So Long!!!

So sorry....I've been a bad blogger again!! The internet here has been terrible these last few weeks...It cuts out every 5 minutes or so and is sometimes out for several hours!! It has been very frustrating and difficult to work with!

Big News!!! My girls are officially Canadian citizens...On Oct 17th Sidney flew to South Africa to hand in their applications and to hopefully find out how long it would take to process...The day that he handed in the applications everybody was busy and couldn't tell him how long... same thing with the next day and the next....So on the third day he asked them if he really needed to stay in the country or if he could go home....so they said come back tomorrow and you can speak to someone about it....so he went back the next day and they were closed!!! so he asked the guard at the gate, saying that they had told him to come back today!! he phoned and they said to send him in...their was still no one for him to talk to they said, but then they handed him our applications back saying that they were all APPROVED!!! It was finished..our girls were citizens!!! The one glitch though was that we had to apply for our girls passports in Lusaka, as apparently I needed to sign the application as well as they needed to see both mine and Sidney's birth certificates as the girls were too young to sign for themselves! So about later the next week we traveled the 4 hours to Lusaka to apply for the passports....of course we needed to get a few more papers and new pics for the girls (thankfully we had all decided to go in case this happened)...but we were able to get everything and hand in the application all in the same day!! They said that everything looks find and they will call us when our passports are ready...which should be 5 business days...which would make it this Friday!!! Lord willing all will be well and we will get them on time as planned!!!

The sad news is that the little girl (Prudence) with cancer passed away on Saturday night! We had taken her to the hospital that morning as she was having a very difficult time breathing and our oxygen tanks for some reason weren't working properly...but she was a very sick little girl and the Lord decided it was time to end her suffering! Please pray for her family, her mother has been by her side the whole time since she was first admitted to hospital about 4-5 months ago...Prudence had several younger brothers and sisters...the youngest being only 2 and this will be very hard (of course) on their family...Please also pray for our nurse her at Grace as she had spent a lot of time with Prudence and will be missing her the days and weeks to come!!

In just 2 weeks we will be starting our journey homeward...I can't believe it is that time already...sometimes it seemed it would never come...but now that it is here...I'm realizing how much I am going to miss the kids here!! Our leaving will be a little bittersweet!! but I'm am very ready to be home!!!

The girls are doing very well...both are walking now..Eden for the last 3 weeks...and Cassidy for the last couple of days!! They are so proud of their new accomplishment, as well as being able to climb onto and off of the couch!!! Lately Eden seems to think that any frustration in life...no matter how small warrants a very gigantic, at the top of her lungs scream!!! Especially things like her sister taking something from her or pushing her...and not being able to get on the couch first try!!!...lol...Cassidy finds it far more effective to whine about said frustrations for a good few minutes (instead of screaming) both can be frustrating...especially when they both do them at the same time!!! but sometimes they are just so stinking cute...I can't help but laugh cause even when they are causing me frustration, they are so adorable I haven't always the heart to scold them!!!

Well...I'll try to post again soon...to make up for my long absence!!!

2 WEEKS!!!!

So ready to have this adoption finished!!

I'm so ready to be done...no more paperwork..no more worrying that other people aren't doing their jobs properly and quickly!! I just want my girls visa/passports and I'm ready to go home to Canada!! I have been preparing the packet of documents that we have to send to Pretoria, South Africa...hopefully this week...and gathering any last minute ones that I don't have yet. Sidney has to drive tomorrow to Lusaka, to get the adoption certificate and the revised birth certificates...now I don't quite understand why they are giving them new birth certificates...I mean yes, we did change their names...but can't you just give us a name change document instead of a new birth certificate! I don't know, nothing here in Zambia is particularly logical!

I believe that I have one more paper for the head of Social Welfare to sign and then we are done with them!! No more having to pretend to be really nice...lol....My only worry is that I have forgotten something, and that everything will be delayed because of it, and then we won't be able to come home for Christmas. Well, I also worry that Pretoria is going to take their sweet time issuing the citizenship, and again, we won't be able to go home by Christmas. These last few weeks I've been really feeling ready to go home...Fall is probably my favorite season and I'm missing it...Its quite warm here now...which I've never truly enjoyed like some people I know...and would rather be cuddled up listing to the rain and baking cookies. The problem with that is that I have to leave all the kids here and I'm going to miss them so much...I've been really enjoying getting to know all of them..some of them really well...and its going to be hard not seeing them for a long time!!

Prudence (the little girl dying of cancer) seem to be doing a little better now that she is receiving really good care. She is no longer vomiting and isn't in any pain. The team bought her a beautiful baby doll and she just loves it...she keeps telling her nurse not to take it away while she sleeps...she's not allowed to move it...and whenever she wakes up the first thing she does is look or feel around for the baby doll!!! I can't imagine never having a toy before...Just another insight into how very spoiled we are in Canada!! My girls are only 1 and have several toys that they are already bored of and don't want to play with...Cause you know...the box that it came in is much more interesting!! Please pray for Prudence's mother as well, she has been with Prudence the whole time that she was in the hospital and is here staying with her now, but she has 3 other children at home younger than Prudence with the youngest being 2. The other kids are being cared for by their grandmother but they haven't seen their mother, or her them in almost 4 months!!!

