Happy day! Happy day!

I was given an award! I remember way back when being given an award and not knowing what it meant/ was. I need to go take a look -see for it and see if I can figure out how to post them on my sidebar. Another time dear friends. I will keep "FOCUSED". I know.... promises promises! He hee!

The rules are. Once youve been given this award you must share ten honest things about yourself. Really?!

Here goes: (insert deep cleansing breath here)

1. I am head over heels in love with my husband. After twenty three years of marriage weve still got it. (I keep wanting to think its been 24 since we lived together almost a year before we were married.... gasp... I know! )


2. Im 41. this may sound funny to you for me to be sharing as honest information. But I do take pure joy in the fact that people mistake me for my daughters friend or sister quite often! We start giggling. And yes, I have asked her and she doesnt mind and really does think its funny too!


3. Im not really a TV person. But I dont look forward to watching anything, and I mean anything, as much as this show. The 3 shows I watch are Castle, Grays Anatomy, and the Mentalist.


4. I Prefer showers instead of baths.


5. I hate shopping. Enuff said. I dont "NEED" anything I dont already have. Plus it will either get broken or become obsolete....... I know. Im just not into "things".


6. I wrestle with insecurity.


7. I am a sugar addict and need prayer over this one.......


8. I love my Message Bible and the new life its given my scripture reading times.


9. blue is my FAVORITE color. Morning glories, bluebirds, hydrangeas, my bedroom, my daughters wedding.......


10. I am dying to meet our new daughter. I almost cant let myself feel it because its too much. The big-ness of it all overwhelms me and I just cant wait.........

If you want to read more there is a whole list of favorites on my "about me" page.

I need to share this AWARD with ten of my bloggy friends. They are (in no particular order I might add....): Heather, Elisabeth ,Angela , Tara , Linny, Cindy, Dawn , Missy, Leslie ,Sherilyn

Please continue to keep our family and adoption in your prayers.

I remain.

Under His wings,

Anna

April 25th

I just had to share how special this day is to me.

How dear it is to my heart.

This day....

twenty two years ago.....

I became a mother.

My heart beats differently now.

I am talking about a love that is like none other.

My blonde haired blue eyed angel.

She is a woman now

and I love her even more now

than I did that day.

I didnt know what the future held

as I gazed into those eyes

that beautiful Spring day.

But when I gaze into them now I see such hope and a future......

She is self confindent and creative.

She has a love for the Lord that runs deep.

She loves people and strives to high standards.

I want to believe the best of both of us....

Her father and I.

She has his ability to motivate and think on her toes.

She graduated high school with her AA degree-

Magna Cum Laude at the Junior College.

She spent her middle and high school days

dancing hours and hours each day,

helping teaching the little ones to dance.

She is one class plus a semester of student teaching away from a double degree in Elementary Ed and Special Ed.

I love you dear one......

Its been twenty two years of wonderful!

Immigration Approval!

We got notification this morning that we have Immigrations approval! God has moved mountains....... just last Monday we (meaning Adoptions Agency Director) hustled and had the papers re-done and Fed-exed by that evening. The reciept said they were signed for Tuesday morning around 10am. How in the world do we have approval today????

Adoptions agency said the papers will be scanned and sent to the Embassy in Ecuador and the next approval from there is called an Article 5 approval. She said it would take about 2 weeks. I guess we will be ready to start buying airline tickets soon. She said that we would be trying to fly out the 3rd week in May.

Im in shock.
Thank you for your prayers.
Im going to be a mommy again!

Helpful links and advice

This morning I have been tinking around and looking for more helps for facilitating communication with "little G" I want some pointers if you have any. (I am sure you know how much time can be lost when wandering around the web and looking for something that you know you "need" but just dont have the name for! ha ha!) So in my time of searching I found what I think I need and was going to share with Yall and see what you think and you might have been "needing" it all along or know of someone else that has been looking for this too.......


