Abigail's announcement and picture

WOW now THIS was a task!  I'm attempting to get all of Abigail's announcements out this week, I'm realizing how many addresses have changed or ones we DON'T have!  Forgive me!  We couldn't wait to send everyone a picture of our new addition and her big brother!

Airport Pics!!!

I'm finally getting around to posting these. The one with the bumper sticker that says "God bless all nations" was not planned, we were just walking in the parking lot!  I love it!  Nolan waiting so patiently for his sister, he was SOOOO patient :)

First week.............

WOW, this first week has been AMAZING. I'm still waiting for Abigail to have some transitional issues. Other than a couple of bed wetting incidents she just molded right in. As much as I hate to admit this I think all the additional time there was very beneficial in her coming and transitioning here.

Abigail is excited to learn all the new things here. She loves the pool and Walmart the best. Her big brother thinks its fun to have a sister to push around in the grocery cart and play in the toy room CONSTANTLY with. I am STILL in awe that she is here. I catch myself thinking this can't possibly be real!!!

Jason is also finding his way back as well. Re-entry from a third world country is SOOO difficult. We are all SO SO SO happy to be in the United States together, however there is part of us that miss Africa so much. I think we left part of our souls there.

God has blessed our family SO richly and I cannot say thank you enough for all the prayers for my family during this difficult process. We are overwhelmed with the amount of support and the amount of love that continues to pour over her. We are so excited to go to church tomorrow and present her to the congregation. What a big day for her to meet her family in Christ! Everyone at the church has been so excited for her and at last they will get to meet her! PRAISE GOD.

We got Abigail's social security number today, that was an AMAZING feeling.  She says, "I'm American!"

Here's some pictures of our week!  Abigail had her first experience with corn on the cobb!  She loved it!!  She is also insistent that even though she will not put her head under water she MUST have her goggles on.  My favorite is the shower cap, Abigail had just had her hair done. :)

Ahhhhh, what can I say.  I have the BEST life.

First Day Home!!!

Well our first day home was absolutely the BEST day.  Abby was up bright and early this morning to play with Nolan and she had a great night's sleep.

Jason and I were already committed to a bead show on Lake Michigan this weekend so the kids and I took some time to visit Daddy and we slipped away to the Beach for a while. :)  Abigail thought it was the BEST.  And her brother is doing such a great job protecting her.  She is stuck to Nolan like glue.  She's not a big fan

of the dogs yet, in fact they overwhelm her!  We're working on that.  Abigail had tacos tonight and LOVED them. Haha, food is an issue sometimes because it's so different but she smiled and said "Mommy this is GOOD!"

So So So Blessed and giving God all the glory for this day.




If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.


Deuteronomy 28:1-12

THEY ARE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our first car ride with TWO kids in the car!!!  Abby's first ride in a carseat!

Abby was ALL smiles at home!!

LOVES the baby stroller!

First Family Dinner via Pizza Hut!!

Abby Decided she didn't want to sleep in her bed alone so she got to spend her first night in Nolan's room in the bunk beds!!  It was a beautiful sight to go in there and see BOTH kids, fast a asleep......AMAZING

Our beloved church family at the airport........

With God's arms wrapped safely around them they are here safely and Abigail is playing with all her toys.  She said in the airport "where's home?."  So we are going to take some well needed family time over the next couple of days.  I had a photographer to take the pictures at the airport so I won't have those for a few days.  These are some snapshots from the day I took with my camera.  Enjoy!

Ahhhhhh..................I am so so blessed.  I am in heaven right now, I can hear Abigail's footsteps going up the stairs with her unbelievably excited brother.  My husband looks so exhausted but it's so awesome to have him home again.  I missed him more than I can explain.

Thank you everyone for the prayers that made this possible.  I pray God seeks favor on your lives and in your homes and he has in ours.

In Christ's name I rejoice and it's only because of him my baby is forever home!

Blessings,

Heather

Seeing these two on an airplane headed for Amsterdam was the BEST Skype conversation I have ever had.  They are ON THEIR WAY!!!!!!  Abby said "MOMMY I'm on the Air-O-Plane!"  PRAISE GOD.

Checked In & Ready to Board

Hello from Entebbe, Uganda.  We have just checked in, gone through immigration, and are currently eating some dinner.  Abby and I are traveling with another friend who adopted two girls.  It is awesome to be sharing this experience with another family and they are from Indiana!

