More fun with Grandma Mimi and Papa Julio

Visiting the Hudson's in Hartford

Playing a game of Mother May I

Grandma Mimi is something else!

We have officially called this concrete camping.  New kind of camping when your trying to save money for an adoption.  The kids thought this rocked!
Thanks again for the great visit we love and miss you dearly!!

Frogs & Turtles

Our new friend...

Ok, I am terrible at taking care of frogs.  We only had it a few days.  I put it outside in the frog haven that we have, forgetting it was over 80 outside and I cooked the frog.  I only had it out there for 1 hour and I killed it.  My kids were having so much fun pushing on the dead frog and feeling him, it was like we were in 7th grade science class.  We buried him in the back yard after a quick ceremony.

I ran errands the next Saturday(by myself) and came home to this

He is so darn cute.  No more than an inch in size.  We have him living in his own mucky water with his own rocks and muck built up on the sides.  We take him out to play every day and the kids love him.  He is faster than I thought they were.  On the other hand I was thinking, poor guy his whole world got rocked.  I am not a fan of taking animals from their original habitat and either is Dave so after a brief visit our friendly turtle will be going back home.  He is doing great and the kids enjoy him. 

Don't forget to sign up and please be a follower or suscriber, then you will automatically get the updates!

Dentist visit #2 and more to come


My poor husband had a tooth pulled on Monday. One of the ones he broke a few months ago that the dentist couldn't save. Poor guy was in pain and all he ate for two days was bananas, yogurt, and pudding. The kids thought this was great, wondering why they can't eat like that.  He's doing better now but still pretty sore. Dave knew the kids and I would be fascinated about the tooth removal so he asked the dentisit to give him the tooth. I could not believe your tooth goes that deep into your jaw! They cut his jaw bone to get it at which is why he is so sore. He face was all puffy too. Of course the kids looked at the tooth and said "yuck!" except Jonah who was very interested in all the yucky details. Olivia insisted that her Daddy would get at least $1 from the tooth fairy because he is so old. The tooth is far enough back that it doesn't affect his smile, but we still have to decide if we want to have it replaced or not. The cost to replace it will be over $3000 and since the city doesn't have dental insurance, we might skip getting it replaced until after the adoption.

One of those days.....

Ya know how you just want to go to the bathroom and stay there, for than than 5 minutes by yourself. That was my day yesterday, a half hour would of been great though. I have to say I am one who rarely gets upset and things just don't bother me, but I was tired yesterday as well, so that added fuel to the fire. 

My sweet Livy and Jeremiah were just on a roll of frustration, anger, sassines, you name it.  

Jeremiah  has been a whirlwind of emotions for the past few weeks.  I have never had this with the other four.  Funny how they are so different.  When he gets mad at me for dressing him when he does not want to be or changing his diaper when he does not want to be I will scold him and then he will tell me he is mad at me or ask for someone who is not at the house right now. Help anybody...  He is so funny too.  He has these face expressions like a cute little angry old man.  It is hard not to laugh when I am correcting him. 

My sweet Livy just liked to do things her way and just add a little naughtiness to them.  She would spill something and then write her name in it with her hand or foot.  Acts of unkindness to Jeremiah just to aggravate him all day.  We even baked homemade chocolate brownies and licked the bowl.  We had a fun day she just kept throwing me a curveball every now and then. 

God-Give me wisdom in the dark days, Patience in the long days and Love in the hard days.  

 We need a constant Source of help, a place we can run where our Comforter never turns away and our Guide never departs. We need a Helper who can always be found, one whose love is steady and whose forgiveness is strong.

We need God.

We need God for life itself.

We need God during nights or days that are filled with frustration and tears, and we need Him on nights or days that are filled with laughter.

James 4:8 encourages, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (NKJV).

Thank you God for helping me get through the day with patience and grace.

Pleasing Christ...