God Bless

Off to Lusaka!!

Tomorrow we are off to Lusaka again!! We have to take the twins to have their picture taken for their Canadian passports!! The photo store in Mandahill is the only photo store that Canada will accept the photos from!....So...we get to drive for 4 hours with two 1 year olds...lol...won't that be fun!! but we are also going to go to the huge craft fair again so that will be exciting!!

The team has gone home now, but mom will be here for 2 more weeks!! YAY....We've been having some trouble getting our Letter of No Objection from the Canadian government...Mostly because our adoption agency hasn't been very helpful, and told me that I had everything I needed...and then at the very last minute said that I still needed to do a whole bunch of things!! It was very frustrating, I think I have completed everything they asked for now...although it took me 3 very stressful days of attempting to download and scan things that the internet here is too slow to handle...It took me 3 hours to download the adoption orders to an e-mail and send them!!!AHHH..sure teaches you some patience!!

The team found in the hospital a little 10 year old girl who is dying of cancer...the hospital couldn't do anything more for her, and had decided to release her to the compounds...Not a very nice place to spend your last days..no food..and no comfortable place to sleep!! She had bed sores down to the bone from the poor care that she was receiving at the hospital!! The hospital is a place that I don't even like to visit and she had been their for 3 months and 3 weeks! She has such a pretty smile and was just thrilled when we set up a tv in her room to watch cartoons!! I don't think she has ever seen a cartoon in her life, and when we asked her what her favorite toy from home was she said " I've never had a toy". So Susan asked her if she could have any toy she wanted what would it be, and she wanted a baby doll. So the team went a bought her a beautiful baby doll..Its so sad..she's such a beautiful little girl!! My heart just breaks to think what she has had to go through at only 10 years old...but soon she will be with the Lord in an amazing place without pain!!

The team also found at the hospital a 6 year old boy in serious need of antibiotics, and when Susan offered to pay for them...the doctor got very upset with her and refused to let her pay...Their was also a 2 year old little boy that was skin and bones...he didn't weigh more than 8-10 pounds and the hospital wouldn't let Susan help him either...It's so frustrating...I hate going to that hospital cause you see so much suffering and they won't let you help...you just have to leave and pray that the Lord takes these children home quickly....Their is also a set of 2 day old twin girls whose mother died in childbirth, and the father isn't around that are living with their grandmother who isn't able to care for them!! I so wish we could adopt them too...but I think 4 kids all within one year is more than I can handle...I just pray that somehow they go to a good home and get out of the compound!!

Well...this has been a long post...and some of it very sad..If you can all pray for these kids, for comfort and peace!!

May the Lord bless you all!!

They are official Braaksma's!!

The judge has finally signed Cassidy's adoption order!!! It is official...both of my girls are official Braaksma's!! No one can take these girls away from us now...the Zambian side of this adoption is finished! I am so thankful for my girls..every day I enjoy them even more!! Now we just have to get their Canadian visa's and take them home!! In 8 weeks and 1 day we will be flying home with our girls!! This day seemed so far away when our journey began and yet it is almost here!

My mom is here now!!! The girls love her and she's having lots of fun getting to know them!! On Sunday we had a little birthday party for them with Oma!! They were the most serious birthday girls I've every seen!! We could hardly get them to smile while eating their cake!! Oma bought them a little toy phone and camera and they love them!! It's so cute watching them play with them!! Eden now has both bottom and top teeth!! and Cassidy has her bottom and one top tooth!! They are too cute!!

Here's some pics of their teeth!!

She's almost here!!

My mom will be arriving in Lusaka, Zambia tomorrow at 11:30ish...I'm so excited!! I'm leaving the twins with daddy and going with Kerry to pick them up from the airport!! The team that she is traveling with have already been to Myanmar for 1 week and now they are coming here for 1 week...but mom is staying on without them for an extra 2 weeks!!! So she will be here for 3 whole weeks!!!

Not much has been going on here!! Definitely feeling the need for some adult interaction!! I love the people here, but the cultural differences and language make it hard to interact on the same level that I am used too!...although most of them speak very good English they still have a strong accent that I find hard to understand!! I feel bad when they have to repeat themselves 3 times for me to understand!!

The twins turned 1 on Sept 7th!! We just did a few balloons and I made a cake...We are doing their big birthday when Oma gets here (TOMORROW)...Yay...I think we will do a BBQ next week sometime..with cake and balloons... I'll post some pics for sure! We are still waiting for the Judge to sign Cassidy's adoption order and I'm also gathering all the paperwork so that we can send it to Pretoria! Eden took her first step on Sept 9th...She will stand by herself for quite a while and when I put out my hands to her she stepped once before falling!! She is so cute!! She will actually try it where Cassidy won't!! She won't even try standing by herself!! They both have both bottom teeth and Eden has one top one!! and more are coming!! I love their little personality's and I'm so enjoying them every day!! I can't wait to bring them home!!

