First Day

So, you know how your parents used to take obnoxious pictures of you on your first day of school? You know...where you're awkwardly posed in front of your door holding your backpack and lunch bag?

Yeah...I did that to Mike today:

Happy first day of work, honey!

...and you can totally be mad at me for this post later. I deserve it.

One Year Old!

I can't believe this day is actually here. Kad's first birthday! Through our adoption process, even before our referral, we kept praying, "Lord, if its your will, we would love to have our child home for their first birthday." And, here it is...a tangible, real, amazing, answered prayer.

With our entire family and all of our friends in Indiana, we had a small little "party" for him here at home...just the three of us. He still gets pretty overwhelmed with lots of people and lots of attention, so it was actually PERFECT! We had cupcakes, baloons, gifts shipped to him from his grandparents, and lots of smiles and giggles. I consider that a birthday success!

He was a little hesitant with the cupcake at first:

But it didn't take long before he went in face first:

Happy first birthday, Kad! We are so blessed to be your parents and to have the opportunity to celebrate this milestone with you home!

Football

Our first Sunday in Washington, and it wouldn't be complete without watching football! Of course...we're cheering for a new team:

(...but if you can keep a secret, we're still closet Colts fans!)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Hello Washington!

We've officially been Washington residents for four days, and we're slowly getting used to our new home. We expected lots of rain, but it has been beautiful every single day!

We've been told that its still summer here and the "great gray blanket" will appear over the area soon. For now we'll be enjoying views like this:

...and this:

Its been a lot of fun to explore our new area before Mike has to start work on Monday. I have a feeling Pike Market will be a favorite of mine!

Even Kad is amazed at this fresh seafood!

I know its going to take a while before Washington feels like "home", but we're off to a good start!

Goodbye Indiana

It has been an exciting, exhausting, emotional couple of weeks. Its so hard to say goodbye to our friends and family. This life we have in Indiana is safe and comfortable...but those are two adjectives we said that we never want to use to describe our life.

We're not called to safe and comfortable.

We're called to live in the center of God's will for our life...and that rarely means living within a fifty mile radius of "safe" and "comfortable". The peace in knowing that makes these goodbyes sting a little less...well, that and knowing that we'll be back soon for Christmas :)

For now, our house is packed up. Mike is somewhere on an interstate in Montana. My dear friends Jen and Mary are coming over soon with coffee and muffins. The movers will be here this morning for our car, and my mom will be here this afternoon to pick up Kad and I for a night in Brazil before we fly out from Indy in the morning.

So thankful for the encouragement, prayers and support from so many of you. This will be my last blog post from Indiana...we're Washington bound in the morning!

Our New Adventure

...no we're not adopting again (yet)! But, WE'RE MOVING! Not down the street, or even across town. We're moving 1,875 miles away to WASHINGTON STATE!!

This news might be shocking considering we just got home with our first child and are far from "settled" (...but should we ever really strive for feeling "settled"?). But, we know without a doubt that this is exactly what God has planned for our family and we're so excited to see what He has waiting for us in our new hometown of Seattle, Washington.

To fill you in a bit on the backstory, Mike has always felt like God has more in store for him than working day in and day out at Toyota. He always said, "I wish I could do exactly what I do at Toyota (logistics), but instead of arranging transportation of parts for cars, I wish I could arrange transportation of aide to those who need it." Well...in January of this year, he was informed about a job to do just that. It wasn't the right time AT ALL since we were in the middle of our adoption and our life was essentially on lockdown, but we both felt God nudging us to find out more. So in March, after a series of phone conversations, Mike flew to Federal Way, WA to meet with the team at WorldVision.

If you're not familiar with WorldVision, they are a Christian humanitarian relief organization, and they are AMAZING at what they do, and their mission aligns perfectly with the passion of our family:

"...to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice, and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God."

It is, in every sense, Mike's dream job!

Well..he got an offer and they told him that they would be willing to hold the position for him until our adoption was final and we were able to relocate. Not only that, but all of these months that we have struggled with the uncertainties of Kad's health, they have been lifting our family and our little boy up in prayer every step of the way. They have truly been a blessing to us without even having met us yet.

While it was a difficult decision to go, and we will miss our family and friends so much that it hurts, we know with complete certainty that we HAVE to do this. So, Mike will be packing up the van and making the three day drive from Indiana to Washington in a couple weeks, and Kad and I will be flying out to join him on September 19th.

Its going to be a BUSY two weeks, and we would appreciate your prayers and support as we make this exciting (but difficult) transition. We're so excited to see what God has planned for our little family next....

Praying them all home

I had the opportunity to spend time with many families as they traveled to Ethiopia to meet their kids for the first time, and I follow-up with each and every one of them through message boards, blogs, emails & phone calls. Most of these families, with loving homes and longing hearts, are STILL waiting to bring their kids home and I pray for them every day to get that long waited phone call saying, "you've been cleared to travel".

And, then there's "Baby Boy K" that I was blessed to meet in Ethiopia after one of my adoption friends received his referral. I got to take his picture and hold him and whisper in his ear "you have a mom and dad who love you, and they'll be here soon". I'm so looking forward to the day when I hear that family share news that they have a court date and get to meet their sweet little boy.

And, last by certainly not least, one of my dearest friends is hanging onto hope that soon she will get the news that she will meet her three waiting children in Ethiopia for the first time. These kids know that they have a family who loves them, but there's a vague, open ended timeline on when they will be held in their mama's arms and smothered with kisses. I pray for her adoption as fervently as I prayed for my own, and I ache for the day when I'm standing in the airport welcoming them home just as she was for me.

Today two of my adoption friends, Megan & Mike and Courtney & Bob, will be flying to Ethiopia to pick up their sweet babies (Baby Boy "K" and Baby Girl "A"). We all started this adventure within weeks of one another, and have been supporting and encouraging each other every step of the way. I couldn't be happier that they're finally bringing their little one's home, and praying more families get the same good news soon.