When we had the rummage sale we prayed for a certain amount that we needed for our next payment which was $2700.  We had made a promise to God that if we made anything over and above what we needed we would bless some other families that are adopting with the rest of it. At first I wrestled with it in my mind and God. It's always hard to give it up, (and live how God wants us to live)when I know that come fall  we will need $8,000 for the International fees/Referral fees.  It is so much fun to be able to give and watch the Lord work though..

Trusting in the Lord..

Our God can move mountains...watch...

Open your eyes to see it and your heart to feel it...

He is an awesome God..

Show me Your ways, O Lord. Teach me Your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me for You are my God and my Savior and my hope is in You all day long” (Psalm 25:4-5, NIV).

Loving the Lord today....

We are not orphans living in a King’s house. We are His adopted children with full status as royal heirs. It is upon us to fully embrace all that we can and are meant to be. In that, we glorify God, bring honor and meaning to Christ’s sacrifice, and bring great joy to our Father in heaven.

Shout Out!!!

Some of our friends are getting ready to travel to bring home their children to their forever home.....please pray for them and help them raise the funds for them to travel.Check them out

http://www.fromgodtoghana.blogspot.com/  The t-shirts are great!  We all have one here! Great gift idea as well!

Fingerprints .....Done

Finally we are done with the fingerprints.  We had to wait 2 months for this appointment in Milwaukee.  This was the only thing holding up our Dossier.  We have been patiently(Hee, Hee) waiting for this so we could finish up.  We keep telling ourselves it's all in God's timing.  I felt so important yet cautious about going into the US Citizenship and Immigration Building.  There were 4 guards outside and cameras all over.  One told us to finish up our coffee before you enter and then to procede.  There were 4 or 5 more guys hanging out just looking at you.  I felt like they could see through my skin.  I was trying to make small talk with them and they were having none of that.  I thought, ok then this only makes me more nervous in here.  Stone cold silent is not for me.  I felt like the cameras could see my eyes blinking or the random thoughts going through my mind.  I had no idea what this building is all about so Dave proceded to tell me.  I was just flat out a nervous nelly constantly wondering what the person was doing behind me.  If you don't know me, my mind can come up with some serious things some times.  We filled out our paperwork and were out of there in no time at all.  Now we just wait for the processing and soon we will have our Dossier off... 

Goodbye...

We took Grandma Mimi and Papa Julio back to the airport today.  Headed back to sunny Santa Barbabra, CA.  We had a wonderful time together just hanging out and the kids played in the backyard pool or sprinkler most of the days. We also had a couple campfires and the kids thought it was so neat to stay up late with family here.   They were able to visit some friends and family they have not seen in awhile as well.  I will post pictures as soon as I get them downloaded. They only come to visit twice a year.  Once in the spring and then in the fall.  The kids always change so much in between.  We have so much fun together and time goes so fast.  We try to take one day at a time.   They are wonderful and such loving and caring people.  My 2 oldest children went with them this morning and they think it is so fun and cool to leave when it is so early and dark outside.  Like they are on a secret mission or something.  It's great to see the kids cry when they leave too.  They are really starting to feel such emotions and sadness and talk about it with us and how they feel.  It is always harder for the boys to express such emotions and true feelings.   Why is it that time always goes so fast when you have company over.  We all really get to see how we have changed since we have seen each other last and it always makes me sad.  Thank you God for each day we have together....time goes so fast on earth....... 

Clouds...

My dear Jonah saw all the cottonwood floating in the sky and he says, Mom who would want to shred the clouds into such little pieces and who would be able to get up there and do that....

This Place Is A Zoo

 Lions and Tigers and Bears oh MY!!!

Sorry I have not posted in awhile. We have been busy with Grandma Mimi and Papa Julio who are visiting us from their home in California.  Every time Dave's mom and step dad visit they like to treat us to something special and fun with the kids and this year it was a trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo.  We have not been to the zoo in quite a long time and it was a wonderful gift.  

It was really hot and we spent almost 6 hours walking without a nap for any of them but the kids were great the whole day. We ate bag lunches in the shade and saw LOTS of animals. We laughed and giggled and learned. What a great day. Thanks Mimi & Julio! We love you! 

