Court tomorrow!

So here I sit in a tizzy, most likely for the rest of the day. Court will occur at 1:00 a.m. CST tonight.

I woke up at 5:00 this morning in anticipation of this blessed event! If we are granted the adoption of the girls, this journey will be OVER!

1 year, 3 1/2 months... all the paperwork, all the re-dos, all the stress, all the prayers, all the fundraising, all the apostilles, all the questions, all the mailing here and there, all the approvals, all the questions, all the doubts, all the headaches, all the tears, all the middle of the night wide awake times, ALL of everything... culminating into the finalization of the journey to Yana and Tavi.

Driving to Salina the other day, I was talking to God, and you know... It occurred to me that I wouldn't trade this journey for any of the super fast adoptions in the world. The blessings I have witnessed from God to myself and those I love, and the growth in my realtionship with Him is priceless!!!!!

I don't want to become a "miracle junkie", and only believe/love God when He does great things in my presence... but I tell you the truth... I LOVE to see HIM come through and I LOVE to see HIS plans unfold before my eyes and heart! I want to be BOLD, and COURAGEOUS, and WILLING TO PUT ALL MY TRUST IN HIM! Not money, not people, not usuallys, not last times, not myself... but in HIM is where I will place my trust!

Court is coming, and soon it will be "147 million- 2"! I am almost shaking in my anticipation!!!!!

Mama is coming Yana! I am coming for you Tavi John!!!! Just a short while longer!!!

THE FIRST BID!

$100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

........................

Adoption fundraiser auction!

My oldest daughter has an original oil painting on canvas that she is acutioning to help raise money to bring the girls home! It measures 24 x 18 inches. It is painted in rich earthy tones... very pretty! She won't let me keep it :(... :). And it even matches my decor! :)

You can bid by emailing me kelly 9 mayden "at" yahoo "dot" com [no spaces!], leaving a message on this blog, or message me on Facebook. I will update my blog and facebook daily, or as needed. :) Please feel free to crosspost!!!!

Shipping will be $10 or less anywhere in the US.

Ending date is JUNE 8TH!!!!!!

The Wait....

I have been so uninspired to write on here lately. It is not like things are boring around here.

I could write about tomorrow being the last day of school, and how much I look forward to summer with my kids home. I could write about Nolans 8th grade recognition night. I could write about Riley being a Senior next year. Or my struggles with being a wise and courageous mom to my oldest son. Or my struggle with God right now, and some questions I long to have answered, to understand because I can not move past them.

I could write about the fact that its STILL raining and really muddy [I hate mud! :)]. I could write about so many things... but I can't sit long enough and think about them to write something worth reading.

ALL I can think about are my girls, still waiting for their mama to come and get them. My heart still not whole. My tears, as I cry once again in the middle of the night missing them more than any words can say. My longing to hear their sweet laughter once again, to smell their hair, to see them sleeping, to see their little bodies, whole, in the bathtub getting clean. It amazes me how much I want to bathe them, hear them cry, see them sleep, see them eat... KNOW them as only a mama can!

My heart wholly loves them both, but I long to wholly know them!!! There's so much I don't know! And I WANT TO. I WANT TO KNOW these things so badly that sometimes I can't sleep. And then sometimes I don't want to wake up because I am dreaming of them.

NO, this is not medical depression. This is situational, and only having them home will fix it.

I have JOY in my life, in my family, in MY GOD... and GOD does understand. I am consumed by a love for two little girls that he placed in my heart upon my creation. And so tears flow ... a lot... and that is okay. I am okay! He understands. And he holds onto me, onto the girls... so that we can get through the wait.

Prayers for Travel,....

For those of you wondering...

I am planning on leaving for Bulgaria on June 26th, and arriving home on July 1st with the girls in tow!

Now, that is assuming court is successful, that the volcano stays out of the way, and that things go as planned. WHEN has anything in this whole adoption journey gone as planned you ask? A big fat NEVER in answer to that! So if you can continue to pray that we can leave on the 26th if not sooner. Sooner is highly unlikely as court holds the official documents for 14 days, the new birthcertificate then takes 10 days, and that leaves a couple of days in there for whatever else needs doing.

Toni will then arrange for the girls to go get passport photos, which is awesome as it shortens my trip by 3 days or so! :)

So 26 days in June, 17 days left in May.... That's only 43 days till I leave to bring them home. I CAN do this! I have already waited over 400 days! What is 43 more?!

