Happy Birthday Jesus Party!

Drewie had a Happy Birthday Jesus party at preschool earlier this month. He was so proud of the little ornament that he made!

The funniest part was the kids gathered together to sing a song and Drew was obviously upset. His teacher asked him what was wrong. He pointed to another boy in his class and said, "I want one of those!" It was a tie!! :)

Later I asked him why he wanted a tie, thinking maybe because Daddy wears one everyday to work. His answer surprised me. He said because he wanted everyone to call him... Mr. Drewie Tie! What a silly boy. He keeps me laughing!

Feed the Orphan

Today the kids and I were shopping at a local boutique and I ran into the above. I squealed! The lady working there stared. :)

I knew about these candles because a sweet friend of mine from college's family owns the company. She and her husband have a heart for adoption and the orphan and adopted a son from Russia about 1 year ago. Wanting to do more they designed this candle. Buy this candle and feed an orphan for a week! It was so exciting to see them in little Waukee, Iowa! What a wonderful gift idea. Sorry I didn't see these before Christmas. The candle smells wonderful too. Included inside is a story about an orphan that you can use for a bookmark. A great way to keep the orphan on your mind... I don't need help with that right now. :)

They have a great video on their website that you must watch! Even better that my friend's dad and brother are on the video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0p0Lwcxrh0

Dancing for the King

Callie dances at a wonderful dance studio in West Des Moines, and this is her hard at work at a Christmas program they put on in the mall earlier this month. Love their sweatshirts!

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family,

I wanted to give you all a quick update of our lives for the past year. So, without further ado...

Mark began this year with a practice change. He's now in a group practice, HALLELUJAH!! It's gone very well, and he likes his new partners a lot. We're enjoying seeing him more! He enjoyed going to not one but two bowl games this year (Fiesta and Orange). He also enjoyed watching Hawkeye football with season tickets, though they were a bit disappointing this year. He also enjoyed more wakeboarding and surfing this summer at the lake.

I spent more time at home this year, for which I am so grateful. The kids grow and change so quickly and I so enjoy watching them. I continued my work as medical director of a free clinic in Waukee and have seen it grow quickly. It's been very rewarding. I also continue to be on the school board of our older 2's school and have enjoyed getting to know more about the school. My most time intensive "job" this year has been paperchasing for the adoption of our fourth child. We began the process in May of this year, and are currently on a waiting list for a referral. Adoption is definitely not for the faint of heart, and God is teaching me patience above all. We made the waitlist at #58 on November 24th. I think, at this point at least, that I am not going to check our number monthly. We'll see if I can keep to that! :)

Callie is 9 and working hard in the 3rd grade. This year has definitely required more of her academically, but she is getting it! And we are so proud of her diligence. She is dancing this year with 3 good friends, and plans on repeating at softball. She tried that for the first time last spring, and really enjoyed it. She has such a sensitive spirit, and we've so enjoyed watching her blossom. She loves her brothers dearly, and is so excited for a new brother or sister (though she'd be the first to tell you she dearly hopes it's a sister - NO MORE BOYS!!) :)

Carson is 6 and loving kindergarten. He is learning to read and loves Bible time at school the best. He played football this fall and can't wait to play again. He also started taekwondo this spring and liked that. Carson is full of joy. He wakes up with a smile and is rarely anything but happy. Carson asked Jesus into his heart this fall, and it has been so exciting to watch his love for Jesus grow.

Drew is 4 and in preschool 3 mornings a week. He has grown and changed so much this year. He has missed Carson this fall so much, that transition has been hard for him. The boys have become much closer this year which is such an answer to prayer! Drew's motto is, "I can do anything my sister and brother can do." Physically he really does keep up! His speech has improved so much, and he's so funny. Today he told me "Mom, I'm a pistol." And he's right! He keeps me on my toes.

This year we have been reminded of the brevity of this life and of the eternity that we have to look forward to! Love to you all!! May the Lord bless you richly as you grow in the knowledge of Him in 2011.

Adoption

So, as you can tell from my first posts being 2 years ago, I'm not too good at this! But, I will try harder... and definitely have more to post about right now. :)

As the title states, and most of you already know, we are adopting!! We've been on the journey for about 6 months now. We sent in our initial paperwork to our agency in May of this year to adopt from Ethiopia. Right now we are waiting for our favorable determination letter from USCIS so that we can officially begin "the wait." At this time the wait is about 6-9 months once we are officially on the wait list to our referral. Then waiting for court and then waiting for an embassy appointment. All that to say, hopefully home with our fourth child by Christmas 2011!! We will be on the list for a child (boy or girl) from 0-3 years. Can't wait!!

The journey is definitely full of paperwork, hurry, wait, hurry, wait, wait, wait, wait... my patience is definitely being refined!! Our kids are so excited and ask every few weeks, "are we still doing this?" I know it seems so slow to them!!

In the meantime, we are busy. 2 special boys have birthdays this month - 6, and 4. And a trip to Colorado for Thanksgiving is sure to make the month fly by. Add to that a little wrestling, a little dance, a few meetings, conferences, and free clinic and we'll be at Christmas before we know it! :) I can't wait, it's my all time fav!

Well, enough of this post. Coming back soon, for a book review, some things I've learned, and some cool people I've met!

Erin