Braeden Nathaniel

This is the story of our son, Braeden:

Tuesday:
On Tuesday, November 27th about 12:30pm, we got a call that the birthmom was in labor. The hubby got off work about 3pm (as early as he could leave) and we packed up and left for San Diego, CA. We drove all night, taking turns driving and sleeping.

Wednesday:
Arrived in San Diego about 6am on Wednesday and waited for the call from the hospital. We drove around town a bit, seeing the Ocean, eating breakfast and just killing time. Finally got the call from the birthmom's advocate. Our baby boy was born the night before: November 27th, 9:40pm weighing 6lbs, 6oz and 20in long  :-)  
(He has the same birthday as his Grandma Hurley - she got her first grandchild as a bday present this year!)
We went to the hospital that afternoon and met our son for the first time. We didn't get to stay long, but did have an hour-ish with him and it was great!

Thursday:
Stayed overnight about a half mile from the hospital and waited for them to call us again with his hospital release information. Long day, but we went back to the beach and took a walk until they called us. He had developed jaundice so they wanted to make sure he was okay to leave. When we arrived that afternoon, he was ready to go!

Then came the twist: his birthmom was apprehensive about signing papers at that point. She has a traumatic brain injury, so she isn't able to comprehend a lot of things quickly and once she makes up her mind and you throw her a lot of information (like: are you sure you want to sign these papers? etc), she freaks out and doesn't know what to do. Which is what happened. She then got into her mind that if she got a house and a job she could keep him and his brothers and sister (who are all in foster care). However, Braeden does have Down Syndrome, so she isn't able to keep him at all...ever. He would be relinquished now - to us, or relinquished in 6 months after being in foster care and have to stay in the system. We decided to take him for the weekend as foster parents until she would be asked again and hopefully sign on Monday. We prayed and prayed all weekend long. We believed that God wouldn't allow her to change her mind about us parenting him, but it was hard to wait for the final answer.

Also, he had slight jaundice, but was healthy enough to leave, so we made an appointment with the doctor the next day: Friday, and went home (back to the hotel).

Friday:
We went to the doctor for a well-baby check-up in the morning. They did another blood test and found that his Jaundice was improving and his platelet count is near normal now. His reflexes are wonderful and all vitals look great. Even his heart sounds good still  :-)
We decided to head further into San Diego and find things to do. We went to the beach and then got stuck in that lovely rush-hour Friday night traffic. So much fun. ha
Headed back to the outskirts of town to get a hotel for the night.

Saturday:
Starting Braeden out right: we went to the Automobile Museum in San Diego and even went to see the USS Midway that was at Pearl Harbor:

Automobile Museum (in his new carrier made by Gma Hurley)

USS Midway

USS Midway (it was cold, so Braeden is bundled up)

We had a full day and it was great being able to spend time with Braeden out and about too  :-)

Sunday:
We went to IKEA to waste a few hours. Braeden liked walking around (he was sleeping in his car seat in the cart anyway, haha). Went back to the beach for awhile and just watched the waves roll in from the car. That was nice. I love the ocean  :-)
Got a call from the birthmom's advocate who told us she had a hard talk with the birthmom on Saturday about making the right decision with Braeden's well-being. She told us when she spoke with her Sunday that the birthmom was better and pretty much ready to sign. They had an appointment with the agency to get the relinquishment papers signed Monday morning. That night was a long night, as you can imagine.

Monday:
We waited for the call about how the birthmom's appointment went and if the papers were signed. At last we got the news: she had signed and all they needed was our signatures! We went to the agency that afternoon and signed our papers. Then, we left town and headed north. We had to stay in CA until the paperwork went through and NM said we could leave, but we wanted to get out of So Cal, and we have family farther north in CA.

Tuesday:
Headed to San Francisco. We went across the Golden Gate bridge which was beautiful (as usual!)  :)
Met with my cousin, Deborah, who was the first family member to get to meet Braeden  :)

Braeden and cousin Deborah

Then we headed to the hubby's Aunt Carmen's house. It is so beautiful up here!! Braeden is being loved on and Mommy is getting more sleep  ;)

We just got a call this afternoon saying that we have been cleared to head home as well! One day turn-around is AMAZING and pretty unheard of, but we are very thankful  :)

Thanks everyone for all your prayers! God is amazing and we are having so much fun with our little boy  :)

Alright, enough of that, here's some pictures of our sweet son:

God Bless!!

