Get to write some CHECKS

I have gotten so much done this week. On Monday, we got the email with the application, medical forms to be filled out, reference information, etc. Within 2 days, I was able to get Jarett and myself to the doctors office and they filled out the forms while being examined. I got all the information completed. We went today to get our fingerprints done for the background check. Here in Arizona, we have to go to court to get certified to adopt. So we also paid those fees and signed those papers.

I am in shock as to how fast this is all going. I know at some point we will slow down a lot and will be waiting but I definitely didn't think this fast.

Sometimes I think that I am waiting for the ball to fall and hit me. Like...what was I thinking with falling in love with a little girl and trying to adopt her. I usually don't think about the glass being half full but this is happening so fast and there has been so much support from family and friends - there has to be something wrong, right? Maybe this is Satan putting these thoughts in my head. Nothing usually goes as smooth as this part has so I am a little leery.

On a side note, I had a friend today say she wants to go to Africa with me on one of the trips. Woo Hoo! I will have a buddy!!!! I am actually excited if she ends up going because then I can show off how awesome Ghana is!! :)

So now, we are almost ready for our home visit. I think everything is turned in but who knows if I have forgotten anything. I can't wait for that visit because we really like and admire our social worker. Plus it will be great for her to see how well everyone is doing. That's the exciting part for someone to see how we started and now she gets to see how we do this again!!

Overwhelming Support

I can not believe the overwhelming support we have had so far. As Christians, we (Jarett and I) hate to ask for help other than to ask God. I think it has shown that God is completely in the middle of this whole thing. I have had so many people tell us they would rather give us a donation than buy a candle. I love Gold Canyon Candles and I thought at least people are getting something good for their money. Even my principal is so excited that his wife is ordering. My sister came up with an idea to do a garage sale. Wow-It is amazing! I just know that God is totally going to provide us with everything to bring Deborah home. This has been happening so fast - but I am glad since D is going to be turning 13 in October.

I am excited to be able to visit Ghana again. I am already getting my shopping list ready. I hope I can meet the social worker there to give her pictures and show them how awesome the twins are doing. I know they would be happy. I can't wait to post her picture, when she is legally ours. She is so beautiful. She has a different type of beauty than Rita and Racheal. She looks like an angel. Seriously, I am not just saying that! :)

Table for 8

I am thinking of changing our blog's title to "Table for 8". As I have been thinking of changing the title, just because we are going to be a family of 8 someday. There is a small story that helped me to come up with this new title.

About 6 months after the girls came home, we bought a kitchen table from one of my mom's friends. It just so happens to fit 8 people. I remember one time when we were sitting at the table and there was an empty chair. I immediately said to everyone, "There's an empty chair. I wonder what that means". Of course, Jarett politely said, "It means we have an extra chair for when the children have a friend over". I laughed and then added, "We should just adopt another child so we can be an even number and then all the chairs will be filled". The boys chimed in and said "Yes, we should get another boy, so it's even". It was a funny conversation. I didn't really think we would be in this situation again, with adopting another child. I was/am so comfortable and satisfied with the family we have now. I think that's what makes this such a "God" story. We have closed this door before, but for some reason God opened our hearts to it. I am so thankful and grateful that He did.

We got to talk to D Saturday morning and just hearing her voice and seeing the happiness and excitement on the childrens' face was AMAZING! R and R were so excited to talk to her. It was like they were nervous but excited at the same time. I can't wait for the day, they get to hug her. I think I will be a sobbing mess on that day. I just know that bringing these 3 back together again is what God wants us to do. When I heard D's sweet voice, it completely confirmed we are doing this and this is THE RIGHT decision for us.

On a side note, one of our special family friends moved to China about 2 months ago for a year. Well, they sold their Expedition to us right as they were leaving the country. This car is huge and seats 8 people. Who would have known that this car is exactly what we needed. I am tell you. . . . . this is a God story.

We are on our Way!!

We started our first fund raiser today....Gold Canyon Candles. The kids are involved and helping out by asking their teachers and adults they know. It was so cute that Karson came to me tonight and said, "Mom, I sold 5 candles". I love it! I love the fact that he is so involved and the smile on his face knowing he is helping is so worth it! Kaiden is tomorrow and now it's a competition. Each child is taking a day. It's really cool to listen to them talk about this and refer to helping to being home D. We need to raise about $2000 for this very first part of the process. I think if we can get that then we can do the rest as time goes on.