"little G" comprehends and if she speaks at all she will be speaking in Spanish. Makes sense right? Well we add the dynamics of Down Syndrome in there and it will make things a little interesting. I have heard great reviews about signing time videos and havent brought myself to spending the money yet. I also wanted comminication devices to facilitate communication when we are at a loss for words. My sister gave me these(simple TREND flashcards) and I like that they have spanish versions like this. I found this site.I was thinking about getting a few sets with the real pics and love this companies version being that I am an artist and all. But money is an issue. I also love Timberdoodle and have done business with them for a LONG time. Back when we first started homeschooling. Paper catalogues and all....... they have sign language resources. I love the sign tape/ stickers. I read about this company (love and learning ) and they might be helpful to have in the future. Then Frankling has this translator that I thought might come in handy. Someone also reccomended a phrase book to take.......

I was thinking next to the closet in her room I could laminate the cards with shoes, pants, dress, etc and even toys to hang for us to point to as we sign?/ say the name in spanish and English. Do the same on the fridge for feeding communication. Maybe one in the bathroom for brush teeth, go potty, take a bath, etc.

If you were adopting a 4 year old from Ecuador, comprehending Spanish but not speaking much, diagnosed with Down Syndrome...... what would you do?

Hope you enjoy my links and Will keep you posted!

Under His wings,
Anna

New park in Tx

I havent read everything on the webpage but this place seems like it would be a great place to add in your trip plans if you should happen to be in the area. I just heard about it and wanted to get the word out to my special friends.


Uner His wings,
Anna

:) thought Id edit this post with a PS. Our adoption agency dir was able to get package Fedexed yesterday! I might add she saw the fed ex truck coming down the road and risking life and limb "crossed 5 lanes of traffic like a crazy woman" (her words not mine) to get it there just in the nick of time. I forget the comment of the Fed Ex driver but I need to ask because it was priceless.
I need to add to the drama....... She had it packed up and was walking down sidewalk to the car and realized shed forgotten the check.(praise GOD IN HEAVEN ABOVE she remembered!!) had to open it, write check and enclose and re-do the envelope!
My immigrations officer has been so sweet. I pray I have been an encouragement to her.She commented that they say "third times a charm...." She asked if we would send a family photo for her office. ;) I just cant wait to hold my sweet little G for the first time. I am crying........ my arms and heart long/yearn for her.

Immigrations update

Well I hinted that we had heard from immigrations and we were praying that it was very good news.
Let me tell the story,
On Saturday Husband brought the mail in to find a letter from Immigrations. Huh. Werent expecting anything. Opened it to see that they returned the check. Stapled to a letter. Blah blah blah something about not needing the fees because the paperwork had already been done. OH Ok. Cool. Maybe we misunderstood. Maybe we dont have to pay the fees again! YAY GOD!
So I call immigrations officer first thing Monday AM and she said, in all seriousness,"Oh dear God." While I was reading the note to her I noticed in small print in the top corner. Rejection Notice. So I thought, well yeah, they are rejecting payment. Our immigrations officer said she had someone "in the know" at the Lock box that she could call to poke around.
Speed forward to this morning.

Guess what, It wasnt a rejection notice for just the returned check.
They rejected our second application.
She didnt understnad why they just mailed the check but we would have to wait for the packet of all the important forms to be sent back to re-do page three where #4 needed to be changed from a no to yes. then making number five a no. GOOD GRIEF. She said she asked them to rush the packet to us and gave me the e-mail address and told me to start letting them know we were waiting. It could take 3-4 weeks to get it back. So after talking a bit she said," no, print out a whole new application, all new copies of papers from Ecuador, translations, you name it." The whole kit and caboodle. for the third time! (well the first time was missing the matching letter but that was all they needed for approval and she said that was all they needed but to send the whole thing again so she wouldnt have to send for the document in the archives..... just dont get it)
I called and talked to our adoption agency dir and told her the story.
Really, I had no idea we were really rejected. the thought never crossed my mind.
So that timeframe Ive been talking about. It wont start until tomorrow.
Adoption agency dir was able to re-do everything in record time and get it Fed-Exed this evening.

