The Kids - Part 3

Haven't blogged since last May?  Yeah...I know.  Really quickly, I plan to update you on where we are now in our lives, along with finally finishing all those birthday posts from last year and adding the ones from this year as they happen.  And lots of other things.  As you may have guessed...a ton has happened in the past 8 months. 

But first, today I wanted to update you on something very specific...something very dear to our hearts. 

Remember these sweet, beautiful kids?  Last February 17th, as we were celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary at one of our favorite restaurants in Brazil, we got a call about these kiddos.  We traveled to meet them the first weekend in March (you can read about it here...this should open in a new window and there are many more beautiful pictures of these kids and ours if you want to see...very worth it in my opinion :)...love these pictures).  God said no.  We had no idea why. We continued to pray for them...and for clear direction as to if it was a 'no for now' or a 'no forever,' waiting patiently to see what God would do.  We've thought of them constantly.  In every decision we've made about our future, it's been with the thoughts of 'OK, and if we have these kids at that point, ....'  I've been in touch with their social worker every month since we left them.  I talked to her in October, but really felt like I should just leave it after that, until I felt God urging me to contact her again.

Well, today was that day.  We talked about it all weekend...our future plans, them, etc. (and when I say 'we talked about it' I mean all of us talked about it, our kiddos included).  We felt like we had to be completely honest with them (the social worker) about our intentions this time when we contacted them...we couldn't just say 'so, how are the kids?' without giving them a reason why we were asking and still interested.  Basically, we were feeling like if they were still not adopted, that was our answer from God that we were the family for them.  We were honestly telling them in this email that that was actually still a possibility in our minds and hearts.  We had already met these beautiful, wonderful kids...we loved them, our kids loved them, we had spent the past year basically acting like they were a part of our family anyway.  Besides, they were finding *nobody* who was interested in adopting these older children...nobody.  They even entered the international adoption list...and nothing.  And God had put them before us...and they had stayed with us in our hearts.

Also, we were able to see reasons why God had said no at that particular time, giving us a chance to create a more stable environment for them to come into (for instance, God had not wanted us to subject them to being homeless with us here...not a very stable, comforting thing for children being adopted).  And we were able to see reasons why the answer might very definitely be 'yes' now (for instance, the fact that we have a house of our own now...and going back to Brazil soon...along with other things). 

So, we formulated an email very carefully.  We were excited, but cautious.  We knew God was leading us in that email, but at the same time, neither one of us could say with 100% certainty that they were supposed to be with us, no doubts.  We wanted them to be, but we didn't have 100% peace.  We were just taking the next step in obedience...then seeing where that led.  So, we sent it, and excitedly waited.  God had finally led us to take the next step. 

Within an hour, the social worker had replied. 

I excitedly took a deep breath, held it, and opened the email. 

It has happened.  They are now in the adoption process already.  They found their family.  And it's not us.

I'm so excited for them.  The social worker couldn't tell me any details...only that they are able to remain in Brazil and that they are very happy.  I SO hope that they were able to be kept together in the same home as well.  And, I really am excited for them.  Of course, we told them that if anything happens that this situation doesn't work out, to please notify us.  But, for their sake, I hope that everything goes off without one little hitch.  And I wish them complete and utter happiness for the rest of their lives...they deserve it. 

We just told the kids.  They were also not at 100% peace about it all...they *wanted* to give them a home and they LOVED those kids.  We spent 2 full fun days with them last March and they had a blast.  Grady loved the idea of having two brothers...and one even close in age.  But Grady and Hadley were both not completely thrilled about giving up their places as 1st and 2nd in the birth order.  They were willing to do it, but weren't thrilled.  That being said, with the news that the kids (that we've been talking about for a year now as a possible part of our family) were already being adopted by someone else came some sadness.  :(  There is some sadness from all of us.  But, we are all...

So happy for them...they finally have a family.  And we finally have our answer.  Those are both good things.  And we really are rejoicing in both of those things.  God knows and He cares for us all.  Will be interesting to see what the next phase in this area brings.  It's always an adventure. 

