Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Travel Approval!!!!!


We have been officially invited to travel to China to get our son. Now they will assign us appointment dates and then we will book our tickets. Time to buy a car seat and plan a big freezer meal making day!!!!!! We are coming as soon as we are able, baby boy!

And can I just say that this seems very surreal at times. Some days I can't handle the two boys I have now and think we are crazy. Then I remember who calls us and has grown us and our hearts every step of the way so far...


Wednesday, January 8, 2014

My first completed quilt....

...that I did all by myself. (Thank you Sandi for finishing the binding on the quilt I made for you!

I attempted a machine binding and it wasn't too bad. Lots of room for improvement, though. More pins next time maybe.










Given away to my beautiful sister in law. Thanks for appreciating my novice work, Sarah!!!! Love you!

Big News!

We have now received official word from Immigration that we can adopt Simon QianYang Thompson. We have one document to wait on, one more form to fill out (besides a whole packet of renewal papers to keep our homestudy current and getting our visas), two approvals to receive, and then we will be traveling to go get him!!! Maybe March?!?! So here he is...



He is three and will turn four on the same day his cousin turns three in July. There seem to be a lot of birthday buddies in our family, so that is pretty special. He is from Taiyuan, one of the cities my older sister lived in when she lived in China teaching English, so that is pretty special to us as well. Last August we found out his foster sister whom he grew up with was also up for adoption. We started praying. Do we need to pursue adopting her as well? It didn't fit with a promise God gave me 6 years ago when I was in a season of prayer about adoption for our family, but we knew that we needed to make sure she was loved and had a safe home. We also wanted to keep intact as much of YangYang's history and relationships as we could. Our adoption agency has been helping us search for her file. Yesterday I got word that she has been matched with a family from a different adoption agency. I contacted them with our information yesterday, and by last night I was on the phone with YangYang's sister's adoptive family. We were able to exchange photos and videos and give them information about their daughter that they did not know. They even invited us to stay with them so we can reconnect our kiddos! Our little guy looks at his sister the same way Gavin looks up at Seth. What a gift! AND we are so blessed that they live in Colorado, halfway between my two sisters. With moving around and having limited time to spend with family there are hardly words to express how happy I am that they are so close to where we already visit regularly. To see God's great faithfulness in being in the details has had me in tears all day today. He is so good. He loves these little children so very much! We are blessed to be a part of His story and their story! I am so thankful for such clear answers to our prayers. I am linking this post up with Memorial Box Monday on Linny's blog at aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com so thanks for visiting if you come from there. :o)

Thursday, August 22, 2013

It is here!!!!

I called this morning, and found out we had been approved last Friday, so I ran to the mailtruck when I saw it (we are out gardening) and our document is here!!! Now it needs to make a quick trip to DC and we will be semdimg our Dossier to China!!!

I am so thankful for all the helpful people I know! We have had a rough week, and I have had people help me figure out my doorknob, watch my bys while I was in class, and solve computer problems for me. We sure miss Andrew, but in some ways it makes us more connected and dependant upon our community, and that isn't a bad thing!


Thanks for praying for us!!!!



Would you pray about a paper?

We have been waiting for a document for months. We were told to expect it 2-3 weeks after being fingerprinted. It has been more than 2 months. I am feeling pretty discouraged about getting it, getting it processed, and then finally getting our entire dossier sent to China so we can be officially matched with our son. We were hoping to have that all done by August before Andrew's latest deployment...

Thanks for caring! :o)

Beccy



Monday, June 10, 2013

We have a son!

This week we were matched with a little boy who will turn 3 this summer. If all goes well with our paperwork we will be traveling in about 6 months. We are very very excited to meet our little guy in person and to encounter his country of birth firsthand!!!



Monday, April 15, 2013

Wanting Jesus

This week we finally got to visit the nursing home again. It had been a LONG time because of illness, there and here. We visit the Alzheimer's unit because that is where my friend's dad lives. Most often we go on Thursdays when a pastor comes and we sing hymns with all the residents, and then the pastor does communion and a short devotional with everyone. There were a lot of new faces this time, and some familiar ones as well. A woman came and played piano beautifully. It overwhelms me every time I go, that some of these people have lost everything...even their minds, but they still have Jesus. My friend's dad can no longer speak, but he can still sing those old hymns. This week something precious and beautiful happened. As the pastor was going around sharing communion with each person there was one lady on the outside circle. She started to get anxious and wave her hand to make sure the pastor saw her. She got more and more intense about it, till he finally spoke to her and promised he was coming. She just wanted communion so badly. It was such a beautiful reminder. If only we all wanted Jesus so much. I was so clearly reminded this week that Jesus is enough. His body, his blood. It is enough. I was moved to tears in that moment. Gig to the nursing home is such a good reminder of what really matters in life. Love. Relationships. Jesus most of all.

I haven't posted much because of the security breach on my kids' photos. I started thinking, too, that it is not fair to them to have their entire lives available online for anyone to look at that wants to. When they get grown, they may have real regrets about that. So I have pulled back. But they are well. And today we meet with our social worker in the last stage to complete our homestudy before applying to immigration to bring a child home... I am tense. I have made it my life's work to make a home for my family, and someone is going to be coming here to evaluate that home and marriage. Lets just say I have had weird dreams three nights running! :o)


Saturday, December 8, 2012

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God!

