Funny!

My kiddos kept me laughing today!

Here are some funny conversations that I was lucky enough to overhear...

Evan: Olivia, don't do that!!

Olivia: Why not?

Evan: Because...it's against the logs!

Here's another one...

Joshua: I can't believe my birthday is almost here.

Evan: Yeah...you're six and a half.

Joshua: No, I'm not! I'm six and three pennies!!!

And then there's Hurricane Olivia! She tore a path of destruction through this house like none I've ever seen. Every time I picked something up, she got five more things out. I had to laugh about it...because otherwise I may have cried!

Here she is with every pillow in the house...

Doesn't she look comfy?

And here is another one of her messes...

Why play with one toy when you can play with them all, right?

fingerprints...check!

{source}


Good news! Kyle and I were able to get fingerprinted yesterday morning...13 days before our scheduled appointment!!

We took a chance. We knew that we may be turned away and told to come back at our scheduled time. Our paperwork had to be reviewed by a supervisor. We waited for over an hour. Finally, he agreed to fingerprint us and gave us a stern warning about not doing this again in the future.

Whew!

So now we wait for an approval letter from USCIS (I-171H Form). Once we receive it, we'll add it to our dossier, make copies of everything and submit it to our agency. The agency will then send it to the embassy for translation. After that...it's off to Ethiopia! The paperchase will be over and the official wait for our daughter will begin.

We are SO excited! So VERY excited!

One more thing for today...

Don't forget to buy your Go.Seek.Love. t-shirt! We are the partner family for the month of February which means you can help us bring our daughter home just by purchasing a t-shirt! Thanks so much for your support!

deep in their hearts...

For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God's children.

Romans 8:16 (NLT)

I found this verse in my inbox early this morning, sent to me by Bible League International. I immediately started praying it for my little girl in Ethiopia. 

Heavenly Father, speak to her deep in her heart...comfort her and let her know that she is your child.

While reading some of my favorite blogs, I found an incredible and heartbreaking post at moments with love. (You can read it by clicking here.) And I immediately began praying the same verse for children in Uganda. 

Heavenly Father, speak to them deep in their hearts...comfort them, provide for their needs and let them know that they are your children, created and treasured by You.

Now my prayer is this...that  you will read that incredible, heartbreaking post...that you will pray for those children in Uganda...and that you will join me in being part of something BIG God is doing to provide clean water for them.

Have a blessed day!

Evidence...

My phone holds a lot of information...important numbers and a full calendar. Thanks to the camera, it also holds evidence!

Evidence that someone likes to play with mommy's phone.

Evidence that someone almost got in BIG trouble playing with mommy's phone!

 Evidence of a fun trip to Target with two of my favorite people.

Evidence of some brotherly fun...a sleepover in Joshua's room.

 

Evidence of beautiful weather and good times at the park with cousin Kendall.

 

And evidence that they're growing up way too fast!

Look what He can do!

I am so overwhelmed by God's goodness. We have seen Him move in incredible ways over the past couple of weeks. I'm still taking it all in. I've started half a dozen posts, but haven't finished a single one. I struggle to find words that adequately share everything.

So what has God been up to? Here's a brief update...

He has met the financial need for this stage of the adoption (dossier submission). Wow!

He is already meeting the next financial need through the GO.SEEK.LOVE. t-shirt fundraiser.

He has encouraged us through the support of so many people who have purchased GO.SEEK.LOVE. t-shirts, asked their friends and family to purchase t-shirts and prayed for our family.

Through the unbelievable testimonies of others who have been touched by our adoption journey, He has strengthened our faith and reminded us just how GREAT He truly is.

He has provided an opportunity for us to share His love, the blessing of adoption and our story with a larger audience. (More on this soon!)

And when the enemy has attacked...attempting to wound us, frustrate us and distract us, He has comforted us and reminded us that His truth, His might, His power are steadfast and strong!

We just can't wait to see what He does next!

I put an emphasis on He because it really is all about Him and what He can do, not us. He doesn't need our help...that has been a big lesson for me throughout all of this. I'm so grateful that He has been patient with me as I've learned.

"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?"
Jeremiah 32:27

Just 13 days left...

