love month

I am loving February. We got an email today from the peeps in RWANDA! They are analyzing OUR dossier and they need a few more documents. Okay. We don't have the non-objection yet to adopt from Rwanda. BUT our dossier is sitting in front of their eyes! Wow. 9 months of really no word and viola, we hear something. February 24th was a good day.

We busted our butts today and got all the necessary paperwork up to our agency. I'm talking printed out, copied, notarized, state certified, and driven up one hour north to our agency's office. Can I get an "Amen" for a productive day! (A huge thank-you to my mom for watching the girlies so some serious movin' could happen.)

These documents should be off to Rwanda very shortly and then....and then....hopefully a quick response of non-objection.

With God ALL things are possible!

blessings.

little by little

Just a quick update to let you all in on a bit of news. Our number is getting closer!

We are #73 and read a blog of a family who is #55 and their dossier is currently being reviewed for a non-objection letter. We are getting closer. I hold on to this hope that we are out of the longest of the waiting...hearing nothing....growing impatient....learning to daily give it all to God.....sad....long days.....kinda part. Guess I shouldn't be over the daily surrender thing. :)

Feel like I've been tied up and I've been fighting with all my strength to get out of the ropes that entangle me and be free. At last, when I realize I can not free myself, I give way to pure exhaustion and lay there very still. I'm open and I'm listening.... sweet surrender.

Thanks for your prayers and continued support. Keep praying.

ONE YEAR!

One year ago today we were sitting in the office of our adoption agency making the call of adding to our family official..... we have a child in Rwanda. We went through two notebooks of details on what we needed to do to put together our home study documents and our dossier documents. In addition to the classes we needed to take on line and a thick workbook that needed to be completed. Wow - has it only been a year since that all happened? In many ways it feels like it was three years ago. I was so overwhelmed and excited. I remember looking at Josh when we got in the car with our binders and said to him, "what do we do first?" My mind was on overload.

We got to work!

Fingerprints, passports, required documents retrieved (i.e. criminal checks both state and county, employment verifications, guardianship statements, copies of birth & marriage certificates, etc....), FBI checks, Adoption parent education classes, medical appts., interviews (4 total) by social worker, country specific information, fundraisers, etc....

Fast forward to May 31st when our completed dossier was registered in Rwanda. Now we wait. We quickly realized that the waiting game was going to be tougher and WAY longer than we had thought.

The end of this month marks 8 months of waiting. I'd love to say that I've waited well. Reality says this has been one tough year. It's true though, in the hardest times, that is the best time of growth. I have grown deeper in my walk with the Lord. I hope that I am a better person and have a deeper sense of strength and character than I did a year ago. My aim is to glorify my God. I have learned a lot about the Sovereignty of God. I'm learning to surrender to His will and timing. That can mean some pretty "ugly" days for a stubborn, control freak like myself.

Thank you for your kind words and your prayers. Your support matters and affects us deeply.

Enough of all this heavy stuff, I will leave you with a funny but oh so true story.

The other night Josh was walking down the hallway to check on the girls in their room before he and I called it a night. I was in our bedroom and I heard him make a funny little noise. I asked if everything was alright and he said he wasn't sure. What??? What is going on? I stood in the doorway of our room in our L-shaped hallway. Josh said I think a mouse just ran past me into the playroom. Where did a mouse come from? There have been no "signs" of a mouse? Really, are you sure?

To say that rodents scare me would be a grossly exaggerated understatement. I loathe rodents! I hate them. They turn my stomach and I squeal like a little girl if I see one. Call me a baby, I don't care. Yuck! Can't stand them. Soooo... now I am kinda freaking out. Josh turns on the lights and is checking the room and YEP, we have a mouse that is now behind the dresser. What do we do???? I could run a half-marathon at this point with all the adrenaline pulsing through my body. I go and put my boots on. Josh leaves wimpy me there on post and goes to the garage to retrieve his big work gloves and a broom. Say your prayers you nasty rodent.

Josh closes the door and barricades himself in the room. He had to cover up the little space underneath the doorway. No pesky mouse was leaving that room alive. I'm still standing in the doorway of our bedroom and the playroom is directly in front of me and the end of the hallway. All is quiet and then "Whack, whack, whack" Josh is swinging that broom and I am jumping up and down. Get that sucker. He needs to die for invading our territory. :)

Josh starts moving the stuff he had placed in front of the door so I think yes, the mouse is dead. Hooray. All of the sudden....... that darn mouse comes flying out from under the door running for his life. STRAIGHT AT ME! I figured this little guy was a goner so to have him shoot out from under that door took me by total surprise. This is the part where I so wished I had grabbed the video camera. I would have won the grand prize on America's Funniest Videos because I came unglued. No explanation will do it justice. I yelped, turned, and jumped for our bed. Of course I didn't try to stand my ground and stop this mouse from running through our house. I didn't even stand there long enough to see where it went. Down the hall? In another room? Towards the front living room? Guess what....we have NOT found the mouse! To this day there are no "signs" of our furry pest and no traps have been touched. I'd like to think that he ran in and ran back out to where ever he came from and is long gone.

sidenote: Josh did hit the tar out of that mouse. It "played" dead and then when he moved the stuff from the door it jumped up and ran. Can you believe it!