God's Miracles

God constantly amazes me with his miracles all around us and his answers to prayers.

One major example:

We said "God, we have mice in the house. What do we do?" God said, "Here's a cat".

Hahaha. True story:

So, a couple weeks ago, we started noticing mouse droppings. Figured, well we will keep all food covered and not worry about them until we see more. Few days later, the hubby leaves one of his breakfast muffins in a baggie on the counter and the next day we see mice nibbles on bag and in muffin. So we started thinking about how we could get rid of this problem. You see, we live outside of town, on 2 acres of land, so: "we are surrounded by this thing called nature and mice happen" - Lorelai Gilmore, Gilmore Girls  :)

We prayed about it and decided to buy a couple mouse traps. Fast forward to a couple days ago. Our friend was over and we were just hanging out and talking. All of a sudden, he stops and says "do you have a cat?", hubby says "no". We giggle, but become quiet and hear this tiny meowing. Hubby and friend go outside and see a kitty on the porch acting like it belongs here. We gave it a piece of deli ham and put a water bowl outside for her. She hasn't left. The dogs were in the house one night and we opened the door to go outside, trying to block them... well, kitty meows, and out goes 2 dogs pushing me into the door. Kitty goes up into our pecan tree. We bring the dogs back inside and talk to kitty as she learns to climb out of the tree. We were excited when she got down by herself! Now we don't have to worry about her getting stuck up there. I've found her in the tree playing with leaves a couple times too  :)

Hubby made her a small house in the carport with a milk crate and towels. She likes it. We thought, well, we will keep her as a outside cat and see if she learns to kill mice for us. The next day (yesterday morning), we notice one of our traps has caught a mouse  :)  Hubby figures, let's see if she will learn to eat mice. He drags the trap around teasing her a little and she grabs the mouse out of it and immediately started eating it. We left her alone, went back outside a couple minutes later and it was all gone. Good kitty!

Last night, I see a little thing moving near my bookshelf of kids books, and so do the dogs, but of course it was too fast for them. So, I put the dogs outside and bring in our little kitty. She looks around, because she hasn't been inside before, but then picks up on a mouse trail. She heads into our office (which is where we've noticed them mostly), and lies down and waits. A mouse comes running near her, and pow! She caught it in her mouth and ate it  :)  I was so proud of her! Although it was quite disgusting to watch. haha
I left her in there for a few more minutes and she got another one, then comes trotting out like "ok, now what?!" We both saw another one on the kitchen floor as I was taking her back outside and she runs and catches that one too! Though she decided to play with that one until it died and then ate it. Happy kitty tummy tonite  ;)

We are thrilled at how fast she is learning to fend for herself. She likes her little house, drinks her water, plays around on the wood pile, in the tree and teases the dogs from the outside of the fence, and she loves us. She lets us pet her and plays with us a lot now. She even kisses my toes when I'm barefoot standing outside with her  :)

We have named her Tiger:

Meet Tiger

She loves playing (yes those scratches on my hand are from her - she's getting better at not scratching though)  haha

She's so sweet

"What are you doing? I wanna see!"

Isn't she so cute?!  :)   Yes, God is so amazing. He definitely helps His children when they ask for His help! He continually amazes me with all He knows and how He protects us.


In other news... Our adoption is moving along great as well. Our baby boy is due in one month!! I'm having a baby shower next weekend and I'm soooo excited!  :)

Thanks for all your support! Bye for now  :)

First Pictures

We received wonderful news about our baby boy this week. The birthmom had a sonogram on Wednesday and her advocate called us to tell us about her appointment.

Our son is at 5.5 lbs right now, so he's right on track! His heart is still looking great and his kidneys and GI tract have no obstructions!!! They originally saw the skin on the back of his neck that was thicker than normal a few months ago; but now it looks healthy and perfectly normal.   :-)

They believe that he will be very high functioning and since he's growing normally now, he should continue to do so! They also think his due date will be a week earlier, so he is due now November 30-December 1ish  :-P

We got our first pictures of our son too! Here they are:

 Isn't he perfect and so beautiful?!  :-)  ok, maybe I'm biased  ;-)

He was moving around so much they could hardly get pics. He kept sticking his thumb and fingers in his mouth too! He's so cute!!

