August

8/28
Hello everyone. Tim and I put down the laminate floor in the baby's room Wed. evening. It looks really good and Tim and I didn't have one "disagreement"! I also finished painting the family room today. It looks really good, too!. We heard from America world yest. Our application was sent to the Ohio office and they sent us out some more information and paperwork that we need to fill out. We already received the packet. That was really quick. I wasn't expecting it until next week. Hopefully, everything else will move so quickly! There is some paperwork that Tim and I need to fill out and submit to Job and Family services for approval to adopt a child in the U.S. and a couple other forms, such as releases of information, etc. Once they get the paperwork they will contact us to schedule an orientation. We need to pay for the homestudy and post placement study on or before the orientation. The homestudy is $1800 plus $160 for travel expenses. We can pay the $160 at the time of the home visit, however. The post placement cost will be $700 or less, they sent me the cost for Kazakhstan, which is more expensive. I already emailed the social worker that will be doing the homestudy to update this and they will get new figures to us. Everything else should stay the same, though. Tim, his dad, and step mom have already gotten most of the yard sale stuff out and have already had people stop by! Please pray that the yard sale goes well. Thank you, to everyone who donated items for are yard sale and helped us with the previous two.


8/25
Today I painted the upper half of half the family room. I wasn't sure if I liked the color or not so I thought I'd do half and let it simmer for a day or so!! I also cleaned out the laundry room. Whew, what a mess!! I found another box of things that I can put in the yard sale this weekend. It's amazing all the junk that we keep! I received some good news today, my dad is getting his severance package from ABX air, so that will help my parents get things together and ease their move. I am not very happy about them moving, however, it is out of my control and I will make the best of it. I am taking off a couple days next week to spend some time with them before they leave. Please pray that the move goes smoothly and w/o any problems for them and that they sell their home asap!I saw this translation of Phil 4:1-7 on another blog and I really loved it and thought it was relevant to everything that is going on right now.
Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do. Remember that the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this... you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful that the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Jesus!


8/24
I have been working a little on our blog. Hopefully, I will be able to put the t shirts we will be selling on here soon. My Aunt Susie and my younger cousins came down from Cleveland to visit with us. I had so much fun playing games and visiting with them. We don't get to see each other very often. I know that my mom really enjoyed it, as well. Tim and his dad worked on the deck a little yesterday and almost have the frame done. I have been working on painting the family room, this weekend. I am taking my time with it as we have been rushing around everywhere the past couple of weeks. We turned in our initial payment and paperwork to America World on Thursday. Our next step is to complete the homestudy. Please pray that the homestudy goes well. We will be having another garage sale Labor day weekend. Thanks for all your support.


8/18
Thanks to all of you who helped us, prayed for us, and donated items for our yard sale. We have just jumped our second hurdle in our adoption journey! This week, Tim and I will be focusing on finishing painting our house, finishing the baby's room and helping my parents get their home ready to sell. We will be having another yard sale over labor day weekend, so if you have any items that you want to donate, please let Tim or me know. We are also selling T-shirts for $20. If you want one, let us know. I am going to try to figure out a way to put a picture of the shirts and a way to purchase them on this blog, so keep checking!! Yesterday, Tim and I went canoeing w/the church. We had a lot of fun. It took us a while to get the hang of it, we kept going in circles and zig zaging across the river!! We may have to do this more often so we get some practice in!! Love you all, God Bless!!! Please keep us in your prayers.

8/14
“Where there is pain, let us bring grace. Where there is suffering, bring serenity. For those afraid, let us be brave. Where there is misery, let us bring relief. Let us be the remedy.”
~david crowder band

8/12
Hello everyone. Tim and I are having a second yard sale this weekend to help raise money for our adoption. Please stop by and help support us. If you have any items that you would like to donate, you can contact me or Tim. We are also accepting donations, if you feel led to give anything to help us with our adoption journey. We will also be having various goodies available this weekend!! We are having T-shirts made up also, hopefully we will have some done by this weekend! Also, please continue to pray for us, our journey, our future child and our child's birth parents. Thank you and God Bless.

8/10
This weekend Tim and I had a yard sale to help raise money for our adoption expenses. We raised about $300. Yeah!! We had a lot of donations of items to sell from family and some church friends and we had a lot of help getting things together, etc. Thank you to everyone who helped, it was much appreciated! We are having another yard sale next weekend, hopefully we will do well. Thank you for all your support. We are so excited to begin this journey. Please pray for us-for things to go smoothly and without problems.