In Case You're Wondering...

I wrote this update over a month ago, but never published it, as I was hoping for an answer to give you all, but I decided that now is the time to share how our adoption journey has gone so far:

*4-15-16
Okay... Where to start?  It's been a while, and the road has both been bumpy, uneventful, and also almost completely blocked.

It's been almost a year since our Dossier was sent off to Uganda, filled with hope and excitement for a quick match.  As is the case in developing countries, there were issues that needed to be resolved and delays.

Last fall we felt close to finally receiving a long-awaited referral and began discussing a sibling more in-depth with Gambo.  He seemed just as excited as we were and talked often about things he would do with his brother  or sister.  Finally the day came!  An email with information on a little girl.  We cautiously and excitedly read about this girl who was waiting for a forever family, looking for "signs" that she would be our new daughter, while being careful to evaluate everything and seek God's will for our family.  We spent the next week going back and forth over the information, while we sought advice, wise counsel, and I secretly started dreaming and planning for her.  Yet, something was letting me hold back from fully going all in.

We asked for clarification about some of the paperwork as some of the details were confusing.  When we finally got the answers to our questions, we saw very clearly that it would not be possible for us to adopt this little girl and we had to pass on her referral to another family.  It was sad, but at the same time we felt so at peace with the decision.  We had done everything possible to be well-informed and ready, and the door closed for us.  We took and deep breath and held on, confident that another referral would be coming soon.

Enter the beginning of this year, another possible referral was at hand, but this time, with joy and after thorough investigation, we saw this other child reunited with his relatives.  Bittersweet.

We knew the road was going to be bumpy, but we weren't fully prepared for the shock that awaited us at the beginning of March.

Some of you may have heard in the news what has happened in Uganda.  There has been legislation proposed in the form of a the Child's Act Amendment to help protect the rights of Uganda's children from exploitation.  The Act has been circulating Uganda for many years with no movement.  This year there has been some rewriting of the bill, so that it was actually proposed before parliament and voted on... and passed.  This is wonderful news for the rights of children in Uganda, but also comes at the cost of significantly decreasing the possibility for international adoptions to occur--- which can also be not-so-good news for children with no family who are waiting and waiting, where international adoption is their only hope for a family.  You can read more about what the bill means at A Child's Voice here.

This Amendment has been passed by parliament, but must be signed by the president of Uganda to become law.  He still has not signed it.

What does this mean for us?
From what I've gathered the new act seems like it would require residency in Uganda for at least a year, and approval from a governing board before being able to adopt internationally.  This would make it impossible for us (and many other families as well).

It seems we may have come to the end of our road to Ugandan adoption.

We are still waiting on official word that it has been signed into law, so I even hesitate to post this, but it is looking more likely that it will happen.  At any rate, it seems difficult to imagine our family completing an adoption in Uganda before we move this summer.  (Oh, by the way, we are moving again)

Where do we go from here?

We ask for your prayers for our next step.  During this next phase of life, we are going to be in a difficult position to be able to pursue an international adoption.  We are looking at other avenues, as we do still hope and pray to add to our family and include a sibling for Gambo who looks like him.  This is important to us for him to not feel alone as he grows up.

We love Uganda, and it will always hold a place in our family.  We hope that someday Uganda will open up clear and ethical opportunities for foreigners to adopt internationally, but we do not know when that will happen.

Our bumps and road blocks mean God is still moving and directing us to what He has next for us, and toward what will be for our good.  We keep trusting him, yielding to His timing and His plan.

*5/25/16
UPDATE:
It looks like the President has now signed it into law.  We had a brief thought that there might be a step toward another referral, but it looks like this is finally our answer.  God has other plans for us.

This door has closed.

Yet God is good!  He knows what will come, and we can trust Him.

My Aching Heart

Today my heart was turned toward Uganda. I was outside in the early morning, watching the sun rise and the clouds turn pink... Hearing the cicadas and insects chirp... Feeling the humidity and heat... It made me imagine being in Uganda again-- and my soul longed to go back.

It actually made my heart ache.

I thought about this little child who may become my daughter or son. I thought about her/him waiting there-- hoping for a Mom and a Dad. I thought about her/him waking up to the same sounds I was experiencing-- and then having a hungry belly.

I want to go to her/him. I want her/him to find and have a family. And I want that for the other children there too.

