Christmas 2009

12/1/2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow! It is hard to believe it is already Christmas time. The year has flown by. We have had a life-changing year. In April of this year, Brent and I attended an event called “Catalyst West” in Orange County. There we felt God calling us to pursue international adoption. We submitted our initial application in June to the Ethiopian program. We received our I-171H on November 27 and submitted our complete dossier to our adoption agency on 11/30/09. It is expected to arrive at the Ethiopian Embassy on 12/10/09 and then the waiting begins to be matched with a 9-18 month old baby girl. The boys are so excited to have a little sister and pray for her every day. It is the sweetest thing to hear them pray for a sister that they don’t know anything about. They are precious boys and we are excited to add a precious girl to our family soon.

Our family vacation this year was to Orange County, California. We met Brent’s sister, Lori and her family there. We went to Disneyland, California Adventure, Sea World, and Huntington Beach. The boys absolutely loved Disneyland and California Adventure. Brent and Garrett sat in the “Soak Zone” during the Shamu show and got soaked from head to toe! Ryan loved being on the beach and ran around like a “beach bum” all day! We had a fabulous time and plan to return soon.

Ryan is 4 years old. He attends Dream Tenders Academy twice a week and loves going to school. He is progressing well. It only took him a few weeks before he was writing his name on his own. He played soccer for the first time this year and enjoyed it for the most part. He made 5 goals in one game. Ryan loves to participate in church activities. He showed a lamb and goat in the Eddy County Fair this year. He did very well. He continues to be very persistent and independent. He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his sister so that he can play with her. He loves when Brent has days off so he can stay and “work in the shop.” He continues to want to do everything that Garrett does. Garrett gets frustrated with this, especially when it is something that Ryan doesn’t know how to do.

Garrett turned 8 this year and is in 2^nd grade. He continues to do very well in school. His favorite part is recess so that he can play football with his friends. He played basketball, baseball, and football this year. He enjoyed football very much and improved greatly over last year. He loves all things football. His favorite teams are the Artesia Bulldogs, Texas Tech Raiders, Oklahoma University, and Denver Broncos. He loves all video games that involve football and can usually be found with a football in his hand. He continues to participate in many church activities and attended two VBS’ this summer. He also showed a sheep and goat in the booster club show during the Eddy County Fair. He also went deer hunting for the first time over Thanksgiving weekend. He was so excited to shoot his first deer. It was a 6 point or as Ryan says a 6 pound deer! Most of the time, Garrett and Ryan play well together. He is a great big brother and is looking forward to having a little sister.

Brent continues to work at Navajo Refinery in operations. He continues to teach his Sunday school class, serve as a deacon, duck hunt, and work on cars for his business. He loves to spend time with the boys and is a great example to them. He took Garrett deer hunting for the first time Thanksgiving weekend.

I continue to be busy with work, my family, and church. I continue to work as an Administrator for Presbyterian Medical Services. When I am not at work, I keep myself busy running kids to practice, I teach first grade Small Group at church. I learned to crochet this year and have been busy crocheting beanies to send to children in Swaziland, Africa. I love to scrapbook and am involved in the Eddy County Community Health Council and Yeso PTO.

We are very excited for what the New Year holds and look forward to what God is going to do in our lives. Please pray for our family as we prepare our home for our new child. You can follow our adventure on our family blog at http://thomasfamily-artesia.blogspot.com.

We wish your family a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Brent, Leigh Ann, Garrett, and Ryan Thomas

Misc Pictures from Thanksgiving and the big snow day

December 1, 2009

Misc Pictures.....

Best Black Friday Deal Ever

December 1, 2009

The few days leading up to Thanksgiving were filled with a few events. Garrett and Ryan both had programs at school.

Thanksgiving came and went in a non-hurried way. The boys and I spent Thanksgiving together while Brent worked. We had a yummy dinner when Brent got off that evening. It was just the four of us and so nice.

I did some shopping Friday morning before the boys woke up and got some of the Black Friday deals at Wal-Mart and K-Mart. The boys and I then went to Roswell and met up with some friends for lunch and a trip to Hobby Lobby. When we got home, it was here! Our long awaited I-171H had arrived! The only thing that could have made Thanksgiving better was to have our daughter home with us. Since that wasn't quite possible, this was the next best thing. This was the last piece of documentation we needed. We could submit our dossier to our adoption agency on Monday.

Brent and Garrett left to go hunting on Friday night. Garrett got a 6 point deer Saturday morning. He was so excited.

While the boys were hunting, Ryan and I worked on teacher gifts and copied paperwork for the dossier. We had a great time just hanging out at the house.

