thankful!

We have had a NO TV week at our house which has been really great for the kids. They play so much better together when the TUBE goes away. I have been sewing the last few days to make duvet covers and curtains for Blake and Adia's room. This has been so much fun and I was able to spend extra time with friends and their sewing machines. Here is a sample of the fabric I am using for their bedrooms...I love it!

This is for Blake

Adia's bedding

Last night we were blessed "once again" by our amazing church community. We were asked by a family friend (teen) at our church if she could do a benefit dinner for her senior project at school. We of course agreed and she was so thrilled to help raise money for our adoption. We had no idea what to expect and really I just thought it would be a normal Wednesday night dinner at our church. We were in for a real treat! Bailey and her family had decorated beautifully and made the evening so special with every detail. I cried as soon as we walked in to the auditorium. Our dinner last night raised $1123.00 towards our adoption. WOW!!! When we started the adoption process we had a tiny bit of money in savings and had no idea of how we would pay for it. In the begining, we never felt stressed about the money part and felt God was leading us in the direction of adoption and he would provide every step of the way. Through tons of little side jobs, family and our church community we have been blessed. Our church has raised $8100.00 towards our adoption through different fundraisers. We are continually overwhelmed by God's faithfulness to this process. It brings me to tears just typing this...we are forever THANKFUL!

Guess who's flying in today? My dear friend Stephanie! I can't wait to see you and spend just a few hours with you. I don't think I blogged about our best friends and neighbors that moved January 1st. Well they did and that was part of our deep sadness. We had lived next door to each other for 7.5 years and shared everything in life together. We are dealing with it much better now but we still have a few times a week when we get really sad and miss their precious family.

Adoption Update:
We don't have a whole lot to report. We had a slight problem with some paperwork that had to be updated and we were issued guardianship before that was done. So, now we legally have a child that we cannot bring home. What we were asked to do was sign over guardianship back to the orphanage, let our updated papers process how they were supposed to and wait for a new guardianship court date. NO WAY!!!!!!!!!! Our agency said NO WAY!!!! also. So Lisa our caseworker is filing an appeal that will take about 1-2 months to process but will go through. I guess the man she is working with has done this for a few other agencies and it has gone through just fine, it just takes time. She is hopeful that we will travel the beginning of May. Not what we were hoping or planning but I am at peace with the situation. I know there is nothing I can do but pray the appeal will go quickly and we might get surprised and travel earlier. Please pray with us! Lisa is in India this week and loving on Adia and I can't wait to get more pictures and video. I will share as soon as I get my hands on them.

Money Saving Mom!

2009-03-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

I came across this website on another blog and wanted to share. I have never been one to cut coupons etc. but after reading through this website, how can I not! They make it so easy! I am all for doing whatever we can to save money right now and am really excited to try this out. Anyone that uses or will be using diapers they have good coupons and tell you exactly what/where to get them to make diapers and wipes cheaper. Fabulous!!!! www.moneysavingmom.com, for Oregon residence: FrugalLivingNW.com

"Better Days!"

2009-03-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

Happy March! Life is looking up for March and we are so excited to enter this next phase of life. To be honest, life the last year has been the most challenging ever in our 11.5 years of marriage. I have felt completely exhausted and overwhelmed for several months. We have had the stress of our adoption, money, jobs, death, friends and some very difficult situations at church. I have questioned a lot and am learning to live more and more in the gray of life. I have asked over and over "Why now, I want to be happy as I go through this adoption etc." The hurt,pain and stress just kept on coming. Some days it felt like it would never end but now I am thankful for what I have learned this last year and am soooo HOPEFUL for "Better Days"! Sorry to be so negative but this has been real life @ the Klobas' and I want to be transparent. Life is not always "rosy" during the adoption process.

Last year I have felt like this:

Since Guardianship has been issued:

Last Friday as Eric and I were getting ready to leave town our caseworker called. I knew as soon as I saw her cell# it was "THE CALL" for guardianship. What a perfect way for us to end a good week and to start a weekend away with my sweet husband. When I look back at the last several months I am thankful it came when it did. We were both in a good place and able to celebrate the way we should. Hello, we are going to bring our baby girl home!!!!! We do not know when we will leave yet but are packing and trying to get everything ready. I can't believe this is really going to happen. PRAISE GOD FOR HE IS FAITHFUL!!!!

The weekend before last we went with the KIKS group(4th-6th graders)from church up to Mt. Hood innertubing. Eric and I had a lot of fun with Kaylin and her friends.

I have to say that I feel TONS better just since we got our phone call. I am excited for Spring and all that means for our new family of 5. I pray daily for those of you still waiting to hear news and hope that we can all look back and say "Yes, God had perfect timing!"

Can I get a G-U-A-R-D-I-A-N-S-H-I-P!!!!!!!!

2009-03-06T15:06:00.000-08:00

Adia is officially ours! We got the call today and are so HAPPY! Eric and I are going away for the weekend with no kids so I will write more when I get back.

Have a great weekend!

Cheryl

New Camera and a Sunny Saturday

2009-02-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful day we had today! The sun was out and we were able to play outside all afternoon. Kaylin has started basketball season so we have been attending games every Saturday. We really enjoy watching her play...two grandparents spectating at the game today turned around and said "You tell'em coaches!" Whoopsi! I guess we get a little animated at the games, were not mean just loudly encouraging! :)

Eric and I got a new camera for our trip to India. We are really excited and have just started trying to figure it out. I took several pictures outside today, it was a lot of fun. Some friends of ours let us use their basketball hoop that they are no longer using and everyone had a blast "Shootin Hoops" today. See pictures below!

No news on the adoption front. I feel like our chances of traveling in February are slim. Maybe if we here GOOD news this week we could travel the last week of Feb, but I am trying not to think about it. We did receive a video a few weeks ago and we watch it over and over. It's really fun because you can see a lot of her personality and of course she is sooooo beautiful. We are praying everyday that we get the call soon, we can't wait!

Enjoy your week!

Kaylin trying to kiss her brother!

Check out Blake's form...not bad for 5yrs old.

He's still got it! The kids love to watch Eric play basketball.

Blake and little Jake are buddies.

She's a lucky Girl...

2009-01-27T13:35:00.000-08:00

I don’t often share some of the private thoughts I carry with this adoption journey. Today I’m in the mood .We’ve tried to prepare ourselves for the longest wait possible. Now after 14 months of waiting, we are certain we are on our way to finally seeing our daughter & sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin or friend. We can’t thank you all enough for the love and support you have and continue to provide to us during this emotional journey.

One of the most common things we get said to us is “She’s a lucky girl.” There is some truth I would like to believe to this statement and we know the comment comes with nothing but heartfelt love for us and our family. Your kind words mean so much but for those who will continue to share closely in our lives when our daughter is home, we ask as you visualize sharing in her life and watching her grow you somehow keep yourselves humble to the reality of her “luck.”

We don’t know the beginning of her life story yet or if we fully ever will. We do know with what we are able to discover that it is “her” story, not ours and will remain in our family until she is old enough to decide who she will share it with. As her Mommie, my head constantly wonders. Has both her parents suffered from a serious illness and deceased? Are they sick and know they will not survive or cannot care for her? There are many more thoughts I have about why but don’t wish to write. Could I say that I would have the same strength and love for my child enough to kiss her goodbye and give her the chance a family is possibly offering her? And by the way my truthful answer to that is no! Who was the first to hold her and what did they whisper in her ear when she first entered this world? If her family is living, will we ever find out, so we can help her piece who she is and where she has come from? Either way the end result is the same. The reality that we will take her from her place of belonging, her country, her culture, everyone & everything that has given her comfort and a sense of normalcy to start a new beginning for her where she has been given no say. A new beginning for all of us as a family that we put completely in faith to guide us along.

