must have childrens' books?

Since we don't know their ages/sizes, we are on hold with buying clothes and gadgets for our kids. Not so with books. What are some must have books for babies and toddlers? Give me some classics and the new hits.....I'm out of the loop!

Dear Federal Bureau of Investigations,

Please send our background check reports to the USCIS at the American Consulate in Frankfurt as soon as possible. We would really like to move on with this adoption......

We took a little trip up to the Consulate today. Found out that our file is all in order, just waiting on the FBI background check to clear us. Apparently they sent off our fingerprints to the FBI and the results never came back. They were going to re-send them through Fed-Ex today. We are praying that all will go smoothly and we can proceed. God's timing and His will are what we want. If he uses the FBI to orchestrate the rest of our story, we are fine with that!

After the Consulate we headed up to Giessen. It was like stepping back into the 1950's when Marshall's dad lived there as a boy. We found it all.....their old stairwell apartment, bowling alley, chapel, movie theater and gymnasium. The post is almost closed now, so it was empty. It really felt like we had stepped back in time.

the old apartment....Ken's bedroom window
the place behind their building where he and his dad threw the baseball

the chapel
in front of the chapel sign

back in time

Have you ever gone back in time? We did that yesterday, so to speak. We traveled down the road to Worms where Mom and Dad Coen live 30+ years ago with two little ones. We drove all over town looking for what used to be their housing and barracks where they lived and worked. With no success, we finally decided to ask the first German person we saw that looked old enough to remember where these facilities had been. We spotted the perfect man coming down the street and after he told me he spoke "a little bit" of English, he gave us great directions to the old housing and told us colorful stories about his life, in more than a little bit of English. We got in the car and drove right to the housing area....we had been very close. As we took that right hand turn, things started looking familiar to them. We drove right up to these brightly painted stairwell apartments that had the look of refurbished military apartments and realized we parked in front of their old building. We took some pictures of them in front of their building.

The first floor residents came out on their balcony....I walked over to tell them why we were there. The young couple invited us into their home so we could see all of the great renovations. They had saved newspaper clippings of the renovations and were proud to share the history with us. The wife offered coffee.....so hospitable. I'd like to go back! :)

Then they gave us directions to the Taukkunen Barracks where they worked, went to chapel and shopped for groceries.....lived life.
Susan, Marshall's Mom, standing in front of the chapel they attended.

This in Ken, Marshall's Dad, pointing at his old office.

Needless to say, it was an exciting day. Who knew a Volkswagen could be a time machine?

Tomorrow.......back to the 1950's in Giessen to visit Ken's childhood stomping grounds with a stop by the US Consulate on the way to find out what on earth is the hold up with that last piece of paper we need to GET OUR BOYS!!!

I'll keep you posted!

the perfect crib

After a tip off from my friend Jenna, we ran over to the furniture store and got the perfect crib for the little one. Thanks Jenna!!! It's exactly what we had in mind.

We put it together today (ok, Marshall did while Sophie and I supervised). It looks great. I can't wait to get a bed for big boy (maybe I'll refer to them as little boy and big boy until we settle on names) and make the room complete.

Right now it is still our guest room with a precious crib set up in the corner. :)

I realize the mobile is not installed correctly.....it's just for looks right now. It doesn't fit on the crib. You would think that mobile manufacturers would realize that the mobiles they are making don't fit most cribs on the market. I thought they worked together on these things....

It's ok, really, because little boy will probably be big enough to reach it and that's a no-no.

Here is Sophie supervising:

My Two Sons....

We had a feeling this would happen. We prayed about it. Prepared for it. Talked about it. We had a feeling that the Lord would want us to bring two sons home from Ethiopia. Our home study approved us for two. Our immigration paperwork (when it gets here) will approve us for two. The name Noah and his story is what God has been using to speak to us about this.

So, with full hearts and great anticipation we announce that Noah's Ark will be our spare bedroom and two little boys will sleep there. :) We've changed our Application letter to request an infant boy and a boy a natural age gap older, up to 4 years old.

Are we crazy? Nah. Just obedient. God will provide us all we need. He always has. Why would He stop now?

Just think.....we'll never know what it's like to just have one child, so we won't know any different.

So, who we thought would be "Noah" Coen, may not be after all. Maybe the Lord was just using Noah to show us His plan for us.

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails. Pr 19:21

Last week we were in Switzerland for a conference (rough, I know). :) We took a hike up to Murren. On the way back down, this is what we saw. TWO rainbows. Get it? Rainbows....God's covenant with Noah. We had already made the decision, but what great confirmation that was. Thank you Lord!

I'm back....

from Ethiopia with a very full heart and full head! I really don't have the words yet to express all that I experienced there. I'll start with some pictures.
The Ethiopians have a joy that we don't often see in the West. They are not distracted by things, like I sometimes am.

I will say that on the entire trip I was constantly reminded how much God loves these children. They are His, that's for sure. Just being part of something that touched the lives of His kids was a thrill for me!

"Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14

The best sister in the whole, wide world!

these are kids at an after school type program. they provide the kids with 2 meals per day, a shower and most importantly love. most are orphaned but still live with family members. the program has lost funding and unless they receive more, the program will shut down. these kids need this program.

Ethiopia is so diverse! We saw everything from camels up north to busy city streets in Addis. Don't forget the sleeping mules on the highways in between.....

camels in aksum

streets of addis ababa, the capital

curious little neighbor boys

boys in the country on the way to awassa