And I long for truth and ethics and cases being clear and above board. I pray, " God, you know how much I want this. But I want your will to be done. And I want it to be ethical. Please don't let us adopt a child that should have stayed in Uganda because they truly have family to care for them."

I really don't know where the Lord will lead us eventually. I long for Uganda, but it may not be there. He knows.

I pray also for news, information, some form of update. SOON.

I still pray we can travel before the end of the year. As the weeks go by, it's hard to not doubt that possibility. There is still enough that needs to happen before traveling that it seems crazy to travel by then since we don't even have a referral yet.

I trust God. He knows what He is doing in Uganda. I pray all the time that He is watching over our future child, comforting them, giving them hope, showing them love, protecting them. He is able to place the lonely in families. He is able to move paperwork along. And He is sovereign to choose the exact timing of it all, and can prepare everything to happen in His timing. Lord, help me trust you more.

Comfort my aching heart.

P.S. I know I haven't posted in a while. There is not much to share. Our Dossier is in Uganda, but we are in the phase of just waiting for a referral or a child. We've had some indication that things are moving, but still not the news we long to hear yet. This is a tough phase!

Big Praises!

Hmm... I am due for an update!

We were in the waiting phase... waiting on our USCIS pre-approval.  It was the final piece to a completed Dossier to send to Uganda.  We left it in God's hands, and I didn't stress over it.  

A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call in the middle of the night.  Usually this means it is not important.  When I answered it sounded a like a sales pitch or someone trying to fish for information.  They were asking for my address.  Immediately wary, I asked again who was calling and soon realized it was United States Citizen and Immigration Services!  It was the middle of the day where they are, so of course, they are not really considering the time difference.

Come to find out, our application had been approved, but it was sent back to them in the mail.  They were not able to send it to our unique address, so they were asking for another address to send it to.  I was able to have them send it to our agency and told them I was very glad to hear that we had been approved (turns out we were approved several weeks prior too, and just didn't know it).  Yeah!!

Now I can breathe a sigh of relief over finishing this step of the paperwork process.  Our Dossier is complete and is.... HEADED TO UGANDA THIS WEEK!!

I am hopeful that we are getting closer to information about an addition to our family!  I am trying not to get my hopes up, so to speak, that this will happen anytime soon.  I know how things move at a different pace in Uganda.  And I want to make sure that whatever child(ren) join our family are ones that really DO need a family.

Another PRAISE is that just as we are needing to send in our next set of adoption fees (a large sum), we received our tax return with almost the EXACT amount that we need to send in!  The timing was perfect.  God provided!

And so next we wait.... and wait...  which brings me to some verses that have been in my head recently,

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope; 

my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning." -Psalm 130:5-6

Yes, my hope is in the Lord.  He is working in our adoption.  He is working in our hearts as we wait.  Our waiting isn't just waiting... it's waiting UNTO HIM.  It's leaning into Him and asking for the timing that brings the MOST glory to His name.  The situation, the child, the process -- that results in God getting the most glory.  

That is the struggle: to empty ourselves, to realize that it is not about US, and to believe that it is all about HIM.

So, bring on the waiting!  May HE get the glory!!

Application Acceptance!

Thank You!  Praise the Lord!

We received an acceptance receipt in the mail yesterday!  It looks like they will process our application despite having the "expired" application form.  We don't have our immigration APPROVAL yet, but hopefully that will come in the next 1-2 months.

I forgot what else I was going to write about, so I will just leave you with this cool music video shot in Kampala, Uganda:

Big Update... you don't want to miss it!

Wow... it's been almost 8 months since I updated.  Which I knew, of course... I just wasn't ready to update yet.  

First, life got in the way.  Moving to a new country, a new culture, a new home, trying to find new friends, a new church, new grocery stores... it takes a lot of time to feel fully settled.  So, updating the blog went on the back burner.

Our life has been far from boring!  The past several months have been filled with adventures, new firsts, growth spurts, and new skills learned.

OK, let's get the Big News out of the way before I start updating you on other things... it's what you really want to know anyway.

Our little Gambo has something he would like to announce....

YES!  He is going to be a big brother!  Not by pregnancy, but through Adoption!

We are adopting again!!

