Sunday means church day...

Today was church, which when adding a child into the mix made us a tad on the late side.  There is a good chance we would have been late anyway, but that was our excuse!  Today was also the day of our church wide picnic after church.  We had lunch and then everyone played an assortment of games ranging from Washers  to Volleyball.  It was an absolutely beautiful day outside.  I have to say that I love our church.  They have welcomed him in with open arms and were amazing to him today in helping him learn the games and accepting him even if it wasn't quite right.  I am pretty sure he played at least three games for the first time ever.

Playing ladder golf 

He also played wiffle ball for the first time ever today, getting his first ever hit ( thank you to everyone that played)!  The third game that he played for the first time was washers, which he actually beat me at the first time that I played against him this afternoon.  I did redeem myself in the second game however.

After the picnic we celebrated the birthday of "Loco Colleen" (that is what he calls her) with a birthday dinner, we then came home and took the scooters to the park and walked around the park while the three older kids rode their scooters.  We had a few stops along the way, to drop sticks in the water and watch them come out the other side, to skip rocks, and to walk out on the pier, and look at the lake!  It was a GREAT day today!

Nothing more American!

What ia more american than baseball and fireworks other than apple pie of course. Today we started off pretty early. We had our final tball game of the year. It was pretty cute to hear " Go Libby" in a cute l@tvian accent.

After the game we hit the park. After playing a while a game of tag broke outt and fun was had by all. The rain kept us from swimming  this afternoon so it left the kids to have nerf  gun wars and build forts in the livingroom.

We ended the night watching a great fireworks display in Arthur. Day two wound down with some very tired kids!

Day one down.

Day one has now come and gone.  It was a very late night last night, finally getting to bed around 3 a.m. I would have thought that I would not have any trouble sleeping.  WRONG I was up between 6 and 6:30 due to excitement I am sure.  After breakfast, we all went down to swim, where we found the rest of the hosting families as well.  It was a great icebreaker for the new hoster and a great chance to bond again with the rehosters!

After the drive home, the kids were going 100 mph showing him everything that we had changed since he was here last, and all the stuff outside that he did not get to really do when he was here for Christmas hosting.  We wrapped up the evening grilling, and eating outside on the patio.

It was a great day overall, but there are some tired people in our house tonight!

The time has come!

Today is the day, well yesterday was supposed to be, but delays made the plane an hour later!  That was the story of my day. I took the day off to get the yard mowed and to St. Louis in good time. Well a 3 hour mowing job turned into more than 5 due to mower issues. We made it down here just in time to find that his plane had been delayed.  We got to hang out with the other awesome host families for a bit longer than we thought due to the plane being delayed. We were all lined up waiting for them when e realized that they were coming from a different concourse, so we took off running to the other end of the baggage claim!

We were created with a big hug as if he had never left. We all got big hugs and went to get some ice cream!  It is now almost 2 a.m. and playing tablets. It has been a great night!

5 Days!!!

We are down to 5 days.  5 days until we get to hug him again.  5 days until we get to see his sweet smile.  5 days until we get to hear his sweet l@tvian accent.  When I sit here and think about the airport pickup, I can not help be think about how much is different this time than the last time we were waiting at the airport.  The level of excitement in the family is getting higher and higher each day.  We are all so very excited!

I am still trying to figure out how I am going to blog about our hosting experience this time.  We are in a totally different place than we were the last time we hosted.  We will have to be a little more limited with the information that we share in order to protect ourselves while in the process.

Many of you have asked what we are going to be doing with him while he is here.  We are very excited that he is coming during the 4th of July, because he loves fireworks.  He is coming at an exact opposite time of year, the hustle and bustle of Christmas and all of the commitments that come with that time of year are not there.  We plan on slowing down a bit, spending a lot of time in the pool, attending local festivals and giving him some experiences that he has never had before.

If anyone has any question feel free to fire away!

Excitedly waiting!

Here we are...

It has been a while since I have turned my thoughts into words, about where we are.  The excitement in the house is growing as the summer hosting approaches.  We have begun to plan a few things that we are planning to do as a family with him.

The other day I was thinking back to last December when we were at the airport nervously waiting in anticipation for what was coming next.  It seemed like in an instant everyone else was gone and we were left standing in the airport all alone.  Fast forward to June 27th 2013, and I can only imagine how different this airport pickup will be.  We are all so excited for him to come back.  It is precious to hear our 4 year old ask when he is going to be here and just talking about him.  It is absolutely amazing how God has shown himself to to me through our kids in this process.  I am thankful that we stepped out in faith and obedience when we chose to host last winter.