On Monday, I sent our dossier. Our agency should have the paperwork by Wednesday, 12/2/09. Our Family Coordinator will take our dossier to the US State Dept and the Ethiopian Embassy next Thursday, 12/10/09. That is our DTE date and then the waiting begins. Please join us in praying that God would continue to prepare us and our daughter for this transition. We can't wait to hold her in our arms and show her what love is.

On Tuesday, the boys got a snow day from school. It snowed on Monday night and we woke up to a white world on Tuesday. The kids were very excited since this doesn't happen much and took advantage of the day by playing in the snow.

What a beautiful world we live in and we give thanks to God for it!

Waiting.....

November 16, 2009

This post finds us waiting. We are waiting for our I-171H to arrive from USCIS. This is the last piece of paperwork we need in order to submit our dossier to America World. It is hard waiting but I am learning that I can't control everything. I'm learning to depend on God for the small things as well as the big things. He continues to amaze me and knows just when I need something. The last few times we have heard from USCIS, I've told Brent the night before that we should hear from them any day. God delivered the next day. We did our fingerprints for our paperwork on 11/6/09. Today we heard from USCIS that they needed a copy of our social worker's license. I know that one day in the very near future, we will have our form in our hand. I remember that all things happen in His time.

Soccer and football seasons finished up a few weeks ago. I'm grateful for the chance the boys had to play but also grateful to have our Saturdays back. They both did well. Garrett is ready to play basketball in January. Ryan won't be playing anything until spring when they both will play baseball.

We are exploring starting an Orphans' Ministry at church. Our first meeting was great and I look forward to seeing what God is going to have us do.

I'm so thankful for so many things this Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for my Lord, my husband, Ryan and Garrett. I'm thankful for my experience I've had and how they have shaped me. I'm thankful for a great church family and friends who help me along the way.

I will continue to wait because waiting is all I can do. It's in His hands, not mine!

So many thoughts....

September 27, 2009

So many thoughts going through my mind. So much excitement as we get closer to bringing our baby girl home. So many people ask us why we are adopting. So many people ask us why not America. So many people ask us why Africa. So many people ask us different questions and our answer remains the same - because God told us to.

Up until last October, adoption nor orphans were not even in my thoughts, let alone every waking moment (as they are now). God did a mighty powerful thing when Brent went to Catalyst in Atlanta. There were African children there singing and it moved Brent. He came home and was telling me about it and I said, "Let's adopt one." He said that we should and that's about as far as the conversation went at that time. We went about our lives for the next few months. God laid adoption on my heart again a few months later. I started looking for adoption agencies that were Christian, could do placements in New Mexico, and worked with Africa. The adoption costs were overwhelming and the agencies that could work in New Mexico were limited and it felt like God was closing doors. I stopped and prayed and we talked about it. I continued to look. I found America World Adoption Agency and requested an information packet. The packet came and it sat on the counter for a long time.

Brent and I went to Catalyst West Coast in April. God used that conference to change my world! We listened to the messages and I told Brent that God wanted us to do something for children. Brent suggested that we sponsor a child with Compassion. One morning during Catalyst, we found a child to sponsor. She is 5 years old and lives in Ethiopia. But I felt God telling me that wasn't enough. I prayed and asked Him to show me what He wanted us to do. God is faithful when you ask for Him to do something because He does it.

We heard Perry Noble speak and a question from his sermon stands out to me still. Someone asked Perry, If you could do one thing and you knew it wouldn't fail, what would it be? Perry said he would start a church. Perry is now the senior pastor at a huge church in South Carolina. We sat at dinner one night and talked about that question. I told the group that I would have an orphanage as big as needed to take care of all the orphans in the world. I said that I firmly believe that every child deserves a mother and father who loves them and who will share Jesus with them. That was it, that was what God wanted us to do. He wanted us to adopt a child from Africa and bring them to our home, to a family, and teach her about Jesus. (The child had to be a girl because our home had enough boys.) :-)

We came home from Catalyst and I read the information packet that had been sitting on my counter for over a month. The adoption costs were paid in payments, not one lump sum like we had thought. Ethiopia was the most affordable country with the shortest time in country. We prayed and in June, we sent the initial application in. We were approved for Ethiopia on June 25. We were in California on vacation and I remember getting the voicemail and crying as I listened to the message. I was going to have my baby girl! We were going to have a daughter! My boys were going to have a sister! God is good!

Now like I said at the beginning, adoption wasn't part of my life a little over a year ago. We had our family life planned out and everything was in order. We had our two kids, our house, our savings, our lives, but when God asks you to do something, you better do it. It wasn't an easy decision to pursue adoption. We like our lifestyle, but knew that God wanted us to do this. We know that He prepares the way for us in all things. This was no exception.