The lockbox will have our papers for seven to ten days.
Then it goes to our immigrations officer.
I really thought it was uphill from here........ what two weeks ago?

If this is a test
I hope I am passing it with flying colors.
No tears , no whining.
Ive encouraged the adoption agency Dir.
and my husband.
God knows whats best.
None of this is a surprise.
I TRUST MY GOD!!!!!

Under His wings,
Anna

Adoption Update- Crazy Love

Been sharing pictures of our sweet little G lately. I am wondering if she is singing "head and shoulders knees and toes" here? She is getting to be such a big girl!

Paul and I started this adventure before I'd ever heard of "Crazy love" by Francis Chan. My youth leader has ordered a few books and Im supposed to be on his list. My friend Linny has been blogging about crazy love in real life. Loving others as Christ would in "crazy " kinds of ways. I posted last time she asked us to link to our blogs and tell our prayer requests. Now she is wanting us to list our prayer needs again, updated versions.

So here goes:

Our travel to Ecuador to bring home sweet little G hinges on many things. If you arent familiar to the adoption paper pregnancy we still have a little bit of that left. After 18 months I am ready for "gotcha day"!

• Immigrations approval. If youve been following the saga our immigration paperwork expired while awaiting Ecuador to sign of on the "matching letter". Our dossier was "matched" with G a year ago so it has been so frustrating to wait a year for this simple letter. It was finally done in March and sent to immigrations with the appropriate fees. Saturday we recieved notification from immigration and it wasnt anything I ever expected to read. I cant share details until I unerstand what it means. I just dont want to sound the alarm until I know we need to. PLEASE pray this wasnt an accident and in fact was very very good news. Our immigrations officer is checking into it as we speak...er... I type. ;)


• Accomodations. We are working this out too. We had several options offered to us when we found out that our missionary friends wouldnt be able to have us the whole time. I keep trusting that God wasnt surprised. Our adoption agency is checking into a bed and breakfast on the same road as the Orphanage. This hadnt been an option because of the per person rate I was given. But it seems that their monthly rates are do-able. Please pray they have room for us. (we had heard a Dr rented his house out on that street. But were informed there is another adoptive family living there now.) I also have an option to stay at a hostel across town- will need to ride in a taxi each day to visit G at the orphanage.


• Airline tickets and costs. We will end up needing 4 round trip and one one way! Frequent flyer miles with Delta are an option and we are seeing what the details to have them donated and such.


• Finances, finances, finances.

There you have it! God has been faithful and I trust that He has a plan.

Under His wings,

Anna

Psam 17: 8 Keep me as the apple of your eye, Hide me under the shodow of your wings

To my friends

I read this,
from the front of a womens greeting card
and it touched me deeply.



There’s nothing like my women friends
launching straight into
matters of the heart and soul
the moment
we’re alone.
We use tears,
laughter and wisdom
to cross entire
universes in moments,
always arriving back
to where we
started -
but never arriving home
completely the same.

Theres nothing like having women in your life.
All ages shapes and sizes.
its like they each have a different key to enter in.
A different door.
I really appreciate each one and the tender ways they have held my hand
and walked beside me.
I love you.

Under His wings,
Anna

Smiley face suitcase revisited

Ive talked about the smiley face suitcase that I bought at the thrift store and thought it would be fun to share what is in it to go to Ecuador with us next month. For some reason I added one more dress and now it wont zip.

Gee, I wonder why........Really, all that was in that suitase until I pulled it out to take pics......

Mind you, I havent weighed it yet and have a feeling it may exceed the airline weight limits for carry on. You will laugh when you see what is in it. Kinda funny. (I still have a few more things to add too!) Once I find out her shoe size I will take some of the shoes out and as I said, once I weigh it I have a feeling I will need to start taking things out to make weight..... Three church type dresses with tops..........