Frustrating Court Date!!!

So frustrating!! Our lawyer told us that we only needed to bring the father to the court date as the mothers wants have no significance in this country!!! Then when we go to the court date the judge says that he's not granting our adoption order until we come back with the mother on Aug 31!! It was really frustrating...especially when we found out from a friend who had adopted before us that our lawyer new that we needed both parents!!! I've always thought that it was very sad that they were going to court to fully give up their children and the mother doesn't even get to come!! I had almost decided to bring her anyways, but then decided that our lawyer might not like that....Boy, should have listened to my first instinct! Anyways, our new court date is Aug 31...which hopefully goes much better than the first one!! Please pray that the Judge grants the order this time!!! and for comfort for the birth parents!!!

Cute babies...and a bad blogger!

I have discovered that I'm not the best blogger....lol...I read some people's blogs that post everyday, or almost everyday!! I can never thing of what to say once a week...let alone once a day....So my excuse is going to be that the internet here is to slow and unreliable for me to post more than once a week...lol...Thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!! So...what's new around here...well, we are waiting for our court dates! Edens is on the 24th and Cassidy's is Sept 2! My mom comes in exactly 5 weeks! We seem to be doing a fair bit of waiting!! Teams have just left and its fairly quiet around here!! The kids are out of school on break, and are really enjoying playing with my girls...which I quite enjoy as it gives me a break from trying to figure out how to entertain them!! The weather her the last 3 days has been very cold for some reason! We've had to bring back out our jeans and sweaters...All in all not overly exciting!! but here are some pics of my cutie girls..now that's exciting!! I still don't have any pics of the teeth cause they are still not quite through enough to get a good pic...Although Eden now has both bottom teeth!!!



Someone please come play with me!!


My beautiful girls!! Getting so big.. can't wait for everyone to meet them!!

We have the passports!!

We are praising God!!! He is so amazing...we received the girls passports in 2 weeks and 2 days and they are both correct!!....so amazing!! Our friend and the director of the orphanage where we are working adopted her 2 sons from Zambia as well. It took her 4 months to get their passports and when she finally got them they had spelled the boys' names wrong! All we have left on the Zambian side is their final court dates which are in 2 weeks and 6 days for Eden, and 4 weeks one day for Cassidy!! I'm not really concerned that we won't pass court or that the parents will change their minds until I think about all the what ifs, and what it would feel like to give up our girls now!! I have a peace that everything will go just fine, but the devil likes to sow seeds of doubt and worry in our minds! If he can sway us from trusting than he has done his job well!!

The work here is going well!! Sidney is loving it here and I think will be sad to go home! He has quite easily adapted to the Zambian lifestyle, and quite enjoys coming home anytime of day to play with his girls for a few minutes! They are working on painting the high school right now, and they're also finishing the roof on the annex building. Its starting to get quite warm here and pretty soon it will be very hot to work outside!!

The countdown is on...my mom comes in 6 weeks and 1 day!! I so can't wait to see her I've missed her so much, and I can't wait for the girls to meet their Oma!! One of the things that's been a challenge about being away, and adopting the girls is that no one else gets to meet them or enjoy their cute little quirks!! We waited 4 long years for our girls, but so did our families!!! I know they are really excited to meet them, and I can't wait to show off my beautiful girls! Pics help but its not the same..you can't quite get to know their cute little personality's and funny things they do!!

When I was younger I knew a set of twins who would talk to each other in twin talk....In other words complete gibberish to everybody else..but they knew exactly what the other was saying and would totally crack each other up!! I'm waiting for the days that my girls might do this...At the moment they view each other as more of a challenge to deal with...She's going to steal my toy or cookie or sippy cup!! We are already having to teach them not to pull hair!! Their first tooth is almost to the point where I could take a pic...and I think their second tooth is not far behind!! They are so cute!!

Teeth & Weekend Away!

My baby girls are finally getting some teeth!! and they are both getting the exact same tooth...lol...at the exact same time!!! It's always interesting to see how different their personalities really are! Cassidy has been quite miserable, and very, very whiny while getting this tooth...and Eden, although somewhat whiny has been taking it far better than Cassidy!! But, that doesn't really surprise me...Eden is far more content, and chipper than her younger sister...but...again...shes also the biggest bug. She took full advantage of her sisters more miserable state, and was taking every opportunity to push her buttons!! One thing i've been enjoying though is that they are a lot cuddlier right now!!!

This weekend Sidney and I get to go away!!! without the girls!!! Our friends Angela & Scott Visser have offered to watch our girls for the weekend and give us a chance to get away together and relax. We are going to travel to Lusaka (about a 4 hour drive away) where their is a huge craft fair on the last Saturday of every month. It also has the only mall and movie theater in the country!! I am so excited..but will miss my girls!! We may even see 2 movies while we are their as it only costs $2.50 to see the movie, and that includes popcorn and a drink!! I just hope that their is something good playing!

