A Soliders Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me, angelic in rest. Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve. My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep. In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear. Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow. My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night, A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight. A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old, Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold. Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled, Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear, "Come in this moment, it's freezing out here! Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!" For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right, I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night." "It's my duty to stand at the front of the line, That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me, I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me. My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December," Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers." My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam', And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while, But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile. Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, The red, white, and blue... an American flag. I can live through the cold and the being alone, Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet, I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat. I can carry the weight of killing another, Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.. Who stand at the front against any and all, To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright, Your family is waiting and I'll be all right." "But isn't there something I can do, at the least, "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast? It seems all too little for all that you've done, For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, "Just tell us you love us, and never forget. To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone, To stand your own watch, no matter how long. For when we come home, either standing or dead, To know you remember we fought and we bled. Is payment enough, and with that we will trust, That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN 30th Naval Construction Regiment OIC,

Logistics Cell One Al Taqqadum, Iraq

Pictures from ET!

Tuesday Morning!!! I can not believe we have gotten this far and yet
if not for Pete I don't think I would be posting still!!!! I am not
even able to explain the many emotions that are happening here. Some
one a while back posted the flight as brutal ~ not even close
really!!! I felt like all we did was eat and sit and so 3 meals later
and way to many hours my body was exhausted!!! Did not need sleeping
meds for me the first night. Yesterday was meeting the girls and this
was the most sur-real moment! It really is not something you can
explain when they just come running out to you (some cases handed to
you :)). We were able to spend about 3 hours at the Transition Home
and so many kiddos!! You really can not imagine how this is all set up
and yet if you were to have kids exploding out of a pinyata you MIGHT
have an idea!!! They just seem to be everywhere and you just want to
love on all of them and yet be with your own and they all so want to
be with everyone as well. It was wonderful to tour and see and be
with all of the kiddos!!

I am hoping to post more latter but must do paperwork party for now!!
Will bug Pete later to help me!!! :):)

Savannah, Saubi and Isaiah, we love you and miss you much!!!

"I'm Leavin on a jet plane..."

Well, it's official.  I that's what all this luggage and paperwork and nerves are about!! :):)  We are leaving for Seattle in just a few hours, will over night and leave for DC at 7:30 am.  Then on to Addis on Saturday night ~ still not sure this is real!!!  I have so many emotions (leaving some kiddos here at home and going to get our other kiddos) just praying right now!  Can't wait to post from ET and share this journey with so many of my faithful friends!! Thanks for thinking of us and keep the prayers coming!  We love you guys!   RR 08/05/08 2 Sisters Travel date 11/14/2008

Email Test

We can not get to our blog from ethiopia so this is a test run!  Hopfully it works :):) Jori & Tracy Armstrong RR 08/05/08 2 Sisters www.armstrongs2ethiopia.blogspot.com

Forever Families for the week!!!

Laughner - http://laughners.blogspot.com/

Britton - http://www.brittonadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/

Hammond - http://thewait4you.blogspot.com/

Nunez - http://nunezstory.blogspot.com/

Terwilleger - http://isaacandkathee.blogspot.com/

The above families are in Ethiopia picking up their kiddos and loving on our this week!! Follow along on their journey and hey, maybe even get on board with giving another one love in your own home!! God is Good all the time ~ All the time God is Good!!

And of course now that we can here are some more of our girls!!!! We are coming girls - only 11 more days till departure!! So many things I should be doing!!!

An OFFICIAL day of Emotions!!!!!

This is how my day started:

"Jori & Tracy: Your oldest daughter is so full of love!!! She would leave me for a few minutes and the come right back with more hugs and I gave her lots of kisses for you. At the end when we were leaving, she and I kept kissing and hugging right up to the green gate with promises of seeing each other tomorrow. I told her how much her family loves here and how wonderful they are. The little one is a busy body too and hard to catch on film. I did get a few, but couldn't’t find them last night "

Just to whet your appetite….your girls are amazing!!! So loving and smart!
Was one of the best emails to open!!!

(This is a photo in "real" time! My dear friend Amy is in ET right now and sent me this photo!! Only 1 more way to get more real than this and we will be doing that in 2 weeks and 3 days!!!!)

Followed a little later with this WONDERFUL email as well:

Dear Traveling Family,
Congratulations!

We are happy to announce that you have passed court. With this news we are now able to confirm concrete travel dates. Your group will depart for Ethiopia on November 15th and will return home on November 22nd .

Traveling Families and Preparing to Travel ...

These two very excited mommies are on their way to Ethiopia to pick up their little kiddos as I type! I had the privilege of meeting them both in Portland at the fundraiser just a couple weeks ago so I thought I would post them today! The first is Teresa and they are bringing home 2 girls ~ Well, only baby M has passed court so far because of some paperwork issue but we are all praying they would be able to appeal and move mountains to bring home beautiful E this week as well!!! The second is Amy (Cali girl) and they are bringing home their little Ezana!! He seems to be in pink alot so I just had to get him a shirt to prove how cute boys can be in pink!! (I know, sorry guys! I am sure he will be in blue once at home! :):)) I have not had the opportunity to meet the others in person but I know they are all beyond excited and I love all my "blogger" friends! Praying for safety and Gods-Speed dear friends!

http://www.schmidtcafe.blogspot.com/ Baby boy
http://markredfern.blogspot.com/ Baby Boy
http://lusseadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/ Baby Boy
http://www.yellowblackandwhite.blogspot.com/ 2 girls

We have also confirmed a very wonderful friend of the family IS coming in to stay at the house with our 2 youngest while we are in Ethiopia. A very big blessing to our family and the kiddos will be very spoiled once we return I am sure!!! Thank you so much Beverly and Landon and to their missed partner. We love you Ben ~ Can't wait for you to meet our girls and thanks for lending us your wife!!

Airline travel ~ Can I just say yuck and get it over with!! I have not traveled internationally before and really do not like looking into all the different flights and fees and taxes and yuck, yuck, yuck!! We are trying to book our own and though it seems to be working I would not want to do this very often!