The mouse ran out and the chicken remains...ME!

blessings.

somewhere

We heard news a couple of days ago from our case worker that some non-objection letters have gone out!!!!!!!! This is a feat in itself to know that the government is moving ahead and issuing these approvals. To have no new news for months and then hear things are moving is such a wonderful gift. Word on the streets is that they are somewhere in the 30's and we are number 73. Not too far off. We don't know exactly how fast they are moving....

I'm now taking money donations to send a case of red bull to the dossier workers at the rwandan government. Who's with me? Merry Christmas....drink up people. :) Okay, just kidding. But the thought has crossed my mind.

Cool story.....I heard about kids being sponsored in Rwanda on the radio through an organization called, Africa New Life Ministry. Of course my ears perked up at the mention of RWANDA and so I googled this organization. The more I have found out about their mission and love for the kids of my boy's home land, the more I want to go there. I've decided that I got to check this place out when we go to Kigali. They have a variety of service buildings on their compound including a school, orphanages, a dream center where they feed kids, etc... How cool is that? I want to see it. They also have a guest home for people to go over and serve. Definitely an option for our family in the future. Anyway, Africa New Life Ministry's US office is in Portland, OR. So close to us. That's cool.

I tell my jogging buddy Melissa about this ministry and my growing desire to experience this place. Melissa just starting going to a church in Portland. She goes to a small group type of gathering at a house in Portland. Guess who owns the house and is hosting this small group gathering....(drum roll please)......the Co-Founder's of Africa New Life Ministry. (Side note: Melissa is telling me this good news on a jog and this is the part where I jumped for joy and wasn't huffing and puffing trying to breath like I usually am. ) The plan is to meet this wonderful lady in January who has been to Rwanda many times and also has an adopted son from there. I'll keep ya posted. Can't wait to hear her heart and passion for this country.

Check Africa New Life Ministries out! They have some short videos on Rwanda and what they do over there. Completely impressive! Aren't people amazing. I'm like, well what should we have for dinner? And there's people out there that are literally saving people's lives. I'm exaggerating here but you get my point. We can all do something to help someone else out. It's humbling and challenging and inspiring. There are also many ways to support orphans (other than adoption) associated through this ministry. So, if you're looking for a way to get involved - do it! You won't be sorry.

amy

Having two girls is so much fun. They have their "spats" but they love each other so much. I pray that they are this close their whole lives. I enjoy looking at Kylie's face in the second one where Melia is hugging her maybe a bit too much.

These two girls are solid anchors of faith to me. I wanted to be a mom. I wanted to have kids. God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve. I'm so thankful for them. Jo-Jo has no idea what he's in for with his two older sisters! He may think he's got three mothers. Ha!

I'm guessing all parents going through the adoptive process ride through seasons of highs and lows. I find myself resistant to keep track of how many days...or...months we've been waiting. Some days I pray so hard for him that I think it's just too much. Too painful. I can't stand waiting any longer. Other days I pray little simple prayers throughout the day and don't go too deep. Some weeks I feel at peace and other weeks I think I may lose my mind.

I daily pray for someone to be loving on my son. For someone to be holding him, feeding him, singing to him. For Jo-jo to feel love on some level....

I decided to google our orphanage (Home of Hope) and a blog came up. A girl named Amy had just blogged about her trip to Kigali, Rwanda where she held BABIES at the Home of Hope orphanage!!!! I don't even know this chick and think she's pretty much amazing. Go to her blog if ya want and read about the orphanage where my son most likely is right now! Her blog is:

amytokigali.blogspot.com

I have to warn you that it's hard to read about all these children wanting to be held and loved. Although it was rough, it gave me some peace to read about the details of where my boy is. God reminded me that He sees the whole picture...He loves my son far more than I. Amy specifically talked about one little baby boy that just loved being held and fell asleep in her arms. He allowed me the gift of some peace in my heart to think that there are people who are loving on those sweet little children, hopefully my son included.

So to Amy, I say thank you. From the depths of my heart. Thank you for taking up the cause of the orphan, for raising support to go to Rwanda, and for the love you showed those kids. You are and encouragement and an inspiration.

blessings!

soccer rocks!

This fall also brings about a change for our Saturday mornings. We have entered the soccer world. Melia has watched her older cousins play over the years and now it was finally her turn to get in on the soccer action.

With our last game approaching this Saturday, I have to say it's been a great experience. Melia loves to get out there and run around. Finally, a place to let her competitive spirit have at it. Fall is such a beautiful time to be outdoors in the great northwest. We've only been rained on once!

I think we'd better get use to watching soccer....this is only the beginning.

The soccer rocks (their team name) gang and coach Tim.

Going for the goal!

If soccer doesn't work out, I think she may have a future in cheerleading.

Perhaps the best part....treats at the end.

here we go

This fall season brings a major change about in the Wells household. Melia has entered the world of public education as a kindergarten student at Gubser Elementary. O hurt my heart! I can distinctly remember holding Melia as a newborn and thinking that those people who told me time would fly by were all wrong. Each day felt soooooo long and tiring to me. I was a mess of a new mother and the "school years" might as well have been light years away.

Now I understand what those wise women meant. It does go fast! Too fast. Yes, there are still some long days but Melia is growing up to be such a wonderful little girl. I have now banned her from growing any older. Does anyone know where I can get my hands on a time-freezing machine?

First day pictures: