Addison's 1st Birthday Picts! ( we are so blessed to have these!)

What a cute little monkey!!!

The title says exactly how we are feeling! Please pray as our agency gets ahold of the orphanage director! We are praying for positive communication and her paperwork showing up on our agencies private list quickly! Among hundreds of other things! In my morning devotion I was to read Romans4:16-25 I was so uplifted by His words this morning! I hope you all have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Happy First Birthday Sweet Baby Addison!

Look how tiny she is!

We so wish we could be there with you celebrating your Birthday! But in a few short months we will be in China with you, and bringing you home to a big sister and 2 big brothers who can't wait to meet you! Time can't move fast enough!

How we "found" Addison!

Our first picture of Addison!

You may want to get comfy because this may be a long post! So about a week and a half a go I fell across a website, A family from the states who have adopted several times from China from the waiting child program. They now live in Beijing, China and run a foster home for physically disabled kids (mostly 7 yrs and older) They also run a bakery for the older teens as an income for those kids! It was such an inspiring story! I emailed them to see if we could donate Nathan's old wheelchair as he just got a new one, and we started emailing back and forth. We told the family that we were in the process of adopting from China's waiting child program and were waiting for LID (log in date) and referral. I also told him what special need we felt we were being led to adopt (but were told it would be nearly impossible by our agency. Like a needle in a haystack.) the foster Dad said funny you should email because last week we had a call from Southern China about a baby girl with that exact disability, and the orphanage director has asked if we could help her! It took a couple days, and while we were in Montreal the foster family received her from down south! The orphanage director has said she is more than willing to work with our adoption agency to get her "HOME" So now we are waiting for them to communicate next week! For sure this is out of the norm for adoption, but if this is God's will for our family I believe nothing can stop it! And if this is not the child He has intended for us then the doors will close. Its hard not to be over the moon excited! Apparently this foster home has had several other adoptions take place all of them were the same situation family "found" child on there own! And their agency had the child placed on their private list. Her foster family is so sure that this is our child that they asked us to name her our English name!!!! So we gave her the name Addison Hope! They have sent us daily updates and several pictures, and she will be seeing a world renowned orthopedic surgeon in November! Also her first birthday is on Tuesday Sept 29th so we are sending out a package for her with some people that the foster family knows from the states that will be staying with them for a short term missions trip! She is absolutely beautiful! And they say she is a happy baby that sleeps through the night! So here is her picture, please pray for our family and sweet little Addison that her paperwork will appear on our agencies(F.O.I.) private list quickly and that she will remain healthy and happy. Enjoy the picture. Here is a link to the foster homes website www.agapeflh.org Check it out if you get a chance the video is very inspiring!

We Think We Have Found Addison!!!!

A quick post to say we think we have found her! Our adoption agency is working with the orphanage director to secure a referral of a little girl in a foster home in Beijing we had been given a heads up on! We've have a picture and basic information about her and will share it here soon! We ask for you to pray for us, and our agency etc. that this will all "fall into place" etc etc etc! We are soooo excited and can't wait to see what will happen next! Will post very soon!

Home Sweet Home!

Sheesh what a whirlwind the last few days have been! Nathan and I are now home and sure glad to be here! I certainly missed Howard, Riley and Josh! Things went exceptionally well in Montreal and we don't have to return until March! Woohoo! Nathan is in for a whole bunch of physiotherapy but other than that he is doing soooo well! Thank you God! We have some HUGE news regarding our adoption (but need a day or two to be 100% sure before we announce it here) Stay tuned things may be getting very exciting! Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Leaving on a Jet Plane.

Our eldest Nathan in Disney World on his wish!

Well Nathan and I fly out to Montreal tomorrow. He has appointments at the Shriners Hospital there on Monday and then we turn around and fly home Tuesday. I have learned after 10 years of dealing with this disease not to take anything for granted, so we head into these appointments hoping for the best and expecting the worse! Nathan will be starting an new drug to help strengthen his bones and help with the constant pain he is in, it also helps with his fatigue. We are a little apprehensive as the medication he has been on since he was 3mos old has worked so well. Apparently after 5 years of studies his doctors figure the new drug is much better. We like the fact that he will only need to be at the hospital twice a year and have it infused by I.V. for only 45mins for one day instead of the every 2 months for 3days for 6 hours! We are both excited to be in Montreal even if its only for a day! It is soooo beautiful there this time of year! And who knows maybe a girl can fit in a little shopping in the fashion capital of Canada! lol!

Josh and Riley will be staying at two of my best friend's houses, as we find it easier and more special for them to be the only guest. In other news my friend whom I blogged about in my last post "got" her sweet baby girl and they are at home doing well! Thank you God!!! She and her husband have only 4 more days left for the birth mother to change her mind so please keep praying for her! We got news that our dossier is being authenticated in Ottawa. It feels so weird to be all but done the "paper chase" So now I guess we wait for news! I have heard this is the hardest part, and I can understand why, I feel so unproductive! However I choose to be patient while waiting for our sweet baby girl! So we will be keeping busy with our 3 little blessings that we have here at home and keep praying for our little Addison while she is separated from us! Well I should get everyone packed. Please pray for our family for our two little ones that they won't miss us too much and have a wonderful time, for the families watching them, for Nathan and all his medical procedures, that they will go smoothly with little or no pain, for wisdom for his doctors and I , for safe travels for both Nathan and I, and finally for clarity, discernment and peace for me while communicating with Nathan's doctors. Thank you friends and family and we will update when we return!