Can you say Travel Dates ...

*** Edit***
Dear Ethiopia Families
Our new tentative date of departure to Ethiopia for your group is November 14th. You will be in Ethiopia for approximately 6 days.

So, change is the name of the game in adoption and we are gonna roll with it (today is a good day!) :):):)

Travel October 25-November 1:
Redfern Wempe Schmidt Lusse VanWetton

Tentative travel November 1:
Laughner Britton Hammond Nunez Terwilleger

Court November 8:Wistrom VanWetten Hutchinson

Tentative travel November 21-28:

Caldwell Juvinall Armstrong

Tentative travel November 30-December 5:

Sloniger Sparr Savage Stager Pridemore Witter

Now, this is only TENTATIVE travel dates. We still have to pass court some time in the next 2 or 3 weeks before we can officially book tickets and such. But still, THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!!!!!

Project Impact = 40K!!!!!

Well, what do I say? First off, I must thank the Van Wettons for their absolutely generous and gracious time and effort to put this weekend together. So many more than we know I am sure were blessed. I just love the love their entire has for our Lord and each other, the servant hood was incredible. Thank you for the stories you shared that have given me courage to get through those tough days ~ I will be calling on you! :):)
I must also thank the Joner family for "putting me up" for the weekend! What a joy it was to share in your life, even if only for a short time. You are a wonderful family and the boys are going to be awesome big brothers!! I love you guys! The sharing of your heart about Julia this weekend will continue to touch many. I am so praying the next time we meet it will be in Ethiopia picking-up our children!! :):)
It was a great time getting to meet so many special people that are on this journey with me. A couple are home and the rest of us that were in attendance all have referral and are waiting to pass court and bring our kiddos home. It was great to talk with Duni in person and see her with her family. Caleb is adorable! It was almost surreal to hear him walking around saying words in Amharic (English will be his second lang.).
I came away a much more enriched person and I love you all!! We must get our kiddos together!!!

P.S. So many boys seems to be in pink girl outfits ~ I had a tshirt made for Amy's little guy!!

Court is in ...

OK, so here is the deal: Please pray for the following families as they are trying to pass court Oct. 8. This will make the kiddos officially their's and they will travel soon to bring them home!! It has been a long court closure season so we are all excited to "get things moving again"!!!

Redferns, Wempe, Wistrom, Schmidt, Van Wetten, Lusse, and Hutchinson!!!!!

Praying for you all to start off this season with a bang and looking foreword to "seeing" your kiddos soon!! :):):)

Where, oh where, has my Duni gone ...

Ethiopia Updates
October 06, 2008
Duni's Transition within America World. Duni Zenaye, Africa Program Director, will be moving to Ethiopia with her family (husband: Abenet and son: Kaleb) to oversee our Ethiopia and Rwanda programs from there. Duni will focus on developing our Ethiopia program to respond to the growing numbers of families pursuing adoption from that country. It was decided that Duni would be the most effective by overseeing the intricacies of the program and the transitional home by being on location in Addis Ababa. Her last day in the corporate office will be the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 26. Duni says "I love working with the families here but I am looking forward to meeting all of them personally as they come to finalize their adoption. I feel that my move will better serve families as I will be able to be in the frontlines of their adoption". Nicole Wiegold, currently working in the China program, will be coming alongside Terra Bailey as Africa Family Coordinator.

Well, I think this will be great on the Ethiopian front lines but we will miss our Duni very much here in the States!!!!

Homeland Security Rocks ...

... because we just received our NEW and UPDATED APPROVAL in the mail!! We were re-fingerprinted on the 12th of this month and sent in an amended home study to raise our age range just 2 weeks prior to that. We asked about it at our appointment and now have in our little hands all we need to bring both our girls home!!! We are so excited for this coveted piece of paper to be received so quickly (we are talking government here people) and now can't wait to just get over there!!

I must give a shout out to those who received ref. in September (so many "little" ones!) and to my most gracious friend who has been on a long road who just received their ref. on Friday for a little guy!!! You know who you are you have traveled this road with so much grace and love ~ you are an inspiration!!

AND I must report that I have the bestest husband in the whole wide world!! I WILL BE GETTING ON A PLANE TO FLY TO PORTLAND FOR THE VAN WETTEN FUNDRAISER IN A WEEK AND A HALF!! I am so super excited to be able to "see" and visit with some other 10+ families (mommies) who are on this journey with us!! Our Africa coordinator will also be there to speak so this will be nothing short of a super, wonderful, awesome fun weekend!! Thank you hunny!!!

I am still trying to comprehend how much our lives are going to change in the next 8 to 10 weeks (Lord willing) and yet it still seems surreal some days that they are actually going to be here to sleep in these beds and mess up this home even more with kid toys!! We are getting closer girls ~ We love you!!!!

Ethiopia Travel Guide ....

It is Official!! We have received our package of information in the mail (email) to guide us to Ethiopian travel!! 15 pages to be exact!! Travel information, travel process, info sheet, visa instructions and of course the famous 3 government papers with extra copies to take with us. Lots of paperwork and so naturally now I am thinking "can I do this" again. I have never traveled internationally before and Savannah is so wanting to stop over in Paris on the way. Hence, the Eiffel tower photo on top. Who knows when we will make such a trip again and I think Paris would be AMAZING but we still don't know about all the details yet so we will be gathering info for now. It is do-able to travel there with a stop in Paris and then a direct flight on the way home so the girls will not have to have travel visas. That is another entire story that I am hoping to not have to go through (and don't really want to according to my YG)!
We are still hoping to be through court the end of October or the beginning of November. Our agency no longer tells families when their court date is so we will just get a call/email one day saying "they are officially yours"!!! Then we can confer with them and will probably travel 2-3 weeks after that date. Their are 7 families right now that are scheduled for court on the 8th of October and then tentative travel dates of the 24/25; then their are about 15 of us that have referrals and do not know our court dates. Our coordinator said 1 group in October and 2 in November and then probably only 1 in December w/ the holidays; we SHOULD be in the November group but remember (as I keep reminding myself) we are dealing with a foreign government and really can only guess for now. The courts do open back up in 2 weeks from now so we all are counting down the days for passing and travel to begin. Praying for MIRACLE October and I already know that no matter what November is going to be crazy!!
We normally do a family Christmas photo in November to send out in our Christmas cards but this year we are totally NOT doing anything like that until we are home with our girls!!

