I know it's been quite some time since I last posted. Life has been, well, life – exceptionally busy and hard to keep up with at times. In the last 10ish months, Jhon Paul has continued to be homeschooled which has come with its challenges and rewards. Lately, we've really been enjoying some new curriculum covering Earth Science! Another little-kno...
Hope: He who is, and who was, and who is to come. Written by: Charles WesleyPerformed by: Meredith Andrews Well, in case you weren't keeping track, it's been quite some time since I've created one of these devotionals based upon songs. As I began an Advent devotional this past Sunday and we started our Advent series at our local church, I felt an e...
Has it already been more than a year? Some days it feels so much longer and, other days, it has flown by! We arrived back in the US on June 10th last year, so this summer has brought all sorts of nostalgia for us. We're finally to a point where we can say "remember when we did this last year" to JP. I know it's been quite some time since I've writt...
As I reflect on all that there is to be thankful for this year, I am brought to tears by the goodness of my God. He has truly blessed our family beyond words. This time last year we felt God had something big in store for us in the month of November. Big, indeed. November marks one-year from getting "the call" – the one we had so prayerfully been a...
And before we knew it – fall was upon us! Where has the past nearly two months gone? It's so hard to believe how quickly time goes by now that we're united. As we expected, school kicked our butts the past few months. Even though we knew it would be an adjustment, it has been more challenging than we anticipated. JP positively loves school and come...
Wow – where to begin? It's been just over a month since I had time to last post a blog, and so much has happened in that month. For fun, we were able to squeeze in a day at the zoo in July and some fun in the splash pad at our local park a few times. JP loved the zoo! His favorite animals were the snakes and the lion (although we didn't get to...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! So, one thing has proven true each day we have been home - time seems to fly as new parents. We have officially been united as a family for six weeks and been home in the US for five weeks. Ben and I often comment to ourselves that it feels like longer and shorter all at the same time. We have tried to be very intentional o...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! Wow – I can't believe an entire month has gone by since my last post. I had hoped to post an update about a week or two after we returned home, but obviously I got a bit delayed. Sorry! What an amazing month it has been for us. Yesterday marked 1-month as a family united. While JP has been our son since we were matched, it ...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! Ben and I have officially made it through 10 full days of quarantine. We have been working remotely throughout the days to make the time go faster and to put us in a better place to spend time with JP when we arrive back in the USA. It has felt long and short all at the same time. This past weekend we were even able to...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! We are officially safe and sound in our hotel room in Manila. We certainly had a big sigh of relief as we entered our hotel room two nights ago. We feel so blessed to be here ahead of our previous schedule. Immigration into the Philippines at the airport was quite smooth. While there were many steps to go through at the air...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! Greetings from Tokyo! Yes, you read that correctly…we're officially on our way to the Philippines!!! I am writing this blog post while we await our connection to Manila in Tokyo (Narita International) during our 4-hour layover. What a difference a few short weeks can make in the adoption journey. Let me back up and share th...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! I wish I could greet you from Manila, Philippines today…or at the very least, from my airplane seat. But unfortunately, that was not God's plan for us. The last two weeks have continued to bring change and uncertainty to our travel plans. To keep it short, restrictions into the Philippines have continued to evolve and we no...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! The past two weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster for us! Let me bring you up to speed. Shortly after my last post two weeks ago, we were informed we would actually need 2 additional travel approvals (bringing us to a total of 3 travel approvals from the Philippines). The second approval came late last week on Friday ev...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! We have more exciting news today! Just this week we received our first travel approval! We are so very excited to know we officially have everything in line with JP's paperwork that we are ready to travel. If you are keeping track, that means #1 and #2 in my last update are done! However, as I mentioned in the last update, ...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! What an amazing two weeks we have had in our adoption journey! I have so many updates that this momma's heart is about to explode! For anyone who has been praying over our adoption in the last few weeks – a great big THANKS! God has heard all those prayers and He has come through – in ways that only He can. Last post, we re...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! It is hard to believe we are nearing the end of March and spring has arrived. Yet another 3 weeks full of projects has gone by. I like to joke with Ben that I have just been doing the normal "nesting" routine of a soon-to-be-momma. My nesting just includes some pretty big ambitions for house projects. We have been wrapping ...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! Phew – what a whirlwind 2021 is already turning into! This week marks my 30th birthday – yikes! I couldn't be more thankful for the best birthday gift this year – getting prepared for our son to come home, with a loving husband and supportive family and friends. I am truly blessed! As if that weren't enough, we were blessed...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! In my last blog, I mentioned I would be posting about all the changes we have been making around the house. However, God has placed on my heart to something a bit different this time. In the month of love (Valentine's Day), I am so deeply reminded of our Father's love for us and want to share it with others. Since we offici...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! In case you missed it in the busyness of the holidays, we announced last month we've accepted a match for an 8-year old boy, "JP" (not his real name). Check out that blog if you have not already. The #1 question we have received from friends and family at this stage: when will JP come home? And that is a great question! As ...
Mabuhay (welcome/hello)! It's happened – we got "the call!" God has given us our very own Christmas miracle. We couldn't be more excited to announce that we have officially accepted a match. We've been told by our adoption agency this is one of their fastest matches. Their normal process takes about 2-3 years to match a family and we received our m...