One day at a time we will start this new beginning with another thing certain; she is our daughter. She is Kaylin and Blake’s sister and she will be one of our best friends and we will live our lives for her. We will love her, support her, encourage her and show her the blessing she is that we already see before we have even met her.

We cannot wait to see her face to face. To hold her and to share with her the love we already carry everyday. It’s amazing where love can take you. We’ll love her, you’ll love her and without a doubt she’ll love us back. But she will also have questions as she gets older and that doesn’t make her love us any less, so remember that too. There will be a day when she wonders who and what she left behind ? Where her beautiful brown eyes came from? How her soft dark skin doesn’t match the light arms that are wrapped around her and love her so much. I want to have every answer for her and know the day she stands in front of me and tells me “ Mom you don’t understand” I can offer my shoulder to cry on and my ear to listen endlessly, but she is right. There are things I will never be able to understand. There will be situations I can’t fix and as a Mom that breaks my heart for any of my children. So what do I plan to do when I scare myself with these realistic thoughts?….the same thing I tell myself I will do with each of Kaylin and Blake’s situations that have and will come. I will love them. I will do the best job I can as their Mom and ask God to take my hand from time to time to show me the way. I love my family and how it’s formed. To say I am blessed is such an understatement. There really is a lucky girl in this situation and its...ME!

Every little bit helps!

2009-01-16T18:21:00.000-08:00

We received a call this afternoon from Lisa who had traveled to India in December. It was a surprise and I was so excited to hear her voice. I love her!

Adia is not as naughty as the last letter made her out to be. Lisa spent quite a bit of time with Adia while in India and had a much different way of describing her. Lisa says she is very sweet, outgoing and loves to be around people. She doesn't know a stranger and loves to cuddle. I am really excited!!!! I can't wait to get my arms around her. She also said we need to be ready to travel soon, it won't be long. The courts are moving very quickly and she expected us to travel before the end of February. YAAAAAYYYYY! She has a video we should get next week along with our long awaited medical report. She said she is still on a bottle(bummer)so I guess I'll need to buy some of those. Do I take formula with us? What does she drink? She is wearing braces on both legs all day, this is how they are treating her bowleggedness. She is speaking in one word phrases but no sentences. Everything is good, good, good! I am overjoyed with this update and am getting sooooooo excited to travel.

One other thing: she gave us information about a place to stay. It is a bible camp that has really nice rooms and facility. They charge only $50/night and that includes breakfast every morning. Each room has a bedroom/bath and living space. They have a big grassy area out front for the kids to play. It also has internet! This sounds perfect for our family and you can't beat the price. The family that runs it is really excited to start renting it out to families adopting.

Happy Friday!

Happy 2009!

2009-01-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a new year and the Klobas' are welcoming it with open hearts and minds. The 2008 year was a very difficult year in our family for many reasons and I have HOPE for 2009.

We are thrilled to bring our daughter home from India and are waiting for a call any day. We received a letter from our orphanage that is hysterical(see below) with some updated pictures. Adia's weight is about 17lbs and she is 2 1/2 feet tall. How does that compare to others kids who are home? It seems so little, which I am excited about!

We are praying everyday for all of you who are so close to referrals, guardianship and travel. What a blessing it will be to share these steps with all of you! I appreciate this blogging community soooo much and am thankful for the glimpses of HOPE shared everyday.

Blessings to all of you as we enter 2009!

Letter from India:
Aparna is a very sweet girl with a naughty smile with fair Complexion. Her face is oval. She weighs 8kgs and she is 78 cms tall. Aparna is a very naughty Child who loves moving here and there. She loves playing with elder children. She is really fond of different types of toys. She is a carefree child who only panics when she feels Hungary, otherwise she keeps herself busy with one or the other thing. She loves eating everything sweet. She does not make faces while eating. Aparna is very naughty she does not let other kids play. She finds spoiling their play itself is play. She has a naughty grin on her face after doing all the mischief.
The End!

Are you laughing or frightened for me? I think we are going to have our hands full!

Name Change???

2008-12-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

Would it be weird to change Ava's name this late in the process? We have been thinking about it for quite a while. I love the name Ava but it is becoming very popular and I like our new idea. We have been considering the name Adia-leigh. Adia means "A gift from God". What a special gift she is to our family! I think its perfect! All that to say...it seems a little strange but her new name will be Adia-Leigh. It will be hard to change what we have been saying for over a year but we can do it.

We are still in the middle of our Arctic Blast and stuck at home. We are getting many things done around here that are way overdue. We have painted Blake and Adia's room today and will be getting everything set up soon. I will post pictures in the next few days.

I hope everyone is enjoying their days before Christmas. I am looking forward to spending time with both families and friends.

Pictures of our Sweet girl...Adia leigh

2008-12-17T16:44:00.000-08:00

We received new pictures today of Adia. We were so happy to get these, its been 6 long months since we had seen her sweet face. I am sad that they cut her hair so short , I loved the curls! We are sooo excited to hold her and have her home with us. I am praying it will be soon. :)

It's Snowing!

2008-12-14T18:48:00.000-08:00

We are having what our news casters call an "Arctic Blast" around town. We got a few inches of snow and the temperatures are in the 20's. It's really cold but the kids were able to go out and enjoy the snow this afternoon. I forgot to write about our new dog, Tanner. We adopted him from the animal shelter and he is really close to perfect. He is a yellow lab and such a handsome, good boy. Tanner LOVED the snow!

We are supposed to be getting new pictures and video of Ava this week and I can hardly stand myself. I can't wait!!!!! I continue to pray for everyone who is waiting and hopeful that we all receive good news soon.

Good News from India!!

2008-12-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

I had an India program update in my e-mail this morning with great news. First of all I am so excited to get this update, we have never gotten anything like this from our agency and it makes you feel so much more connected. I am glad they are going to be doing this frequently. I think it will make everyone happier. Secondly, one of our program directors is in India right now taking pictures and video for everyone. What a great Christmas gift! Thirdly, the best part.....

For our families with children in Delhi, here is some good news! There had been quite a delay in the Delhi Courts wherein the Judge was not passing cases. This was occurring throughout all of Delhi so all of the orphanage directors got together and went to the High Courts to request that the Judge of the High Courts order the Judge of the Delhi Courts to begin passing cases. The outcome of this effort was great! On November 19th, we were informed that they hired 9 Judges to work in all the different counties of Delhi. Each of the Judges were further told to pass these cases within 4-6 weeks. There are about 600 pending cases, however, one of our cases has already passed! We expect to hear great news soon for our Delhi families!

I am thrilled with this news! I know things can always change, but this is the best news I have heard in a long time so I am going with it. :) I am starting to panic a little thinking of everything that I keep putting off because it seems like it will never transpire. I better get busy! Please continue to pray for all the 600 cases to be passed in the next few months. We appreciate all of you so much for your thoughts, prayers and constant love. We are going to have a baby soon! Yahoo!!!!!

Picture therapy!

2008-11-20T10:27:00.000-08:00

Last week was a really long and sad week with our friend Cindy passing away. The service was held on Sunday and it was beautiful. It was wonderful to hear those speak that were especially close to her. Cindy was an amazing wife and mother and their are so many things to learn from her life. Our lives have been blessed! We had the joy of having some great friends (the Ries') come and stay with us during the last week. It was a blessing to have them and their kids around. We are still so very heartbroken but I am still having trouble believing she's really gone. It happened so fast it just doesn't seem real. Please continue to pray for her husband and kids and thank you to all who left sweet comments.