God through 8 year old eyes!

It was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista , CA . He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to 'explain God.' I wonder if any of us could have done as well? [ .... and he had such an assignment, in California , and someone published it, I guess miracles do happen ! ... ]

EXPLANATION OF GOD:

One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.'

God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.' 'God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.

Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista . At least there aren't any who come to our church.

Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.' 'His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.' 'You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God!

Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.

If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.

But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases.

And...that's why I believe in God.'

Week-end Away ...

We were able to have a little time to our selves this week-end. This is something that we try to do as a couple at least twice a year. This was our first time this year! There just seems to be so many changes and things going on and one of the kids having something we need to do that it just kept getting changed. The above is a photo of the place we stayed at. We love it there!! All of the rooms are themed and so you get to choose what setting you want to be in for the evening, all have 2 person tubs, big TVs, some fireplaces, and breakfast delivered to your door at the time you choose in the morning. We love to visit different rooms! We really thought alot about how this will probably be the last time "we" are able to get away for a long time. Not a bad thing just something different we will have to work out.

I don't have much news on the adoption front except to say that courts re-open in about 3 weeks!! Need I say more!! I really am excited to get through court and bring home our girls! Tracy and I did some shopping this week-end as well and now, well we have these cute girl outfits we can't wait to see them in!!! Please continue to pray for all the many families that are waiting in this process with us. We are coming girls, we love you!!

Ethiopian New Year!!

Today is the Ethiopian New Year = Addis Amet and is also referred toas Enkutatash = gift of jewels (Enku is jewel).Enkutatash is celebrated on September 11th. Ethiopia follows theOrthodox Julian calendar (7 years behind the Gregorian calendar) whichconsists of 12 months of 30 days and a 13th month of five or six daysdepending on the leap year. The years run in a four year cycle bearingthe names of the Gospels, Mark (Markos), Mathew (Matheos), Luke(Lukas) and John (Yohannes). A very formal new year's greeting will be"Thanks to God for our making it through the year of X to the year ofY (e.g. from the year of Markos to the year of Matheos).So today is Meskerem 1, 2001 and is the start of spring ending the 3months of the rainy season. All the fields in the high lands of Ethiopia will be filled with the yellow daisies (Meskal flowers) which are typically called "ye Adey Abeba' or "ye Meskal Abeba".

'Enkutatash' - Ethiopian New Year
The Ethiopian New Year falls in September at the end of the big rains. The sun comes out to shine all day long creating an atmosphere of dazzling clarity and fresh clean air. The highlands turn to gold as the Meskel daisies burst out in all their splendour. Ethiopian children clad in brand new clothes dance through the villages giving bouquets of flowers and painted pictures to each household.
September 11th is both New Year's Day and the Feast of St. John the Baptist. The day is called Enkutatash meaning the "gift of jewels." When the famous Queen of Sheba returned from her expensive jaunt to visit King Solomon in Jerusalem, her chiefs welcomed her back by replenishing her treasury with enku or jewels. The spring festival has been celebrated since these early times and as the rains come to their abrupt end, dancing and singing can be heard at every village in the green countryside. After dark on New Year's Eve people light fires outside their houses.
The main religious celebration takes place at the 14th-century Kostete Yohannes church in the city of Gaynt within the Gondar Region. Three days of prayers, psalms, and hymns, sermons, and massive colourful processions mark the advent of the New Year. Closer to Addis Ababa, the Raguel Church, on top of the Entoto Mountain north of the city, has the largest and most spectacular religious celebration. But Enkutatash is not exclusively a religious holiday, and the little girls singing and dancing in pretty new dresses among the flowers in the fields convey the message of springtime and renewed life. Today's Enkutatash is also the season for exchanging formal New Year greetings and cards among the urban sophisticated in lieu of the traditional bouquet of flowers.

We Got an Update!!

Today marks 1 month of waiting since our referral call and it just so happens that today we got our 1st update on the girls!! We received new photo's and though I can't share them with you just yet ... you know I am going to say they are absolutely adorable!!!
B is a sweet child, who is a little bit reserved. She is friendly, easy and obedient. T... now she is the wild, funny, and entertaining one! Neither of the girls speak English ...
So, I guess we are in for a treat with both of them ... and how do I correct a non-English speaking Ethiopian child in Target? I have told many of you, you will be getting phone calls from me very regularly for the first 6 months 'cause I am pretty sure I can't go out alone with everyone!! :):) Tell me you will bring me milk, eggs and such ... Well, mostly my White Chocolate Carmel Mocha!!!! What blessing I just wanted to share with you all!!!

Photo Fix ...

I must say today was a great day and I am very happy to say I got a photo fix, from a dear friend, in the mail today!! I was so excited we just put it in the computer and told it to print all before we even viewed all the pictures! :):) It is SO SO wonderful to "see" the girls in outfits we sent them and holding goodies from us ~ I love to look at the pictures and see the many different personalities coming out!! Some are together, some are not and some are with some friends!! It is a joy to see them with friends and yet, is it time yet Lord? I know the answer is no right now and it maybe for about the next 3 months but I know our day will come!!!
We also had a good weekend of bowling, park and fair!! Bowling ... I beat my husband both games! The park is always good and we wore-out everyone with tag! The fair ... what can I say but the kids liked bigger rides this year and yep, I ate to much!! :):) I love the fair because you get to see so many people and walk around and visit with them all! It was a all-in-all good weekend!!

Moving Foreward ...

