Renewal

This past week Ben, Logan, and I spent the week recharging in Cancun, Mexico!  It was a time for us to soak up the sun, swim in the warm ocean, and feel the sand between our toes.  

It was so amazing to not have to do anything pressing, just enjoy hours of conversation and heat.  And the food... I sure appreciated not cooking for the week.

The first picture that Logan has ever taken of us!  Crazy the things he can do as he grows up.

We chose a resort that had a kids club so that Logan could spend time with some other little people, and so that Ben and I could have some all important quality time just the two of us.  We were hardly out of bed in the mornings and Logan would be begging to be brought down to the kids club to be with his precious Barbara.  I should have known that he would steal the heart of his sweet Mexican childcare provider.  She could hardly let him go when it was time to leave at the end of the week! 

Below is a picture of Logan by the kids club pool, which actually has a huge Noah's Ark in it and slides!  

Out of a whole book of pictures of colourful dragons, butterflies, tigers and super heros, Logan chose the skull mask with the deep black eyes, lol. 

Family selfie by the pool.  We spent so much time by the pool since Logan loves swimming! 

dressed up for a fancy dinner with my cute date!

I could watch them play for hours.  As you can see by my toes in the bottom of the photo, I was lounging and enjoying a good book.  

Shortly after this beach photo was taken, Ben ended up hauling a lady out of the water who was getting repeatedly ploughed over by waves, shrieking, and swallowing tons of salt water as she rolled around.  The waves were so strong that you often couldn't get your footing after being hit, and then the next wave would come in and make it even worse.  All of those years of Ben being a life guard at the Mount Layton Hot Springs proved their worth!  I was so proud of my hero husband :) 

The heat and humidity did wonders for my hair, haha, so some days I just went with it, even though Ben calls me a lion.

This champ was super scared of the ocean the first few days, but by the last day he was loving it.  He never went in more than a few feet, but it was great to see him having so much fun and losing the fear.  The smile says it all!

I am so thankful that we were able to go on this trip.  Besides the obvious reasons like, we live in a freezing cold place, and Ben needing a break from work, this trip was so much more for our family.  

We were able to feel renewed in so many ways.  Having more time for each other made for conversations about life.  Good ones.  It was fun to talk about our adoption at length and predict what may happen. What will it be like to get that phone call?  How will Ben get time off of work?  What are our goals for our family?  How will we spend our first days together after the adoption?

It felt good to talk about our adoption and get excited about it.  When you're waiting in your first year there isn't always a lot to talk about...like your life isn't fully happening...but it is too early to get the phone call...so you have to just continue continuing.  Now, when we talk about it, it feels like it is something that is going to happen soon, and isn't just a distant dream.

Being renewed in our adoption excitement and life planning feels good.   


So, how do you top off an amazing sun soaked trip to beautiful Cancun?

Well...



You have a meeting with your social worker the morning you get back!

It is sometimes hard to believe, but we have now waited over a full year since being approved to adopt and our home study needs to be renewed.  Thankfully, though, it wasn't nearly as big a deal as I thought it might be.  

When our first home study was done, the finished document was 18 pages long, and the result of at least eight hours in interview meetings.  And we had the dreaded home inspection, which was more of a coffee-at-the-kitchen-table kind of thing.  I was hoping that we wouldn't have to go back to all of what was covered in the same amount of detail.  And we didn't.  This time, we had some lunch at the High Level Diner in Edmonton, and chatted through a short questionnaire.  I bet we actually talked about the social worker's kids more than about our questionnaire. 

She really just needed to know if anything had changed.  Oddly enough, hardly anything had.  Other than me starting to substitute teach and the addition of an actual nursery in the house, we had nothing to report.  That is probably why things moved so quickly.  

We are feeling really hopeful that 2015 will be the year.  We are now in position #17 on our list, and have a pretty decent chance of being shown to expectant mothers any time now.  Unless, of course, the mother is looking for a couple with no kids, a couple from the city, a couple with a huge barn full of horses, a couple with five other kids, or a couple with dogs and cats and fish and hamsters.  Ha.  You never know what someone could ask for!   

A Quilt for Baby

I finished another baby quilt tonight.  Funny thing is though, this one is going to be given to an actual baby!  A baby that I know is going to be born in June.  I don't know if the baby will be a boy or a girl, but I know that the baby is coming.   The expectant mother is a dear dear friend who is thinking of doing up the nursery in teal, grey, and maybe some pops of yellow... and a few elephants.  Sounds very sweet :)  And, I suppose, now she knows what her gift is going to be, lol.

Anyhow, I couldn't help but think as I finished piecing this quilt together tonight, about why I make these baby quilts and give them away.  I already love this baby who is coming.  And I picture the baby's mother wrapping this quilt around her baby to keep it warm and cozy.  

Tonight, while I was sewing, I couldn't help but wonder; is someone pregnant with our baby right now?  It is so hard to imagine, but at any moment we could get that call saying that our baby is coming!  

Though, don't get your hopes up, we have only been waiting officially for a year, and many families wait much longer. 

Sometimes, the time just seems to drag on and on, and it feels like nothing is actually happening.  Like we aren't actually waiting for anything.  We are just living, as a family of three and nothing else is going on.  

I have a feeling that it is going to come as a major shock if we ever actually get chosen. During these quiet adoption wait times it is easy to feel like it isn't going to happen.

I don't want to say that we aren't hopeful.  We know that the Lord can do anything, and that He is so right in His timing.  We want the adoption to take place when He has ordained it, and when the child is born that He has set aside for us to parent.

It was interesting for me though, making this quilt for a dear baby that is going to be born to our friends near an expected time.  This child can be planned for, expected, and loved by it's parents even before birth.  

I made a quilt for our baby a year ago, and it sits in a folded pile in the crib.  We don't know when or if it will be used.  I loved making that quilt, and for some reason, I thought maybe that "if you built it, they will come" would apply to our own dreams too.   

If there is anything that we need prayer for lately, it is definitely patience.  Pray that we can live fully and not live like we are waiting.  Pray that we take joy out of the many ways that God has blessed our family as it is today.  

We are so thankful, but it is hard not to focus on what seems to be missing.