little man

Weight: 25 lbs

Height: 31.75 inches (81 cm)

Adoption status: Courts

Sure does sound good to be in "courts"!! Sounds like he's doing great. He enjoys scooters and push cars that they have to play with. Part of our update included ..........."Manuel has started calling me by name, and he pronounces it “Alalie,” which I think is just adorable" (her name is Melanie) ............That's great to hear he's 'talking'.

If you're curious, GLA had written about their Christmas, and there is even a cute picture of Aidan in all the snapshots. He's with a marker in his hand, in a blue and orange shirt. And I just absolutely LOVE the picture with all the stockings hung on the building. Check it out if you have a minute.......
http://www.glahaiti.org/toddler_house_blog

Life on a branch

“Even when I am unaware of it, God is sovereignly working out the details of my life for His glory.” .............................I think if I had to write down all the details that God has worked out in our lives, I would have to write a whole book!!
I couldn't get this quote out of my head as I thought about it this week. (we’ve been studying this and the life of Joseph at church) It’s not something that happened overnight, or in one event.............it’s been 10 years of God guiding us baby steps at a time. If I wrote it all down, wow, what a great way to let the kids know how faithful God is to us, and that He does have a plan for our lives!!! God’s plan for all our adoptions were because of His sovereignty being worked out in ALL the details. There wasn't a single thing that was missed, God has a masterplan. I’m not saying it’s been easy, but it sure is exciting and brings such joy!
One of my favorite songs is "Lifesong" by Casting Crowns. "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, let my life song sing to You!!" ................I came to the conclusion that I’d so much rather experience life hanging and swinging on a branch and watching God work out details in our life, than to cling to the tree trunk and have everything planned and working how I thought it should have been. There is no greater thrill!!!

Austin's big TV moment!

We were at the Outdoor Discovery Center doing a little class one afternoon and the tv crews were there filming things. Austin has a minute of fame on wotv with the Maranda section so you'll have to check it out!!! I think it aired last weekend, but I just found it on-line. Once you hit play, the video clip is like 15 minutes long, the section that Austin is in starts at 5:30--- so skip ahead the 5 minutes and save some time :)

http://www.marandatv.com/2009/01/17/where-you-live-january-17-2008/

I love going to the Center. This past weekend we actually went ice-fishing there. It was a great time. Just when the kids were sick of it and wanted to check out some of the trails and play in the snow........that's when Paul caught 3 fish........go figure!!!!

Timing Talk----Off to Courts!!!

Happy New Year!! 2009----------The year Aidan will join our family!! I've been thinking I should have a "timing talk" with all of you. I mean "spring" is right around the corner and that's kind of when we've been saying we were hoping for Aidan ................I just kind of put off the "timing talk" because what could I say?.............I really have no answers, other than our hopes were probably set a little too high. So I came to a fork in the road and had to do some soul searching and really seeking out what God's answer was to me...............my fork was----should I go on a spring break trip with church?.........or not............will Aidan be home?..........or not............... there are lots of reasons why I'd go..............yet one HUGE reason not to go............So over the weekend I had some thoughts.
Our expectations were WAY to high. We've been casually saying we were hoping for Aidan to come home around April-----but seriously----we were expecting a miracle from God. If certain steps said they took 4-6 months to happen, we set our expectations that they would take 3 months to happen. What were we thinking??? ............Reality people..... reality..........who were we kidding. Aidan isn't gong to be home til this summer.......who knows maybe late summer..........
Yet I have to tell you even faced with all these facts ........I felt emotionless about the whole timing. I can only say that in a good way. ... I think it's a gift from God and His complete peace that it's in His timing.

THEN..............we received an email on Monday which said our paperwork was released from parquet on friday………can I hear an AMEN!!!……this is cool …this is crazy good……all I can say is wow....amazing.............!! After rationalizing that we had such unattainable plans, God shows us that he is so much bigger than us. I was reminded of the benediction we had at our wedding...........Eph. 3:20......"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"

So what does this mean?..........we are a huge step closer..........but we still have the last third of the process to go……..which is made up of a bunch of little bureaucratic protocols…….best explained by the email below….
Congratulations Paul and Marisa! Great news!
Your adoption of Manuel has just been approved by Parquet. This week, we are preparing your dossier to enter the courts, in which we will create the civil court document and the Act of Adoption. This is when Manuel will legally become your child and take your family name of BRINKS.
After the courts, we will ask National Archives for an attestation signature for the Act of Adoption and then we will legalize the Haitian legal documents in the Department of Justice. These steps together – courts, attestation signature and legalization – should take approximately three months to complete.
After that, the papers will be sent to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MAE) for the final legalization. MAE usually takes about two to six weeks. Then, we can apply for Manuel’s passport in the Minister of Interior’s (MOI) office. You can monitor your progress through these steps in your monthly updates, as some of the stages will pass quickly and I may not always have the time to email you as we exit each step.
I will, however, be sure to email you when we apply for Manuel’s passport at MOI. Once again, congratulations on being one step closer to taking your angel home
Okay...........so plain English...........we see the light at the end of the tunnel. If you add up all the weeks or months things take we're looking at Mayish. Maybe June. Maybe end of April...........but maybe July. Actually there is no telling.................but I do know that it's huge to have gotten this news and it is good.........................crazy good.................makes me want to jump up and dance!