Well, a couple things to update on today but I first want to post part of an email from our dear friend and soldier who is in Iraq on his 2 tour.

Dear friends ...loss of a great soldier and personal friend of mine ... please uplift family and friends ... pray for our battalion and the soldiers who took direct action ... pushing foreword. Please remember our loves ones fighting still and pray for them daily!! Ben, We miss you much and love you lots!! Praying you home!!

This little post was from a friend of mine and I just had to share .. so very true!!

Natural Child: Any child who is not artificial.

Real Parent: Any parent who is not imaginary.

Your Own Child: Any child who is not someone else's child.

Adopted Child: A natural child, with a real parent, who is all my own.

--- Rita Laws, PhD

Alas ~ there were 3 more infant boy referrals (click on Slonigers or Stagers or Pridemore on the left) and we are all so happy !!! So good to see movement and to hear of more kiddos being united with their forever families!! God is so good!! Just a side note: This would have officially moved us up to the top 10 on the list!

We also we able to get a couple more photo's of our girls from families that were just there - our oldest is wearing the outfit we sent her! Such a blessing to see them in their culture and playing with the others kiddos waiting for all us parents to come get them!!! It does my heart good knowing they are being loved on and kept safe! We are still hoping and praying for court the end of October or early November and then travel about 3 weeks after that. Come on miracle October!! :):)

We have all made it through the first full week of school and nothing major yet!! Gotta love that! Pre-school starts next week - and piano- and I think basketball is just the week after. Hmmm ... more crazy-ness to pass the time 'cause you know once we get home this fall, we are home for awhile!!

Good Waiting Food ???

…Coca-Cola-flavored batter. He then drizzles Coke fountain syrup on it. The fried Coke is topped with whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a cherry. Gonzales said the fried Coke came about just from thinking aloud.

...deep fried snickers and not to be out done ... deep fried Ore's!!!

Well, I am pretty sure none of these should be eaten they are good "prego" and "adopting" foods!! Assuming we don't die from them before we get our kiddos!! It has still been pretty emotional with our yahoo group (YG) lately as we are all feeling the court closures and the waiting for our referrals and court dates. Keep praying and we will "see" you all again soon!! In the meantime if you are headed to the fair ... enjoy!!! :):)

Changes ...

Well, I have been waiting to post till I am emotionally feeling better but hey, this seems to be where I am right now so this is it. Both of the girls started with new schools this week and I am thinking that may be some of this "bleak" feeling. They have been at the same school since kindergarten and so a big change for both of them and well, I think Savannah said it best so far. "Mom, I'm not to nervous about going to a new school it's just that I am afraid I will be forgotten at the old one." So new friends will come in and yet how does she hold on to the past ones that she is use to seeing everyday for the past 10 years? Life is changing so very much right now for all of us. My little guy will start pre-K school next week for about 3 hours 4 days a week - Hmmm ... more changes to come. (Mental note ~ I must get some work done and not blog all morning while I am alone! I will work, I will work, I will work! :))
I am also praying and waiting (not so patiently) for some families that were in ET last week to send us some photo's of our girls. I am still processing this "how can I miss someone I have never met/never touched/never talked to etc. so very much?! I am also trying to use the "Have they been tested for AIDS" question as a educational opportunity, thus I don't get offended when "they" ask. Like, I could just say yes they have and walk away - I want to some times - but I must tell them their are many with HIV in orphanages that are adoptable and will live just fine here with our medical care. I don't feel obligated to tell them the status of our girls and we are not even dealing with that issue - I just want for them ALL to be loved and so many people need to wake-up to that. I have now heard the "that is wonderful & there needs to be more people like you" phrase enough to now think about some responses to engage people in that conversation.
And I think I must mention that a family in our YG received a referral for a little girl the end of July and she became ill. She was admitted to the hospital in ET (so hard not to be with your child) and has since passed away. I can not even begin to imagine the pain and loss this family is going through so I will not try but I would ask for you to pray for them. (Our Lord knows them by name)
This being said I would also ask that you continue to pray for the many kiddos waiting for the courts to re-open in October so they may be joined with their forever families. Praying for health and food and safety. We are praying through these many changes in our lives and making arrangements for our girls to come home (who gets what rooms) and yet everyday we are missing them.

My "funny" God ...

Well, I just have to share a little incite from my week. On Monday was registration for Saubi at a new school and so while there I decided no time like the present to ask about school for our girl coming that will speak Amharic. I give them the low-down and get sent to the "special" table and tell them ... Um, we have ESL classes. They would place her by her age and what grade she should be in and she would go to ESL classes for 1/2 the day and then regular classroom for the rest of the day. OK, I at least have some information to process at this point. (Our little school is actually pretty well graded for one-on-one basis.)
We then are heading out to the pool for some family fun and guess who is there? A young lady with 4 black children. Now, I know she is really to young to have adopted them and yet I could not help but to ask how they fit together. (I know, I know. Curiosity killed the cat:):)) Her mother is the ESL teacher at another elementary school close by and this family lives only a couple doors down from her house. She said they all just fell in love with these kids and she is getting her Masters for ESL training as well. WHAT??? How can all this be happening right now? The entire family was sponsored and brought over from Swaziland by a local church. They have been here just over a year and spoke English very well and all attend school. Now, I just had to finally ask What is ESL? (Well, I couldn't just keep going on if this is something that I obviously need to know about!:)) English as a Second Language. OK, makes since now.
Then, go home and to bed. Tuesday morning we are running to town and my oldest has a Christmas present (yes, I said Christmas) she needs to deliver. It is a older lady (wonderful mentor) that took to my daughter while helping her in school and she has a husband with pretty bad Alzheimer's. So, I have alot to do, hurry up and I will wait in the car with your sister and brother. She goes in and out comes the husband ... you can't sit in the car, come on in and have some ice cream. Great, You know it was a no brain-er now that the kids heard ice cream. In we all go and start to visit. I really am just trying to be polite and hurry things along when she asks how the adoption is going? Now, the Lord is just telling to be still and sit with them. OK, we start to talk about our girls and she says: ya know, my daughter teaches ESL. WHAT?? OK, OK I am sitting and listening Lord. It is her daughter that her grand daughter was talking with me about at the pool the night before. Can this really be? This present was suppose to be delivered 8 months ago and yet again, we were just were God wanted us to be in His timing. She was wonderful and said to call when we get home with the girls and she and her daughter will come visit with them and she can help me with some communication stuff. She even said, there are going to be bad days and honey you call me and I will come and you can just cry and we will work through it.
I am, yet again, amazed at the Lords timing in my life!! I am also trying to "be still and listen" more. Keeping talking Lord, I am learning!!