On the adoption front: I spoke to Lisa the other day and was able to voice a few of my concerns and she was very glad I spoke to her. She will be traveling to India the day after Thanksgiving and so we will be getting new pictures and video...Yippee!! I can't wait to see how much Adia has changed it has been almost 6-months since we have seen her sweet face. :)

I don't have a lot to say but decided I wanted to post some pictures that make me smile...Enjoy.
I love my front door! It always makes me smile :)

Adia and her caregiver

My niece Kennedi, Kaylin and Blake

Two of my favorite people...mom and mimi(grandma)

More of my favorite people...sisters and mom

I love him to pieces!

Our very own Rock Stars

Kaylin and Blake

Best Buddies!

Blake and the hat he had to have because it matched his shirt. He is one funny kid! He loves to match and put outfits together.

Such cute boys!

Her smile melts my heart!

She's gone home

2008-11-12T13:34:00.000-08:00

I accept that we do not grieve as those who do not hope, but also know that our grief is immense, and our loss is real.
Peter F. Wilson

Our sister and friend, Cindy Wilson went home to be with the Lord this morning at 9:50 a.m. She was surrounded by family. Please continue to hold the Wilson's up in your prayers. Continue to pray for peace and comfort. We are all broken and overflowing with grief.

Our dear friend...

2008-11-11T23:13:00.000-08:00

Cindy Wilson was admitted to ICU on Monday morning after being diagnosed with bacterial miningitis. It took over Cindy's body so quickly and she had to be put on life support within hours. I write with a broken heart and am filled with so many emotions. I am praying for a miracle between now and the morning as the family along with dr's have made the decision to take her off of life support. Please pray with me for a miracle! Please pray for her family and our church community. We are all broken. Cindy has a husband and 4 children. Her daughter Natalie is flying home from Botswana, Africa and wont be arriving until Thursday evening. Please pray for peace and comfort for the days ahead.

Here is a picture of Cindy with her youngest son Ethan...she loved her children so much and they were proud to call her mother.

Reflections-A must read!

2008-11-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

I am posting a link to a blog I have followed from the beginning of our adoption process. Josh Bottomly is a gifted writer and I am so thankful for his most recent reflections. He is able to articulate the many conversations Eric and I have had in a very respectful way and I love that. I do want to make clear that Eric and I did not vote for Obama based on the color of his skin but feel that was an added bonus. I know that Josh and Amy would say the same thing. Please take the time to read it, no matter what your beliefs I think you will be blessed by his words.

www.joshbottomly.blogspot.com

Note: I am asking that if you choose to comment, please be respectful!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday, Adia!

2008-11-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

Adia leigh . . . how often my thoughts are of you. I wonder what you are doing today, on your birthday ... if there is someone to hold you and comfort you ... to make you smile and laugh. How I long to be with you. It seems we've labored for so long now, to bring you home. People we will never even meet have joined us in this journey of bringing you home. There are times I think I can't do any more ... but each time I think of you and know you are counting on us to keep going. Joy fills our hearts to know you'll be part of our family very soon. Our hearts also grieve over all you've lost already. I pray your birthmom is comforted today as she reflects on that very important and selfless decision she made. I am forever greatful to her. I cannot give you back that which has been lost ... but I promise you that with the Lord's help we will share everything that is within us with you for a lifetime.

For now we wait. We wait with great expectation that you are being cared for and loved by the Ayas and your Heavelny Father. Some day, my child ... they will call us and we will prepare to travel to your homeland and welcome you into our arms. So many details we must trust the Lord for on this journey. Your life is a gift and one in which we treasure and embrace. How we long to see you face to face.

We had a birthday celebration on Monday in your honor. A few of our closest friends came to share your special day. We had an Indian dinner, music, cheese cake and sang happy birthday. You were even given a few gifts! Your dad and I are continually blessed by our friendships and the people who love and care for you so much.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch with our friend Christy and her twins Jake and Amelia. We decided to try a new one this year that was closer and maybe wouldn't be as crowded. The weather was perfect...65 and no rain. The kids were really excited! They had a good time for the most part but it was frustrating that Liepold Farms wanted to charge money for every little thing. We were shocked when our 2-medium and 1-baby pumpkin came to $16.00. Eric went in to their little store to get a caramel apple and was again shocked by them charging $4.75 Ughhhhh!!! We went to check out the kid corn maze and fun area to play and yes, they wanted more money! It was sad to me that they felt they had to charge a fortune for everything. Despite being charged for every little thing, the kids had a good time and it was fun to be with our friends. The twins had a great time until the end. Little Jake was running as fast as he could and fell flat into a giant mud puddle. Christy and I were laughing so hard, we had a delayed reaction to picking him up and many were looking at us like "Hello!, aren't you going to pick him up"? I wish we would have had the video camera, it was really funny.

Where has the time gone?

2008-10-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are half way through October and I have not updated in quite a while. We have had a great start to school and seem to be back into a routine at night. My kids have been in bed 90% of the time between 8-8:30. It has been really nice! Eric has been home every night at a normal time and it makes for a happy home.

We have "no news" on the adoption front. We are still waiting for our updated medical report and have requested new pictures. I will follow up on this AGAIN by the end of the week if I have not heard anything. I am really excited for my friend Kristi who will be traveling very soon to get her sweet girl. God is good!

In September our family participated in "Race for the Cure". This is something we have done for several years now and always enjoy it once were there. Eric's aunt Linda is a breast cancer survivor and we walk in her honor. It is wonderful how many walk from our church community and I love that we share so many aspects of life together.
We are so thankful for Aunt Linda!

Our church sign, We are Family!

Kaylin turns "10"
I can't believe I have a child that is 10yrs. old. We had a friend birthday party at our home and then we took the girls to Claire's for the last hour of the party. Did you know Claire's offers b-day parties? I didn't either! When I heard about this, I thought it was the best idea ever. Instead of going somewhere and paying for food, party bags, games etc... You buy each girl a $5-10 gift card and they get to go shopping for something they want. It was so easy and the kids had a blast! What 10yr. old girl does not want to shop at Claire's. I really enjoyed being with Kaylin's friends. They are all a lot of fun and made me smile the whole night!

Blake's only find at Claire's...dinosaur fossil. :)

Eric helping the girls shop.

Last weekend we went to the Oregon State Football game in Corvallis. We had a really fun time and it was the kids first time to be at a college game. My sister is a Junior at OSU and we met our family at her place. They have such a beautiful campus, lots of trees and neat old buildings. It was much different than the small christian college I went to. The Beavers won, and fun was had by all!
Sister Kayla and Kaylin before the game.

Blake and Eli-Best Buddies!

My dear friend Stephanie.

Congratulations to....

2008-09-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

my dear friend Amy and her husband Clint. They just received their referral for a precious 5 month old little boy from India. We rejoice with them and can't wait until little Simeon is in their arms.

First day of school and Vjay

2008-09-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

We are off to a good start with school. Kaylin loves her new teacher who is a man. I am excited for her to experience having a male teacher. My first male teacher was in 4th grade and he was my favorite. Blake started school yesterday and also had a great time. He is in a pre-k class with his best buddy Eli. The two of them pretty much think they own the school and that their job is to "help" the other kids with all they do. We'll see how this goes, his teacher seems to think it will be fabulous to have both him and Eli in the same class...the moms think otherwise.

