update from the last 48 hours *GOD ANSWERS PRAYER*

We thought we should share an update on how the Lord has provided just in the last 48 hours since we shared our need for $10,650.
5 dear families (some of whom we do not even know!) have come forward and donated....we now have $4121!!!!  PRAISE GOD!
This means that we have a mere (*grin*) $6529 left to pay all our country and agency fees.  AHHHHH!
Would you please share our story and our needs with those who will pray for us?!

Don't forget that if you want to donate, you can email us for our mailing address or visit our online donation site: www.gofundme.com/cainadoption

*********MORE BREAKING NEWS********
this is what a completed international adoption dossier looks like:

we may have killed an entire forest...but we're coming for you, baby boy!

it was with much fear and trembling that i handed over our precious packet to the postal worker this afternoon.  i actually kept a grip on it while i looked her straight in the eye and said, "promise me this will make it.  promise me."  

she sort of looked at me funny like "this is the US postal service.  *of course* it will make it.  its what we *do.*), but i quickly explained:

"this pile of dead trees represents months of work and pain and sweat and tears and toil and HOPES.  it is the main document standing between our family and our third son who is waiting for us in africa.  please.  please.  please.  do not throw into the 'outgoing mail' pile.  cradle it and lay it down tenderly."  

so she did.  she's a cool lady.

it should arrive to our agency on monday or tuesday.  our formal referral acceptance forms should also arrive on tuesday.  all that stands between us and our ghana baby now is time and money.....ok, and a few more documents and a judge's decree and four airplane rides and some immunizations....but really?  we're almost there, peoples.  thanks for hanging tight with us.  keep the prayers coming.  share our story.

*fist pump*

*knuckle bump*

ashley's obsession with red hair *THIS IS IT*

in case you didn't know, ashley has red hair.  and its not something she particularly liked as a child.  at all.  when you're a child, you want to fit in and be the same as everyone else.  with only 2% of the world's population sporting naturally red hairs, blending in can be difficult.  once she got past the junior high years (*shiver*), however, she loved her redheaded-differentness.  and as a mother, she always wanted to pass along her "valuable genetic material" to one of her children.

well, seeing as ethan is our only gene-bearer and he has ever so slight strawberry in his locks, we really didn't think a redheaded cain was in the cards.

but it was an on-going joke of ours that our ghana baby would be the one to have red hair.  its perfectly logical.

this leads us to our very excellent and exciting news:
WE HAVE BEEN MATCHED WITH A CHILD IN GHANA!!!!

*screams*
*fireworks*
*beating of drums*
*more screams*
*tears of overwhelmed unbelief*

yes, we have a face and a name.  we have a few details and PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES.   even a video!!!  AHHHHHHH!

because this precious little one is not "ours" quite yet, we have to restrain ourselves, however.  we will not be able to post any pictures until after our court decree.  but do not despair, that will be sooner than you think.  here's what we can share:

*screams again for good measure*
we will have our third SON.  he is a little 10 month old BOY with the best pouty lips and chubby chubby cheeks.  ethan had some sweet chub on his cheeks, but this african prince has brought the cheekiness to a new level.
he is currently residing in an orphanage and has been there since he was about 3 months old.  he will continue to be cared for by the orphanage until we come and claim him as our son forever.
he will need some medical attention when he comes to the US.
he has red hair.
DID YOU CATCH THAT?  HA!  he has RED.  HAIR.  for reals!  does God have a sense of humor or WHAT?

a few more things we'd like to share with you:
ghana has a three month waiting period for adoptions.  if we lived in country, we would be able to foster this little guy for 3 months and then request a court hearing.  since we do not live in ghana, we will instead demonstrate our ability to support him by paying for 3 months of his care.  this money is included in our "country fee" that our agency helps disperse.

if everything moves super smooth, we could have a court date as early as march.  AHHH!

after our court date, the visa and passport documentation needs to come together.  this will take about another three months.  so.  if every "i" is dotted and "t" is crossed, we could have our little man home as early as may or june.  EEEEEEEK!

but we DESPERATELY NEED YOUR HELP.
this has all come together super fast.  WAY FAST.  we technically have not even finished our dossier...our names were never on "the waiting list."  Lord-willing, we will have our dossier in the mail on FRIDAY.  here's the thing: we need to pay a lot of money RIGHT NOW.  normally, we would have 6-18 months to pull this together, but God in His providence has moved everything forward very quickly....and we are SO thankful for that!  (on a sidenote, He did the same thing with josiah's adoption.  we were told we would wait about 6-18 months and we waited THREE WEEKS.  time crunch on fundraising again!).  would you please pray that God would provide the $10,650 we need to pay our remaining fees?  yes.  that's right.  $10,650.  we have already paid just about that much so, really, we are half way!    we serve a mighty God and we know that if this little one is meant to be with our family forever, mountains will be moved.

we will also be continuing our fundraising to help pay for the $6000ish we will need for our airfare, visas, and other travel expenses.  again, GOD.  MOVES.  MOUNTAINS.  its just money.  a child is a million trillion thousand gabillion times more important and eternally valuable than any amount of loose change we can scrape together.  we truly believe this.

if you feel lead to join us in changing this little boy's life, we would be happy to send you our mailing address or you can visit our donation site here: www.gofundme.com/cainadoption

this is happening.
you are helping.
pray.
share.
pray some more.