We are going to be adopting from Uganda again, since we have grown to know and love that beautiful country.  And we are excited for Gambo to have something in common with his siblings.  Not just having another sibling with the same skin color as him (which helps a bunch), but also one from the country where he was born.  

Now for the details:

1. Where are we?  We are in the beginning stages of starting this adoption.  However, we have already completed some paperwork.  

*Okay, time to be real...  We were so excited to begin this journey again, as God laid it on our hearts, but we were not ready to share it with the world since we didn't have any sort of timeline to when things would happen.  We went through a LONG wait to bring home our first little one from Uganda, and we may be in for more of the same, but we really don't know.  

So, my thoughts were, Why put everyone though that?  Why tell them we are adopting just to have them wait for 3 years and keep asking questions like "Any News?" over and over for 3 years?  Why set them up for potential matches and then have them fall through?  It's painful.  It's embarrassing.  It's difficult to talk about.  It's uncomfortable.  I don't want to do it again.  See, I really was thinking about me all of you!

But then I realized that YOU guys were my support.  YOU guys were my prayer partners.  YOU guys were my kingdom fighters.  And it's lonely to do it on my own.  Yes, it is hard to face challenges that I am not sure I am ready for, but wouldn't I rather do it with YOU by my side?  Yes!

Okay, back to... paperwork.  We began a homestudy, got background checks, filled out questionnaires, and turned everything in.  We even collected and turned in all paperwork for the Dossier for Uganda.  We are now waiting on a finalized homestudy.  We need this last piece of the puzzle to add to our Dossier, and to apply for US immigration approval.  

We honestly wanted to wait until we had word that it was officially complete before letting you all know.  Again, it was fear. So, here I am, letting you all know that it is NOT complete, and I need your prayers.  It is out of our hands.  There is nothing we can do.  I am not sure why it is taking so long just to finalize, but there could be a number of factors-- people being out of the office, files being lost in email-land, wrong updated versions, miscommunication, no communication, who knows?

So, as I questioned out loud, "Where is our homestudy?  Where is our homestudy?" when I checked my email for the 100th time before 9am, I realized I was saying this in front of my 3-year-old.  I was setting an example of worry and anxiousness.  Immediately Phil 4:6 came to mind:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Oh...yeah... So my son and I stopped and prayed right away together that our homestudy would come soon.  Oh, it feels so good to take it to God in prayer!  So, I ask that you pray with me!  And pray also for my peace, that I would not worry or be anxious.

2.  Children.  We are applying to adopt 1-2 children, either gender, up to 4 years old by the time of placement.  We need to stay in birth order, so we have a small age bracket that will work for our family.  We are open to siblings, twins, or a single child.  We know there are many children waiting for a family at the baby home in Uganda, but many of them are just a bit older than our age range, or are making plans for reunification with family (not adoptable).  So, we trust that God has a hand in which child(ren) will join our family, and we will need to wait for a referral from our agency.


3. Timeline.  We wish we knew!  Ha ha!  We are hoping for completed Homestudy soon, another 1.5-2 months waiting on immigration approval, dossier transmission to Uganda sometime in the Spring.  If we receive a referral this summer, maybe we can apply for a court date and end up traveling by fall or at least by the end of the year.  ONLY a guess.  -->Here's how it probably will go down... rush to complete paperwork... Bump in the road... wait several months... rush to complete paperwork... Bump in the road... wait several more months... More bumps... skies finally part... several months or a couple to years later we travel to Uganda! (Or have to switch to a different country, who knows!).  

*THE PLAN is to follow God's will wherever He leads us.  
*THE HOPE is that another child who needs a family would bless us to come home to be with us.
*THE HOW is up to God.


4. What does Gambo think?  He is excited.  We have been talking to him about a brother or sister for quite a while, and he likes the idea.  He would be GREAT with a sibling!  He sometimes talks about things that he would like to do with a sibling, but sometimes says he doesn't want to share his room (or his Mama) with a sibling.  He is a Mama's Boy!  We also talk a lot about going back to Uganda, and he is very excited for that.  He is looking forward to seeing his primary caregiver at the baby home, who we have continued to talk about and share about with him since coming home, because she was a big part of his life.  We talk about things we are looking forward to doing... riding Boda Boda's, eating Chapati and rice and beans, etc.  We loved Uganda, so we talk about it a lot.  And it is important for him to have a positive view of his home country.


