Adoption Update

Hi everyone 🙂

So I thought maybe I should give a quick update on how things are going with our adoption.

No, that’s not true.

The truth is I AM JUST SO EXCITED I WANT TO TELL THE WHOLE WORLD!!! 🙂

We just had our very first weekend with the girls here at our house and…

it

was

AWESOME!

All four of us have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this.  Our first sleepover.

For Kirby and I it was amazing to have our daughters here in our home with us for three whole days, where we got to be their parents for more than a few hours.

For the girls it was so exciting to be able to play together all weekend in their new backyard, sleep in their new beds, and bring a truckload of toys to their new home…because obviously we don’t have near enough of those!    Overall the weekend went way better than we expected!  The girls were very comfortable and happy most of the time, thanks to all the groundwork that’s been done before this.  We are now familiar people they love, and they’re used to spending weekends in strangers’ houses so this was not totally new.  They also paid a visit a few weeks ago to their new home so they could visualize where they were coming.  We did lots of fun stuff, but also had lots of down time just relaxing and being a family 🙂

I won’t go into every little detail, but I’ll give you some of the highlights.

1) Bedtime.  If you’re a Mommy you will get this.  To be able to do bedtime with our daughters for the very first time was such a gift.  Baths, brushing teeth, reading stories, saying prayers (which are totally new for my kiddos, but they love it), giving hugs and kisses and backrubs…the whole deal is just one of my favourite parts of having children in our home, so I was looking forward to this in a BIG way.  Being in a new place is a bit scary for most kids at bedtime, so they needed some extra loving to settle down and sleep, but that was no problem for us 🙂  Once their restless little bodies were finally relaxed and breathing deeply I just stared at them and felt incredible awe.  Why God has chosen to place in my amateur hands such precious little lives I will never know, but I am honoured and humbled beyond words.

2) On Friday when the girls arrived Kirby was still at work, so they were waiting anxiously for him to get home all afternoon.  I kept hearing, “When will Daddy be home?!”  I’m pretty sure I got a gigantically goofy grin on my face every single time I heard those words 🙂  When he finally did pull into the driveway it was…”DADDY!  DADDY!  DADDY!” and two little girls flying out the door to jump on him and fight for hugs and kisses, just because I am married to the most amazing Daddy on the planet and every single child who enters our home absolutely adores him 🙂  This whole driveway episode is totally normal around here, and it is always one of my favourite parts of the day.

3) We were incredibly blessed to have Kirby’s aunt and uncle give the girls money to buy new bikes and helmets as their homecoming gift!  Thank you Dave & Sheri Shantz! 🙂  So on Saturday we went to Canadian Tire and let Akeisha and Alexa pick out their very own bikes and helmets.  They were thrilled.  We went for a bike ride as soon as we left the store!  🙂  Alexa is only 5 and still learning to ride, so her little legs got tired pretty quickly, but Akeisha is confident and fast on her bike, so after Alexa and I were done she and Daddy went out on another long ride.  I’m thinking we will be using those bikes a lot this summer!  We have a beautiful trail that runs down along the bay that is wide, gravel and perfect for biking as long as you can do some little hills 🙂  It’s one of my favourite places to walk, and it also goes by our favourite park so that’s a bonus!

4) Even though neither of our daughters have had much exposure to the gospel or the idea of God, they are totally intrigued with the idea and love for us to sing and talk about God with them.  We have had good little discussions about heaven, God living inside our hearts, God as a spirit, and God creating the whole world.  Alexa will sometimes ask me, “Will you talk to us about God?”  We are in awe and praising God for the curiosity we see in them regarding spiritual things.  They are like sponges, ready to soak up all we tell them.  We are doing our best to pour the heart and soul of the gospel into them at every opportunity.  This is why we are here!!!!  I feel so refreshed and excited seeing the wonder and curiosity of a child hearing about the things I have taken for granted so much of my life.  In His name there is power!  I am confident that as the girls simply enter our home and lives they will be enfolded in the power, love and security we have in Jesus Christ.  What an incredible blessing!  All the things I have to give to my daughters are nothing compared to THAT glorious truth!

We also had a campfire, went to the park, went for walks and played outside in the beautiful sunshine!

So there’s my little recap of our first weekend as a family of 4!  We are enjoying the ride so far, but know there are many hurdles to come.  Please continue to pray for us and our daughters as we begin this new phase of our lives together.  To those of you who are rejoicing and praying alongside us…your support and confidence mean more to us than you’ll ever know!  Thank you for being willing to believe with us that with God, all things are possible!

AF

Ps. This is Akeisha and Alexa’s favourite song for me to sing right now:

THE BUTTERFLY SONG (If I Were a Butterfly) Words and Music by Brian M. Howard

If I were a butterfly I’d thank you Lord for giving me wings If I were a robin in a tree I’d thank you Lord that I could sing If I were a fish in the sea I’d wiggle my tail and I’d giggle with glee But I just thank you Father for making me, meCHORUS Because you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile You gave me Jesus and you made me your child And I just thank you Father for making me, me If I were an elephant I’d thank you Lord by raising my trunk If I were a kangaroo You know I’d hop right up to you If I were an octopus I’d thank you Lord for my good looks But I just thank you Father for making me, me If I were a wiggly worm I’d thank you Lord that I could squirm If I were a fuzzy, wuzzy bear I’d thank you Lord for my fuzzy, wuzzy hair If I were a crocodile I’d thank you Lord for my great smile But I just thank you Father for making me, me