We had the pleasure of meeting and sharing a meal with Vjay, the lady who runs the SOS orphanage in Delhi, India. She was a riot! When she found out that we were the parents of Aparna, she was so so excited! She kept saying, "Oh, Aparna is my favorite girl, my favorite". You are so lucky to have this girl in your home. It sounded like Adia pretty much runs the place and gets away with anything. She shared all kinds of stories with us and continually told us how great she was. She also told us that she was quite strong willed. Great, she will fit right in! We also met several other families who either were in process or already had their kids home. I left feeling revived and so full of emotion, my heart aches for Adia to be home! :) What a blessing tonight was for our family. I am so thankful we had this opportunity to meet the closest person to Adia...she said she holds her everyday and that makes me smile. :)

Tid bits...

2008-08-31T21:33:00.001-07:00

Soooo, I have been terrible at blogging and Im sorry! This last year has definately been challenging for many reasons and I am emotionally tapped to the max. When I think there can't possibly be more I get news that there is more to come that will make me very sad (can't explain yet) and I just feel completely overwhelmed with emotion. I keep being reminded of the great joy our daughter will bring and that having her home will redeem everything that is and is to come. We are praying sooner then later! :)
This being said we have managed to have fun in the month of August in the midst of Eric working non-stop. I am thankful for all the side jobs my husband has been offered so that we could have all of our travel money to India in the bank, we just need the call and we are on our way. It has been very difficult to not have him around and I'm so glad that part is almost over.

Now for the longest post ever...
I had the great joy of getting to meet the infamous Malak (Tara's baby from Ethiopia). He is just precious and it was so good to get to love on him and visit with Tara. They are such a sweet family!

We finished up our second session of swim lessons. Kaylin moved up to the next level and really enjoyed swimming and feels very confident in the water. Blake had moved up to the big pool and did not enjoy swimming as much, the big pool is cold! He did well the first week and then the second he was pretty much done so he will have to do that class one more time. We did a lot of swimming this summer!

Eric's cousin Ellery was married and we had a wonderful time at the wedding. It was beautiful! It was held at her husbands parents house and there yard was perfect. However, the weather was not, 100 degress! We were very hot and sweaty.

The same weekend, on Sunday, we attended the India Festival down town pioneer square. Blake and I went right after church to watch a little girl dance who had been adopted 2yrs. ago from SOS where Ava is. It was so fun to watch all these children participate in their cultural dances, the costumes were absolutly amazing! That evening our whole family and our friends family went back to have dinner and watch some more of the performances. When we went back there were thousands of people. I love so much that Portland is such a diverse place to live and has a very large Indian community. It seems whenever there are cultural events there is always a huge turnout.

Last week I was back at school for meetings. It was nice to be with all the staff again...I love them, they make me laugh and smile! After our day of meeting we were treated to a wonderful dinner out at the Black Rabbit, Edgefield. YUMMY!

And then there's Labor Day weekend...my husband was home all weekend! Yahoo! We have had a great weekend and have tried to fit in as much as possible. Friday we went to dinner with our friends John and Stephanie at Hoda's (Arabic food), it was wonderful! After dinner we went to a little tea house that was super cute, had tea and visited for a few hours. Our kids had gone to spend the night at my parents house one last time before school starts, which they love. On Saturday my sister wanted to take my kids to the Aquatic center so we met Kindra and Nick and had a blast. We surprised Blake and brought his buddy Eli and that made his day. :) We had never been to the Aquatic center before, why? I don't know, it was really fun and cheap! We headed home to change into some warm clothes and drive up the Columbia river to meet some friends for dinner that were camping. We had a nice visit and great dinner. We were glad we were coming home to our beds and not camping though. It has been cold several times in August! :(

Well, It's back to reality, we start school this Wednesday. I am looking forward to the "structure" of our home again. I will miss Kaylin a ton! I am looking forward to going back to school myself. I can't wait to meet our new class of kids on Thursday. I am starting to feel like this adoption will become reality soon! I get really excited when we start talking about travel plans and all we need to do to prepare. It feels so close! :) Praying everyday!!!!

Okay...if you have made it this far, thank you! I feel better all ready. TaTa for now!

Hallelujah!!!!

2008-08-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

We received our NOC (No Objection Certificate) approval last week. We were told that it looked like we would travel in 4-5 months. Katie (our case worker) said it does take longer in Delhi for guardianship papers to be issued but they have a new judge and she seems to be processing things quicker. I am praying for the first part of December, it would be the best Christmas gift ever!

I just love her to pieces and can't wait to hold her in my arms.

Water, Water and more Water!

2008-08-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

Our kids have pretty much lived in the water for the last several weeks. There skin is starting to show it...they are tan, shriveled and dry. They have just finished their second week of swimming and both of them made huge progress. Our neighbors have a pool so when they have not been at lessons they our home in the water. To top the week off our aunt Teri treated us to a day at the water park. We have enjoyed getting to spend so much time outside and life seems so much happier when the sun is out.

On the adoption front... nothing to report! Im sad and frustrated, I was hoping we would have our NOC approval by the end of July and that did not happen. So we continue to wait! I have a call into our case worker and hope to get some answers in the next week or so. I can't believe its August already! I am not ready for school to start it seems like we just got out. I know it will occupy more of my time and hopefully make the days go by quicker while we wait. Please continue to pray for our approvals to come quickly we need our little girl and I know she needs us.

A little taste of India

2008-07-25T23:50:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to Indian food tonight. We needed a little boost of excitement and thought it would be fun for the kids to try it out. Kaylin LOVED it and Blake did not take one bite. Eric and I love Indian food, it is so rich with flavor and color as is so much of their culture. Everything is bright! :) It makes me happy!

Blake is trying some Indian Iced Tea

Our "YUMMY" food

...and some fresh fennel to help our digestive tract.

Blog Hiatus

2008-07-25T22:52:00.001-07:00

I want to apologize for the significant break in blogging. Life as we know it has been turned upside down in the month of July. Don't get me wrong, we have had some fun times and yes, I am still thankful for everyday! However, I am having a difficult time putting my thoughts into words. I plan to continue my "52 weeks of Thankfulness" in August and hopefully be less overwhelmed with life.
We started out July with our church camp out, which is always fun for everyone and the kids play so hard everyday all day long and are very tired at the end of the day, its great! On the 4th we went to a rodeo with some friends and enjoyed getting to see bull riding, barrel racing and the one armed bandit (this was a man with one arm who road a horse with huge buffalo in the ring), it was really cool and scary. They ended the night with a big firework show. We came home to organizing a "huge" garage sale to benefit our adoption expenses. Our church family all donated items so we could have this sale, it was a huge success and we raised $2010.00. WOW!!!!! We were hoping for around $700. I am so thankful for those who helped organize this event. What a blessing it is to have so many who can't wait for our sweet girl to come home. This week the kids started swim lessons and are having a blast, they could live in the water! They both are already swimming by themselves. On Wednesday we headed to the zoo, it was a fun day, the weather was perfect. We have no big plans for the rest of the summer and I am so glad. I am looking forward to just sitting, spending time with my family and friends.

Here are a few pictures of the fun things we have done in the last few weeks, enjoy!
Camping with Dad in the yard

The golfing cowboy!

Is he not the cutest cowboy you have ever seen?!

Kaylin and her new love....glasses!

