GOTTA LOVE ADOPTION!

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We are pursuing our child/ren in Ethiopia to help create our family. We aren't "saving" him or them. Instead, he, or they, will be saving us. He, or they, will be filling a gaping hole in our hearts that God intended to only be fulfilled by him or them!

Some people feel lead to adopt. Others feel lead to support families who adopt, emotionally, prayerfully and/or financially. Others sponsor children. Yet, others pray for the orphans. All fulfill God's plan for us to care for the orphans.

TO WHICH ACTION ARE YOU CALLED?.....................Ask God to show you. He will! {grin}

Praying for Families

The Ethiopian Courts opened yesterday! ET closes their court system completely down for the rainy season, as minimal travel can occur because of the terrible road conditions and all of the rain. Well, things are drying up over in ET, and they have re-opened the courts!

We are praying for those families who received their referrals before the court closures, and have been waiting to travel to meet their children. We are praying for those families awaiting invitation to return for their second trip to bring their children home. We are also praying that the opened courts will result in a LOT more movement with referrals, as things have significantly SLOWED to a snail pace since the court closures.

We also keep in our prayers, those families paper chasing, as well as those soon to be DTE (dossier to Ethiopia)!

There are currently 45(!) children in America World's two transition homes, that have been matched with their families! WOW! Forty-five children waiting to be home forever! God is GOOD! Join us in praying that they join their families SOON!

Jeff and I are currently number 16 on the infant boy list, and number 10 on the siblings list. Keep in mind, this is the "unofficial" list that a dear one in our yahoo group keeps updated as families' status change. ALL families are excited to see some status changes SOON! Let the adoption gates fling open wide! {smile}

2 MONTHS DTE!

WE ARE TWO MONTHS CLOSER TO OUR LITTLE ONE(S)!

To be honest, this second month did go by a bit slower than our first month. We are, however, rather surprised that another one has gone by. We are still enjoying our weightless feeling of no paperwork for now, and are trying to walk that fine line between living in the freedom of dreaming with expectancy and staying in control of our excitement.

How did we enjoy celebrating another month of being DTE?

Well, we don't have the pictures to show all that we did (we forgot to take the camera, darn it!) but here is a quick rundown. We enjoyed Friday at our friend, Ben's, Luau birthday party, and Saturday we enjoyed tailgating at the Boise State University football game.

They WON on the blue turf......AGAIN!.......72-2 since 1999!

GO BRONCOS!

As you know, a couple of weeks ago we starting to put our nursery together. We have a long way to go, but we have the crib and one of the dressers in it! Since starting this room, we have found ourselves rearranging many of the other rooms throughout the house. You know...the nursery goes where the office was; the office moves downstairs; the dining nook becomes a quaint sitting room; and our dining room moves from the nook to the bigger room off the kitchen. It has been SO MUCH FUN! A remodel....without having to buy new furniture (outside of the nursery)!

After finding a few things today, to help complete our rearrangement of furniture and rooms, we spent this gorgeous Sunday as a family at the park! Sorry, no camera this time, either! Fischer and Kastle are crashed on their beds as I write, exhausted from the fun fetching.

Okay, so we kind of spent the whole weekend enjoying ourselves with friends, as well as on our own with our doodles, celebrating our 2 months of waiting. Was it ever GREAT!

We are coming, our precious little one(s)! Every day counts!

GOD SPEAKS...

.....so, as the pictures depicted in my last post, I had a fun-filled refreshing weekend!.........and I would love to share with you how God spoke to me throughout this time!

The Cat Walk. I anticipated this as being the most challenging event for me. Walking on a log 40-50 feet in the air. I was actually taken aback when I felt just how intense the fear was once I climbed onto that log! My level of fear surprised me! I spoke out words of fear and doubt, and I'm sure my face showed my fear as well!

I looked across the log to Nancy, my partner, and heard her saying how scared she was to let go of the tree and start walking......but all I SAW on her face was that joy and peace that she always exudes! Even afraid, I could only see her sweetness and peace!

In that fleeting moment, I realized how deeply I desire to carry such Godly peace within me ~ regardless of what fear or troublesome trial I may be facing. I want to continue to know God so richly that I know in my "knower" He has me covered. That all is well. That I have no reason to carry any fear or doubt. Not because of my circumstance, but because of WHO is carrying me in the circumstance!

{sigh of relief....as I sink into the arms of my Heavenly Father}

God has been leading me toward such peace, especially on this journey to parenthood. Though my face may still reflect my fear at times, I am thankful that He continues to show up and remind me of His steadfast love. And as He does, more and more peace overrides my fear ~ in my heart, my mind ~ as well as in my face. Thank you, God!