At checkin, the airlines blessed us with a FREE upgrade for everyone.  God is good!  I can't explain the emotions flowing through me as we depart - but I feel like the luckiest man in the world to be a part of this incredible journey.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes yesterday.  My inbox was over-flowing and I was touched by the love.  Yesterday was the best birthday in my 36 years.

Abby and I will see everyone soon. : )

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!!!!!! SHE'S COMING HOME!!!!!!!!

Jason has the visa in his hands!  They are leaving for the airport in 1 hour and they will be home tomorrow!!!!

Can you believe it?????????

GOD IS SO FAITHFUL AND GOOD and I can only give the glory to him.  Jason and I are only the vehicle in His amazing works.  I'm just so proud and honored he allowed our family to be such a significant part of his plan.

We have a beautiful daughter coming home tomorrow!!!  Incredible!

Abigail said to me on the phone this morning, "Mommy, I have my visa, I come to home now to America."  Ahhhhhhhhh...................such a blessing.  I'm overwhelemed.  Yesterday and today have been two of the best days of my life.  NOTHING can take the joy our of our hearts today we are floating in the clouds!!!
Thank you for praying my family home!!

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James I:27

And then there were FOUR!

After a long and emotional day at the Embassy we were told Abigail's investigation is closed and we can pick up her visa tomorrow!!  PRAISE GOD!!

I can ONLY give this day to him because he moved MAJOR mountains once again today.  HUGE mountains.  This child is so blessed by our heavenly father. 

What an awesome birthday gift for Jason.  It's just incredible.  I've been making calls all morning!!!

Thanking all of you for your prayers.  The tentitive plan is they will leave Kampala tomorrow and be home on Friday!!!  YEAH!!!!!!!! 

I will post when I have a for sure visa tomorrow as we do know that things can change very quickly. :)

Happy Birthday my love!!!  Can't wait to get you home!

Abigail, you are coming home sweet girl!  God is bringing you home!!!

1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!  WE MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH!!!!!!

Update! A real update!

Well the only thing I can say is that our case is definately moving forward and not backwards!  Lots of prayers tonight!  We know there is only one part of the process left!  I can't put a lot of details on this blog but please pray that this one piece is taken care of swiftly!  Taken care of tomorrow!!  Any news is good news right now so we're feeling really good about where we are at.

Here's my downer for the day.  Last night as I was walking up the stairs there was a POP in my foot.  I instantly couldn't stand on it, grrr........  So all the lectures I got about keeping my feet up were true :(  Unfortuantely being here alone with a 6 year old it was impossible for total rest for my feet and the one is now damaged very badly.  The ligements are blown and I'm unable to apply ANY pressure at all.  So I'm now hobbling around on crutches and about to find out my options in the morning.  My foot is all swollen and my arch seems to have colapsed as I can no longer see I even have an arch!!  So now I'm immobile.  I think it's just God's way of saying it's time to slow down now.  I pushed the limits and I'm paying for it so I'm going to be taking a break for the time being.  I've been working from home and I won't be working next week so I can focus on attempting to heal this.  I'm sure I'll look like a treat at the craft show this weekend!  HA! Hopefully Jason and Abigail can get home soon so we can weigh the options and finally get this foot fixed!

Thanks for all your prayers we are so so so hopeful that this week will bring news of an issued visa!  I will keep you posted!!

No news again from the Embassy today.  (Sigh)..........Still praying!

Baseball............

Well I wanted to post pictures of Nolan's last t-ball game of the year.  I'm so proud of him.  His last hit was probably the hardest he had ever hit the ball, I had told him to smack it all the way to Africa. :)  He did really good.  Unfortunately Jason was the t-ball coach and with him leaving it was a bit discouraging for Nolan.  He lost his personal trainer and coach.  I just wanted to post the pictures of him, I couldn't be prouder.  Praying for more information tomorrow from the Embassy! 

May the LORD give you increase, you and your children!  (Psalms 115:14 ESV)

Well everything we had hoped wouldn't happen in our case happened today.  "Hang ups."  On the up side I know that everything will be fine but at the same time it seemed unbelievably devastating to hear of yet another delay.  It was 108 days ago that I left Uganda to pick up our daughter and we still are left with nothing but patience.  Jason is entering his 4th week of being there and I can see the frustration written all over his face.  It is SO SO hard to be there alone.

