We Are Going On a Snow Hunt

     Ok, so this blog is just for fun.  Jim and I both love snow!  Here in Susanville we have had a very light winter.  So last Monday we decided to take a drive and not come home until we had found some real snow.  By real snow, I mean big beautiful drifts of snow- a Winter Wonderland that we could enjoy.  As we were driving, my sister called and I told her about our quest.  She in turn told my nephew that we were "hunting" for snow.  That phrase really stuck with me.  It reminded me of a folksong/chant that I used to sing with my students called, "We Are Going On a Bear Hunt."  While I do not have a fondness for hunting bears, I do have a fondness for "hunting" snow.  So this is my  loosely based version, "We Are Going On a Snow Hunt!"  To get the full effect, slap your thighs and clap your hands in rhythm while you sing.  Go ahead!  It's fun to be a kid:)

We Are Going On a Snow Hunt

Going on a snow hunt

Going on a snow hunt

On this beautiful day

On this beautiful day

Got a real good friend

Got a real good friend

By my side

By my side

Oh, oh

Oh, oh

What do I see?

What do I see?

It's Almanor Lake

It's Almanor Lake

Can't go under it

Can't go under it

Can't go through it

Can't go through it

Don't want to go around it

Don't want to go around it

Let's go over it

Let's go over it

Going on a snow hunt

Going on a snow hunt

On this beautiful day

On this beautiful day

Got a real good friend

Got a real good friend

By my side

By my side

Oh, oh

Oh, oh

What do I see?

What do I see?

It's gulls in the wind

It's gulls in the wind

They can't go under it

They can't go under it

They can't go through it

They can't go through it

They can't go around it

They can't go around it

They can soar above it

They can soar above it

Going on a snow hunt

Going on a snow hunt

On this beautiful day

On this beautiful day

Got a real good friend

Got a real good friend

By my side

By my side

Oh, oh

Oh, oh

What do I see?

What do I see?

It's tall pine trees

It's tall pine trees

Can't go over them

Can't go over them

Can't go under them

Can't go under them

Can't go around them

Can't go around them

Let's drive through them

Let's drive through them

Going on a snow hunt

Going on a snow hunt

On this beautiful day

On this beautiful day

Got a real good friend

Got a real good friend

By my side

By my side

Look, look

Look, look

Here is the snow

Here is the snow

Let's stay and play

Let's stay and play

Ok, ok

Ok, ok!

(And that's exactly what we did!)

We finally found our snow at Mt. Lassen National Park

Here is Jim with a winter wonderland all around him.

Here I am...loving every minute in the snow!

Most of the park is closed, so we took a walk along the road.

Here is where the road suddenly ends.  They won't plow again until spring.

I couldn't resist throwing a snowball or two at the cute cameraman:)

We built a little snowman family to remind us that we'd like to bring our kids here someday.

This tree reminded us of a Dr. Suess tree- it's grows curvy from the wind.

Amazingly the visitor center was open, so we enjoyed some hot chocolate before heading home.

Adventures in Babysitting

    Jim and I take every advantage to babysit for our friends and family.  We love kids, so what better way for us to get in a little parenting practice than to spend time with kids.  In the past, some of our friends have looked at us strangely, "You really want to spend the night at home watching our kids while we go out on the town?  What is wrong with you?"  But the reality is, we have plenty of time to go out alone together (and we enjoy that time).  What we crave are family nights at home chasing our kids around the house, playing games, making messes and just enjoying time together.

         
    We really do have awesome friends and family who "share" their kids with us on a regular basis.  In the past we have kept my sister's kids ,Tayler, Eryn and Trevor, overnight or for a weekend.  I still have great memories of them spending a week with us when we lived in Detroit.  We visited Bronner's (the world's largest Christmas store), had our own Hawaiian Luau at home and spent lots of time running around Metro Beach.  They are old enough now that they no longer "need" a babysitter, but we still enjoy doing something fun and special with them whenever we travel back to Michigan.

