Look what God has done in 2007!

A new year coming is a great time to reflect all that God has done in my life this last year! It has been quite a year for me! I have grown a lot. Here are the highlights:
December 2006 Children of the Promise newsletter...


People were praying for Elijah to find a family. Meanwhile God was speaking to Jeremiah and I about adoption, but we weren't too sure about it.

February 2007
Kylie turned 4! She also began ballet lessons. How fun!
We began talking about adopting through foster care. I began going to classes through the state to become a liscensed foster care parent.

March
I continued going to classes for foster care and "graduated". I felt like it wasn't for our family. I began talking to Jeremiah about international adoption. I met with Sarah and talked with her about her adoption and the whole process. Jeremiah and I prayerfully made a decision to adopt from Haiti. I called a social worker to schedule the homestudy. We decided to adopt through Children of the Promise. Loren turned 10 this month.

April
We spent the month gathering paperwork, did our homestudy and had physicals. Jeremiah and I also had a weekend getaway in Bellevue for a Family Life marriage conference. Sarah and I became close friends and she told me of her work in finding medical care for 2 babies from Haiti. I was willing to help and made plans to go to Texas with her for a week during Jeremiah's days off.

May
We went to Texas! I met Helande and Christella at the airport with their escorts (Salem and Crystal). They were so fragile and I couldn't believe the strength God gave us to care for the these girls. We took them to the neurologist and the hospital and stayed at the hospital during surgeries and recovery. I left Sarah to go home. The girls were in Texas for a month.

June
Kylie had her ballet recital. We got to babysit our neice, Ambria for the night while her parents had a getaway before they moved. It was a blessing to care for her. Sarah and the babies got home from Texas and we were there to help. Jeremiah had training for work and was out of town so we had Sarah and her girls over for a sleepover. We also had our church campout. We got our referral for Elijah at the end of the month! I was so happy I cried as I opened the email!

July
We had our fingerprinting appointment this month, our garage sale, and Jeremiah began working a part time job for extra money. We took care of Christella and Sarah's daughter for a week while Helande had a shunt revision in Seattle. I drove down to see her, poor baby. Our family went to the circus, the kids went to VBS and we went to Lake Wenatchee with my family. Christella needed emergency surgery on her shunt while we were gone.

August
We had Helande to stay most of the time at our place to give Sarah some help, and because we loved having her here! We took her to a few appointments in Seattle and I learned a lot about her condition. I also was involved in massage and physical therapy appointments with the girls. I had quite the education! Maybe nursing school or physical therapy is in my future? Who knows. We went to Winthrop with some good friends for a few days.

September
I was really sick for almost a month, and the doctor didn't know what it was after many blood tests. It was some sort of virus they guessed since it affected my liver. They were worried about me going to Haiti, but I was better thankfully before we decided to go. Sarah and I decided it was time to bring the girls home to Haiti. We bought last minute plane tickets to leave at the end of the month. We had an amazing meeting with Lori, the parents and babies. We left for Children of the Promise and volunteered there for several days. I met Elijah! He was so precious. While in Haiti, Jeremiah's grandmother passed away. We all miss her. Mid September Corinn turned nine!

October
We came back from Haiti and stayed in Fort Lauderdale for 2 nights. At home it was a sad time for us. We really missed Helande. Loren was involved in soccer and the kids were taking swim lessons. We heard that Elijah was in IBESR.

November
We began getting ready for winter. We went to Jeremiah's parents house for Thanksgiving and saw family. Loren began wrestling. Christella passed away in Haiti on November 25. A very sad day for us.

December 2007
I enjoyed a night away to celebrate Sarah's birthday. I went to Seattle with my girls to see the Nutcracker. We celebrated Christmas early this year, because of Jeremiah's work schedule. We made plans to go to Haiti in March. We spent the Christmas season surrounded by friends and family. We are so blessed.

Who would have known we would be where we are now? God did! He knew we were Elijah's parents before we had really thought about adopting. How amazing is that? He has greater things in store for us in 2008, I just know it! I can't wait!