I will post some pics of the girls teeth as soon as they are fully visible!! Otherwise, life here has been good...we are waiting for our court dates which are in 4 weeks...we are also waiting for our Canadian citizenship to come through!! We still don't know whether we will be able to travel to Johannesburg in Sept or Oct! Part of me hopes we can go in Sept as their is 5 weeks before after all the teams leave before my mom comes which will be very quiet....but I also won't mind going in Oct as it will make the time go by very fast and then we go home!! I'm struggling right now with really wanting to go home!! I miss everyone and everything familiar to me! My girls are so worth it though! We have 16 weeks left before we go and although it seems like a really big number I know it will go by fast! The exciting part is that it is only 7 weeks and 2 days until my mom comes!!! CAN NOT WAIT!! I'll try and post again soon!! Miss you all!!

How many people can you fit in a truck?

In Africa having enough seatbelts for everyone is a bit of a flexible rule!! Quite often we will see trucks driving down the road and wonder how on earth they fit that many people in the back!! and could they possibly sandwich one more person in??? The sad part is that quite often in the midst of all those people in the back of that truck is a coffin and they are on their way to a funeral.


Sorry it was hard to get a good pic as I was in a car, and you have to be careful when taking pictures here as most people get quite upset!!

Crawling and Court Dates!!!

My beautiful babies have finally learned how to crawl!!! and boy, they are good! It took them a long time to learn how...but once they realized how to do it they were off like a shot! Cassidy crawled first, and Eden followed suite about 2 weeks later...she was quite frustrated for those 2 weeks though. She could see Cassie getting into everything she wanted too and she knew that she was missing out! My little girls are already so grown up! Its not even 2 months until they are 1!!! One benefit to their being able to crawl is that the screeching has considerably lessened! They are far more content now that they can crawl around and get into everything, they've also discovered how to follow me...doing dishes, making the bed, going to the bathroom!!!

We finally have court dates as well!! We were given dates in July but had to have them changed as it wasn't 90 days later! The magistrate here is allowed to make an exception and waive the 90 day wait period, but when we go to Pretoria to get their visa at the Canadian consulate, we could have run into a lot of trouble. The Canadian consulate knows the rules and is very strict about them. If we don't follow them they can deny us our visa's stating that we must have done something underhanded, or bribed someone. So, we had the court dates changed and have finally gotten knew ones!! Eden's court date is August 24Th and we are supposed to hear about Cassidy's court date today...but it should be the day after Eden's! Yes I know...why do we have to have 2 separate court dates even though they are twins...I have no idea!!! Its two separate dates and two separate judges...apparently cause its 2 different children it requires 2 separate judges and days!! Even though their is no way they would separate twins!!

Well...my babies are getting into trouble, I'll post pics soon!!

The joys of having twins!!!

One of the many joys I have discovered of having twins, is that they gang up on you. Theirs two of them...and only one of me. They already know exactly how to take advantage of my distraction when I'm am dealing with the other one...for example!!! Today Cassidy had a very dirty diaper which required my full attention and both hands!! When I turned around I found this!!!

She pulled out almost the whole box of Kleenex...and would have eaten a few if I hadn't stopped her!! My darling Eden, is the quite, cuddly, and sneaky one of the two. We affectionately call her the little thief...without fail, if Cassidy has something...ie a cookie, sippy cup, toy, food...You name it...Eden almost always finds a way to take if from her!!! Sometimes without Cassie even knowing!! and then she grins and giggles oh so cutely!!! how can you be upset!!

Me and my girls!!!!

Since I am the photographer of the family!! I've been trying to get Sid to take at least a couple pics with me and the girls!

My girls are so beautiful!!!

Masala!!

Yesterday we decided it was time to explore Masala and go knockoff shopping!! Now for those of you who don't know...Masala is the local market, where people come to sell their wares. Everything from veggies and fruit, to plumbing supplies and shoes. Its made up of little wooden booths which are all joined together in somewhat of a haphazard fashion that becomes quite the maze of never ending little rows and stalls. Their is also a section that is a little nicer where they actually are little shops of sorts, and this is where you would find the knockoff jeans and purses etc. I would love to show you a picture...but the people get very upset when you take their picture as they think that you are going to sell it, and make money off of it, and not share any of the money with them. I don`t blame them not wanting random people coming and taking their picture without asking...but it sure would help to show you a picture.

