Lots to Do

The big switcheroo is happening this 3 day (turned 4 with snow!!) weekend. Owen will have a room all to his own. Ryan (and crib) will now share with Mason. Mason is SAD. I am nervous. And there is A LOT to do.
Basketball for Owen starts tomorrow. He is pumped!

****Scratch that. Ryan just climbed out of his crib for the first time. DARN. DARN. DOUBLE DARN. Maybe we won't be moving the crib after-all. This weekend just got a whole lot more interesting

JMU BBall

This past week was a very difficult week. I am not yet ready to write about it. I will say, I felt extremely loved by the Father of All and feel more in love with my husband and was blessed by some very dear friends. Doesn't sound like such a bad week, after all ;) So glad He has my heart in mind and not just a cruise through life.

One of EJ's Christmas gifts was tickets to a JMU bball game. The four of us went, while Ryan stayed back with my parents. It was nice to get away from the disaster that became of our house after our crazy week.
It's hard to tell in the picture, but I was sitting in front of Dr. Carrier (light purple sweater). He was president my freshman year. Seemed fitting and also crazy b/c I am quite certain he goes unnoticed by today's students. Man, did we feel old.

Changes

A LOT is going on. I don't have much energy to spend here and I miss writing.
This weekend we began the room transformations. Owen will be moving out of the room he currently shares with Mason, into our "guest" room. Ryan will move in with Mason and his old room, the nursery, will become Sugar Plum's room. We will no longer have a spare room. We are grieving the loss of our computer space and catch-all room, but Owen is SO excited.
Mason goes back and forth with exciement, jealousy and worrying what it will be like to room with Ryan, aka the monkey destroyer ;)
I am trying to keep the painting to a minimum for lack of energy and time, but Owen is getting a one wall makeover. Stay tuned ;) He is ready to move NOW. So he thinks.

Also, this weekend, Owen was allowed to ride his bike around the neighborhood with some friends without an adult and out of our view. This feels like a big deal and I want to record it. I was worried the whole time and may have gone out in the van to check on him ;) Mostly b/c he doesn't wear a watch and I needed him to come home. I tried not to embarrass him in the process.

Adoption Matching Grant

***Our Matching Grant has been reached!! I have removed the contact info***

It is no secret that international adoption is expensive, ranging from $20-40,000. Sound overwhelming?

And for some people this is the hurdle that keeps them from moving forward.

But God is showing us how faithful he is to provide for the orphan and for those who care for them. I think it’s tempting to see the cost and turn our heads the other way, but by doing that we lose a chance to see just how big our God is. Sure, it is important to be wise stewards of what he has given us, but we also must remember it is His in the first place.

IF God is calling someone to adoption, He will provide the way. 

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:33-34

We have already seen him at work on our behalf. And we are so very encouraged and grateful for the financial gifts we’ve received.

Just before Christmas, we received wonderful news that our family has been offered the opportunity to receive an adoption matching grant of $1,500 to help with cost of our adoption. 

Our church has partnered with Lifesong For Orphans to help make this happen for us and for other church families who apply.  

If Lifesong receives $1,500 on our behalf, our church's orphan care fund will double that and we will have $3,000 more towards our fundraising efforts!! Isn't that awesome?

The other added blessing is that the contributions are tax deductible* Something we ourselves can not offer ;)

Any additional funds raised will go towards our adoption as well.

So many of you have already helped us financially. And we are so thankful!!

**Note: In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to the named non-profit organization. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.

Looking Forward

For the past 6 years, we have been fortunate enough to spend New Year's Eve with some of our dearest friends. We look forward to it so much! We are blessed to have this tradition. Each year we switch locations depending on whose turn it is to host. This year our evening was spent at the Youngs and they treated us to an amazing surf and turf dinner.

The Cassada clan hosted our family for two nights! The kids had a blast together. Pat's parents watched all 9 kids on NYE. (4 were in bed before we left)

Courtney organized an fun celebration for the kids. Each hour on the hour from 1-7pm, the kids took turns popping a balloon. Each balloon contained a piece of a paper with an "activity" on it. (2012 recap worksheet, hot chocolate, balloon volley ball, dance party, cookie and sparking cider toast, etc) Some of these pics were taken by Courtney.

 One of the activities was making bags for the homeless, full of snacks and toiletries.

Ringing in their 7 p.m. NYE ;)

After we put some of the younger kids to bed, we headed to the Young's house.

Ali, Leah, Courtney, Peyton

rocking our colored jeans ;)

I had some fun with the camera remote EJ got me for Christmas. 

We set up a tripod and I clicked away.

 

EJ and I reflected in the mirror getting set-up for the group photo.

 Need to work on my camera settings ;(

We had a great time. The evening went by much too fast. So thankful for this wonderful friends! 

I think we are next to host. Not sure we can top this one.