Christmas

The annual picture on the stairs before opening stockings bears the face of one precious addition to the family and four veteran stocking openers!

Christmas at our house this year seemed to sneak up on us for a few reasons. The obvious reason is that we were in Rwanda and Ethiopia for over two weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then, as we were gearing up for our "normal" Christmas routine, we received weather forecasts that caused major changes in travel plans. We expedited our family Christmas and left for Gram and Papa Spore's house well ahead of schedule. While our schedule was different than planned, we had a wonderful time with our families. Introducing Cooper to some of his aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins for the first time was such a special time.

We are in awe of God's blessing on our lives as we trace His hand this year. What a blessing to see his faithfulness to our family in brand new ways! May we continue to lean on Him in good times as well as hard times.

Merry Christmas to you from the Spore Seven!

It is 5:30 am, and, for the first time since arriving home, I think I could have possibly slept an hour longer. Jet lag has affected me much more than Chad (who is out running and doing kettle bells at the gym). With Cooper being really sick the first few days, he would wake up in the wee hours of the morning. We would finally get his itching under control and get him back to sleep, and my body would tell me it was time to get up. It's amazing all one can accomplish from the hours of 4am-6:30am...and how little after 7pm....ZZZZZZ!

Speaking of Cooper, I feel remiss in not having posted more pictures by now. The above pic was taken in Ethiopia. I actually have taken very few since getting home. Until yesterday, there hasn't been much laughter or many smiles. Chicken pox have a way of doing that to a kid, I think. Two nights ago, Chad and I were at our wits end trying to make him comfortable. We have never seen a person writhe in pain and itchiness the way he was. He was exhausted but could not sleep, trying to scratch all the places that itched like a crazy person. We resorted to an oatmeal bath in the kitchen sink. Mind you, Cooper screams when we bathe him. This was obviously our last ditch effort in helping him. True to form, he screamed for the first seven minutes of the bath. Then he learned how to splash...and seemed much happier. We covered every square inch of him in calamine lotion, and he slept fitfully for a few hours. I am so happy to say he has slept through the night IN HIS CRIB two nights in a row! He is now one big scab.:) In other news, C girl turned six on Monday! We had a birthday party Sunday afternoon here at our house. It was a wonderful day to spend with family (who all had chicken pox as children).
H and C had their Christmas concert last night at school. H was chosen to play Santa Claus and did a spectacular job. She even made her voice really low...I think she had some people fooled about her identity! C did a great job of singing enthusiastically, as seen in the picture below.
We are so happy these days, looking forward to all the fun the next couple weeks will bring, enjoying the fun today brings.

Home!

Home is really, truly, the best place on earth. We arrived here last night after way too many hours of travel.

Our airport reunion was such a happy time! Chad's sister, Heather, took lots of photos of our airport saga, but I don't have access to them at the moment. I'll leave the details to your imaginations, but there were a lot of wet eyes! The kids were all standing at the edge of the security area, and when H saw us, he took off running across the line, right into my arms. Many embraces and photos later, we went with both sets of our parents, Meg and TJ, and Grandmas Spore and Machovec to a restaurant along I-80. With threats of freezing rain and very droopy eyelids, I drove the two hours to our home. It is wonderful to be here!

Cooper woke up in the night with some crazy bumps all over his body. Upon further examination, our diagnosis is chicken pox. He is really doing well, though....not scratching, no fever.....maybe a light case? He looks like a little polka-dotted guy because of all the calamine lotion I have dabbed on his sores. Please pray with me that Chad doesn't get chicken pox. He's never had them and has not had the vaccine. I think Cooper will be on the mend soon. It was a bummer to head to church without him and Chad this morning.

There is so much to be said about our trip that I haven't had a chance to say. My eyelids are totally drooping as we speak, so more details will have to wait. BTW, have I mentioned we are so happy to be HOME?!

Update from Ethiopia

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. We have had a lot of trouble loading our blog here in Ethiopia, so we probably won't be posting any more pictures until we get home.

Our three days here so far have been eventful. We really thought we would not be able to fly home this Friday, and we were pretty disappointed. C's 6th birthday is Monday, and it looked like we were not going to get home until one week from today! God moved a major mountain yesterday, and we found out we could book our tickets for Friday night!!! Our travel agent had tickets on hold for us until last night, and we found out in the early evening we should be able to get Cooper's visa on Friday! We are soooooo thankful!!!!!