So, we are very excited about this good news and are anxiously awaiting his arrival!  :-)

We are almost to our goal of $8,000 for the adoption. We know that's how much the whole adoption expenses will be. Thanks for all your help!
We are still looking for helpers for our Both Hands project as we will be working on our friend, Judy Valentich's house; cleaning and weeding her yard. If you can help or would like to sponsor us working (100% of proceeds go to our adoption), please let me know. Thanks so much!!  God Bless  :-)

Both Hands project

Hi friends!

Well, we have been busy preparing for the addition of our little boy to our family! He is due December 8th and we are so excited.

We have one fundraiser going on now as well as a Rescue Mission we are doing soon:

1) Pampered Chef online party (30% of proceeds are going to our adoption) - Through October 14th!

If you'd like to purchase anything to support our adoption in this way, please go to: www.pamperedchef.biz/marthacalmes   Click on 'Shop Online' and Enter in "Hurley" for the host name

2) Both Hands project (details below) - 100% of proceeds are going to our Adoption!

Project will be November 24th and we will have more information to you soon if you'd like to help!

      

Helping a Widow… 

Helping an Orphan

Dear Friends and Family,

As you all know, we've been going through the process of adopting a wonderful child from here in the United States. We started the adoption process in March, completed our Home Study in May. We have just been matched with a baby boy from California! He is due December 8^th and has Down Syndrome, but as of now, he has no heart problems! We have raised a bit of money, but are in need of more help. We will need to pay for the agency services, an attorney to finalize the adoption, and for Early Intervention for our son when we bring him home.

Right now, that’s the hard part because it’s all expensive. However, we are very confident that God is going to provide a way; and a very interesting fundraising idea has made us believe that all the more.

If you can use a tool, clean a window, paint a wall, stuff envelopes, make phone calls, arrange food, or simply pray… then we need you! With your help, we have a chance, not only to raise the funds necessary to bring our baby boy home, but to also serve a widow, just like it talks about in James 1:27. Here’s how it works:

Caleb and I find a widow in need (we have selected a friend and sister in Christ, Judy Valentich, from our church who is wheel-chair bound, on oxygen and isn’t able to get around much). We then assemble a team of our friends to complete a Both Hands Project. Then the team (including us) would send out letters to family and friends asking people to sponsor us for the day, as we work on this widow’s house.  All the funds raised go toward our adoption.  It’s just like asking someone to sponsor you for a 5K Run for the Cure.

This idea has been done over 100 times around the country already! Attached is a link to a video that might help give you a good idea of what the Both Hands Project is all about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98PD-O97N3I

Here is my request. Would you consider being on our team? You may be jumping up and down like I was and saying “pick me, pick me” or you might have several questions. Please give me a text/call or email me if you're interested in praying, sponsoring workers, and/or volunteering to work on the house (landscaping and minor cleaning).

Thanks for even considering it.

Caleb & Caitie

i www.BothHandsFoundation.orgi

i One for the Widow – One for the Orphan i

You can join the Project on Facebook at:

 https://www.facebook.com/events/100240366802882/?ref=ts&fref=ts 

You can donate to the Project online through Lifesong for Orphans (100% of the proceeds go to our adoption) at:
http://bothhandsfoundation.org/caleb-and-caitlin-hurley



If you'd like to help us get ready to bring our son home, we have a couple registries open:
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/3DAT7DWCQZP86
Target - http://www.target.com/baby/registry/VPWYlThZboaNhJhwdDvkFg


More soon to come about our son!  :-)

Thanks for all your help and God Bless!!

Expecting!

We found out this evening that we are "expecting" a baby boy! He is due in December and is in CA. We are trying to figure out our next steps from here and starting to plan for a new baby. We will need some help with baby items like bottles, clothes, a stroller, as well as some more money for the actual adoption. We are continuing with our fundraisers and if you'd like to help with any of them but aren't sure how to or what we have going on, go to our Adoption Fundraisers page, and/or please write to us at: hurley_adoption@gmx.com  

Our mailing address is: PO Box 1538   Las Cruces, NM   88004

We do have a couple of baby registries open. One at Amazon: here
And one at Target: here

I do need to update both (as there's still newborn girl clothes instead of boy clothes on there)  haha  :-)


Thanks so much for all your help, prayers and love!

