Well welcome to 2011 everyone. I am happy to begin a new year. 2010 was a good year but we had many battles to overcome as well. I am going to review 2010 and post my thoughts, hopes and resolutions for 2011. So here goes:
2010: Well first and foremost in 2010 my dear husband and I celebrated 10 years of marriage this past September. Our 10 years have been quite a journey. We have 9 children and this year was our very best year of marriage. We are just drenched in love from our childrena and we both are loving life.
Another important thing to happen in 2010 was the finalization of our adopted daughter Adyline. We are so blessed to have her as our daughter and she is such a joy. Another thing that I am happy about is that we were able to purchase a travel trailer so that we can take our entire family on family vacations. This is the easiest and most affordable vactioning we do as we have such a large faimily. We had a great time in our camper in 2010 and we cannot wait to do it again this year.
In June my parents moved in with us and I am enjoying it. Of course the children couldn't be more thrilled with having their grandparents living with them. The really are enjoying it.
In December, we were asked if we would be willing to do a newpaper article for our local newspaper about our unique family. Then we were asked to do another article for another newspaper as well. We were thrilled to do this in hopes to get the word out about foster care/adoption. We hope that with our article people were inspired to become foster parents. There is a HUGE need of foster parents all the time. Seriously, what more could you do than give your heart and time and love and a home to a foster child or a child waiting for a home? If everyone were to do as the bible instructs, there should be NO, and I mean NO orphanes in this world today. You may think it is not for me. And I am going to bodly ask, what is not for you? Are you saying you can't provide time to a parentless child. Does your job take to much of your time. Really, I think that's an excuse. Do you have a house? Most will answer yes. Well I guess that elimiates that excuse. Do you have a heart. Well of course the answer will be yes. Well I guess everyone can qualify to be a foster/adoptive parent if you have a loving heart. Well some might say, well I already have 2.5 kids, I surley couldn't have 3 or 4 kids. Really. You can't, WHY? Because you don't want to split your time even more. So you're gonna sit back and say, Oh no, I have 2.5 kids, yet there is 500,000 orphanes sitting without a mom or dad and you can't give up a little more of you space, your time, or better yet, you can't divide your time with an adopted child and biological children. Well I must add that Jesus adopted everyone of us. Did you know that Jesus was adopted by Joseph. Hmmmmm, JESUS himself was adopted. Really, I know his heart must be aching for the children of this world and he looks at you and I and he knows we can provide and he is waiting for us to make a difference. The question is, are we such a selfish country that we just close our eyes and turn our backs on these children. Do you think that is what Jesus is doing to these children? NO WAY, he is crying out to you and I to rescue these children. ENOUGH of the excuses. If I can do this, you all CAN too. No I am not a special person, God called EVERYONE (you and I) to care for the orphanes and widows. Um, yup, he sure did. AND above all else we were adopted by GOD to. How fair is it that he adopted us, yet we can't adopt a child. Just 1 child. If everyone would adopt 1 child, it would make a huge difference. Did you know in Eastern Europe, when a special needs child who has been afflicted with down syndrome, becomes 4 years old they are CHAINED, yes, CHAINED to a crib and left with no affection and fed just enough to sustain and eventually they will die. Yes, I am asking did you know that? It is no joke. I am crying out along with my God, Please, Please consider adopting a child in 2011. Well you say, I cannot afford to adopt overseas. Well, I must agree it is very expensive. However, In America, adopting through the foster care system is VERY inexpensive. I guess you can't use that as excuse. You may ask, well how inexpensive is it, like $10,000? Nope a measly, $161. Maybe instead of buying the latest and greatest cell phone, or going to that overly expensive restaurant, or that fancy vacation. Can you spare $161? I know most of you can. So what are you going to do about it. Turn your eyes away or make a difference in a child's future. Ok, I must get off of my soapbox!
Courtney: She is going to college to become a nurse and she is doing very well in school.
Madisyn: Well Madi is doing well in school and she has adjusted to High School life. She is such an amazing girl. She helps so much with her siblings and I couldn't be more thankful. She ADORES her siblings and for that I am very grateful. I love her so much and I hope 2011 will be an amazing year for her.
