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
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Catching Up!
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!
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!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Hotel Ideas for Delhi, India?
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
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
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
India Christian Ministries
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)
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)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
God's Faithfulness!
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.
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.
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