Catching Up Via Facebook Posts

The cutest packing helper EVER!!!

As long as she's got her stacking cups, she's happy!

This last week has been a blur of packing, unpacking, repacking, unpacking and repacking again!  I haven't brought myself to unpack again from our latest move.  We may just live out of suitcases for a few days.

Since I'm so behind in posting, I've decided to copy my updates from Facebook and paste them here.  I am using the blog to keep up with family and friends who aren't on FB and also as a diary for our family.  So, all you FB friends can just skip this post - there's nothing new!  I surely hope I can get back to blogging and adding pics more frequently now.  However, please know we truly appreciate your prayers and support. 

Thursday, January 26th - Paseo on Metro Cable To "Ecológico Parque Piedras Blancas"
 I will do a separate post about our  outing with pics!

Friday, January 25th - Move from Hotel to  an Apartment
The move was a success! Wouldn't you know our little princess handled the move better than anyone?!? She's a real trooper. Will update the blog tomorrow with pics of our amazing outing yesterday. Thanks for your prayers

Saturday, January 26th - Preparing to Send Victor Home :(
Packing and re-packing! NO fun!!! Trying to send a bunch of stuff back with Vic to lighten our load for the next two legs of this journey. Please pray for our T-Girl today. She is having a tough time adjusting to all the changes over the last few days and anticipating Daddy's departure. Also, "Little Bit" did not sleep well last night so we are extra tired and stressed. Prayers needed and appreciated!

Sunday, January 27th - Victor Flies Home
Please continue to pray for us. It's been a rough few days - little to no sleep for several nights, Vic leaving, T-girl very anxious and tonight my right hand gal, Evie, has gotten really sick. Almost seems like a stomach flu or something. She feels just awful. Please pray the worst is over ad that no one else gets this. I promise a cheerier update and pics soon - PROMISE! Our little one is an absolute doll and so easy going - what a blessing!!!

Monday, January 28th - Move Back to Hotel

Thanks for the many prayers and comments over the last days. Evie is better today - weak and worn out but was able to eat a little broth tonight and keep it down. Please pray that no one else gets the bug. Can't even imagine my littlest angel that sick. :(

Would you believe me if I told you that we moved AGAIN today?!? Well, we did! We are back at the hotel for a while. The apartment just wasn't working out. It has certainly been an eventful few days.

Biggest challenge at the moment is enduring pitiful pleas from Gracey. She is NOT liking her crib. Until tonight, she has slept with us. However, she becomes a Ninja after about 10pm and can deliver some serious kicks and punches - ALL NIGHT LONG! She fell off the bed last night. I haven't slept well in days. Not sure I can withstand the sadness. Even her pitiful face is adorable!

 

Tuesday, January 29th - Catching Up and a Bit of Souvenir Shopping

That brings me to today!  Yay!  Naptime is over so my time is up.  I hope to add pics from our paseo later this evening.

Our Case has Officially Begun!

We've had a busy couple of days; but, sadly, I don't have many pictures to share.  The little girls have been dressed so adorably the last two days for our meetings but we didn't take pictures.  MUST DO BETTER!!!

It's amazing how the days are beginning to run together.  I had planned to blog each day so I would have a record of our days and be able to remember details for a photo book.  How have four days passed and I have no idea what we did Sunday or Monday?  Oh well! 

The biggest news is that we had our "Integration Interview" at ICBF on Tuesday.  We met with the psychologist, our lawyer,  the Defender of Minors and our rep.  The psychologist asked us many detailed questions about how Gracey is doing and how we feel she is adjusting to our family.  She slept through half of the meeting and then woke up happily and proceeded to show off her new skirt and shoes!  The whole office is delighted that she is doing so well!  Based on ICBF's observations and our testimony, the psychologist determined that we are a good match for Gracey and we were granted permission to submit our case into the court system.  Yay! 

After our interview we continued meeting with the same team to discuss submitting our adoption case.  This past year has been one of many difficulties and changes in the adoption process here in Colombia.  The year also ended with a long judicial strike.  Because of all the unrest and because we are the first family to enter an adoption case this year, the decision as to where we would present our case was very serious.  After much discussion and deliberations we decided to present our case in a suburb of Medellín.  I won't go in to all of the details here but please pray that we made the correct decision.

Today we traveled to the court outside of Medellín and our lawyer entered our case.  We feel very blessed to be in the care of our lawyer.  She is extremely detailed and seems to work hard to follow the law exactly so we will hopefully not encounter any problems with the process.  We were assigned a favorable judge and everyone seems to think that things should go smoothly.  This part of the process typically takes about three weeks.  Please join us in praying that we will find favor with the judge and that he will not encounter any problems in our paperwork.

The only other bit of news is that because we have entered a court outside of Medellín, we will have to move to that region.  We hate the thought of packing up all of this stuff but we understand the law and we will be able to stay in an apartment that is much more reasonably priced than the hotel.  An apartment is not available until Friday so we will move then.  Please pray that Gracey will adjust well to the move and not be scared of new surroundings. 

Victor does not return home until Sunday so it will be nice to have his help moving.  I anticipate that it will take a few days to get settled into a new routine without the girls' beloved Papi!  Please pray for them and for me!  These girls are most definitely "Daddy's girls." We will all miss him terribly.  Who is going to carry the incredibly heavy diaper bag?!?

I'll close with a couple of pics Evie has from the last few days. We are going on another paseo tomorrow so we should have better pics soon! Thanks for following our journey and for praying for us!!!

Gracey LOVES looking at the board book we sent to her of our family!
She is SO smart!  She can find people we ask about and is trying to say some names.
Papi is her favorite, OF COURSE!
Never mind that the book is upside down!!!



We celebrated our great interview with ice cream at Crepes & Waffles!  SO SWEET!!!

Un Paseo



 

 

 Saturday was a beautiful day here in Medellín! Our guide, Vicky, took us on a wonderful "paseo" to see the countryside surrounding the city. We stopped at an overlook with a great view of the city, had refreshments at a quaint market area, drove through a pueblo then stopped for lunch at a delicious typical restaurant. It was a marvelous day and such a privilege to see more of our children's country. Colombia is BEAUTIFUL!!! Enjoy these few pics of Medellín - "The City of Eternal Spring!"

 Our little Colombian princess is quite the traveler!  She never complained about a wet diaper, missing her snack time or a long, windy car ride.  She has the sweetest disposition!  Here she is napping after a long outing.  SO PRECIOUS!

Getting to Know Each Other

In an effort not to overwhelm Gracey, we have decided to spend most of our time this first week here at the hotel with an occasional outing.  Today we had another great day!  We took Gracey to get her bangs trimmed this morning.  She was a wiggle worm!  The poor hair dresser had a tough time evening up her bangs and trimming the ends off of the back.  Evie suggested we take a high chair to contain her next time she needs a trim.  Gracey was a hit in the salon and left with many new friends if not a great haircut.  Oh well, at least we can see those precious eyes better now.  After lunch and a much needed nap, we went for a swim.  Looks like we have yet another fish on our hands!  Gracey loved the water!!!  She splashed and splashed.  We didn't keep her in too long as the air cools down quickly as the sun begins to set.  We did learn that letting her take a two hour nap is not a great idea.  We all had a much needed rest while she slept but it took over 2 hours for her to get to sleep tonight. Oh well, she is such a snuggle bug, I'm not complaining! 

Here are a couple of pics from the day.  Whew - I'm caught up!  We'll see how long that lasts. :)

Our First Outing

Thursday we had another quiet morning here at the hotel. In the afternoon, our rep, Vicky, took us to the Tesoro Mall.  Tori has been planning a trip back to the outdoor amusement park in the center of this mall for weeks now.  She remembered having much fun at the amusement park while we were here adopting Cami and Leo.  Once again, we had a great time! We assume this was the first time Gracey has been to an amusement park and needless to say she was thrilled with all of the fun rides and things to see.  Tori had a blast riding rides she remembered and being old enough to try a few new ones.  Once again, I'll let the pictures do the talking!  Enjoy!!!

