October Update

      Although it is a day some may try to play tricks it is all about the treats here....we received our monthly update and new pictures of Oberson today!  According to our update, he is doing well in school and enjoys playing with his friends.  Just like when we were there in March, he still loves the swing and the soccer balls....and often at the same time!  : )  It appears we may have another soccer player in the house someday!  He hasn't recevied his gifts from us yet but this time I took a picture of both Ashley and Travis holding their soccer balls and in their uniforms to show him that they love soccer too.  Oh...I just had the idea of a new picture frame...a picture of each child holding their soccer ball!  I love it! God SO knits us all together doesn't he?  We are all so different yet all fit together perfectly at the same time!  

     Well, here are the new pictures we received today.  Enjoy the treats today on this Fall fun day otherwise known as Halloween.  :)  I'll try to post pictures of our other little treats later tonight.  

Happy Birthday Oberson!

        Tuesday, October 21st was Oberson's 2nd birthday! We didn't want the day to go unnoticed or uncelebrated (is that even a word??) but how do you celebrate for someone that isn't even here yet?
        Todd and I aren't really big birthday people and if you know us well you know we don't do cards or gifts at all for birthdays....except for the children of course!  Then it is a whole different ballgame!  It's not all about the presents but it IS all about the celebration of them!  The kids get a candle for each meal on their special day and it is just a whole day or celebrate how God made them special.
        We wanted nothing less for Oberson!!  We started out singing 'Happy Birthday' at breakfast before they even left for school and then we had a special dinner that night as a family. (And a family dinner on a weeknight means skipping practices, eating late due to long work hours...but it was important and we did it!)  We had kid friendly food (which is important at every birthday party) and a beloved ice-cream cake that said 'Happy Birthday Oberson".  We talked about how much fun it will be to see him with ice cream!   :)  We talked about him and enjoyed a couple prayer times around the table for him.
        It was a nice night to honor him, celebrate him and how special he is, and pray for the day he will come home!

Happy 2nd Birthday Oberson! 

We hope the 3rd one is here with us!  We miss you and love you! 

Psalm 139:14  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made!

Job 33:4 The Spirit of God made me; the breath of the Almighty gave me life. 

August & September

                It’s hard to believe it has been 3 months since I have updated our blog but there really are not that many ways to say the same thing….we still wait.  We haven’t received adoption news but we sure have news on Oberson to share.  : )

                To give you a glimpse of God’s goodness….we snuck away for Labor day to the beach for one last time to relax and to take in the waves before the rush of fall and the cool of winter set in before us.  Our family doesn’t even take a chair the beach and we don’t put a thing in the sand as we spend every moment in the water.  Literally.  We are snorkeling for creatures, digging for something, riding in waves or floating to relax.  It is just who we are.  As we ate lunch one day we were talking about how our trips might be different in the coming years depending on how Oberson likes (or doesn’t like) the water.  My phone beeped for an email and I checked it to find our monthly update from our orphanage.  Believe it or not our update showed they had had pool day at the orphanage and all the kids got to play in little pools.  They wrote how Oberson loved the water!  He enjoyed having water poured over his head and stayed in the water as long as he was allowed.  Isn’t that just like our God to knit our family together even when we aren’t together!  Circumstances and things certainly beyond our control are keeping us apart but God is still working to bind us together and help us be ready for each other.  Will it be easy?  No!  Will it be perfect?  No!  But God is showing us that He hasn’t left us and He won’t leave us!  Together we WILL bring him home…..it will just take longer than we had ever wanted. 

                Our September update brought even more exciting news as we found out that he started preschool!  It is bittersweet. I am SO very excited he is getting the experience, the stimulation, education, interaction (I could go on and on) but as a mama of course I want him home for school.  I want to teach him myself or drive him to school.  I want to put his shoes on and walk him to into school.  But since that isn’t the plan right now I am forever thankful for an amazing orphanage that provides these things for our children!  He is learning to walk in a line, go up and down the stairs, sit in a classroom, learn his colors, play games….oh all the things that preschool teaches!  I just wish I could see him in his classroom.  : )

                We again are blessed with pictures to document the event although we often get the Mr. Serious look.  I’m anxious to see his smiles and hear his belly laugh again! 

                Another blessing that cannot go unmentioned would be his physical development.  Our orphanage blesses us with his measurements each month so we can track his height and weight.  All four of us get the tape measure out and giggle and laugh out loud at how big he is!  Oberson at 23 months was measuring a tad over 3 feet tall!  Yes!  I picture him in my mind as my almost-two year old baby but a baby he is not!  But what is remarkable and what one must remember is where he lives.  It doesn’t escape us that our son lives in Haiti.  He lives in a third world country.  Children die every day of starvation and yet he has grown and thrived under the care of loving caregivers.  THIS is what gets me through the wait. 

                We will always use your prayers as this wait is beyond anything I can explain.  And I’ll be bold and ask you to pray for the children…all three of them!  Ashley and Travis have been patient for 2.5 years now and Oberson is preparing for a huge change (even if he doesn’t know it).  But also pray for his caregivers.  They are holding him when we cannot, teaching him, playing with him and loving on him.  We are thankful he has them. 

  

A few pictures of Ashley & Travis too!  : )

Oh that smooth skin that I just want to kiss!  

There's that smile right behind that block!   :)  Love it!  Love him! 

Thanks for reading friends!  We love you all!