Crash and Burn = 6 band aids and a very sad boy

Blake enjoying swim lessons

Fun times @ the Oregon Zoo

"52 Weeks of Thankfulness"

2008-06-30T22:39:00.001-07:00

Week 3: My family (The Admire Family)
This past weekend we went on a family campout to Loon Lake. The lake was just beautiful and the weather was HOT, 95 degrees. This was a special weekend of being with family and to spend time with my uncle Rick who was diagnosed with Cancer recently. We had a fabulous time playing in the water and just being together. I am so very thankful for my moms side of the family. What an amazing blessing it is to have a family of 6 siblings and all their kids who love to be together. It seems so unusual these days to find a family that enjoys spending a lot of time together, and I can honestly say, We do and we have fun! We were missing 4 people this weekend and were very sad they could not make it, Jeff, Nicole, Kindra and Nick we missed you a whole lot.

New pictures of our sweet girl...Ava

2008-06-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

I am so thrilled to have a girl with some curls in her hair. She is getting so big and has so much hair all the sudden. I can't wait to be with her, love on her and make her smile. Enjoy!

"52 Weeks of Thankfulness"

2008-06-15T23:22:00.000-07:00

Week 2: My daughter Kaylin
This last week I was faced with the reality that my daughter is growing up way too quickly. I know it's not like it happend overnight, but it has brought me to tears so many times and I find myself thanking God over and over for the gift of her.

I am taught each day by her example of faith, trust, laughter, her zest for life, energy and honesty. She always amazes me with her love for God. We have many conversations about faith and what it means to live that out. She loves our church community. She loves worship! One of my favorite times is when she is showering and worshiping God as loud as she can the whole time (this is like her daddy), I know God must be smiling at the sound of her voice. She also has a very energetic, sassy side that is so playful and fun but can also get her in trouble. She is always making us laugh! She has a glowing smile that radiates her love for people and relationships. She is often performing (dancing and singing) her way through life. She is smart...sometimes a little to smart for her own good. Kaylin has developed a huge heart for those less fortunate then her. She volunteered the last half of the school year in a special needs class at her school and loved the kids so much, I never even knew until the last week of school, this mom was so proud. She has prayed faithfully for Ava and other kids in the orphanages and is brought to tears quite often, by carrying the burden of how they live, in her heart.

This girl is such a delight to have in our family! I am so thankful God chose us to parent her (most days, hehehe). I love you Kaylin and am so proud of who you are becoming. You make us smile!

Good Friends

2008-06-15T23:07:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the kids and I were able to visit with my dear friend Amber. Amber and Isaac are some of Eric and I's close college friends. They moved to Indonesia 2.5 years ago to work in the mission field. Isaac is a missionary pilot for Mission Aviation Fellowship and is loving every bit of his work. We are so proud of the work they do but miss them terribly. This is their first visit home since they moved and it was very fun to get together and let the kids play and catch up.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T22:54:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous day today! We went to church this morning, came home and had sandwiches for lunch, went on a long bike ride together and had ice cream at the DQ. This was the first time we were all able to ride our own bikes and we had a beautiful sunny ride on the Springwater trail. Its so nice to have many miles and miles of flat bike riding for the kids. This is exactly what Eric wanted and I know he had a great day.

School's Out for Summer

2008-06-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

Im a little behind in blogging so hang with me as I get caught up. Kaylin's last day of school was on Tuesday. They ended the year getting to meet their new teachers for the fall, having a school talent show and community BBQ with face painting and
pirates. It was a great day full of fun and I had a few moments of tearing up. Kaylin seems to be getting so big...4th grade!?! She is developing many real friendships with kids at school and I love that. We are looking forward to some lazy days of summer, camping and some beach trips.

Kaylin watching the talent show

Best school buddies...Madison, Sarah and Kaylin

Mrs.Moellering and Kaylin

Eli and Blake with a Pirate

Kaylin's Cheetah face

"52 Weeks of Thankfulness"

2008-06-06T08:13:00.000-07:00

Eric and I were listening to the radio the other day and John Tesh came on. I enjoy listening to his bits of what seems to me as "commen sense", but great reminders of simple ways to remember the daily blessings in your life. He talked about keeping a weekly journal of the things you are thankful for and how focusing on those positive entries can override many of the negative and stressful moments that each day brings. So, I am going to do this on my blog because keeping up with a journal and a blog would not be simple it would just be more chaos. Simple is better, right? I am working everyday to make this way a part of my life. I will hopefully have a complete weekly journal of the things I am thankful for by next year. I am so excited to have this and be able to reflect on the many ways God continues to bless our lives.

Week 1: My husband Eric

This week is all about my main man Eric. Eric is the love of my life. When we were in high school we had a class called Christian Family together. Our main project for the class was to research/interview all different families and then come together and give presentations on what we found, what we liked and what we wanted for our own life. The day Eric gave his presentation I told myself I want to marry that man. We had a very similar background, we came from broken families but desperately wanted something different. I kept my thoughts to myself and gave my presentation a few days later. Several days went by and Eric handed me a card with a very long letter in it. I was shocked when I read this letter...he had written all about how much he loved my presentation, about our similar goals and wanted to persue a relationship and see where things went. We started dating very slowly and were married three years later. It has now been 11years since our wedding day and I just love and adore this hunka hunka manly love.

Eric is such a hard worker. He is very loyal to his family, friends and employer. He loves to be with his kids. He loves to play! You often find him on the floor playing pirates, being a jungle gym, drawing or coloring pictures, playing games, reading outside kicking a soccer ball, swinging a bat or light sabering. He is a FUN dad and my kids love him so much.

One of my favorite things about Eric is how he loves me. He tells me he loves me several times every day and hugs and kisses me constantly. I love that! Most importantly, he is my best friend. I love when the kids are in bed the TV is off and we sit and talk about everything, for hours. I love that I can call him at anytime and he will stop and listen. I love that my husband sings constantly and has taught my daughter to do the same.

He is a wonderful husband and I am so thankful he chose me to be his wife.
I love you Eric!!!!

Congratulations to Auntie Krysta!

2008-05-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Krysta we are so proud of you! All your hardwork and dedication to school has paid off. We can't wait for you to start this next chapter in your life, Nursing School.

Love you tons, we are dancing with you!

Here Comes the Sun....DA DA DA

2008-05-28T22:49:00.000-07:00

Today was another grey, dark rainy day in Oregon. This picture is of the "Sun Worshipers" in India. I might be joinng them soon! I found myself pleading with God for some rays, even just a glimpse. As I put my kids to bed tonight we sang a few different songs about the sun, in hopes for a bright morning!

Oh, Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun please shine down on me
This little family is asking you
Please come out so we can play with you!
_______________________________________

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
_______________________________________

You Are My Sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are grey
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

Weekend at Cape Mears

2008-05-28T14:45:00.001-07:00

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

How Sweet it is to be loved by you!

2008-05-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

Eric and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary on Saturday. He surprised me and took me to the Riverview Restraunt in Troutdale. What a treat on this warm day, we were able to sit outside and enjoy God's beautiful creation.

Eric, I am so thankful for you as my husband and best friend. Their is nothing sweeter then being loved by you. You mean the world to me and I am so grateful you chose me to live your life with.

We like it HOT, HOT, HOT!

2008-05-18T23:40:00.000-07:00

We have had a great week of 90 degree weather. The kids were in the pool everyday, having water gun fights that then led to water bucket wars. We were even able to upgrade our pool thanks to my girlfriend Rhonda. She found a 3ft deep pool that was in great condition for $10.00 at a garage sale. We decided not to fill it up all the way, the boys could not get in on their own, but they have so much more room to play. The boys say that we have a Hot Tub(mini pool) and Real Pool now.
The "Mini" Pool

Look Mom! I can swim under water.

Cutest kids on the block!

We've Upgraded!!

