A sweet story...

Last week we were at a pig roast down in the keys with some family from out of town. During the event, they were giving away prizes and Ethan won one and got to go pick something out. When he got back, we opened it up and it was (or we thought it was at first) an Asian style dress for a baby doll. Right away we said...we should give this to your cousin Libby because she is from Cambodia and she would love this for her dolls. Right away Ethan put his head down and started to get upset. We asked him what was wrong and he said "Mommy, this is my prize and I wanted to give it to my new big sister". Wow....this is from my 4 year old, isn't he so sweet. I just wanted to sit there and cry happy tears. I was so proud of him. Now everyone we talk to, Ethan will go up to me and say "Mommy, did you tell them that I am getting a big sister?"

Another great story that I forgot to post in the beginning is that for Valentines Day, my wonderful husband surprised me with a beautiful batch of sunflowers because he knows that sunflowers are my favorite and I prefer them over any other type of flowers! So on the day that the Hill family (the family guiding us through this process) came over, we had sunflowers on our table. Right away, Becca tells me that sunflowers is the national flower for Ukraine and there are fields of them all over the country. Isn't that breath taking? I got chills all over my body. I had never known this. Any one who knows me knows that I have always LOVED sunflowers and even used them for decorations all over my college dorm!! It just shows another sign from God that this is His plan for us. I can't wait to go and see the fields of sunflowers. I just might make our first family pictures with our daughter in a field of sunflowers!!

Getting excited!

So I was at Target today and walked by the little girl section. I stood there and wondered, should I go and look through the clothes or just walk by? I decided to look through and I was so happy I did. I started to picture our little girl in the clothes and noticed tears coming down my face. I am so thankful for God giving us this opportunity to bring a child of so much in need of a loving family to us! What a blessing we are going to get from all of this. I am beyond excited! At the same time we received a letter from our agency letting us know that if we request only a 6-8 year old, we can travel very soon. But if we request 0-16 (which is what our paper work has), we can't travel till October. Shawn and I sat and prayed about it and have decided to keep our request somewhat the same but change it to 4-16 years old to show that we are okay with an older child and don't need a younger one. Waiting a couple extra months will be worth the extra years we get to spend with our daughter!

Our Agency!

I want to say Thank You to Becca Hill with "Charis Orphan Care and Adoption Ministry" for helping us through this whole process and being a big part of the decision to adopt from the Ukraine. Becca and her husband Craig have adopted 4 children, 3 from the Ukraine and one from a domestic adoption. We had the pleasure of having them over last weekend and what a joy it was. Their daughters were so precious and brave! They all were willing to swim in our freezing cold pool, though they did get to warm up in the jacuzzi throughout it! Becca and Craig were so full of information and inspiration for us. Having a family being able to share their experiences and knowledge helped us finalize our decision to adopt from Ukraine. You can read about their ministry at: http://www.charis4orphans.org/  

The Begining!

We are too excited! We finally found a social worker to do our home study. I (Allison) been talking to her and she is very sweet and knows her stuff. Her packet is in the mail and we can't wait to get started on everything! We have already sent away for our additional marriage licenses and my renewal of my passport. Monday will be our medical appointments and it goes on from there. We started talking to the boys about the adoption and asked Ethan if he wants an older sister or baby sister and he said that he wants an older sister. YAY! That is what mommy and daddy want too! He said that he wants a sister like the "girls" meaning my nieces. We hope to write our support letter this weekend and send them out next week so be on the look out in your mailboxes! Thank You for taking the time to come visit our site!