Corey: He is not my little boy anymore. He is growing up so much. Corey learned how to ride a two-wheeled bike and he is so excited about that. He is doing much better with homeschooling this year. We changed curriculums for him and it seems to be working do far. He has begun doing some chores and he loves helping me when I need it! He is such a great son. He has a sensitive heart and is a very caring boy.
Owen: Wow he is such a stinker. He is the family clown. He is very funny and the family loves to laugh at the silly things he does. Owen is flourishing in his school work. He is excited to be doing school like everyone else.
Arianna: She is excelling in school. I forsee her to be doing 2nd grade work by summertime. She is a very smart little girl. She is a great reader and she continues to amaze me with her reading abilities. She is doing well in Math too. She has been getting perfect scores on her tests. It may sound like I am bragging, but you must know that her biological mother is mentally handicapped, so her being so intelligent is a miracle. Arianna also has learned how to ride a two-wheeled bike. She thinks she is mini mom and tried to rule the roost around here. But that doesn't last to long as she is quite demanding about her orders to her siblings, lol.
Emma: Just recently Emma has been doing well with her behavior and for that I am thanful. We are slowly plugging away at school with her as it is still very overwheling for her, but nonetheless, she is doing well. Emma learned how to ride a bike, albeit with training wheels, but at least she can ride a bike. I am amazed that she finally is tall enough to reacht he pedals on the bike.
Isaiah: He is making so much progress. He is speaking about 30 words and is starting to put two-word sentences together occasionally. He is almost walking, so we are plugging away at that. Overall his health has been good this past year!
Adyline: What a cutie pie. She is also a smart little girl. She is a little sneaky though. She is very funny and she hates bugs and the word bug. She will scream if you say the word, it is pretty funny to say the least. She is testing her boundaries in the area of vocalization. She tries to talk back, but let me just say that is short lived and not allowed in this house. She is learning quickly though.
Urijah: He is our explorer. He is into everything and anything. He is very stubborn and strong willed, but oh so cute :) He is also a smart boy. He doesn't like to sit still at times and he seems to always be getting into trouble, lol.
Now for the not so good parts of 2010. We had a huge battle with our foster son Urijah. We have battling to keep him since February. By the Grace of God we were granted the adoption of our little man. However, the relative has filed a section 45. That hearing will be held Feb. 11, but from what I here we should have no worries. Basically a section 45 is an appeal that the competing either competing party files if they do not agree with the decsion. So the relative does not agree with Lansing granting us adoption of our son whom we have had since birth and he will be turning 3 in May. Also this so-called-relative is not a legal relative so we have that in our favor too. But it has been very tiring and we have had to spend ALOT of money on a lawyer, but I am very thankful and have no regrets of doing what we did. We were thankful that we got the BEST attorney in our state. We were not messing around with this! We wanted the best of the best and that is what we got.
I had to testify in Isaiah's case in May with his biological parents present. That was very hard for me in a way. I had made somewhat of a relationship with his biological mom and I knew it was going to be very intense at the hearing. But, I knew for my son's sake I had to do it. I was told I did a fabulous job and that it was one of the best testimonies they have heard. I thanked the Lord for his grace and peace that day and giving me the correct words to speak, it was qutie nerve wrecking. I think other than those two major things, 2010 was a pretty good year.
Now 2011: My top hop for this year is that I will become pregnant in whatever way the Lord sees fit. We are pursuing Embryo adoption, but I still pray the Lord will bless me with child if he seed fit befre that. If not, I am very thankful to be doing Embryo adoption as it will give me a chance of being pregnant and hopefully give birth to a healthy baby.
In hopes of becoming pregant, however it might happen, my husband and I are going to make our bodies healthy. We are beginning P90X and eating better, adding vitamins and herbs into our daily diet as well.
In 2011 our last two adoptions will be finalized (Isaiah and Urijah). I cannot believe we will be DHS (Department of Human Services) free in 2011, lol. It is going to be kind of wierd as I am so used to them in our lives. But I am ready to move forward. Of course if they called with a child, I would say yes in a heartbeat even if it meant having DHS back in our lives.
Well that turned into a massive post!!! I pray everyone has a great 2011!!!!
In Christ,
Kristy
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