Amy and Tayler putting together a puzzle

Jim and Eryn reading Calvin and Hobbes

Amy and Trevor making cookies

     This past summer we spent a whole week with my brother's kids, Cali and Javan.  We picked them up from my parents and set off traveling around California.  Out of the 8-9 days we were with them, we spent only a few days at our house.  It was a magical week (even without going to Disney).  We explored the Grand Canyon, visited the ocean and ate seafood in San Francisco, explored lava tubes and hung out with friends at Burney Falls.  It was a great week!  And we definitely got practice in the fun and not so fun parts of parenting.  Poor Cali got a bad ear infection, so we were up for a few nights with an understandably not so happy child.  She was a trooper!  They were both great travelers.  One of my favorite memories was Javan singing himself to sleep on our long car drives...so precious.

Javan and Jim with high-flying and high-fiving fun

Amy and Cali at Yosemite National Park

     Our friends Brian and Cindy's kids, Max and Madi, are also two special people in our lives.  They are like family and we consider them our "adopted" niece and nephew here in California.  Madi shares my love of sewing and we have created several fun projects together.  Max shares his latest computer and drawing endeavors with us.  Both of them are very creative.  We love spending time with the whole family and feel blessed to have been part of their lives for the past five years.

One of my sewing projects with Madi

With Max and Madi at Burney Falls

     Our friend Kathryn's kids have also played an important part in our lives.  Quinten and Kiana are my little buddies.  It makes my day when they come find me on Sunday mornings to give me a hug.  Kara is very creative and keeps our fridge adorned with sweet drawings.  Also thanks to her, we have had a Veteran's Day parade in our living room, a castle/fort built in our nursery and operated an animal rescue using clothes baskets for ambulances.  The older boys, Mathew and Joey, are also great kids and we enjoy spending time with the whole family. 

With my two little buddies, Quinten and Kiana

Kara and one of her castle creations

     There are many others that I could tell you about...kids (and their parents) that have enriched our lives and helped fill our home with life and laughter.  Our adventures in babysitting have been and will continue to be a fun and wonderful part of our lives.  They have prepared us well for what will hopefully be the next chapter in our lives- Adventures in Parenthood!

















 
   

We Are Loved!

     We are getting ready to have our homestudy update at the end of March.  Part of me is a little sad and confused (and sometimes angry) that we are still waiting after three years.  According to our agency we are doing everything right.  All of our friends and family tell us what great parents we will be.  We have continued to pray and trust God for our baby.  So what is the hold up?  We don't have an answer to that question and we may never know why we have waited longer than "the norm."   But something we do know and continue to be reminded of over and over again is that we are loved! 
     God loves us and continues to send us reminders that He is control and has a plan for our lives.  Whenever we do get sad, confused or even angry, He faithfully sends encouragement our way.  Whether it's something we read, a phone call or email from a friend, or a song we hear on the radio, it gives us just the boost we need to continue this journey.
     We also feel the love from all of you!  So many of you have been journeying right along with us.   We are so thankful for all that you do.  Last week as I was gathering information about our contacts from last year for our homestudy update, I was overwhelmed with gratitude.  In 2010 we had 2-3 potential birthmother contacts for the year.  In 2011 we had 19 potential birthmother contacts!!!  At least 6 of those contacts came directly from a friend or family member passing our letter or information along.  Others found us on the internet or facebook, but we don't know the exact source.  So from the bottom of our hearts...THANK YOU!
      Here are just some of the ways you have helped us "spread the word" that we desire to adopt a baby:

1.)  Facebook Page:  Many of you have "liked" our page, shared it to your wall, and send us encouraging comments whenever we posts comments, pictures and our blog. 
                 
2.)  Adoption Blog:  Many of you follow our blog through google or email and share our blog to your facebook account and encourage your friends to do the same.  We actually received an encouraging message from another adoptive family across the country in Florida and a phone call with a potential birthmother lead in Michigan all from one share of our blog on facebook. 

3.)  Sharing on your sites:  Many of you have posted links to our website, facebook page, adoption blog and iheartadoption page on your personal facebook pages, websites, blogs and groups you belong to online.

4.)  Word of Mouth:  The match we had in July (although it ultimately didn't work out) came from a friend of a friend who had met us once at a Bible Study two years before.  She remembered we wanted to adopt and called up our mutual friend to get our contact information.  How awesome is that?  Several other contacts have also come by one of you passing our letter along or calling us with a lead you heard about.

