This is the link to the Focus on the Family radio episode that initially touched my heart and allowed God to speak to it re: adopting a Down Syndrome child. I could not forget this interview and not long after that Mark and I found Simon. I wanted to share the link with you. Go to the address and click on the "Listen now" link. http://listen.family.org/daily/A000001556.cfm# Get ready for a blessing!!!

Well, the fire was April 18, but we are STILL not back in our house!! The GOOD news though, is that it is almost finished!!! Mark and I went out there yesterday to let the delivery guys in to bring in our piano and we were very pleasantly surprised to see the cabinets almost finished and the appliances had been delivered! Now, all that's left is to lay the carpet in the Master Bedroom, front closet and Rec Room, and to finish the cabinets and slide in the appliances!! Then, they'll clean everything up and call it done!!

Our furniture will need to be delivered and our "cleaned" stuff from ServPro brought back, and we can move back in. We HOPE to be in by Thanksgiving!!! It has been such a long time since we've been home...!!! We are grateful for the house where we're staying, but we're ready to go home...

PLUS, we agreed to keep a Russian chaperone for a Russian/Latvian hosting program for a month (mid-Dec to mid-Jan) and I need a place to put her!

So, the house repair, Nina (the chaperone) coming, the kids changing schools back to Mims, moving back home, getting Simon's paperwork ready, fundraising for his adoption, and Thanksgiving has REALLY kept us hopping!!! But life would be so BORING if there was nothing to do, right??

Whew! Our homestudy visit is over! It wasn't so bad at all. We went to the empty house (they are getting the cupboards in, in the kitchen!!) so they could see the property and where Simon will be living (we HOPE to be in by Thanksgiving!), then we went back to Port St. John and had the formal interview. They were extremely nice and incredibly capable and it went really well. We met up at around 4:30 in Mims, then they left at... shoot, how late was it...? 11:00?? Maybe it was 10... But they gave us a copy of the rough draft for our hard drive and now we just need to finish up background checks, etc. and we're done with it!! YAY!

Throughout this whole thing, it's really amazing how we can see God working. There were so many doors He could have closed, but He just keeps opening them!! It's soooooo nice, too, knowing that He is with us and appears to really approve of all of this. :o) (It's nice to have your Dad's blessing. :o} )

Gotta run to work, but I wanted to post our good news!!

Oh, and a big Happy Birthday to my mom today!! Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!!

Missy

P.S. Our homestudy agency is Hope for Families, by Dr. Ken Brown and his wife, Lynn. Just a little plug for them. They were great.

Here's some fun news...!! Meredith Cornish and Reece's Rainbow are giving away a copy of the book, "Up Close: A Mother's View", which was written by a mother of a child with Down Syndrome. I am posting this as part of an entry in a contest in hopes that I win this book, but you can win it too, by following the directions on this blog: http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2008/11/blog-give-away.html .

They also have this fabulous fundraiser for Downs kids who have NOT found a family yet. This is a way for those who can't adopt to help finance certain children in hopes of allowing a family to be able to afford to adopt them! Here is a writeup from another person's blog:

The Angel Tree is Reece's Rainbow's largest fundraiser of the year and there's a great reason why. For each donation of $35 or more to any one child you will be mailed a beautiful ornament with your sponsored child's photo on it. These ornaments are the perfect gift for teachers, coworkers, friends, family, and all those hard-to-buy-for people. Not only do they receive a keepsake, but the knowledge that their gift went toward a wonderful cause- helping an orphan to come HOME.

The children shown on the Angel Tree page are all UNMATCHED children who do not yet have a family (but as the tree continues children will be marked 'matched' as their families find them and commit to their adoption!). Also, it's important to note that every dollar that you donate to any child goes directly to their sponsorship! Paypal, ornament costs and shipping are all paid for by Reece's Rainbow and are not deducted from your donation. Reece's Rainbow is glad to say that every penny goes toward that child's grant fund in hopes that they will soon have a "forever family" commit to their adoption and bring them home.

The Angel Tree Project runs from November 1st-December 31st and all donations made by December 15th will receive an ornament gift (donations after this date will still be shown on the Angel Tree page but will not receive an ornament). We welcome international donors and we will also ship the ornaments internationally!

Do please consider sponsoring one of these GREAT kids who deserve families just as all children do. God bless, THANK YOU and Merry Christmas!!

Below, behold my mother, Jane Smith, who HATES anything having to do with crafts, art or creativity!! I dragged her, kicking and screaming, to my monthly card-making class, INSISTING that she like it, and *guess what?!* - SHE DID!! Now, I don't know if she'll ever go to another craft anything again in her life, but at least she TRIED it and was such a good sport! She is so proud to have four beautifully handcrafted cards to share with others now. :o)

I'm such a good daughter. :o)

Joe tried to bond with Daisy but she was so nervous that she pretty much avoided him. Poor Joe!














For supper last night, Reese and Nikolai made my homemade lasagna recipe!! (There is no recipe but they've helped me make it so many times that they can do it totally without any help whatsoever!!) Pretty good for a couple of 14 year old boys! It was good - a little overfilled in the pans, but good!!



And here's Mom in her usual location - the kitchen!

If you EVER wondered why Mark and I are adopting Simon, PLEASE watch this video! But I warn you -- GET YOUR KLEENEX!!

Missy

Still having fun! Last night, we celebrated Reese's 14th birthday (a week late) and of course, he revelled in the attention. :o) Today, Mom, Mark and I (Missy) went to DisneyWorld. Joe and the boys wanted to stay at the house and play their Wii and watch sports on TV, so they did.

I am sorry; I'm still learning how to do this blog. The pictures are all in reverse order, so if you're smart, you'll scroll down to the bottom and go up. lol I'm learning as I go...



This picture should have been last! Here we are on the tram going to our car after our day at the Park. Mark was THOROUGHLY tired of me taking pictures of him and you can tell! LOL


Wheee!! Mom driving like a wildwoman at the Tomorrow Land Speedway.

Here are the guys chilling out in the hot tub, only the weather is only in the mid-70's for our highs, so to us, it's freezing!! To Mom and Joe the Seattlites, it is WARM!



Here's the house we're renting. It's really nice!



Ha! We got Mom to play the Wii Fit! Poor Mom, she couldn't figure it out!



Here's another one of Mom - I think she's sick of me taking her picture...!



Mom and Mark being silly. What a couple of goofballs!



Mom and Joe were fascinated by the Sand Hill Cranes walking around the neighborhood. They also saw a baby alligator in the pond behind the house - I'm glad I didn't see it! As much as I LOVE Florida, I HATE alligators!!!

Mom and Joe are here with the boys and Mark and me on vacation! Yes, we live only about an hour away but we rented a 5 bedroom house (hoping that Natasha or Mark's mom would be able to join us) in Orlando and are mainly just hanging out! I finally got some pictures and a video up and wanted to share them! (I just figured out that my video files are way too big... WAHH!!)

So, here are some pictures:


The boys flipped a coin and Reese lost! He got stuck with the "Princess Room"! Fortunately, Reese is a VERY good sport and has a great sense of humor - he handled the Princess Room well and has joined in the fun, joking around about it with everyone else. Nikolai was the winner, and he got the "Cars" room, but the bonus was the Superman logo picture on the wall! Poor Reese... I know he wanted that Superman picture!