Josh, Candace & Cole

We're BAAAaaaack

2011-06-24T01:51:00.001-04:00

It's only taken us a mere six and a half weeks late to announce "WE'RE HOME!". To say it's been a whirlwind of a month and a half would be an understatement. But are happy to say that things are going really well now and that we have settled in to our new normal! We know we're way behind on keeping you updated on everything, but we promise we have lots of posts coming. :) In the meantime, here are some cute Lillian pictures to hold you over....

Lillian is not the same girl we met in March. To watch her personality transform has been nothing short of amazing.

She is such a happy, funny, smart and sweet little girl.

And she absolutely ADORES her big brother Cole. And to see Cole fall in love with his lil sis over the past six weeks has been absolutely precious. These two are just too cute together.

So yeah....we're back. We can't wait to update our blog and share with you all that we have learned and experienced in the last month and a half as a family of four!

Boarding

2011-05-01T20:13:00.000-04:00

In a half hour my mom and I will board our plane to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! This past Thursday we got the much-anticipated “you’re cleared to travel” call from our agency, and on Tuesday we have our embassy appointment. We arrive in Addis on Monday evening, fill out some paperwork, unpack our things then [attempt to] sleep for the night before waking up early the next morning to pick up Lillian and immediately head to the US Embassy for our appointment. What a first day that will be!

My stomach has been in knots for the past two weeks. I felt emotionally sandwiched between how far we’ve come in the last year and a half and the even greater adventure that is about to begin. Waiting for embassy clearance was definitely the hardest part our adoption journey so far, especially because we knew Lillian was legally our daughter but she was an ocean away. I am thanking God for His grace and for all of the prayers and encouragement from our family and friends.

Right now I’m just relieved to be in the terminal. Our check-in process was pretty much a nightmare. I honestly can’t believe it worked out the way it did except for the fact that God was working out all of the details.

The drama began at the check-in desk when they asked to weigh our carry-on suitcases. Ugh-oh. I knew for a fact mine was over the limit, but I honestly hadn’t worried about it because last time they didn’t weight our carry-ons. The limit was 8 kilos (turns out mine weighed 16 kilos and my mom’s weighed 14 kilos). The desk worker said we could either take stuff out to bring down the weight OR check them for an additional $250 each (totaling $500). Um, no. So I brought all of our luggage over to the side and began furiously ripping things out of the duffel bags (bras and underwear a flyin’) that I didn’t absolutely have to bring (not worth the $500, thank you very much) so that I could transfer some contents of our carry-ons into them.

Meanwhile, my mom called my dad so that he could come back and take the stuff we weren’t able to bring back with him. So finally after about 15 minutes we had worked out the correct weights and had left about 20 lbs of stuff with my dad. We got back up to the counter only for more bad news: the weights were fine but my carry-on suitcase was too wide. I almost threw up. (This was the “TSA carry-on approved” piece I had paid a pretty penny for at Target because it doubled as a computer case and I knew it would be perfect for when we traveled back with Lillian, mind you.) I didn’t have much of a choice, so I made up my mind to put my computer in the diaper bag I had packed for Lillian and just leave my precious carry-on suitcase with my dad in order to avoid a $250 fee. So after reopening luggage and rearranging things yet again, we waited for our turn.

It was pretty much a miracle that we got the desk lady that we did because she was literally an angel. I honestly wasn’t even going to try to convince her to change the decision, but at that moment I realized I would really be “stuck” on the way back because I wouldn’t have anything to carry my computer in, and she must have seen the distressed look on my face. If I could have kissed that woman I would have, because she asked to see my original carry-on (oh and in the meantime, my dad had packed that 20 lbs of stuff we weren’t going to take inside of it), weighed it and then whispered that she would check it and waive the fee. “I love you” was what I said to her. Seriously, that woman was an angel. So after an hour of all that, we ended up being able to bring every single thing (except for a box of granola bars) that we had originally packed. Thank you God!!! Please let that be the biggest complication of our trip this week (hahahah)!!!!

Well, I have just a few more minutes till boarding, so I better wrap this up. Thank you again for all of your prayers for our travels. Please especially pray for Lillian’s sweet little mind and heart – this is going to be very scary for her, and it will be hard to see her in distress. Please also pray for her physically – just last week we got word she had the stomach flu, and I know that all of this stress coupled with new germs she will encounter is not going to be easy on her system.

Goodbye! We love you!

Our Attachment Plan - Part Two

2011-04-15T22:45:00.001-04:00

Wow -- it is quite amazing to look back and reflect on the many adoption milestones passed in the last year and three months time -- only by God's grace. But despite all of the to-do's that were checked off, we know the real adventure is just beginning. We are Lillian's appointed Daddy and Mommy, and we are so thankful to the Lord for entrusting her to our care and look forward to the many years ahead that we will have together as a family. To get us started in the right direction and because of reasons mentioned in our last post we will be doing an intensive attachment plan for the critical first six weeks (known in the adoption world as "cocooning.")

"By cocooning your family, you will also be minimizing your own stress (by not spending time running around), you will be able to focus more attention on your family, you will be familiarizing your child with his new home and life and getting him into a schedule, and you will be promoting attachment and bonding."

(Source found here)

Without further ado, here is our attachment plan:

In order for Lillian to clearly recognize our family unit, we will not be welcoming visitors at first. We want to limit her need for taking in new faces on a regular basis, which would be overwhelming and distracting. (We aren't sure how long this phase will last, but we'll just evaluate things as we go.)
Josh and I will be the only people to hold Lillian for the first six weeks.
Lillian will be held in our Ergo carrier or sling as much as possible, and preferably by holding her facing in. Our goal is for her to be in our arms for six hours a day or more.
We are trying to establish ourselves as her primary caretakers, so Josh and I will be the only ones to provide for the four most basic care-taking functions: feeding, changing, bathing and putting to sleep.
Josh is blessed with an awesome employer and will be taking off a couple of weeks for adoption leave in the beginning, and will also get another couple of weeks off a month or so later.
We will try to keep our family of four together as much as possible during this time. Depending on Cole's needs we may let him spend time at a friend's house and have special Daddy or Mommy time (we know this is going to be a huge transition for him too!), but for the most part we want to stay together and focus on doing things as a unit like reading books, taking walks and interactive type of play.
Lillian will sleep in our room, and depending on her needs it may be in a pack 'n play next to our bed or co-sleeping in our bed.
We realize that every cry signals a need. We will respond to all of her cries and will not let her "cry it out" in order for her to learn that she can trust us to meet her needs.
We will keep her environment calm and simple as possible. We do not want to overwhelm her with lots of new toys or distractions, instead we will focus on bonding activities such as eye contact, massaging her with lotion and interactive play (peekaboo, finger plays, etc).
We will greatly limit our time online and on the phone, especially during her wake-time hours.
Our lives will slow down as much as possible so we can give Lillian a very dependable routine.
We will establish a daily routine that Lillian (and Cole) will feel secure in. Having a predictable daily routine for your child will help them feel settled and “at home” more quickly.
We will keep Lillian at home for the first six weeks, with the exception of doctors visits and any other critical appointments. "Newly adopted children also get overwhelmed easily. Running errands that are 'no big deal' for us, such as a quick trip to the grocery store, can be hugely overstimulating and overwhelming to a child." (Source found here)
We do not plan to put Lillian in the church nursery because of the similarity between that and the institutional environment she has lived in until now. She may end up staying with us in the church service until she's two years old and ready for children's church. We will evaluate her needs as we go.
We do plan on inviting family and friends to the airport when we return from Ethiopia to welcome Lillian home before we head into our six week "cocoon." (We know it will probably be overwhelming for her, so we will keep Lillian in the Ergo carrier with me the whole time.) Soooo excited to celebrate her homecoming with everyone!

(For those of you who are researching attachment and bonding issues, we will include a list of our favorite resources and links at the bottom of this post.)

We have made the decision for me to return to Ethiopia to bring Lillian home with my mom instead of with Josh. We chose this option for a number of reasons, but mainly because we prefer that we both don't leave Cole two times in a row and also to save financially. We are excited about the added benefit of having my mom get the opportunity to experience her new granddaughter's birth country and culture! Some may wonder how this trip will work in with our attachment plan, and the basic truth is that my mom is 100% in support of our attachment plan and will be there to help me as I take care of Lillian. I will be the primary caretaker for Lillian and will try to follow our plan as best as possible. But we also know that we will be in survival mode until we're actually home, so if I need to bend things I will absolutely do just that. :) Our adoption doctor, who is obviously not in favor of any babies watching TV, even recommended bringing some kids dvd's for the plane ride just to get by (Baby Einsteins are already packed...as is the liquid Benadryl :).)

So that is our plan. We will be focusing on redeeming the time with our daughter, on healing her heart and knitting all of our hearts together as a family. Like we mentioned previously, it is our plan for now -- if we get her home and in a couple weeks we realize we need to tweak something (in either direction) we will do so. Some may think our cocooning phase sounds excessive (which I'm sure will exhaust us at times, and we are trusting in the Lord for His strength and hoping to have your prayers and support along the way!), but we have never ever heard of a family who has done this and regretted it.

To all of our wonderful family and friends who have supported us on this entire journey, we thank you. Thank you for being excited for us in January 2010 when we were accepted into our agency's program and began the journey to our daughter. Thank you for praying for us and for blessing us financially to help bring her home. Thank you for sharing in our anxiousness as we waited month after month for our referral. And thank you for screaming with us in excitement on December 16, 2010 when we saw Lillian Yado's face for the first time and again on the day we passed court and she officially became a Jones. This whole journey would not have been the same without your love and support.

Recommended Resources on Attachment in Adoption

Books:

The Connected Child by Karyn Purvis
Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child by Patty Cogen

Other resources:

Empowered to Connect with Karyn Purvis
Created to Connect: A Christian's Guide to the Connected Child with Karyn Purvis
Families by Design - Nancy Thomas Parenting
Free post-adoption phone line for adoptive families provided by Focus on the Family with counselors who have been trained by Karyn Purvis: 800-A-FAMILY

Blog Posts:

A very honest post about attachment difficulties with her internationally adopted daughter at Talk is Sheep
"Contemplating the Difference 6 Months Makes" from Something Clever
Planning for Attachment & Bonding Part 1 and Part 2 from A Moment Cherished

Our Attachment Plan - Part One

2011-04-14T22:11:00.003-04:00

With our second and final trip to Ethiopia just around the corner, the time has come for us to share our post-adoption plans for when Lillian is finally home! Ultimately, our desire is to be a well-connected family of four and for Lillian to be a securely attached child who recognizes us as Mommy and Daddy and seeks us for comfort. The concept of a permanent family, however, is going to be foreign to her, as she has only been attached to a series of rotating caregivers. In order to break this cycle, we will be implementing our "attachment plan" which we will detail in another post. Our plan is certainly not going to be perfect but it has come from many hours researching attachment issues, attending conferences and seminars, gleaning advice from others' experiences, discussing it with each other and other close family members, and most importantly giving it all over to the Lord. Our adoption friends, the Darlings, couldn't have said it better than they did in their post here. "Please understand that this is our plan. It is not necessarily the best plan, but we do feel it is the best plan for our family." In addition, we're stating that it is our plan for now. We're planning on being very flexible when it comes to being attentive to Lillian's attachment needs. We'll watch and take our cues from her and will make tweaks and changes as we feel necessary.

Let me back up a bit to explain a little behind-the-scenes stuff with our girl. She spent about three months in an orphanage in the Ethiopian region of Wolayta before being transferred seven hours away to our agency's transition home (where a completely different language is spoken, mind you) in October. Since her time at the transition home, we have on record over eight respiratory illnesses including pneumonia and bronchitis, plus other health issues, and round after round of antibiotics. Lillian is only 10 months old now. And the first 10 months of her life have not been easy. She has passed through too many different hands to name. She has had to endure a LOT of trauma and there are obvious signs that point to that trauma.

I know we're very behind on blogging about our trip, and we haven't had the chance to describe in detail the afternoon we met Lillian. Our Meetcha moment was amazing and surreal and magical. And everything we expected. Because we also expected it to be hard. And hard it was. Lillian was absolutely terrified of us. Our poor baby cried for an hour straight before falling asleep out of exhaustion. When she woke up, she was still very scared. She clung to us, she cried some more and wanted to be held very, very close. Our hearts broke for how truly frightened she was.

Day 2 was a little bit better -- still crying, but slightly less than the day before. You should have seen her face when she saw us come into the room for the first time on this day. It was hilarious. It was kind of like, "oh crap, they're back!" Lillian is one smart, very aware little girl. Later that day we met with Lillian's pediatrician at the transition home, and one of the nannies got a teeny-teeny half smile out of Lillian, but she promptly hid her face in the nannies shoulder. It was a perfect demonstration of how guarded she is. Such a little stinker!

Day 3 was even a teeny bit better than that -- again more crying and obvious signs of deep emotional needs, but whenever she woke up after falling asleep on us, she would be much more relaxed.

Day 4 was right after Josh and I got violently sick from a restaurant we had eaten at the night before, so we were already on shaky legs. When things didn't go as well as they had with Lillian in the days prior, we weren't totally shocked -- we knew we weren't ourselves and didn't think much of it. We expected it to be an up-and-down journey, and we were hopeful for a better day next time.

Day 5 was a different story. It was difficult for all of us. It seemed to be a few steps back from the progress we had been seeing, and on top of that she also seemed sick. She cried (a LOT). I cried. It was hard. That was when reality really sunk in and the rose-colored glasses fell off. We had yet to see a smile from her all week long. Other families seemed to be having a much more easy time with their kids, and I think Day 5 was the low point for us.