I found out yesterday someone said they were tired of my "Save the world" attitude and I was pretty taken back.  I'm just simply trying to bring my daughter home.  I'm really not trying to change the whole world, get any sort of unwanted attention.  I'm just trying to build my family and bring us onto one continent.  I guess I'd rather be accused of putting the needs of other first then for a lot of other things . I have no defense other than I am doing my best to be obedient to where I have been called.  AND as my Savior has so explained, I will be persecuted for my faith and persecuted we have been.  It will happen again and I'm OK with that because I will never be intimidated by those types of criticisms.

SO, I know I worship a BIG God and he would not want me to whine so I'm not going to.  He only has the best things in store for me and he is as faithful and loving today as he was yesterday, last week and the day I was born.  Today is just simply not the day the visa was suppose to issued.  Maybe it's Monday, maybe it's next week, maybe it's in a month but I'm relieved to know he has this all under control.  My only job is to remain faithful to him.  So as disappointed as I am, I continue to pray for peace in our hearts and anxiously await our Abigail to reach her forever home. 

My friend Julie sent me a scripture reading that made me feel SO at peace.  Thank you Julie!  It is this:

(speaking of the man/woman who fears the Lord) --
"He shall have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
his heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes." Ps 112:7-8

Thanks for your continued prayers for my family.  I know in my heart that our Abigail will be home soon.  Delayed?  Yes.  But home soon.

Blessings.

No visa is issued today.   :(  Not what we wanted to hear of course but they are still doing their investigation.  We were told that they will have more information for us early next week. Grrr................we will continue to wait.  Please keep my family in your prayers!

Heather

2nd un-update

OK, I know I've said this probably 50 of the last 53 weeks we've known about Abigail but THIS is by far the longest week.  I guess God is still going to test our patience and strength.  With tomorrow being Friday and them mentioning it would be a likely day we are SOOOO hopeful to get some news.  Maybe the visa won't be ready tomorrow but we are at minimum hopeful to get some news. So I will remain focused and patient.  If God doesn't want us to hear any information tomorrow then we will continue to wait until next week.  I'm itching like crazy, we're so close we can taste it.  I'm doing my best not to get ahead of myself yet.

So once again, my update is I have no update. :)  I'm asking for lots of prayers tonight that the Lord will ease our impatience and fill us with calm as we wait.  And I pray that the Embassy is able to finish our case in a swift manner so we can bring that little girl home!  Abby's daily question to Jason is "Daddy, America, tomorrow?"  Ahhhhh.......breaks my heart.  Soon my little girl, and it's going to be such a sweet day when that comes.

Ps. 51:12 says: "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a wiling spirit, to sustain me."

Update. Well not really......

Well I wanted to post on update of our progress but unfortunately we don't know any new information.  So our update is that we don't know anything.  Haha.....Sound familiar?  Today was a holiday in Uganda so we are hopeful in the next 2 days to receive some sort of news.  I have not forgotten to post I'm just overwhelmed in my own life right now!  Work seemed to get the most of my time this week and Nolan and I are trying to get everything prepared for Abigail to come home.  It's been a crazy week!

I will post as soon as I hear something!  Thanks for your continued prayers!

Update

Today went very well.  That's about all I can say right now, not a lot to tell.  They have to have time to do their jobs as well and we will wait patiently again.  We were told by Friday we could possibly have a visa.  And yes, I am trying very hard not to fly off my chair in excitement.  I am staying grounded in the meantime and keeping my composure. :)  Is that even possible at this point?  I have such an awesome story from the  weekend I want to share but I'm waiting to post it until tomorrow because I want to make sure it's perfect.  We have met such amazing people along this journey and I really really want to honor them.  For now?  We will continue to wait.  How many times have I said that in this blog?  I am however sneaking into Abby's beautiful pink room and getting all the clean bedding on and ready for her.  I can't wait!

Lots of prayers needed tonight!  Our Visa appointment is schedule for 2:00 pm Uganda time tomorrow (Monday), that's 7:00 am East time in the United States.  We pray for a successful appointment so that Abigail may be able to be in her forever home very soon!  Thank you thank you for in advance for all your prayers!  I will post an update tomorrow as soon as we hear something!


For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.


Isaiah 41:13

1910 - 2010

"If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me."

                                           - John Wooden