First Snow and First Christmas

Look who likes snow.  

We are celebrating this Christmas as her first... because it is our first as a family.  

Plus this outfit was too cute to pass up. 

Her favorite present was her new Monsters Inc. Boo sippy cup.  

Daddy got her Ramen! He got me squid jerky.

This was her tri-lingual gift.  It speaks and sings in english, spanish, and french.  Now I am going to know how to say colors in french when we go to the Congo.

Angel Baby

Adoption Auction for a Congolese Clements

Beginning at noon today, we will be launching our Adoption Auction. This is to raise funds to help offset the costs of international adoption. We have been immensely blessed with friends and family that have donated items to be auctioned. Here is how it works:
simply go to:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.287053974731229.45991.287045354732091&type=1&l=6046648d67

find the item pictured you would like to bid on and comment with your bid!

Thank you all so much for your help as we get closer to becoming a family of 4!

In the Beginning...

This is only the beginning of our second adoption story, God has had his hand in every step of the way, even before we knew adopting from the DRC was possible.

Many months ago we called our friend, Tresor Yenyi, to see if they were doing adoptions out of the DR Congo.  He told us to pray about it, but that they were considering starting an adoption program. He later told us that his sister (the lawyer in DRC) has been asking him for awhile now if they can start adoptions.  Tresor has put her off by saying, just pray about it. This senario happened several times. Finally a week before we contacted Tresor his sister talked to him.  She told him they were ready for adoptions, and he needed to pray about it!  He has since been praying about it and he told us that God has answered prayers and that the timing is right for their ministry.  The Lord has been preparing the ministry, Mwanganza, in many different ways to do adoptions.  He has also been preparing us in several ways to start this new adventure.

This whole journey is going to be a completely different process, and yet we are excited about the mystery of it all. Evan and I, are also well aware that our family is going to look different, but it brings a smile to our faces when we think about how colorful our family is going to be.  Our hearts are open and ready to love God's children that he places in our home.  Since we found out we can waive the 5 years married stipulation, we have had peace every step of the way with adopting from the Congo.  Please join us in praying for our next little one.

Thank you in advance for all of your donations, encouragement, interest, and bids.  The money will go towards the initial costs of adopting.  Every little bit helps, and we are glad to be able to give you something special in return... artwork, jewelry, or simply time with our little ones in the future.

Ecclesiastes 3

New International Version (NIV)

A Time for Everything

3 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

T-shirts are here!

"Bless You and Keep You" Africa shirts are here! Our goal is to sell enough of these to offset part of the fees for our African adoption. The cost is $20 plus shipping (shipping is $3 for one and $5 for 2). You can use the paypal button on the site, or mail a check. If you use paypal, please leave a note with the donation stating sizes needed. All adult sizes available. Thanks so much for helping bring our child home!

 BIG NEWS!!!! 

It is with great excitement that we would like to announce that baby #2 is coming soon(ish)! After seeking God’s plan for our family, He has opened a door to adopt from Africa! We will be pursing an adoption in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A great friend of ours, Tresor Yenyi, runs an organization called Mwangaza International (http://www.mwangazaint.com). They partner with orphanages in the DRC to bring hope and healing to those affected by the tragedies going on there. We will begin the Africa portion of the adoption in January and we are already done with the US side of things (homestudy, i600a, fingerprinting). God is so good and we can’t wait to see what exciting things he has for our family! We can also use your help along the way. Please continue to pray that God will bless us with a smooth and quick process as we bring our baby home. Also, be looking for Bless You and Keep You shirts coming sometime next week. Thanks for all your support as we continue on this amazing path called adoption!

Kings & Queens

Great song and video for all children.

First Steps

Evan and I got to witness her first steps together! This is only the beginning... So many more firsts ahead of us, but this one was so precious to witness.  She walked to her puppy dog , the one we sent in a care package to Taiwan.  I love our girl from her nose to her toes.

St. Vincent Preschool Project

My dear friend Maddie Keller and her husband EK have moved to St. Vincent to do ministry with WISE, and the Wurdemans.  Maddie is teaching at a preschool to connect with the community for Christ. 

The WISE PREPATORY PRESCHOOL would love to have you join and partner alongside this great ministry.

Brice and Amanda Wurdeman moved to St. Vincent with their three children in December 2011. They are missionaries on the island and the directors at Windward Islands School of Evangelism.
They have such great love and hearts for others. 

They have now started a preschool to reach more for Jesus.
Despite living the island life, some of these children come from poor homes. And some of these homes are without electricity and running water.

Your $25 monthly sponsorship, your love, and your prayers will help with many things each day including:
*Help pay a helper teacher. She is from St. Vincent and this is her very first job. It helps provide for her family.
*Help children receive education and to be able to learn and play with other children their age in a safe and loving environment.
*Help children hear a Bible story and hear about Jesus’s great love for them.
*Help feed a snack to each child.
*Help pay for their school uniforms.
*Help pay for the fans and lights in the classroom.