The paper chasing process has been time consuming but we are receiving paperwork more quickly that we could have imagined. Our birth certificates and marriage certificate said that it would take 2 to 3 weeks to receive. We received them in less than one week. Our passports were to take three to six weeks. We received our passports in ten days. God has had His hand on this since the beginning. I pray that He continues to have His hand on the remaining paperwork and the process. And I know He will because He is God!

We anticipate sending our I-600A into USCIS this week. Once our I-171H is received, our dossier will be sent to AWAA and then on its way to Ethiopia. We will wait for our referral of our precious baby girl that our Father has picked for us.

Phillippians 4:13 comes to mind at this point, "For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." He has surely strengthened our family through this. Our family loves this baby girl so much already. My boys can't wait to have their baby sister. They both pray for this precious little girl. They pray that God protects her and keeps her safe and healthy until her mommy and daddy can get there to bring her home. God is showing my family love in such a simple way, through the eyes of a child.

I pray that you will follow us through our journey, pray for us through our journey, but most importantly see God's heart for orphans through our journey and our testimony.

May God continue to bless you in a mighty, mighty way.

What a day!

September 5, 2009

What a Saturday! Brent volunteered me to make fettucini alfredo for the guys at work today. It was quite the job. I cooked and cooked. I took them three big bowls of fettucini, three large loaves of garlic bread, and a chocolate cake. My kitchen was a disaster after I got done, but every one of them loved it!

Garrett got in trouble today because he didn't listen to me. He asked to ride his bike and I told him he could but that he could only ride it in the alley back and forth. He decided to go and ride bikes with a neighbor kid. Needless to say, he got in trouble for not listening. He got grounded the rest of the day from his bike and sent to his room. He fell asleep and so did Ryan.

Since they were both asleep and Brent was at work, I decided to add to the blog. I added lots of pictures. I tried to add music, but for some reason, I couldn't get it to work. :(

We are going to Albuquerque on Thursday afternoon to finish up our home study with the social worker. As soon as the home study report is finalized, we can apply to Immigration. Once we have the approval from Immigration, we can send our dossier to Ethiopia. I know our baby girl is out there and I can't wait to bring her home!

My next blog should be about our decision to adopt and the journey we took to get there. Until then, have a great day!

Family Update

September 1, 2009

School started on August 17. Garrett is in 2nd grade at Yeso and has Mrs. Smith. He loves going to school and really likes Mrs. Smith. Ryan goes to preschool at Dream Tenders. He goes with his best buddy - Matthew. He loves going to see Ms. Toni and is learning so much. I am so glad that we are back in school because it gives us a routine.

Sports have also started. Garrett is playing football for his second year. He has improved so much and I love to watch him. He couldn't hardly catch the ball last year and now he catches so many more. Ryan starts soccer tomorrow night. It will be fun to watch him and all the running should help make him tired! (That's what mom is counting on)

Brent is either working at the refinery or working at home on his days off. He is always busy but we love that he works so hard for us. I have been busy working also, but would rather be home most days.

The adoption paperwork is going well. I just want all of the paperwork to be done now. I know that I am learning patience through this process because I can't have what I want when I want. I want to see my baby girl from Ethiopia. I want to know everything about her and I know God is preparing her for our family and I am grateful for that but I want it to happen now. I know that it all happens in God's timing and I am learning to take that.

The home study started Sunday night. Heather came for a quick introductory visit when she got to town Sunday night and then came to the house on Monday morning to talk with us and to ask questions about us, our family, and our marriage. She was absolutely great! She is an adoptive mother herself and brought so much personal experience in that I truly appreciated it. I am excited to work with her throughout our adoption. She follows Christ and understands why we are adopting. We are adopting not only to expand our family but because God commands us to care for the widows and orphans and this is our way of doing that.

We have most of the paperwork completed for our dossier. I am waiting on our Family Coordinator at AWAA to approve our documents and after that we should only have our physical exams to complete. We are waiting on the home study to be completed so that we can apply for immigration for our baby girl. We are hoping to go to Albuquerque next week to complete our visits.

I am so excited to bring this child into our home. I am excited to see my boys with her. Ryan tells me, "He is never going to be mean to his sister." Garrett prays for his little sister everyday. It makes my heart proud and my eyes teary to hear him say, "God be with our baby in Africa and protect her until we can get her." He is such a sweet boy. I am so blessed to have my kids!

I think that is all for now - we have a nursery rhyme to review, spelling and vocabulary words to study.