 



Sweet Bonding Time

How can it be that I am already behind on posting pics and documenting our days here in Colombia?  We'll say it's because we are busy keeping up with a very active 3 year old cutie pie!  Seriously though, by the time we get her down at night, I'm exhausted and can barely put together a coherent sentence much less remember the steps to get pics uploaded to the blog.

Since I know you guys are really here to see pics and don't want to hear me ramble on, I'll give a quick update and then include some more adorable pictures taken over the last few days.

The adoption process here in Colombia requires a 7-10 day bonding period before a case can officially be entered into the courts.  We are in the middle of that time now.

We spent Wednesday here at the hotel settling in and giving Juliana Grace time to get comfortable with us.  Her transition seems to be going very smoothly.  She is playful and happy most all of the time.  Nap time and bedtime seem to be the times of day that make her a little sad.  However, even her sad face is precious! We just snuggle and sing and she falls asleep fairly quickly.

The hotel has a lovely pool and a fun little playground so are spending the majority of our time outside.  It is summer here so the days are warmer but it cools off quickly as the sun begins to go down.  The pictures below are from our first full day together with our Gracey.  I will publish a separate post from our outing yesterday.

 







Meeting our Treasure

Our "Encuentro" with Juliana Grace in Pictures

 

 

We arrived early to our appointment at ICBF

(Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar) and had a wonderful time meeting many of the people who have been key in Juliana's care during the last three years.  We learned that she is highly favored at the ICBF offices and everyone we met was genuinely thrilled for Juliana and our family.  One of the case workers had traveled early in the morning to pick up Juliana from her foster home and while we waited for her to arrive, we began a formal meeting with her social worker, our representative and our lawyer.  For well over an hour, the social worker gave us a detailed account of Juliana's life until this point.  We were very impressed with the details we were given about her life and her care.  It will be very helpful as we learn all about our new daughter.  While we met in an office, Evie and Tori walked around the halls hoping to get a sneak peak of their new sister!  When Juliana arrived, the case workers allowed Evie and Tori to meet her and play with the toys we brought as gifts while we finished our meeting.  I could hardly listen to all of the information knowing my daughter was on the other side of the window.  FINALLY, we finished and Evie and Tori walked in with Juliana Grace!!!  The moment was so surreal.  I believe the entire office stopped working and gathered to watch as we met Juliana.  She is so tiny and precious - full of life and love!!! We are absolutely smitten with her and are overwhelmed that we have been chosen to be her parents.  I'll stop now and let the pictures introduce you to our angel baby!

LOVE IS EVERYTHING!!!

 

This sums up our day:

 

LOVE IS EVERYTHING!!!!!!

 

Juliana Grace was presented to us today in Medellín, Colombia wearing this adorable shirt. 

Could anything or anyone be more perfect!?!
We are In Love!!!!!!!

TODAY is THE DAY!!!

I can hardly believe today is FINALLY here!!!  After well over a year of praying, fundraising, paperwork, more praying, fundraising, paperwork and even more paperwork, we have made it back to Colombia and will soon meet our precious Juliana Grace!  This journey has certainly been filled with twists and turns and is promising to continue to be very interesting.

I will attempt a quick update for our friends who aren't on Facebook and are counting on the blog to stay posted on our trip.  I also want to keep up with the blog because it is such a wonderful diary of our trip for our family.  We have loved looking back with Cami and Leo and reading about our journey to bring them home nearly four years ago.

We arrived in Colombia Sunday evening.  This time, we were able to fly directly to the Medellín airport instead of having to fly to Bogota first.  We did have to overnight at a hotel near the airport before being picked up by our AMAZING agency rep, Vicky, yesterday morning.  We met Vicky on our last trip to Medellín as she was one of the people who helped in Cami and Leo's adoption.  We are thrilled that she is our rep this time and have already had a fantastic time getting to know her.

