A Wonderful Weekend!

As expected this past weekend was filled with overwhelming joy! I woke up early Thursday morning, packed up the mini-van and took off to Orlando. We arrived at Fort Wilderness at around 11:15 am, we checked in, dropped our stuff off at the cabin and proceeded to the airport to pick up Jill and the girls.


Jill and the girls where the highlight of our trip. It was so wonderful to spend quality time with them. We hit EPCOT first, we arrived at EPCOT at around 2:30 pm and walked the entire park by the end of the night. EPCOT is an amazing place, my favorite Disney park by far. We did the Magic Kingdom on Friday and lastly visited Hollywood Studios on Saturday.

Here are my favorite pictures of our trip.













Now for an adoption update!!!!







We sent in our dossier today!!! Yes, you read correctly, we completed our dossier and sent it into AAI today. Now it'll need to go to the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, D.C. for authentication and then it'll be sent to Ethiopia and we will be "officially" waiting for our referral!!! We are getting there and we are now one step closer to Anaya..

I Always Prayed For A Sister!!!

I was sort of a fluke, being that my parents had been married for over 18 years before my mother finally became pregnant. They were not expecting to get pregnant since they had tried all types of fertility treatments and nothing had seemed to work. Finally, when my parents totally gave up and I showed up!

But, being an only child born to older parents was not the most ideal of situations. Not to mention that my parents did not even speak the language. Not easy growing up… I remember being very lonely and at times having no one to share anything with really bothered me (possibly explains why I love BIG families). So, I would always pray that I would someday have a sister.

Little did I know that God was waiting for me to become an adult, so I could truly appreciate the gift of a sister. Besides blessing me with two wonderful sons (and hopefully a daughter) I gained a sister through adoption. I met Jill while adoption my son J.R. and we became instant friends. Our relationship has grown to that of sisterhood. I could not have prayed for a more caring, open hearted and God filled sister. She guided me to Gods grace and continues to be my confidant. Even though I would be considered the “older” sister, she still gives me the best advise anyone would ever hope for and sometimes, like true sisters, we disagree but always agree to "disagree".

Well, tomorrow my beautiful sister and her three amazing daughters will be flying in from PA and will be sharing three wonderful days with J.R., Mandy and I at Disney!!!!! I am beyond excited about our time together and promise to share many wonderful pictures with everyone next week.

As Promised....

We wanted to make sure she kept her African heritage, as well as adding some of our Spanish culture... I searched for a name that had true meaning. "Anaya" is an African name that means "prayer answered by God" or "look up to God". This meaning spoke volumes to me and my mothers middle name is Isabel..

The mere fact that my husband wanted to adopt again is a miracle and a prayer that was answered by God.

So her name will be....

Name Claim Coming Soon!!!!

We HAVE decided on a name for our new daughter. We don't know who she is, how old she'll be, or how her personality will be, but we have definately decided on a name. We will be announcing it this weekend!!!!!

Something To Think About

A message for our kids and teens..... PLEASE VIEW IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH!

How do you know you've grown in Christ?

Life sometimes throws you a curve ball without you even expecting it. It could be some type of traumatic experience, a loss of a loved one, an issue with a child, a health concern, and so many different types of situations could fit into this category. It’s common to experience a myriad of emotions when initially faced with any one of these situations. But, it’s after the initial shock of an event that really measures and quantifies your faith.

This past weekend I experienced a pretty awful thing. My wonderful husband had given me a very meaningful item for our ten wedding anniversary and the arrival of our son Julian from Guatemala. It was a family heirloom valued at $40K. This one piece of jewelry I did not feel comfortable wearing around town, well because it’s not an everyday type of piece you want to wear out. I kept it in a secure location of my house and I would take it out periodically and clean it. On Saturday, I went to retrieve it and it was GONE. My heart skipped a couple of beats when I initially couldn’t find it. I tore my entire house apart looking for it, thinking maybe, just maybe I misplaced it. I cried and felt as if I was beaten up with a stick from the stress I experienced. Well, it has not been found. But I did find something much more valuable. I found that God blessed me with His grace and a peace that only He could provide. I prayed about it and He granted me peace. I felt at ease knowing that my family was in tact that none of my children are experiencing any health issues and that I am married to my best friend and my soul mate. We are expecting a new daughter soon, how much better could I have it?

I’ve learned that material items are just MATERIAL. Things that men have placed a value and those things could always be replaced. Family, health, love, understanding and faith are priceless items that can not be replaced. I have learned to never attach myself to any man made item no loss money, jewelry, vehicle or even a home should make your heart heavy because God didn’t create them we did.

I haven’t found my ring and I honestly don’t think I will. In my heart I hope that whoever acquired it has made good use out of it. I know that it served its purpose in my life by allowing me to realize that God has blessed my heart with the true meaning of worth.