We decided not to take the twins with us, because the last time that Sidney and I went with the twins to get some fruit we caused quite the stir. Two Musungus with black Impundus!!! We were quite the talk of the market. I was quite glad that we had decided this, because as soon as we got out the vehicle we were already quite the hit. One fellow took one look at Sidney, and started yelling John Gill...John Gill...We weren't quite sure what to make of this but carried on, getting quite the attention as usual. Now Masala is the kind of place where you really need to watch where you are walking...for 2 reasons...you may find yourself stepping in something quite yucky, or you`ll fall into a ginormous pothole if you aren`t careful, you also need to watch your bag in case of pickpockets. So, we carried on watching our step, and our bags, on the hunt for the best bargain knockoffs we could find. Why buy something at home that's really expensive when you can get it here, it looks the same except for maybe some spelling mistakes and its dirt cheep. We found Sidney some ambercrombie and fitch shorts for 70,000 kwatcha, which is ruffly $13.50...now if you look closely they are actually amberfrombe and fitch shorts...but who cares!!!! After seening all that their was to see we went back to the vehicle ( Sandra, Gugu, and myself) while Sidney went in hunt of some fruit. The same guy that we had encountered before wanted to know where John Gill was...the grate big guy!! You know the guy who was with you John Gill!! John Gill is my friend...Sidney now has a new nickname and a new friend...lol...We ended our morning with lunch at Vanilla Bread!! A quite eventful and enjoyable day with friends!!!!

Finally!!

We finally have internet back!! One of the challenges about Africa is that you can never guarantee if something is going to work...internet, electricity, hot water!! We have been without internet for almost 2 weeks now! Apparently the company that supplies it, is revamping their systems so hopefully this means that when they are done it will be more reliable...but theirs never any guarantees!

All of our paperwork has been submitted to the courts....we should be hearing any day now when our court date is going to be, and then we can decide when we are going to Johannesburg, and also a date for coming home.

Here's some pics of my cutie girls!!

Screeching!!!

Okay...I always new that little girls were screamers in comparison to little boys...but, I don't think I was quite prepared for having two screechers that are both extremely good, and very high pitched! This last week my girls have been screeching none stop, despite all my best efforts to get them to stop!!!! When will it end..I think part of it is that they are on the brink of being more mobile, and are getting so frustrated when they can't do it...I also wonder whether they are teething...but I don't feel anything in their mouths..they don't have a fever, but they have been really tired the last few days...so I don't know!!! I'm ready for the screeching stage to end...but I'm afraid that it has only just begun! WAHHHH!!! I knew having twins was going to be...um, shall we say challenging...lol...and I must say that I have wonderful girls, for the most part they are cheerful and content...they sleep through the night!!! Praise the Lord!!! but when they pull out that high pitched screech...and they both do it at the same time!!!

Anyways...Enough whining for one day!! Other than the screeching things are going well here...I'm so enjoying being a mommy, and also getting to know the kids here at Grace...so amazing!!! The challenges are many...every time I go to shoprite (the grocery store) I miss home!! I miss being able to go somewhere, anywhere...by myself! Having hot water whenever I want!! lol...but then I look at the girls...or one of the kids comes to say hi...and it totally makes it all worth it!!

One thing I am going to be doing is planting a veggie garden...so excited about that...having fresh lettuce...yum!! Also towards the end of June we are going to go away for the weekend!! and then come July another team is coming...which I think is going to make the summer fly by!! Can't wait for my mom to come visit in Sept!! If anyone else would like to come visit!! Its not that far away...lol...tons of cute kids everywhere you look!!!

I promise to try and post some pics very soon!! Miss you all!!!

Praising God!!

All I can do is praise the Lord! He is working so many miracles with this adoption. We drove 4 hours to Lusaka on Friday to drop off the paperwork at the adoption committee and we were expecting to have to wait at least 2 weeks before they would sit, review it and give us our effective date of notice. The effective date of notice states that we can go to court 90 days from that date! The adoption committee has to approve you to adopt after your 1 year fostering (they are a little flexible with the fostering though). If they don't want you to adopt they have the power to stop your adoption completely as does social welfare here in Ndola. So....we gave them the paperwork...the minister of social services was the lady we met with..she looked it over and asked us if we could come back Monday as it takes 24 hours for them to review the paperwork!! We were like okay!! (we were definitely not going to question the time frame) Because it is a 4 hour drive we asked if it would be possible for them to mail it too us!! She kind of hummed and hawed for awhile...finally she was like I don't think it will get to you if I mail it...because your out of town I will rush it and do it today...can you come back at 15 and get it...UMMM ABSOLUTELY!! Praise the Lord, we were speechless!!!

We also went to the National Registration building to check in on the application for the girls birth certificates that we had sent in in March! We found out that they were done...but...that the registration number that they had given to the twins had already been given out to other kids...Someone had made a mistake, and the birth certificates needed to be reprinted. We asked if they could be done today...but unfortunately not until Monday...Thankfully one of Grace's care givers was going to Lusaka Monday, and could pick them up for us, so we now have them too. The only things we still need to finish the Zambian side of this adoption are their passports and that final court date!