We are headed to lunch, a lion zoo, and shopping this afternoon. T, our guide, is an exceptional English speaker and Christian man. He has done such a great job showing us around all the places we have needed to go.

Sounds like everyone at home is getting lots of snow. I never thought I'd say this, but I sure am ready to don my winter coat! Home sounds like paradise right now. I'll try to update again when the connection allows.
Love,
Heidi

Addis Ababa

We are now in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! Through a series of flight change attempts for our whole travel group, somehow we were the only family that got confirmed for last night's flight from Kigali. Our dear traveling buddies, the Bowers and Smiths, will be coming tonight. We miss them!

We are safe, and we will write more later!

3 o'clock

It is now 3am in Kigali, Rwanda, and I am officially SICK.....sick of being in this hotel room and particularly in this bed. However, praise God, I am officially feeling much better. My stomach is growling, but now with hunger. Thank you so much for praying for me. I'm not sure why I got so sick, but I am now really going to limit my diet to bananas and toast.....and Rice Krispy bars, if we had any left.:)

Cooper is doing so well. He sleeps between Chad and me every night, and he usually wants a bottle sometime in the wee hours of the morning. When he whimpered a little this morning, Chad got up to get him a bottle. I just pulled him close to me, and he snuggled right in and went back to sleep. Such a cuddler. Can't wait for you to meet him!

I guess I am going to have to climb back in bed for a couple hours. Thanks again for your continued prayers!

Rwandan Safari

Since all our paperwork is done we got the opportunity to enjoy a safari at the Akagera National Park. The experience was bittersweet because while Cooper and I were experiencing all the animals and incredible scenery, Heidi was back at the hotel feeling rather sick.

The early morning 2 hr drive to the park was beautiful. At one point we had climbed in elevation enough that the clouds were below us in the valleys. When we arrived at the park, a group of three Rwandans that grew up in Canada were having car troubles. Since we were short three (due to illness) we offered them to come with us. We got to observe giraffes, impalas, zebras, oribi, Nile monitor lizards, water buffalos, hippos, and various species of birds. Unforunately, we did not see any cebu. We learned that the lions at the park were killed during the genocide but that if you come for the night safari you can see leopards, spotted hyenas, and other preditors. We had a great view of Lake Ihema. The park borders Tanzania, which we could see across the lake.
After spending the morning on the safari, we returned to Kigali. On our way we got the opportunity to meet the President of Rwanda...at about 80 MPH. Our driver pulled off the road as a Range Rover with flashing lights came speeding past. To our surprise he continued to wait on the side of the road for a few minutes until several more Range Rovers surrounding the president's car came flying past us at around 70-80 MPH. Pretty impressive.

We ended the day with a celebration at Nyanja's home. Unforunately, Heidi was still too sick to come. It was be an fun evening of food, fellowship, and dancing. Nyanja had a Rwandan dance group in her backyard doing traditional Rwandese dances. Nyanja's mother showed all the ladies how to wrap their kids on their back. Since Heidi was not there Nyanja's mother wrapped Cooper on her back, which he actually enjoyed!
Please continue to pray for flight changes for us and the families with whom we are traveling. We are trying to secure flights out of Kigali tomorrow and earlier flights out of Addis to DC next week (Thursday). Some of the families have been confirmed for different portions of the trip and are on waitlists for the others. We have a great travel agent working on Saturday to help us but prayers would definitely help.


(Ghost Blogger - Chad)

Please Pray for Me

Hey friends,
Just a quick note to ask you to pray for me. I am feeling so sick right now. I sent Chad and Cooper with the safari group, but I stayed back at the hotel to try to feel better. Well, I feel better after every time I hug the porcelain. Then my stomach starts to hurt bad again a little later. Please pray I'll be able to keep some fluids down and feel better soon.
Thank you so much!
Heidi

A Successful Day

We are praising the Lord tonight that all our appointments today were successful and productive! We received Cooper's Rwandan passport just in time to ride quickly down the street to the US Embassy to get all the visa filing complete. We are so excited to be done with stressful stuff and really take it easy our last two days in Rwanda! We are going on a safari tomorrow morning very early, so I will not take time to post any pics tonight. God's faithfulness to us has been great.

Thursday

Today was another great day in Rwanda! When we wake up each morning we have an idea of what we will be doing, but it often changes as the day goes on. TIA, after all. (This Is Africa....picked this up from the Bowers family).

