Merry Christmas

It's Christmas time. This is my favorite time of year. I love the holidays, the winter weather, and being with friends and family. This is a time when we can remember and be truly grateful for the greatest gift ever given, Jesus. I pray that during the hustle and bustle of the season you will not forget the reason we celebrate Christmas.

Darrell and I want to give you an update on the adoption process. Our hearts are truly saddened by news we received from our agency yesterday. We were told that we would not get a referral until sometime in 2009. Mostly likely not until July or August of 2009. That means we have to wait 20 more months for a referral. We have already waited 18 months. We get so many questions about why it's taking so long. Well, no one could be more frustrated and sad than Darrell and I. When we started the process it was suppose to only take 9-12 months and the wait has just kept increasing. The explanation of why it's taking so long is that there are so many people adopting from China that there is a back log. Our agency has been wonderful and they are great about answering our questions. China is the one who holds our future. Once you are logged in to there system it's in there hands,not our agency's. People ask us all the time why we don't just go another route. Well, there are a couple of reasons. One, we have money invested in our adoption and we can not get it back. Two, we truly believe that we are suppose to adopt from China. When we started the adoption process, we both felt like God was calling us to China. We know God has a special baby or babies for us from China. We don't understand why it is taking so long and trust me it has not been easy. I have had several days when all I could do was cry but we have faith that one day we will be parents of amazing little girls. I ask each of you who read this blog to pray for our sweet babies, and that the process will speed up and that we will get them sooner than later.

May God bless you and your family this Christmas!!

Much Love,
Krista and Darrell

It's Almost November Already!!

My how time flies. I can't believe it's already the end of October. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we know it. Sorry it's been so long since we've posted anything. Life has been busy. Darrell is loving his new job. He's working hard and learning alot. I am changing jobs within the College of Business at ACU. I start my new position on Nov. 5th. Molly is doing well. She just got her teeth cleaned at the vet and has nice clean breath.

Another exciting thing that has happened is that our church has started an Adoption and Foster Care Ministry. We are very excited to be a part of this ministry. We are having are first Waiting Family Support group in a few weeks. We believe this ministry can be a vital part of our church and community.

We continue to wait and have no further updates on our status. It is still looking like we could receive a referral around Nov. 2008. In the meantime we are saving money, decorating the nursery, and spending quality time together. We look forward to seeing our family and friends during the holiday season. Until next time...

August was an exciting month!

Well this month my brother, Corey, his wife Ashley, and my adorable nephew, Ben came to visit us from Alaska. We had a great time with them visiting our family in Lubbock. Ben is so cute as you can see for yourself, that's him in the picture. It was great to see them and we miss them already. The other big thing that has happened this month is that Darrell got a new job. He will be a Server Administrator for First Financial Bank of Abilene. He is so excited. He will miss ACU but after 13yrs. it was time for a change. He will start Sept. 12th. The wait for the adoption continues and we have now been on the waiting list 15 months. It has been two years since we started the process. We decided to adopt on my birthday, August 26th, 2005 and sent our application in the next week. It's hard to believe it's been two years already and still know sign of our baby. We anxiously await the day we can say we have a referral. We believe it will be sometime next fall. We hope. Well, that's all for now.

What City do you belong in?

I saw this on someone else's blog and I thought it would be fun. If you want to know what city you belong in go to www.blogthings.com. I've always wanted to go to Rome!

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city soul with a small town heartWhich is why you're attracted to the romance of RomeStrolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in handAnd gorgeous Italian people - could life get any better?

Our Dossier is out of Review!!

We have great news! We are out of the review room! Once our documents were sent to China we were given a log in date but our dossier still had to be reviewed by the China Government. This meant that once they reviewed our dossier they could turn us down or ask for more documentation. Well they have reviewed our dossier and we are good to go! Now all we have to do is wait for our sweet babies! This is a huge relief and the best news we have heard in a long time. Keep praying that China will speed up and we will get our babies sooner than later!

Our 5yr. Anniversary

Darrell and I just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We took a little trip to New Braunfels and stayed at a great resort called T Bar M. We had a great time. It's hard to believe we have been married for 5 years already. These past 5 years have been wonderful and we both feel so blessed to have each other to walk through life with. We look forward to the next 5 years and all that it has to offer.

Nursery

Here are some pictures of our nursery. It's a work in progress but it's coming along. We bought the rug at Pottery Barn Outlet and got a great deal. We bought the bed online through eBay and also got a great deal on it. We will post more pictures as the nursery comes along.

Update on adoption

Darrell and I wanted to create a place where family and friends could keep up with our adoption. We started our adoption process August 26, 2005. Our paper work was received in China on May 30, 2006. We have been on the waiting list for one year and are expected to have to wait at one more year to bring home our baby from China. We hope to get twins and are praying that we will be doubly blessed. We have picked out names already; Emma Mae and Ella Grace. The wait is long and hard but we know it will be worth it in the end. We cannot wait to be parents. Molly (our dog) is also very excited about becoming a big sister. We appreciate all your prayers and thoughts as we continue to wait for our precious babies. Please leave posts. We would love to hear from you! God Bless!