After this fleeting divine exchange about peace, I started my "cat walk" on the log, toward Nancy. I found myself focusing on a fixed object across the way (the zip line platform). This too, had great symbolism for me regarding my walk with God ~ though I did not process it until my feet were firmly planted on solid ground. You see, once I kept my eyes focused on a steady object, I was able to walk ~ with more confidence and greater peace.

GOD IS MY ZIP LINE PLATFORM!

GOD is who I want to keep my eyes fixed upon in daily life, as well as in the fearful times! Keeping my focus on God's steadfast love and promises, regardless of the circumstance in my life, gives me the confidence I need to take one step at a time. Keeping my eyes fixed on Him, gives me His peace to move forward. Even in the times when I don't know which way to go. Even in the moments when I feel I cannot take just one small step.

All He asks is that I keep looking up ~ to Him. God will provide the way. He is that rope-line that snugs up and gives me security. He is that line that will catch me if I fall.

It is my prayer that one day, this knowledge will chase away all fear and doubt, and such divine peace will exude from me in all circumstances. Even when I am afraid.

Women's Retreat Weekend

I SO HOPE YOU ALL HAD AN AWESOME WEEKEND!

The end of my week started with me feeling like total CRUM! I was afraid that I was going to miss our church Women's Retreat! My health improved and I was able to go. YAY! And now I see why the enemy was trying to keep me from joining these precious women! IT WAS A FABULOUS WEEKEND!

I was surrounded by very precious souls. I made new friends that I hope will become "old friends" with time. We had wonderful mountains views. We worshipped together.

Bethany and Lindsey were wonderful!

We studied God's word together.....(not sure whose hand this is, but love the picture!)

(Isn't Sarah SO talented with the camera!?

THANKS for all the great pics, Sarah!)

Connie and I laughed together so hard one night, we had tears streaming down our cheeks (and we kept our roomies up, I'm sure! Sorry, Sonia and Terra!) We felt like we were in high school again. Good for our souls!

This year all who wanted to (which was almost everyone!) participated in a Ropes Course. If you haven't done one, and ever get the opportunity.....Go For It! Total BLAST! That's all I have to say! Sums it all right up!

We had team building activities where we had to pass one another through small "web" spaces in what looked like a soccer net. Our group (#7...we called ourselves the divine group!) passed a fake egg around 16 women in 2.6 seconds! Creative passing brought us the fastest time! {smile} We lead, and were lead, blindfolded throughout the forest.

Tricia, Nancy, Sarah and me, as we prepare for our turn at the....

ZIP LINE! My first zip line ever! My scream, as I leaped off the platform high in the sky (climbed a tree to get there), was a release of pure JOY and FREEDOM! Likely the closest I will ever feel to flying!

Yes, that is me!...Spread eagle...Flying FREE!

Look hard, I blend in with the tree, but I'm there!

Immediately following my free-flying on the Zip Line, we headed to the "Cat walk." I can't say I walked as gracefully as a cat, but the experience rocked my socks off!

You climb a tree, get out onto this log that is WAY high in the air (yes, roped in, but that doesn't keep you from feeling woogy!), walk toward one another ~ PASS one another! ~ and continue to make your way to the other tree! Without falling! Schnikers!

WE DID IT!

It was SO FUN to do this with dear, precious, sweet Nancy, our pastor's wife. Neither one of us wanted to let go of our tree and take those first few steps on the log without something to hold onto.....but we did it!

Such a weekend of being refreshed and revived in God's love! Next post I will share with you how the Cat Walk, and weekend overall, spoke to me. I came home with a couple "life lessons" that I will forever carry with me.

THANK YOU, Lord, for meeting each one of us, in our own individual way, this weekend at Trinity Pines! Your presence amongst us was real. We enjoyed our time with you ~ and with one another!

"FAMILY AFFAIR"

WOW! Such a HUGE GIVEAWAY! You won't even BELIEVE all the adoption gear you can WIN, just by purchasing a puzzle piece (or two)! Check it out over on THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED blog! Shirts, snack bags, purses/bags, more shirts (one is ours!), artwork........you name it, and you can win it ALL! Just think! You help them bring their daughter home and can win a ton of stuff doing it! A win-win all the way around!

Adoption ~ Plan A!