We started our day with breakfast at the hotel. Then we drove out of Kigali and into the beautiful countyside of Rwanda. To call this country the Land of A Thousand Hills is definitely not an understatement. The landscape was dotted with small mud houses and shacks, women and children carrying all kinds of things on their heads with babies on their backs, and many people carrying water jugs for miles just to get clean water for their families. Banana trees abound, with sugar cane and other crops also very important to the people who live there.

We made a couple of stops. One of them was along the Akegera River. It was in a beautiful valley, and its water flowed quickly. There we met several young girls carrying sugar cane on their heads and a boy on his bicycle. They were shy at first, but our POA was quick to win them over with her Kinyarwanda and contagious smile. We had some chewing gum and suckers we gave to them, and they were pleased enough to let us take their picture.

Our second stop was along a very bumpy road (on our way to a place we never did locate ....TIA). Our POA asked some ladies along the road if we could see their home. They said we could, so we all got out of the van and went to see the mud home of this family. They were cautious at first, but they too warmed up after awhile. There were some beautiful children there who enjoyed the rest of our gum, suckers, and Rice Krispy bars. One boy whom Chad gave a Rice Krispy bar said, "Thank you. I will remember this day and you giving me this good treat. Please come back and visit us again." So sweet.

We then decided to head back to Kigali since everyone was getting hungry and tired. We made it back in time for Cooper to have a good nap before visiting a grocery store and going out for supper. We went to a really pretty restaurant and ate outside on a veranda. We had tilapia kabobs that were delicious.

Finally we arrived back at our hotel where we gave Cooper his second bath. It's still his very least favorite thing we've attempted so far. He is clean, jammied, read books with Daddy, and is sound asleep on the bed.

Tomorrow we will take the kids to the pediatrician, pick up their Rwandan passports, and hopefully finish everything up at the U.S. Embassy. If all this happens, we should be able to leave Rwanda Sunday night. We still have a few fun things on our "to do" list, including delivering a lot of groceries to the orphanage, visiting our POAs home, and going on a mini safari. Signing off for tonight.

Heidi

The New Cooper

Today we saw the new Cooper. Yesterday he was relatively unresponsive to our attempts at making him laugh, smile, or even look at us. Today he has smiled, laughed, babbled, and played! We have had a wonderful day in Rwanda, due in large part to the improvement we have seen in our son.

Today we also saw glimpses of what Cooper's life could have been. We visited the place he was abandoned at around 10 days of age. It was a nice neighborhood whose people obviously have more than many in Rwanda. What would his life have been like if someone had not left him there? Would his life have been a happy one, riding on his mother's back while she went about her daily tasks? Would she have struggled to keep him well? Would he have gone hungry? We believe his mother made quite a sacrifice when she abandoned him there, knowing she was leaving him in a place someone would find and help him. Without this sacrifice, we would have never met our sweet little boy. We would never have had the privilege to raise him to know about God's great love for him, about Jesus's ultimate sacrifice for each of us. Yes, his life and ours would be much different.

Homemade Pizza

While we are on another continent, our kids back home were making homemade pizzas with their Aunt. They are doing well while their little brother and parents are busy in Rwanda.

We had another busy day in Kigali which included a trip to the US Embassy. We also got the opportunity to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre this afternoon. Heidi and I are both processing all that we saw and read there and will try to put it into words in the future. To say the least, we will never know how that event impacted so many lives including our son's.

(Guest Blogger - Chad)

Gotcha Day! Officially

As I write this blog our son is sleeping in our bed. Today was an amazing day that started early with getting Cooper from HOH and applying for his passport and ended with a "To Whom It May Concern" letter in our hands that meant that Cooper could remain with us forever.

There were some neat answers to prayer along the way today as well. From our POA convincing the Immigration office to process all of our children's passports by Friday, to the Minister being in her office this afternoon, to hearing that several families just got referrals on the same day that 6 Rwandan children were officially adopted into their forever families, God has remained faithful.


There is still much to be done and experienced on our journey, but we will sleep soundly tonight with Cooper next to us knowing full well that God has amazing things planned for us!

(Ghost blogger - Chad)

Today

Today was a day like no other we have experienced. Today we flew halfway around the world to meet our fourteen month old son for the first time. Today we held him, sang to him, and played peek-a-boo with him. Today was the beginning of our forever with this precious boy.