Settling In ...

Well, the close family knows and we are working on telling everyone else we see now! I ran into 2 people in town today that I know and when they asked the infamous "how is the adoption going" question ... I was so excited to tell them ~ We have 2 daughters!! Very, very amazing!

I also just wanted to give a shout out to "my" wonderful YG. They are the most awesome people! It was so so good to talk with a few of you this week and share with you. Some are still waiting and some have kiddos but we are all in this together and it is just such an awesome feeling to actually "hear" that support and encouragement on the other end of the line. You all rock!! This inspired the sign posted at the beginning of this post ~ I love you guys! Thanks for sharing in this journey with me and keeping me sane with the "daily chats"! ( I know we only admit to about half of our stalking !!) :):)

There are many families waiting right now and many kid's at the transitional home in ET waiting for them ~ The ET courts are now officially closed for the next 60 days and so I would ask that you continue to pray for all that are just looking at pictures and kiddos that are just waiting for us. Hopefully MUCH will be accomplished in October when the courts re-open and then we are outta here to go get our girls!! Thank you so much for keeping up with us and joining us along this journey!!

Grieving With Hope

If you missed the interview with Steven Curtis Chapman (I did) I just wanted to share this link to watch it here. Be sure to grab a tissue ~ You will need it. Please continue to pray for them through their healing. http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5524419

TODAYS THE DAY!! :):) WE ARE 7!!!

At 7:55 this morning ~ I was so not prepared ~ It was Duni's voice I heard on the other end of the line!!

Hello?

Hi, is this Jori?

Yes.

This is Duni.

Hi Duni. Welcome home!

Thanks! I think I might have a referral for you.

What?

A 2 year old and a 7 year old sisters.

What?

You get the idea! I was thinking we are not even in the top 10! I was so not expecting this! How can it be that I was not even thinking about this happening right now! Now you must know that Tracy and I were just talking about 2 weeks ago ~while Duni was in ET (I was emailing her just to touch base about our desire for 2) ~ that she could be seeing and loving on our kiddos right now! It was the first and only time that our Lord has laid it on my heart and was such a calming feeling!! I just can not believe how amazing and wonderful HE is right now! So many things that line up together and yet again, I was not even ready for it to be Duni's voice on the other end! Why am I amazed at HIS sense of humor?!

So, OK. I did remember to say: Now this is the time that everyone says OK in shock and then has a million questions when they hang up. So can you tell me what I need to know? I then had to say I will call you back after I call my husband. OK? OK. Called my hubby and then tried to call Duni back ~ alot of times. Well, she was by then giving out the Juvinalls referral and then on to stuff for conference call and then by the time that was over it something was up with her computer so, needless to say, we officially got photos and info. about 2 hours ago!!! 2 girls!!! I went shopping last night and just got home from UPS to overnight to the Cox's so that they can take our girls a package on Friday when they fly to ET to pick up their Wesley!! A crazy busy day!!! Thank you Lord!!! So I am sure I will think of more later but for now ... we are 7!!!!

Post from AW Blog

Ethiopia Updates
July 31, 2008
Recent Referrals for Ethiopia
America World received 10 referrals of children between the ages of 0-5 years for the month of July from Ethiopia. Below are the DTE of the families who received referrals this month:
Referrals on July 21, 2008DTE: 11/21/07- Infant Boy 12/7/07- Infant Boy 12/7/08- Infant Boy 12/21/07- Infant Boy 1/25/08- Infant Boy 1/25/08- Infant Boy
Referrals on July 29, 2008DTE: 1/25/08- Infant Boy 10/19/07- Infant Girl
Based on the new referrals, the wait time for an infant boy is 5-7 months while the wait time for an infant or toddler girl is 7-9 months. The wait time for siblings under 7 is 5-9 months.

This is great news in that we are either (probably infant boy) and siblings as well, COME ON REFERRALS!!!! :):) I am starting to get very excitted!!

Birthdays ~ Family ~ & Coke cans

So, once again, I'm behind. I check my YG everyday and I read lots of other blogs everyday but to get to my blog everyday ... just isn't happening! So the first photo is of the family at the park with Monica and Steve on their first trip home from the heart hospital since April. It was great to see them and get to spend some time with them with the entire family. They have also been released from the Dr. to be able to come home and go to work so ~ we will see how things go at first before they make any more decisions. He still does not qualify for a heart trans. at this point but can be on the heart pump indefinitely if need be so, once again, taking it one day at a time. They are trying to get home and go from there!

"Vanna just turned 15 this last weekend and hence the photo of "some" of them just talking on the stairs. It was a good (LONG ~ SLEEPLESS) weekend - Oh to be young again! There was BBQ, movies, bowling, water, mall shopping, and food (and food, and food!) Who says teen-age girls don't like to eat? They require lots of food to giggle so much!!

AND ALAS ~ I told you I would find ET Coke-cola cans!! "Vanna and I had been checking all the stores when we go anywhere and found one at a gas station!! Yea!! I wish it was more close-up but hey, can mess with that later. It was fun to find the cans!