Hanging Out..

Grandma Mimi and Papa Julio just got here from Santa Barbara, CA. 

A big thank you to our small group for helping us take down our rummage and for also taking a load to St.Vincent's.  We appreciate the help.

                   LOVE IS NOT A COLOR

             Grab yourself one of these beautiful shirts!

New Challenge...

Please check out this site http://www.storinguptreasures.com/ and see what stirs in your heart.

They are trying to help families raise funds for their adoptions.

             FAITHFUL,   FAITHFUL,   FAITHFUL
            AWESOME,  AWESOME,  AWESOME        
         LOVING, LOVING,    LOVING, LOVING
                                                          GOD

We serve an awesome MOUNTAIN MOVING  god.  It was so beautiful to see and watch anf feel him work in so many ways.  So many questions about the adoption process or just about orphans in general.  People opening their hearts to what God has put on it, it was so amazing.  I cannot tell you how many times I cried these last few days, it was so great and so real and live.  I loved it!  It was seriously crazy and busy which I love.  I love that feeling of always pushing yourself to get one more thing in the time frame.  Love it, love it, love it.  We got up at 4 am and kept going until about 9 or 10 pm and my parents helped the whole time.  Thank you my sweet friends for helping make frosting, puppy chow, taking my children, folding clothes whatever you did I am so thankful for your hearts and hands, and for our  wonderful friendship.  I have a hard time saying yes to help.  We made about 32 dozen Funky Buns and a ton of Puppy Chow.  At some points we were actually running through the house to keep up.  It was such a blast.  I love the adrenaline and the feeling of the holy spirit working through my skin.  So we prayed for $3,000 because we needed to make our next agency payment of $2700.  We had promised God that we would give back 10 % of what we made to others that are adopting if we met our goal and we did.  OOOOOOHHH our God REIGNS!!!!!  We made $3500.  Yahoo!!  Thanks to all the families that donated and helped and came out to support us and follow us on this journey.  We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  We will be having another rummage the first weekend in August again to raise money for the next payment that will be do and that one will be bigger($8,000).  So that's see what we can do and what God puts on your hearts. 

             Let him who boasts boast in theLord” (2      Corinthians 10:17).
             When we glory in the Lord about His beautiful creations and the wonderful things He has done for us, it fills us with love for Him. This love arouses in us a keen desire to please and serve Him, resulting in a life that glorifies the Lord. We then desire to win others to Christ, to help them become what He wants them to be and to enjoy the peace, joy, and abundant life He promised.  Keep the prayers coming, love, love, love...................

Day 1....what a day!!!!!

This rummage sale sort of took  over my life for the past 2 months and it was finally here!  We had a great first day yesterday opening at 8am and finally closing at 7am.  Dave and I got up at 3am to finish setting up more things.  My parents rented us a canopy from the True Value Hardware store in New Holstein. Dave and I set it up the night before but he was up most of the night tying it down due to a thunderstorm that hit us. We had a lot of rain in the morning and wind in the afternoon but we got all our stuff out to sell and boy did we need that canopy. It was a life saver! Thanks Mom & Dad and Thanks to the True Value store too who helped us out in so many ways! We have A LOT of stuff. We are so thankful for everyone's gracious donations.  The kids had a blast running around and helping.  Odin thought he could direct people like a salesman if they were looking for something special.  At one point we were actually running around.  Thank heavens my Dad did not have to work, he was my cook(doing brats and helping me make more Funky Buns).  I don't know what we would of done without my Dad. It was just me and my mom.  I am so thankful for their help and dedication.  We also had a lot of questions about adoption and only a few rude remarks that just rolled off my shoulder. God is so great and awesome...We are so thankful for the people that gave extra as well out of your own goodness of your heart.  I love to see how God works and moves people.  Another BIG thank you to friends of ours who surprised us with a huge donation. 

