Merry Christmas Sarah!

You just turned 3 months old and you are spending your first Christmas away from us. The sadness in my heart overwhelms me. I will not be able to give you a single gift. I will not be able to celebrate Christmas knowing my whole family is around me because my little Sarah will not be here. Although you are so tiny and do not comprehend these things, I know.... and I cannot help but grieve the loss of missing even a single day of your life. So my Sweetheart, here is the only gift I can give you this year...... a song that I feel like was written from my heart. May God carry my love for you this Christmas from my heart to yours.

I love you, Mommy

Sarah Needs YOUR Help!!!

We are asking anyone and everyone who is praying for our little girl's adoption to help us advocate on her behalf to the US Embassy. We received a phone call from our case worker last night informing us that due to an overload of adoption cases at the Embassy, they are only allowing 20 attorneys per day to present 1 adoption case. Our attorney has tried several times since November to present our case and has consistently been turned away. There are literally hundreds of attorneys that wait outside in line overnight at the Embassy EVERY day!!....just trying to get in!!

Here's what YOU can do to help:
Please copy and paste the below message(or you can write your own message) and e-mail it to the US Embassy in Guatemala City at adoptguatemala@state.gov . If you would like to do even more you contact your state senators : ) Thank you for helping us!!!

To Whom It May Concern:
We are (your name) from (city and state). We are friends of David and Marianne Gross, who are adopting a little girl from Eagles Nest Children's Home. Their attorney, Pedro Gonzalo Cabrera, has tried several times since November to present a request for DNA authorization to the Embassy but has been turned away consistently due to the decreased quota for cases allowed per day.

PLEASE HELP this little girl and their family! We are well aware of the effects of long term institutionalization on children no matter how wonderful the institution. Please assist this family out of concern for the best interest of their child so that they might bring home their little girl as swiftly as possible!

Thank you!
Sincerely,
(your name)

I LOVE News : )

My little men getting into the Christmas spirit with their adorable gingerbread houses(with the assistance of my dear friend Gayle, THANK YOU Gayle!!)

It may sound crazy but whether good or bad I LOVE hearing news from our caseworker : ) There can be WEEKS between updates and hearing nothing can just drive you insane. The saying goes....no news is good news but the truth is I just want to hear SOMETHING so that I can be reassured that our case has not been forgotten. I suppose bedrest only increases that desire : )

Well, we did hear news last night and it was good. According to our agency, we definitely have been grandfathered in....even without the DNA. All we needed was our power of attorney to be considered a pending adoption. PRAISE GOD!!! She also told me that we would most likely get our DNA request presented again on Monday along with another family that has had rejection problems....please pray for the Lord's will to be done.

I have been doing my own inductive Bible study on the book of Ephesians and have been trying to grasp the fullness of the promises we have "in Christ". I've already spent a couple of hours on the first chapter and feel as though I need to stay there even longer. Eph.1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places IN CHRIST..." We have every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies...for those who are in Christ....WOW! So, I can be patient between hearing news updates and I can have faith when circumstances don't look promising because I am in Christ! There is nothing that brings me greater joy, more comforting peace or deeper love for my Savior than the Word. I pray you will each find time today to pursue the ONE relationship that never fails, never rejects and never ends. love, Marianne

So Spoiled!!

Would you just look at how cute this child is??!! Her HAIR!!....sticking straight up in the back...I LOVE it! The only thing that grieves me is that I don't know whether her disposition matches her outer sweetness....we pray it does and that her heart will be soft and ready for the love of Christ to fill her life. Christmas will be difficult emotionally this year, wanting so badly to share the most PRECIOUS gift of our Saviour with Sarah home ...WITH us.

Her health report said "she is healthy and a very happy baby". Weighing in at a whopping 9lbs. 12oz., measuring 21 1/2 inches long. We are SO spoiled at Eagles' Nest! Let me assure you that any other international adoption would not include monthly photos and possibly no health updates. We are so grateful that the missionaries at EN take the time to spoil and encourage their adoptive families with such special pictures : ) Please pray with me for the Lord to bless the Boggs family and the other folks at EN as they continue to minister to HIS children!

More Pictures!