Mother's Day

2008-05-18T23:11:00.001-07:00

It was such a joy to be with my husband and kids today as they always make this an extra special day. I was awaken by Kaylin bringing breakfast to my bedside (toast and milk), followed by a beautiful card she had used watercolors to paint a flower on. Blake had made hand prints with a sweet poem, he was so excited to give this to me. My lovely husband surprised me with yard lighting and a climbing flower for my trellis.

I also found myself thinking of Ava's birth mom today. Wondering? What does she think of Mother's Day? Does she feel sadness or wonder how Ava is doing or where she is? I'm sure she does and I can't help but pray for her often. What an amazing gift she has given our family and I pray she is surrounded by people who love her.

Congratulations to......... Eric and Tara

2008-05-13T08:29:00.000-07:00

Go check out the slide show of their sweet boy Malak. After a long wait of ups and downs, they "finally" are the official parents of this precious boy and will be traveling to pick him up very soon.

www.littlesilvestriboy.blogspot.com

CONGRATULATIONS!!! to the Silvestri, Woods and Ries families.

My sweet boy turns "5"

2008-05-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

We had Blake's 5'th Birthday Party on Saturday. The weather was not as cooperative as I hoped but, the kids managed to have a fun time anyway. Blake chose to have a Star Wars party which was fairly easy to come up with games etc... We started off dressing the kids in Jedi outfits(thank you Stephanie, she made them for me!) and light sabers. Kaylin held a Jedi training session so the kids would be prepared to defeat Darth Vader. Yes, my husband made a surprise visit in a Vader costume (he looked pretty hot!)the kids had to use the force to open our garage and then amidst a small amount of smoke Darth Vader appeared. SOOOO FUN! A few kids were not so sure about the costume but eventually warmed up to the beating of Darth with light sabers. We had Wookie Water for drinks (apple juice), Vader Veggies and Pretzel Sabers.

I think the party was a hit, I only do BIG parties for the 1st, 5th, and so on. We have so many family members close by it is to hard to do KID and Family parties every year and I personally don't want to have multiple parties. The 5'th Birthday was a success!

Blake had so much FUN!!!!!!

I will come to you...soon!

2008-05-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

Last week was extremely busy in the adoption world for us. We were contacted by our agency and told a few of our reference letters needed to be redone because they talked about us adopting from Ethiopia....Whoops! I'm sure the Indian officials were thrilled to read that, but the way I see it, it was part of the journey. So we had to have those re-written, notarized and stamped from the Secretary of State. These had to be in the mail by Friday so they would arrive with the rest of our stuff this week. I guess the courts are closing in India as well and made this quite urgent.

It was a huge relief to know that "All" of our paperwork is now in India, so I was super excited for about 3 hours. Then, I had a conversation with one of our caseworkers and she said this.....Your NOC approval will come soon and then it will be about 9-12 months before you will be traveling to pick up your little girl.!? I was speechless, frustrated etc.... Are you kidding me? We have been told that we would be traveling no later then December and now the earliest would be February.

That is sooooo stinking long, we will have had our referral for over 1 1/2 years before Ava gets to come home. She will be 2.5 years old, no longer a young toddler.
I am just sick and frustrated about the whole thing...:(

We are on our knees daily praying for a miracle!!!! I just want our little girl to be home. Will you pray with us????

"...and I pray that now at last in God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you." Romans 1:10

A girl and a "loved" horse

2008-03-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

Here is one little girl who would rather clean a stall than her own room!

Tuesday was a sad day. My mom has two horses that my daughter would claim as her own and we had to say good bye to one (Brandy) today. She is going to a new home with three kids who are just learning to ride and will use her for 4-H. Kaylin did not cry until we left, she did not want to cry in front of all the people at the barn. She has had many sad moments since. :( My kids love horses and I am so thankful for all that they have learned from my mom and sisters about riding etc... Nana, we hope you find a new horse soon! Here are some pictures of the kids spending time with Brandy for the last time.

One last goodbye!

Oh Happy Day!!

2008-03-05T16:45:00.001-08:00

The sun is shining, my husband brought me 2-dozen roses at work and we got an e-mail this afternoon from Lisa with an update and new adorable pictures of Ava.

She looks so big I can't believe it. We will be getting the video tomorrow and I can't wait. Here is what Lisa wrote to us about our little girl....... Aparna (Ava) is doing great. She is such a happy baby and loves to show off. She was taking her first steps when we were at the orphanage and I got it on Video. She loves to dance to music and loves to patty cake.

My heart aches to hold her and make her smile!! I get so emotional just thinking about all she is learning and doing without us. I am praying for a miracle so that we can get that girl home sooner then October. Please pray with us!

Were anxiously waiting ......

2008-03-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

to hear from our case worker Lisa hopefully tomorrow about her visit to India. We can't wait to share precious pictures and video of our little girl.

Sick Kids and Rejuvenation?

2008-03-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

Yep, I'm here to say it can be rejuvenating when your kids are sick.

Well, the last week my kids have been sick and we are on the up and up, I hope. It started out with Kaylin coming down with a fever last Monday night and then I took her to the doctor to find out she had strep throat so she missed 4-days of school. Blake came down with a fever on Thursday night and manages to still run and play during the day and crash every evening with a burning hot fever. I finally went back to work today and had Eric stay with the kids, he took Blake to the doctor and they said he just had a virus. I do have to say this was the most pleasant sick time off I think we have ever had. We were HOME for 4-straight days, that never happens. We had some needed down time that was rejuvenating for all.

What do you do when you are at home with sick kids for so long.....

Watch tons of movies...this was the first few days, we had to go back later in the week for more.

Read a whole lot of your adoption parenting book

Catch up on laundry!

Here is a picture of Kaylin sleeping, this is what she did for several days. You know if she is sleeping all the time something is wrong, our girl doesn't miss a thing!

A package full of love!

2008-02-18T22:13:00.000-08:00

Today we went to our case workers house and dropped off two zip lock bags of fun stuff for our baby girl. Lisa flies out in the morning and will hand deliver our photo album, her blanket(made by Gaila, our other kids have a blanket made by her also, very special!),a dress and some books. Also, while she is their she will be taking video and lots of pictures for us. We are soooooooooooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!! What a blessing it is to have someone who we just adore and trust to spend time with Ava and love on her when we can't. Here are a few pictures of what Ava will be getting.

Friends!

2008-02-18T21:54:00.000-08:00

On Friday our friends (The Ries') brought their kids over to spend the night. We always have so much fun when we get to be with them. The kids all play so well together. Friday night we went to the Bordine BBQ for dinner and fellowship and ended the evening with a slumber party, movie and popcorn. The kids woke up at 7:00am (which is very early for me) my kids are big sleepers so on the weekends we like to sleep in. Not this week...Kaylin had a basketball game at 10:00am and then we had lunch at the park and played for a few hours with our other friends Christy, Jake and Amelia. The weather was beautiful in Portland this weekend! It was 60 degrees both Saturday and Sunday. It was so fun to play with the kids Jen thanks for leaving them with us.

Valentines Day!

2008-02-18T21:40:00.000-08:00

The kids and I had a great Valentines Day, Eric was out of town. I started the morning off with making Kaylin a heart shaped egg sandwich and she loved that. After we took Kaylin to school, Blake and I went with our friends Rhonda and Ryan to have a valentine donut. We ended the night with a heart shaped pepperoni pizza for dinner. We had so much fun together....I love my kids to pieces!!!