5. How does that work living in Japan?  We are still figuring all of this out.  We found a wonderful homestudy agency who will work with us here (they do home studies for other families here quite often).  We will gather information on how to bring the child(ren) into Japan, and also when to stop off in the U.S. to get the US immigration paperwork started.  Some things take extra time to receive in the mail, and sometimes we have to attach cover-letters to explain our situation, but otherwise, it should work just fine.

MOST OF ALL, we welcome your enthusiasm and support for what we are embarking on... our next "Journey of Adoption."

P.S.  I really kind of ran out of space to do a full update, so I will leave you with just a few recent pictures from our snowboarding trip to Niseko, Japan.

3-year-old on a snowboard!

Learning tips from daddy

Sipping hot cocoa with mommy

Adoption Video!!!

One Year Home, and I finally got the adoption video 

finished!

Here is the short version of our story (5 mins).  Thanks to Kristy Struska for most of the photos and video taken.  She accompanied us as our photographer and support in Uganda, and it was so worth it to have her there!

ONE YEAR AGO….

                   ONE YEAR ago today we held our sweet baby boy for the first time!!

                   ONE YEAR ago today an orphan met his forever family!

                  ONE YEAR ago today God brought us together in an amazing way that none of us could have expected.

We are so blessed to be celebrating ONE YEAR with Gambo today.  We have seen God grow us all in the last year, and it is crazy to look back and see where we came from.

I posted about the day here.  It was one we will always remember.

But now we get to look back and see how much growth has occurred since then.  Baby Gambo was so tiny when we first met:

We stuffed him full of good vitamins and food, and he filled out to be a healthy chunky boy:

He has grown so much in the last year, that it is amazing to think of how small he used to be.

He couldn't even crawl when we first met him,

But ONE YEAR later, he can reach on top of tables, turn door knobs, and climb on top of the couch.

Our little one who was an easy going baby who just took everything in,

ONE YEAR later has become a opinionated and vibrant little boy.

He was a first scared of these new strange people who were caring for him,

But ONE YEAR later he blurts out "I Love Mama!" and "I Love Dada!" with tons of kisses and hugs!

He was always shy when he met people for the first time (and sometimes still is),

But ONE YEAR later, he loves playing with his friends and cousins.

He may have never known about who God is,

But ONE YEAR later, his favorite songs are Jesus Loves Me, and Amazing Grace.

What a change!

I can't wait to see what the next year holds for us!  

Oh, one last thing:  We have an adventure ahead of us this year…

We are going to be moving…

To Japan!

We welcome your prayers!

Merry Christmas

Hello Blog Friends!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I feel like I have been pretty good about posting at least once a month (with the monthly updates), but I shouldn't just wait until the month is up to post!  Sorry it hasn't been more frequent.  

So, I feel I should just post now, since it's Christmas time.

We have been enjoying celebrating Gambo's First American Christmas.  Our First Christmas as a family of three!  So far, we've watched a Christmas parade… in the freezing cold rain.

Gambo really loved watching all the floats.

And he was enthralled by the marching bands.

Afterwards, we went to pick out a Christmas tree

Then we got to decorate it.  Gambo put the first ornament on the tree.

Which happened to be this:

For the rest of the decorating, he wanted to help out, but he was too busy exploring

and turning ornament holders into pretend cups

One of things we enjoyed getting to put on our tree this year were multicolored paper-bead garlands that we bought in Uganda.  We strung them all around, so that our tree is now a reminder of Uganda.

We also have a few ornaments that help Gambo feel that Christmas is not all about "whiteness," if you know what I mean.

Then Gambo got to help put the star on the tree.

Our tree was complete:

Most importantly, we've been going over the Christmas Story, the true meaning behind why we celebrate Christmas… Jesus Christ coming to earth, being born in a manger, to bring salvation to mankind by living a perfect sinless life and then dying on the cross for all our sins, only to be raised to life again to reign as King.

He has his own nativity set he can play with.

Praise: We got an amazing early Christmas present last week… we have a Court Date scheduled for the finalization of Gambo's adoption!!!  

We will be going to court in January, and then Gambo will officially take on our last name and become a US Citizen!  What a wonderful day it will be. 

