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!

Best surprise for last!!!!

I had a nice Christmas surprise today in my email!!

Doesn't he look like he's growing up? Now that he's hanging around the big kids, he must be growing up. :) i love this stage he's in.....we'll just have to pray really hard that our paperwork continues to move!!!

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas----by Third Day

I've always liked Third Day, but this song just made me like them even more :)
Couldn't help an think about Aidan and being away from him.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy8RW6aHXWQ



These are the lyrics in case you're wondering!!



There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are
But half a world away
I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here
It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
And we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his lifeAnd prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

I love it...........

I saw this sign a while back and just laughed at it...........there is truth to it :) so this was one of my presents and it's great!!!!!

Our Christmas was good. I think mom and dad were into the kid's presents more than they were this year. We had this great plan to do their bedrooms for Christmas........we put them to bed in our bed and then worked into the wee hours of the night. We switched furniture around and assembled new furniture. The result was that Austin had Alyssa's furniture-----which ultimately we converted to a bunk bed for Aidan and Austin, and Alyssa had a new bed and dresser and new decor. This needed to be done to get a bed ready for Aidan and we thought it would be a fun to do.

Now all we need is Aidan :) This makes me more excited just getting this ready for him.

So in the morning Austin crawls into bed and simply states..............'why do I have a bunk bed" and falls back asleep. Alyssa later comes to our room and says..........'can we get up, I want to check out my room'..............and once she checks it out says...................'oh- nice' ......................and then later opening a few presents ....................'I don't want just blankets and sheets, there is too many cats in my room now (cat sheets which SHE picked out) ........this is what I get for Christmas????..this is it?????...........No real kitties?............No big toys?........This is it????? (don't be feeling sorry for her---she had fun stuff too)

Well we tried. I was envisioning the kids being all excited and checking out the new stuff...........I guess what can I expect when it's boring room stuff-right? We ended the day feeling a little frustrated and sad.

I felt sad because they weren't completely happy. As a parents I'd love to give the world to the kids............................but is giving them that big dream toy really a lesson I want to give them?????............it may have served for immediate gratification for the day............but that's not what Christmas is about-right!! The whole commercialism side of Christmas really gets me this time of year. It brings out selfishness and jealousy of wanting more. Aaarrggghh!! Anyways....

For opening our family gifts we had a lot of fun. You know the typical scenerio............kids fighting about who gets to open a present first......................good thing dad comes up with playing a round of Uno to determine who opens a present. (we've been into Uno lately) That was lots of fun!!!!! You could see the kids scheming on who to lay the draw four or draw twos on.........so they could win. The gifts were like the prizes to the game...............it was great!!!!

Of course we've been thinking about Aidan alot. Sounds like they had Christmas celebrations at the orphanage. There are pictures of them decorating cookies on their web. They took some of the older kids to the Nutcracker........did a pageant at the O.........just sounds like had alot of Christmas festivities. I love how much they do for the kids. The staff at GLA is so incredible. They really give their lives into these kids and we're so thankful for that. Check out their activities. ...http://www.glahaiti.org/toddler_house_blog and also check out the 'life goes on in Haiti" section too.

Seven Years ago..........

Happy Birthday Alyssa!!!

We had a fantastic weekend at Great Wolf Lodge! It's become a tradition to spend a night at GWL for the kids' birthdays----it's a time to get away from the holiday craziness and just have fun and talk birthday stuff instead of Christmas stuff. Each year the kids love it in a different way. This year Alyssa really liked the whole rope/bucket climbing tower. Last year the lilly pads were the big thing. Of course the slids are great...............and Austin gets his fair share in the hot tub :)

Before bed we were telling Alyssa her story of when she was born and just how excited we were. She loves hearing it, and I love telling it. The funniest thing to her was that when they called to tell us her birthmom was in the hospital, they called and told us we were having a boy first. Then they called back and said oh, it's a girl!. She giggles when we tell her that. It was just such an exciting time..........only knowing about her for 1 week before she was born............and just the amazing ways that God showed us He truely had a perfect plan for our family. Unbelievable!!! It's fun to think about all the different stages. How fun each stage is. I remember thinking 'it's adoption--- kind of a random 'next of the list' kind of thing...........and how can a child really be meant for a specific family?'........................but now having been through this process 3 times.............I whole hardedly believe that God does have a specific child for each family. Each of the kids have their own unique story which makes them who they are. This is a time for us to reflect and give thanks for their birth parents--they are special and very courageous people. We're very thankful for them.

With the Christmas season so close to birthdays in our household I've thought about the 2 together alot. I know as Christians we've all been adopted by Christ............sometimes I hear that concept so often, and hear it's parellels with adoption so much, that it looses something. I was thinking the other day that Jesus knows exactly what the kids ever think about adoption. I mean ,Jesus was adopted by Joseph, right? Joseph wasn't his birth father.............yet he was Dad to Jesus. I know that there will be things that I don't get, or the kids wish I knew how they felt, yet I hope they find comfort in knowing that Jesus knows all their needs and knows how they are feeling. He's been there too.