It has been so humbling to watch the Lord work, to see what amazing blessings the twins are and to realize how little faith I had!! I am realizing more and more how angry I was that he had taken this away from us. How much I felt it was my right and that I wasn't content in the Lord alone and all of the other amazing blessings he had given to me. One of the caregivers at Buseko commented to me that God had truly blessed me!! It made me want to cry to think of how much I have and I still wasn't content to wait on his timing!! I can truly say that I am thankful for everything I have learned, and I'm grieved for the things that I prevented myself from learning. If i had had my way, would I have my girls, would I have the relationship that I know have with my husband, would I be here where I have the opportunity to be taught so much by these kids? Praise the Lord for his mercy and grace!!

The kids here are amazing and I am so enjoying getting to know them better! Not a day goes by that I don't have someone knocking on my door asking to see me or the babies. Some of them will come just to say goodnight to me! I was doing a few pieces of laundry by hand the other day and they helped me to rinse it out since I guess I hadn't done it quite enough, or so they told me..lol...they showed me how to find Ntungulus, which are red fruit that grow underground and taste kind of like lemons! Such cheerful, happy kids!

The girls are doing so well, I have them on a schedule that is working really well! I'm starting to give them some more solid foods, which they mostly play with instead of eating but you have to start somewhere! Their little personality's and quirks are so cute! I can't wait for you all to meet them, they are so beautiful!

Adoption delays!!

It never ceases to amaze me how the system here works!! I don't want to say too much, but I will say that if they say you'll get it on Fri...you probably won't get it until the following Friday, if then!!! We are still waiting on the paperwork that we need to take and submit in Lusaka! When their is only one person in a certain department and she has the control to prevent you adopting if she wants to...You kind of have to be nice to her!! lol...at least with everything else we have been through I'm learning to let it all go and trust in the Lord that it will all happen when it is supposed to!! We should get the paperwork hopefully tomorrow (fingers crossed), and will take it to Lusaka on Thurs....So...that means that the committee that is going to review it should hopefully do that within the next 3 weeks, and they will give us our effective date of notice for our court date which will be 90 days later....so sometime in Sept and then everything will be official...the girls's names will be changed and as far as Zambia is concerned everything is finished!!!

Team comes this Friday!! get to see some familiar faces....the homesickness is in full swing and am trying to keep myself busy to help it go away....it does help that every time my cutie babies smile it reminds me of one of the reasons that we are here....the kids here at Grace love the babies and I've been getting to know a lot of the kids as we play with the babies!!!

The kids here at Grace are going to be doing a garden as part of a school project and I've decided to add a few rows for myself that I get to grow!!! I'm excited as I love to garden and its also something I can do with the kids too!!! looking forward to some fresh lettuce...yay..lettuce is hard to find here!!!

I'll post some pics next time!!! Love and miss you all!!!

It's been too long!!

I have been a very bad blogger!!! I can't believe its been so long since I last updated...So...to fill you in on whats been happening in this end of the world.

The girls are doing well, Eden had an ear infection which is now cleared up and shes back to her happy cheerful self. Cassidy has learned to scootch herself backwards on the cement floor and is so proud of herself when she does it. Their adoption is going well..still waiting on some paperwork and then we can take it to Lusaka...Hopefully in the next week! Also hopefully when we do go we won't have any car troubles..(PLEASE)! We had to take the girls and have a medical done for their Canadian visa's and it was rather traumatic for me and for them. The doctor that was drawing the blood couldn't find the veins and wound of poking them several times each...needless to say I wasn't very happy and was wishing for our medical system back home. Everything came back fine thankfully! I also discovered that they are one month older than I thought they were. The parents had told us that their birthday was Oct 7. But when I got their admissions forms to the orphanage to photocopy for the adoption is said Sept 7, so then I looked on their under 5 cards (this is where the doc records their weights and immunizations) and it also said Sept 7. So my girls just turned 8 months old not 7. I was a little sad on learning this as it is another month of their lives that I was not here for...and also my mom is coming to visit in Sept and was planning to stay until their birthday in Oct....but their birthday is now in Sept and she's not leaving home until the 9th and it can't be switched...So...I have decided to have their birthday celebration when their Oma gets here and since they are only turning 1 they won't now the difference anyways..lol

The other day we found a 6 foot spitting cobra outside our cafeteria. Thankfully the guys were able to kill it without anyone getting hurt, but it did spit at them before it died. We are so thankful that all the kids were in school at the time that it was found and it wasn't crawling around the dorms when the kids were out playing. We are also hoping that since it was such a big snake that it didn't have a little nest somewhere!!!

On Friday we were able to go to Kitwe, its a town about 45 minutes drive away and they have a curio market there where you can buy carvings, jewelry, paintings etc. I was able to get my giraffes!!! yay!!! The market was really cool, everywhere you went it was Madam, Madam..come look!

Well...I think that's all the news!! I will try and do better and post more often!!

My girls are so cute!!!!! I could just squish them!!!!

Long time no post!!!

Sorry everyone...we have had no Internet for the last week, and don't know when we will be getting it back. I am sitting in the office of our Internet provider, and go figure its very slow here too! I will try soon to post more pictures, but it takes a very long time to upload them due to the Internet.