Love,
Caitie, Caleb and baby boy Hurley

Moving Through

It's very interesting to me how so many people tell me that I'm strong in how I'm handling everything. I give all the credit to God. He doesn't give us more than we can handle, that's for sure! I lost my baby brother when I was 5. I love remembering that time though and thinking about him happy and healthy in Heaven. Now our baby daughter is perfect in Heaven too, playing with her uncle! I love thinking about that. It's so comforting to me. I know God is helping us through this. Sometimes I break down, sure, but I know that He is always there comforting me. My husband's loving arms and even his words comfort me daily and I feel so blessed to have him in my life. We are walking a hard road, but we believe that God has a baby for us and that He will show us to that baby in His timing. I no longer feel a weight on my heart while waiting for a child. Of course I want one soon, but I believe, now more than ever, that He will bless us with a child someday.

I've been reading Job lately and it's mind-boggling how, with all his loss, he still fell to the ground and worshipped God. Of course he was sad and cried out, but he never doubted God was in charge and he knew God would get Him through.

Job tried to understand why God would allow these things to happen to him. He wept and wished he was never born. But he never once cursed God and that's what proves his love for and faith in God.
Eliphaz the Temanite said to him: "But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside. The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety." - Job 5:8-11
It's easy for him to say that to Job because he's looking onto Job's life but not sympathizing with him; he's telling him to stay focused on God. Job is upset, but mostly with his life, not with God. Eliphaz and the others don't see the difference.

Then, he cries out to the Lord asking what sins he has committed to be treated this way. He again asks why God allows him to go through this. But he knows God's anger. He knows not to argue with God even if he was innocent. He says "Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty." - Job 9:20

He does feel sorry for himself because he's become the laughing stock of all his friends. He tells those trying to comfort him that they are horrible comforters. They say these things because they aren't in his place. Job replies to them and says "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay his words in your heart." -Job 22: 21-22

Then God spoke to Job and Job knew he was unworthy to question Him. And Job replied that he knew God was worthy and a wonderful God. And the Lord blessed Job with twice as much as he had in the beginning and Job worshiped God and continued to thank Him.

I'm also reading "Holding Onto Hope" by Nancy Guthrie; my good friend, Holly, lent it to me and it's amazing. She talks about her struggle of losing her baby daughter and visits the Book of Job throughout the whole thing. It's been very enlightening.

www.amazon.com/Holding-On-Hope-Pathway-Suffering/dp/1414312962/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345668998&sr=8-1&keywords=holding+onto+hope

In the "about" section they mention that she says that her decision to trust in God is a daily choice, not a onetime sacrifice, and that some days such submission is easier to embody than others. I'm learning this too. I'm trying to follow God closer and more now than I used to.

I have my ups and downs now; some times and days are better than others. I've started babysitting again and it's nice to be around kids that love me. I know God is fully in control of my life as well as Caleb's; and we know that He has a baby in mind for us. We just need to wait on Him and His timing. And we are glad that our daughter isn't hurting and that we will see her again someday in Heaven  :-)

We love you dear Alyssa Michelle. Lord, thank you for giving us our own guardian angel and for having her help us grow closer to You!

Alyssa Michelle

Our precious baby girl got her angel wings and got to meet Jesus early this morning. We were just informed about an hour ago. She was on morphine so she didn't suffer and we are told that the nurses held her and loved on her until Jesus took her into His arms.

July 24, 2012 - August 19, 2012

Dear Lord, please tell our baby girl that we love her. We are so thankful that she didn't have to suffer very long and that you hold her now. We know she is in a much better place now and that we will see her someday! Thank you for all our friends and family who have loved us, prayed for us, and comforted us so much in this time. Please remind Alyssa that we love her and tell her about how much we desired to meet her; but that we know we will meet her when we are all perfect in heaven! Amen.