5.)  Community contacts:   We have letters at our local crisis pregnancy center, a doctor's office and a women's center in Redding all because you have been willing to pass them along. 

     There are probably many more examples that I am forgetting right now or that we may not even know about.  We are indeed loved!!!!  Thank you and please keep it up.  We have included a list of all our websites, blogs, pages etc at the end of this blog.  Please feel free to share, share, share.  We also have letters and business cards available if you would be willing to pass them along to hospitals, doctors, colleges etc.  Just let us know and we would be happy to mail some to you.  We know that God has the results in His hands, but isn't it awesome that He allows us to be a part of His plan.  We don't know when our match will come or where it will come from, but we do know that each day brings us closer to bringing our baby home.

Our Contact Info:

Facebook Page:  www.facebook.com/jimandamyhopingtoadopt
Adoption Blog:  http://www.jimandamyhopingtoadopt.blogspot.com/
Personal Website:  http://www.jimandamyadopt.com/
Email:  revjet3@netzero.com
Toll-Free Adoption Phone Number:  1-877-257-6127

We have full color letters, business cards and brochures from our agency available to mail to you to pass along.  We would like to adopt a newborn baby.  Our agency can work with a birthmother from anywhere in the U.S. 

    

Why We Chose Adoption

     I was reading a post the other day by another blogger who was talking about how families come to choose adoption.  I realized that I've written about our choice for open adoption, but not about how we came to choose adoption in the first place. 
     Jim and I actually talked about adoption early in our marriage.  At the time we planned on having children both biologically and through adoption.  I must admit we didn't know much about adoption at the time.  I'm sure I had a romanticized view of "rescuing" from a third world country or "saving" a child from poverty.  Little did we know that adoption would become a major part of our lives...but not in the way we thought.
     When our infertility issues first began to surface, we were not in a place to pursue infertility treatments or adoption.  Jim was in seminary.  I was teaching.  We did not have great insurance and our savings account (as with most young couples) was pretty much non-existent!  So we waited and prayed and trusted that God would provide when the right time came. 
     After Jim graduated from seminary, we moved back to Michigan and ended up working for a major insurance company.  Finally, we were in a position to pursue one of our two options.  We did all the infertility testing.  The results were somewhat inconclusive, so we tried fertility drugs for a while.  During this time we also revisited the idea of adoption.  We decided that we would pursue any fertility treatments that were covered by our insurance, but save our money for adoption.
     Fast forward a few years...we moved to California and Jim began working for the Federal Bureau of Prisons as a Chaplain.  Jim had finally found his career.  I was able to stay home.  More than ever, the desire to become parents was growing daily.  We tried yet another fertility drug without success and decided to end treatment at least for a while and turn our attention to adoption. 
     We began researching the different types of adoption and learned so much!  We decided that for us the best path was domestic adoption (adopting from the U.S.).  We were reading about the benefits of open adoption over and over and really liked the idea of being able to stay connected with our child's birthparents.  We also looked into fos-adopt, but although that may be a path we explore in the future, it just wasn't the right choice for us here in California.  We took several months to research, pray, talk, and pray some more and finally decided on the Independent Adoption Center.  Although we are still waiting for a match and placement, we remain happy with our decision.  We really feel that God has been leading us on this path from the beginning- we know that He is at work even when we can't see it.  Some day, hopefully soon, when our baby is in our arms- all of this will become part of their birth/life story.

Waiting!

     The prayer in our devotional last night really spoke to us so we thought we would share it with you. The devotional is by Ginger Garrett and is called "Moments for Couples Who Long for Children." The devotional talked about how God is still moving in our circumstances whether our journey seems swift or agonizingly slow.  Our wait for a baby has brought a fair amount of weariness to us lately-We seem to get so close and then heartbreaking disappointment and another delay.  It is such a comfort to know that God is always working, even when we can't see the progress.   He is using everything, even the disappointments and delays, to work everything together for our good (Romans 8:28). 

Here is the prayer, written by Ginger Garrett and based on Isaiah 40:31:

 

"Lord, we want to soar like the eagles and run without growing weary.

Walking seems so frustratingly slow! 

We just want to cross that finish line-but You have many plans to accomplish

through our gradual progress.