Rummage, Rummage, Rummage
Sorry I have not posted all week.  We have been busting our butt over here with our rummage stuff.  We have been flooded with donations and I am so so grateful.  I have been getting up at 3 usually during the week and pricing, hanging and organizing and running everything downstairs.  We will just have to carry everything back upstairs for the sale.  The whole garage is hanging clothes from 0-XXXL boys and girls.  God is good.  We have so many great things. I am shooting for a huge goal.  I am not one to get upset if we do not get there, though.  It is all fun.   I am so excited and cannot wait to see what God has in store for us this weekend.  I will post pictures when we get it all set up.  I am trying to get the kids excited too.  I already gave them quarters to polish shoes, price clothing and fold extra laundry.  It breaks my heart to take away time with them so we are trying to make helping with the rummage fun.
We had a great Mother's Day and hope all of you did too.  Had a wonderful morning with great music at church.  They were so alive and loud...LOVED it.  Did I ever tell you how much I like loud music.  So the whole church can be alive! Then went grocery shopping, worked on rummage, Dave cut the lawn and cooked out.  I am so thankful for my mom in so many ways. I dragged her through so many things, no mother should have to go through.  Restraining order(met my husband through this), dealing with a suicidal  and abusive (first and only) boyfriend(that brought my mom on many trips to houses, hospitals, woods in the midddle of the night) ongoing therapy, eating disorder  and many other interesting times.  She never gave up on me.  It seemed we learned about things together more like friends.  She always let me know how loved I was and how we could get through this together.  We kind of taught each other a lot about love and God.  She wrote me a letter everyday with scripture in and I still have all those and reread them once in awhile.  She spoke from her heart.  She truly never gave up and kept pushing me.  I love her dearly and thank her so much.  I am so thankful we have a Heavenly father that loves us so much as well.  He can hold you afloat through anything and I love him so much!  Thank you God for my wonderful yet broken life! 

God is so Good..

What a blessing of a week we just had.  We went to the Christian Alliance for Orphan Summit in MN.  I will write about that on another post. I am still on FIRE from all that. I just want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.  We had some huge ($700)donations from some friends and family.  God uses and works through everyday people to carry out His plan.  He is always there on the missions he gives us.  We are so thankful .  It's a great testimony of how faithful God is.  We have been giving & tithing  more than we have ever done before. I can honestly say looking at the books and bills It's only God that has brought us thus far and it is such a great feeling.   He knows our weaknesses ahead of time. He overcomes them in His might because we’re not able to do His will without Him. It’s important to remember that a Christian does not live life in his or her own power. We depend upon the power of God, in the form of the Holy Spirit to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. We rely on God to overcome the challenges that are in the way of accomplishing His work, knowing that He is right there with us (even when it doesn’t feel like He is) in order to bring Him glory.

 God knows we doubt Him, because it’s part of our sinful nature. But He’s given us plenty of promises in His Word to stand on, as well as the experience of His hand in our lives to prove that He’ll bring victory time and time again. 

Father God, thank You for pushing us out of our comfort zones in order to do Your work. Thank You for being with us during those times, clearing the path and giving us the ability to do what You call us to do. Please remove any fear, doubt selfishness, or shame from our hearts to make room for Your Spirit, glory, courage, and especially faith. May all we do be for You, and may we never forget that we serve You before ourselves or the world. In name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Love my Dentist...

Off I went to the dentist today to replace 2 old silver fillings I had that have been cracked for some time and bothering me.  Just kept putting it off until the pain just kept getting worse.  It was kind of funny how this one happened though.  It seems like ever since we started this adoption process we have had something seriously go wrong, or we have had to pay for things on the credit card card that we just don't have the money for.   It began to get kind of commical to me.  I am sure not too my husband but when your home all day long with all the kiddos and lots of loud and craziness going on.  Some things are just funny.  These past 2 weeks I jokingly said, wow, we have not had anything happen to us(besides Dave's work) this is amazing.  The next day Jonah broke the frame of his glasses vacuming under the couch.  I thought ok, there goes $100.  I took them to Walmart and got them fixed for $9.  Wow what a blessing.  That lady in there rocked.  Then of course the next day is when I had to go to the dentist for a check up on this pain and low and behold were those 2 fillings we had to change over.  Of course we do not have vision or dental so we just have to charge things.  Our dentist office rocks.  They are believers and they are so sweet and have wonderful caring hearts and families.  So I don't mind paying $378 for an office visit.  God is too funny sometimes.  He is so amazing when you really look at all we are blessed with in this world.  We are so thankful! 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

It's these little faces that keep us a float each day and are such blessings.  God is so good and so so faithful and loving. 