Contact Me or Janna Conklin for more information. 

Janna Conklin is the mastermind with this project.  Her family has already sent Bibles to WISE. 

Join them and WISE in helping make a difference in the hearts of the people of St. Vincent. 

To read more about WISE:
http://www.windwardislandsschoolofevangelism.org/

To follow along Brice and Amanda's heart and love for others:  http://briceamandawurdeman.blogspot.com/

To follow Maddie and EK's adventures: http://kellersinthecaribbean.blogspot.com

Our World

The world stops when Eden laughs.  We have to work for it, but when her giggles spill out we drop everything.  Her smiles and laughter are the highlights of my day.

Her nicknames (so far)

Sugar... Sugar Plum, Sugar Cube

Miss E, 

Love Bug,

Snuggle Bug,

Wiggle Worm

Favorites:

Food: Avocado, Pears, Sticky Rice, and O's

Toys: Stuffed animals with long ears

Guilty Pleasure: Nibbling leaves

Past times: Clapping and dancing to music, and crawling after Addyson, and snuggling.

Books: Emma by Jane Austen and Anne of Green Gables... 

Yep, we have read both and are ready for another classic.

Words: Mama, and recently Dada! 

(He claims it was her first word, but I think she first knew who Mama was)

Eden's Coming Home Video

Eden's Coming Home Video

Long in coming, but well worth it. We are so blessed to have gone through this journey to become a family of 3.

Love at First Sight

After a long, long flight we met our daughter Eden the morning of April 19th!  We have been in love with this little girl since we saw her first picture, but holding her in our arms filled our hearts greater than we could've imagine.  Here are some of our favorite photos from our time in Taiwan.  I was finally able to narrow down the huge selection of photos.  I hope you'll enjoy a taste of our adoption adventure.

Our daughter is finally in our arms, April 19th!

 This is Mark, Sarah, and Benjamin.  We became parents on the same blessed day.  

They will forever feel like family.

Eden has her daddy's cheeks!

"For this child we prayed," and will continue to pray over.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

   

This bridge was the scariest part of the whole trip, for Evan and Mark.  The swinging bridge was over a river through Taroko Gorge.  Evan was so brave crossing this tiny bridge.  I laughed at the guys the entire way, I am short enough that it didn't bother me a bit.

 

Here are a few pictures from around Plum Blossom Lake.

Wild flowers, icecream burritos, and pink meat all  made for a wonderful day. 

Oh, those cheeks!  One of my favorite things in the whole world is kissing those cheeks.

First sleep over with little miss.

 

The road of palm trees to The Home of God's Love.

 Taroko National Park adventure.  From the mountains to the marbled valleys we were in awe of God's creation all day long.

 These three lovely ladies cared for our precious baby girl for 5 months, 

we will forever be grateful for the love and care.

 All dressed up for our AIT appointment.  We passed with flying colors.  

We finally landed in America! 

We took over 1,000 pictures and 3 hours of video.  Every smile and cheek squish does not do this experience justice.  We are blessed beyond measure to have gone on this journey 

to become Eden's parents.  This is truly just the beginning... the beginning of life as a family of three and the beginning of oodles of pictures.

Happy Daddy's Day

Happy Daddy's Day to Evan.  He is truly a fantastic father.  He loves our little girl so much, and I have loved seeing him become a Daddy.  Whenever he comes home from work he instantly gives me and her a kiss and  loves on her.  He always gets the best belly giggles from her.  I am proud to be his wife and to be raising our daughter with him.

"My Daddy Rocks"

Love those cheeks!

This is what our day-to-day looks like.

 

Happy Momma's Day

Being a Mom is a dream come true for me.  I believe it is what God created me for.  I can't thank God enough for the chance to be Eden's Momma.  I also thank Eden's birth mom.  I can't imagine what she went through, but I am grateful she chose life, and The Home of God's Love for adoption.

Oh that smile!  Brings me such joy.

Bless you and Keep You

What a blessing! We are home and doing well. I can not express enough how amazing our God is! We have been showered with blessings as we have prayed and sought God's wisdom for our family. He is so very faithful. Eden is an answer to our prayers and now I pray that we may raise her to bless others. I desire first of all that she knows that she is loved not only by us, but by our God. I pray that I may send her off someday as an arrow on a path toward Christ. Every night, we pray that the Lord may bless her and keep her, that He will make his face shine upon her and be gracious to her, that He will turn his face toward her and give her peace. As I think about the plans I have for my family I am crafting our family values that I want to instill in Eden and any other child that God places in our family. I will share those here after I have shared them with my bride. I want to thank all of you who have been praying for us and supported us through the last 9 months. God is good and we praise Him for such a beautiful answer to prayer.
more pictures to come...

-Evan