Give us endurance!

The journey can feel so long and confusing; sometimes it can be hard to see

your hand in our circumstances. 

Grant us the patience to continue walking, give us the strength to keep moving,

and grow our faith in You with every delay as we wait for a child."

 

     Waiting is hard...but we are so glad that time waiting is not time wasted!

    

 

 

 

 

Winter Fun!

     Since winter seems to be eluding us here in Northern California this year, I am bringing winter to our blog this week.  Winter is my favorite time of year, so I am pretty bummed that we have NO SNOW!  Below I have posted some pictures of Lake Tahoe.  Jim and I drove there a few weeks ago for a little get-away, winter wonderland style.  I've also included some of our favorite childhood memories of winter and activities that we look forward to enjoying with our child some day.  Hope you enjoy the pics and memories!  Please feel free to comment on some of your favorite winter activities too! 







Beautiful Lake Tahoe on our last get-away!

 Jim's Favorite Winter Memories:

     *Building snow forts in the woods behind my house
     *Sledding down the hill across the street with kids from the neighborhood
     *Standing outside and watching huge fluffy flakes fall down all around me
               (especially with Christmas lights)
     *Coming in for hot chocolate after shoveling the driveway





Jim still enjoys hiking in the snow!


Jim's Least Favorite Winter Memories:
     *Too many days without snow!




Any day with snow is a GREAT day!


    
Amy's Favorite Winter Memories:
 
     *Building snowmen with my brother and sister
     *Sledding down the hill between our house and my grandparents' house
     *Catching snowflakes on my tongue
     *Sipping hot chocolate after "helping" to shovel the driveway
     *Making crazy snow angels
     *SNOW DAYS!




Did I forget to mention that I like to throw snowballs...at Jim:)

     
    

Amy's Least Favorite Winter Memories:

     *Oversized glitter-laden earmuffs...there has to be a better way to keep little ears warm!
     *The brown slushy mess left behind when the snow melts
     *Getting snow inside my boots and then it melting
     *Not being able to go outside because it's too cold




Mini snowman family


We can't wait to make some winter wonderland memories with our child! 

Now it's your turn...what are some of your favorite winter activities?



New Year! New Possibilities!

    
     It's hard to believe that there are only a few days left in 2011.  As the year draws to a close there is definitely some sadness that our baby did not come to us this year.  Jim and I both really felt that this would be our year.   We had several almost situations and a match that unfortunately didn't work out.  It would be easy to look back and question our choices.  What if we had said this?  What if we had done that?  Would things have turned out differently?  Did we miss our chance?  
     The answer is a resounding no!  We don't understand why the wait has been so long, but we still believe more than ever that there is a baby for us.  There is an inner peace in us that just won't let us give up hope and for that I am very thankful. 
     This year has had its difficulties, but it also has had it's blessings.  

     We saw an increase in our contacts:  We updated our letter and did lots of personal networking.   Many friends passed along our contact information and blogs.  As a result, many more potential birthmothers have the ability to find us. 

     We did have a match:  Even though that match did not work out, someone picked us!  And if it happened once, it can happen again.  We gained valuable experience about the match meeting and matching process.  We also gained gratitude for the amazing workers at our agency who showed us so much compassion and encouragement after the match fell through.

     I started writing again:   I love to write and it has always been a way for me to express my thoughts and feelings.  I stopped writing for a time after we lost our baby.  It was just too painful.  But thanks to my friend Cindy's encouragement, I started this blog and am loving writing again.  My blogs often end up being mini-devotionals to encourage me.  And someday this blog will be a great record of our adoption journey.

     Many friends and family have joined our journey this year:  God really has blessed us with great family and friends who love us, pray for us and encourage us on a daily basis.  With our facebook page and blog we are able to keep in contact much more easily and regularly.  We are amazed at how many of you go out of your way to post my blog, send us an encouraging word, or just check in and say hi:)   Thank you!!!

     We do have much to be thankful for this year!  Most importantly, God continues to walk with us on this journey.  He provides the resources, strength, and hope for us to continue on each step.  He has a plan for our future and we continue to put our trust in Him.  We look forward to 2012.  It's a new year with new possibilities:)