I've Been Tagged

2008-02-06T14:39:00.000-08:00

I've been "tagged". Thank you so much Jennifer!
"8" Things I'm Passionate about:
1. My husband and his work
2. Children--not just my own
3. My family
4. Peoples lives/stories
5. Per suing a life of compassion and grace for others
6. Adoption
7. Good Salads at a Restraunt--If you don't have good salads I'm not coming back!
8. My church community

"8" Things I want to do before I die:
1. Travel with my whole family to India
2. Short term missions projects to Africa
3. Adopt Again???? Did I just say that???
4. See my kids experience God, love and have kids
5. Have a chef that would cook for me a few days a week
6. Work along side my husband in some sort of ministry
7. Learn to play the piano
8. Go on an all girls trip with my Mom, Mimi and sisters to somewhere tropical

"8" TV Shows I watch:
1. The Today Show
2. American Idol
3. Amazing Race
4. The Office
5. 60 minutes/Dateline NBC
6. Dancing with the Stars
7. Biggest Looser
8. Funniest Home Videos

"8" Things that attract me to my friends:
1. They are Spontaneous
2. common hobbies/interests
3. honest
4. compassionate
5. open and real
6. they love my kids
7. love me for who I am
8. laugh a lot/good sense of humor

"8" Things I say often:
1. It's fine!
2. Kaylin Nicole
3. Blake Ryan
4. Oh my word!
5. I love you!
6. Good grief!
7. What in the world?
8. Can we go out to eat? (Eric's input)

"8" Artists I never tire of:
1. Sarah McLachlan
2. Nickelcreek
3. Casting Crowns
4. John Mayer
5. Jars of Clay
6. Counting Crows
7. Dave Mathews
8. Chris Rice-Piano Hymns

"8" Things I learned in 2007:
1. I am not as organized as I thought
2. I really don't enjoy cooking
3. Your heart can ache for a child you have never held, talked to or touched
4. I am a blog reader not a commenter(not a word). I love reading other peoples stories!
5. I want to live a life of sacrifice for the sake of others
6. Adoption is such hard work but an amazing gift that comes only from God
7. I tend to have a lot of the same rules for my kids as my mom did for me growing up
8. Jen R has taught me that I too am anal as a hobby. :)

I'm tagging:
Rhonda
Kelsey
Lynsey
Lori Clark (I know your reading this)

Adoption Update

2008-01-22T09:08:00.000-08:00

Last week Eric and I went and visited with our agency and our case worker Lisa. We had a great meeting and enjoyed talking with everyone about India and the amazing things we will get to see while traveling there. Unfortunately, we were told we probably wont be traveling until October, YUCK!!! We were very sad, our little girl will almost be 2yrs old. We will be missing those precious months with her and I wish we could just bring her home now! The good news is that Lisa will be traveling to India in February and is taking some special things to Aparna for us. A friend of ours has made a blanket for our kids and has now made one for Aparna so we will send this to her in hopes this will become one of her favorites like it was for Blake and Kaylin. I am also working on a photo album and gathering some books. The very best thing is that we will get many more pictures and Lisa is going to take our video camera to video her while she is there. Priceless!!!!! I am so excited to get some real life action from our little darling, I want to see her personality. :) Although these things are wonderful....I am praying for a miracle that I could travel with Lisa to India next month. Am I dreaming? probably, but I can still pray that somehow I could do that. It seems it would be very difficult to have to leave her but I would love to be able to see her and interact with her at this age...something I would miss out on otherwise.

Coffee snob?

2008-01-09T16:07:00.000-08:00

I found this silly website and took a Coffee test and these were my results. I could only laugh because it was exactly right. I am a coffee snob for sure!!!! But I do need to clarify that Starbucks is not my favorite coffee.

Java Chip Frappuccino

You're a caffeine addict and pretty high maintenance about your coffee. There's a good chance that everyone at your Starbucks knows your name.

What Flavor Frappuccino Are You?

More Pictures and Waiting

2008-01-07T20:20:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more pictures of Ava. We found out today Lisa will be traveling to India in February and will take many more pictures for us and deliver a package of goodies to our sweet girl. This wait is getting harder and harder....I just want her home with our family. My heart is aching a lot lately, this process seems like it will never end. I know, I know there are tons of people who have waited far longer then we have but it doesn't make the feelings go away.

Happy 2008!

2008-01-04T23:48:00.000-08:00

The 2008 year is going to be a special year for our family as we bring our sweet girl home from India. We are reminded how extremely blessed we are to have such great friends, family and a church community that loves our kids so much. We can't wait to share little Ava with all of you. This past year has been so fun to watch the kids' faith build as we have prayed for a child. Our kids have witnessed the amazing community we are a part of as they raised thousands of dollars for our adoption and are praying for this little girl each day. Real life lessons that could not be better. I'll admit, this process has not been easy...very challenging, emotional and plain crazy at times, but ultimately rewarding.

As we enter 2008 we want to enjoy this time together as a family of 4, being continually greatful for God's blessings and live out our faith in ways that will challenge us every day. Happy New Year!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

2008-01-04T23:02:00.000-08:00

I don't think we have ever had snow on Christmas Day in Oregon. It doesn't snow very often in Oregon but when it does the kids go crazy. Here are a few pictures we took on the way to Eric's aunts on Christmas.

Cookies for Santa!

2008-01-04T22:36:00.000-08:00

After Christmas Eve service the kids and I had to bake cookies for Santa. We concluded our evening by watching the Polar Express and the kids reminded me that...They do believe in Santa. So fun!!! We also spent a lot of time following Santa's whereabouts on Norad. They were very excited to find out when he had visited India where baby Ava was.

Christmas Eve with the Dawson's

2008-01-04T22:03:00.000-08:00

We always spend Christmas Eve with my family (Cheryl's family). We had a great time at my parents and as always love spending time with my sisters and significant others. There is never enough time with my family! We enjoy being together so much and have a lot of fun.

Kaylin anxiously awaiting the go ahead to open her gifts

Our annual sisters picture

Eric, Blake and cousin Garrett

Nick and Kindra

The Winner is...Team #2

2007-12-19T14:33:00.000-08:00

We waited to long to take pictures and both houses started to fall apart...I think the product was faulty, we have never had this problem before. And team #2 still won even with a roof caving in.

Gingerbread Contest

2007-12-19T14:20:00.001-08:00

Every year my sisters and mom come to make gingerbread houses. This has turned into a competition and I am proud to say... My team one AGAIN!!!! The kids have so much fun and look forward to this event.

December at the Klobas'

2007-12-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

December is such a fun month for us with parties, shopping and family time. Here are some pictures of our month so far.

Eric putting our lights up

Eric, Grandpa and the kids decorating the tree

Blake at his school Christmas Program, he sang this year but did no hand motions. Every year were getting a little better :) Next year he'll be a pro!

We've got moves!

2007-12-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

Wishing we were headed to Mexico for the holidays (like other members of our families). We are not bitter or anything....they will be soooo sad we could not show them the dance we've been practicing.

Don't send a lame Starring You! eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

She's Ours!!!!!!!

2007-12-03T18:57:00.000-08:00

Introducing.....Ava Leigh Aparna, born in New Delhi, India on October 26, 2006. We are soooo happy and overwhelmed with joy!

Our meeting at Childrens Hope went very well on Thursday night as you can tell. Here is a brief of the evening.

We walked in and Lisa (the lady who called us about little Aparna) was all dressed in her Indian attire and jewelry. The room was all set up like we were about to get our referral. Lisa started out by giving us an overview of Aparna's medical history, age and pictures. Our first response with teary eyes was, She is beautiful! Kaylin was with us (I am so thankful) and she said, She is chubby! Waaahoooo!!!!! We love chubby babies. We can always count on her to make us laugh at serious moments. We continued to talk and ask lots of questions about India knowing in our hearts that this was our daughter. The one thing Eric and I have felt strongly about is that God knows what child is best for our family. When we look back at the frustrating and emotional journey we have been on, there is no doubt in our minds that this was God's plan all along. She is meant to be ours! We will now be traveling to India in June or July to bring her home. We can't wait and are already counting the days.