We just seem to be surrounded by sadness in this small community lately.  Dave has been hit from every side fighting off death and sadness non stop these last few weeks.  Please keep the prayers for sleep and peace coming for Dave and all these families that are dealing with hurt and loss right now. 

On another note, thank you  to all that have donated so so many things for the rummage.  I am SO excited.  I have set a huge goal! Our awesome God is mountain moving and I am ready!

Please keep the prayers coming for speedy paperwork, sleep at night and finances for our program fee coming up. 

 II Corinthians 5:7

           We walk by faith, not by sight.

EGGS...

So last weekend my husband did some cleaning on a huge ladder in our foyer.  We have this light there that hangs and seems so wasteful and it was in need of a serious cleaning.  So he did that and cleaned the 4 big windows as well that are in the foyer.  Realizing that we were egged.  Seriously I had no idea that kids still do this stuff.  Too funny...  I thought(and the kids) thought this was so funny.  The kids wanted to go find all the egg shells. 

Excitement...Excitement...Excitement
I have been busy over here getting ready for our  rummage sale next month. We will be selling the  necklaces, brats, cinnamon rolls(Funky Buns), a 2010 Collectors Series  Green Bay Packer football, bake sale and lots and lots of beautiful name brand clothing for every shape and size.  I cannot tell you how excited I am for this event. 
So many times since we started this journey we have faced adversity and heard the word "NO" so we need something positive like this sale. We cannot wait for this to happen.  Thanks to all those wonderful and thoughtful families that have donated items for us to sell. We appreciate it and love that you want to be part of this journey with us. 
On the adoption front we have been PATIENTLY waiting for our final notarized copy of our Home Study and then we will get our  fingerprint appointment.  Our little one has been on our hearts a lot lately.  We are getting so excited to see her face and touch her.  We cannot wait to see Africa and to see experience things we have never seen.  While we are waiting we are taking every step of  obedience to our Lord and Saviour.  Resting in God means to have absolute trust and confidence in His care for us, knowing that He will supply all our needs, and that He is more than enough for us.
We have had the house up for sale for over a month now with only a couple showings. We are waiting to see what the Lord has planned for us. If the house doesn't sell we'll probably take out a loan to fund the adoption and then stay here. So much to think about and wait but obviously God is teaching us patience too. It is so hard not to get excited, impatient and anxious all at the same time.  
Please keep praying for God to shield us from harm and to provide the finances for this adoption.

Uganda Necklaces Are Here

We are proud to offer you these beautiful necklaces created by hand from recycled magazines by women of the Karamojong tribe…Your purchase of these necklaces help fund not only our adoption costs but some of the proceeds also go back back to a feeding program run by Amazima Ministries and helps the women of this tribe maintain sustainable income for their families. It is a beautiful full circle story of the body of Christ. You can purchase them via Pay Pal with your credit card or contact me by e-mail to arrange other methods or if you have any other questions. The necklaces are $25 each. They make beautiful birthday and Mother's Day gifts too!    You can also wrap them around your wrist for a very awesome bracelet.  God Bless!

Easter at the Funk's

It was a great relaxing day

Flowers from Auntie Sarah!This is what my mom did for the kids for Easter.  She wrapped up a t-shirt and put them in strawberry containers with a $1 bill at the bottom. They loved it. Egg hunt. Going through our eggs and telling the resurrection  story.

Thank you for all the prayers.  Keep them coming on our house selling, speedy paperwork and that God will provide financially for us.  Thanks and much Love! 

