After the Airport

I was reeled in to read this excellent, but-will-not-give-you-warm-fuzzies blog post a few weeks ago when a friend posted one sentence from it:

You cannot just be into adoption to adopt; you have to be into parenting.

Another Adoption Update

Two updates in one week!

FIRST, I found out that the changes that needed to be finished in order to keep moving along have happened already. So, praise God for that!

Please, please, please continue praying for the kids to receive the approvals needed to move to the next step. We are so close to the end, but I am keenly aware that we are in a spiritual battle and the enemy of God (Satan) will do anything he can right down to the end to create problems.

SECOND, I have an update (we get fundraising updates every Thursday):

We're at $6,615

WOO HOO!! Praise God again! And THANKS for the generosity from a few of you who are reading this right now. :)

Thanks for praying for us!

Quite the Pair

. . . are Abram & Greysen.They love wearing Brady's football helmet.And Greysen put all of this - except the shirt/pads - on himself. The boys are quite the football fans these days!

They act more like brothers than cousins . . . so it makes me curious how it will go adding a third boy!

Adoption Update

Time for an adoption update . . .

I can't post the details of exactly where we are at in the process, but we are hopefully within 4-6 weeks. I would ask that you please pray:

1) For some changes to be finished this week.

2) That some very important approvals are received in the next couple weeks.

3) For patience & grace while we wait. We are so ready for our kids to be home! (That would be an understatement.)

THANK YOU to those of you who are praying for us. We are relying on God - through your prayers and our prayers - to see us through to the end.

Also, we are in the process of raising $10,000 for the remainder of our adoption. I can't post the details of why we now need to raise support, but would be happy to send you a letter with the details if you email me. We sent support letters to many friends and family a month ago explaining the details and asking for financial and prayer support.

The great news is that we are HALF WAY THERE! Praise God! And thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who have generously given money to help three orphans be orphans no longer.

We are still in need of around $5,000. We set September 30th as the date to have the money raised by (although money will still be accepted after that date). Perhaps this will be a reminder to some who received our letter and are planning to give. Or maybe you didn't receive our letter but God is leading you to give.

We are raising the money we need through Lifesong for Orphans. Checks can be made payable to Lifesong for Orphans with "Lee/#2238 adoption" in the memo line and sent to:

Lifesong for Orphans

PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford St

Gridley, IL 61744

I will try to keep the blog updated with where our financial support is at in the next couple weeks. So many of you have supported us in a number of ways and we are incredibly grateful! This adoption has been a dive off of a cliff into greater dependence on God (and we are really just getting started!). We look forward to how He will provide for our needs. He is faithful!

Texas Trip

Since it will be several years before our soon-to-be family of six will be ready for a 15-hour road trip, we decided to fly to Texas over Labor Day weekend to see Abram's birth family. We had an incredibly wonderful time. We love them all so much!

And thanks to their permission, I am posting pictures from our trip. A lot of pictures. Don't say I didn't warn you! I should have probably done a few different posts, but this is easier. :)

Abram did great on the plane rides - thankfully!We went to dinner with Tia Leti, Mimo and Abram's brother the first night.

The boys had fun playing "swords" with their silverware!

And then had fun playing in the park.


Little brother . . . big brother.


Going to look at the horse.
Saying goodnight.

Jason taught the boys a hand-shake (stolen from Bobby & Owen Scott!) to do together.

On Saturday morning we met them at a different park for a walk (for Lupus) Leti was doing with her co-workers. But, before walking, the boys enjoyed donuts together!
Abram getting some brotherly advice.
Saturday night we met them - plus Amber and Leti's husband, Richard - for dinner. This time the boys had fun throwing sugar packets. They were laughing so hard!

Abram with his Momma Amber.
With Uncle Richard

God blessed Abram with two moms!
As we were all sitting around the table Mimo said, "This is a dream come true."We agreed. It was a dream come true for us, too.
Love this one!

We were going to go to a park after dinner, but a storm was rolling in so we called it a night and planned to see them the next day.
On Sunday we met Tia Leti and Mimo at the mall because it was raining outside. Uncle Richard told Tia Leti to let Abram pick out a book at the bookstore. After picking up and looking at several, he found a Thomas the Train book and said, "This is mine." Here they are on their way to pay for his book.
And reading his book.Then we went to McDonalds so the boys could play at Playland. The boys did what brothers do: they played and shared nuggets for dinner.Mimo and her grandsons.Abram may have stolen some of his Tia Leti's sweet tea. Pretty sure he stole her heart a long time ago!

Abram and Jason came up with a new game while we were there: Texas T-Ball. Just put a ball on top of a cactus and swing!

What is a vacation without Starbucks?!On Monday afternoon, we had the great blessing of getting to meet Abram's great-grandma, Grandma-Fina (as they all call her).

Priceless.And Abram got to see his big sister.

Abram's brother gave Abram two of his toys - a train and a giraffe. How sweet is that?!

There was a lot of soccer playing in the back yard. First with Tia Leti.Then with his brother.
Even Mimo got in on the action.

And so did his sister.

Leti and Amber's cousin, Jacky, also spent the afternoon with us.

The soccer fans looking on!

More fun with Uncle Richard.

Getting to simply hang out at Grandma-Fina's house with all the family - and meeting several new family members - was a priceless blessing.

Saying goodbye to Grandma-Fina.

Then we drove to a park to eat pizza and let the kids to run around and play.

During our time in the park Abram's brother said, "This was a good family day." None of us could have said it better!

Hanging out with Uncle Richard.

Tia Leti in action!

Feeding the ducks & fish.
Jacky's son came with us, too.
Abram with Jacky.
Leti and I were picture-taking-partners-in-crime!

And then . . . ahem, the time came to have to say good-bye. The worst part of the whole trip. It was not without a lot of tears.

God blessed our time with them beyond belief. Our time with them was wonderful, fun, enjoyable, meaningful and memorable. But, it was also painful and heart-wrenching to have to say goodbye - even more so for them, I am sure. The loss and grief that adoption is built upon doesn't go away after you leave the hospital. It creeps in at birthdays, holidays and other times . . . like having a wonderful reunion Abram's birth family.

But, this is adoption.

And it is worth it.