Yardsale # 3

We had another yard sale this weekend to help with the adoption funding. The first two yardsales, we had so many donations that we have boxed everything up and had this yardsale out of everything that we had left over from the previous two. The night before I prayed for an exact dollar amount and let me tell you....we made the EXACT dollar amount that I had prayed for!
My daddy and mama were there every step of the way once again. From getting everything set out, to getting signs made and put out, to cleaning up. My daddy made BBQ and hash to sell...which proved to be a quite good money maker. So thank you daddy!! My parents have put so much elbow grease into our adoption and every fundraiser that we have had. We are so blessed to have you guys for parents and the boys will be blessed with the best grandparents this world had to offer!

We were also blessed with some amazing friends that came out to help. Renee, who is really more of family to me than a friend, worked so hard and stayed right with us on this yardsale. You are so special to us Renee and we love you dearly!! (and yes I just said your name twice...but you do so much for us that there is no way that I am not giving you a shout out for all that you do).

We also want to thank Joe and Mary for coming out and helping so much. They are yard sale masters and they worked so hard to get things set up. Then they were back the next morning to help sale. We are so blessed by friends like you. You guys touched are heart and we are so greatful for all of your help.

At church yesterday, Pastor Addison called us to the front for prayer. He couldn't have prayed a more perfect prayer for the journey we are about to go on. We were so touched and so thankful for such a great pastor and his family.

One of Benji's brothers called last night to check in and see how things went. He is heading to a prayer conference this week and wanted to let Benji know that the day we leave he is getting all the men to stop and pray for us.

We are so blessed by all the people that have sent up prayers on our behalf and that have been by our side through this journey. We are blessed with amazing friends and family. We are ever so grateful for those who are there with us every step of the way, who we never have to ask a thing from, but are just there. Even those who I know couldn't be there and I would never expect to be there, were still emailing and texting us to let us know that you were thinking and praying for us. I must say that I am one blessed gal! I have some of the best friends in this world. Without the support of our families and our very dear friends...we would have never made it this far. We would not be headed halfway across the world to meet what we are praying is the sons that God has for us, if it weren't for the constant love and support that God has sent us through our family and friends.

Catching up

I am a few days behind on posting. So I have to do a little catching up.

First, my mother-in-law made new bedding to match bedding that we purchased a while back. It is soooo cute! I love it! I am blessed to have a mother-in-law with such talent. I do apologize for not having a picture right this second but I keep forgetting to grab my camera. I can't wait to post the pics and show off her mad sewing skills!

Second, we are having another yard sale this weekend to help fund our adoption. I have said from day one that the Lord will provide. Let me also say...the Lord has always provided! Any time that we have had to pay for something...the money has always been there. This first trip is going to deplete the stash and the next trip is the big one financially. Thus are trying to churn profits anywhere we can right now. We are also in the process making t-shirts to sell so stay tuned.

I leave you with a game. The game is entitled "Guess my mama's occupation?"

The below picture is a hint....

If you guess drug pusher...you are wrong, however the picture may suggest otherwise. She brought over a "kit" last night for our trip. The only thing we don't have in this kit is the cure for cancer:) We have guaze, bandaides, anti-itch cream, hydorcortizone, aloe, cotton balls, q-tips, tape, eye drops, sinus blaster, Tylenol,Tylenol PM, aspirin, ibprofin, rolaids, night time cold meds, day time cold meds, night time sinus meds, day time sinus meds, pepcid, cough drops, immodium, hand wipes, hand sanitizer, kleenex, medicated lip balm, heat packs and anti-embolism socks.

The nurse in my mama just came out! As much as I have laughed at this, I am going to be one thankful person if I need any of it. Thank you mama for ALWAYS looking out for us.

Getting ready!

Our flights are booked (thank you daddy for acting as our travel agent:), visas are in the mail, and paper work is well under way. Just a little bit longer and we will be Russia bound!!
This past weekend we began to work on the boy's room. My mama and dear friend Renee came to help us paint Friday night. Our beautiful neice Kristie came up Saturday to help us out in the boys's room as well. Then when I got home from work Saturday night I found intruders in my house. My mama and daddy had snuck over and were finishing up painting and putting the furniture in. Also the "adoption fairy" came and brought the boys a new dresser and hutch. I have the best parents in the whole entire world. They worked so hard this weekend to help us get the nursery ready. I love you guys so much and our boys are going to be so blessed with the best grandparents this world has to offer!
We still have a little while before we can bring the boys home but we have to take papers to submit to the court when we go in a few weeks for trip one. Now we have pictures of a cute little boy's room rather than a "guest bedroom". I'll post pictures soon when it is all done.

We have travel dates!

We recieved our travel dates yesterday. How exciting, right? It is super exciting, yet very overwhelming. There is so much to do in the next few weeks before we go. There is so much to do before you go to a foreign country, so much paperwork to do for an adoption, so many things to prepare around the house for bringing two little boys home...all this together makes for one stressed out Shanon. Ha! There are moments where I think to myself "I can't do this. How am I going to get it all done and together with any sanity left to be decent mother?" Then I think....the Lord has carried us this far. He has helped us over every hurdle and held our hands through each aspect of this adoption..who in the heck am I to question him now?
I can't tell you how excited that I am that we fianlly get to meet what we are already calling "our boys". I am so ready to see their little faces. I am beyond ready to get them home but I do have to be a little more patient. We get to meet them in a few weeks but it will be a few months before we can bring them home.

Thank you Aunt Renee!!!

Isn't it super cute?? Renee you are the best and I love you!! Thank you for you constant love and support. Your strength and your grace is such an inspiration to me. I can't tell you have much I have learn from you. You are such a great example of God's power and endless love. I am a blessed person not only to be able to work with you every day but to be able to call you my friend...or my sister from another mister:)

Mind Boggled

It is very hard to descibe all the emotions that I am feeling right now. I am beyond excited. I can't wait to get to Russia and see their little faces. My brain is going ninety miles a minute. There is so much to do. I hope to start working on their room this weekend. I did get to do a little shopping and get them a few clothes last week. On top of preparing for these two precious little boys....we have a mound of paperwork to get done. The sooner we get the paperwork done, the sooner we can petition for a court date and get them home. Thus we feel a huge sense of urgency. The only problem is, is that a lot of the paperwork is at the mercy of others...who do not share the same sense of urgency. As I looked at the list of requirements, I thought to myself "how in the world am I going to get this done?" I just wasn't prepared for al that is left to do. I read things over and over yet they didn't seem to compute in my brain. I am just going to take one things at a time and we will get it done. Our paperwork says "be prepared to meditate on Romans 5:3...Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance." Thus..this is just what we will have to do.

Referral and acceptance

We recieved a call from Johnna a week ago today. She told us to get to our email for some exciting news. I dropped what I was doing and went straight to the office to check my email. There it was...two of the sweetest faces ever! I was looking at two little boys that could possibly be our sons. We have spent several days in prayer, even though from the minute I saw their faces I was quite confident that they were ours. Today we called and made it official. We accpeted these two precious angels and hopefully they will be ours in just a few months.