We arrived in Kigali over two hours later than expected, so we rushed straight to the orphanage. We all waited in a little room, pinching ourselves to be sure we were really in Rwanda, really about to meet our children for whom we have waited. A few minutes later, we saw our frightened children being carried toward us. Cooper was hesitant to come to me, but once he did, he held on tightly to my shirt. Chad and I both took turns holding him, and while he didn't cry, he certainly did not seem happy. My heart welled up with emotion, knowing, for the first time in my life, I had absolutely no idea how to reassure our child. How I look forward to the coming days when we will learn how to make him smile and laugh!

It's off to bed now. We are tired. Tomorrow we will pick Cooper up at 9:45, dress him in clothes we have brought for him, take him out to lunch with our group, and come back to the hotel for a nap. We will have to return him to the orphanage at 5pm tomorrow, but Monday we should be able to have him with us for good. I'll leave you with a couple more photos of the day.

Washington DC

Two flights Down, two more to go! We made it safely to Washington DC this evening and are settled in for one more nights sleep in the USA. We will leave DC tomorrow morning on Ethiopian Air for the long flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We will follow that with our final flight to Kigali. Two other families from our agency, the Smiths and the Bowers will be flying with us on these flights. We are excited to meet them tomorrow. We are hoping that our next post is after we have met our son!

On Our Way

We are sitting in the Moline airport, ready to begin the first leg of our many-legged journey. This leg takes us from Moline, IL, to Chicago. Then we catch a flight to Dulles and spend the night at a hotel. Tomorrow's flight leaves at 9:30 EST and arrives in Addis at 8:30am Saturday (11:30pm Friday Central time). We then fly to Rwanda and arrive at 1:15pm Saturday(5:15am Central time)

What a full day it has been already! We spent last night with my family, and by this morning all my sisters and their families had arrived. My mom squeaked in a family photo right after my PA sister and family arrived and right before we left. Chad's mom and dad graciously delivered us to the airport, ran to Wal-Mart to get an umbrella stroller (since we forgot ours in the back of our van), and are headed back to a big Thanksgiving meal with my family. While we would love to be a part of the festivities, we are certainly thankful to be headed to Rwanda to pick up our boy.

Leaving Soon!

This is incredibly hard to believe, but we will be holding Cooper in our arms four days from now! We found out this morning that we can leave from D.C. on Friday morning and arrive in Kigali Saturday afternoon! It has been such a whirlwind of events, and many, many more whirlwinds must happen to make this a reality. I'm not sure how much sleep we will be getting between now and then, but we will soon meet our son for the first time. We will do our best to update the blog from Africa, so stay tuned!

Cooper Moise Anastase Safari Spore

A picture is worth a thousand words.:)

Inheritance

Today was a really important day in the life of our family. Our court date happened in Rwanda, and a judge decided that (Cooper's) life will forever be intertwined with ours. Today he is Cooper (with a few names in between) Spore!

Yesterday Chad and I were talking about what would change at the moment the judge made this decision. At that moment, Cooper went from owning absolutely nothing to being joint heirs with our other four children. At that moment, he went from having no one to call his own to having a Mommy and Daddy, two sisters and two brothers, two grandmas, two grandpas, four great-grandmas, two great-grandpas, four aunties, five uncles, eight cousins, way too many second cousins to mention, and a church family who has sacrificially given and prayed for him for months!

During this entire adoption process, we have seen many parallels with what God has done for us when He adopts us as His children. I think we saw the strongest, most beautiful parallel as we were talking about Cooper's inheritance. At the moment each of us accepts Jesus' forgiveness for our sins, we are grafted into God's forever family. We go from being spiritually bankrupt and destitute to being joint heirs with Jesus Christ!

And today, Chad and I have gained a son. We are humbled and amazed that God chose us to love this beautiful baby boy. It is possible we will leave as soon as this Thursday to go get our son. Please pray we can get plane tickets!

Spore Seven!!!

Through tears and laughter I write to let you know we are one step closer to being the Spore SEVEN! This morning we received a referral for a beautiful baby boy. I can't post a picture here or tell many specifics, but we will love sharing more with you in the coming days. Suffice it to say, he is the most beautifully formed baby boy I have ever laid my eyes on (okay, so it's a tie with his two big brothers)! H has already told me he is going to teach him how to brush his teeth and how to swim. Please pray we will be able to complete things before the end of November so we will be able to travel to get him before Christmas. We are rejoicing today!