Here are some things that have captured my heart and imagination lately....

1. http://www.bethlehemstar.net/. The science behind the star of Bethlehem. I love this stuff! Before time began, God set the heavens in motion and at precise times in history the heavens themselves tell the story so clearly that men leave their homeland(s) to investigate and worship. Amazing!

2. God in Ancient China. The links for this weren't working when I emailed them earlier, so look it up on youtube. Seth watched Part 1 with me, the whole hour of it. And I had to watch Part 2 today, also. The blackboard with the Chinese writing telling the stories (I had read a book about this a long time ago and was looking for it again, when I came across the videos which had even more information)... The timeline (we are learning the timeline of history for school this year!)... And then the comet, eclipse, and prophecies that were being fulfilled in the West... It is an honor and privilege that God is allowing this ancient culture to become part of our family story. I am so thankful that we are part of HIS story.

I feel so encouraged and amazed at God and what he has done! I love this time of year and am really looking forward to starting Advent on Sunday! Please let me know if you have time to check these out, because I am sooooo very excited about learning new things and talking about them. :o)



Friday, October 26, 2012

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Important Announcement....

First came Spanky. Then came Zippy. (We named our unborn kiddos so we could talk about them before we knew who they were.)

We are pleased to announce that : We are anticipating with great excitement the arrival of our little PUMPKIN! We have officially started the process of International Adoption and our newest child will be Chinese. On my side this will be the third grandchild to be born in China! We are hoping Aunt Rachel will be able to travel with us and introduce us to the country she loves. Please pray for us as we go through this process. We have chosen to do a special needs adoption. After Gavin was born and had so many health issues, it breaks my heart that any child would have to be hospitalized or sick and not have a Mommy to love them and hold them through it. It will be a privilege and honor to do the same for another little one whose Mama couldn't. The boys are excited to have a new playmate, and have had a longstanding debate about if we should adopt a boy or a girl. Andrew and I are just nervous and excited. I feel like I did looking at that first pregnancy test knowing I have no idea what I am doing. I am so thankful for Andrew's calm steady partnership in this adventure. He is so great to do parenting with. And we sure mss him at the moment. :o)

Thanks for celebrating with us and for all the encouragement and support that we have already recieved!



Sunday, September 30, 2012

Delimmas

Andrew is leaving again.
I know this because...
...we have a mouse in the house. Marley saw it run in and chased it into the bathroom. Andrew couldn't find it... (We did catch one in the garage. Maybe it was the same one?)
...the car started making strange noises and not turning over cleanly. It has been made safe again, but we didn't fix everything as that was more money than the car is worth.
...I updated the operating system on my iPad only to have it go haywire and become unusable for days. After 4 or 5 phone calls, reinstalling the entire software package multiple times, and a 2 hour trip to the apple store, we finally updated the modem and got it to work.
...the boys are selling popcorn. (Let me know if you want to support their Scout troop and buy some!)

The good news is I have not panicked, Andrew got to be home a couple extra days, and we solved a number of problems this weekend.

Here is my bigger delimma.
I don't like to cook. Except for when I want to play and experiment, and the more I have to do regular meals the less I want to play and experiment. And then there are the restrictions. Gavin cannot have any dairy. Seth has a problem with eggs. Cooked in something, ok. Egg dishes like omlettes or egg salad sandwiches are a no go. The boys hate mayo. No chicken salad or egg salad. I want to eat simple healthy real foods, not processed. But trying to figure out how too cook easy dairy, egg, and sugar free meals stresses me out. So I eat some chocolate to make myself feel better. My kitchen and food preparation is too high maintenence and I don't know how to fix the problem. Sigh. I feel like this shouldn't be so hard. But it is. I feel like going on a cooking strike again...



Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Quotes and questions

One of my favorite moments this week was when Gavin came running to the top of the stairs. "Mommy!!! Guess what Daddy gets to do....VOTE FOR OUR PRESIDENT!!!!!". What a great reminder! What a gift to have a government that we get to participate in! I hope I keep remembering this. :o)

A blog I read and that has inspired the craziness that making myself a sweater has turned out to be has a fill in the blank about creative stuff. I have a lot of creative ventures underway at the moment. Probably too many. Hopefully they will keep me busy and productive during A's deployment.

I am longing to make "clothes that acutally fit and flatter me" right now.

I want to try "dyeing and printing my own fabrics" with "a variety of techniques and methods".

I wish I could sew with Lotta Jansdotter's fabric.

I dream of making a home that is energy efficient, simple, beautiful, and could go with us every time we have to move. Nothing big. ;o)

I keep track of ideas by starting them and leaving them in piles to be completed later... Sigh! Trying to fix this problem for sure!

I am inspired by goodness, beauty, clever and useful ideas, pictures...

My favorite fiber is "cotton" (because it is so versitile!)

I like to sew with "my sewing machine because my hand work is atrocious!"

My favorite color is "all of them!"

I would like to learn how to make "everything in my wardrobe".