Adoption ~ Hmmm! Three families have passed court this last week and are leaving on the 8th of Aug. to go get their kiddos!! There are 4 families that are praying to pass today and then they could travel later in Aug. The more the merrier! So good to see them be able to go get their kids and not have to wait till courts re-open in Oct. We are hoping still for Sept. but ... waiting on the Lords timing. I have emailed with our coordinator (while she was in ET) and she is fully aware of our situation and seems to be positive with our expectations. I do know of 1 family that declined a ref. because it was for 1 infant and they totally feel led to have 2 ~ OK Lord, give me the strength to follow and not act on my emotions at the time. Also, please be praying for the families waiting for girls ~ they are Oct. families and the waiting is getting LONG!! I have a friend that is waiting for a toddler ref. from Oct. as well, pray for paperwork to progress and that the families would be matched as God already has them planned!!!

5 months and about 18 !!!!

Well, I really wanted to have a picture of us with the new Olympic coca cola Ethiopian can but ... I purchased 4 for $10 and then opened them to get out 5 for our photo and they are all the same!! So I have now oped all 4 12 packs and have 1 USA and 3 Thailand! I can not believe they are not assorted! So, if you know me very well, you know I do not give up easy. I have now been to 3 grocery stores, popping in the handle portion on the package and looking through them for Ethiopia!! Yep, that's me in the isles stacking all the coke up and caring that people are walking by wondering "what in the world"? Hey, I got this idea in my head so gotta figure it out. I am actually thinking that I will be heading to our local coke plant and seeing if I can just buy from them there. (I know, some you smart people already thought of that in the beginning!) So for now I am posting a picture of the 5 of us as we are now ~ can't wait for there to be more!! It has been 5 months of waiting and actually we are about # 18 in line for referral ~ I can't believe that we are actually in the teens!! Now if you break it down by requests we about #9 for either gender (pretty sure we would get a boy) and for siblings we are about # 5 or 6!!!! I am staring to think this is really going to happen!!! Now the courts will be closing in about 3 weeks till the 2 week of October so even if we do get our referral say Sept. or Oct. the courts will be back logged and we have to pass court before we can even travel ~ meaning it could be January or February before we are able to bring them home. We just ask that you keep praying and that we will be at peace with "HIS will!!'

There are many families trying to pass court right now before the closure and our Ethiopian coordinator, Duni, is in ET right now doing all she can to get as many as possible through the system. PLEASE pray for them as they obviously do no want to have to look at a picture all summer and not have there children with them.

God is good and we are praising HIM !!!

Steve & Monica

FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2008 09:33 AM, CDT
"HE FASHIONS HEARTS INDIVIDUALLY" Psalm 33:15
As I was sitting next to my sweet husband in church last weekend, we were praying about healing. It was a phenomenal healing service. Pastor Wendell from Seattle is a powerful evangelist. God gave Steve a "word" (or 3 if you are counting). "THERE IS MORE". He wrote it down at the top of his notebook. We didn't understand the full impact of those words until yesterday. James 5 : 14-15 "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up"Steve and I always pray for discernment and wisdom. Even more since we have had some major decisions to make. Many times in conversation, we have both stated that we didn't feel that God was leading us to a transplant, at least not right now. We both wanted to be sure that this wasn't just our living in fear of a major open heart surgery. So in my prayer time with God, I asked him to take away any fear that the enemy might try to throw at us and allow us to have a clear word from HIM. We had not met with our surgeon since we were released from the hospital. Every week, we meet with the mechanical heart engineers. They mentioned several times that the goal was to get the pulmonary pressures tested and as soon as they are down, get Steve on the transplant list. Steve and I would leave and talk about how we felt that we needed to not rush into that. For me, it might have been a bit of selfishness, in that, I wanted for us to get home to Boise so we could get back to some normalcy, and spend time with Trevor, and regroup before we headed into yet another major surgery. Was this God's will, or Monica's will?? I really needed to pray hard about this because I didn't want to leave a minute too soon to be sure that Steve had recovered enough to really go home. Our answer came yesterday, as we sat in the office with Dr. Icenogle. The first words to come out of his mouth were "So, when are you going to go home and go back to work?" He is very happy with how well Steve is doing. (we are at the gym nearly every day). He went on to say that we need to get his pulmonary pressures checked (the plan is to do that is Sept). The next sentence was hard to hear... "With the type of antibodies that you have, and because of the way your body responded to the transfusions that you had during and after surgery, the chances of us transplanting you is 3%." We sat in silence for a few minutes just trying to soak all of it in. He went on to explain all of it, and how we could try to "wash" Steve's blood, but there's a huge possibility that the "memory" in his cells will again react negatively. 3%.... well.... I guess the morning that Peter woke up before he met Jesus outside of the boat and walked on water... he probably would have thought he had a 0% chance of that happening. But, it happened. It wasn't until Peter started looking around at the storm around him that he started to sink. The lesson in that, is that we have to keep focused on HIM. They tell us that the heart pump can last for around 3 - 5 years, and it can be replaced. The blessing in this is..... had we gone ahead with a transplant a month and 1/2 ago, his body would most likely have rejected the heart. Thank You God!!! The other blessing is that... our surgeon and the 2 engineers who were in the room with us yesterday are all believers. Dr. Ice says, we just have to keep praying. In our devotions we read about a woman in a nursing home who asked a visiting pastor to pray for her. She then asked the pastor "would you help me out of this wheelchair?" He was startled, but he did as she asked. She took a few steps and then started running and jumping till the whole building heard her. Later in his car the pastor looked up and said, "Lord, don't ever do that to me again!" The Bible says, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick." So, why are we surprised when HE does? Thank you for your continued prayers. We get to go home soon... and be with Trevor, and our church, and our own bed. God answers prayers. We don't understand where He is taking us sometimes, but "BLESS THE LORD, OH MY SOUL"... He NEVER leaves us!!! And we all know that: "THERE IS MORE"!!Be Blessed,Love Coach and Mon

Well, above is the email from Monica today. Good news they are coming home right? I just can't help but feel emotional for them right now, I'm not sure exactly why. Healing is happening with Steve and we are all glad that he will be home and they will have some sort of "normalcy" as they say; so why the sadness? I guess I was just praying for complete healing meaning a transplant and yet why do I think he is any thing but complete now? If our Lord says he is complete as is then who am I to question?! So, I guess we are moving on and going to be welcoming them home soon! We love you guys and have missed you!

