We’re still alive. And mostly well. And chugging along over here. I have been buried under a big avalanche of napkins. Yes, this is wonderful. It is business. It is money. But, it is exhausting. And I have more to do than spend 2 hours on the computer designing, 12 hours printing and another hour running around each day. Like, um, finishing our adoption loan applications. Or those letters I told Bethany I’d email to her last week to be translated into Russian for Reed and Scarlett.

Tomorrow is our big USCIS fingerprinting day. A few of you said your local USCIS office let you go in early. I’ve heard through the grapevine that the Kansas City office does NOT allow this. That is why we just waited until our appointment date.

Christie blogged about this great series which Rachel is doing on HIV+ orphans & adoption. Really good stuff. Thank you so much, Rachel, for blogging about HIV and Christie for sharing the link.

Also, Angie blogged about this book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt, today. I was so excited. I instantly ordered it.

I am grateful for a lot these days…

Almost every night, after spending 10 hours at work and an hour driving to and from work, my husband sits down in front of the computer and studies Ukrainian. I am grateful for a husband who loves adoption and is as excited to travel as I am!

Yesterday, I found the blog of the Heim family . Traci & family just got home from adopting Dasha from the same orphanage at Reed and Scarlett are in! It was a lot of fun reading their blog, and seeing the photos and videos of Dasha. She is absolutely adorable. She is just 6 weeks older than Scarlett, the one who someone thought was Scarlett’s sister.

Traci emailed me a group photo of some of the children in their orphanage, and the photo includes Scarlett. Traci also told me about her experience adopting from that orphanage and it was mostly positive! It sounds like for an orphanage it is a very good facility. I am grateful for her email today.

My in-laws are holding a garage sale this weekend… they are donating the money people give them to our adoption. I am grateful for all around awesome in-laws.

A mother in the process of adopting two little girls from Reed and Scarlett’s orphanage emailed me today… I am grateful to learn that two more little girls have homes!

Bethany is coordinating a sponsorship program for the kids in Reed and Scarlett’s orphanage.  We have an opportunity to send a package to Reed and Scarlett. She emailed me three days ago and I already have most of the stuff for the package. I am SO excited about it. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to mail them some things that they might need and also introduce ourselves to them. We are NOT writing that we’re in the process of adopting them, but we do hope that they’ll learn a bit about us and we won’t be complete strangers when we show up at their orphanage.

There are lots more kids needing sponsorship… it involves sending them a package at least twice a year. Filling it up with clothes, toys, toiletries, and a letter about your family (photos, too, if you chose!). If you are interested, let me know and I will put you in touch with Bethany.