Day 6 was our last day there and also the day of our court day. I have to admit that we weren't even overly worried about passing court -- we just wanted to have a good last day with Lillian. We prayed all that morning, and after we left court (and didn't pass), we headed to the transition home. This time baby Yado was sleeping, and we practically begged the nannies not to wake her up because we were afraid of what would happen if they did. :) We hovered over her bed just taking in her sweet face, and then suddenly her eyes popped open....and the crying began. But this time it was different! The cries weren't as loud and they didn't last very long at all. After a couple minutes, she immediately fell asleep on me again and slept for another hour. Poor honey was tired! When she woke up, she was the most relaxed and calm we had ever seen her. She looked around and explored more than ever. Transitions didn't lead to meltdowns. She played with my earrings and even stood up with Josh's help. It was a really, really good day! We didn't get to see a smile, but we left the transition home on such a high that day. We were so thankful the Lord had allowed us to end on a good note.

Last week we had a phone call with our international adoption doctor at CHOP who mentioned that she had seen our Meetcha Day video. She told us that when she saw Lillian cry when she was passed off to us, she said, "YES! She is attached to her caretakers!" Our doctor couldn't be more right. Lillian is extremely attached to her nannies, which is a very, very good thing in the adoption world. Our doctor reminded us that when a child is attached to her caregiver, she will be able to transfer that attachment to us, though there will be a time of grieving for her. It will be hard to see Lillian grieve her loss (and I think we already got a picture of that the week we were there), but we are praying that through the Lord's strength and by implementing our family's attachment plan, we can help heal our hurting child's heart.

In our next post, we will share what exactly our attachment plan will look like.

Ethiopia Trip: Day #1 (Part 1)

2011-03-31T00:32:00.000-04:00

We woke up on African soil on Wednesday, March 16 and got our first daytime glimpse of Addis since we had gotten in the night before. Below is a little clip of what our view looked like from the balcony on fourth floor where we stayed. It was a cool and rainy day. Love hearing that rooster crow -- I don't think I noticed it that morning because I was definitely too nervous to think straight. We were going to leave to meet Lillian at 9:30 am!

After we got ready (and I discovered that my hair straightener wouldn't work, hence the all-natural curly hair the entire week long :)), we headed downstairs to the lobby for breakfast. We met a few other AWAA families who were traveling for their Embassy appointment and also got to meet the super sweet guest house staff. The breakfast was great, and the coffee was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. That whole morning was kind of a blur though because all we could think about was meeting Lillian. We kept asking what time it was: 30 minutes to go. 20 minutes to go. 10 minutes ago. Then Yonas our wonderful guide approached us with a smile and told us about a change of plans: the babies were getting their vaccinations in the morning, so we wouldn't be able to meet her until the afternoon.

Bummer. It was definitely a letdown, but looking back we think it was better that way. We were still reeling from getting in late the night before and didn't feel quite settled in yet. So we did the typical tourist thing for the morning and were able to process everything a little better and calm ourselves down. A little bit anyway. :)

Our first stop was at the Holy Trinity Cathedral (a beautiful cathedral that was built in the 1900's to commemorate Ethiopia's liberation from the Italian occupation). It just so happened that the day we visited was a holiday, and the cathedral was filled with people wearing white. It was gorgeous. Yonas our guide told us he had never taken any families here on a day like this and that normally it is empty. If we hadn't visited there in the morning we wouldn't have been able to see it filled like that. It was definitely a cool experience.

When we went inside we had to take off our shoes.

The crowds of people entering the cathedral to pray.

The tombs for Emperor Haile Selassie and his wife are located in the back corner of the cathedral. That was really amazing to see, especially for Josh who had been doing a lot of reading about Ethiopian history.

After we left the cathedral, we met another couple from our agency for lunch at an Italian pizza place. It was great hanging out with new friends, and it really neat when we discovered that our babies came from the same region of Ethiopia (Wolayta), lived in the same orphanage, and came to the transition home on the exact same day. They are about one month apart in age. Neither of us had heard of any other families with children from that region, so it was really cool to have that connection!

Right next door to the restaurant was a Kaldi's coffee, which is basically the Ethiopian (and waaaay better) version of Starbucks.

I had the most amazing caramel macchiato that ever existed on the face of the planet.

Here we are in Kaldi's with our wonderful AWAA guide, Yonas. LOVE HIM! And we appreciate his love for history -- he was like a walking textbook!

So fiinnnnallly after what felt like the longest morning in history, it was time to head to the transition home to meet Lillian. Or as we called her the entire week, Yado. We were finally going to meet Yado.........

We interrupt our [semi] regular posting to make an announcement...

2011-03-28T11:04:00.001-04:00

WE PASSED COURT!!!!!!!!!!! On Friday, March 25 we got a phone call from our agency telling us that we passed court in Ethiopia and Lillian Yado was officially a Jones. We have a daughter!!!! An nine-month old, very chubby adorable daughter!

Let me back up by explaining how all this happened. As you know we were in Ethiopia the week prior, and our actual court date was Monday, March 21. There were a lot of issues in the Ethiopia for a few weeks with a government agency (MOWA) not writing recommendation letters needed for families to pass court, so we did not expect to pass right away. The morning of our court date, our agency director sat us down and flat out told us (literally ten minutes before we left for court) that we would not pass and that we shouldn't expect our letter to be ready for about another four-ish weeks. So when we appeared before the judge, we answered her questions, she checked off some boxes, said "that's all I need from you," and we left. That was our last day in Ethiopia. It was hard, but because we knew about all of the issues ahead of time, it wasn't a total shock and we didn't have our hopes up too much.

Well, the day after we got home, we got an email from our agency saying that the judge still had yet to open our case for the first time, and that we would probably pass any day. Sooo apparently the MOWA letters were already on the judge's desk and the judge had been backlogged. And on Friday the judge did officially open our case and PASSED us, making Lillian Yado an orphan no longer! For the first time since she was about a month old, Lillian went to bed that Friday night with a Daddy, Mommy and a proud big brother Cole!

We were praising the Lord for this amazing news all weekend long. There were so many family members, friend and our whole church family praying for us, and we truly felt those prayers and God's perfect peace surrounding us throughout the whole time. Please continue to pray that the judge gets through the many, many cases on her desk quickly. There are some families who appeared in court two months ago and still haven't passed. We are hoping to hear a lot of good news from other families in our agency this week, because it really does seem like they are trying to get through all of the cases as fast as possible.

We miss our precious pumpkin and can't wait to return and bring her home forever! Typically the wait until we can leave for Trip #2 to go get her is about a month after we pass court.

We'll close with a video from the day we met Lillian:

We're back!

2011-03-24T00:09:00.001-04:00

Wow - what a trip! Still can't believe we spent a week in Africa and are back home already. We are trying to process everything, but let me just say that it was one of the most emotional and amazing weeks we've ever experienced. We absolutely fell in love with the country, the people and OUR GIRL! We are soooooooo glad to be home with Cole, but we miss it there. Ethiopia is an amazing country, and the people are some of the most kind, gentle and humble people we've ever met. We miss them. We miss hearing them say "okee" and how they pronounce "Etopia" and the way they raise their eyebrows when they talk to you. I don't think we've ever been in a culture so different from ours but so wonderful at the same time.

We are going to write a post for each day of our trip, and tonight we'll start out with some pics from the day we spent traveling to get there.

March 14 was the official first day of our journey, and we started out by having breakfast out with Cole. It was nice, but I could barely eat because I was so nervous. Cole did great that morning overall. He cried a few times (as did I), but he was very excited for us to leave so he could open his first present from us. :)

After saying our goodbyes, we headed to the airport and got there almost 4.5 hours before our flight left. Yes we were a little over-eager, but you never know what you're going to get with Philly traffic.

Here we are on our first flight to Toronto. We ended up getting into Toronto a little behind schedule and almost missed our next flight.

Next stop: Frankfurt Germany. We arrived there on Monday, March 15 and had a five-hour layover. We had a really yummy breakfast and waited some more...

Finally it was time to board for our final destination: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!

On that flight we were able to see Egypt from the plane pretty clearly. Very cool! (P.S. On the way back we didn't fly over the same African countries since they had to avoid Libya because of everything going on there.)

We arrived in Addis around 9 pm. Here's our first glimpse of Ethiopia: rainy!

One of the first things we noticed when we got off the plane in Addis was the incredible smell of spices and incense. It pretty much smelled like that all over the city too (and sometimes diesel fuel, and I liked that.).

I was half expecting all of our luggage not to make it, especially because of the connection issues we had in Toronto. But praise God it was all there, and we got everything off the belt very quickly! The Bole airport in Addis is small and simple, so we whisked out of the baggage claim area and into the lobby in no time at all. So fast that our guide wasn't there holding up the "America World" sign like we were expecting. Josh recognized our driver David and then our AWAA guide Yonas (who were both a little caught off guard that we knew who they were already -- thank you facebook!). Those were the two we spent the most time driving around the city with all week long: awesome guys. Can't say enough good about the AWAA staff; we are so incredibly thankful for our agency.

Anyway, we got to the guest house around 10 pm, settled in and slept really well that night. We were all ready to meet our girl the very next morning...

Twas the Night Before We Head to Ethiopia

2011-03-14T00:30:00.000-04:00

Hey, anybody have plans tomorrow? 'Cause we're kinda catching a plane to Africa, baby! Woo HOO!! Lillian, we are coming to meet you, baby girl! We were busy all weekend packing, organizing, praying, crying with excitement, nervously laughing, etc, etc, and it looks like we're all done and ready to go!

So here's what we're taking: two large suitcases, one duffel bag, two Rubbermade containers, two carry-on suitcases, two backpacks, two cameras, one video camera, two neck pillows.....

All of our checked luggage pieces have 50 lb limits, and every single one of them is about 49.8 lbs. We're cutting it close. That luggage scale was my BEST FRIEND these past couple of weeks. If you don't have a luggage scale and you're in an international adoption process, go get one right now.

Anyway back to the luggage....four out of the five checked pieces are filled to the brim with donations from family, friends, adoption buddies and also some new connections we made who are starting up a non-profit organization in Ethiopia. We cannot wait to hand deliver everything to the various places we'll be visiting, and we plan on updating our blog with more on that later.

Today was an awesome day. We felt so surrounded by love and support from our family and friends. Thanks to all of you who prayed, texted, emailed, called, winked, etc. We felt your love, and it meant the world to us. We were so touched when our two pastors prayed for us at the beginning and end of the morning service, especially in light of the current situation with MOWA.

Can't believe tomorrow is IT. Hoping to somehow keep up with the blog while we're in Ethiopia. If not, we'll be sure to catch up when we're back (no sassy comments about how we are terrible about keeping up with our blog. I KNOW! :o))

As crazy excited as I am to get on that plane tomorrow, there is a big part of me that is dreading it because I am going to miss my Cole so. stinkin. much. I know he is in AWESOME hands. And he is super excited about getting one present every day. But still. Half of my Mommy heart is in Ethiopia, and the other half is in Pennsylvania. But hasn't it been like that for the last year already?

We love you all! Thanks for sharing in our joy and excitement. Please continue to pray that our court date on March 21 will go well, that MOWA will provide the recommendation letter needed and that we will PASS COURT so Lillian can be legally our daughter!

Ode to Cole

2011-03-04T10:01:00.001-05:00

Crazy outfit day at Cole's Preschool

Cole, I love you more than words could ever say.

You brighten my day and make me absolutely happy.

I love your little quirks.

It makes me smile to see how happy a dumb made-up story about Mario and Luigi makes you.

I love how sensitive and caring you are.

I love that you make up weird nicknames like "Kitty" and "Puppy Mug." (??)

It cracks me up how stinkin' similar we are.

Sometimes you drive me crazy a little. :) But I adore you.

I love how you try to get out of washing your hands by claiming you can't reach the soap.

Every single time.

I am amazed at how much yogurt you eat. Aren't you sick of it yet?

And I can't believe how TALL you're getting.

Weren't you just a baby yesterday?

I love how excited you are to be a big brother.

You are precious to me, and I'm so glad I get to be your mom.

Love,

Mom

February Update

2011-03-02T14:06:00.000-05:00

We got our monthly update about Lillian today as well as two new pictures. One of them featured something we had yet to see on her....a smile! Oh be still my heart. She is so precious!

Here are some of the highlights from our update:

She takes 5 ounces of formula seven times per day. She eats solid foods well. She likes pasitini (baby pasta).
She reaches out for toys, can shake and play with it.
She creeps around the house faster than last month.
She is becoming more active and playful.
She likes to play with most of the toys in the transitional home.
She smiles when her nannies play with her but she doesn’t smile much with others.
She babbles and does reciprocal babbling with her favorite nanny.
She sleeps on her back.

Any little tidbit about Lillian makes me happy, so this just made my whole day! Josh had been stalking our gmail accounts all morning, and literally two seconds after I heard my gmail ding on my phone, Josh called me to tell me we got the update. Yes we are ridiculous. :)

On a side note...it is gorgeous out! Cole and I had a fun morning playing card games at Starbucks, going to a park and running on a trail for about a mile. I love today!

Looking Back: Second Half of 2010

2011-03-02T01:03:00.000-05:00

As much as I would love to go back and populate our blog with all of the stuff we missed, I know that it will only hold me back from keeping up with it from here on out. Plus we're kinda leaving for Ethiopia in 11 days. :)

So instead, we are posting links to our facebook albums from the last half of 2010 that we neglected to get on here. Like the Summer album and Candace's 29th & Josh's 30th birthdays. And Fall 2010. And also Christmas 2010.