I also want to ask for prayers for our kiddos in ET. We have no information on them, we have never met them, we have never seen them but oh how my heart is hurting for them so much right now. I don't know the circumstances but please just pray (as for all the "least of these"). We are hoping to be hearing something in Sept. or maybe Oct. We will of course let you know ASAP!!!

Saubi ~ Church Camp

Well, It's official! Her first time at camp for a week and without mom! Here is Saubriannah with her best friend on the first day of camp right after check-in. She was a little nervous at first and then we got there and with over 200 3,4,and5 graders she was thrilled. (Mom, was OK :( Happy to be seeing her grow into a young lady learning more of our Lord and yet, Where is my little girl? So just had to put in a note for this event in her life!

Still in the "waiting line" for our ET kiddos. We have booth at our local town carnival this week-end to sell some baby blankets hopefully and so will let you know how that goes as well. AND Monica and Steve will be here for 2 days! This is the first time he has been away from the Dr. in Spokane and we are very excited to see them both. The kids will be very happy to be able to see them and touch them and really know that Steve is doing OK. It has been since this all began in April since they have seen him so we are excited to get to spend some time with them ~ and cousin Trevor!!

4th of July Week~End

Well, it was a few days of fun and work! We went to lay some concrete work in front of this cabin and yep, that part was definately work! It was the reason that we got to go though, so worth it! Got away for about 4 days with-out my husband's cell phone working ... those of you who know his cell phone you know how happy I was!!! :):) THEY got play in the river some (it was pretty cold so I was on shore!). We had fun at a local swimming pool and just so you know this was not like camping! We stayed in a log motel with a kitchenette and the pool was at a gold resort. Pretty cool considering the little "town" it is in is like stepping back in time! I did go on the river rafting trip and we had a BLAST!! It was great family time! Saubi got to steer for a minute and Isaiah had his own Yahoo-strap to hold on too!! Just a photo of us all afterwards cause you know, no camera on the rafting boat! :):)

4th of July 2008

Fourth of July: We were out of town for a work/family week end this year! There was a great fireworks display and yet I was so reminded of the "hero's" that provide this freedom for us! We have a great and wonderful friend who is currently on his second tour there and I could not help but think of him continually as the fireworks were going off. So Thank you to all before you (my husband included!) and to you now for standing firm for our country! We love you and miss you! Be safe!!

It also made me think and wonder as my kids were loving them and in awe what would next bring at this time? Our kids from ET will not know this tradition and really not a connection with it (for a while anyway). What will "As American as apple pie" mean to them? Probably nothing, and what does it mean to us anyway?? :):) I just want them to feel safe and loved and know that we are all a part of our Lord and Savior's family! There could be nothing greater!

America World Blog

Ethiopia Updates
June 27, 2008
Ethiopia Program
10 referrals of children ranging from 0-10 were made in the month of June.
The family who recently received an infant girl referral had a DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia) of October 15 2007.The family who recently received an infant boy referral had a DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia) of November 21 2007.
Based on the new referrals the wait time for an infant girl and infant boy as well as toddlers is currently 7-9 months.
32 children have come home with their adoptive families in 2008. America World families have received 35 referrals since January of this year. 7 of these children were from the Waiting Children list.

Kids Views

Well, I made it home from Spokane and 'Vanna made it home from camp and just in time for a week of VBS!!! Oh, God is funny sometimes! I need some sleep! I must admit that part of this is my own doing: not os much sleep over the weekend with my sister-n-law and good friend! Hey, come on, we all have kids and husband and like NEVER go anywhere without one or the other!! So, given the opportunity to have 2 nights of sleep-over well, we had some major girl talk to do! We had visits on the back patio with BBQ, lunch at a cute little lake view place, a walk around the lake, and late night talks. Ya, we had some great late night talks. It is amazing where we all are and have been in our walks and how we each can grow from another. And, of course, the young'ens can have a sleep over and still be up at the crack of dawn. I need sleep!!

Adoption: Hmmm, best estimate is about 24 and so ... still waiting! :):) The Coxs and Moles received a court date finally for 7/15 so keep praying for them and the next travel group is getting ready to head out on 7/05 so pray for travel safety for them. There are still about 7 or 8 families waiting for court dates, hoepfully before the closure around Aug. 8th. Pray that MOWA is able to accomplish much before this closure happens because less now is even more for back-log when they open in October which will make it even a longer wait for us to bring home our kiddos! Much to pray about!!

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.
'If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,
'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,
'Ryan, you be Jesus!'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A father was at the beach with his children
when the four-year-old son ran up to him,
grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore
where a seagull lay dead in the sand.
' Daddy, what happened to him?' the son asked.
'He died and went to Heaven,' the Dad replied.
The boy thought a moment and then said,
'Did God throw him back down?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, once again, I am way behind on my own blog! I have been able to read about 20 of the blogs I enjoy today, done the dishes, finished up all the laundry, mowed yesterday and am watering today. Does any of that really matter to you? Not really, but it does to someone here I hope. Savannah got home from Portland on Thursday afternoon last week and then left again Monday morning for church camp for the week. I am leaving on Friday morning for Spokane to see Monica and Steve for the weekend: He is really doing wonderful at this point. I get to fly with one of my bestest friends and so will spend alot of time with girl talk! I so need that. Relationships are such a special thing (most of the time!) and yet require so much work and time. I know that I really do not keep up with some as much as I should and then where does all the time go when all of a sudden I haven't talked with someone in a month or two!! So please know I think of you often and no I am not mad at you and you did not do anything wrong when you have not heard from me for awhile, I am just being a bad friend!! :):)

I don't have much news of the adoption front for us. BUT the Tennants have received a toddler boy referral and the Gibson's passed court and are now waiting to travel with the Raymers and Ords!!! God is so good! There are also about 7 families right now waiting to pass court before the closures so that they can travel to get their kiddos!! Please continue to pray for the many steps in this process. We are about 25 to 28 in line right now and so still have a way to go but ... well, one day! I also found this on T-shirts and Onsies and so HAD to share it today!