Grady's 8th Birthday Party - January 2012 (Part 2)

Yes, I can still hold him!  I almost died after I had put him down, about 2 seconds after this picture was taken just a few days ago.  Whew.  But, I can still hold him, dadgummit.  ;)

Grady is so easy as far as parties go.  He is all about simple...hates to make a big fuss or have a big fuss made over him.  Likes it small and intimate with only his close friends.  He started thinking about it weeks before...what he wanted to do.  HE planned it all out in detail...I didn't have to plan a thing, just help him carry out his plan.  Gosh, I welcomed that.  ;)  Loved it.  He finally settled on a Nerf party and a great party it was.  Our friends who were visiting even commented that it was the most laid-back kid's party they'd ever been to.  ;)  That's our boy. 

Grady requested a hot dog lunch to start out the festivities.

Friend Seth (his parents are missionaries with Asas too...they were visiting from Manaus, a base in the Amazon) and Cass.

Grady, Cullen, Luis Felipe, and Hadley.

Friends.

NERF!!  Fun fun times.

Time to open presents.

I love this one.  He and his friend, Nathan, had a blast while he was here.

Hadley's present for Grady...she made him a light saber.  ;)  So so sweet.

He liked it.  :)

I got video of this, but this is the only picture I got apparently.  They went out to the 'jungle' behind our house and had a Nerf battle with Joel as their guide...capture the flag type stuff.  They had lots of fun.

Best buds and neighbors.

After the Nerf battle, everyone watched some Star Wars:  The Clone Wars episodes per Grady's plan...his new favorite thing to watch.

And then it was cake time.

Praying for the birthday boy.

"Happy Birthday to You!"

He's a fun boy.  :)

Our brother/sister friends, Nate and Dani, were visiting from Alaska and Ohio.  And Carol, our babysitter, and her boyfriend (at the time...husband now) also came to celebrate Grady.

Love this guy!  Happy birthday, big boy.  So thankful we are blessed with you as our firstborn.

Grady's 8th Birthday Party - January 2012 (Part 1)

This super handsome boy was 8 years old on January 3rd.  That was on a Tuesday, so we just had a special breakfast and special supper and outing with him that day, party to follow.  It was fun celebrating our sweet, thoughtful, funny, spectacular son.

Birthday breakfast...chocolate pancakes as requested.

The birthday boy...love him!

Pensive birthday boy.  ;)

Content birthday boy.  ;)

"Mama, stop taking pictures" birthday boy.  Haha.

The kiddos..."Where are we going for supper?"

His special birthday dinner.

Even ice cream.

Daddy being silly with the ice cream.  :)

Grady enjoying the show.

There was another surprise after the birthday dinner...the carnival!!

They were pretty excited.

Waiting, dreaming, and planning their ride strategy.

Little Miss Priss.

Finally on a ride.  BUMPER CARS!

My driver.

So much fun was had on the bumper cars!

Time for the carousel.

The whole fam.

Can you see Cass?  ;)

We have some fun and silly people in our family.  :)

Living in Brazil, life is a little less regulated, i.e. standing up on the horse. 

Some relaxation.

Of course she has to do it too...a little hard to get her shorter legs up there though.  ;)

Persistence.  ;)

Hadley was super excited to ride this and hopped in a car by herself.  Grady was hesitant...so was Joel.  They rode together.

It went super fast and turned up on its side...kind of like a ferris wheel going 100mph.  ;)

Hadley was just a'hootin' and a'hollerin' and laughing the whole time.  She's such a little daredevil.

Then it was off to a game.

Cass...haha.

And then the scary ferris wheel...scary for me anyway.  ;)  It was like a combination ferris wheel/tilt-o-whirl actually...you could spin yourself.  Aaaaaah!  Haha.

The kids loved it.

No seat belts, no restraints of any kind...and it went fast and high, and spun fast.  Haha...gotta love Brazil.

Look at my death grip.  Hahaha.  The kids are all laughs.  I was laughing too...nervous laughter.  :)

The kids had a ball playing with each other on that ride.

Look at their hair...it was pretty fast.  :)

And the last ride of the night...the worm.

The worm was fun.  ;)

Wheee!

And this is the carnival director...he's been traveling with carnivals for over 60 years!

Grady's birthday was a really fun day.  About a week later we had a party with some of his friends.  I'll post about that next time.  So glad you had a fun 8th birthday, Grady Lester.  We love you!