*** AS a side note, you might wonder what we waiting parents do while we wait. In talking with others, esp. those who have had LONG waits, it has become apparent that a common thing we do is fold, and REFOLD all the little clothes in their dresser, and continually rethink the clothes we will be taking with us for them to wear. Maybe it makes us feel in control, or just connected... I don't know. But I have never folded the same little outfits so many times in my life! :)

HE SAID IT!

You could have knocked me over with a feather.... My sweetheart of a husband and I were talking about the kids, and he had forgotten where Tavi's birthday landed in the birthorder. She is a couple of months older than Luke. So I commented that Luke would still be the baby age wise. And he said, "Well, for now anyway. I would bet that it won't be for long..."

Now, that may not seem huge to some of you. BUT my husband is a man of few words, and typically any mention of adopting again makes him break out in a cold sweat! :) But he said it, and in a normal voice, and I just said... "We'll see. Who knows what God has planned?" And I meant it. There is always, always room in my heart for another child, but money, rooms in the house, the unknown needs of Tavi and Yana... I just don't know what the future holds for us. It may be adoption happens soon, or it could be a long ways off for us, or maybe not at all.

So even though the wait for our girls continues, even though there are days I think I can't wait a second more, He continues to shower me with blessings, and speaks straight to my heart! What a tender-hearted God we serve!

A Friend Is Holding A Fundraiser For Us....

Here is the link to a painting my sweet friend, Beth, is auctioning off an e-bay!!! Please copy and paste it if you can to your blog or Facebook page! :) Or better yet, email it to your friends too! :)

Original Watercolor Painting by Artist Randy Penner

I tell you the truth, fellow adoptive moms have hearts like no other!

Not what we were praying for, but all is not lost....

Well.... the good news you ask?

WE GOT OUR COURT DATE!!!!!!! AND THE BEST POSSIBLE JUDGE TO GO WITH IT!!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!

The bad news? Our court date isn't until June 1st. Which means the last week of June or first week of July for travel, assuming all goes well at court. WHICH means that by the time the girls are home it will have been almost 6 months between trips! Which means our adoption journey will have taken almost 17 months! I am so tired of this, I just want to sleep the month of May away... and most of June too.

Mixed emotions, I just don't know what to think. Having God in control of this journey always led me to believe it would go faster... I always forget having God in control might just mean slower. It has been a fairly smooth process, but just so SLOW... timing delay, after timing delay... Remember, we are the tortise, not the hare!

Back In The Saddle Again!

We are BACK in court and awaiting a court date! Praise GOD! Our lawyer will be checking on Wednesday to see if we have not only a judge, but a court date as well! THAT is how it usually works, not the almost 3 week wait that we had!!!!!

So prayer requests:
1. a court date to be appointed by Wednesday, and a QUICKLY UPCOMING court date at that!

2. an ADOPTION FRIENDLY, TOTALLY AWESOME, CHRISTIAN JUDGE!

3. NO additional paperwork requested!

4. And for my friends also adopting from Bulgaria, and at the same step we are... VALERIE and RENAE! If all of us are approved, and sped right along... June could see 5 Bulgarian princesses in their MOMMYS arms FOREVER! Now I ask you, CAN IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT?

5. And I can't forget my friend ADEYE! She has returned today for the final trip to bring her two beauties home from Ukraine! Pray that things go smoothly, and quickly!!! Nor can I forget JEAN. Adoption is always on my heart, and I try to pray for so many... but these 4 friends and their adoptions have so closely followed mine, so they remain special to my heart. :)

6. AND one last one! CHRISSIE! Please visit this precious girls blog and see GOD work His miracles! SHE is doing so well, beating all the odds, and her mamma and daddies faith will move you to tears... Praise God for Chrissie and Gods intricate design of her family!

Okay, I will stop there for now. I could keep going! There are more... but I will save them for another day. I simply must link you to Annas blog and she waits to bring home her beautiful little girl from South America. Such a cutie! But I am out of time... :)

My Daughter and Her Friends....

These girls are great I tell you! They have been a "group" for a long time. They all call me mom, now that isn't that sweet??? :) And they are all Christians girls too... which just makes me so darned proud of them!

Prom pics... just a few to start :)

This is Riley, and my nephew Cole. They were born about 5 weeks apart, so we always have them pose as twins. Yay, they were both REALLY excited to pose together. :)


My daughter and her date... of course Quincy and I had to be in it too!


Hair and make-up complete. That is NOT beer on the bed behind her. Just and empty box, which I probably got from the grocery store as a carry out box! :)