I'm sure we missed some things. And I so wish we did full posts on some of these, especially our Ellis Island trip (oh how I love it there), Josh's 30th and our first Ethiopian Christmas celebration...but this will have to do for now. Enjoy!

Looking Back: Nick & Tullia's Yard Sale

2011-03-02T00:08:00.001-05:00

We have really awesome family members on both sides, and I can't say enough about how amazing it has been to have their support for Lillian's adoption. It blows our minds actually. On October 23, 2010 (pre-referral), my brother Nick and his wife Tullia organized a huge yard sale where they live in Clearwater, FL to raise funds for our adoption!! Did I mention we have a wonderful family? We are overwhelmed with gratefulness for the enormous amount of time and energy it took to put together a yard sale like that, and we thank the Lord for the huge financial support this was for us. I don't even want to think about the blubbering and embarrassing voicemail I left on Tullia's phone after I received the check from them in the mail. Crying WAY to hard to even attempt to speak like a normal/sane person.

Our nephew Nicholas even got in on the action and dressed up

as a hot dog to advertise the hot dog sale!

Thank you Nick, Tullia, Nicholas, Mrs. P., and the many other people (who we don't even know personally) for all that you did and donated for the sale to help bring Lillian home! We love you!

Sincerely,
Josh, Candace & Cole

Shower in CT

2011-03-01T23:30:00.004-05:00

Me again. :) This past weekend we visited Josh's family in CT and were blown away by the generosity and kindness we received at a shower for Lillian! This special celebration was arranged by our dear sis-in-law Lauren Helene, Josh's mom and other family members and friends. It was such a wonderful morning, and even though I found out about it a few days before (oops -- JOSH!), there were other surprises along the way...like my parents showing up!

It was decorated beautifully by Lauren, Janet Kent, Wendy and her girls.

We walked in under a bamboo rod draped in ethnic fabric into an African-themed oasis...

a perfect way to celebrate our Ethiopian princess!

The family and friends there were more precious to us than any gift we could receive.

Their support and encouragement meant the world to us!

Abby stealing Auntie Bet's salad :)

Adorable and yummy desserts!

My mom and me :)

"Big Bro" Cole and his cousin Gracie

I have tears in my eyes as I think about that special day. Lauren told me that the minute she found out we were adopting she started dreaming about doing a shower for us. Who does that?? I am so grateful for my amazing friend-turned-sister-in-law.

Josh's mom also shared a very meaningful devotional, and I am thankful for the way she personalized everything and also for the reminder of just how important it is to be diligent and intentional about teaching our children God's word and what that means for their lives.

"And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. "And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. "And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

We were touched by the attention to detail and thoughtfulness throughout the whole morning (Lillian, you are already so loved!). Thank you to everyone who had a part in our shower. It was such a blessing to our family.

Adoption Brain and Having a Hard Time Focusing

2011-03-01T23:04:00.001-05:00

Hi, it's me again. Can you believe I'm posting twice in one night? Nothing like an upcoming trip to Africa to get your butt in gear. On a side note, having experienced pregnancy once and the adoption process once, I have to say that the "adoption brain" is definitely much more intense (for me) than "pregnancy brain." Josh must think I'm nuts. No, he knows I'm nuts. I have had the hardest time focusing and staying on track over the last few months than ever before. I thought it would get better after we got our referral, but it didn't. It got much worse.

When I was pregnant with Cole I changed my mind numerous times about the color of paint on our walls...for each room...and lets just say Josh is currently painting over about 25 different color samples that I had put up about a month ago. After thinking and re-thinking colors, we (I use "we" loosely because poor Josh wouldn't have wanted to change it to begin with) ended up deciding to keep what we already had and just do an accent wall. He is a saint.

Oh yes, adoption brain is so fun. And the cravings! I just downed four fruit roll-ups and two packs of fruit snacks in about five minutes. Disgusting, I know. But it's better that I eat all that junk than let Cole get to it, right? Also, while we're on the topic of cravings I absolutely cannot forget to mention my happy place throughout this whole journey. Chipotle. A place with impeccable marketing, simple yet satisfying menus, humongous portions, CILANTRO, black beans, oh-so-tasty guacamole, tortilla chips flavored with lime and salted to perfection...I could go on and on. Basically a place dreams are made of.

But back to the original point of this post, which was basically to say that sometimes you get a little nutty in the adoption process. I love every single minute of it though! 14 days and Lillian is IN OUR ARMS!!!

So it's been a while...and also some exciting news!!

2011-03-01T22:02:00.003-05:00

Looks like our last blog post was over two months ago when we got our referral call....how sad is that? We've been pretty busy since then, and I have a lot of catching up to do on here. Let me first announce our latest and greatest news before I backtrack and go all crazy and sort through our massive amount of photos and attempt to get our blog up and running again.

First the exciting part..........................

On January 31 we got the much anticipated call from our adoption agency that we were assigned a court date of March 21, 2011. WOO HOO!!! We leave on March 14th (that's only 12 days from now! eek!), land in Ethiopia the following night and meet our precious baby girl on March 16th. She will be in our arms two weeks from today!!!

In the meantime, we've been sending her care packages

and enjoying getting photo updates of our girl!

So let me back it up again. Our court date call was on a Monday, and just three days later that Thursday I sat down and relaxed for the first time that week while Cole was at preschool to soak everything in. A few minutes later my phone rang -- it was Josh. With a surprise. He was sending me to the Created to Care Retreat from adoptive moms in Atlanta. The very next day. And I had to be on a plane at 7 am. It took me a few minutes (okay maybe a few hours...I'm not naturally very spontaneous) to wrap my brain around the trip, but when it finally sunk in I was soooooooo incredibly excited. Can I just say I have the best husband ever who knows exactly what I need? Also I want to thank my dear friend Kim who helped Josh coordinate a lot of the details. I still can't believe they got me a ticket because the retreat filled up months ago in under 24 hours, and there were over 250 women there! The retreat was amazing. I met so many wonderful women who are passionate about adoption and orphan care, are in the same process or have been there before me. I can't even begin to explain how much I learned from them and the wonderful speakers there who shared enormous amounts of valuable information. I'm still trying to process it all.

I think my favorite speaker was Nancy Thomas, who is basically a guru of attachment therapy. Honestly I knew God wanted me right there that weekend to hear her words. I left that conference feeling so encouraged and inspired and excited about not only the wonderful aspects of adoption that is awaiting us but also the many challenging issues we will face on our journey. That weekend I also met about 20 other moms from our agency who I had already "known" through our yahoo group and facebook. Loved every minute of it.

Cimbrey, Kristy and me. Two of my three roommates (Erin had already left). Love them!

Some other AWAA moms :)

Anna and me. Love this girl and will get to see her again in Ethiopia in two weeks!

Well that about wraps up this post for now. I have some other fun things to share, including a very special time we had in CT this past weekend with our family and friends. But that deserves its own post!

Referral Day

2010-12-16T23:53:00.003-05:00

After...

one year of being on this adoption journey,

six months and three weeks of being on the waiting list

and eight weeks of being "on deck"...

we are happy to announce that we received our referral call today at 12:22 pm!!!

What an amazing, emotional day! It was so surreal to see our child's face for the first time through an email. Incredible. We are thanking our Heavenly Father for blessing our family with such a beautiful treasure. She has the hugest brown eyes, chubby cheeks and absolutely gorgeous skin! We are so in love.

At this point we need to wait until our family is assigned a court date before we can actually go to Ethiopia for our first trip and meet her. Unfortunately, a lot of families ahead of us are in the middle of a court/paperwork issue, and they are looking at court dates a few months from now. We are praying that everything gets straightened out so all of us can bring our kids home as soon as possible. Also, until she is legally declared our child, we are not permitted to share photos online publicly.

Thank you all for your love, prayers and support. We still can't believe today, 12/16/10, was really THE DAY we have been waiting for all year long! What an amazing Christmas gift.

Still here

2010-10-29T13:42:00.000-04:00

So...it's been quite a while since we updated our blog. We're still here! Just staying busy and waiting for a phone call from a certain 703 area code number. :)

On October 21st not only did we celebrate our FIVE-MONTH DTE mark, but we also received a very exciting email from our agency telling us that we are "on-deck" and getting super close to our referral! AGHHH!!! This past week there was lots of movement in our agency, and just yesterday we found out that there was another referral, bringing us to the #2 spot in the girl line!!!!!!!!!

I mentioned this on facebook, but do you know that feeling you get when you're on a roller coaster and it reaches the very top of the hill and just stops there for a few seconds? That crazy anticipation feeling? That's how I've felt ALL DAY LONG. Actually for the past two days.

And the phone just rang. Agh, it totally made me jump. Only a sales call though, ugh.....

May Pictures 2010

2010-10-18T17:06:00.000-04:00

Here's some of our favorite "May 2010" pics!


Cole's evolving fashion sense continues to amaze us!

I believe this was the primary picture used in Candace's "convincing Josh to get rid of the beard" argument

Cole, Mimi and Popop

Spiderman in action . . . and in crocs.

Cole fell in love with this little guy at the pet store but mean ol' dad wouldn't let him get the $800 kitty.

Josh's latest food obsession - Sang Kee's infamous peking duck rolls in Reading Terminal Market

A visit to Nana and Grampa's farm in CT. Cole was NOT happy to be leaving.

We finally got to meet PBM (Precious Baby Mia, as we call her) when Ryan and Silvana came back to the states for a visit!

Courtney graduated!

The Difference Between Josh and Me

2010-10-01T10:52:00.000-04:00

by Candace
I'm kind of a fanatic about teeth. I go to the dentist every three months for cleaning/checkups, brush and floss religiously and freak out if anything appears out of the ordinary (unfortunately I had a lot of issues with teeth growing up and have had quite a few fillings as a kid/teen). If the dentist ever says anything slightly negative, no matter how insignificant, I almost always - in true genuine fear - ask him if this could make me lose all my teeth someday. I am absolutely TERRIFIED of losing my teeth and getting dentures.

So last year when my dentist told me to get myself to a periodontist because of some gum recession, I was there in a heartbeat. A few weeks after that, I was in the periodontist's chair again getting my first gum graft. Um, can someone say traumatizing? I had no idea it would be that....awful. So this year, when I was sentenced to yet another gum grafting session (by the way, this is a result of my braces that I had on for the last two years), I was much more prepared. I just got them done on Monday. While it wasn't a party, it was way less gruesome than the first time. Thank you Valium. But that's a whole different story.

So anyway, that's part of my dental history in a nutshell. I'm obsessive and overly proactive with anything tooth-related.

Last night while we were sitting on the couch, I was inspecting Josh's teeth to compare (by the way, his teeth are extremely healthy...the guy's only had one cavity his whole life), and I noticed something. Our conversation went like this:

Me: Oh Hon, it looks like you might have a receding gum near this one tooth!
Josh: Oh, is that what that is? I was wondering.
Me: Let me see the rest... (Inspection) Um, you have more recession! Hon, you need to go to the periodontist and get the gum-grafting procedure done!!!!
Josh: Nah, I'm not worried about it.
Me: (Confused) You have to be! You'll lose your teeth someday!
Josh: Cool. (goofy grin) I'll just get dentures, and my teeth will always be straight and perfect!

He was serious. I love that guy.

And that pretty much sums the two of us up. :o)

So when we're in our 90's....you'll notice us as the old man with the ultra-white/perfect-looking smile and the old lady with 85% of her filled/crowned/gum-grafted but-probably-yellowed-and-crooked-by-that-point teeth intact. But by all means, they'll be intact! ;)

Overwhelmed. In an awesome way.

2010-09-12T16:19:00.000-04:00

We are overwhelmed with gratitude. We had no idea that our family in New England put together a huge yard sale yesterday to raise money for our adoption. Wow. We are absolutely in awe of their love and support to help bring our baby girl home. I can't type this without crying. Thank you Jake, Lauren, Gracie, Abby, Dad, Mom, Josiah, Jeremiah, Mr & Mrs. Wright and everyone else who donated and helped out in any way.

Here are some pics of the day that I snagged off of Jake and Lauren's blog...

These pictures are so special to us! Something we'll treasure for the rest of our lives and will show our daugther so she can see just how much her family members loved her and wanted to help bring her home. Okay I'm crying again.

The other day I was reading my favorite book Radical by David Platt, and this beautiful quote literaly jumped right off the page at me:

"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes. So when you and I hear staggering numbers and statistics about the poor and needy around us and around the world, we have a choice. We can switch the channels on our mega-TVs and continue our comfortable, untroubled, ordinary, churchgoing lives as if the global poor don't exist. We can let these numbers remain cold, distant, and almost imaginary. Or we can open our eyes and our lives to the realities that surround us and begin considering the faces that are represented by these numbers." --David Platt, Radical

So to our amazing family who did this for us: thank you for not letting the numbers remain cold and distant to your lives. Thank you for making a choice to do the uncomfortable and to sacrifice your time, energy and money to help bring our daughter home. Thank you for ministering to us by living out Christ's love. We love you so much!

Russia {in color} 100 years ago

2010-08-27T00:12:00.000-04:00

I have a thing for old photographs. Like seriously, if we go to a restaurant that happens to have old pictures hanging on the walls, I will literally stand directly in front of them and just stare. Forget the meal. I just want to stare. I love looking through my grandfather's pictures that he has in his wallet -- from when he was a little boy, when he was in the army during WWII, his wedding photos, etc. Old pictures just fascinate me, and I love imagining what life was like back then. We recently went to Ellis Island for my birthday, and I could have looked and imagined and stared all weekend long.