Sorry Angelina

I am taken!

It is from the CafePress website on my blog roll and I LOVE THIS SITE!!! I could get into trouble. They have so many things for adoption and by country and for moms/dads/aunts/uncles/brothers/sisters/ and on. Check out this site!!

Malachi 3:3 Refine me, Oh Lord

Food for thought today:
Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.' This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.' If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Well, I just can't seem to keep up with my own blog because I a to busy living life and then reading everyone elses! I know, I know! I just can't help but read and keep up to date on my "adopted" friends. Some have received referrals ~ Ducommun; Cox; Moles; Wempe; and Redferns: please keep them in prayer for a quick and successful court date! the Gibsons, Raymers, and Ords are waiting to pass court on the 06/07 ~ praying they pass the first time! These will all hopefully be able to go get their kiddos before the court closure begins in August. The West, Cordells, Kidds, Shaetz, and Gardners are all leaving this Saturday (the 7th) to go get their kids!!!!! Praying for safe travel and smooth transition in ET!!! These are my fellow laborer's in Christ in this journey we are on ~ I love you all!!!

The above is what we have been doing! We still have our friends here and you can see that Isaiah and Landon have had some great bonding!! They are pretty cute together. They go and go and go and then (at last) SLEEP!!!! YEA, mommy needs some sleep sometimes too!

I wanted to share this information with you all to maybe better understand the process (though this does not make it any easier!) once we finally get to this stage.

The Court Process: After a family accepts their referral, some final papers are gathered. The file is then submitted to court once a court date is issued, reps submit the file to MOWA at least 7 days before the court date. Then AWAA informs the family of when a court date has been set.The Court's role is to finalize the adoption- either by granting it, not approving it (rare), or by requesting more information to allow them to grant the adoption. At the court hearing, the court handles things like relinquishment and establishment of the child as an orphan. They review MOWA's opinion and make a ruling on the adoption. Once they rule in favor of the adoption, the child is legally yours.MOWA's role is to investigate the child and family, and decide if the adoption should be granted. MOWA takes the file, reviews the paperwork, and issues an opinion (favorable or unfavorable) about granting the adoption, or requests more information. The opinion is usually issued the day before the court date, although due to recent power outages and internal changes in MOWA, there has been some hold up of late.

Steve update ~ Surgery was 05/20/08

Thought I would put in a note here for those of you still praying for Steve. They are both hanging in! Praying you home, We love you both!

Wed. May 28,2008
365 feet, one step at a time. That's how many steps Coach was able to take last night. Any of you who know him well, know that he is NOT a quitter. He is quite the overachiever, in fact. So, last night was his first night on the 6th floor after surgery. I had been sleeping next to him on a cot every night prior to his surgery, so I figured once we returned to the 6th floor, it would be the same. Not quite. You see, he is still in a lot of pain. He can't sleep in one position for long. The nausea is unbearable at times, and his coumadin levels are high right now. Last night at one point, I leaned forward to help him, and he had gauze shoved up his nose because he was bleeding (they are working on the levels). His lasix intake is high, because they are still trying to get some of the water off of him. From the waist up, he looks like he has lost about 20 lbs. However, because of his split sternum, he needed help getting his legs into bed because he had to guard his torso. He was looking for me to help raise his legs up into bed in a nice smooth manner... didn't happen. He kind of gave me the "what happened" look.... I nicely explained that he was sportin' about 20 extra lbs. of water in those legs, and nothing was happenin' smoothly at this point. WE LAUGH A LOT THROUGH ALL OF THIS!! I left the hospital this morning, after about only an hour of sleep. I went to my brother-in-law's house to climb into the bed that I call "mine" for right now. My sister-in -law, Katie, has been so gracious through all of this. She brings me healthy food, and walks with me, and lets me talk about "stuff". Our devotions today, were from Romans 12:2 .".Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." Frankly, my attitude stunk this morning. It's on days like today, that I have to make a conscious effort to change my attitude. I am competitive, and I don't like it when I allow Satan to control my thoughts. So, I had to get out of "isolation" today... and enjoy the sunshine and some alone time with God. Our I.V. therapy nurse has become such a terrific friend. She has invited Steve and I up to her home for a "date night" once he is discharged. She said something profound to me today. She said... Monica... Steve's needs are great right now... he is NOT your patient... he is your Husband. Let us meet his needs here... you meet his needs emotionally and physically. Wow! why hadn't I thought of that? God brought "Suzie" to us about 3 days after we arrived in Spokane. She just returned from a mission trip in El Salvador. She is an angel. God just keeps bringing them to us. Through the nurses, through the doctor's, and through all of you. Thank you for standing in the gap for us on days like today, when, at times, we don't even have the strength to draw our swords. We love you.... and we continue with victory. Our blessings are abundant!Love, Mon

Shots and Rain!

Let the shots begin! So this is my daughter and I with the first set of shots before we can go. This was a grand thing not only because it feels like we are doing something but also because Savannah HATES needles!! I was so proud of her!! Tracy will get his from the VA office so that will save us a little money. Saubi is all current on her shots and even has the HepA already; I thought this was a good thing but she was not happy that everyone got a shot but her. Go figure! So we will have another shot next month and then again in about 5 months from now. This will put us about November and I am hoping to have some very excellent news by that time!! Oh please Lord!

AND it is raining in ET today! Thank you lord!! You are good, all the time; all the time you are good!!

We have some very wonderful friends that we are blessed with. Right Beverly and Landon (16 months) are visiting us for a couple of weeks; daddy is in Iraq again. So I just thought I would share a couple of pictures with you all. They are a blessing to have around!!