Good news!

The past few weeks, I've really felt the many prayers that I know were being lifted up. I wasn't feeling as anxious or discouraged which was a huge improvement from a few weeks ago! Waiting for approval was always in the back of my mind, but I had gotten to the point where it wasn't consuming my thoughts. I knew we would eventually be approved and I was just going to have to be patient. 

So today when my phone rang at 6:59 am, I honestly expected it to be my mom calling me. To my surprise, I looked down to see our caseworkers name!

"Hi Megan! I have good news!! Your family is approved"

Ahhh, like music to my ears. My heart was beating faster, my palms were sweaty, and the grin on my face made my cheeks hurt! 

We found out that our home study must have accidentally been skipped over. It happens sometimes. I trust that God has a reason we were skipped over and that he is leading us on the perfect path to our daughter. 

So, what's next you ask? First, we're going to celebrate this small victory! Then, we buckle up and prepare for more (you guessed it) waiting.

We are now officially able to be matched. This can take anywhere from a few days to many months. Our caseworker will search the database for us every day to look for a match based on the special needs that we are open to. 

We can't even begin to tell you how excited we are to finally to see the face of our sweet little Maya. This girl is so loved. She is prayed for and talked about daily in our home and among our family members and dear friends. She even has some pretty little dresses waiting for her in her closet! :)

We ask that you'd continue to keep our family in your prayers and have some specific prayer requests:

• We are waiting for our USCIS approval and some documents getting apostilled in two different states. Please pray that we would get the approval and documents soon so we can finish our dossier. 
• Be praying for a referral to come to us quickly! You can also pray that we would be open to the daughter God has for us.
• Prayers for patience and peace during the waiting would definitely be appreciated. 
• Always pray for our little Maya. We may not know who she is, but God does. 

A Prayer Request

This past week, we were hoping to get to share exciting news of progress in our adoption. However, 8 weeks have passed and we are still waiting on that approval. 

For those who are not familiar with the process, our home study was uploaded to a database for review in Ind*a by C*RA back in February. Once we're approved, we will officially be waiting for a match!  

We're not really sure why we haven't received this approval yet.

Thankfully, we have an amazing caseworker who is proactive and sent an email to C*ARA on Tuesday to check on the status of our home study approval, but we could wait a while for a response. And no, we're not sure how long that might be! ;) 

Despite the delays we've experienced, we're still so excited! We are just about bursting with joy to be one baby step closer to our sweet daughter. We still can't get over the fact how our love can be so strong for a child we have never even seen! Oh sweet girl, your mommy, daddy, and big brothers can't wait to finally see your face! 

For now, we are asking for you to pray that the email our caseworker sent will be read by C*RA and that we will get the C*RINGS approval that we have been waiting for. 

Making Memories

I loved my childhood. 

My fondest memories involved camping with my family. Playing games, exploring, reading for hours in a secret spot that I found in the woods, fishing with my dad, spontaneously swimming in a creek, roasting hot dogs and eating s'mores around the campfire.

As a parent, now it's my turn to be intentional about making memories as a family. I want to incorporate some of the things that I loved doing as a child, into my children's lives.

A few weeks ago we took a little day trip up to Sedona. Isn't God's creation just amazing?

The water was so cold it felt like our feet were going to fall off, but the boys still wanted to get their feet wet! 

I love giving the boys the freedom to explore on their own. They were so happy to climb and hike just like big boys!  

We had so much fun exploring Slide Rock State Park together! We're looking forward to making more outdoor memories this summer.