(Am I spelling "stared" right? It looks weird to me.)

So today when I saw this collection of color photographs from Russia in 1910, I was of course amazed. I didn't thoroughly read the intro paragraph, so initially I thought someone had done some really amazing photo-editing and added the color in to old black and white photographs. Nope. The photographer used a special camera to capture three black and white images in quick succession (using red, green and blue filters), and then combined and projected them with filtered lanterns to create color images. How amazing is that? I have a hard time believing these pictures are really 100 years old because I'm so accustomed to seeing photos in black and white.

Someone in the comments section mentioned how clear the air looked and how not one telephone pole or power line was in sight. It really was beautiful back then.

P.S. A lot of these pictures are actually from present-day countries like Turkey and the "-stan" countries, including Kazakhstan. For people who have adopted from Kazakhstan, I thought this could be such a neat way to peak back into their child's birth country's beautiful history!

Some perspective

2010-08-19T12:24:00.001-04:00

This post brought tears to my eyes. Why do I continue to complain about trivial inconveniences of my life when tragedies like this are occurring every day? Why don't I care about others more?

By the way, if you haven't heard of Katie and Amazima Ministries, you might want to read her post from February here. She is incredible. She lives in Uganda, is 21 years old and is a mom to 14 girls...You just have to watch the video below to find out more for yourself...

Our day.

2010-08-18T20:32:00.000-04:00

Started out with checking our PO box at post office. Back home to pick up something I forgot. Went to see a free Regal movie with Cole. Quick met with Josh to say hi on his lunch break. Stopped at the bank. Made some returns at Ikea. Got free Pop Tarts at California Tortilla. Stopped in to AC Moore to return some things (and also encountered three extremely miserable women while there -- honestly, every time I go to that store there is someone either really cranky or strange. I think I'm done with that store.) Went to Cole's pediatrician to pick up preschool papers. Elevator ride with Cole at pediatrician's office. Back home. Did our usual afternoon/evening routine. Listened to a recording of our agency's Ethiopian program conference call. Later went back out to the grocery store, and accidentally locked Josh out of the house while he was on a run. Oopsie :)

And that was most of our day. We got in and out of the car about 16 times - thanks goodness Cole can buckle himself now. It's been a crazy day, week, summer....and I have a feeling it's only going to get busier. We've got picnics and dinners and photoshoots and visits and anniversaries and birthdays coming up in the next two months (which are all great things - I just have a tendency to look at everything together and get overwhelmed. One.day.at.a.time.). On top of that, I really think I'm nesting. I cannot sit still, and my mind is bouncing around all over the place in anticipation of our daughter. Poor Josh.

I've also been reading Radical by David Platt. If that doesn't stop and make you think about the way you live your life, than I don't know what will. It's so eye-opening and convicting. I don't want to run a meaningless rat race and get to the end of my life and realize I wasted it on myself instead of living for God and spreading the gospel. That terrifies me.

Anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble. Just thinking through some things after a crazy day....

Doro Wat

2010-08-08T19:02:00.000-04:00

My sister-in-law found this recipe in Parents magazine for the Ethiopian dish Doro Wat. The two times we've eaten at an Ethiopian restaurant, Doro Wat was definitely a favorite. Can't wait to try it at home!

Items to Donate!

2010-08-02T22:56:00.006-04:00

Hey! Anybody wanna help us as we begin to collect items to donate when we're in Ethiopia?? While we're over there, we'll have the wonderful opportunity to deliver donated items to our agency's transition homes, other orphanages and people in need that we will be visiting. I know this might be a little far in advance (we've only been waiting for two months), but I definitely will be running around like a chicken with my head cut off when we get our referral call someday, so I'm trying to plan and get organized while I'm still sane. :)

According to our agency as of 8/3/10, here are some needed items right now:

Underwear for boys and girls from toddler to 10 years of age, especially for boys and children under age 6
Children’s clothing (new or slightly used); Boys and Girls; sizes 0-8 years. Clothing needs include day clothes (especially pants), pajamas, underwear, and shoes
Baby wipes (fragrance-free)
A + D Original Ointment
Diapers for up to 30 pounds
Toys to stimulate babies such as colorful objects, rattles, etc. that are appropriate for babies up to 2 years
Formula (either Similac or Enfamil)
Multivitamins - Tri-vi-sol (o to 6 months), Poly-vi-sol (6 months to 2 years), Chewable multi-vitamin (2 years to 9 years), Adult multivitamin (9 years plus)
Tylenol - Infants, Childrens
Benadryl liquid/elixir
Syringes for giving medicines (5mL)
Plastic and latex disposable gloves
Baby nose saline spray
Neosporin
Toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss
Chapstick
Deodorant
Hand Sanitizer
Mouth and nose masks
Deodorant
Scrubs for the nannies (ladies size 6 or 8)
Crocks for the nannies (ladies size 6 or 8)

Note: If you are in the medical community and want to donate, I also have quite the list of needed medical supplies and medicine. Just let me know if you want to see that!

We started a nice little stockpile in our basement, and it's fun to see it growing! Target has awesome sales on kids and baby clothes, by the way. I made a promise to myself that every time I go to Target I must pick up one donation item. There have been a lot of $1 and $2 clothing items in the clearance sections right now! Also, I know that a lot of pregnant mamas get coupons or even free samples of baby formula in the mail, so if you don't plan on using something we'd love to take it!

In case you plan on donating clothing and want to know what would be most useful, our family coordinator told us that the weather is usually warm in the day and much cooler in the night. (When I looked up the weather in Addis Ababa, the average temperatures year-round were usually in the 70's.) So I would think that lighter-weight day clothes, pants, and warmer pajamas would be good.

At this point we aren't too concerned about the amount of items we gather because we're just starting our collection. If it looks like we're getting a lot of the same item or we're worried about it being too heavy for traveling, we'll be sure to update the list. So check back in!

2 Months DTE!!

2010-08-01T00:43:00.002-04:00

On July 21st, we celebrated the TWO-month mark of officially waiting for our daughter!! Referrals are moving rather quickly in our agency right now, so it's been super exciting for us to see our names move up "the list." According to the unofficial waiting list in our yahoo group, we are tied for 11th place in the infant girl line. The families who just received their referrals last week were only 2-3 months ahead of us. Even though right now it looks like our referral could come sooner than we originally expected, the Ethiopian courts will be closed from August till end of September...so things may slow down again. There are never any guarantees with international adoption. :)

When we are close to getting a referral, our agency will most likely send us an email telling us we are "On Deck" and should receive our referral soon. Can't wait to see area code 703 pop up on our phone someday and hear the words "This is your referral call." AGHHH! Trying.not.to.go.absolutely.crazy.

But till then we keep on staying busy and getting ready for our new little bundle to arrive. Already we have quite the packing list of almost 300 different items for our Ethiopia trips. We also need to get some more baby essentials, finish her room, get the paperwork ready for the International Adoption doctor who will review her health history files at referral time, etc, etc.

Dear Precious Daughter, we think about you. We dream about you. We talk about you. We love you. We long to see your face and know who you are. And we pray every day for you and cannot thank the Lord enough for calling us to this journey to you.

This past month was another busy one, which was wonderful because it made the time until we meet you go by very quickly. Here are some of the highlights...

We went outdoor camping at our friends house and had fun eating smores at night and had an outdoor breakfast of pancakes and fresh blueberries in the morning. So much fun!

We were able to visit Church in the Park one evening. Your big brother Cole loved getting his face painted like a super hero. :)

For the 4th of July weekend, we travelled to New England and spent time with family for a couple of days. It was a blast hanging out with everyone at the beach, the 5K that Daddy ran and Noni and Jidoo's annual picnic. Hopefully next 4th of July you will be here celebrating your first one as an American citizen with us!

Mommy celebrated her 29th birthday, and Daddy made sure it was special by planning a fun night out with family for dinner and then a day to New York City visiting Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Immigration has always been something Mommy has been interested in, but it was even more special knowing that immigration will have a personal effect on our family when you come home.

Aunt Courtney went to the Ukraine on a missions trip and had an incredible life-changing experience. We would love for our whole family to be able to go on missions trips together one day!

We also had a fun Saturday babysatting the Isaac and Mikayle a couple weeks ago. They are such precious kids, and Mommy had fun playing with Mikayle's hair (aka practicing for when you come home). :)

We love you,

Dad, Mom & Cole

Mid-Atlantic Orphan Summit

2010-07-27T22:30:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited. I just read on another prospective adoptive mom's blog that there's going to be a Mid-Atlantic Orphan Summit in Hershey, PA on November 5 and 6. Woo hoo! It's so close to us and the likelihood of getting stranded in a blizzard while traveling to this one is very low. Can't wait to hear Russel Moore speak again and also Tom Davis of Children's HopeChest. Speaking of Tom Davis, I just read his blog post from yesterday about The $2,000 Tortilla Chip - so convicting!

Anyhoo, hoping we can make the conference in Hershey. Would hate to not be there. Unless of course there was a good reason to miss it -- like a trip to Ethiopia....

Thank You

2010-07-15T23:06:00.002-04:00

Next week will mark two months of being on the waiting list for our daughter. Now that the paperchase is done and life is relatively calm, we figured it would be a good time to stop and reflect on how God has provided for us along the way through the love and support of family and friends. Without your support, we would not have been able to mail out our dossier the very next day after it was completed. A big portion of the $7,700 payment required to send our dossier was met through donations, yard sale donations/earnings and Prints for Adoption sales. We were blown away by the generosity and kindness that all of you have shown us, and we want you to know that your support will not be forgotten. All of your names will be recorded in our daughters baby book so that she will know just how many special people helped to bring her home. So thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You made a difference in our daughter's life, and we are grateful you have partnered with us in this journey.

I give thanks to my God at every remembrance of you.

Philippians 1:3

With love,

Josh, Candace & Cole

A Walk to Beautiful

2010-06-23T17:45:00.004-04:00

The other day I ~~watched~~ cried through the PBS Documentary "A Walk to Beautiful" about Ethiopian women who suffer from a tragic type of childbirth injury that have left them alone, shunned and deserted by their husbands and family members. It describes their journey to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital and their treatment. The treatment is a rather simple procedure, is about 90% effective and costs about $450 to provide one woman with the repair/operation, high-quality postoperative care, a new dress and bus fare home. So it's really sad that all of these women (100,000+ around the world each year) endure the sufferings from this injury for any length of time.

The documentary is under an hour long, and you can watch it online on hulu or netflix.

Here's the trailer too...

A Walk to Beautiful Trailer from United Nations Foundation on Vimeo.

It was truly heartbreaking, and I cried at least 20 times while watching it. When I first heard about this health issue a few months ago, it really grabbed a hold of my heart. I'd love to visit this hospital when we go to Ethiopia on our first trip.

"These women are the poorest of poor. They're alone in the world without hope, without friends. They bear their sorrows in silent shame. Their miseries, untreated, are utterly lonely and lifelong."

-- Dr. Catherine Hamlin, Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital

By the way, if you feel compelled to help these women, we have an AWAA friend who is visiting the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital on a missions trip very soon. She is currently collecting 100 new purses for all of the women there and needs them by July 4. Let me know if you want her contact info!

One Month DTE!

2010-06-21T15:54:00.007-04:00

Today marks the one-month anniversary of being DTE! Woo hoo! One month down, 7+-ish to go!! The past month has been a very busy one, so it went by rather quickly. But not ONE hour goes by that we don't think about our precious daughter in Ethiopia.

Sweet Girl, we love you so much already and pray every day that the Lord keeps you safe and healthy. We don't know who you are, where you are, or if you're even born yet, but we know that the Lord has every single detail of your life already mapped out for you. He is knitting our hearts to yours, and we cannot wait for the day when we get to see you and hug you. In the meantime, we continue to wait, and here are a few of the things this last month that kept us busy!

Daddy and Cole visited your Nana and Grampa in Connecticut and had fun with all of your uncles, aunts and cousins. Your big brother Cole got to spend time on their farm and even feed their baby goats with a bottle!

Your Aunt Courtney graduated from high school, and we had a big party for her at your Poppop and Mimi's house with lots of people and lots of Rita's Italian Ice!

We hung out with "Uncle Ryan and Aunt Silvana" and their precious baby Mia who were all visiting from Amsterdam. Who knows, maybe you and Mia will be close in age, and you guys will be little buddies someday!

Look, Mia's staring right at Ethiopia, waiting for her friend!

We went to a church picnic at camp on Memorial Day, and Cole loved the "train" that was there.

Cole went to an "Under the Sea Camp" at his preschool and had so much fun with his friends, doing crafts and playing outside!

We went to the mountains for the weekend and watched movies and made s'mores. It was cozy and relaxing!

We also went to Knoebel's (a fun little amusement park) with our friends Rich, Angela and Aidan. You're gonna love going on the rides there someday!

You got a new cousin named Nicholas! He is Mommy's brother's first baby.

You also got another new cousin named Molly! She is Daddy's brother's third little baby.

We met a really sweet missionary family, The Rices, who are planning go to Slovakia next year. We hung out with them at Freddy Hill and got some really yummy ice cream. Mommy grew up going to this farm as a kid, and she kinda loves the cow-poop smell that accompanies all the delicious home-made ice cream. You'll understand when you're older.

Daddy and Mommy were able to help out with an inner-city ministry in Philadelphia. Then after that we went out for Ethiopian food again. YUMMY!