Referral Coming SOON

We just received an email from our agency saying the Ministry will be contacting us directly with our referral soon! It is the first definitive news from our in country representative that we will hear something soon, and it has me checking my email like a crazy woman. Chances are, it will be a couple more days. Maybe tomorrow?


This morning I told Chad I was reaching my breaking point. Isn't it just like God to know where that breaking point is, bring me right up to the edge of it, and come through in an amazing way?! I would imagine my next post will be filled with some wonderful news. Stay tuned....

Halloween Fun

It seems like just yesterday I made my first blog post....last Halloween! We had a fun evening trick-or-treating with friends. Our robot had to shed his costume after the first three blocks, as he had trouble keeping up with our baby, crayon, and lion. Now we have a kitchen full of neatly sorted candy. I'm hoping I can stay out if it, especially the Almond Joy and Mounds bars (which no one else in the family likes).

We heard some discouraging adoption news today from a fellow adoptive family. Their Power of Attorney in Rwanda has told them the courts will be closed the whole month of December. That means that we have to get our referral and pass court in the month of November if we are to be holding our sweet "Wanda Baby" by Christmas. I'm trying to look at the bright side...Rwanda in January would be a great get away. But, to be honest, the only place I want to be in January is my family room, rocking my baby to sleep. Please pray that the Ministry will pass our referral information on to us soon.

Micah

Thank you so much bloggy friends for your prayers for Micah. It seems we have quite a few more answers tonight than we did last night. After two CT scans, a very painful spinal tap, an MRI (while vomiting from the pain meds), and an EEG, the team of doctors has determined that Micah has suffered at least one epileptic seizure. They have prescribed an anti-seizure drug and are sending him home this evening. Kevin, Laura, and Micah will likely be making many more trips back to Pittsburg Children's Hospital for further tests and to monitor his neurological health.

It's shocking to me to think about this scenario happening in our family: our nine year old son healthy tonight, sleeping soundly in his bed, waking up tomorrow morning not knowing what day it is or how to get dressed, being rushed to the regional children's hospital, knowing something is terribly wrong. Our world would be rocked! What a reminder to me this has been of the fragility of our lives and our dependence upon our Creator for each breath. How thankful I am that (as the song says) "He knows my name. He knows my every thought. He sees the tears I cry and hears me when I call."

Please Pray for Micah

I am writing this post to ask you all to pray for my nine year old nephew, Micah. He is being transported to Pittsburg's Children's Hospital with an excess of fluid in the ventricles of his brain. He was acting strangely this morning, not able to perform very basic tasks. The doctors at the local hospital were unable to determine from the CT scan where the extra fluid was coming from. They felt more comfortable transporting him to a bigger hospital for an MRI. Thank you, dear friends, for your prayers for Micah, my sister Laura, and husband Kevin. Also for brothers Jared and Ethan.

All Smiles

Everyone woke up with a smile this morning. "Daddy comes home today!" were the first words uttered by all four kids. Feels almost like Christmas morning. There's only one thing that could rival my excitement of seeing my hubby after his 15 days in China..... seeing the face of our baby after his/her lifetime in Rwanda. Not holding my breath, but not breathing really well, either.

No News

Just a quick note to say there has been no news....only that there will soon be news. Chad has two more nights and one more day in China, and then he will be on his way home to us. My two H kids have strep throat, and my two C kids are at school. Will today be the day?

Natalie Kate and Pennsylvania

I am an auntie....again! This weekend the kids and I traveled with Mom and Dad to Pennsylvania to meet Natalie Kate, my newest niece. My sister, Laura, moved to PA after she married her sweet husband and his three boys almost one year ago. We had a great time with cousins, the go-cart, and seeing the most beautiful fall colors I have ever experienced! The only thing that could've made it better is to have Chad with us. He is sleeping in Shanghai right now while we're doing life at home. Oh, how we miss him!

Adoption news is sketchy, but we have heard our child has been chosen and has had medical testing! We hope to be holding a picture of our baby next week at this time (or shortly thereafter). Stay tuned for the big news. I won't be able to post the picture here, but you can certainly stay posted by checking this blog. It's hard to believe we will soon lay our eyes on this child whom we already love so much. Soon, soon, soon.

Today's a Gift

Our C-Man turns 9!

