Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you had some time to sit back and reflect on how blessed you are to live where you do, with opportunities you have, the people you love close by, and a God who cares so much for you that He gave up the most precious thing He had, the thing those of us in our adoption journey are seeking, His Son.

Good News!

In several different areas.

First-we got news on our adoption. Finally we found out some answers that explain why we've had these pointless delays. Now that the answers are out in the open, we can finally make some progress. I'm cautiously optomistic about what could happen next.

Second, we found out that Nikki has no diabetes or kidney disease! He had some white blood cells in his urine, so they gave him an antibiotic shot, just in case. When we brought him home, we had to lock him in the bathroom, give him separate litter, and start him on some behavior modifying meds. We were told to keep him separated for a week to help retrain him where he should be going to the bathroom. He's better, but he sure cried a lot throughout the afternoon, evening, night, morning... The drugs are kicking in, though.

Third, Buddy doesn't have to work on Friday, so we get to take off to Branson! We need to have some time together. One of our friends is not going to be home and offered his house to us. My parents are going, too, so we'll get to spend some time together and go to Silver Dollar City. It should be good weather and good times!

One more week of CC and we're done until January! We've got a lot to review and a lot we can catch up on, which we can be leisurely about here at home. I'll have to figure out how to do this break. To me, it's hard to have everyone home and not do some school. It just seems like that's what we do. I'm hopeful to do some fun crafts and make some gifts together. we'll see.

So that's my good news. I'm thankful for so many things. Above all, God is faithful and we can always trust Him to be working or us and to bring out good things.

For the past few days, I've been finding really wet spots in Catherine's closet. Fortunately or unfortunately, she hasn't put clothes away and there are piles all over the floor, so I've been doing loads of laundry to take care of it. Yesterday, it was in the tub of dress up clothes, which went right into the washer.

Today we went on a great field trip that was a to scale replica of the tabernacle in the wilderness. It was really interesting, and the kids had 4+ hour round trip to ride in the car with their friends. We found a park where the kids could play after the presentation, then piled back in for the return trip.

Before we went, I thought Catherine shut her closet door. We were home only briefly before dance class and I didn't have a chance to check it out. We stopped by the vet's on the way home from dance. She told me we were probably looking at kidney disease or diabetes in Nikki. Not a whole lot of options when it gets to this point. We can't keep having messes and I don't want to have the rest of his life be a struggle with insulin and medication, which may not even help. When we got home, there was a wet mess on the papers Catherine had left on her closet floor! I think tomorrow may be the day. After 15 years, I have mixed feelings, but know this is ultimately for the best.

We'll be going to a basketball game tomorrow for a field trip, so I have to decide when to do the deed. Thankfully, Catherine is going to my mom's for a sleep over tomorrow night. Maybe, we'll find one for Samuel and then they'll not be here for the event. Sigh.

10 days ago I posted last? Hmm. It isn't that life hasn't happened, it's that so much has. Sadly, I still don't know where my cord for my camera is, but it's ok for now. I'll find it.

My phone issues were cleared and yesterday, I GOT MY NEW CELL PHONE!!! Do I know how to work it? No. Is it fascinating for the kids? YES! Is it tempting for me to do nothing but try to figure it out? YES! However, I got the paperwork for the grant application I was waiting for and need to do it. CC is tomorrow and I need to prepare. Buddy needs help on his school work, which includes setting up a budget for living in a foreign country for a year. Wow! Such a big and exciting step, although we're not ready to go there, yet.

I did lose all my contact info, so PLEASE call my phone so I can get you back in it.

We're still faithfully getting ready for Hannah and busy in school. I think we have a solution for the boys and girls- get another set of bunk beds. Caleb climbed out of his crib about 5 times one nap and he took a nap in Samuel's bed. Hannah made me too big for a toddler bed by the time she's here. It just makes sense. Now to find the right one for us.

Off to a birthday party and then a Laser Tag party for the cub scouts.

New opportunity

I think last month I applied for a grant pre-approval. We were denied for certain reasons beyond our control. In a moment of inspiration, I sent an email explaining the situation and left it at that. Yesterday I got a phone call saying my email made sense, they'd taken it to the board and approved us for application! Thank you, Jesus! It's in the mail, on the way here, and I hope to get it taken care of before the weekend is over.

We also had to get some of our immigration paperwork updated by the 4th. Background checks had to be repeated and we thought would come here. However, I found out they'd gone to our social worker instead. Then we had one more piece of paperwork I'd left, thinking when I got the background checks, I'd take care of it. This was the weekend and nothing could be done. I asked friends to help me out, and none could. However, I waited in a waiting room Monday morning for 46 minutes, begging for mercy and help. Just as I was getting ready to tell them I'd come back later and possibly miss being able to get our paperwork in, out comes just the lady I needed with my letter. I rushed home, got it to my SW, and was only 5 minutes late for school. Our SW got everything in in time and we should be hearing back soon. I was so thankful!

There's a song we sing that says, "Everything's working out for my good, and for God's glory..." I keep seeing that over and over and am so thankful.

The sun is shining so beautifully today, drawing the kids ever so strongly! We had 2 munchkins outside at 7:20, jumping on the trampoline, and have been out there every little break they decided to take. Who could blame them. So, we went outside to do our history, science, and fun reading. Which lead to bark rubbings and leaf collecting and tree identifying. We came inside for snacks and history because we got distracted by the trampoline earlier. We're reading about China, and took time to attempt Chinese character drawing and stamp (potato) making. Lots of fun, but drawn again to the trampoline! Oh, well! Gives me a chance to get out and do some much needed yard work.
Now to find my cable to post pictures...