I pulled out all of our adoption paperwork last night. OMW! I forgot all the things we did and all the paperwork we did to adopt the twins. It's like having a baby....you forget all the weight gain, swelling, heartburn and delivery. With the adoption....you forget all the fingerprinting, home visits, paper chasing, mailing, and delivery. I do have to say the delivery is the best part of both!!!!

I want so badly to meet D and give her a big hug! I know this is going to be a long process so God is definitely going to need to work on our patience.

New.... News for our Family

We have some exciting news to share. It feels a little weird to share, but at the same time exciting! We are beginning the process to adopt Rita and Racheal's sister. This is her biological sister. She is 12 years old and living in a foster home right now. R and R have talked about D for such a long time. We feel like we know her already. The story on how this came about is so amazing.

This is how the story goes:

Back in March we were forwarded an email from a gentlemen from Ghana. He was writing about how R and R's sisters (yes there are two of them) were placed in a foster home. The foster home they are in, is what we would call an orphanage. In the email, it stated their great grandmother had passed away. She was the caregiver for all the girls. A question was asked at the end of the email about adopting them. Jarett and I read the email a couple of times but did not feel the moved to do anything. So we closed that door.

Five months later, I get an email from a friend (Jennine) asking me what R and R's older sister's name was. I emailed her back with the name....D. She emailed right back and said "call me". I knew something was up so I called her. After playing phone tag, she told me that she knew of a mother who was trying to find D's twin sisters. This mother went to Ghana and has a picture of her. I remember Jennine asking me "Would you ever consider adopting her". My immediate response was "No".

Later that night, Jennine emailed the picture of D. My first thought was "OMW she is gorgeous!" She looked just like the twins but had a different beauty to her. I showed Jarett the picture of her and told him what had happened with the emails and etc. We both still felt like we couldn't adopt her.

A couple of days passed and I got in contact with the mother who shared the picture. I asked her questions about D. She told me the story of when she was in Ghana in March and the last two days of her trip, she went to this orphanage/foster home to check on a child that was being adopted by someone else. She remembers D walking through the door and just standing in the door way. She remembers thinking how gorgeous she was. Well, this mother went back about a month ago, and D was still there. She was asking this mother about the twins and if she knew who adopted them. There was a sadness to her when she talked about missing them.

I shared the story with Jarett. We still thought there was no way we could do this. We are just getting to where we are paying things in cash and working really hard to get our debt paid off (Thanks to Dave Ramsey).

The more I spoke with the mother about D the more I felt the need to pray about it. So I began to pray. I prayed if this was His will then our hearts need to be changed so we could love her. Slowing both of our hearts were being changed. I remember telling my mom about this and telling her how scared I felt about it. It wasn't the type of scared feeling like I didn't want to do it but it was the "God" type of fear. The fear I felt was like ...just trust me and it will work out.

A couple of days passed by and Jarett and I were still talking about it. We didn't know how this was going to work and how we were going to pay for it. I showed the picture of D to R and R. I gave them their own copy of the picture. It was so amazing to watch their expression and happiness to see the picture. I told them that someone had met their sister and wanted to share a picture of her. The next day, the girls asked us if we were going to adopt her. We told them we were praying about it so we didn't know yet if this is what God wants our family to do.

Well, about a week ago, both of our hearts changed and we felt it heavy on our hearts to go forward with it.

Now, remember I said there were 2 sisters in Ghana. They have a half sister. Her name is A and she is 6 years old. We have a picture of both D and A standing together. A doesn't look like the girls at all. She does look very sweet and beautiful but if you saw D - you could tell she was their sister. We did pray about both of them but we just don't feel the pull toward A. We feel it very strongly towards D. I talked to R and R but they didn't know about A and they don't know her at all. They do know and remember D. I do pray for some family to adopt A and then we can keep in contact with them. I don't feel like A and D are that close with a relationship. I maybe wrong but that's just what I feel.

So this amazing God story has begun and now it's time to begin this process. We have contacted our social worker to update our home study and begin to get our dossie (not sure if I spelled that correctly) ready. This part is going to take a while because we need to redo our fingerprints and go to court here in our county.

This is our unplanned pregnancy! We were shocked at first, but now we are excited and ready to begin to prepare. I do have to stay - I hope I don't gain weight with this pregnancy!!!

On a side note, I probably need to change our blog title. Any suggestions...??? I was thinking....Eight is Enough. LOL