Here below is my sisters Gymboree splurge for her new niece using saved up gymbucks. (she also bought all of the beautiful things from Japan.) These were bought this time last year and we are pretty sure given the sizing on Gymboree they will still fit! YAY! 5 pr. leggings, 9 matching tops, three pair socks and with misc below I have 3 hairbows.Above you can see the beautiful smocked dress for court day and a sweet white sweater wth pearls and sweet eyelet details.

This below is the Misc things we will need. Left to right: Maws hip carrier, hairbands, anti-nausea wrist bands, Dora travel cup with two apron style bibs, Ikea waterproof mattress pad, Bar of Johnsons baby soap- not liquid so perfect for travel!,Next to the sippy cut is a Japenese Lunchbox, Erba Organics baby travel set and Johnsons no tears shampoo travel size, toothbrush from Japan, Gymboree hair stuff to match outfits, handheld light up toy and bendable toy for airplane entertainment, blue mini flashlight,(the two light up toys are perfect because of her eyesight.) diaper rash ointment and drawstring backpack.

Not listed in those pics you will see in the first picture we also have a handknit red poncho with hat and socks. 3 pr Japanese pjs- these are so great because they have gussets in the bottoms which will make the hiney roomier for cloth diapering! 4 cotton play dresses......

Theres a beachball , Hello Kitty rain poncho from Japan, Gund baby doll, stuffed Dora, Boots and a Bunny. A dora Hooded towel. (stuffed toys al gifts from my knitting friends) I took pics of the shoes. (but had too many pics for one post)Right now there are 4 pair in the suitcase. Once we get exact measurements I will be able to take a few out. I have black patton and white patton dressies, 1 pr tennis shoes and 1 pr Robeez soft leather slip on shoes. Besides the Gymboree socks I have 6 pr white to mix and match.

If you knew hw much of these great things were gifts and how God has proven time and time again how much he cares about little G..... well I am so blessed to be a small part of something beautiful.

Control Freak!

So youd think after everything Id be well past this.......

But Im not.

I am still a walking talkng mess.

I keep asking for forgiveness.

Doubt.

Lack of faith.

That would be me.

So, how come?

Dont you think after everything?

After all weve been through together ........

That I would be over it.

Past this issue.

The adoption plans are still not going as I had planned and I am just rattled by it all.

Hearing aids and truck batteries (yes as in two).

Thats a start.

I just wish Satan didnt feel the need to attack our finances every chance he got.

And I did hear back from our missionary friends and we can stay with them for 2 weeks.

I am so grateful.

That means I only have to figure out where we are going to stay the rest of the time- 4 to 6 weeks.

And the airline tickets havent come down so Im short there too.......

I just dont have any answers or ways to fix it.

I will keep teaching and get the mural painted and pray that God knew all along and He isnt surprised by it all! ( we all know thats the real truth of the matter dont we.....)

Say some extra prayers for this gal.....

I need to look through my coupons and see if I have an extra one for a new bottle of Clairol.......

"Im gonna wash that gray right outta my hair!"

I remain

Under His wings,

Anna

Just a review or two......

Im sorry to interrupt the general blogging going on here but this is a necessity.

I have been doing book reviews for Bethany Publishers and need to post on my blog and a book store on the internet- Amazon is my choice. I read these books over the past month or so and have needed to type up the reviews..... put it off until it cant wait any longer. Just like me! ha ha!



"Not a Sparrow Falls" by Linda Nichols. This story was a quick and delightful read. I loved the plot and was pleasantly surprised that I was surprised at the ending. I get frustrated when I can read into the story and it doesnt keep me guessing. Some peeps share a bit about the story when they review them but I just hate to spoil it. I will let you know that the characters and their struggles are very real and if you have someone that is a non-believer that loves to read this might touch a soft spot. (The main character is running from her past and was involved with dealing drugs. ) Since I have never been involved in situations such as this I dont know how reaslistic those scenes are but I do know that any temptation or sin can pound at your door no matter who you are or where you live. I thank Bethany house for sending me the copy to review and want you to know that this did not influence my review in any way.