We had a free week-long pass to the YMCA and had tons of fun swimming in the big pools there. They have a splash pad, slides and fountains too. Hopefully you'll like the water just as much as we all do!

Daddy shaved his beard. Yay!

We went out to see Toy Story 3. Awww, it was so cute, and it made all of us cry! You're gonna love it when you're a little bit bigger too :o)

Daddy celebrated his third Father's Day. He is such an amazing Dad to your big brother Cole, and Mommy can't wait to see him be just as special of a Daddy to YOU too.

We had a fun month, but it definitely feels like something is missing without you right now....and we can't wait till YOU get to be in all these pictures with us!

We love you,

Dad, Mom & Cole

What she wanted to say [about adoption]

2010-06-18T09:02:00.001-04:00

Kristen of Rage Against the Minivan is a mom to both biological and adopted children, and I love following her blog. Her and her husband are going to be guests on The View this morning, and this is what she WISHES she could have said about their adoption story....

I love it. She always sums everything up so nicely and helps me organize my own thoughts about adoption.

You can watch the segment about adoption on The View here (it starts around minute 17).

Radical

2010-06-17T16:48:00.001-04:00

Watch it.

RADICAL from David Platt on Vimeo.

Read it.

"We do not have time to waste our lives living out a Christian spin on the American dream. The most glorious reason you exist is for the proclamation of the glory of God to the ends of the earth. It's more than having a nice life."

--David Platt

Molly!

2010-06-17T02:07:00.000-04:00

On June 9, our new niece Molly Ellen Jones was born to Josh's brother Jerid and his wife Michelle. She weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and was 20" long. She has the most chubby lil' cheeks and is absolutely precious. Congratulations you two! We love you and can't wait to meet her in person.

Fun times in CT

2010-06-16T23:30:00.000-04:00

Here are a few pics from a recent trip to visit Nana and Grampa in CT a few weekends ago. Cole had a blast seeing everyone and was very sad to say goodbye at the end. Love you guys and see you very soon!

Gracie, Cole (before haircut) and Abby

Josh and his sibs

A Jones family favorite: Calvin & Hobbes

Feeding a baby goat

Dossier Delivered!

2010-06-01T10:34:00.002-04:00

Even though our official DTE date was 5/21/10, the Dossier didn't actually get sent out until the 25th because of some sort of internal delay. Once it was sent though, it took just six days to get to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Not too bad!

Our Dossier's in Paris!

2010-05-27T16:11:00.000-04:00

Yay! It's getting closer.....

We're DTE! 5/21/10

2010-05-26T22:16:00.000-04:00

On Friday, 5/21/10, we received an email from our agency letting us know that we are are "DTE" (Dossier to Ethiopia)!!!! Our dossier is on a plane on it's way to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia right this very minute. They said it typically takes a week or longer to arrive, and we have a tracking number to follow it's course. I don't think the FedEx website received this many visits from us until now. :)

A DTE date is a big milestone because it means we are officially a "waiting family" now (or some call it "paper pregnant"). We have been told that the typical wait at this point for an infant girl is 8-11 months, but we've been seeing referrals flying out of our agency, and there is a LOT of movement right now. On the other hand, just a couple months ago there were NO referrals for about two months...so obviously there's never a guarantee on timing with international adoption. But we are excited to see what God's timing will be. Right now we're just glad our paperwork is done and officially out of our hands. Ahhh, hello summer...

Baby Nicholas

2010-05-17T18:11:00.001-04:00

My brother Nick and his wife Tullia just had their first baby on Thursday, May 13th at 1:09 am. He was a chunky little guy, weighing in at 9 lb 6 oz, and was 21 3/4" long. To me, he looks exactly like both Nick AND Tullia. He is absolutely adorable and healthy and has lots of dark hair. Congratulations you guys!! So happy for you!

Dossier Update

2010-05-17T18:07:00.000-04:00

Our Dossier was delivered to our agency on Friday, and we heard from our Family Coordinator early this morning. Everything looked great -- she just needed copies of our Health Insurance cards, and Josh took care of that right away. So if all goes well, our Dossier should be shipped this Friday. That means our DTE date will be 5/21/10. Yaaay, I LOVE THAT DATE now!!! Praying there are no delays and that 5/21 will really be it! Can't wait to see what God's gonna do!

See ya, Dossier!

2010-05-13T15:53:00.003-04:00

Last night we got the "green light" from our family coordinator to send them our completed Dossier, so this morning I made a trip to FedEx and overnighted everything to our agency for their final review and approval. If everything looks good to them, they will then send it off to Ethiopia hopefully in the next week or two. We are SO happy this leg of the journey is over and can't wait to find out what our actual "DTE" (Dossier to Ethiopia) date will be. Once we're DTE the real wait begins...

Many different people were a part of assembling our dossier with us: doctors, nurses, notaries, government officials, our social worker, our family coordinator, friends and family members, accountants, employers --I'm probably forgetting some -- etc. We are thankful for their time and amazed at each little facet of the process. But I'm glad it's done. It was so very rewarding to see everything all laid out together.

At the FedEx store, I made the guy carefully bubble wrap everything together before putting it in the box. It was a little nerve-wracking to let it go, but I am grateful for it to be out of our hands at this point. :)

Excitement in the Jones Household Today

2010-05-12T16:38:00.004-04:00

After 3 weeks and 6 days of waiting, we got the coveted and much-hoped-for I171-H form today. That was THE LAST piece of information needed for our dossier, and although waiting for it was agonizing, we can't complain because our wait was relatively short compared to what some have had to go through. So we are grateful God allowed it to come when it did!

To most people it probably seems silly that we are this excited about a piece of paper (in all honesty, it is a rather average looking document - no fancy seals or stamps, just black ink on basic white copy paper). But to us this is HUGE. It means we're done our paper chase. And it means we can package up our dossier paperwork and send it to our agency, which we are hoping to do tomorrow. You would have thought we won the lottery with all the fuss we made. It was funny how it worked out -- Josh usually never comes home on his lunch break, but his office was SO COLD today that he actually came home to get his coat. I was running errands this morning, so when I pulled up to the house and saw that he was home, I was like, "aw...he's here, yay!" Anyway, he told me he had just seen the mail lady in our neighborhood, so he was going to wait a few more minutes until she got to our house before he left for work (yes we have both been anxiously waiting for the mail every single day). He was peeking out the window and announcing that the mail lady was at our mail box...and I took a picture of him because I thought it was cute.

Anyway, he said "It's not in there, I can tell" right before he reached out our door and grabbed the mail (our mailbox is attached to our townhouse), but lo and behold, on the very top was a letter from the Department of Homeland Security. Ta-Da: Our I171-H!

We both looked at it, and I snatched the letter away and ran around the room (not sure why, nervous reaction). Josh started yelling and throwing other pieces of mail up in the air, and Cole - who had no idea what was going on - started laughing and jumping too. We're freaks.

I actually got a little teary-eyed when I read it! We're gonna be a mess when we get our referral...

All that to say, we're so relieved and thrilled it's here. We immediately went to a notary and got a cover sheet that accompanies a copy of this form notarized for our dossier since we actually keep the original with us until we travel to Ethiopia someday (another cool thing was that my printer literally died after it printed out ONE cover sheet, phew!). So now we're all set and are just waiting on our family coordinator to give us the green light to ship our dossier down. And our original I171-H form is now securely locked in a fire-proof and water-proof safe. :)

One other thing....can I just say how amazing God's timing is? We prayed that our approval would come in under a month, and tomorrow would have been exactly four weeks. Last night I felt compelled to really get all of our dossier documents organized and ready "just in case" so I ended staying up until about 2 am taking care of things and making sure we were all set to go. Thank you Lord for providing for us in this way! I can't believe we are one more step to our daughter. Lets hope that our dossier gets to our agency by the end of this week and that when they review it everything is PERFECT....

In the meantime, I'm so excited that I can't sit still and just nervously ate a whole bar of Ikea chocolate. We're also waiting to hear news that our nephew Nicholas is born, so this is just a great day all around.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-10T10:58:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was Mother's Day. I got to sleep in a little while Josh got Cole ready, and later Josh and Cole brought me breakfast in bed (it was de-lish!) and a homemade card. The card was super cute. They made it together while I was grocery shopping the night before, and Josh wrote down exactly what Cole told him to say. Here's what it said:

Dear Mommy,
I love you so much. Mommy I miss you so much and I love you. We did it. I want to paint now. In two minutes we will paint. Can I watch Special Agent OSO now?
Cole

Aw! I love it! That kid makes me smile.

Later that morning we went to church and worked with the kids in Children's Church....then came home and got ready for my parents to come over for lunch. Courtney couldn't make it because she left for her senior class trip to Florida yesterday (missed you!), so it was just us and my Dad and Mom. We grilled burgers and hung out, and I think I fell asleep for a bit on the couch later on. It was a low-key day, and it was perfect.

I LOVE being a mom to Cole -- it is THE GREATEST job in the world. It's a privilege actually. I am so blessed to be his mommy, and hope I never ever take it for granted. Josh and I are also so incredibly blessed to have the two wonderful moms that we do. Thank you for all that you do for us...we love you so much! Now that I'm a mom, I am starting to comprehend and realize all that our moms did for us growing up, and I appreciate all of your sacrifices now more than ever. Nana, we missed you and hope you had a wonderful day. Josh and Cole are excited for their road trip in two weeks...

Vacuum Sealed Bags

2010-05-06T01:17:00.000-04:00

A few months ago I wrote about storing clothes in vacuum sealed bags. Quite a few people asked how it really worked because it was kind of hard to explain in words. So tonight while I was doing a few more bags Josh took a little video to show the process. I love how compact the bags get after all the air is vacuumed out. So rewarding. Yeah, I'm a dork...I know. :)

Bella and Tarra

2010-05-03T23:23:00.003-04:00

How cute is this?

Wow.....

2010-05-02T17:37:00.002-04:00

So, our yard sale is DONE....and wow. We have no words to express how amazed we are at the outcome. Thanks to every single one of you who donated items, helped out, spread the word, prayed for us and came to our sale. We are so blessed and thankful! Friday was by far the best day -- we made about 70% of our profit on that day alone. Who would have thought that Fridays were such good days for yard sales?! We woke up at 5:00 am to set up, and our first customer arrived around 6:30! Then people just started to steadily flow in after that until the big rush later on. God gave us beautiful weather both days, which was awesome because originally Saturday had a rainy forecast. Check out the pictures of our sale and the grand total below...

The grand total came to.........................

$1401.72

We are so humbled by all of this -- the wonderful items that were donated, the help we received, the gorgeous weather, the amazing turnout. We could go on and on. A special thanks to my dad and mom for letting us have the yard sale at their home. We know it was a lot of work for you guys, and we could not have done this without you!

We cannot wait to tell our baby girl about the many people who helped to bring her home! God is so good!

Ways you can help promote Prints for Adoption

2010-04-21T15:12:00.001-04:00

Some people have asked for fliers to promote our ongoing Prints for Adoption fundraisier. If you're interested in putting one up at your church/office/wherever, click here for our pdf flier that you can print out.

I also got a bunch of cute full color, double-sided business cards made up for Prints for Adoption, and I'd be happy to mail some out to anyone who is interested in passing them out. Just email me if you'd like some! We appreciate everyone who is helping us get the word out, and we are so grateful for the tremendous response we've already received. It has been amazing to see God provide for each step of the way, and we are humbled at how others are excited to be a part of our journey along with us!

Nearing the end of the paperchase

2010-04-15T23:56:00.003-04:00

In the beginning of our adoption journey we told ourselves that if there would be any delay in the process, it would not be on our end. Let me tell you, we really stuck to our guns and hustled it through the entire paperchasing process.

January 16, 2010 -- The day we sent our application to AWAA

We got accepted into the program at the very end of January, and after only two-and-half-months we are happy to say that OUR PART is done. In just the last couple of months, we....

Collected over 44 different documents,
18+ of which had to be notarized.
Used 8 different notaries,
and had to get two documents certified by the State of PA.
Got medical exams,
and hired a notary to meet us at the doctor's office to sign the forms with our doctor.
Got blood work done,
and got TB tests for all three of us (Cole was very brave).
Got our fingerprints done twice.
Received Child Abuse Clearances from all three states that we lived in,
and also got FBI clearances (anyone need a babysitter??).
Met with our social worker on three different occasions,
and miraculously had our entire home study process done in a matter of weeks.
Created family photo pages to share with the Ethiopian government,
and wrote a formal letter to ET requesting permission to adopt a child of Ethiopian heritage (in all honesty, writing that letter was my favorite part...because that's what all this is about!).

These last couple of months were pretty crazy--there were many nights we stayed up until 2 or 3 am, but every single minute spent on this process felt like a privilege to be a part of. Today we sent off our home study report to the USCIS (US Dep't of Immigration), which was the last bit of information they needed in order to process our formal approval to adopt an orphan from another country. Once that approval comes in, our dossier will be officially complete! Our family coordinator told us that in the past it had been taking about 6-12 weeks for the USCIS to send approval; however the USCIS recently said they are trying to get approvals out in 30 days. We are praying for a miracle and asking God to provide our approval form in 30 days or less.

Bye, home study.
Please tell the USCIS we'd love to have our approval back within a month, 'k?

Please pray along with us as we wait for this last document. We would LOVE to be DTE sometime in mid-May, but our "goal" is to at least be DTE by early June. Once we are ready to mail the completed dossier to our agency, we will also need to send a pretty big chunk of the adoption fees along with it. We know God will provide -- and He has already -- but please keep the financial aspect of all of this in your prayers!