I like to listen to "Seth and Gavin playing together" while I "am busy in the next room"

My crafting space is "a gift!". (I am blessed to have carved out a space for my own use on our home!)

I sew with a "Bernina".

I like to "make things. Creating things just makes me happy."

I can never get enough "chocolate, ice cream, or yummy dessert."

I adore "people who are intentional about seeing and appreciating the good things around them."

I also enjoy "visits with good friends" and "making memories with my family."

I like to fill my shelves with "books. Good books. Fiction. Mysteries. Biographies. History Books. Art Books. Knitting and sewing books. Creativity books. Books that stretch me. Books that are old friends. And Ai like to share my books, too!"

I create the best when "I can immerse myself in the project till I complete it.

When I don't have to worry about sleeping, feeding my children, or lots of appointments I can accomplish some pretty amazing stuff."

I am currently excited for "my Mom to come and being able to share my projects with her."

Right now I am working on...
"learning to sew with knit fabric...Craftsy class with a great blogger (Sew Liberated)"
"learning how to adjust sweater patterns so I can tear out and fix my owls sweater (pattern by Kate Davies)...another craftsy class"
"quilting. I tried free motion quilting for the first time last week, and I have 4 other quilts ready to be sandwiched and quilted. Stacks of fabric for about 5 or 6 other quilts waiting in the wings, including a block of the month I am doing with my mom."
"homeschooling my boys"
"coordinating youth stuff at church"
(I think that is the big stuff.)

I love to watch "netflix, well mostly listen to something on there, usually a historical documentary" while creating. A. Is going to turn off our cable for me while he is gone this time, so I should be a lot more productive. :o)

My guilty pleasure when it comes to creating is "that I decided I will make what I like instead of pressuring myself to do shoulds. I find I am getting a lot more done. Yay!"

My current favorite music crush to listen to while creating is "Josh Garrell's Love & War & the Sea in Between. It really resonates with me right now with A's deployments.





Saturday, September 22, 2012

Star Wars

This week the boys had their Wolf Badge (Seth) and Bobcat Badge (Gavin) awarded this week. They had some Star Wars characters there to present the awards. Daddy was innundated with questions afterwards. They boys decided they wanted to watch, even though it might be a little bit scary...so guess what we have been doing this weekend?!?! it is fun getting to do this as a family, and they don't seem to be too scared. We did decide they would only be watching the middle episodes, though. We will wait till they are bigger to see the newer ones.



Thursday, September 20, 2012

Christmas.


We have always celebra



Projects

I have too many in the works. I am working on learning how to knit and sew clothes that actually fit my body. Quilting projects. I attempted free motion quilting on an actual quilt flr the first time this week. Schooling the boys. Conquering chore time. And we are getting ready for another family separation. I think we are ready. So here is a little snippet of what I have been hard at work on...



BUT, I have to pause and take a class about fitting knits. I need to learn how to make bust darts and do short rows before I can finish. Sigh. i have been working on this for a quilt-a-long and I don't think it will be fnoshed by the deadline. I have sure learned a lot, though! I got some cheap yarn and am taking a crafsty.com class on fitting my knits. Yay!

You are going to have to wait to see pictures of my sewing projects...
:o)


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Blog issues

I have discovered that I can look at stats on my blog. Since I habe been using an app on my iPad to post, I didn't really know that. I have discovered that some pictures of my boys and nephew taking a bath (nothing exposed) was swiped and posted on Google images. I have deleted the pictures and blog post, but the residual image seemed to still be out there and I don't know how to fix it. Also, I found out that some x rated website was somehow referring to my site. At one point I had set my blog to be unsearchable by engines, but at some point (I am guessing at a blogger update) that was changed and I was unaware. I am shocked and horrified about these things. Stuff like this makes me want to not use computers at all...sigh.

So...in order to protect my family and our privacy and not be connected to anything nasty anymore I am about to password protect my blog. If you are a real reader of my blog please leave me a comment on this post, message me on facebook, call me, or email me.

I hope I can figure this out, or I will not be blogging anymore. This tech stuff is so hard and frustrating for me. At least Andrew solved my phone problem and I can call people again! :o)



Haircuts.

Andrew thanked me and told me how much we saved from me cutting all their hair. I told him I spent it already. :o). I have been sewing up a storm (pics to come soon), and am taking a class on how to sew with knits so I can make my own clothes. I am going to learn to dye and print the fabrics, too. I am VERY excited about this project!!!!! So the freshly shorn boys....



Yup, Seth got his wish.



Crazy kid! Love him.

Love all of them. So much.

We were working hard on our new chores/school routine, but no vacuuming in the morning this week with Daddy working nights, so we will be back at it next week. We had our first day of our new co-op, Classical Conversations, and I sat in on Gavin's class. His teacher is brilliant at making learning fun for these kiddos. I was learning stuff! It is going to be a good year.

And my love, Andrew. He is the best. Lots of goodness happening. I think this is the best transition home after a deployment that we have ever had. He has worked so hard at stepping up with the boys to give me a break and going out of his way to spend time with me and make me feel loved. He is a good good man. It is a privilege belonging to him! My heart and home overflow because of him.