My quick 10 minute update :)

My amazing Aunt, whom I love very much, e-mails back and forth with me (she lives in Hawaii so as much as I'd LOVE to chat in person this often, it's just not feasible).  She is a great support and I can tell her anything knowing that she "gets it".  She's such a huge blessing in my life!  Anyhow, she always makes sure to send me quick 10 minute updates, as she calls them, so that I know she is thinking of us and is keeping up with us, which is uplifting and encouraging.  Today it's my turn for a 10 minute update, which I will share with all of you :).

I had e-mailed our district senator, as well as the state senator, about our adoption and the time it is taking to get an approval.  I was very encouraged to hear back from our district senator today.  He said that the adoption seemed like a wonderful opportunity for our family and that he is going to see what his office can do.  It might not have been a concrete answer, but it is for sure a step in the right direction! YEAH!

I also just had to share what my friend Sue did for us, because it touched me so immensely.  This weekend while we were at my parent's cabin, I got an e-mail from her saying that she has been in prayer for us and our adoption.  She also said that felt God laying it on her heart to e-mail our Governor as well as Senator McCain about our adoption approval situation.  Isn't that amazing?!?!?!  I am so touched that she would take the time out of her day to advocate for our family.  What an amazing woman she is!  I am blessed to have her as a friend!

I pray that we will have more good news to update you with in the near future, but for now, I am thankful to have a renewed sense of encouragement and hope! 

Before I run (man am I EXHAUSTED), here are a few pictures from the county fair in Flagstaff that we went to over labor day weekend.

My sweet girl in the Ergo

Conner and our newly adopted third child, as we like to call her,  Kyla

Conner on the kid's roller coaster.  He kept throwing his hands up in the air and smiling... adorable! 

Madi and her papa.  Madi sure does love her papa, and she talks about him all the time!

Papa and Conner on the Ferris wheel.... Conner's first Ferris wheel ride ever!

Madi and my mom on the train... sadly the only ride Madi was big enough for, besides the carousal!

We had a blessed and wonderful weekend with family!

My boring but productive day, our little blessing, and a HUGE prayer request

First I want to start off with the prayer request.  If you pray, I need you on this!  Baby Evangeline was due to be born in a few days.  She has spina bifida.  Today, her mother was in a car accident that was caused by a drunk driver.  I am not sure how they are doing, and they need your prayers.  You can follow Evangeline's story on her mother's blog at http://mrskugler.blogspot.com/ .


Today I decided I needed to get some adoption paperwork out of the way and be productive.  It helps me feel like I'm "doing something" for the adoption.  In case you do not remember, our adoption agency sent us our dossier paperwork even though we aren't officially approved, since our approval in Arizona is taking so long.  Yesterday I sent away for certified copies of our birth certificates and pulled out the certified copy I have of our marriage certificate.  Today I decided I would tackle the bank, which ended up being a 1 1/2 hour trip.

India requires that you deposit $1,000 in to an account in the name of the child you are trying to adopt.  That poses an interesting problem, though, as you cannot open an account for someone that is not a US citizen, does not have a social security number, is not in your care, and has no last name.  They also want financial statements from your bank with all of your balances, your average yearly balance, and all of that converted to rupees.  Fun, fun!  I went to the bank today with the information on what we needed and prayed for the best.  The man who helped us was really a blessing.  He had two friends adopt internationally and knew pretty well all the hoops they had to jump through to be able to do so.  He was willing to jump through hoops to help us figure out how to handle the paperwork and account information we needed.  He was really amazing. 

He got us the information we needed, converted to rupees, and got it notarized for us.  Then he helped us tackle the account problem.  Basically we ended up opening a checking account (fee-free) in my name, with Rama as the secondary.  We used our last name as her last name and her estimated birth date for her birth date.  Then we filled out some paperwork that they use to get people accounts that do not have a social security number.  After that, he typed up a letter stating we had deposited the money in to an account for her and had that notarized as well.

The whole process took about 1 1/2 hours, which was not fun, especially with the kids in-tow, but I'm thankful to have it done.  The kids did really, really well, which was great.  One of the tellers gave them a sucker and later brought them crayons and coloring paper to help keep them busy.  I rewarded them with some sorbet at Yogurtology when we left because they did such a great job.   

We still have no news, but it did feel good to get some things out of the way.  I don't know what God has up his sleeve, and I realllly wish he'd let me peek, but I do find peace in knowing His plan is perfect.

OH!  I also wrote a letter to our senator today asking for help with getting our adoption approval pushed through.  Hey, can't hurt!