My heart melts and breaks every time I look at these pictures of our sweet Sarah.....I'd give anything to just touch her face, look in her eyes or have her tiny little fingers wrap around mine. Someday, someday.......A dear friend of mine and fellow guatemama just got back from visiting her little girl at Eagles' Nest. We are so grateful for her kindness in taking pictures of Sarah and all the other babies for other mommies : ) Thank you Deidre.....what a beautiful present you gave me this week!

Adoption update..........We have already had a few setbacks in our adoption so far....the most recent being rejected by the US embassy to be authorized for DNA. Just for a petty reason but we hope to be re-presented by the end of this week. Please pray for no more glitches in paperwork as this DNA authorization is VERY important. We should know something next week. Please also pray for the future of Guatemala adoptions.....so many children will suffer if the wrong legislation is passed.....unfortunately, it seems as though the US is "strong-arming" the congressmen in Guate to vote the way the US DOS wants them to...pretty disappointing. Praise God we have a Father more powerful and with a stronger arm than all the governments of the world together! We choose to trust in HIM!

As far as my pregnancy goes, went to the dr. today. I set myself up for disappointment. I really thought I would be able to resume a few activities in the next week. But because most babies born before 28 wks. don't do very well, he wants me to remain on full bed rest till Christmas(I turn 28wks on Christmas day). At that point, he may allow me to do a few things but he promised I would be able to do whatever I want when I get to 34 wks. One day at a time. Dave and I were laughing in the office because we read in a pamphlet that one way to avoid preterm labor is to stay stress free. We found that pretty funny considering we're in the middle of an adoption and in the middle of a high risk pregnancy......seems next to impossible to be free of stress to me : ) Ah, but there is NOTHING too difficult for the Lord!!

Thank you all for your continued prayers, comments on our blog, e-mails and phone calls! It is beautiful to watch the Lord minister through His people! To my blogging buddies....I'm unable to leave comments because of the block on the computer i'm using but please know I'm praying for all of you and reading up on your adoptions daily.....May He bring all of our Eagle's Nest babies home soon!!

love to you all,
Marianne

Prayers Answered

Thank you to all of you who have called, e-mailed, and especially prayed for us these past 2 weeks. We made a couple trips to the hospital during my 1st few days of bedrest and then woke up early last Sunday morning sure that our little Emily would be born that day. We went yet again to the hospital and after 16 injections of Breathine and an IV of magnesium the contractions finally stopped. They released me to go home last Tuesday night and I have been on bedrest since. The experience was frightening and we thank God that Emily is still with us. Please continue to pray for our family . . . the burden is great for Dave and for those helping us. Most of the time my spirit is doing well but there are moments of loneliness, depression, and fear . . . please pray for the strength of Christ to reign. Our God is so good and we pray that we can glorify Him well in the difficult as well as the easy times. Our computer is downstairs which is why I've been unable to communicate . . . Dave has been printing off any e-mails to me each day to read . . . a definite highlight of my day.

Adoption News!!!

We are a little concerned over the new grandfather clause. We have to have our DNA processing papers from the US Embassy by Dec. 31 to qualify for the grandfather clause. Our case worker thinks we will be fine but after a year of being in this adoption process, I know how easily things can go wrong. Praise God we can trust that what we might consider "going wrong" is always part of His plan towards His good will. We hope to hear more by the end of the week!

Thank you Stephanie for selflessly taking the time to snap a picture of our sweetheart while she was at Eagle's Nest visiting her son. Her pic was a HUGE bright spot in my week.

BEDREST : (

Wednesday morning I was taken to the hospital for preterm labor. As of today, my contractions have started to stabilize with correct dosage of medication. I haven't been told how long I will be on bedrest....so for now, just indefinitely. Please pray that Emily does not come too soon, for Dave to be able to manage my role and his without getting too worn out and that we are able to come up with a long term plan for the boys if we need to. Thank you in advance to all of you wonderful prayer warriors out there. The Lord is certainly giving me an opportunity to solely depend on Him and spend enormous time in His Word : )

SARAH is 7wks old!

Isn't she BEAUTIFUL?? I have to admit.... I am just dying to scoop her up and tell her I love her over and over and over.... Oh Father, please let us be able to visit her before I can't travel!!

The Story of Sarah....and some other fun news!