Rainy Days...

This is what they like to do on rainy and snowy days!  They made gobbly goo consisiting of snow, sand, water, moldy bluberries, dead caterpillars and other critters and of course rabbit poop. 

From the mouth of children...

Jonah & my little nephew.
He took down all of his wall art he drew(my children draw and color all day) and started to sell it to people to raise money for the adoption...



Olivia woke up this morning to snow on the ground just after some beautiful sunny days and says....where did all that green stuff go mom?  Nice outfit hey!  This is the kind of stuff that just brings joy to my eyes! 
Don't forget we need more rummage for the rummage sale on May 13, 14, 15th.  Just let me know and I can pick it up.  We will also be selling our funky buns, having a brat fry and a Green Bay football to win too.  Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Puking-We have a lot going on over here!
We decided to take a trip to Appleton mall and return some gifts we got and hang out at the local free indoor playland for half the day.  All the kids were great the whole time and we had a blast.  We drove home(about an hour) and started to get ready for naps. Jeremiah(2) decided to go jump on our bed and puke all over it.  enough to wash all 3 blankets including the pad.  Got done with that and put new sheets on and then he just continued to puke everywhere about every half an hour until 11:30 at night.  I figured out he must of kept taking drinks out of someone else's cup on the counter because he refused to eat dinner but he kept asking for milk.  He really should not of had anything in his system anymore.  So by 6:00 it was getting to be funny and a game for the other children.  We ran out of rags, paper towel, dishcloths, bath towels and old t-shirts.  We did 8 loads of laundry.  the hard thing was that when he puled every time I was running with him so it splashed everywhere and made a bigger mess.  My older two Odin(6) and Jonah(5) had gloves on and were racing everywhere to help me.  It was great!  I was ready for some adult conversation by this time.  My husband is involved in a big case at work right now so I knew he really did not want to hear about puke. I did happen to gfet a wonderful card and donation from some friends of ours which was a huge blessing at the right time.  WOW!  God is great and he knows just what we need.   By 1am he was done and so was I.  Please continue to pray for our house to sell and for God to provide the funds for our adoption.  Next up is the final payment on our Home Study and more agency fees.  We are finishing up some papers on our Dossier and that is it for now!  Thanks for all your prayers and many blessings!  We cannot thank you enough!
Love, Love, Love
Jill

He Is Risen

He is Risen

My prayer for you, my bloggy friends, is that you would know Him. Know that He loves you. Know that He would have given His life if it was only for YOU. My hope is that you are celebrating new life in Christ today.

TRUST

TRUST ME
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6)


I can't tell you how much I have seen this in the past 3 days.  It is incredible how God works. 


What does it mean to trust? The Amplified New Testament uses the words: “lean on, rely on, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart.” It doesn’t mean we do nothing. In fact, it’s doing something that goes against our “take-charge” nature. It means acknowledging this thing is too big for me. I better leave it in the hands of Someone who is much kinder and wiser than I am.
Some days this is soooo HARD.
I am having a whole lot of sadness and am on an emotional rollercoaster these last few days.  Wow!  So much has been on my heart these last few weeks.  I'll let you in on it.  We always seem to have a full plate these days.  I never realized this until we took this next step (our adoption) at following what the Lord has put on our hearts.   There is so much on our hearts and what we want to do in our community.  I want to live in a community of believers that are faith driven and live like Jesus would.  We want to educate and advocate for the orphan and bring on the awareness.   This is hard  work, yet we are so excited and cannot wait for what the Lord has in store for us.  We will have plenty of battles to fight along the way but we will be doing  nothing but thanking our AWESOME GOD the whole time.     I am fully relying on my Heavenly Father in ways that I have never dreamed of.  I asked God for a change and to  bring on the next change in our lives and he came through with flying colors.  I am loving every minute of it but yet scared at the same time.  Wow, this is a lot of obedience on our part but we keep pushing forward.  We will keep pressing on.  Please keep praying that our house sells-FAST and we can move on!  Thank you for all the continued support and prayers.