One Year Ago....Gotcha Day....Thad and Kamby!

The doctor that sees the kids at the orphanage.

Thaddeus in his crib at the orphanage for the last time.

Kamby in her crib at the orphanage for the last time. Thad and Kamby, along with their friend, Amara had boxes right next to each other.

Saying goodbye to the orphanage (toukoul) forever! It definitely was not hard to take our babies away from this place. What was very difficult though, was leaving all the other babies behind.

Thad and Kamby with the nurse for their room.

With the toukoul director.

Kamby's first bath with us.

Thad's first bath with us.

We went visiting to the guest house.

In the garden at the guest house.

Our family.

Thad and Kamby's first night with us. Happy Gotcha Day Thaddeus Joel and Kambyri Senait!!!

Merry Christmas

We love you so much Susi and our hearts break that you are not home for Christmas. You will be home soon!

I Feel as Though I Have Done This Before...

Susannah Yue enjoying cake for her friend's birthday. Susi will turn four the day after Christmas.

Oh yeah, because I have. It was Christmas 2006 when we decorated the tree, preparing our hearts for Christmas, very excited but very sad at the same time. We held pictures of our babies that would not be home for Christmas. One, still in an orphanage in China and the other with his foster family in Guatemala. It was so hard to focus on the festivities and fun of the holidays because I just wanted to be in China. Well here we are again. It is Christmas time 4 years later and we are incomplete. Our Susi will not be with us for Christmas or her fourth birthday. There is such comfort in knowing that she is in a lovely place with caring people that serve Jesus by serving the orphans in China. Everyday is the same, I hop on the computer with a beating heart hoping to see new pictures of Susi or an update. I am so happy when they appear and I pray for her and I long for her to be with me. And although I am full of joy to gaze upon her beautiful face, my heart aches like nothing I can compare to, because I miss her!

I am so grateful to have pictures to share and to feel a little bit closer to my girl!

The Angel Said....

Tonight, while curled up on the couch with Graci and Dax, we were reading the Bible story of when the angel told Mary she would be with child. Graci and Dax were holding and playing with their toy angels and Mary from their nativity sets. When I was done reading and discussing with them what happened to Mary, Graci started doing a play with her angel. She held it up in the air and made it talk in an angel voice. Pointing to me the angel said,

"You will have a baby and her name is Susi, she lives in China."
"Thad and Kamby are already here and they are your babies too."
"You need to be a nice mommy and not spank your children."

With that the angel was done speaking and we were all rolling on the floor in laughter!

Family Pictures

Our Family missing one.
Our fabulous six, soon to be seven.

All the grown ups are looking at the camera and all the kids are looking at the person who was trying to get them to smile. I totally love Kamby's smile in this one, as I was holding her down because she kept running away in all the pictures.

The Kingdom of Heaven is Like an IR3 Visa

Daddy and babies waiting to go into court for the readoption hearing.
I love this boy!

I love this girl!

It's official: We are now the parents of Thaddeus Joel and Kambyri Senait Brady. Oh yeah, we already were but now the state of Arizona recognizes it!

Let me explain. When an adoptive parent travels to their child's birth country and physically sees the child prior to the adoption being finalized in court, the child will be issued an IR3 visa to come to America. That means when court is over, when the child is officially adopted, he or she will become an American citizen as soon as they step foot in America. Nothing else is necessary. The child will get a certificate of citizenship, they will get a birth certificate with their parents listed as their parents, they have full citizenship rights.
On the other hand, if the adoptive parents do not see a child before court in their birth country then they will come home on a IR4 visa. This means that it is necessary to readopt them in America. This is funny to me. Because I feel it is saying that since you did not see your child before they were legally yours that maybe you want to change your mind. How absurd!

God saw us before he adopted us and he adopted us anyway! We are forever sons and daughters of the God most high. We are already citizens in heaven. I praise God that He is not going to wait until we get there and then decide whether he wants to readopt us into His family and into His kingdom. Our eternity is sealed and our home is heaven! Thank you God for our IR3 Visa into your kingdom!

James 1:27 Project - Fundraising While Living Out Scripture

The beautiful face behind the James 1:27 Project, our precious Susi!

The Lord has given us a great inspiration for raising the money to bring Susi home. We are calling it the James 1:27 project. The concept is to have volunteers raise sponsorship to work one day on a widow's home. The widow gets significant home improvements and landscaping work done and we get funds for adoption expenses. Volunteers get to participate in fleshing out James 1:27 and caring for orphans and widows in their distress. It is a win-win for everyone. But especially our precious Susi who will be coming to her forever family. We are so excited about project. Our first one will be on December 11. Then we will have one in January and April. If you would like to volunteer for a James 1:27 Project please contact us.