Hurt and the Healer

A good friend told me about the new song by MercyMe called The Hurt and The Healer. I've listened to it a few times and it has blessed me. Here's the video:

This past week has been a huge roller coaster of emotions. Last Thursday we got the call that there was a baby girl who might be matched with us. We learned of her special needs and I went home to learn more about them. We prayed about it and waited to hear back from the agency. We heard from them Monday morning. That day was a long day, but at the end of it we were waiting to hear back that the birthmom selected us. Tuesday morning we got the call that this baby girl was ours. We left that night for PA. Drove all through the night except for about 2 hours of sleep at a rest stop. About 7am we got a call from the agency again and learned that our baby girl wouldn't make it much longer...

We have been home for a day and a half now and it's different. I longed to be home, but it's painful at the same time. The decorated nursery; the bassinet waiting for a baby in our room; the baby clothes, blankets, and other items we packed and took with us, etc. I've been told that I'm so strong many times by many people over these past few days. Though I really don't feel that way. I've broken down many times; thankfully my husband's loving arms are always there to hold me as well as Jesus'. I feel the love of Him surround me a lot through all this.

I've been wavering back and forth about whether we made the right decision in turning around and coming home. At first (and most of the day Wednesday) I felt it was the right thing to do. Most of yesterday and today I'm feeling guilty of not going because maybe I just didn't want more hurt... Caleb believes that she wouldn't be alive by the time we got there and that would hurt so much more. If she was, there's nothing we could do besides wait by her side (without her knowing what's going on since she's fading fast) and plan her funeral.
The truth is, we believe that this is what God is telling us to do. Our baby is still alive. She is in hospice in a baby hospital now and is in a mostly vegetative state at this point. She's not in pain; but she's not quite home yet.

Caleb and I have been talking about her and God a lot the past few days. The hubby believes that God was testing our faith to see if we would be "crazy" enough to jump. Take a leap of faith and go adopt this baby girl with all her special needs. Jump into this life of raising a baby who may not walk, and might have other problems. We did. He decided that He needed her home more than we needed her here. As much as it hurts, we know that it's all His will. Caleb also believes that God will provide us with another baby soon. Perhaps even a "normal" one with no special needs because He knows we are willing to accept anything He gives us.

Today I've been struggling because I was looking forward to all the challenges that were to come in raising a baby with special needs. I was excited to learn more about her. To do all I could to help her with Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, etc and watch her get a little better. I was eager to bond with her and show her how much we wanted her and loved her.

I pray that Jesus will take her home soon so she doesn't have to suffer at all any longer here on earth. I pray that He will wrap her in His arms and tell her how much we love her and how much we longed to have her in our family. Even though she's not "ours" legally, we feel that she is. We've decided that her name is Alyssa Michelle and that she will always be our child.

I remember last year when a good friend experienced the loss of her own baby, I reminded her of these verses:
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  2 Corinthians 4: 16-18

This is a very comforting to me right now as well. I'm also reminded of a comment my sister told me a few years ago, "When you're feeling further away from God, guess who moved." So convicting and it's helping me to keep focused on Him and not turn away or doubt His plans for our lives.

Please pray for us as we continue to move through this. We thank God for everyone's prayers and feel extremely loved, supported and comforted. Thank you.

Our Baby

Our precious baby girl, Alyssa Michelle, gets to go home, to Jesus. As we were on the way to PA this morning, passing through Abilene, TX, we got a call from the agency worker who spoke with the doctors this morning. 

Our baby isn't able to breathe well anymore, she has lost the ability to swallow, and has some other problems that just came up overnight. We had to make a hard decision this morning for her... Prolong her life artificially with surgery and an iv, etc (which would be more painful for her - and she still probably won't make it through) or make her as comfortable as possible and let her go home to her Father. We decided to keep her as comfortable as possible. Since we haven't signed the papers, nothing is legal. She is still "Baby Girl" at the hospital and is in custody of the state, but we believe she is ours (emotionally at least).

We decided to turn around and go home because it's likely that she won't make it until we get there. If she did, her body would be mostly shut down that we would mostly be up there to say goodbye to her. We feel God is telling us that we need to go home and process through this. We will have the next 3 days together before the hubby goes back to work.

We are almost back home... tired (as we drove nearly through the night except for 2 hours of sleep on the side of the road), sad and yet rejoicing that she will be happy and healthy with Jesus.

We didn't get to meet you here, but we will meet you someday in heaven our dear baby girl! We love you!!