Please keep our little girl in your prayers. We pray that she stays safe and healthy and is being loved on everyday. Thank you to all who share in this journey with us. We feel so blessed and thankful for you everyday!

Ethiopia or India?

2007-11-29T11:57:00.000-08:00

About a month ago Eric and I received a phone call from a lady named Lisa who had worked with Childrens Hope when we first started the adoption process. The conversation went like this...

Cheryl: Hello

Lisa: Hi, Cheryl this is Lisa I used to work at Children's Hope International.

Cheryl: (Feeling skeptical)and thinking why is she calling me, surely nothing else is going to go wrong! I said, Yes.

Lisa: She continued to talk about our process and how sorry she was for the frustrating things we have gone through up to this point and wanted us to know she thinks about us and is praying for our process.

Cheryl: Still feeling awkward, yes, its nice she is calling, but why now? We have moved past all of that chaos.

Lisa: I am also contacting you to let you know I have been praying for your family and felt it necessary to contact you about a "baby girl available in India".

Cheryl: Shocked!!!! I said O.K.....not sure what to say

Lisa: She was born pre-maturely so she is automatically considered special needs but I have been told that she is in good health and making good progress. I don't have anymore information then that.

Cheryl: OK! Still completely shocked and speechless...as you can tell I just kept saying OK, OK, OK.

Lisa: I am traveling to India next week and will be able to get medical information, photos and find out how old she is while I'm there. I can tell you are shocked and not sure how to respond, its not Ethiopia. I also want you to know if you feel your child is in Ethiopia thats where I want you to go. I just felt I needed to contact you and let you decide.

Cheryl: I explained how shocked I was and that this was something Eric and I would need to talk about and we would get back to her.

End of Conversation..........

After much thought Eric and I felt that we could not say no but tell her we were open to getting more information. Well today is that day.....Lisa and Becky (our caseworker) are coming tonight to bring us all the information and photos of this baby girl from India. I feel excited, nervous, sick, excited all at the same time. One thing we do feel strongly about is that God knows what child will be best for our family and maybe that means a baby from India or maybe not. I don't know!

My hope and prayer today is that after our meeting tonight we will have a clear answer of how to move forward. Please pray for us this afternoon and we will keep you posted.

Praying for a miracle!

2007-11-20T10:58:00.001-08:00

This sweet baby girl is the niece of Eric and Tara Silvestri. Eric's sister and brother in law (Jenn and Filipe) are in the process of adopting her from Guatemala...the whole adoption process has taken twice, almost 3 times as long as it should have! As you can see from her precious face- she is the most perfect baby girl ever! They have fallen so deeply in love with her and yet for some reason the Lord is taking them through a time of waiting and patients. Jenn and Filipe were able to go visit Shiloh last month and spend a few days with her and of course it was such a special bonding time but it made them so eager to get her home and out of the orphanage....
Right now the Guatemalan government is trying to close all foreign adoptions...including those that are already in the process. This would leave so many sweet babies homeless and abandonded and so many loving families without the children they have longed for! This has caused quite an uproar and so it is begining to look like they will go ahead and allow the families who are alreay in the adoption process to finish and bring their children home, but it is still VERY scary and no one knows what will happen.

I am (Tara) writing this because we (our family and friends) have decided to spend all day this Wednesday in prayer and fasting for Shiloh and for the Lord to show them favor and bring that sweet girl home soon.
We are asking anyone who knows their family or who wants to petition God on behalf of this precious child and her family join us. If you have a blog or myspace please link to this post or cut and paste this request so that as many people as possible read this before Wednesday.If you want to pray with us please do so. If you would like you can leave a note on my blog or Jen's letting us know you are joining in or just write a note of encouragement for this family.Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

2007-11-18T22:31:00.000-08:00

Several months ago we were approached by many people in our congregation about how they could help with our adoption process. After lots of thought and feeling uneasy about asking for financial help they took it upon themselves and started planning fundraiser's for us. We have had lunches, an Auction and a bake sale. These fundraisers have brought in close to $6,000.00.....WOW!!!!! We have been truly humbled and so very grateful for all of you who have joined us on this journey. We feel a huge burden lifted as the financial fears no longer loom as heavy.

We know how very blessed we are. We know that we are not doing this alone. We are so excited to share with our new little one what an important role our church family played in making it possible to bring her home. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Those words fall so shamefully short to expressing our hearts. Yet we don't know how else to say it. So, thank you.

Trick or Treat

2007-11-12T20:14:00.000-08:00

We had a great time trick or treating. We went to our friends neighborhood and scored more candy then we ever needed.

Blake was a Roman Soldier

Kaylin was Sacagwea...

Carving Pumpkins

2007-10-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

Fun times at the Patch

2007-10-24T16:41:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to the Sauvie Island pumpkin patch. We had a great day with family and the weather was beautiful. Here are a few pictures from the day..

Moving Forward

2007-10-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

As many of you know we had a difficult situation to get through with our home study. After several weeks of riding the fence of the unknown, we now have been told we can move forward. We are thrilled and could not be happier. We do however need to change agencies. We are now going through Children's Home Society and feel like this is a great agency with lots of Ethiopian adoption experience. We should have our completed home study in our hands in about 3 weeks.

Thanks to everyone for all your prayers during those stressful weeks.

What is your favorite season?

2007-10-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

...mine is FALL! After reading Tara's blog and her post about fall, I was inspired to get pictures of the beautiful trees I drive past every morning(thanks Rhonda). I love the crisp foggy air and the amazingly beautiful scenery we have in Oregon. I am constantly in awe of God's creation. Some of my favorite things about fall are the colors, smells and food. If you have ever been to my home you would know quickly that my house coordinates with fall, I love it! I can walk into any store during this season and find something cute for my home. I love being in the house, cozy, with the fireplace on and my favorite piano hymns CD playing . The greatest gift of fall is the peace it brings to my home. I love Fall!

The Home study

2007-09-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

Yahoo, we have our home study on Wednesday and Thursday this week. I will be cleaning like a "mad" women today and can't wait to accomplish this portion of our adoption. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. We are a little nervous and would appreciate all your prayers.

Overwhelming facts about Ethiopia

2007-09-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

-One in ten children die before their first birthday

-One in six children die before their fifth birthday

-44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old

-60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition

-The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years

-1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world) 720,000
children have been orphaned by AIDS alone, and there are 4.6 million
orphans in Ethiopia.

-Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa

-In the 90s the population (3%) grew faster than food production (2.2%)

-Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no
seeds, third year no animals

-Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend
secondary school.

-Coffee prices (Ethiopia’s only major export) fell 40-60% from 1998-2002.

-Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.

-In 1993, after 30 long years of war, Eritrea broke from Ethiopia and became an
independent nation leaving Ethiopia landlocked without any major seafaring ports.

Videos to make you laugh

2007-09-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

Cannonball Baptism
I thought this was very funny! But then I thought of my own kids and how it is not far from something Blake would do, I would be horrified.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hmrqYA0ps8

another funny video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYkSD7RopLo

gotta love that baby laugh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le4FBuKEJ-Y

As you can tell I needed to laugh today...Glad its Friday!

Home Study is Scheduled

2007-09-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

We are very excited our home study is scheduled for September 26th & 27th. This means we have completed everything involved in this first large section of our process. Yahoo!!!! We are making progress.