Finally, I am reminded this season of the uniqueness and confounding reality of Jesus being born in a manger… He a King, fit to be born in a palace, yet born among dirt, stinky animals, and not even having a bed to sleep in.  Why?  So that He could be the kind of King that could identify with us.  He is not one who was shielded from life, who experienced ease and comfort here on earth, so that when we think of him, we lament that "He doesn't know what it is like for us."  No.  He knows.  He knows so much more than we can imagine.  I also think of Gambo's humbling circumstances, how he started out in this world.  Jesus knows what it was like for him.  Jesus has been through it.  How awesome to have a Savior who knows us and knows all the difficulties that we are facing and will face in life!

Have a wonderful, Christ-filled, Merry Christmas!

Eight Months Home (with pics and video)

We are growing so much as family now… eight months home!!

This month was full of fun times at home, and also a realization that we are full swing into the toddler phase… yikes!

There was lots of crying and fits, but also super sweet and cuddly times.

His new obsession this month is with my tripod!  I guess I started taking a lot more pictures with it (it's a large expandable one), and he goes nuts over it!  Just today I casually mentioned before we left to go somewhere, "Maybe I should bring the tripod…"  All the sudden, Gambo yells, "Pah-Pod!!!!" and starts going crazy for it.  Ha ha!  I have no idea why he likes it so much.

He love to pretend to be like mommy and daddy and sometimes cracks us up:

We are into the NFL football season, and of course he has learned how to say "touchdown!"

The weather has gotten a little cooler here, so of course I had to see how adorable he could get!

When Mark was off work for a little while we went to a local park and enjoyed the scenery,

And local wildlife

What sound does a goose make, Gambo?  HONK!  (Does it sound like momma when she blows her nose?)

UM… I've never been so attacked by waterfowl as I was here:

Time for FIRSTS:


One of best privileges of childhood, Gambo first got to experience this month (check out the video):

Gambo had his first trip to Chipotle (I think he liked it, despite his face here)

We had our first Thanksgiving meal together (It wasn't actually on Thanksgiving, since we decided to travel for Thanksgiving)

Instead, Gambo spent his first Thanksgiving on the beach, in Santa Barbara!

I love getting to watch this cutie pie explore.

Our Road Trip: So, we decided to travel up the Pacific Coast Highway in California for Thanksgiving break.  It was a great road trip and Gambo did really well!

We saw the big old Mission church in Santa Barbara:

I love the mountains in the background

We went to the Monarch Butterfly wintering spot in Pismo Beach (They were hard to photograph, so here's a pic of Gambo and Daddy there)

We walked the streets of San Luis Obispo

Visited the old Mission Church

And discovered a Gum Alley

We had lunch in Cambria (didn't get a picture sorry).

Then drove to Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, where we spotted lots of seals sunning on the beach

As well as a few Elephant Seals… Ugly creatures!

Our coastal drive took us through mountainous scenery right by the beach

We had Gambo all settled in his seat with plenty of distractions.

We arrived in Carmel-by-the-Sea around sunset.

This cute town had lots of shopping

A VERY steep road down to the ocean, which was a pain pushing a stroller up.

So we took a break.

Finally, the best destination was getting to stay and visit with some friends we met in Uganda:

This amazing couple adopted their little boy from the same baby home as our little Gambo.  Our kids knew each other, and we couldn't wait to get them back together again.

Yup, already having fun within minutes of arriving!

We've never seen Gambo open up so quickly to someone, it was amazing!

We spent the day exploring the Santa Cruz/Monterrey area.  We saw the sea lion hangout spot:

Gambo got to see lots of new animals this trip.

We went to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, which was pretty neat

Gambo, loved looking at the fish (and eating a toy shark too!)

His favorite part was probably the touch tanks

You can see the joy on his face

After the aquarium we walked around downtown

And went to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant… a first for all of us.

(By the way, that bench is a reference to the Forrest Gump movie)

Last but not least we caught some cute shots of the boys together

And all of us by the tree

Then we headed back on the long road trip home.

It was a good month, and we are super excited to celebrate Christmas with Gambo this year!

Paperwork Update:
The week before Thanksgiving I was finally able to file our finalization paperwork with the local courts.  It was a very difficult process that I don't wish on anybody, but it is done.  Now, we have to wait for them to assign us a court date for the finalization hearing.

We don't expect a court date until next year (it usually takes a couple of months to get a court date, from what I hear).  We are looking forward to having all the paperwork done!!