The Making of a Family.

  On Saturday Brian and I were so, so blessed to get to attend the final adoption hearing of Mena, Cassandra, Alondra, and Jose – children so precious to us. 

  When we got there the kids were so excited that we had come – and could not wait to say that they were part of a forever family.  Mena and Cassandra came to live with us over two years ago, and it was such a blessing to get to be a part of this day.

  Saturday was National Adoption Day, so we got to be a part of a celebratory balloon release with all the other families that were there to complete adoptions.  There were seven families there that day, adopting a total of 13 children.

 

 

 

 

 

   Sylvia loves being with the kids and was happy and squealing all day.  Her big brother (I guess we’ll call him a cousin now!) Jose carried her all over the whole time we were at the courthouse. 

 

 

 

I think that because it was the final adoption hearing, Cassandra was under the impression that she may not see us anymore.  We reassured her that we will see her again very soon, and that we will always be a part of her family!

 

 

 

After the hearing, their mom and dad had a large group of family, us, and a couple of the caseworkers from their case over for a fiesta!  We ate (really, very good) food, played with the kids, and celebrated their new family.  There was even another couple there that spoke fluent English, which was very exciting, and made things a little easier.

 

  We are so happy for their family.  We are so thankful for their mom and dad who we know will be a wonderful family for the kids.  Praise God for happy endings like this one!  There is nothing much more beautiful than to watch a family in the making, and to see the gospel lived out through adoption.

A sweet visit.

My parents came to visit us last weekend, and we got to visit with Cassandra, Mena, Alondra, and Jose!

Of course we had lunch at none other than Chick-fil-A!  It’s one of Cassandra’s favorites, and it was recently her birthday, so we thought we’d give her a treat.

  Opening her birthday presents from us and Grandma and Grandpa.  She’s 9 now!

  Best friends!

 

Pretty earrings for a pretty birthday girl.

 

  Mena and Grandpa.

On the hayride!

 

Sylvia completely covered in corn in the corn pit.

 

Mena was worn out! 

mmmm…ice cream was a sweet way to end our visit.

Project 365 - Week 32

Visiting with the kiddos at the pumpkin farm.

 

Sylvia being dedicated.  You can see how happy she was about that!

 

Sylvie’s Birthday Party!  (more to come!)

 

Nom nom.

 

In her new wagon!

 

I am such a stinker!

Extended Family.

Most of you probably weren’t reading this blog back when we had our girls.

It is difficult for me to explain how precious these children are to my heart.

If you have children, it is like trying to explain that fierceness in your heart that accompanies a thought of them being hurt.  The protectiveness that you can only feel for someone who is connected to you in your soul.

That is my love for these girls and their two siblings.  God has made them a part of me.

 

We’ve have had the joy and the blessing of getting to stay in contact with them even though they have now been adopted by their aunt and uncle.  We have had the four of them over for weekends, taken them on trips, and gotten to know their (large) family.  We even got to go to Cassandra’s 8th birthday party, and although we were the only people there who spoke fluent English, we felt a part of the family.

 

Early this week we tried to call them to see if the kids could come over this weekend, and to see if their family would like to come to Sylvia’s birthday party.  Their phone was disconnected (which has happened several times before).  We wanted to make sure that we made arrangements for this weekend in time, so we drove up to their house to stop by and talk.

And they are gone.

 

None of their neighbors know where they went.  We were given a tip on a possible street and we drove up and down it several time and could not find them.  I’d imagine that their neighbors would know if they had been deported.  And regardless of your feelings on deportation (as in, please do not share.) I pray that they have not been.

We don’t know what happened.  We don’t know why them moved so suddenly.  It feels impossible for me not to worry.  We are still looking, hoping to get lucky.

 

With tears streaming down my cheeks I am asking you to please pray for them.  Pray that they are safe and that the family is taken care of.  Pray that the move was a good thing. 

  Please pray that we find them.

 

Seeing Fruit

This weekend we got to have a very sweet visit with some of our very favorite kids in the universe.  Mena and Cassandra lived with us from September 2008 through June 2009, and we love these girls somethin’ fierce.  Luckily, they also have two incredible siblings who we’ve gotten to build relationships with too.  The girls ended up being adopted by their aunt and uncle, and we’ve made a strong effort to keep in contact.  They speak almost exclusively Spanish – but we muddle through conversations and try our hardest to get to know them.

I cannot tell you what a blessing it is to get to stay in contact with them.  It is one of the only fostering situations where we continue to get to see the fruit of fostering.  We get to watch four beautiful kids grow up, we get to hear excited squeals when they find out we’re coming to visit, and we get to be a faithful source of love and consistency for them.  What. a. blessing.

We picked the kids up and went to the park.  We barbequed for dinner, played around the lake, played on the playground, and had a few good rounds of hide and seek.  On the way home we picked up some ice cream, and when it was time to drop them off we got questions of when the next time we could visit would be.

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been four months since we’ve gotten to see the kids, and we were a little bit afraid that Mena wouldn’t remember us because she’s so little.  But when we got there she lit up and was attached to us at the hip the whole visit.  When I mentioned to her uncle that we were afraid she wouldn’t remember us, he replied, “Oh, no.  She is always going around the house saying ‘Maggie? Maggie?’.”  Melts my heart.

When the girls left our home we were so worried.  We were afraid for their safety and for their future.  But it is clear that they are just where they should be!  They are happy and healthy.  Just goes to show that sometimes (ha!) God knows better than we do.  I’m so happy to get to keep in contact with these four.  I can’t wait to go to Cassandra’s graduation, see Jose driving for the first time, see Mena start school.

As we’re feeling a bit gun shy after our experience with the boys, I keep reminding myself what blessings we have encountered because of fostering.  I would not in a million years give up the relationship we have with these kids and their family.  It is when you get to see the fruit of fostering that you are assured that it is all worth it.

Why Foster?

Reason Number 389:

Because even after all of this,

it is still worth it.

 

Because even with all of the challenges we will

still do everything in our power to make sure the boys

know that we will always love them.

 

Because even after all of the unknown, and the hurt

it is worth every tear.

 

Because even the hard goodbyes only mean

we’ve loved each other well.

 

Because it is worth it.

And they are worth it.

 

And even when things get really tough, and you can’t really

remember why you do all of this,

God whispers in my heart,

There are more.

And they need you.

And they need to know my love.

And it is worth it.

A Message for Maggie

From Mena...

 From Cassandra...

From X-man...

From Abby...

From Jae and Zee...

From Sylvia...

And from 'Popcorn', Jacob, Jason, Jose, Alondra, Carter, 'A-Rod', and Alan: Happy Mother's Day Maggie!  You were our Mommy when we couldn't be with our own.  You loved us as your own even though you didn't have to.  Even though some of us won't ever remember you by name, our lives will be forever changed by the time we spent with you being our Mommy.  We love you!

Baby Steps

So we had a big moment yesterday, Mena took her first steps! Enjoy the little video below. Camerawork compliments of Cassandra. We were so excited we all took a celebratory trip to...McDonalds.



And an oldie but a goodie (taken a couple months ago, but trapped on the camera until now. Yes, that's right, this is never-before-seen footage):