Ever since college I have wanted to name a little girl Emily. In fact, when we started our adoption process we intended to call our daughter Emily. But during those initial months of paperwork and homestudies, the Lord was working on my heart through an inductive Bible study I was doing on "covenant". He revealed Himself to me in powerful ways during my study in His Word and He healed my heart of many battles and scars that were incurred during infertility and miscarriage. I also was battling skepticism and fears by others over our adoption and yet God gave me a scripture from my covenant study to "take into battle" against Satan's all too familiar tactic of fear. When the Lord promised a child by the Spirit to Sarah, He rebuked Sarah's disbelief saying, "Is ANYTHING too difficult for the LORD?"

Oh how the Lord ministered to me through that verse and still does...He rebuked my fear and allowed me to fully trust Him! And how MUCH my faith has grown in trusting. There are many more ways the Lord taught me about Himself through the life of Sarah....you know how when God opens your heart to Him about something specific and it starts popping up EVERYWHERE!! The passages in Galatians 3 and 4 are also very meaningful...if you haven't read them in a while...you really should! I LOVE how Isaac was born to the FREE woman(Sarah) according to the Spirit, a child of promise! That is exactly how I see our little Sarah....a child of promise according to His Spirit! Dave and I could never deny God calling us to adoption : ) We knew our little princess from Guatemala just had to be named Sarah.....which by the way, did you know Sarah means "princess"??

...our other news : )

Last night I found a blog of someone who happens to be at Eagles Nest(our daughter's orphanage) right now. I wrote her a quick comment never expecting her to actually be able to write me back. At 11 am. this morning, I received the most beautiful message only a mom can appreciate.......

She is doing great. I just went to check on her again. She is SUCH a beauty!!! She sleeps a lot and seems pretty happy. While I was talking to her she let out the biggest yawn. It was so cute. I think I was BORING her. Hee hee!! I will continue to check in on her. Feel free to write with questions. Hugs! Angel

And then she replied again.....

OH YOU ARE SO WELCOME! I am treasuring my moments with these precious little ones. Yes.. they seem to call her Nicol... at least the one I was talking to. I'll listen more though and ask. She is so sweet. She was sleeping when I just checked on her. :0) I know how hard it is. I was a basket case my last adoption. Seriously- I handled it so poorly. This one I hope I will do better. :0) I just blogged a little bit. Did you see it yet? I was just talking about how wonderful these women are. They truly do love your baby. They are so sweet and attached to the children. She is doing great!!! Take comfort in knowing that the struggle is in your heart because she is content. God has truly blessed her with this place. My heart hurts for you because I know the struggle of trusting God with this dear treasure- your sweet girl. A big hug to you today. Know that she is safe. Angel

Thank you again Angel! You gave me a gift beyond words today....you truly are an "angel" to me!!

ps. the pic is of the 1st care pkg. I sent to Sarah

The votes are in....IT'S A GIRL!!

I think I'm still in shock! I was fully prepared to welcome a 3rd little man into the family but lo and behold IT'S A GIRL!! I asked the poor doctor so many questions "just to make sure", he probably thinks I have zero confidence in him. The boys have asked and prayed for two little sisters for well over a year now. What a joy to tell the boys that the Lord heard their prayers and answered.... first a sister from Guatemala and now a sister from mommy's tummy : ) We are ALL so excited! I've always hoped that if ever we had a girl we would have two because I can't imagine my life without MY sister and I would want the same thing for my daughter. So, I thank God for giving our little Guatemalan princess a SISTER!!

Although I may not be extremely "round" yet, at the request of my sweet friend Karie, here's a pic of my growing belly and for those who haven't seen me in a while : ) I also thought I'd share a pic I had taken with my sister recently who also is expecting her 4th ( just a little sooner than me : ) Her belly is little cuter.....she's being induced in a couple days.

Oh.....and I'm sure everyone is wanting to know names. Names are very important to Dave and me so these names have been well thought out. We actually have quite good stories for both girls' names but I'll save that for another time. So here they are........Our little princess from Guatemala will be named SARAH and our little princess I'm carrying with me will be named EMILY. More details later : )

Please keep praying for both Sarah and Emily!

love,

Marianne

Saying Goodbye to Daisy

A couple months ago the reality of having 2 babies and 2 active boys really sunk in and Dave and I had to make a very difficult decision (actually I think it was just difficult for me ). The extra demands financially and the responsibility demands of taking care of a dog for the first time became a burden heavier than the desire to keep Daisy.

