AG Winner

Congrats to Jenni. I wish it could be all of you. I promise that this was done honestly. Ethan put his little fingers in there and only pulled out one the first time, and then continued to pull out piles full. He was pretty proud of himself. As for the other prizes-Rebecca Jensen won them. (She was the only one who designated and requested those items.) They were a seperate giveaway. IF you have any questions about the giveaway, don't hesitate to email me.

Isabella Daria

I have a million and one things to do to get ready and kids are getting ready to get off the bus, but I wanted to let everyone know who the "sister" is. We also got a travel date of September 17th. So much to do! BTW-I WILL TRY TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER OF THE AMERICAN GIRL DOLL TONIGHT....my head is spinning!!!!!

Hard to Accept or Understand...

See this little girl? She is 11 years old and weighs 10 lbs. Yeah. That's not a typo. I could try to type up something moving, but seeing her picture is enough. No words could explain to you what this picture says...the dire need to save an orphan. She cannot possibly last much longer. God has kept her alive this long for a reason. Let's help her share her story and come home to love like she has never experienced before. Food. Love. God. Clothing. Her own stuff. A warm bed. A family... Just copy and paste this link http://www.nogreaterjoymom.com/2011/08/because-it-is-our-problem.html

It will take you to Adeye's blog to her giveaway...which includes two ipads...huge gift cards....games....Coach Purses....five Kindles (yes I said 5!)....etc etc etc.

Then leave a comment after you donate to the chip in (yes it is tax deductible) plus if you blog it and facebook it then leave a comment about that you get another chance at these awesome prizes!! God Bless!!!

Proving Myself

For my entire life I have been trying to prove myself. Trying to prove that I am good enough for people, for school, for college, for a job, to my family. You get the picture. We all do this in our lives when ever we apply for a job, school, a loan and we do it when we try to make friends and make our families proud. We really don't HAVE to when the only person we have to please is already proud of us, but we do. Over and over again. The same thing with adoption. We are trying to prove ourselves to families, agencies and countries...just hoping they will like us enough to let us be the parents of our children of the heart.

It has been looking pretty good with this adoption, this time around. I know there has been snafu's with fundraising, but as a whole, this adoption is going much better then Yana's. We sent our dossier and they attempted to submit it on Friday...then they refused to register it. Really? Yeah, they did. They think it is strange that my husband stays home instead of me. If I could, it would be me staying home, but for my family it was better that I worked. I had the insurance and my wages were higher, so we decided it would be me that worked. They think it is odd that we want girls when a man is the primary caregiver. So, would it be ok if we wanted boys? Sorry, I have four, it's time for a little more estrogen in this house.

They spoke with who they need to speak with and now we have more paperwork to do. Which is the reason we are not going to get to travel in August to see them. It just breaks my heart. I guess in the long run it is better now then later. We have to prepare an application specifically requesting the two girls. We have to do this because we were approved up to age 11. There are more documents we need because the homestudy was an update. I need to get recommendation letters from several different official organizations stating they think we are able to handle two more Ds children. Here we go again proving ourselves. They say we will probably have to get a full psych eval too.

With all that said, it is not a no, so we will get this paperwork done. They are now more likely to approve us for two they think which is good. We do have a wonderful agency and team fighting for us and our girls. I believe God will see this through....

So I ask you to pray for us and the girls. I ask you to pray that they will see that we are not perfect, but people that will love these girls beyond measure. I ask you to pray for fundraising/financial help. Even if we could do Both Hands, I am not sure I have it in me to put it all together. I ask that you pray for us and our family to hold strong. Our basement flooded again. It is wearing us all thin. It has happened over four times since the adoption process started. I know God has our back, because we wouldn't be faced with all these obstacles if we weren't trying to do the right thing. I mean seriously, we have been attacked at all angles since this started. I do believe that when you tread on the evil ones stronghold, you face these things. I know with God, my friends and my RR family...we will get through it. I love you all beyond measure.

American Girl Giveaway

The giveaway has ended. I will post the winner in the next few days. I have picked up extra time at work and haven't had a lot of free time. Thanks everyone for everything!!

We will have our own new American Girl, so we thought it would be a neat giveaway to give you a chance at winning your own American Girl. Instead of it being just a chance at the doll, we are going to do a tiered giveaway. The more money we raise the bigger the American Girl package you will win. These are just samples below-you will get to choose your own doll.


This is the package you will win. Valued at $119 which includes doll, book and accessory package.


If we reach $2,000 we will upgrade the prize to the $179 package which is the starter collection. If the doll you choose does not have the starter package you will get your doll and anything up to $179.


If we reach $5,000 we will upgrade to the best friends package valued at $234. If your doll does not have a best friend then you will receive your doll and accessories up to $234.


If by the grace of God we get $10,000 or more you will get a world collection valued at $439. If your doll does not have this collection, we will give you a package at $439.

Sound like a deal? It's all up to you. The more we raise the bigger the prize! Chances are $5.00 each. Just use the chip in below. Good luck. We will run this until after we are home from our first trip (tentative date is August 13-19th.) Of course we won't be home until probably two days later-the 21st?




-$5 WILL BUY YOU FIVE CHANCES AT THESE ITEMS BELOW-Please specify you are donating for these items-



Grandma Bonnie Longaberger Pie Plate, Tupperware bowl, Pampered Chef measuring cup, PC cloth, PC orange peeler, 31 party make up bag and handle and a set of hand stamped tiles. Donated by Beverly Blair, Angela Riddick,one of thier friends and my coworker Amanda Wood.




Brand new Vera Bradley purse with wallet. New with TAGS. Donated by my sister Mary Kihm.

Some News

Just wanted to let you know that we may have a travel date really soon. Our dossier is in the hands of our agency here and should arrive in the girls region soon. What is going to be hard is knowing that meeting +1 and falling in love with her, but not knowing if the court will allow for two. So, once again I ask for prayers for our Phoebe +1, prayers for peace and that the judge will allow us to have both girls (if not we can find her a home really quick,) prayers for finanacial help and prayers for our children we will be leaving behind. Thanks everyone!!

Moving on...but not forgetting.

Baby Phoebe <3

When an adoption doesn't go the way you planned, you can stop and die inside or you can move on. We have chosen to move on to adopt Phoebe +1, and we really are in love with her. She is a beautiful little girl. She will be perfect. In the joy of finding her and moving forward, my heart still aches for Yana. I found this updated pic of her and I am thankful she is still alive. Please pray for her and her region, that someday it isn't so difficult. If it isn't me, let it be someone else to save her. I want nothing more then for this sweet baby to know the love of a family. Yana will be four in January. Please God, move mountains for her.


Beautiful Yana <3