Between Celebrations

Home always looks good after being gone for several days. We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with my family. Mom had everything organized so well....and thank goodness she did! There are now 19 of us in the Bradfield clan, and last year there were 14 of us. Quite an increase! They were so generous with us, as usual. It was fun to get to know Kevin, Jared, Micah, and Ethan better. They made it safely back to PA yesterday. Not sure when we'll see them again.

C and Micah

H and the new Barbie house

H and Jack playing in their Big Wheel boxes


C and her new Kit Kittredge doll

The whole Norton clan (all 63 of us)....to think this all started with Grandpa and Grandma!


Now we are home for a day and off to celebrate with the extended Spore family tomorrow through Saturday. We will go to Des Moines for a final homestudy meeting with our social worker on Friday.

The End of the Big Day

I am sitting here exhausted, just wanting you all to know the home visit went very well. Beth said we had a nice home, very warm and inviting. We are ready for Christmas now! It seems this adoption process can't go quickly enough, but the days in our lives fly by faster than ever. Merry Christmas!

Big Day

It is 7:15 am, and it is completely silent at the Spore house. It is unusual for the kids to sleep this late, and I am thankful for the time all to myself. We have all been here together for three and a half days straight (snow days....gotta love them). There is a two hour delay for today, and Mommy is praying they will not cancel school. For you see, today is a big day.

Beth, our homestudy coordinator is coming from Des Moines today for our second meeting and her first glimpse of our home. What closet doors will she open? Will anything fall out of them on top of her? Will the cleaning supplies under the laundry room sink be a big deal? How about the fact there's no bed prepared for our new little one? H will be out of the crib by the time he/she comes, but will Beth see it as just not having enough room for another Spore? I think I might be stressing out about this a little too much. God knows our hearts....will Beth see them?

Mom and Dad made it home from PA yesterday. I am thankful they had lots of people praying for their safety. I'm sure Laura wouldn't have made it to her wedding reception if they hadn't taken her. Her flights were cancelled and delayed, so Kevin would've had to greet all those well-wishers alone had they not made the trip. And now, Laura is officially a Pennsylvanian. Kinda weird to think that after Christmas, we won't know when we'll see each other next. She is where she was made to be, and for that, we are praising God. How we will miss her, though.

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

Our C girl turned five today! When I think of it, our little Curly Sue halfway to double digits, really past the most impressionable ages of her youth, my heart lurches. Have we prayed for her and with her enough? It has been an awesome privilege to be C's mom for these five years, and I can't wait to do the next five.

We had a fun family celebration day. It began at church where we became official members today. Then, we went to Pizza Ranch and had lunch with Gram and Papa, Grandma Wee, Meg and TJ. Back at home, we added Nana and Papa, Gammy and Papa, Brian, Ellen, Kayley, and Jack for cake, ice cream, and presents. C received so many nice gifts. Poor girl gets her whole year's worth of gifts all within a ten day span. Bummer to have a December birthday, if you ask me.

I had a great post all ready to go and lost it. Not sure what happened. Maybe I rambled on too long. It had something to do with how I'm so thankful to be pursuing this adoption. Not only will the life of a Rwandan child be forever changed, but the worlds of six Iowans and many of those who love them will be rocked. What an awesome passion to be following. What opportunities for sharing the gospel...that each of us can be adopted by the King of the Universe....will be ours because of our little one's story? And now, I'll close, because I don't want to lose my post again and have to do it all over again.