So, a wonderful family and friends of ours from church came and got Daisy last night to keep her as their own. God really prepared the boys hearts and they did GREAT! I was worried because the many conversations we've had with them concerning Daisy has usually ended in tears. Honestly, I think I was the only one who really felt sad last night. However, I still know we made the right decision for our family.........and like I told the boys, we can go visit her anytime : ) So many transitions and adjustments.......just all part of HIS plan!

* The boys got up this morning and wanted to color.....little did I know they meant they wanted to color themselves!!!

Happy 1 Month Baby Girl!

I stare at our daughter's newborn picture and wonder how much 4 wks has changed her precious face. It is much harder than I imagined to have these hours, days , weeks and now a month slip away without being part of her life. I pray somehow she can sense that we are coming for her through the divine comfort of the Lord.

Father, I know you hear the cries of your children. I ask that you would protect our baby girl today that you hold her tight as my arms cannot reach where she is. Comfort, nourish, and love on her through the wonderful mamas at Eagles Nest and comfort me as I long to touch her face and draw her close to me. Thank you Lord for this precious gift and for being so near. Thank you for being who You promise You are in your Word. I love You and submit and surrender my heart to You over and over.

Staying close to Him, Marianne


Katie's coming Home!!!
Just wanted to add this to today's post.....got an e-mail from my friend Deb Everly just now saying they leave Monday to go get Katie and bring her home FOREVER!! Katie just turned 1 yr. old September 25 and we are SO excited to see the Lord set her in such an awesome family!! Praise God for His lovingkindnes!!

Fave Fotos Friday & Some moments in Adoption

There are moments in this adoption that the gravity of what is actually taking place becomes overwhelming....just the miracle of it all!! I had one of those moments yesterday. At Farm and Fleet of all places!! I had to go there to buy stakes to put in the ground to display our adoption conference banner at the church......which by the way, if you know ANYONE interested in adoption please direct them to www.gracenormal.org where they can find out more details of this conference!

Well, since I am not a "farmgirl", I don't think I've ever actually been in Farm and Fleet before but did you know they have EVERYTHING there?? I was amazed......more so at all the baby clothes I found( Carter's for super cheap!!). Anyway, I found some adorable 1st Christmas things for babies....really cute onesies. I was flipping through the outfits quickly, knowing I really wasn't supposed to be there looking at clothes, and then I saw it....... a newborn white little onesie trimmed in red that said on the front, "You are all I really want for Christmas". I got so choked up, I practically had to hide myself in the clothing rack : ) I wasn't sure if I was more touched by thinking that all I really want for Christmas is our daughter or if it was because I realized the desperate need of that precious child for her mommy, daddy and brothers....I'm pretty confident it was both!

As you scroll through some of my favorite Stanton family vacation fotos, please remember to pray for our little girl!! Blessings to you all........love, Marianne

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Dad with all the grandkids....all by himself : )

Fun day at the waterpark!! but where's Anna??

"We are SO tired of walking!!"

Tagged

I've been tagged by my Guatemama friend Whitney : ) So here you go:

Jobs I've had:
gymnastics instructor
secretary for my dad's office
Jim's Donut
waitress
art teacher....both public school and private lessons
cheerleading coach

Places I've lived:
Monmouth, IL
Decatur, IL
Atlanta, IL
Newburgh, IN
Normal, IL

Foods I love:
ice cream...Baskin Robbins Jamocha Almond Fudge & Mint Choc. Chip to be specific
ANYTHING I don't have to make : )
Chick-fil-a......man do I miss having one of these around!!
Starbucks

Places I'd rather be:
Eagles' Nest of course!!....holding my sweet, sweet baby
the Navigators' castle in Colorado Springs.....heaven on earth : )

Books I love:
the B-I-B-L-E....yes, that's the book for me!!
I also would recommend Israel, My Beloved by Kay Arthur

I'm tagging:
since all my blogging friends have been tagged, I'm tagging some of my e-mailing
buddies:
Karie
Christie
Leslie
Bev

* Should have a case update on our adoption next week sometime!!! This waiting thing is going to be so hard! love, Marianne

Favorite Fotos Friday

Just some fun summer memories : )

My crazy little Zachary...you just gotta love him!

