HOLY Hairnets and Birthday Blessings

Wow! That is all I can say about our weekend. I got my socks blessed right off of me. We volunteered again this year for the Feed My Starving Children event at Pathway. For those of you who do not know about this organization you can check it out at: www.fmsc.org. Chicken, Veggies, Soy, Rice, feeding children is so nice. Our group packaged 4,752 meals. This is what I want my children to understand, it is about helping others in need, "The least of these". Sometimes you wonder if they get it?? We do small things and hope that they understand. This year, I think that Madison may have understood. Once we were finished packing, the leader for FMSC asked us to gather around the pallets of food and pray for them. Of over the hundred volunteers that were there, my daughter asked to pray for the food and the children. Her heart was so precious and honest. All I could say was, thank you Lord that she gets it.
Well, our weekend of blessings continued on Sunday. Our small group from church threw a party for three children from a local homeless shelter. There were many people who came from the shelter to enjoy the festivities. It felt so nice to be able to do something good for these families!
As our weekend wrapped up, I could not help but wonder who was more blessed by these activities. I know that I felt awfully grateful to be involved.

10

Well this week marks the tenth month of our wait. Wow, look how far we have come. Hopefully, no more than 2 months more of waiting to see two sweet faces. We definitely are starting to feel like we are getting close.

So, what do we do to keep our minds off all of this waiting. We just keep up with our day by day activities. We just enjoyed a brisk Halloween up in Fort Wayne. We have enjoyed all the fall activities. Leaf diving, pumpkin pickin, pumpkin carving, a fall party, and trick or treating. Although, I could not help but think this year while trick or treating what in the world two little ones from Africa will think of people dressing up in strange clothes with bags filled with candy. From the outside looking in, I must admit, it seems strange.



Our Ninja and Eskimo

NINE - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Wow, it has been nine months since we were officially placed on the waiting list for our adoption. I must admit that I had hoped that we would at least know who our children were by now. But, God has different plans for us. I think this is the season of my life that I am to learn patience. I did not think I had a problem with this one until we started this process. Wow, the things that you discover about yourself in seasons of waiting. I am a doer, a planner, a list checker and this goes against my instincts. There is nothing at this point that I can do to make this process go any faster. Talk about handing over control. It is helping me to see the bigger picture of God and his will for my life. I feel that I always seem to have the answer and know what God has for me when in fact I have not even listened at all. I have not waited upon the Lord. So, in these past nine months I have started to see the virtue of patience as a vital part of my relationship with my heavenly Father. It is no fun being pruned but I am excited that someday, I may be a beautiful tree that brings glory, honor and recognition to the Gardener of my heart! Snip away my impatience and make me beautiful for YOU, Lord!

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord!

The good news in all of this is that we should at least hear of a referral by January. This means that the biggest part of the wait is over. We are so much closer to seeing their sweet faces and holding them in our arms.

Thanks for your continued prayer and support. We could not walk this journey without your love and prayer.

Treasures in Jars of Clay: Stick With Me Till the End, Okay?-A GIVEAWEAY!

Sharing a post from a sweet girl who has walked the adoption road to two sweet little girls!

She is spreading the word about Adoption Sunday!


Treasures in Jars of Clay: Stick With Me Till the End, Okay?-A GIVEAWEAY!: "I haven’t done a giveaway on my blog. I guess it ties into me being really tight with money.  The good news is all that is about to be chang..."

Fall is in the air!

***


Well fall seems to come more quickly here than it did in Louisville. So, we thought that it would be appropriate to kick off the season with apple dumplings. This is my Granny's tried and true recipe. It brings back so many memories, the smells and the sight of fresh made dough and apples. I must say that it makes me miss her terribly. I am thankful that I have this recipe to share with Madison and Max and pass on the tradition. It was also fun passing them out to friends and neighbors. Although, they have threatened to take a petition to have me kicked out of the neighborhood, or addition, as they say here. I thought I was doing something nice but they did not really care for the extra calories. Sorry friends!