We do not know what the future will hold for us,  the decision is up to him as to where we go from here.  At the age of 12 and above L@tvian orphans get to choose for themselves what they want to do.  If a family would like to adopt them they can say no and stay where they are, o r they could stay where they are.  We have been blessed to meet some children that have been adopted from that region after being hosted and have learned a few valuable things from that.  We hope to make use of these relationships as we move forward.

Last week was a very busy week for us as we worked to put together what ended up being a very successful garage sale.  Thank you to so much to those who donated items to help us.  We continue to have people use our Amazon Link.  Over the last two months, friends have used our link to shop and we have made just over $150 thanks to them.  If you do not know about our Amazon Link it is very simple to use.  If you are making a purchase off of amazing just click on our link and make your purchase as usual and Amazon will give a portion (4%-7.5%) of your purchase to us.

Thank you all who have come alongside us and assisted us in any way and I do mean ANY way

Starfish (Written by Linda)

So many people are asking us what is new, what are we doing, what's going on?   We are still moving forward with or paperwork!  We will be sending off our I 800 - A ( This is a document that allows us to get some really expensive fingerprints done LOL)  We have everything that can be done at this time for our Dossier ( another adoption term but this is the biggie)  This is the Starfish Story.  I love this little story because I do believe that God put this little man in our lives and I know "  it made a difference for that one"  I can hear it in his voice when we talk,  I know the change that we saw in him while he was in our home,  I know he knows we love him, and  I know he knows he is wanted. 

Before we hosted it was easy to not think about the orphans around the world.  Since hosting that has changed forever.  We have often talked about how many orphans are out there world wide.  There are between 143,000 and 153,000 orphans worldwide.  If you lined them up shoulder to shoulder they would circle the equator 3 times.  If you drove past this line at 60 mph for 24 hours a day you would still be passing children after 60 days.  When you start reading about all the statistics some people begin to say what is the point,  I can not help all of them.  The story below is a good picture of what hosting is.

Once upon a time, there was a wise old man,

who went to the sea to contemplate.

One day, while walking along the shore,

the wise old man looked down the beach,

and saw a gracefully dancing human figure.

The wise old man wondered out loud,

 “Who would be dancing all alone on the beach?”

He began to walk faster to catch up.

Getting closer, the wise man saw that the dancer

was a child, who was not dancing at all.

The child was reaching down to the sand to pick up

something, and was very gently throwing it into the sea.

The man called out to the child,

“Good Morning! What are you doing?”

The child paused, looked up and replied,

“Throwing Starfish into the sea.”

Surprised, the man said,

“Yes, I see that, but WHY are you throwing Starfish into the sea?”

The child smiled brightly, pointed upward and

with perfect simplicity replied,

“The sun is up, and the tide is going out.

If I don’t throw them in, they will die.”

“But, don’t you realize, “asked the man,

“that there are miles and miles of beach and Starfish all along it?

You can’t possibly make a difference!”

The child listened politely.

Then bent down, picked up another Starfish,

threw it gently into the sea, just beyond the breaking waves,

and joyfully declared,

“It made a difference for that one.”

These past few weeks have been difficult. We were shocked and very saddened that he is not wanting to pursue adoption right now.  Honestly we were completely caught off guard.  God has placed a burning fire in our hearts for adoption.  We have no idea where this road is taking us but I am peacefully resting in God. ok I have to be honest the first couple of weeks I was frantic.  I was reaching and searching for anything I could do to change this.  It felt as though I was drowning.  It makes me think of Matthew 14:29,30

 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 

I took my eyes off of God and tried to find any way I could to possible change this.  I hate the way I reacted.  It goes to show me how  little my faith can be at times and how I will forever be a work in progress.  

So this summer we are going to be hosting for 5 weeks.  We are going to approach this hosting the same way as we did the first time. Share with him FAITH, HOPE and LOVE.  We are going to show him a family, unconditional love, share the gospel with him, teach him the English language, and hope for his future.  We are so THANKFUL that we will get to see him again!  We are crying out to God that he changes his mind.  

Thank you for all of your support, encouraging notes, and love that you have given us.  You have no idea  how much this means to us.  Especially during this difficult time.  Thank you!