The handsome little 6yr. old that made me cry on his first day of school....how will I ever let go??


Always good times with the McDann fam!

Ahhh......Drew, Jessica & lil' miss Ella

Boy, we sure miss the Indiana gang

The Guatemala 5000 Initiative

Today we are asking and giving you the opportunity to speak on behalf of the fatherless. There has been and continues to be much turmoil going on in the country of Guatemala. International adoptions always hold some level of risk and we do not feel like that level of risk has increased even with the laws changing in Guatemala. However there is a possible time of suspension in all adoptions from Guatemala to the U.S. beginning Jan. 1, 2008.

To avoid these delays and suspensions we are asking you to be a voice advocating for these children who we feel should be home with their forever families as soon as possible! Please check out how you can help our baby girl and so many others be able to come home quickly: www.jcics.org/Guatemala5000.htm

I also want to caution you to not get sucked into some of the rumors going around that these adoptions will be terminated. I have spoken with our agency(who has been doing Guatemalan adoptions for 30 yrs.), the US State Dept., and our IL congressman....all of who say that the worst case scenario is that these adoptions will be delayed by several months. The Guatemala government will be voting on an ammendment in mid-Nov. to "grandfather" the in-process adoptions to avoid delays....please pray.

Lastly, I want to express that David and I have total confidence and complete peace over this situation. We believe God is the TRUE advocate for the fatherless and that He will bring justice! We know without a doubt that Darlene Nicol Juan Salvador is our daughter and we can't wait for her to be running through our house with her two big brothers!

love, Marianne
ps. just realized we've never posted her name before.....this name was given to her at birth, we plan on giving her a NEW name but that will be revealed at a later time : )

Another new addition to our home!

We have had many additions to our family recently finding out that we will be having a 3rd child of our own and the referral of our 4th child we are adopting. Considerably less significant, but an addition just the same is the completion of the family room in our basement. What my brother began by framing the walls in January I completed last week when the boys helped me put on the final coats of dark brown paint. All of us were excited when it was finished and have spent most of our time downstairs since its completion. The boys now have a new place to play and we will have an open room upstairs to prepare for the arrival of our two little babies next year! Thanks Andy, Jordan, Josh, Caleb, Jared, and Chip for helping me do some aspect of this job.

He makes ALL things new

I lay in bed the night we received our referral and could not find sleep....imagine that : ) My mind and heart were overwhelmed with joy.

I thought back to one year ago and how dark a time that felt for me.......I was grieving the loss of our baby after the miracle of pregnancy. I had previously been told before that pregnancy by my doctor that I had secondary infertility. In the midst of my grief over our baby, I also was grieving that my husband was not ready for adoption( something God had called me to years ago).

Three months agoI found myself driving home from the grocery store with a pregnancy test in the passenger seat. I was crying and unable to pull into my driveway for fear of facing the results of the test. I prayed to the Lord for strength as I did not know how I would face a positive(knowing that would mean miscarriage) or negative result. I turned on worship music to calm my spirit but my cd player wouldn't work. I finally got it to come on and the song "All things new" by Steven C. Chapman blared from my speakers because I had the volume all the way up when I was trying to make it work.

Of course, I cried even harder as I listened to the words....sensing God's presence but wondering if He really was communicating what I thought He was.

The test as we all know came out positive and now we are expecting not one baby but TWO!!...one from my womb and one from Guatemala. So, as I lay in bed the other night I felt God's gentle revelation of why He sent me His word through that song on that tumultuous day. He once again used a part of my own life to teach me understanding of the greater picture of eternity. In one moment, my heart seemed to take in so much. He helped me to see that just like that sad, broken and hurting time in my life there also is much pain, suffering, and sorrow in this "time" on earth. But just as the Lord has wiped away my tears from my eyes for this moment, He also has a GREATER plan found in Revelations where all tears will be wiped away from every eye and ALL things will be made NEW!!!