Granny, thanks for such a great recipe and such amazing memories. You will never be forgotten.


***Unfortunately, there are no pictures of the finished product. I think we were too interested in eating them. I will try to do better next time.

Weekend with the Carriers and Cars

Our long weekend was originally supposed to be hosting Chris' mom, however, see was not able to make it. Once she informed us that she could not make the trip, I called and tried to convince my sister to come for the weekend. It did not take much convincing, she was determined to come. They arrived late Friday night. On Saturday, we decided to go to a parade that they were having in Auburn, Indiana. The Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg(ACD) parade which displayed a number of old ACD cars. The weather was perfect for the parade. The kids enjoyed getting every car in the parade to honk. Everyone knows that Chris likes to do extreme things. He is always trying to do something crazy for his neices and nephews. This trip it was a 29 inch round pizza. I know that does not sound all that large but when we went to pick it up, they had to take it out the side door. We had to tilt it to get it in the sliding door of my van. Of course, Chris' goal was to see if it could all be eaten. Yikes, we did it! Sunday we went to the auto auction which is in conjunction with the ACD weekend. The boys enjoyed seeing and dreaming about all the muscle cars. We always love getting to spend time with my sister and her family. I already miss her like crazy. I can not wait for our next fun weekend together!

Just to CATCH you up - Almost 8 months of waiting

Seems like more and more people lately keep asking, have you heard anything about the adoption??? I guess most people do not realize that things are very quiet in the adoption world until you actually receive a referral. I wish that I had exciting news to share. Unfortunately, for now we just wait. It is not a bad thing with two other sweet children, I am just soaking up all the time I have with them before two more join our family.
We got news today that was a bit discouraging. Our social worker seems to think that it may not be until January now before we get our referral. Arrgg! We also found out that another couple who had a referral from another agency lost their little girl this week. She became ill and passed away before they could bring her home. This makes my heart ache. It also scares me. I continue to pray for our children that we do not even know yet.
Just a confession, I try to stay busy and enjoy my time but most days on multiple occasions I find myself thinking of sweet little orphan faces from Ethiopia. Will we get a boy and a girl? Two boys or two girls? How old will they be? Can they walk or talk? Are they in diapers? Are they grieving from loss?
I also find myself pondering on the things that I may never get to see. Their first smile. Their first tooth, first step, first word. With your own children you get to experience it all. All of these thoughts make me even more anxious to bring our little ones home and cherish every milestone that we will get to share with them.

But for now, we wait!

Hello Old Friend

Hello to all who still follow this random blog. I do not know if anyone reads this or not but for me sometimes it is entertainment and sometimes therapy depending on the day. So much has happened since I last posted. A trip to Vermont, a trip for the kids to Louisville, a trip for Chris and I to Michigan, weekends on the lake with the boat. All of this fun and booom, school had to come and kill all the fun.
We had a great time in Vermont with the Zoeller family. The weather was great and the scenery was amazing. I joked that it was not much of a vacation because we hiked, mountain biked and kayaked. I had some sore muscles for a few days.
The kids have now started back to school, which seems unreal to me. Madie is in 2nd grade and Max is in 1st grade (which means he is gone all day now). I am struggling with the empty house syndrome. I have talked about all the possibilities for me, photography classes, golf lessons, volunteering but I realize that all of this will be short lived with two more little cuties that hopefully will bless our family soon. So for now, I will just take a deep breath and enjoy a little bit of quiet. Although, I hope our referral comes sooner than later! Our latest update from our social worker is that she thinks that we might get a referral in October.
Thanks for staying tuned in to the Zoeller Adventure. We still covet your prayers.
Love to all!