We THANK each and every one of you who are sharing in our journey to parenthood! You are such a BLESSING to us! We are actually enjoying these first six weeks of waiting, as it feels so weightless to not have paperwork weighing down our shoulders! There is nothing more for us to do now......but wait. Everything is now in GOD'S HANDS and we can't think of a better place to put our hope and desires to be parents! GO GOD!!! {big sigh!}

A common question we are asked along this journey is, "How did you know adoption was right for you?" and "How did you choose to adopt from Ethiopia?" Our common response is, with a huge smile, "We didn't choose Ethiopia, Ethiopia chose us!" I thought I would share with you a few ways that God spoke to us and used others' stories to help open our eyes and hearts to adoption as "PLAN A for our family." Here goes.........

As many of you know, Jeff and I struggled to get pregnant ~ that is, until we sought out fertility treatments. We both always said, "If we don't get PG, then we know we will adopt for sure. We just don't feel God calling us to adoption. Yet, anyway. When and if we do hear His guidance, we will adopt without hesitation." Well, after two years of fertility treatments and miscarriages along the way, we began to Hear God's voice. Not audibly, but you know what I mean. Feeling His guidance, I guess.

It sounded different than we anticipated. We thought we would hear something like, "Since you cannot get PG and carry full-term, I want you to adopt." It was nothing like that at all. Instead, it was a still small voice speaking to each of us with excitement saying, "Adoption is not a second-choice plan. It is part of my original plan for the creation of your family! Whether you carry a biological child or not, adoption has always been part of my PLAN A for blessing you with children." We both began to see that adoption was always part of the plan for our family. It wasn't a second choice or a "less-than" decision. It wasn't a "Plan B."

Adoption is meant to be part of our journey to our child or children! Biological children? Maybe. Adoption? Most definitely! PLAN A!

We have very near and dear friends, Connie and Rick, who adopted Emily from China, and sharing their journey with them was such a blessing to us. However, at that time, adoption wasn't even on our radar for our own personal family. (Yet!) As God began to spark within us an interest in adoption, I was lead to various adoption agency and orphan outreach websites which helped me gather more information. Just in case we pursued this avenue...

Jeff and I began to converse more and more about adoption, and we began to google different adoption topics. It didn't take long for us to realize the huge need out there ~ EVERYWHERE! Domestically and Internationally! Huge needs! BIG!

As Jeff's and my interest in adoption grew, God drew me to a college friend, Karen, from the good 'ol Luther College days. Karen and I became FB friends, and I often saw her posts about orphans, which lead me to her blog. Given my increasing intrigue in adoption, I went back on her blog to track the days of their adoption story. I read every entry about her and Jay's journey to their two sons, Jayden and Wesley. Two amazing boys who joined their family in November 2008. Reading the ups and downs of their story helped make adoption become so much more "real" to me! A "real" option for OUR family! God was using their story to their sons, to awaken this deep desire within my heart! I could physically feel it stirring me!

I soon became a "blog hopper" and grew into the "blog addict" that I now proclaim to be. {giggle} I could not read enough (I still can't!) about other adoptive families and their journeys to their children! Many a nights were spent into the wee hours reading about these blessed families! Thus, stirring the flame within me even hotter.

As I felt this love for our child/ren, half way across the world, grow and begin to overflow, I shared more of my thoughts and emotions with Jeff. Divinely, God was speaking to Jeff in much the same way, using a different, more individualized manner! God was drawing us both toward adoption right before our eyes! It was neat to experience its evolution in our hearts. I am SO THANKFUL that God stirred BOTH of us at the same time!

As we looked into all options, domestically and internationally, we could not ignore the magnetic drawing pictures of sweet precious children in Ethiopia had on our hearts! God made it so VERY clear that our son (or possibly siblings!) was in ET! As Joyce Meyer would say, we "knew in our knower" that we were meant to go to Ethiopia to bring our child or children home. FOREVER!

Allow me to share, with their permission, some photos of Karen and Jay with their family. The family that helped stir this love for adoption and for Ethiopia that we now carry so deep in our hearts.......

Beautiful blessings come when adoptive families share their stories! Praise God such stories can be used to inspire others! We cannot imagine missing out on this amazing blessing of adoption! God has hand-picked our precious children already, and in His perfect timing, we will be united with the very child or children meant to help make our FOREVER FAMILY! This is not a second choice for us. Adoption has become the passion of our hearts! Adoption is a beautiful way of becoming a family! This child (or two!) will bless us far more than we could ever bless him/them! Thank you, Wistrom family, for your role in awakening this dream in our hearts. In our souls. Thank you for giving us such an amazing vision of the beautiful blessing of children. All children. Adopted children, as well as biological children.

THANK YOU, GOD, for bringing us on this precious journey! We can't wait to meet who you have chosen for us!

T-Shirts & Water Bottle Sale ~ Back by Popular Demand!

Dear college friend, Karen, with her precious son, Wesley

(wearing one CUTE tee!)

Isn't this just the sweetest photo EVER!?!?