 Please keep us in your prayers as we look to God and move through this. We believe everything happens in His will and timing. Caleb believes that He has a better plan for us and our future child(ren). Even though we can't see it now, we know He will get us through and lead us to our perfect child someday.

Our Profile Book!

Here's our Profile Book  :-)

Adoption Profile

Baby's Room

We have been selected by an agency for a baby girl! We sent our Profile Book to them and are waiting on the birthmom to choose us. If she does, we will be flying to the East Coast to get our baby this week! She's 2 1/2 weeks old and we are hoping we get her.

Please keep us in your prayers as we move through this time eagerly. Pray for peace for our hearts and how we will cover the travel expenses if we go.

I finished the baby's room (just got our crib today from some friends!) and so here's the room:

Corner with shelves and closet (far right)

Baby crib and decorations on the wall  :-)

Changing table and dresser

Another angle of the room

Other corner (with Blaze - he has to be in all my pictures!!)

Walking into the room (Kaylee decided she wanted to be in the picture too!)

Walking into the room  :-)

I also finished our PDF profile book. I'll post it soon!!

Thanks for your prayers!

Both Hands Project

We have just been accepted for a helping grant by Lifesong For Orphans. It's called Both Hands and the way it works is this... We find a widow who's house we can fix up for her. We assemble a team of people to spend one Saturday fixing up her home. These people and other helpers will send out letters to their friends, families and churches asking for sponsorship for them to work on the house. We then fix up the widow's home and all the money raised goes to our Adoption Fund. All donations are made through Lifesong in a Fund set up for us and they are tax-deductible!

To watch a short video and learn more about the Both Hands organization and project, click play:

We have found a widow; my good friend, Judy Valentich, who is a member of our church. She is wheelchair bound and on oxygen, so it's hard for her to get around. We are going to help her by weeding her yard, doing light painting and some cleaning. We haven't finalized the date yet; waiting on the hubby to see what Saturday he can be off work.

Our proposal to everyone is this: if you can paint, do light landscaping, mail letters, help administratively, and/or PRAY, please let me know how you can help! We will need a team of 15+ people to work on that day, as well as volunteers who can help stuff envelopes and get the word out. We will be having an envelope stuffing party in the next few weeks and everyone who comes gets free pizza! I'll keep y'all updated on the dates for the party, mailing letters deadline, and for the actual event fixing up the widow's home!  :)

Please email me at: hurley_adoption@gmx.com  for more information and to let me know how you can help!!

Our God is an AWESOME providing God and we know He will provide all the funds we need when we need them!  :)

Thanks and please keep us in your prayers!

Exciting Monday!

So, this adoption journey has been up and down for the past few months. First we find an agency we might be able to work with; then no such luck. Then we find a birthmom and apply for her and NM doesn't return their phone calls.

However, last Monday; I woke up feeling a bit discouraged about not being able to find an agency or birthmom yet. And so, I prayed. About 10 minutes later, the phone rang. It was a faith-based, non-profit agency here in NM!! They have been so busy and hadn't had a chance to call or email me from when I requested information in early May. Well, she explained to me that they have more birthmoms than adoptive parents right now AND since we have our homestudy done, we can be put on the waiting list as soon as our application is approved! So, I prayed about it. When the hubby got off work that night, we talked about it and prayed about it together and separately the next day. We decided to apply; and since Wednesday was a holiday, we had to wait until Thursday to mail it. Well, I started working on Our Family Profile book (view it by clicking on that link!) that gets shown to potential birthmoms right away and we ordered it last Tuesday. This opportunity seems like a great one; and we are still applying for grants to help finance it!

Today, I went to our PO box to get the mail, and found that we had a package waiting for us behind the counter. I went to get it, and it was our Family Profile book! It's done and looks so great!! Then, I went to my sister's store to get coffee and check my email and found an email from the Agency saying they got our application this morning. It is on the director's desk and we should expect a call in the next couple days. WOW! What an amazing start to the week  :-)

Then, I get another email about a couple of girls in the NM foster care system that we inquired about in May as well and they want to give us some more information about them! So, we are going to be talking with their caseworkers and will see what comes of all this!