Only 13 days left to order a GO.SEEK.LOVE t-shirt and help bring our daughter home from Ethiopia!

There are other BIG ways to help too!

#1 Pray for our family, our daughter in Ethiopia, her birth family and our adoption.

#2 Share our GO.SEEK.LOVE. t-shirt fundraiser information with everyone you know!

Thanks to so many of you who have loved and supported our family  during this incredible time!

The past 36 hours...

Yesterday morning, Evan's doctor declared that his foot is healed!

Bye bye, boot! 

Yesterday afternoon, the kids and I had a great time playing with Olivia's doll house.

Her doll house family looks a little bit like ours will someday!

There was once a "big sister" in this family, but she was attacked and dismembered by a passive aggressive schnauzer named Buster. 

So sad.

 

Cute-as-a-bug Joshua.

 

Silly, happy Evan.

Camera-shy-for-the-first-time-EVER Olivia.

 

This afternoon, we drew a winner for our giveaway!

Ang @ Delighting in the Ordinary...YOU WON!

Email your address to me at 

creasyfamily {at} att {dot} net. 

I'll send your prize right away!

 

My first GIVEAWAY!!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, this has been an incredibly blessed week for our family!

Why has it been so special, you ask?

First, just a little something fun...my blog's hit counter rolled past 5000 hits earlier this week. I know, I know...this is small potatoes for many bloggers. I think it's a fun milestone though and certainly a reason to celebrate!

But now for the BIG news!
Very soon it will be time to submit our dossier along with a payment of $7700. We have been praying and waiting for the Lord to provide the funds we lacked.

Well, that He did! Just a few days ago, Kyle and I received an AMAZING gift. It was a donation to our adoption fund in the amount of $5000!! We are so incredibly grateful. We're grateful for the generous, obedient hearts of the people who gave us this gift. And we're beyond grateful for our God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20)! Isn't He amazing?! Don't you just love it when He shows off?!

And if you read my post yesterday, you know that I received a very special surprise gift in the mail!

What a week...let's celebrate with a GIVEAWAY!

I'm giving away a few of my very favorite things.

#1 A book that changed the way I look at the gospel and thereby changed my life.

#2 This CD...love singing along to this {loudly} in the car. Track 2 is the best!

#3 A $10 Starbucks gift card. I love my Hazelnut Lattes and I love enjoying them with a friend!

There are three ways to enter...

#1 Leave a comment telling me what you would do with $5000. Would you put it toward your own adoption costs? Would you save it? Would you take your family to Disney World? There's no wrong answer!

#2 Become a follower of this blog.

#3 Tell your friends about this giveaway by making a post on your own blog or Facebook.

Simple as that...there are three ways to enter and each one gets you an entry. You can choose one way to enter or all three! Just leave a comment on this post letting me know how you entered. 

We'll draw for a winner (as demonstrated by my silly kiddos in the picture below) at 12:00PM (CST) on Saturday, February 12th. You have until that time to enter!

Hope you'll join in on the fun! Enjoy the rest of your week!

A Gift!

Look what I got in the mail today!

This beautiful necklace! 

As you can see, the outline of Africa is stamped on the charm. It hangs on a silver chain along with a freshwater pearl. Isn't that just precious?! I love it!

It came from The Vintage Pearl, but I have no idea who ordered it for me. I'm just blown away! Whoever you are...THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! Your generosity made my day and touched my heart!

We've had quite a week so far! I can't wait to share some incredible news with you...but I think I'll wait until tomorrow. I'll give you a hint though...

5000

Maybe we'll have some fun and incorporate our first GIVEAWAY into this exciting news!

And finally...there are only 19 days left to order your Go.Seek.Love. t-shirts and help us bring our little girl home! Thanks so much for your support!!

All I have needed Thy hand has provided...

Another trip down memory lane today. 

Here are two more posts from the beginning of our adoption journey. These are about  God's incredible, gracious provision...

Provision

He Goes Before Me

Have a wonderful weekend!
And don't forget to visit the Go.Seek.Love T-Shirt Store where you can buy a t-shirt and help bring our daughter home! 

Day 4

When I woke up this morning, I found six inches of fluffy white snow outside our door. 

Unbelievably beautiful.