Wow, I still can't believe we're on this journey sometimes. We've said it before...adoption has been a BIG desire within both of our hearts for a very long time, but I never dreamed it would actually happen, or at least not at this stage of our lives. We feel so blessed, and we cannot wait to meet our daughter someday.

::::HUGE Adoption Yard Sale::::

2010-04-15T23:07:00.002-04:00

On Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1 we are having a HUGE yard sale to raise funds for our adoption. Over 10 families have donated to the sale, so we have tons of great items to sell including brand name clothes for all ages, baby equipment, small kitchen appliances, furniture, household items, electronics and decor items. If you live in the area and want to help advertise the sale, feel free to print out this flier and start spreading the word. We are so very grateful to all of the many people who generously contributed these items for us to sell. Please pray that we have good weather and a good turnout that weekend. Agghhh....we're so excited!

Organization makes me happy

2010-04-15T22:48:00.001-04:00

I wish I did it more, though. Someday, when I have time again, I want to utilize some creative and resourceful organization systems around here. I like this post on Apartment Therapy about different ways to use a shoe organizer...I would LOVE to turn one into a craft system like they suggested.

Aren't these pretty too?

A 'lil update on Project 365...

2010-04-15T22:39:00.001-04:00

After about a month of not uploading pictures, I finally got caught up tonight. The last few photos are nothing to write home about....I've been getting lazy because I got a new phone about a month ago, and I tend to rely on that for taking pictures so I don't need to drag my camera around. I'm going try to keep up with it a little better from now on. Even though it sometimes seems like a pain-in-the-butt kind of a project, I really do like doing it and can't wait to put all 365 pictures together in a book at the end of the year. Three-and-a-half months down, eight-and-a-half more to go! (Did I add that up right?)

A Not-So-Ordinary Visit from Jake, Lauren & the Girls

2010-04-10T22:44:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago, Josh's brother Jake and his wife Lauren and their kiddos Gracie and Abby came down and stayed with us. It was fun. We had good times. Made memories. The end. UM....that is SO NOT the whole story. Jake and Lauren didn't just come down here to hang out....no, they actually took time off from Jake's work, packed up his tools and traveled 5+ hours to come down to PA to help us around our house. Not only did Jake put enormous amounts of time/energy/talent into doing our floors but he also fixed our front door, our bathroom sink and our kitchen sink....plus other things I'm probably forgetting. I'm telling you, THIS GUY IS AWESOME! We will never, ever be able to thank him enough for all that he did for us. You know that feeling of being absolutely blown away and undeserving when someone does something so incredibly kind and generous for you? Well that's pretty much how we felt/feel about all that Jake and Lauren did for us. THANK YOU, guys -- we love you and appreciate you. I don't think we'll ever be able to put into words how grateful we are for what you did for us!

So while the guys were hard at work, the girls and the kids hung out and really did have tons of fun together. Between super huge pancakes, Chick-Fil-A, an Easter egg hunt at Cole's Mimi's house, a trip to Otts Greenhouse and a day at Monkey Joe's, how could it be possible not to have a good time? It was precious to see Gracie and Cole interact - they really are cute little buddies. It really was a special week. We love you guys. Next time you come down here no working, okay? Just the fun stuff....

Some adoption updates

2010-04-05T19:22:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to share a few updates about our adoption process. Within the last few weeks we saw a little bit of back and forth go on regarding the new Ethiopian policy requiring adoptive families to travel twice. After they originally annoucned their new policy requiring two trips, they then put it on hold a couple weeks later. However that policy has recently been reinstated, so at this point we will definitely be travelling twice: once for the court date and a second time to pick up our daughter. We're actually super excited about going two times. We know it's going to require more money obviously, but we know the Lord will provide. I can't wait to experience Ethiopia twice! We also think it's really going to help with the bonding process, so we're grateful for that.

We recently finished our home study meetings. It was such an encouraging process, and our social worker was outstanding. Just two days ago we got our home study report from her. We sent back a few minor changes the next day, and she forwarded it on to our agency today. It should be approved within the next couple of weeks! Also, our USCIS biometrics (fingerprinting) appointment was this morning. It went well, although Josh had a small cut on one of his fingers, so the lady who took his prints warned him that the FBI may require him to come back...Anyway, it was cool to be at the immigration department. I've always been fascinated with immigration, and it kind of hit me that our daughter will be immigrating to our country. For some reason I never really thought about it like that before.

In the meantime, we're finishing up some paperwork for our dossier, but at this point we're mostly waiting. Once our home study is approved by our agency, we will send it to the USCIS for their approval (and who knows how long that will take). After that we will send our completed dossier to the state to get certified....and then it will go to our agency....and then to Ethiopia. We are hoping/praying to be DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia) sometime June-ish, but we are trying not to get our hopes up about that too much. Financially it's going to require a big chunk of money, and we're trusting that God will bring it in. We're having a HUGE yard sale on Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1 at my parents home. It's been such a blessing to see how people have donated things for that already -- thank you so much! We are so grateful for everyone's support, love and encouragement.

It's mind-blowing to think that our daughter could actually be out there right now. As cheesy as this sounds, one of my favorite things to do these days is look at the sky at night and think about her. I feel like the sky is the one thing we both share right now, and it makes me feel connected to her in a way. Early on in our adoption process, I actually got scared anticipating how emotionally involved we were going to become with this whole thing. I knew that the more emotionally invested we'd become, the greater the excitement we'd feel...but also the greater the risk of heartbreak or pain we'd potentially experience too. We know that's normal, and we look forward to growing in love for our child each step of the way. I told Josh that every time I'd learn something new about Ethiopia or the adoption process, I felt an invisible thread go out from my heart and travel over to Ethiopia. When we went to an Ethiopian restaurant for the first time, some invisible threads flew over. When we got involved in our agency's yahoo group and began to learn about others' stories even more threads went over. We're loving every minute of this process and are so glad we answered God's call to adoption. I can't even imagine how we're going to feel when we actually get our referral someday. Aggh!!

Adopting for Life Conference: Audio Feed

2010-04-05T18:37:00.000-04:00

Last February we attended the Adopting for Life Conference at SBTS in Lousiville, KY. It was an awesome weekend, but we did miss the first night because of a blizzard we hit along the way. We're happy to know that their audio feed is available online here.

A&E plus E&A

2010-04-05T18:34:00.001-04:00

Our friends Andrew and Esther had an exciting new development in their adoption journey last week. They were actually in the process of adopting from Ethiopia; however, they received a call from their agency letting them know that there were twin 2 1/2 year olds (a boy and a girl) who needed an immediate home (as in the very next day) through adoption in the U.S....and they said yes! Needless to say, until that call they did not have anything in their house for kids, so it was amazing to see the Lord work and provide to get them ready for their children within about 24 hours. Their kids, Elijah and Aaliyah, are absolutely PRECIOUS! We are thrilled for our friends and are praying that the Lord brings them through the next few weeks of transition.

Weekend CT Trip

2010-03-22T00:45:00.002-04:00

Last weekend we drove up to CT to visit Grampa and Nana. Some of our favorite highlights were playing Uno Moo with Nana, visiting Uncle Siah and Miah's Karate class, watching Cole and his cousin Gracie be adorable together and celebrating Jake and Grampa's birthdays. It was a cozy rainy weekend in New England, and it was nice to get away from the computer and adoption paperwork for a little bit.

Here are some pics of from the weekend...

Our Adoption Fundraising & Support Efforts

2010-03-11T16:21:00.022-05:00

Going into this journey, we knew that adoption was not going to be an easy or inexpensive process. So many times I've heard (and have often thought myself), "Why does it have to cost so much?" or "It's ridiculous that it takes so long to get a child when there are millions of orphans out there." Now that we're in the middle of the process, we're starting to see exactly WHY the cost is so great and why there is so much red tape involved. For one, the process involves a ton of different people -- social workers, coordinators, doctors, nannies, lawyers, notaries and so on. And they're all working together in some form or fashion to facilitate adoptions and take care of the children, which we are grateful for. The process also weeds out people that may have ill intentions and is set in place to protect the children. And that's a good thing.

We're doing as much as we can to fund our adoption through savings, taking on additional freelance work, selling things on craigslist, etc. We're also excited about having all of YOU involved in our adoption process through a variety of means. Here are a few different ways that you can be a part of our adoption if you feel so inclined:

1. Pray and cheer us on! There's nothing better than sharing in this excitement with all of you. We truly appreciate the prayers, support and love that we've received from everyone already...and we're going to continue to need it as time goes on, especially when we hit those infamous road blocks with international adoption.

2. Buy Prints for Adoption -- We are thrilled to announce the opening of our online print shop, selling four different prints designed and/or photographed by Candace. Visit our shop here! There are three designs that have a white border around them, which basically looks like a mat and does not need a matted frame. The fourth design, "perfect gift" does not have a white border, and it would look best with a matted frame. Each design is printed on 80# gloss cover stock and conveniently sized at 8”x10” for easy framing. Check out our site and buy some inspirational art to have in your home and serve as a reminder to pray!

3. Make a donation -- If you would like to make a donation towards our adoption, please click here or to go to PayPal where you can use a credit card to make a donation.

4. Donate items for a yard sale -- We're planning on having a big yard sale at Candace's parents home to raise money for our adoption on Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1. Over 15 families have donated to the sale, so we have tons of great items to sell including brand name clothes for all ages, baby equipment, small kitchen appliances, furniture, household items, electronics and decor items. If you live in the area and want to help advertise the sale, feel free to print out this flier and start spreading the word. We are so very grateful to all of the many people who generously contributed these items for us to sell. Please pray that we have good weather and a good turnout that weekend. Update: Our yard sale was AWESOME...we raised $1,401.72 for our adoption and are so grateful to everyone who donated, helped, prayed and stopped by! Thank you!

5. Write a letter asking to extend the federal adoption tax credit -- As some of you may already know, there is a tax credit of about $12,000 for families who finalize an adoption before 2010 ends. After that point, the credit will go back to the original amount of $5,000. Our agency has encouraged us to write to senators and congressmen, asking them to increase the tax credit for 2011. Here is a link to a suggested template for the letter. Here and here are links to the PA senators that we wrote to. Update: Great news! The adoption tax credit has been extended until the end of 2011 and increased to $13,170! It is also refundable now. Check out our agency's blog post for more information.

6. Learn more about adoption -- There are lots of great books and articles out there, and we highly recommend Adopted for Life by Russel Moore to get started.

We are thankful for any contribution you may give -- whether through finances or prayer or encouragement -- and are honored to have your support woven into our family's story. Thank you!

Good news, bad news

2010-03-10T19:08:00.004-05:00

Good news: We have three home study meetings scheduled for next week. Yippie, things are on a roll!

Bad news: In the beginning of our adoption journey we were told to be flexible with sudden changes that often arise with international adoptions. Well, today we got an email from our agency announcing one of those unexpected changes. As we mentioned in our last post, up until now Ethiopian adoptions required only ONE trip to pick up your child. Not many other countries have that policy, so for us that was a big plus. That policy, however, has just changed because the Ethiopian government now requires adoptive parents to be present at the first court date. So we will need to travel twice: first for the court date and then again (about 10-12 weeks later) to pick up our child. The bright side is that we could possibly get to meet our child not long after referral. But the downside is that we will have to leave her and wait about three months until we can take her home. Ugh...we can't even imagine how heartbreaking that will be. It also means our travel costs will pretty much double. It could probably add up to another $5,000-7,000.

We have so many questions at this point, but hopefully most of them will be answered on a conference call that is scheduled with our agency tomorrow afternoon. Please pray with us as all of these logistical and financial details get sorted out. We know this is not a surprise to God. He called us to this adoption, and we know that He will provide for us and work out all of the intricate details to make His plan unfold.

Another positive aspect to this is that our child will automatically be a U.S. citizen when she steps foot on American soil. How cool is that?!

UPDATE: We had a conference call with our agency yesterday, and they explained this in a bit more detail. Thankfully there is nothing "scary" to share. It sounds like the Ethiopian government (and the US Embassy there) is trying to refine the adoption program and make it better for long-term sustainability. There is no reason to feel that this program is not a viable and stable option to pursue adoptions with, and they do not believe this will affect future referrals of children. So that was a big sigh of relief. We're actually excited about the fact that we will get to visit our child not long after referral. Quite a few parents who have already adopted from ET have expressed how they would have jumped at the chance to do something like that. Yes, it will tear our hearts out when we have to leave her. But there are quite a few other countries that require two+ trips, so we know it is doable. Even though this was a pretty huge change to their adoption policy, and it kind of shook us up since it happened so early on in our process, we remain focused and committed to this journey.

Frequently Asked Questions About Our Adoption Journey

2010-03-08T16:59:00.010-05:00

As many of you know we've been in the process of adopting from Ethiopia with America World Adoption since January. We've received an incredible outpouring of love and support from all of our friends and family. We also realize that people are naturally curious and have a lot similar questions about the nature of our adoption. So we decided to compile a list of our most commonly asked questions and answer them for you here. You should know that we LOVE talking about adoption so please don't hesitate to ask if you have any other thoughts/questions.

Why are you adopting?
As we mentioned before, adoption is something that has been brewing in our hearts for quite some time, but in the back of our minds we figured it'd be for "later." However after experiencing two painful miscarriages in 2009, we believed that adoption would be the way for our family to grow at this point in time. As David Platt perfectly put it, "In moments where God may seem the furthest from you, He may actually be setting the stage for the greatest display of His faithfulness....He may be plotting for your satisfaction."