Nathan the Famous!

In July Nathan was asked to do an interview at the local radio station as promotion for the Rainbow Society of Alberta, they granted Nathan a wish last year to Disney World for a week with our whole family! Needless to say we all had a blast on our trip last year and we all feel so blessed by this charity. Nate loved being interviewed and we even got some pictures with the hosts of the morning show. We were asked if they could use his picture for the radio station promotions also. Well low and behold in the mail on Friday was a Christian radio broadcasters magazine with our little Nate's picture in it! He is just tickled to be in it! Our middle son Josh asked "Now that Nathan's famous does that mean I have to be nicer to him?" I told him that it hardly means he's famous. And I hoped they were always nice to one another.(Out of the mouth of babes!) I had to have a good laugh though! Here a two pictures of Nate at the radio station enjoying the lime light!

Nathan at the mike.



Nate and the morning show hosts.

We had a wonderful weekend. Howard was out bow hunting Friday and Saturday. And Nate was away at a sleepover. Josh, Riley and I had a blast we went on a huge bike ride at the park and then thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the farmers market. I found a new booth where they sell organic grass fed beef, pork and lamb which I am very excited about as grass fed animals are way leaner than grain fed! J & R also picked out some hair pretties for Addison. Of course we have no news on the adoption front but the kids a certainly getting more excited and asking alot more questions about her, which of course I cannot answer most as we don't know how old she will be etc. Today we went to church our pastor preached a message on being more relationally wise. It was really good, made me think about what walls I put up in my relationships (because we all do!) And finally we ended our weekend with an afternoon BBQ at a friends place where we spent time just enjoying their company. It was a perfect relaxing way to end a lovely weekend.

Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Romans 12:9

Long Weekend & First Day of Preschool

Riley-roo posing for first day photos.



I love this one as they don't always get along so well!

I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend. Now its time to really get back into our routines, and how exhausting that can be! We had a great weekend despite the fact Howard had to work. The kids and I went out to a campground where a bunch of our friends were camping and we climbed hills and played and Josh even got to go horseback riding! We had a blast! I must say its only Wednesday and I am already exhausted! I'm glad its a short week this week. Today our sweet baby girl Riley went for her first day of preschool, much to my amazement she didn't cry a tear or freak out!!! I had been praying for her for weeks as she had been quite concerned about preschool. Well she did very well and even had fun and met a friend! I was so amazed that she was ok with me leaving I had to phone my Mom and celebrate her progress! (really I was trying not to cry myself! lol!) I'm usually the one celebrating my kids independence not crying over it! On the adoption front we sent out our dossier for translation and preparation for China on Friday and our adoption agency should have received it today! Wohoo! I would like to ask any of you prayer warriors out there to pray for a friend of mine who is adopting domestically and has just been chosen by the birth mother!!!! Please pray for that the adoptive mother doesn't change her mind, health of the baby, and peace and wisdom for the adoptive parents. The birth mother is due on Sept 22nd! And I am very excited for this first time mother! Also for my eldest son Nathan, he was diagnosed with brittle bone disease at birth and has been in alot of pain these last two weeks since he's returned to school he is also limping alot more than "his normal" Please pray that God would ease his bone pain and give him more energy so he can keep up with his peers. I hate having to watch him suffer like this! Nathan is such an inspiration to everyone around him! Well I hope you had a wonderful Wednesday!


I lift up my eyes to the hills- where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip- he who watches over you will not slumber.
Psalms 121:1-3

EEK! EEK! EEK!

Yay! We got our provincial approval of our homestudy today! I am very excited to move onto the next step. We have all of our dossier stuff together and I will send it out for translation etc. tomorrow so it can be sent out to China! Hope your having a wonderful Wednesday!

First Day of School

The kids on the first day! Can you tell how tired they are?

Well yesterday was the first day of school and the boys picked out their own outfits! Very stylish! lol! Riley will start her first day of preschool next Wednesday and she is getting very excited! Both Nate and Josh have male teachers this year. Josh is very excited and has already decided that this teacher is the best teacher he has ever had! Well today we left the house without Nate's backpack and then I got a call about 30 minutes after I made the trip to deliver his stuff that Josh hadn't packed his lunch in his backpack!!!! How many times does a Mom have to ask "Is your lunch packed?" and have a child answer "Yep"? So off to the school Riley and I went again!!!!! I was a little embarrassed, not the best first impression on a teacher. Oh well at least I was at home to get the call and able to be the "delivery service" I am bummed as I my camera is now officially broken! So I am using a little point and shoot camera that is the boys. Actually it broke days before our holiday's and my sisters wedding so all my recent photos are on that little camera. I love photography, I'm not great at it but I think I may take a course this Fall after I buy A new camera! I am thinking a Nikon D60 or a Cannon Rebel XS. Although every salesperson seems to have their own opinion on which one is a better camera! So I'm not sure which one would be right for our family. We are still WAITING!!!! for provincal approval of our homestudy!!!! Come on already, it will be 8 weeks on Monday, we were told it would take 6-8weeks. As you can see my patiently waiting has turned into a little impatiently waiting! Not really, but boy do I ever check the mail often! It's Howard's birthday tomorrow, but we have decided to celebrate tonight as the kid's have kidz club at church on Wednesday night and this Wednesday is our Fall kick off! He really let me off the hook this year in the cooking/baking department all he wants for dinner is Sheppard's Pie and a DQ icecream cake! Easy Peasy! Have a fabulous day.