March Photos

Kieran & Marisa posing for staged Easter photos on Saturday morning.  

Wrestling with Daddy.  (Mike has lost over 30 pounds since January!)

 Our beautiful Marisa trying out her new umbrella.  

The kids got an Easter basket on Sunday morning.
The jump ropes were their favorite.

After about 30 tries, this was the best we could do.
Time to give up and go have something to eat!

Marisa Turns Three!!!

Our daughter is three now!  She keeps getting more beautiful as the years go by. 

The balloons were THE highlight of the day for all the kids.  We could have skipped most of the other party activities and they would have been content with balloons.  I love this age of simplicity!

Marisa got to open gifts throughout the day.  What a cutie!

We went to the mall to ride the carousel for the first time.  I was anticipating a melt down from somebody.  Ended up, I was dizzy for about 15 minutes.  Everybody else was fine.  :)

Marisa wanted cupcakes for her birthday.
We had low-fat chocolate ones and full of buttery goodness vanilla ones.
Everyone seemed to like the chocolate ones best.  

Pictured here: Mommy, big brother Kieran, Marisa & cousin Haley.
The birthday girl got another penguin!  (This one is a night light.)  Marisa loves penguins!

Like I said, the kids LOVED the balloons.  Each kiddo got to hold the number of balloons that matched their age.  (Kieran had 5 balloons.)

Happy birthday, sweet girl!  We are so blessed to have you in our family.  (February 2013)

February 2011...one year old. (Just arrived home from China a month ago.)

February 2012...two years old.

February 2013...three years old.  She's sweet, funny, quiet, creative, industrious, and a pure joy.

Officially in Line!

Our dossier was sent to Ethiopia on February 8, 2013. It arrived in country on February 13. So, we are now officially in line waiting for a referral! We are requesting an infant girl, 0 to 18 months old. The current wait time for an infant referral is 24 to 30 months. We are anticipating that our wait time will be longer than that. Although I'd rather not go through another long season of waiting, I keep reminding myself that if we don't get in line we will never get a referral. As we've seen with both our son and our daughter, the wait is worth it! As we receive updates about our wait, we will be sure to post them here on our blog. Thank you for your prayers for our future daughter.

A Field Trip

Our dossier has been sent to our adoption agency...it should be arriving in Ethiopia in February!! We'll keep you posted.

Time for a field trip.  We recently visited the museum of flight; it was a fun time for all of us.  Last time we were there, Kieran was just two.  We enjoyed revisiting parts of the museum that we saw with him three years ago.  It was also a special day to make new memories, this time as a family of four. Kieran's favorite part of the museum was seeing the large jets outside.  Marisa's favorite part was eating mac & cheese at the cafe and the hot air balloon.

Where Does My Help Come From?

I wrote this post below a few months ago.  For some reason, I never finished it.  However, it seems  appropriate to share it today as we've finally reached the end of our paper chase.  This morning, I decided to go to the UPS store and get all our papers photocopied in case our USCIS document came today.  I felt like it was close to arriving.  I spent the day going over our dossier paper work and making sure everything was in order.  Then, the mail arrived and with it our long awaited document from the USCIS!  God is so good to us.  He is with us every step of the way as we journey through life.

I took this picture around the time our home study was completed.  I decided to add it to this post because it is a reminder to me that the whole journey of adoption is so much bigger than me.  There are many things in this process that are out of our control.  The delays often seem to be man made.  But having completed two adoptions, we've seen how the timing is nothing short of miraculous.  God holds our times in His hands.  As I look at this picture of the sky, a favorite verse of mine comes to mind:

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth."

Psalm 121:1 - 2

It's easy to get overwhelmed by the paper work, the long wait, the complications that are a part of adoption, but our help comes from the LORD, and He made all we can see.  It's not too hard for Him.  He makes all things beautiful in His time.