Are you not able to have biological children anymore?
We don't know. According to the basic medical tests that were taken, "nothing was wrong," despite the fact that both mc's happened on the exact same day in each pregnancy. The truth is, we won't ever know the why's or how's or what's -- we can only trust that God has a perfect plan for our family. For us, adoption is not a second choice or a last resort. Getting pregnant again is not on our radar right now. In fact, we signed an agreement that if I were to become pregnant, our adoption process would have to be put on hold. We are 100% sure that if God wants us to have another biological child someday, He will allow it. But for now, adoption is our focus, and we are fully committed to it.

Why Ethiopia?
First of all, we believe that every child, no matter where they are from, deserves a family. Period. So when we first started seriously researching adoption, we talked to about 10 different agencies and looked into many of the different programs currently available, including domestic and international. After much thought/prayer/research, we narrowed it down to either a domestic or an Ethiopian adoption. Ethiopia's program, which we qualified for, is currently open and appears to be stable. When doing research on Ethiopian culture and history, we pretty much fell in love with it and felt a strong personal connection to the country. It's where our hearts are.

How Does the Process Work?
Each country has a different process in place, but with Ethiopia - and through our agency - it will be something like this:
1. Home study, including social worker visits - We are currently in this process
2. Dossier (paperwork) assembly - We are currently working on this paperwork
3. Approval from USCIS to adopt a child from another country
4. Dossier to Ethiopia (DTE)
5. Wait for referral (match with a child)
6. REFERRAL of child!
7. Referral acceptance
8. Court date to legalize the adoption (this takes place in Ethiopia - we do not attend)
9. Travel dates assigned
10. Travel to Ethiopia to pick up our baby!! In country for 7-10 days.
11. Return home!

How Long Does the Process Take?
We are hoping to send our dossier to Ethiopia (we will then be "DTE") within the next three months. The estimated current wait time for a referral match is about 8-11 months after we are DTE.

Does Cole Know?
For as much as a three-year-old can comprehend, yep, Cole is aware that we plan on adopting our next child from Ethiopia. He loves watching adoption videos with us online and reading children's books about adoption. It's cute to see him so excited about it. :)

How will you raise the funds necessary for adoption?
There's no denying that adoption can be costly, so we'll be covering those costs through a variety of means: savings, taking on additional freelance work and fundraising. Within the next week or so we'll be sharing some of our ideas for how we plan to raise the funds needed. So stay tuned....and in the meantime, please pray that God will provide for us and work out all the many details to bring our child home!

Louisville (AKA "Lewa-vul" or something like that)

2010-03-07T22:57:00.003-05:00

We stayed with our good friends John and Kristie while in Kentucky and had a blast catching up with them and seeing some of the sites of the city. Thanks for having us, guys! We appreciate how welcome you made us feel and wish we could have stayed longer. Now if only we can learn how to pronounce Louisville correctly...

Adopting for Life Conference :: SBTS, Louisville, KY

2010-03-07T22:45:00.000-05:00

The one day that we did attend the conference was totally worth the 36-hour drive it took us to get there. Russell Moore (author of Adopted for Life), David Platt, Maridel Sandberg and Kevin Ezell were just some of the incredible general and breakout session speakers who inspired us to create a culture of adoption in families and churches. We were thankful to hear godly men and women who are seasoned adoptive parents articulate some of the thoughts we've had randomly running through our minds over the last few months. It was a whirlwind weekend, we learned a TON and it got us even more excited about our adoption journey. If that's even possible. ;)

My favorite quote from the conference was by David Platt: "In moments where God may seem the furthest from you, He may actually be setting the stage for the greatest display of His faithfulness....He may be plotting for your satisfaction."

Road trip to Louisville

2010-03-07T22:12:00.001-05:00

At the end of February, Josh and I drove to Louisville, KY to attend the Adopting for Life conference. Unfortunately we hit a "pocket blizzard" in Frostburg, MD, and ended up missing the first day of the conference.

The conditions went from this...

...to this. In a manner of minutes.

Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant in Philadelphia

2010-03-07T22:06:00.000-05:00

We recently tried Ethiopian food with our friends Andrew and Esther, who are also in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. The food was A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

February snow...there was lots of it

2010-03-07T22:00:00.002-05:00

Getting Fingerprinted

2010-02-08T19:03:00.009-05:00

This past Friday we got fingerprinted for our home study. I had imagined the whole process taking place at a police station with ink and paper, but apparently it's a lot more sophisticated (and less creepy) than that nowadays. So Josh and I met on his lunch break at a nearby fingerprinting site, which happened to be in a UPS store. We took a few dorky pictures of ourselves holding up our paperwork in front of the building before walking in. Immediately the manager asked us if we were there for fingerprinting. Was it that obvious? I guess not many people take pictures of themselves in front of a UPS store, so I'm sure we stood out as the over-eager prospective adoptive parents that we are, ha. Anyway, they scanned all of our fingerprints and sent off our info through the computer. So after all of five minutes being there, we hopped on over to Starbucks and hung out for a bit before Josh went back to work. It was a really fun and special afternoon because it meant we were one step closer to meeting our little one!

On a side note, this past weekend was bittersweet for us. It was "sweet" because we're in the middle of all of our adoption paperwork and are so excited about the child that the Lord prayerfully has waiting for us in Ethiopia. It was sad because yesterday was the due date of the baby we lost from our first miscarriage back in July. It's weird to think that we could have been in the hospital having our second biological child right now and enjoying all that a new baby brings to the family. Eight or nine months ago, I wouldn't have imagined that we'd instead be filling out dossier paperwork for an Ethiopian adoption (don't think I even knew what a dossier was). It just goes to show you that our initial plans are not always God's plans for our lives. But His ways are absolutely perfect, and we can only rely on Him to guide us through each step along the way!

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. --Proverbs 3:5-6

We're heading in a new direction...

2010-02-03T00:48:00.011-05:00

After much thought, prayers, research and counseling, Josh and I are happy to announce that we have officially been accepted into AWAA's Ethiopian adoption program! And we couldn't be more thrilled! Both Josh and I have had a passion for adoption individually for quite some time. We talked about it when we were dating. We discussed it in more depth after we got married, but in the back of our minds I think we believed it would be for "someday, later." You know, later as in after we were in a bigger house. Or later when we were more settled and financially "secure" (ha ha). After experiencing two painful miscarriages in 2009, however, we felt that God was turning our focus toward adoption at this stage of our lives. We feel blessed and find incredible joy to be able to grow our family this way!

On January 16, 2010 we submitted our online application to AWAA, and exactly ten business days later (trust me, we were counting!) we got a call from our agency welcoming us to the program. We are excited beyond imagination. To us, it is an absolute PRIVILEGE to be on this journey because adoption has had such a special place our hearts for many years.

Next steps?

Once our agreement documents are processed with our agency, we will begin the "paper chase," which usually takes 4-6 months to complete. During this time, we will have a home study and also assemble our dossier (adoption paperwork) with the help of our family coordinator. Basically lots of paperwork. And lots of waiting. After the dossier is processed in Ethiopia, the typical wait time for a referral (match with a child) can range from 3-11 months. We are going to document our whole adoption experience through this blog, so definitely come back and visit us to follow our adventure.

International adoption can be finicky by nature, so there is never a guarantee that the country we applied for will be the country we end up adopting from. Foreign governments often unexpectedly suspend their adoption programs or shut them down completely. But the Ethiopian adoption program has proven to be a stable one in the past few years, which is one of the reasons we were drawn to that particular program in the first place. Nothing is set in stone yet (is it ever, really?), but we trust that God will work out all of the details. We're excited. We're anxious. The journey will be long and filled with lots of bumps -- and emotions -- along the way. We can only ask for your support and prayers during this time. We are especially nervous about the home study process, so please keep us in your prayers in the coming weeks and months!

Did you know...

Ethiopia is unique among African countries and maintained its freedom from colonization (with the exception of a short-lived Italian occupation before WWII).
The official language of Ethiopia is Amharic.
The capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa, which is where we will Lord-willing meet and pick up our child someday.
The major agricultural export crop of Ethiopia is coffee!!!!!!!!
Ethiopia is landlocked in the Horn of Africa and bordered by Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti.
As part of the geologically active Great Rift Valley, Ethiopia is susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and frequent droughts.
Ethiopia is an ancient Christian nation. Today Ethiopia is split religiously -- most of the Christians live in the highlands, while Muslims and adherents of traditional African religions tend to inhabit the lowlands.
Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world.
Ethiopia is first mentioned in Genesis 2:13 as "the land encompassed by the River Gihon, which flowed from the Garden of Eden."
Ethiopia is listed over 20 times in the Bible and is also referred to as "Cush."
"Queen Candace," who was once mentioned in the Bible (Acts 8:27), was royalty in Ethiopia. Just sayin'.....

Ali and The Dirty Dozen

2010-01-30T02:17:00.004-05:00

Josh's former coworker Ali Shapiro left the corporate world a few years ago to become a certified holistic health counselor. She's a cancer survivor, health coach/speaker and regular contributor to the NBC 10! Show. Check out her site -- I found her Resources and About/Press sections helpful. She also has some great videos on youtube. I really like this girl...you can tell she's got a lot of knowledge crammed up there.

In one of her videos Ali recommends buying organic and locally-grown produce, but she suggested looking up the Environmental Working Group's "Dirty Dozen" list to identify which produce has the highest pesticide residues for those who might not be able to afford to go all-organic. I thought it was helpful, so I figured I'd pass it along....

Source: Environmental Working Group

Order in the Attic

2010-01-27T02:20:00.009-05:00

This past week I went through all of Cole's old baby things from the attic. I actually came up with a decent amount of stuff to sell at an upcoming kids sale (even though this was like the bazillionth time I went through it all...I love getting rid of things). In the process I realized that everything else I wanted to keep was a) extremely unorganized and b) musty-smelling from the attic. Yuck.

After washing all the clothes (ahh, much better) and folding them into piles by age, I figured I'd better come up with a more efficient system for storing and organizing his old things. I also decided to keep everything stored in vacuum-sealed bags.

This whole process took me about a week because of all the washing and folding and sorting and trying to get Cole to stop messing it all up again.

So tonight I finally gathered everything I needed to get this project finished:

Storage containers
Trash bags (tie-flap kind)
Storage zipper bags (gallon size) - for socks, shoes, hats, etc
Label maker
Sharpie
Vacuum cleaner

I put the stacks of folded clothes into white trash bags (whatever would fit comfortably). Then I wrapped the ends of the trash bag around the vacuum hose. Next, I turned the vacuum on and watched everything magically shrink down into compact chunks and then carefully tied the ends into a tight knot. It was beautiful.

Quick tip: to prevent the bag from getting sucked up into the vacuum hose, put the end of the hose right on to one of the pieces of clothing. It helps the air come out of the bag faster too.

I loved how everything fit into the containers so easily. And now that it's all organized, sealed and labeled, it can hang out in the attic again for a while.

This really makes me happy. Does anyone else get this stinkin' excited about organizing or am I just weird??

Restaurant.com

2010-01-13T17:32:00.005-05:00

Posted by Candace

I love, love, love going out to eat. And I love, love, love getting good deals. So whenever restaurant.com has a special promo going on, I get really happy because it means yummy food for dirt cheap. You can currently get 80% off by just entering the code INDULGE when you checkout. I just snagged $100 worth of restaurant gift certificates for only $10 (all of the $25 gift certificates came in at $2-3 a piece). I love buying through this site, because it makes you try out little hole-in-the-wall kinds of places that you might not have heard of before. These certificates make nice little "just thinking of you" gifts too!

Brugge, Belgium

2010-01-09T23:25:00.002-05:00

Towards the end of our time in Europe, we drove to Brugge, Belgium for a day trip. This picturesque little city looked like something straight out of a medieval fairy tale. There were chocolate shops everywhere, and Josh didn't hold back. :)

Haarlem, the Netherlands

2010-01-09T23:08:00.006-05:00

While we were in Amsterdam, Josh decided to take a little day trip to the nearby city of Haarlem since Ryan was working and Silvana and I were planning on doing some shopping. He had a great day on his own walking around Haarlem and exploring. He even got a personal guided tour of a windmill, since no other tourists spoke English there that day. If you know Josh at all, you know he loves to explore...so this was one of the highlights of the trip for him.

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

2010-01-09T23:01:00.005-05:00

This past November we took a six-day vacation to Amsterdam to visit our friends Ryan and Silvana who live there temporarily for work. We had an AWESOME time with them and loved exploring the city. We took a canal tour, visited the Anne Frank House (one of Candace's lifelong dreams), did some shopping and ate tons of awesome food. Such a great city and such a wonderful time with our friends. It was definitely an unforgettable trip. And Ryan and Silvana were awesome hosts who live in the coolest apartment...so thank you very much for letting us stay with you! We love you guys!

Bento

2010-01-09T02:02:00.010-05:00

Posted by Candace

My three-year-old is a verrrrrrry picky eater. It seems like we have tears over food at every meal, so it gets frustrating. I'm hoping to somehow introduce a good amount of healthful foods to him this year, so I'm on the hunt for some ideas to get started. I'm tired of giving in and feeding him the same stuff over and over again just because I know he likes it. Yeah, that's gotta change.

The other day I found out about a cute little thingamajig called a bento. It's basically food to-go or a home-packed meal (usually artfully-arranged) that's common in Japanese cuisine. I doubt I'm gonna get really elaborate with something like this (and I don't think I'll be starting Cole out on penguin-shaped rice and seaweed any time soon, ha). But it gave me a good idea. I need to start making food fun for Cole. I could cut veggies up differently and try to incorporate fun or [very basic] animal shapes into the mix. So we'll see how this goes.

