2011 Review

There's obviously been a slack in my posting. Figured I would start out the new year with a Year in Review. We have had a LOT of changes!

January 1, 2011 - we officially started our adoption journey. We spent our day filling out an online application to adopt from Ethiopia!!! We were so excited to begin this journey!

February - brought us back to Haiti. We wanted to celebrate a very special first birthday with a very special little girl who opened our hearts! Oh how we love her dearly! Although Baby D wasn't there when we arrived, we did get to spend some time with her and see how much she has grown. Cory and I were also privileged to care for two other beautiful baby girls - who have since gone to heaven. We rejoice that they are sitting in Jesus' lap!!! (I can't put pictures of the babies up on this blog - but if I could I think I could have a different picture for the next 5 years!!!)

March - We were notified of a huge change in Ethiopian adoptions which could greatly affect our wait time - however there was so much uncertainty. Cory and I prayed and continued with Ethiopia.

April - can't think of much that happened in that month, other than a lot of questions to God trying to figure out if we were really on the right path and trying really hard to make sure we were listening to him!!!

May - felt a tug at my heart to look into biracial domestic adoptions. Shared some of these 'tugs' with Cory, and we at first thought that maybe our 'next' adoption would be domestic biracial. Towards the end of the month, as we were on the way to the Cities to celebrate a birthday with a good friend and enjoy a Twins game, I received a call from my cousin - that call would forever change our lives.

June - met with a potential birthmother. Anxiety skyrocketed :-)

July - Enjoyed the summer being with friends, spending time at the lake and going camping. We tried to wait patiently for news(but we failed miserably - good thing summers are super busy to keep our mind off of things!!!). On July 15th - we received the BEST news - we had been chosen by a lady and her boyfriend to adopt their baby girl that was due August 24th - that gave us about 5 1/2 weeks to prepare for a newborn, get all necessary paperwork completed, and inform our family. Let the wild goose chase begin.

August - much of the month was spent doing the 'paperwork', connecting with lawyers and getting things arranged!!! But we still found time to head out to Sturgis as well. On August 24th (her due date) our precious baby girl was born!!! We flew out the next morning, and she was in our arms after she was discharged from the hospital! We enjoyed our week in New York, but were so glad when we got to come home on September 1st and surprise our family!!!

September - time spent enjoying our new baby and visiting family members, moving a whole three miles, and Cory quit his job, and started his own electrical company. Yep, looking back I can see why people thought we were crazy. I'm pretty sure we are.

Cory's Hometown Electric

October - celebrated baptism (which made me get our new house somewhat organized) and watched our baby grow.

November - Celebrated Cory's first birthday as a daddy and he loved every minute of it! I also got by easy as his birthday fell on Thanksgiving so I didn't have to cook much. It was filled with much emotion as we watched loved ones continue to lose their cancer battles. I don't think Cory and I really wanted to accept that.

December - With all the joys of celebrating our first Christmas together as a family of three, we had much heartache with the loss of Cory's father and my brother the week of Christmas. Our hearts were  torn once again, but we again rejoice knowing that they wanted to celebrate Christmas in heaven.

So to sum it up, we loved much, learned much, hurt a lot but still trust in our God. He can do amazing things! He can make miracles happen! He can give us peace to start the new year! May you all be blessed this year!