If you are suffering today, if there is grief, or if there is pain in your life, rest and rejoice in this, Child of God.......that He will heal, He will restore, and He will bring new life in a future that Scripture says is coming soon!

She's here, She's here, She's finally here!!!

Our little sleeping beauty!

"I can't wait to meet my big brothers!"

"Look how tall I am Daddy...just like you!"

Oh my goodness, such sweet little piggies!

That light is a little too bright : )

" I might be laughing, yawning...you guess. All I know is my mommy LOVES this picture!!" All ready for the Fall!

My heart absolutely melts over this picture!

We got the call!!! We finally know who our daughter is!! And she is absolutely beautiful! I cannot think of any other words to describe how I'm feeling other than to quote Hannah from the Word of God........



"Then Hannah prayed and said, 'My heart exults in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God. Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the LORD is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on strength. Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven, But she who has many children languishes. The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, And He set the world on them. He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail. Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His annointed.'" 1Samuel 2



Our sweet little Princess,

You are not alone and you never have been! The Father in Heaven is holding you in His Hands right now and has counted every day of your life before you were even born! I praise God for the privilege of being chosen to be your mommy and I praise God that you have a daddy and two big brothers that can hardly wait to meet you! We will be praying for you every day and trusting God to care for you because we know He loves you even more than we ever can!! He is faithful and He will NEVER leave you nor forsake you! You have all of my heart and all of my love, Mommy

9 months of waiting and....

Today is exactly 9 months to the day since we started our adoption process. We made the decision to adopt last November but Dave felt very strongly that we wait until the 1st of the year to proceed. And here we are 9 months to the day later ....... finding out that a little girl in Guatemala has been born in the past week that probably will be our DAUGHTER!!! Isn't God's timing amazing?!

Let me explain the "probably" part. A baby girl has been brought to Eagle's Nest and has had almost all her paperwork approved. They are still waiting on a couple lab reports before they can officially refer her to us. As long as everything is ok, we should have our referral in a couple days and of course, PICTURES!!

Don't worry, we'll post pics as soon as it's official!! And above all, we pray God's will for this child even if that means we won't be her family. But for some reason, I just really think this is it : ) .....and then the real waiting begins!
love, Marianne

What would YOU ask for?

What would you ask for if God told you to ask for anything you wish? This was the question that started off my past week of Bible study. For those who don't know, I am a HUGE fan of inductive Bible study and we are studying I Kings& 2 Chron. this semester. Of course we all know that I Kings starts off with the beginning of King Solomon's reign and of course the famous story of God's gift of wisdom to Solomon.

One thing we discussed in our study is that ALL of us would ask God for whatever it is we are pursuing in life right now. Solomon asked for wisdom for God's kingdom because he was pursuing GOD! The question we must ask ourselves as a child of the King is .....are we pursuing God or things of this world. When we pursue God, most of the things we say and do will not make sense to the world or even Christians who are not in pursuit of God themselves. Note our family verse of the week...it's SO good!

Our adoption from the very beginning has required us to pursue God......not circumstances, people's opinions, or our own intelligence but instead the spiritual wisdom from God. 1 Cor. 1:30,31 says, "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God(note that the phrase 'God gave us a brain so use it' doesn't have anything to do with wisdom from God), righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that , just as it is written, 'Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord'".

I pray for all of us today to remember in the midst of our requests of God that our goal is not to get what we want but to pursue Him! We pray that He would continue to guide us in spiritual wisdom as we go down this road of adoption.....please pray with us : ) -Marianne

our first post

We are really excited to have a family web site where we can share things going on in our lives with you! Marianne will probably share most of the sentimental, meaningFULL information while David will keep everybody entertained with recent photos and meaningLESS surveys. Seriously, it is our desire that you will be blessed by having a small window opened into our lives. Whether you are already aware or not we have two miracles unfolding in our lives right now. We are 9 months into the process of adopting a little girl from Guatamala and we are 3 months into the process of being pregnant with our 3rd biological child. We did not know if we would have a family of more than 4 members but it looks like we will be increasing to 6 in the next 6 months - ? We are excited and often times left wondering what God has in mind with the timing of the addition of more children but we know that He knows best! For now we are waiting patiently trusting in His perfect will and provision. May God be glorified through our family! - Dave