Life here is going well, we are set up and pretty much have a routine down. The girls are sleeping through the night. YAY. Every parents favorite thing I'm sure. Nothing too exciting has been going on. We've been getting to know all the kids and caregivers, trying to find our way around town and I've been learning how to cook here. You can't plan ahead very well as you can never guarantee that the stores will have what you need when you want it. Flexibility is the key! Susan and here family are arriving tomorrow for a little more than a week and it will be a nice break to see some familiar faces. Missing everyone back home so much, but am enjoying everyone here so its making it all worth it. December seems so far away but I know it won't be long before it comes either.

We are hoping to make a trip soon to Lusaka, we have to take our Zambian home study to the adoption committee their for them to review and approve it and I'm hoping to make a weekend out of it as Lusaka is a 5 hour drive away. Lusaka has the only mall in all of Zambia and their is a store their that is like Wal Mart that you can get almost anything at! We may also get to go see a movie!!! It will be nice to get away for a weekend and have something to put on the calender to look forward too!

I'll try and post again soon but will depend on the Internet!!

We're Here!!!

We have arrived! we have been here for almost 2 weeks now and it has been quite the adventure! We arrived on thurs and spent that day and the next setting up and then went and picked up the girls on Sat! It took a little while for them to get used to us, the first time we went to visit Sidney was holding Cassidy and she screamed the whole time. I think that part of the problem is that they have no contact with men and she was a little scared. They were pretty fussy the first couple of days after that but are pretty settled now. I've been putting them on a sleeping schedule and it has been going fairly well. They now sleep together at the same time!!!! and we got a couple of bumbo chairs for them and I love them!! Highly recommend them to anyone. Its definitely been a challenge to go from 2 to 4 just like that, but we are learning and having lots of fun. The girls already have Sidney thoroughly wrapped around their little fingers.

Today Cassidy discovered how to make noises with her lips!!! Its so cute! They can both sit up, roll over and are quite attentive to sounds and movement. They love music and will baby dance along to it while playing with their toys. Both have very different personality's, Eden is usually quite content and very smiley but when she does want something will scream at the top of her lungs and she is really loud. Cassidy is a little more short tempered, but loves to cuddle and have you blow raspberries on her stomach. She also loves her soother where as Eden only wants her thumb. When playing together they will steel each others toys and then Cassidy will start crying even though she stole Edens toy first!

The kids here are wonderful, and love the babies. Our house has been quite the attraction lately and we've had to shoo them away quite often. The ladies are quite willing to snuggle a baby for a while if I need a little break! Sidney has started doing some maintenance and discovering the joys of working in Africa, where things may or may not work and don't always go the way you planned! He has a list a mile long of maintenance that needs doing and today he built us some shelving units as our house has very little storage. He is really enjoying it here and told me yesterday that he could get used to this kind of life!!

Its been challenging, I've probably wanted to come home at some point everyday. December seems like so far away! but then I go outside and play with the kids here and remember why we came!! I willingly try to post on here often our daily doings...but the Internet is hit and miss sometimes!! but tonight I will leave you with some cutie pics of my Impundu's!!!

Packed!!!

We are finally packed!! Praise the Lord, I think its all going to fit too. Trying to decide what to take and not to take and what fits or is to heavy etc etc....AHHHHH I'm so glad it's done. Just hope I didn't forget anything really important! Its only 5 days until we leave and 7 until I get to hold my babies. I'm so excited to snuggle and dress and hold my babies. Tomorrow is my last day of work!! yay!!! Happy easter everyone!!

APRIL 6!!!

Its finally!!! looking like we have a date of travel! We have reserved seats on flights leaving April 6 which means I will be with my girls April 8!!! I'm so excited!!! We are packing like crazy to move everything out of our house in time, also all the last minute details that are required when you move out of the country for 8-9 months are enormous. I will be so glad when everything is finished.

Other news!! I bought a double jogging stroller off of craigslist the other night! A brand new instep run around double jogging stroller...got such a great deal!!! I love craigslist!

I'm getting so excited to be back at the orphanage with all the kids! The kids there are simply amazing and beautiful, their stories are simply incredible...so many that were almost dead and now are healthy and happy!! Its amazing to see what the Lord can do, how he can begin a work and make it blossom from and orphanage where kids could come to die in comfort and with love, to a place where the kids instead of dying like everyone said they would, are living, and going to school, and will hopefully impart great change in their country as they grow up to be successful adults! The kids are the future! So many children in Zambia are neglected or abused, but they are the countries future..they need to be nurtured and taught what is right!!!

Well, I hope that you all will pray for yus and Zambia!! The Lord is doing an amazing work, and I'm so excited that I get to be involved in even a tiny bit of it!! Even though without his help I will just be a hindrance...cause he doesn't need us...but the change that this will bring into my life, S's life and the 2 little girls that are going to be part of our family will be phenomenal!! Literally can not wait!