did we mention that he has RED HAIR?
:)

fingerprints & luck

aaaaand now its november.
november???
thankfully, it still looks as though we will be able to turn in the remainder of our dossier to ghana by the end of the year.  WOOHOO!  yesterday, we had our biometrics/fingerprinting appointment with immigration in west sacramento.  everyone told us it would be a breeze....and it was.  our appointment was at 12:00, but because i'm not one to be late, we arrived at 11:30am.  they saw us right away and we were spared the wait when 15 people showed up at 11:50am.  praise God for the small things!  so now we wait for a week or two or three until we get our I600 approval.  once that is in hand, we take the (hopefully) last round of paperwork to be notarized, state sealed, shipped to the corporate office in michigan, and then off to ghana!!!

our needs right now:
1. peace.  it is hard to wait.  it is.
2.  endurance.  as with bringing any child, biological or adopted, into your family, it takes a lot of work.  and it wears you done when there are so many other things screaming for your attention at the same time.
3.  funds.  we currently have about $3000 of the $8000 we need to officially be on the "waiting list."  ashley still has photography sessions going strong until the middle of december (photo blog) and ben is working feverishly to repair music instruments with his home business.  so many friends and family members have donated...what an overwhelming joy to come together and make one less orphan!

in other news:
we have a lot of people say things like, "wow.  that child from ghana will be so lucky to have you as parents."  its a strange thing to hear quite frankly.  first of all, because we don't believe in "luck."  the almighty creator God is in charge of all things and nothing happens by chance, but by His direct will!!!  secondly, "they are so lucky" sounds like we are some sort of saint or martyr.....let me clarify: we.  are.  not.  we are normal, average, everyday people like you who simply heard the call of children in need and answered.  no superheroes.  just love in action.  i read a really great post by another ghana-adoptive family that answers the "they are so lucky" dilemma even better:
The View from 36.5 inches

thank you for your encouraging words.  you don't know how much that pushes us to keep on keeping on.  its a long road.
and OH SO worth it.

october

october has been a busy month!!!!  there are four specific reasons for this:

1.  USCIS aka immigration.  We turned in all our I600a paperwork and were pleasantly surprised to get a fairly quick fingerprinting appointment for 10/31.  hooray!

funny how excited you can get over a little piece of paper

2. potty training.  the dreadest.  the worst.
but josiah, at 2 years old, has rocked it.  it was a rough 3 days of intense battles filled with marshmellow bribery...but we can now declare a solid victory.  praise.  the.  Lord.

3.  PANCAKE BREAKFAST FUNDRAISER!  we had a wonderful wonderful blessed time at our big fundraiser on 10/6.  our team of volunteers went above and beyond to help make the event a success.  so many of our friends and family (and complete strangers with a heart for orphans!) came by to enjoy the tasty tastiness and stand alongside us as we strive to bring our ghana baby home!  we cannot thank you all enough for the generous donations you gave - in your words of encouragement, your time, and your pesos.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!  all together, God answered prayers in a big way and helped us move almost $2000 closer to making one less orphan.
**if you were not able to attend and still want to donate, you may use our online donation site!

sportin' our black star tshirts!

our dear dear friends, mary lou & brenda, that helmed the kitchen for us!

4.  photography fundraising!

ashley has had a blast looking at lots and lots of pretty through her lens.  aside from shooting her regular clients, a huge number of people have answered the call and booked sessions knowing that 100% of the profit benefits our adoption fund!  a huge answer to prayer as we need about $8000 in order to send all our documents to ghana and officially be on the waiting list for our child!!  

here are a few highlights from ashley's recent photography sessions:

we covet your prayers.  there is much to be done and far to go...but we serve a mighty God who created the stars and owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  

we are coming little one.  we are pedaling as fast as we can to get you.

one less orphan.

one more cain.

almost pancake time!

ALMOST PANCAKE TIME!
tomorrow, october 6, is our big fundraiser.  join us from 8-10am at 3800 n shingle rd for pancakes.
eat a pancake...help an orphan find a family.
:)

if you are prevented from joining us, but would like to be a part of bringing our child home, please PRAY and consider donating.  we cannot thank you enough...the adoption process is bigger than just one family and we rejoice that we are able to include others in our journey!

josiah helping to pack the cart FULL.  come and eat pancakes with us!

so many have already overwhelmed us by slipping us bills and checks and cards dripping with encouragement and heartfelt prayers.  THANK YOU!

2 corinthians 9:15
"thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"

and the Lord provides...again and again! *fundraising*

this morning, ashley had the privilege of taking school portraits for rainbowland christian preschool.  as with all the profits from ashley's photography business, the portrait orders from the wonderful rainbowland families will benefit our adoption!  there has been a generous number of pre-orders already and we praise God for His continued provision!!  a huge thank you to the school's director, sandy foster, for asking ashley to photograph all her precious students.

it was especially fun to see our little one, josiah, sit like a big boy while mama took his picture.  doesn't he just melt your heart?  its one of those times where i think about all the labor and toil we went through for josiah's adoption and i think, "it is ALL worth it.  adoption is such a beautiful thing...."

looking forward to day 2 of preschool portraits tomorrow!

mini-sessions: adoption fundraiser #2

saturday was the second of three photography mini-sessions that we had planned specifically as adoption fundraisers.  it is so encouraging and such a joy to spend time with so many lovely people!!!

the first family on saturday made my day with the adorableness (yes, that's a word) of their little 14 month old girl.  doesn't her smile just melt your heart?

the second family are good family friends that just recently moved back into the area.  their two kids have grown into delightfully photogenic fun-size people!

a HUGE "thank you" to our cain photography clients for coming alongside us in our adoption journey.  it is a joy and a pleasure to spend time with each of you!