Africa Bags needs your VOTE

Africa Bags needs your help! They have been competing in a grant competition through Turbo Tax / Intuit. Out of thousands of applications Africa Bags has been selected as one of the top 50 finalists! As finalists they are competing for the grand prize grant of $25,000! They have submitted a video about the Africa Bags project on the Intuit website. They are asking everyone to go to the Intuit website and veiw the Africa Bags video and then vote for their project as both "inspiring" and "useful." 40% of the judges decision is based on how many votes we get! So by voting you truly will make a difference for them!

http://community.intuit.com/contests/aFVdokwWWqllvkab8P4pmk

It would be awesome if you were so inspired to go to the web site and purchase a couple, we use them and love them!!

http://www.africabags.org

Lifestyle Change for our Family

We have made a huge change in our family's diet. I don't know if huge is even a big enough word for it!!!

I have been following Jill's blog for a few months now and love reading her posts filled with her love of the Lord and love for her children. Anyway, she had a post a couple of weeks ago which peaked my interest, you can read it here. It peaked my interest enough to watch the video. Simon and I watched it together and were blown away! We were totally overwhelmed at the evidence presented about how toxic animal proteins (meat & dairy) are on our bodies! Please, take the time to watch this incredibly powerful video. Now, I have to qualify this post with the fact that I was NOT open to the possibility of cutting all animal protein out of our diet when I watched this video. We ate meat nearly every night at our house and Nicky and Bella would frequently carry around a cup of chocolate milk. I have been struggling with the things we eat and wanted to provide a healthier lifestyle for our family...I really feel the Lord put this video in our lives at the perfect time to inspire Simon and I to make this significant change. If you are curious at all, check out the video A Delicate balance - the Truth.

Jill quoted this scripture:

I AM the vine, and My Father is the gardener: He cuts off every branch that doesn't produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. John 15:12

I have to say this change has not been very hard for us...it has to be from the Lord. I am not craving chocolate (which I was addicted to) or having a desire to eat meat. Simon is fully committted to this and loves trying new recipes and experimenting with cooking with Tofu. I do have to say Nicky is not too thrilled with the tofu, but I am sure he will get used to it.

Blessings,

Family

We put Bella on the plane to her dad's in Illinois yesterday. She is such a great traveler. Simon decided she has probably flown more than he has now and he was in the Army and flew a lot. We are praying she has an AWESOME summer with her daddy as last year was a little bumpy. Nicky is going to miss her a lot but we are also praying we will be bringing home a little brother for him still this summer!!



We had the opportunity to have dinner with my sis and her fiance in Colorado Springs last night. They were recently engaged and we are so happy for them. We had a wonderful vegan meal, thank you so much Nicole!! The fellowship was wonderful and we love the Springs and will be looking for more opportunities to visit.



Blessings,

Saturday - Fire Trucks

As some of you know, I work for the City in which we live. I absolutely love it and try to participate in most of the community activities. Living far from our families, we have found many good friends in our community and strive to instill the sense of responsibility for our world in our kiddos. Saturday was our annual Fire Department pancake breakfast. Nicky is absolutely in love with trucks, any size or kind. He carries one with him most of the time and has the ALL over the house. Here are some pictures, we were testing out the still camera on our new camcorder (which we aren't too impress with).

Mothers Day = Stomach Flu

ImageChef.com Flower Text

Happy Mothers Day to all of you mom's and grandma's!!

God had an interesting way this year of reminding me of how blessed I am to have my mom. Nicky got the stomach flu today...full on with dry heaves. It reminded me of all of the times I was sick growing up and how my mom was at my side holding my hair for every violent heave. I was a particularly needy stomach flu sufferer needing my mom there every time, I remember screaming like crazy for her. I knew she would be and I could count on her. She was a fantastic mom and taught me how to be a great mom to my kids.

My heart is breaking thinking of all of the kids in the world without mom's there for them when they are sick. Also for the mom's who can't be there for their kids, knowing they will be sick and need their comforting.

A great friend (who happens to be my personal trainer) reminded me this week that kids without parents are never alone, Jesus is there for them, they never feel lonely. We wondered at what age kids stopped hearing Jesus and feel comforted by him?

I am not alone, because the Father is with me. John 16:32

My goal as a mother: To follow the Lord's direction and provide as many children as He sees fit a safe, loving, and God-fearing home.

Referral Update

We have offically accepted the referral of another baby boy!! We are not sure on his name yet, but will call him David for now.

He is about 8 months old (two less than baby "T") and was found abandoned so we don't know his exact birth date. He is adorable and we are so looking forward to having him home with us. We are now waiting for a court date of which our agency coordinator said should be faster since we have already been approved as parents.

So...the current status is that we are now matched with two (yes 2) baby boys which are two (yes 2) months apart!! God really has a plan for us, which amazingly is different than our own plan! ;) We don't have any update on baby "T" but would ask for continued prayer in his case and that God would put everything in place for him to get through court soon. We hope to be able to get baby David home yet this summer and baby "T" as soon as possible.

We are so grateful for all of the prayer that has been coming our way, God has shown us the direction He wants us to take and feel at ease with our decision. THANK YOU!!!

Future

"I say this because I know what I am planning for you," says the Lord. "I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future." Jeremiah 29:11

We are waiting for God to show us the way on a couple huge things in our life:

The first being Simon's job. Yes, he is still working for the "new" bank but we do not know how long that will last. It could be a week or six months until they get all of the loans sold off. He is considering a career change but will need to return to school for about 4 months. We were hoping he would be on unemployment while he was doing the school, but the school starts in July and he in now thinking he will still be at the bank. The school only starts two times a year.

The second, of which is the reason for this blog, our adoption. Our baby "T" did not go to court as planned a few weeks ago and we were told the wait could be VERY long. We have been presented with another referral but it has come in pieces (first a picture, then on Friday the medical) and we still don't have it all to make the decision to accept. After much prayer, we feel God it leading us to stay with baby "T" while considering the new referral. If things move forward with both little boys, we will have two babies who are about two months apart! We were pretty sure we would adopt another after baby "T" but it would have been a couple of years. It looks like God has a different timeline for us bringing two little boys home from Ethiopia.

We know God has a plan for our family...but boy is it hard waiting for him to reveal it!!