THE ENTIRE ZOELLER CREW IN VERMONT






ULTIMATE FRISBEE FUN! CHECK OUT THE SCENERY



ZOELLER FAMILY KARAOKE - YIKES, IT WAS NOT PRETTY

JARED - DID NOT WIN THE WATER BALLOON TOSS BUT I LOVE THIS PICTURE



YES, THIS IS ME! THOUGHT THAT I WAS AFRAID OF HEIGHTS BUT THE MAN INFORMED ME THAT WAS NOT TRUE. HE SAID YOU ARE AFRAID OF FALLING - OK, YOU ARE RIGHT!!!







HAVE I MENTIONED THAT I AM A LITTLE COMPETITIVE? THE FACE SAYS IT ALL



DADDY AND MAX GETTING READY TO BATTLE



THE ONLY ONE TO RING THE BELL




CHRIS'S GOAL IN WHEEL BARREL RACING IS TO TAKE OUT HIS COUSINS - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED



LOOK AT THOSE CUTE LITTLE CRABS



NOTHING ANYMORE FUN THAN BEING A KID FOR A DAY - PEDDLE CAR RACES, SACK RACES, WHEEL BARREL RACES



MY BIG 2ND GRADER



I CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT HE IS A 1ST GRADER

Louisville

Well I decided a couple of months ago that I was going to make a trip to Louisville this summer once the kids were out of school. I had several people that I wanted to visit with (sorry to the ones that I did not make it to see, maybe next trip). I never seem to have enough time, so I planned for a week this time. Guess what, it still was not enough time. The beginning of our week was to attend the wedding of Chris' cousin Amy. On Saturday we attended the wedding which included family and lots of dancing for the kids. Max once again showed off his moves. Sunday, we celebrated Chris' dad's birthday. Then Chris headed home and we stayed behind to visit and play for the remainder of the week. We stayed with my sister so I could spend as much time with her and my niece and nephews as I could. I had such good intentions for the week but my plans were altered due to some unforeseen events. Max had to make a unexpected trip to the dentist. He had an accident at VBS the week before in which his teeth collided with another boys head. By Monday of the following week his teeth began to turn dark gray (not good). To make a long story short, Max had to have his two front teeth extracted. Not to mention, this was on the same day that I went to the International Travel Clinic and received 5 of the 7 shots needed for Ethiopia. Between the two we lost a good two days of visits. However, everyone has recovered and Max looks pretty cute without his teeth.
We spent the remainder of our week swimming, visiting and missing Daddy.
The week flew by and now we are back to Fort Wayne preparing for a family trip to Vermont. This is the big Zoeller Family trip. We are going to Smugglers Notch. I am sure there will be pictures and stories to post.

By the way, we have been on the waiting list for 6 months now. If I were actually pregnant we would have an ultrasound by now and I would know what we were having. I just wish I knew. But we still wait - patiently or not. For those of you who know me this is not my strong suite!!! Thanks for the continued prayers and sharing this adventure with us.

Fun in the Sun!

Our house feels very quiet now that we are down to four people again. Madie and Max have been sad the last several days since Tami and Pam are now gone. I have found Max all alone sobbing because he missed the girls so much yesterday. Talk about breaking a moms heart. So, I decided that we needed to have a little fun. I found just what would turn those frowns upside down - a three person, racing, slip and slide. Magically, I got some smiles!

We also went to our local library where they had craft making and a visit from Olivia the pig.

Leavin On A Jet Plane

Well as I write this post, my heart is aching. I have officially said goodbye to both of my exchange students. It is amazing how attached you can get in 5 months. I must say that saying goodbye to Pam this morning was hard for me and my family. She was such a joy to have in our home. We will have a hard week adjusting back to a 4 person family. Maybe this will only be for a short time! Thanks for everyone who took the time to get to know Pam and Tami. I know that they really enjoyed meeting you and spending time with you.

The one thing that I have learned in life is that it is far better to have love and lost than to not have loved at all. This has been fun to explain to Madie and Max today. But the crazy thing is, they understood it!
May God Bless Pam and Tami where ever their journey takes them! We are so happy to have been a part of it.