Our Guardian Angel

We have been very fortunate to have stumbled upon a missionary worker that is in the DRC. She and her husband are the MCC Representatives of the DRC. She was first recommended through Our Family Adoptions. We soon found out that she has worked with our neighbors' daughter, our preachers, and is friends with some friends of ours! What a small world!

She has bought a lot of formula for us and has delivered it to the orphange. She also sent these very treasured photographs. She has also shared that the caretakers at the orphanage speak Lingala. So, now I am researching some Lingala, instead of Swahili. Suzanne has adopted three lovely children of her own internationally. She has been a great support to us and we feel very blessed to add her as an "auntie" to our children. Please keep her and her husband in your prayers as they travel back and forth from the DRC and the USA.

Big Brother Chad

The Orphanage at Kinshasa, Ian's and Chad's temporary home.

Baby Ian

Flower Girl and Ring Bearer

Today, Livia and Parker were in their first wedding. They were so beautiful and handsome! I was so proud of them. They did a great job! Jamey's niece Kelsey was the bride. She was so beautiful! I was so amazed when she sang a sung that she wrote for the groom! It was incredible! Her father performed the wedding ceremony, it was beautiful, and of course, I cried. Weddings always get to me.

Livia and Kelsey

Livia loved the wedding and reception! She like her mommy cried through the ceremony.

Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Hill

Jamey and Kelsey

I never knew my husband could dance like this! All that yoga must have improved his flexibility!



Nanny and Gramps with Livia and Parker

This is Parker's first real smile of the day! He yawned through the ceremony, but enjoyed dancing with mommy!

Jamey's brother, Jon Mark, his wife Kim, and their twin girls Kelsey an Kendra. They really make me feel old. They were only two years old when me and Jamey started dating!

My handsome little man.

Ian has a brother!

Last Monday we received news that Ian had a brother. We of course said we would take him. There is a lot more to this story, but this is all that needs to be told. We found out Monday evening at midnight that we would be in the process of adopting two boys! We were also asked to name him that night. We chose the name Chad. Jamey and I both had best friends named Chad and the African origin means "great love". Chad is only 18 months old! So it looks like we will be needing two cribs! We are very excited!!! We had hoped to get two more children and are so glad that they are siblings and we can do it all at once.

Please keep both of these babies and the other children in the DRC in your prayers.

Happy Father's Day

We celebrated Father's day with Jamey's parents, my parents and my brother. Jamey even splurged from his diet and I made his favorite Lasagna. The kids made him an awesome banner shown above and some very creative pictures. We also bought a frame for three pictures and framed Livia, Parker, and Ian in it. It was our first framed picture of Ian and it really touched us all.

I Love E-mail!

While in Florida, we received an e-mail from Jilma (our wonder woman attorney). In it included a referral from the orphanage in Kinshasa, DRC with a picture. It was of a beautiful little two-month-old boy. We of course accepted the referral! I was so excited running thru the house showing everyone his picture (sorry, for interupting your shower Jenny, I just couldn't wait)!

Everyone was so excited except for Livia, our nine-year-old. We had planned all along to accept whomever God had planned for us. Livia was really hoping this included a little girl. So, we decided to let her make the final decision on his name. This had to be done very soon in order to start his paperwork right away. This seemed impossible. I couldn't pick out a name in nine months! How were we to do this in a few days? Well, we narrowed it down to a few names and Livia chose Ian James.

We also want to add a Congolese name. After talking to Ryan (another adoptive parent) he suggested we wait and find something meaningful in our travel there. Thank you so much Ryan! Our conversation was so helpful! You can check out his family blog at Come Jam With Our Family. I am regular follower. They have such a beautiful family!

We hopefully will be able to travel to get Ian somewhere between August and October depending on how quickly the paperwork goes. So, everynight I am praying for that paper to fly from desk to desk!

Florida + Friends = FUN!

We spent the second week of June with two of my best friends from high school and their families. I want to thank them for sharing their week off from work with me. We rented a house in Cape San Blas that we all shared. It was one full house of fun! We enjoyed swimming in the pool and gulf, snorkeling, searching for shells and crabs, fishing and simply just enjoying each other.


Parker carring some horseshoe crab shells. He found dozens of them! Now we have to figure out what to do with them all!

Parker driving the boat with his daddy.

Parker caught a SHARK!

Best Friends! Livia and Maddie

The Dooleys

The Bakers

And Us

And last but not least, Livia's all smiles, riding a wave into shore.

Siblings!?!

After months of paperwork, in April we received a picture. At first we were told the picture was of two boys and that they didn''t think were related. We fell in love right a way! We soon found out that the picture was of a one-year-old boy named Dokta and his two-year-old sister named Linda. So, we were heart-broken. We could never seperate siblings. So, these two would have to wait for someone else to adopt them.

Or would they? After discussing adoption with the Ott's (Tim's family) over supper, Jamey suggested that we could take both of them. I looked at him to make sure he was serious and replied, "I was thinking the same thing!".

Oh, how quickly we fell deeper in love with these two! We made so many plans for them. We talked about them like they were already part of the family.

Sadly, in May we received news that their mama had been located and they were not up for adoption. I seriously felt like I had miscarried. It made such a hole in my heart. I was amazed at how much love and loss I could feel for two toddlers that I had never met.

Linda and Dokta, you will always be in our thoughts and prayers.

The Congo?

When people hear we are adopting from the DRC, they often respond with "Your adopting from the Congo! Why? How did that come about?".
Well, it all started with a little spark all four us seemed to have to adopt a child in need. We all assumed it would be a local adoption. We knew there was such a great need for adoptive parents here. Then came Tim....
He walked into my husband office sharing his joy of adopting a child from the DRC. Jamey came home very excited about it! I wasn't real sure about it, until I researched the DRC. After finding out the circumstances in the DRC, I was in shock. I was very mad that I was not educated on how bad things were there. I questioned why we hear about and help other countries more than this one. My heart was simply put...sad for the Congolese people, especially the children.
I know children in th USA need homes, but I know most have shelter and food and have a chance to live past five. I guess I soon found my heart going out to the most needy. Finally, after reading Tim's family's blog, I knew I was going to give a Congolese child a chance and most importantly my heart.

The Reason

Well, I am finally starting a blog, after much procrastination. I have decided to start this blog as a sort of journal for me (sadly, I am very bad at keeping one), to keep my family and friends updated, and most importantly to educate people about the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and adoption there. My hope is that our storibook might light a spark in someone's heart and lead to another Congolese child finding a loving home.