And now here I am...

Drinking hot coffee.

Flirting with my hubby.

Listening to some of my favorites...Pat Green, Lenny Kravitz, Van Morrison, The Jonas Brothers (yes...you read that right!) and The Eagles.

Building Lego houses with the boys.

Dancing with my girl.

Dreaming of the day that I dance with my girls.

Now this...this is my kind of snow day!

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you, I-whom you have redeemed.

Psalm 71:23

Day 3

We've been snowed iced in for three days now.

I haven't had much communication with the outside world, but...thanks to Facebook...I know that many of my friends are crafting with their children, cleaning house, organizing closets, baking everything imaginable, yada yada yada. 

Well, my overachiever friends, I have been productive too! Let me tell you about our fabulous week full of progress and personal growth...

The children are playing together marvelously...this is clearly evidenced by the current condition of my house. For example, the family room looks like the site of an epic battle between Olivia's doll house family and the boys' action figures. As I see it, there is no clear victor...other than the three children who walked away from this mess to make another one upstairs. (I'd post pictures, but, you know...I hate to boast.)

You'll never again hear me complain about food going to waste or spoiling because in three short days, we have eaten everything in the house.

I feel like I've made some progress in my ongoing battle with the laundry...but I'm sure that has something to do with the fact that my children have been in their pajamas since Monday evening. (Don't freak out...everyone had a bath and put on clean jammies last night.)

I've accepted the fact that I may actually have an addiction to Diet Dr. Pepper. Quite frankly, it would be hard to deny after last night. My dad called and said "I'm out...do you need anything?" Nevermind that we only have half a gallon of milk, no fresh fruit, and that my children are now surviving on Gatorade, string cheese and Dum Dums. I requested Diet Dr. Pepper...nothing else.

Each of the kids have a closet full of "new" clothes to wear. How did I manage this? I ironed. Being stuck in the house has given me plenty of time to catch up on the ironing that I've been avoiding for weeks now.

I discovered that I may have a future in acting, because when I heard a few minutes ago that a nearby school district would be closed again tomorrow my reaction was nearly identical to hers...

Whew...I get tired just thinking of all we've accomplished! I think I'll try to squeeze in a power nap before dinner.

Stay warm, friends!

THANK YOU!

Kyle and I are blown away by the response we have gotten to our Go.Seek.Love t-shirt fundraiser! 

Friends and family are buying t-shirts. And they're helping us out by forwarding the fundraiser information to everyone they know through email and Facebook. So now we're getting emails from people we don't even know saying..."I bought a t-shirt and I'm praying for your family." That is an incredible blessing!

THANK YOU!

As a result of all the emails and Facebook posts, I've seen an increase in traffic to my blog. I realize that many of those readers are here for the first time...curious about our family, our story, adoption. So I thought I'd share a little about us by linking back to a few of my first posts from this journey we're on. Here they are...

Our Adoption Story-Part 1

Our Adoption Story-Part 2

Why Ethiopia?

Another adoptive family put together a great video to answer that question...Why Ethiopia? I thought this might be a good time to share that as well.

Enough about me!
Leave a comment and tell me about YOU!
I'd love to get to know you.

GO.SEEK.LOVE.

A couple of weeks ago, Kyle and I received a very exciting email! It said something like this..."we would like to partner with your family during the month of February."

The email came from Daniel and Sarah at GO.SEEK.LOVE. and it was a direct answer to prayer!

That's right...

we are the GO.SEEK.LOVE Partner Family for the month of February and it all starts today!

When we said "Yes!" to God's call to adopt, we didn't have all the answers...or all the money. Along the way, we've had to trust God for every payment due, every fee. It hasn't always been easy to trust like this, but we're learning. We're learning to ask Him for what we need...to trust Him to provide...and to wait on Him.

God has been so faithful...He has provided for every need as only He can. (See for yourself...check out Our Adoption Timeline in the sidebar.) And now He is providing again through this fundraiser. We can't wait to see what He does!

We're so grateful for Daniel and Sarah! They have such a heart for the fatherless and for helping adoptive families.

So go check out their website. Make a purchase. It's a great deal...you get a cool t-shirt and a little girl gets a family! How can you beat that?!