Is he cute or what? Seriously, who has time for this?!

http://www.cookingcute.com/

Silly Cousins

2010-01-09T01:39:00.002-05:00

They did this all on their own. ;)

Philadelphia in November

2010-01-09T01:36:00.001-05:00

On the way home from Daniel and Elisabeth's wedding, Jerid and Michelle and the kiddos stopped down and stayed with us for a couple of days. We took a fun day trip and hit all the usual Philly attractions -- The Liberty Bell, Chinatown, Reading Terminal Market, The Museum of Art and of course...Pat's and Geno's. It was a nice day in the city.

Project 365

2010-01-03T20:09:00.000-05:00

One of my goals for 2010 is to take a daily picture. Project 365. It seems like a fun and interesting way to chronicle the year....and it'll help us document not just the big events that happen but also the day to day things that usually slip through the cracks. Hopefully it'll help enhance my photography skills too, since I'll have to get creative every day.

I won't include each photo on our blog as a separate post 'cause that might get a little overwhelming. I'll add them to our flickr account instead, which can be seen in the right sidebar on this blog.

Here's our first picture, dated 01-03-10. Cole's sick today, so he's pretty much been getting whatever he wants - like orange juice and popcorn. This picture shows Cole and Daddy taking big bites of popcorn fresh out of our brand new popcorn maker. And I might add that Josh's popcorn is seasoned with olive oil and rosemary. Yum!

I think it's gonna be a fun challenge. It's not too late for you to start up your own daily photo project!

Happy and Hopeful New Year

2010-01-02T01:09:00.004-05:00

Posted by Candace

Every year I'd watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve, and I'd get a sinking pit feeling in my stomach. A bit of dread. I'd get that feeling because I hated thinking about the unknown. I'm great at making up what if's and seeing the glass half empty. Yeah, I'm a classic pessimist. And looking back, maybe I had good reason to feel a little dread last year at this time because 2009 was probably one of the hardest years that Josh and I have faced together. We went through some big trials together and felt a lot of pain. We cried for our unborn baby that was lost in July on my birthday. And we cried again in December when we lost a second baby that we never got to meet. Yes, it was a very tough year, and we experienced much grief...but because of our faith in Christ, there is something in our hearts that strengthens and renews us each day: hope.

For the first time in my life, I can honestly say that I had not one feeling of dread in my stomach when we watched the ball drop and listened to Dick Clark blurt out the countdown a little off-sync yet again. I actually felt excited and hopeful and - gulp - positive. 2010's gonna be a good year for us. I'm not saying that because I have a hunch that everything's going to turn out just the way I want it. Nor do I feel like it's "our turn" for good things this year since last year seemed so bad. Nope. I feel positive and hopeful because God is showing me things I need to work on and change, and He's getting me very excited about things He wants for our lives, for our family. As much as I don't ever want to re-live the sad experiences from this past year, I am grateful for them because they brought me to my knees and humbled me in such a way that I could only get by with the Lord's strength. It showed me how much I really do need Him and reminded me that I can't rely on myself or my circumstances for joy and contentment. It reminded me of how much we truly are blessed with. I love my husband more now than I ever did. And I love and appreciate our precious son Cole more than I ever thought possible.

So yes, 2010 is going to be a good year. We're excited about what God has planned for us -- the good and maybe the not-so-good that could happen. But we're focusing on the good, right? :) So things like getting healthy, taking some fun classes, getting this couponing thing down, going organic as much as possible, getting back into running, adding some more structure and organization into our life and tackling a few house projects are on our to-do list. Personally, I also want to work on a few things for myself like getting into a more meaningful Bible reading routine and learning how to handle stress better (a few trips to the spa will probably help out with that, hint-hint, Josh ;). We also feel God leading our family in a couple new directions that we're seriously praying about, which is so very exciting. There's a conference in February that we're hoping to attend, and we're praying that the Lord gives us the guidance that we need to start making some decisions in the coming months. So stay tuned!

And in keeping with my new positive outlook, I want to close this year on a happy note. Even though '09 may not make our favorite year list, we did share some amazing and unforgettable adventures together. Like visiting friends in Amsterdam and finally getting to see the Anne Frank House. And best of all...watching our precious son turn three, start preschool and grow into a beautiful, happy person. We are blessed. :)

But goodbye 2009, and hello 2010!

"When we give thanks in all things, we see hardships and adversities in the context of the purpose of life. We are meant to grow through challenges. The Lord not only consecrates afflictions for our gain but also to bless the lives of others."

The Wedding (Part 2)

2009-11-09T22:51:00.006-05:00

The Wedding (Part 1)

2009-11-09T18:13:00.008-05:00

Elisabeth and Daniel's wedding day could not have been more beautiful! The weather was a picture of fall perfection and all the details of their carefully thought out plans were executed masterfully! Elisabeth looked so beautiful and the ceremony was simply elegant. We were so thrilled to be part of their special day and to stand up with them on their wedding. We love you guys so much and pray that your marriage will be a reflection of God's love!

Elisabeth and Daniel's Rehearal and Rehearsal Dinner

2009-11-09T18:01:00.005-05:00

Josh's sister Elisabeth was married to Daniel O'lone last week in a beautiful ceremony at Josh's dad's church. The festivities started the day before when everyone arrived with great fanfare and the cousins were all together again at last! They had a great time cavorting about the farm with Grandpa before the rehearsal. The rehearsal went great except for Cole's almost constant need to be with either Josh or Candace. This alarming fact had us very worried about how he would fare at the actual wedding but God is good and he aced it like pro! The rehearsal dinner, thrown by the O'lone family, was absolutely delicious and was really fun as well. As you can see, the Jones siblings are a reserved, shy bunch.

Deal Alert: $2.99 VeggieTales DVD

2009-11-03T23:07:00.006-05:00

Sign up for the Big Idea e-newsletter, and you get a free Veggie Tales dvd with $2.99 shipping. There are three dvd's to choose from, while supplies last. Great Christmas gift idea!

Trunk or Treat

2009-11-03T15:50:00.005-05:00

Cole's preschool had a fun event called "Trunk or Treat" where people from the church set up candy stations in the trunk of their cars and kids go trick or treating throughout the parking lot. It rained the night of the event, so everyone was moved into the gym. It was still a great time, and Cole loved going from station to station playing games and getting candy! He went as "The Amazing Spider-Man!!!!" When he saw another boy there dressed as Spider-Man, they just stared at each other for a while but didn't say anything....it kinda got a little awkward....

Cole's Birthday Celebration - Part 2

2009-11-03T12:31:00.014-05:00

In the evening of Cole's birthday, his Poppop, Mimi and Coco came over for some cake. Our friend Angela had kindly offered to make Cole his birthday cake, and so he picked a "Good Luck Bear" Care Bear cake. He loved it sooo much that he kept giving it kisses. Thank you so much, Angela -- you did an awesome job, and it made his birthday so special!

Wow, we can't believe our baby is three already. He is such a delightful, happy guy, and he brings so much joy to our lives. We are thankful to the Lord for Cole and can't imagine life without him! Happy 3rd Birthday, Poochie, we love you soooo much and are very proud of you!

The Yzzi's Tuscan 30th Anniversary Party

2009-11-03T12:31:00.013-05:00

Candace's parents' 30th anniversary was on October 12, so we celebrated by throwing them a surprise Tuscan dinner party with Nick, Tullia and Courtney. Although they knew something was going on, the fact that Nick and Tullia came up from FL was a surprise [hopefully].

There were white lights, a video done by Nick, sunflowers, olive oil and vinegar bottle favors, a collection box to help send them on a trip to Italy and lots and lots of food (we're Italian, what else do you expect?). Thanks to all of the wonderful family and friends who came to make this night a special one -- we had a blast! Happy Anniversary, Dad and Mom. We are so grateful for the wonderful example you have shown us in your marriage!

Also, many thanks to Alex, Jenn, Kelley, Tara and Victoria -- you girls were such a HUGE help that night. We couldn't have done it without you!

Dutch Wonderland - AGAIN!

2009-11-03T12:27:00.009-05:00

We took Cole to Dutch Wonderland again this year, thanks to Candace's parents for the free tickets. He loved it just as much as the last time!

Cole's Birthday Celebration!

2009-11-03T12:27:00.008-05:00

We took Cole to the Rainforest Cafe for his birthday and he loved being in "the jungle"! The most exciting part of the trip was supposed to be the water/light show at the end of the pier but it was closed for renovations! Thankfully, Cole was a great sport about the whole thing and just enjoyed seeing the ocean and playing with his balloons.

Cole's Preschool Open House

2009-11-03T12:25:00.006-05:00

Cole's preschool had an open house the other month. Cole had a blast showing us his classroom and what he does when he's at school. He absolutely loves his teacher, Miss Kristy. His favorite activities are helping, learning new songs and trying on new costumes. Afterward we went to Friendly's for ice cream. It was a fun night!

Pictures Coming Shortly!

2009-11-03T11:12:00.005-05:00

Hello Everyone,

We just back from a wonderful weekend in CT celebrating Josh's sister's wedding! It was such a fantastic time full of fun memories and lots of love!! We just wanted to touch base and let you know that pictures will be coming shortly - we just have to get through our backlog of pictures from the last couple months. You should have lots of pictures to enjoy shortly!

Josh, Candace & Cole

A Special Gift from Noni

2009-09-20T22:16:00.006-04:00

While we were in CT, Noni presented Cole with a very special gift for his third birthday: a beautiful hand-crocheted blanket that she had been making for him over the past few years. It was such a thoughtful gift, and there aren't words to express how thankful we are for all the love and energy she put into it. On a side note, Noni won three ribbons at various fairs for this blanket....it truly is a work of art. Thank you, Noni. We love you very much.

Fun Times at Grampa & Nana's House

2009-09-20T21:53:00.004-04:00

After Bet's shower we hung out at Nana & Grampa's house with the fam. Gracie and Cole became instant buddies, so they had fun being silly and jumping off the couch together. Later we sang Happy Birthday to Cole and ate some de-lish chocolate cake that Nana made. Thank you for the presents and fun times everyone!

Elisabeth's Bridal Shower

2009-09-20T21:43:00.005-04:00

Last Saturday we took a trip to CT for Josh's sister's bridal shower. It was a beautiful "country brunch" that Lauren and Mrs. Kent put together (you girls did an awesome job!). At long last we were also able to meet our new niece Abigail. She is such a precious, sweet baby, so we pretty much fell in love with her instantly. It was a wonderful day, and we were so happy to be there with Bet and Daniel in preparation for their big day coming up in October!

Bye, Ryan & Silvana

2009-09-20T21:26:00.004-04:00

Our buddies Ryan & Silvana are leaving for Amsterdam tomorrow for a year-and-a-half long work opportunity, so the other weekend some of us had a goodbye party for them. We love you guys and are gonna miss you tons...don't forget that you gotta come back, okay?!

Courtney's Senior Photos

2009-09-20T21:22:00.002-04:00

Can't believe that Candace's "little" sister Courtney is already a senior in high school. Candace took her senior pictures this year, so here are few of our favorites. Congratulations, Court! We love you so much and are looking forward to all that God has for you ahead. P.S. Congrats on getting your CNA license too! So proud of you. :)

First Day of Preschool

2009-09-20T21:09:00.006-04:00

On Tuesday, September 8, Cole started his first day of preschool. He had a really great day and loves his new teacher, Miss Kristy. We were so proud of him and were thrilled to see how happy he was when we picked him up. As soon as he saw us at the door, he wanted to take us into his classroom to show us what he did that morning. Looking forward to a fun year ahead!

Josh's Birthday, Part 2

2009-09-20T21:05:00.003-04:00

On Josh's birthday, Candace's family came over for one of Josh's favorite dinners, shrimp pasta, and they brought yummy Rita's for dessert. Thanks Dad & Mom for having a nice day with us. Wish we had more photos from that afternoon!

Josh's Birthday

2009-09-20T20:55:00.002-04:00

Josh's mom and sister came down to celebrate his 29th birthday a couple weeks ago. It was Elisabeth's last visit before she gets married in October, so it was nice to have this chance to spend time with her. Thanks making dinner and baking Italian Cream Cake, Mom & Bet!

Buddies

2009-09-20T20:52:00.004-04:00

Alexis Forman came all the way from California to visit Cole, and they had so much fun together. They love to say "Sassafras" to each other and make funny faces.

Happy "100th" Birthday Uncle Dave & Aunt Barb!

2009-09-20T20:50:00.003-04:00

We celebrated Candace's Uncle Dave & Aunt Barbara's combined 100-years birthday (50 years each) a couple weeks ago. Happy birthday! We love you guys and are so glad we could celebrate with you!

Arrrgh, Matey

2009-09-20T20:48:00.002-04:00

Dressing up as a pirate has been a new favorite in the Jones household.

Cole & Daddy Day

2009-09-20T20:41:00.006-04:00

About a month ago Josh took a day off to spend some time with Cole. They had a great morning at the Elmwood Park Zoo and later had lunch at Josh's - and now Cole's - favorite pizza place in Norristown called Franzone's. Cole would loudly say "mmmm" after every bite for everyone to hear.

Weekend in the Poconos

2009-09-20T19:09:00.004-04:00

In August we spent a weekend at Candace's parents' mountain house and had fun hiking in Jim Thorpe and horseback riding. Josh also ran a 5K in Pittston, PA during their "Tomato Festival." It was nice to get away and experience the fresh mountain air...even though we got lost while hiking and ended up at the top of a mountain.