(THANKS, Karen, for emailing it to me!)

GREAT PHOTO to help advertise our second

FUNdraiser Pre-sale!

Shirts and water bottles are for sale through

Sunday, September 9th.

(We place order Sept 10th)

Click on "PURCHASE" button on top right of this blog to see the options!

THANK YOU for supporting our adoption as well as supporting our endeavor to increase adoption awareness with these tees and water bottles!

Can't Forget: darling nephew, Dylan & sweet niece, Alyssa

Weekend FUN

Well, babe(s), Daddy is no longer going to be on call 24/7 every weekend! He and Jared (his partner) have decided to share call, so they each can have 2 weekends a month FREE from work and from having to be glued to their phone! YAY!

What does this mean for you!?!? It means more time together doing family fun weekend stuff! We cannot WAIT for you to be home with us, enjoying and fulfilling our weekends together!

What does this mean for Mommy and the doodlebugs NOW!?!? It means getting away more often to explore, have fun and just BREATHE!

Here are a few pics of our fun getaway Saturday, to the Bruneau Sand Dunes (less than a 2 hour drive away). We can't wait to play in the sand with you!

Starting out on the trail....

Hiking up to the top ridge...

Racing up the last bit.....

Fischer diggin' down for cooler sand....

Hiking along the ridge...

Buried in the cooler sand

Runnin' Free!

The "Unofficial" List

A sweet (and organized) fellow AWAA Yahoo Group member, Leigh Ann, has taken over the tracking of each AWAA family's children requests, referrals, court dates, embassy dates, etc. This list only includes the families who have joined the group as we have no way of tracking families who do not provide their information.

We were put on this "unofficial" list once our Dossier was sent to Ethiopia!

We are number 11 on the siblings under 3 years old list; and number 21 on an infant boy list!

There is no way of knowing which list we will become number one on first, but God knows! He already knows if He is going to bless our family with one or two amazing little angels! Imagine that! He knows WHO, HOW MANY, and WHEN we will get the call letting us in on His Divine secret. Just the thought of that AMAZES me!

We are SO excited! We pray for (and hope you will too) the birth parent(s) who will be making such a selfless decision as to give up their biological child/ren in hopes of a more abundant life for him/them. We will continue to pray for the health of our child or children, and welcome each of you to do the same! Please also pray that God fills their hearts with joy and meets their needs physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We trust our child or children to you, Lord, the One who can provide far better care for them than we ever could ourselves!

Until Your timing is revealed, we wait. Excitedly, we wait.

ONE MONTH DTE!

Jeff and I have decided that, in honor of each month we spend waiting for our child/children (each month after being DTE!), we are going to do some kind of a "Date Night!" The date may be big. It may be small. The point will be to celebrate sharing another month together while getting one month closer to our son (or children)!

We want to maximize the spare time we currently have (compared to the lack of spare time in parenthood), by sharing "Date Nights" before it becomes harder to fit into our schedules.

Don't get me wrong, Jeff and I have tons of FUN together already. Sometimes it is on our own spontaneous dates, sometimes it is with friends, and sometimes it is a planned date. Oftentimes, we do things without making a conscious effort to have a you-and-me "Date Night." That is okay for now, as such dates happen naturally for us as DINKS (Double Income No Kids). However, we have watched friends struggle to keep up "Date Night" once they became parents. We want to get in the practice of PLANNING "Date Night" now, so it will be more natural for us to schedule it in when the kiddo(s) arrive.

We believe "Date Night" is SO important in every marriage, and it becomes even more important in a marriage with children. We want to make it happen when we are Mommy and Daddy, so we are going to make a concerted effort to make this become a habit for us now ~ before entering into our new roles! This way, we are thinking, it will be more likely to continue when our babe(s) come home! (Sounds good in theory, doesn't it?!?)

So, as you likely guessed from the included photo, our ONE MONTH DTE DATE NIGHT was going to a DAVE MATTHEWS concert! WOW! Did we ever start off right! Dave ROCKED IT!!!

We're a little tired today, but Dave was totally worth it! (Besides, I hear these late nights we have been pulling are good training for when we become parents!)

I know we have more than one date a month, honey, but I look forward to our special monthly celebrations of being DTE! These dates give me something to look forward to and will help us endure the wait! God willing, maybe we wont have too many months of waiting......Guess we better get good at planning "Date Nights" quickly, just in case! Ha!

I look forward to every single day with you, babe! Just waking next to you, greeting you and the day with a kiss, is a prized special event! I can't wait for you to be a Daddy. You are going to be such an amazing one! I'm so glad that we can enjoy our time together as we wait. I love you, honey!