"Never say Never" by Lisa Wingate was the next book. Let me tell you I spent many a night reading this one by flashlight. We replaced the bulb in the bedside table and its too bright. ( I need to add that to my grocery list!) This book was filled with delightful -isms and quotes that just kept me giggling. (some of the characters are a hoot!) Ive only visited Texas twice and if the roads between here and there were better kept I would have to plunder around a bit more.... I hear the bluebonnets are blooming right now and I have never seen such sights in real life. The main character is running from a hurricane. let me tell you I understand her plight all too well. I ran from Ivan, Dennis and cant remember if I ran from Katrina too...... Seems like theres one more I am forgetting. There is nothing like packing up the little bit you can fit in your auto/truck along with your animals and childen and wondering what you will find when you come home. Then to watch in horror on the news when you see the devastation. When we returned from Ivan many many of us went through a PSD. Dont tell me we didnt. When you hear your strong stoic husband numbly repeat,"Its just so bad. I want you to come home but its just so bad." Well, I wont get into that. But this book brought back memories of that, meeting people as you limped along and learning to allow others to help you........ This story was FAB! I was sad to see it end but see on the cover that there are more about Daily Texas. (let me add there was a little romance too which was so sweet.) I cant wait to share this book with my mother and then donate to the church library!

My favorite quote/paragraph from the book was found on the last page,
"HOME.
After a lifetime of wandering, of seeking and failing, I finally understood the meaning of the word.
Home isnt a place,
a structure you create
from wood
or bricks
or mortar,
building the walls high and strong,
to keep out the storms of life.
Home is in the things you carry with you,
the trasures of the heart, like Gils bible,
or the memories of a family baseball game on a sunny summer day,
or the feeling of singing "I'll fly away" in an old abandoned church as the storm passes over.
It is a dwelling place you share with the people who matter the most,
a refuge in which youre never alone.
The Builder is always nearby,
tearing down old walls
and adding new rooms,
repairing the dmage of wind and weather,
filling empty spaces with new gifts.
Gifts beautiful and mysterious and unexpected.
Like all beautiful gifts,
a surprise to everyone
but the Giver,
who seeks us in our hidden places
and beckons us home from our wanderings.
Who knows that nothing adrift is meant to stay adrift forever."

Thank you Bethany publishers for the copy of this book for review purposes.... do I need to tell you again that the reciept of the book didnt influence my opinion??



Well this was a nice break from weeding my garden.
Its amazing how they will take over.
The garden looks like I felt for about 6 months.
I am so thankful that Spring is here,
Easter..... hope.
Looking forward to Mothers day..... and fathers day! ;) wink wink........

A sneak peek

here is a pictue of little G getting some new clothes from Mommy and Daddy back in February!In the picture she is wearing an Abby cadabby outfit we sent for Christmas..... is that how you say/spell it? Anyhow, you know who I mean offa Sesame street. She is new since we used to watch it all those years ago.........

She does know that Barney doesnt exist in America. ;)

4-5 weeks and counting!
Please pray we hear from our SIFAT missionary team. I am looking for other arrangements in case we dont hear back. Working on airline tickets. If you know of anyone that knows how to do Delta frequent flyer miles or that may have some they would like to donate we would love the help! We will need 4 round trip tickets and one ONE WAY!!!

We just found out we will need to take flights to guayaquil for some of the process and will need airline tickets for that too....... wasnt in my budget. I am glad to know now I suppose.

Keep praying.
God knows......
Under His wings,
Anna

Good Friday

One year ago today our dossier was recieved in Eucador. Our adoption agency Director said, this means something very very good. A year later we get the assignment letter faxed and all the paperwork is mailed to Ecuador.
God has been moving mountains.
Remember the mountians shook
and the veil was rent.
We turn our faces to the clouds with hope.... we know the end of the story.
Bought with a price.
Grace.
Pure, unmerited favor he has lavished upon us.
Grace.
redemption.
Grace.
hope.