Birthday Party after football with half the family. (First party canceled because of H1N1.) Agh!

H and C having some fun in the yard

H with his famous mustache from flavored water

Chad and C enjoying some swinging time

Don't you think I'll be a better post-adoption blogger than pre-adoption blogger? I don't post because I think tomorrow will be the day with big news. So I might as well wait until then to post. We have had no big news, but we do know big news is looming closer with each passing day. We are expecting to lay our eyes on our child for the first time sometime in the next two weeks, Lord willing!

I considered making a paper chain to count the days until October 12, but I have decided against it. Counting days can be fun and therapeutic, but I've determined to live and enjoy today. No more wasting time, pining over what will be, but trying desperately to enjoy all the blessings of today. "Yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery, and today is a gift. That's why it's called the present." Not sure who said that, but s/he really had some things about life figured out.

Would you pray for our family that we would experience peace as we wait? Would you pray that our referral would come before Chad leaves for a two week trip to China? Please do....and while you're at it, pray for that little boy or girl in Rwanda whose last name will soon be Spore.

Play-Doh

On Day 10 of Mommy and H's Wild Adventures, we finally broke out the Play-Doh. The mess was big, but it did buy me quite a bit of time. The kitchen floor needs swept anyway, I said to myself.

H has been such fun. He often just stops what he's doing and says, "Mommy, me wuv you."

And after that, I can't quite find it in me to correct his grammar.

Approval and First Day of School

We are so excited to announce that this morning we received our approval from the Rwandan government to adopt a Rwandan child! We also sent three kids off to elementary school this morning, one in each wing of the school. We are praying they will shine the light of Christ's love in each wing of that building! It's a wonderfully joyful day at the Spore house. We could possibly be traveling to Rwanda around Thanksgiving time. Stay tuned.....

What's Worse?

Blogging About Nothing or Not Blogging About Something? Since we haven't had anything to report on the adoption front, I've been hesitant to post. I keep thinking, "Surely this week will be the week we'll hear of our approval. I'll just wait to post until then." Lest we all look back at this waiting time and think we did absolutely nothing but wait, I guess I should document some of the last month and a half's events.

Papa Randy and C taking a break from fishing

Aunt Meg and Uncle TJ, the fishing dynamic duo

The Spore Four

Spore and Bailey Carriage Ride

We've had birthdays for Chad and H, a trip to our favorite vacation spot, Backbone State Park, our 13th anniversary, my Mom and Dad's 40th Wedding Anniversary, a trip to KC for little Alea's first birthday party, Vacation Bible School, the beginning of football for C, and back to school shopping. Phew...(gotta love those run-on sentences).

With school starting Thursday, I'm realizing how much our lives are going to change. Our little C will go to kindergarten this year! She is so ready, and I know she will enjoy her days immensely. It is little H and I that will have some major adjustments to make. We are going to miss her (and the two bigs) so much! I'm not sure I even know how to fix lunch for just one kid. With whom will he play while I make beds, take my shower, and do laundry and dishes? Does this mean I'm really going to have to get the Play-Doh out more than once a month?

Blessed Beyond Measure

Chad and I experienced a blessing beyond measure this morning at church. We knew our little Church of Promise family had been receiving love offerings for our family during the month of June. We knew that our little Church of Promise family has a heart for our family's mission. We knew that they love us. We had no idea that God would use our little Church of Promise family to present us with well over $2000 at church this morning for our adoption! Praise God for this family. We are blessed.

Another blessing has been the arrival of our fundraising t-shirts. The Braner family adopted beautiful Gabby from Rwanda and are in the process of bringing home Jean de Dieu from Rwanda. Because of their deep desire to help place orphans in forever families, they have come alongside our family to help us design and sell t-shirts to raise funds for our adoption. We feel incredibly blessed to have them selling our shirts at Kamp Kanakuk Colorado and facilitating internet sales through annidesigns.com .The shirts have a map of Africa with the word "Ibyiringiro" (the word for "hope" in Kinyarwanda) across it. Many thanks to those who have already purchased shirts!

The blessing of living in the United States of America has not been far from our minds this weekend. We enjoyed time with Gram and Papa and lots of friends. We rode rides, watched and participated in parades, entered a bar baking contest, watched fireworks, and ate lots of good food. We worshipped God freely with our church family this morning. We were challenged to pray for our country and to do the tasks to which God calls us. We have truly been blessed beyond measure.