So, again, we are back to waiting. But I can see God's hand in the whole thing and I'm excited to see where this all leads!  :-)

Please keep us in your prayers and we will keep you all updated when we know more!!!  :-)

Rummage Sale!

 

(Poster designed by my mom!)

We are having a Rummage Sale for our Adoption Fund. It will be on Saturday, June 30th, so if you are in the area, please stop by! We have LOTS of clothes, shoes, 4 TVs, awesome baked goods and lots more!! ALL the proceeds go to our Adoption Fund so it's a great cause!! Please let everyone you know, know about it!!  :-) 
Thanks so much!!

VBS!!

So it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Worked super hard to get to my next level in Leadership with Avon and.....

I DID IT!!!  I get some bonus money from Avon for moving up as well as making more money overall! I'm so excited and the hubby is proud of me.

VBS is going on this week and it has been so fun (and tiring)!! Spent a lot of time the last few weeks ordering prizes, decorations and figuring out how I was gonna teach. This was my first year teaching and it has been great   :-)   My classroom is the Ancient Laboratory and we are learning about Obeying with the 5th commandment.

Here are some pictures of our classroom (big thanks to my sister, Kristi Krohn; as well as my teacher helper, Kristi Bailey!!):

Our backdrop

(Outlined, then colored with chalk)

Walking into our Laboratory

Books on the walls and our "Lab Coats" hanging

up by the table

Most of the Laboratory

Our Bookshelf and "window"

Our Memory Verse puzzle (that took me awhile;

but the kids love it, so it's worth it!)

Our Rules of the Lab, puzzle and commandment

Tomorrow is the last day of VBS and it has been a blast teaching!! The last 2 years I was a teacher assistant, so it was great to be able to be the teacher this year (with Kristi Bailey as my assistant!)!!

On another note, I'm almost done with our Birthmom profile/scrapbook. I will post it as soon as it's done!!  :-)

Birthday Weekend!

So, very adventurous weekend  haha.
The hubby and I headed up to Albuquerque to get a "new" engine for his Volvo station wagon. It's been dead for over a year now.
On the way, we took a detour through Bosque Del Apache. We pulled over to look at some pretty yellow daisies, and:

 He picked me flowers! Isn't he sweet  :-)

Then, we got to Albuquerque and went to a u-pull junkyard to get an engine cheaper than elsewhere. Spent most of the day Saturday in the hot sun finding all the volvos we could and which engine was still in the best shape. Found the one we wanted and spent about 4 hours getting the engine out of the car. Those volvo makers really like their wires and twisting them ALL around the engine!! It was a hard day, but we got it out and loaded in the truck. That night we got Chinese food from Panda Express (LOVE that place!!) and watched part of a movie on tv. We went to bed at like 9:30 which is early for us! We were so worn out. Got up Sunday and made our way to Santa Fe. Thought about going through the Plaza but all the historic places including most of the shops around the plaza were closed. Oh well, we had fun driving at least. Headed back to Albuquerque and went to the Aquarium. That was fun!

 My favorite: bottlenose dolphins!!

That was a lot of fun! I love oceans and sea-life. We spent a few hours there and then headed south to Ruidoso. We were gonna go from Carrizozo to Ruidoso through Hwy 37 but it was a little blocked:

The smoke from the Little Bear Fire could be seen miles away. It's beautiful and tragic at the same time. I feel bad for the people that have lost homes. The smoke made beautiful pictures:

These are the sun through the smoke. On the bottom left of some of the pics you can see blue - that's the sky, the rest is smoke!

We had dinner in Ruidoso for my bday and stayed the night there. Monday morning, we went to Cloudcroft and stopped by the Railroad Trestle that they've helped refurbish. We both love railroads and the history behind it so it was fun to see. They have some info now and you can look out over a ledge at the Trestle:

Beautiful Trestle!

Part of an old Trestle

We got home Monday and I walked into our house to find this: 

and this:

My brother and mom are so sneaky  ;-)  They came over to feed our pups that morning and decorated the house as well  :)

Well, it was a tiring but fun weekend! Not much more to report on the adoption front. We are still waiting for a birthmother and in the meantime, we are just trying to raise money for the Adoption Fund. Sorry if I'm bugging you all with different fundraisers, I just want to have a variety of options about how you can help us if you'd like to. Thanks so much for all your help!!