My girls!

I just want to go back to my girls! S & I have waited almost 4 years for them and it's killing me that I am missing any part of their little lives. Everything on the packing front is going well, still need to find a renter, and still need to raise some money, but I would love to leave easter weekend and be with my girls when they turn 6 months old!! I'm hoping, and trusting that the Lord will provide in his timing...I just really hope that its close to what my timing is...lol. I also can't wait to see the kids at the orphange again, we were there for such a short time that we really didn't get a chance to interact with them much!

History!

I've started this blog to tell the story of me, my family, and the journey we're on, creating the family that God has planned for us. We've encountered many bumps and potholes already on this journey, that when I got married almost 4 years ago, I naively thought would be so simple. Thinking that having kids would be easy and quick I never even dreamed that It would take us this long and be so difficult. Let me give you a little history, S and I have been married for almost 4 years and we both knew that we wanted to be parents fairly quickly. Like any newly married couple we dreamed of the day that we would have our first child. Wondered whether it would look more like me or S, and whose personality it would take after the most, etc. We "planned" to wait for one year before starting our little family but plans change and it wasn't long before we were counting the days to that positive pregnancy test. But months passed and it wasn't long before I knew in my heart that something was wrong, seriously wrong. The doctors assured us that it could be fixed and that we would be fine, but after all the tests and procedures they had to tell us that their was nothing they could do, and that we would never have biological children. Needless to say we were shocked and heartbroken, I never dreamed that I would be in this place, asking God why he had done this to me. I thought that children were a blessing and wondered what I had done to not deserve that blessing. Maybe I had sinned or angered God in some way. We grieved the loss of our children and attempted to put our life back into some kind of normality. We went on a cruise and tried to forget and reconnect with each other. After a few months we both knew that it was time to pursue adoption. When we got married we discussed one day adopting, so it wasn't hard for us to take that next step. We still to this day grieve the loss of our biological children, but the pain lessens with each passing year. We researched all the different options and decided that we wanted to pursue an embryo adoption. This is where you adopt someone else's embryos and have a FET done in the hopes that I would become pregnant. We sent in our application and waited to be chosen, full of hope, knowing that this is what God was calling us to do. It wasn't long before we were chosen by a wonderful family and everything was finalized. We had officially adopted their 13 embryos. We set the dates for our first transfer and started the meds. The transfer went beautifully and the positive pregnancy test was further proof that everything was going according to plan. It wasn't long before our happy bubble was burst with the miscarriage of our first child. Again we asked God why, but had to trust in his sovereign grace, knowing that he has a plan for our lives. A plan to help us and not to harm us. We set a date for another transfer and again it went beautifully. Again the positive pregnancy test seemed proof that everything was going to be fine. Again we had a miscarriage, this time we knew that we needed to step back and take a break. We were so broken that we just couldn't face another loss. Not long after the loss of our babies we were approached by a family that wanted us to adopt their baby. We were overjoyed thinking that this was Gods answer, but God said no that it wasn't the right time and again we moved on. At this point we were approaching the 4 year mark, no closer to our dream, in debt, with nowhere to turn. I had stopped asking God why, having learned that you never get the answer your looking for. Some days I didn't even know how to talk to him, not even knowing what to say. I tried my best to trust in him and know that he was sufficient. Many days I failed miserably and quite often I was so angry with him I wouldn't even open my bible to do my devotions or pray. I think I hoped that if I ignored him that the pain would go away, but it didn't. Many times I surrendered it all to him only to wrestle with it all over again the next day. Through it all I knew in my heart that he loved me more than I loved myself, wanted what was best for me, had a future planned for me, and one day would either give us children or take away my desire to have children. We still knew that we wanted kids and that adoption was our way to see that dream fulfilled. We still have 6 embryos left and hope to try again in the near future, but wanted to pursue a different avenue in the mean time. This is when we were asked by Seeds of Hope to move to Zambia and oversee their building project. Adopting from Zambia can be done but is quite difficult. We prayed hard and decided that we would go on a short term missions trip to the country first to be sure that this is what God was calling us to do. On that trip he brought into our lives our twin girls ( I call them ours because we view them as ours even though nothing is finalized yet.) We are officially fostering the girls even though at the moment we are home in Canada getting everything together to move back in about a month. They are in the care of the orphanage where we will be working and we can't wait to get back to them. They are absolutely gorgeous and we pray that everything works out and that soon they will be officially ours. They way that it works in Zambia is that you foster first and then when your fostering is complete you go to court and have everything finalized. The parents have until that final court date to change their minds. We are trusting in God that these are our girls and if not that he will sustain us through the loss.

So now that your all caught up on our history let me show you our girls.

This is our girl Eden Kathleen, shes the oldest and loves to suck her left thumb!

This is our girl Cassidy Evangeline, shes twin # 2 and loves to suck on her right hand!

Our girls are absolutely gorgeous, we love them already and can't wait to go back to them!

God Bless,

Katy