Adoption Update

So it has been a long time since we have posted anything to our blog. Thanks to the overwhelming support from family and friends we are close to raising all the money we need for our adoption. It has been such a blessing to watch how God has provided for our needs. If you are still interested in piggy banks we are still painting them. We are already talking about where we will be adopting child number two from. :)

Updates about our adoption:

• We should be getting our photo referral in the next 4 weeks. We are anxiously awaiting the first moment we see our little one's face.
• We do know that it will be a boy. He could be anywhere from 14 months to 22 months when we fly to get him.
• We did state on our application that we would accept twins (however that is very unlikely).
• Once we get our photo referral, we could fly to Korea to pick him up as quickly as 2 months or as long as 7 months.
• We have decided on a boy name: Anderson James (nickname: AJ).

Once our eyes were opened to the needs of orphans around the world, it has begun to reshape our lives. While we are waiting to go to Korea to pick up Anderson, we can't put our lives on hold. So this June and July we will be going to Honduras for 3 weeks to volunteer at an orphanage that our church is adopting. Andy is going to lead soccer camps and Kate is going to lead art camps. We know we can adopt every orphan around the world but we can lead lives that demonstrate our love for them.

This Summer's Adventure

This summer our adventure is going to be a little different than it has been in the past, but we're just as excited. This year, we are heading down to Puerta Limpera, Honduras to visit the orphanage we help sponsor. The orphanage is named Mama Tara's after the amazing woman that has dedicated her life to caring for over 20 Honduran orphans. Our church sent a group there over Christmas break, and they came back with a fire for doing God's work down there that we are hoping will spread to our entire church. We're planning on spending about 2 and a half weeks in Honduras towards the end of June and beginning of July. Kate is going to do art activities and I am going to try to build a soccer field a play soccer with the kids. More than anything we are just going to spend time loving on the kids and showing them that there are "gringos" who do care about them. The only thing that could put a hitch in our plans is our adoption. It is possible that we could travel to Korea before we travel to Honduras, and that would cause us to have to stay home. But, www know God has got it handled and we just need to be prepared to go wher and when He calls us. Our good friend Adam Cline put together this video of their time at Mama Tara's. It will make you laugh and cry at the same time, so be ready! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysgYjP3Kk8k&feature=youtu.be We'll have more info soon! Yours in Christ, Andy & Kate

Adoption Update

So here we are, February 2012 with no baby yet. Things in South Korea have been bogged down for a while, so we still don't have a referral yet. Our agency told us that referrals are expected to resume this month and that we are 8th in line for one. As far as timing goes, we really have no idea when the referral will come in, but when it does, there will be anywhe from 2-7 months before we travel. The baby is going to be a little older than we had anticipated, too. Originally he was going to be around 11-12 months when we got him, but now they are telling us he could be anywhere from 14-22 months when we get him. It all keeps changing pretty regularly, so it's fairly frustrating. We know that it is already planned out, but the not knowing is driving us a bit bonkers. Hopefully we'll have some news in a month or so as to where we stand. In Christ, Andy & Kate