Vicky shared yesterday that she has been working for over two years to find a family for Juliana (our Gracey).  Through tears she told how special Juliana is and how hard she has worked on every detail in her adoption.  Evidently Juliana is quite favored at ICBF and many are anxious to see her placed in our family!  We feel honored and very blessed to be entrusted with such an amazing treasure.

After picking us up yesterday morning, Vicky brought us to the hotel and helped us get settled.  Medellín is every bit as lovely as we remembered!  It is called "The City of Eternal Spring" and is absolutely beautiful.  Evie is our designated photographer so I will have to get some of her pics downloaded soon.  Evie and Tori enjoyed a swim in the pool after we got settled.  We sure hope Gracey likes the water as much as our other kiddos do!

Then, yesterday afternoon Vicky hosted a informal meeting with our lawyer, Maria Jose here at the hotel. She is also very nice and seems to be extremely dedicated to helping families with their adoptions.  She has already done a great deal of work with our case and seems quite proactive.  There are a couple of big decisions we will need to make in the next few days in regards to our case and we feel confident and at ease with these fabulous two ladies on our team!

Vicky will pick us up this morning about 9:00am and we will go to a notary's office to sign a document that must be taken to ICBF.  Our appointment is at 10:30am.  Vicky told us to expect there to be several people in attendance at the "Encuentro" as many are so thrilled about Juliana's adoption.  After a time of learning about Juliana, we will be presented with our precious little one.  We will be granted temporary custody of her at that time and she will come with us directly to the hotel.  This will begin our mandatory 8-10 day "Bonding Time."  After that time, we will have an interview back with ICBF and if all is going well, our case will then be entered into the court.

Well, it seems that my middle of the night typing has awakened T-girl.  I better sign off and see if we both can get a little more sleep.  We appreciate your prayers and sweet comments more than you know.  It is so comforting to know we have a prayer force backing us on this journey.

Please pray specifically for Juliana Grace today.  She has been in her foster home most of her little life.  Today, while we are thrilled beyond words to be gaining a new daughter, Gracey will lose everything that is familiar to her.  Please pray that she will not be frightened and that God will give her peace.  Please pray also for her wonderful foster mother.  We are so grateful for her and although we are not allowed to meet her, we will be taking a note and gift to let her know how very thankful we are to her for loving and caring for our daughter until we could come for her.  I cannot fathom how sad and heartbroken she must be today.  We all need more of God's amazing grace as we walk out today!

Thanks for loving us SO WELL!!!  Pics and video to follow as soon as possible.

The Final Countdown Has Begun!

It's hard to believe that since our last post, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's have come and gone.  The last two months have been a blur!  I'll attempt a quick overview to catch everyone up.

The abbreviated version is:

We leave for Colombia in FOUR days and meet our precious new daughter, Juliana Grace, in SIX short days!!!  We are FINALY bringing Gracey home!

Here's the slightly more detailed version:

Moments after I published the last entry, we received a call from our agency saying that we had been given a date to meet Gracey - JUST THREE DAYS LATER!!!  Needless to say, we flew into action and began making plans to travel in two days.  It was craziness!  Then, in a bizarre twist of events, everything came to a screeching halt the next day when our agency realized that there had been a mix-up and we had actually NOT been given an "Encuentro" date yet.  We were confused and disappointed and yet relieved.  It would have been a monumental task to mobilize our family of six for a trip of this magnitude in only 2 days.  In addition, it was doubtful that we would have been able to complete the adoption process before the holiday shut down on December 14th.  We are confident that God slammed that door shut for our protection.

The following day, we were contacted again with an official date to meet our Gracey - January 15, 2013!!!!  We were of course excited BUT January felt SO FAR away!

So, we took a deep breath and regrouped - AGAIN! 

The holidays were upon us.  We decided a quiet Thanksgiving was in order.  We made tons of our favorite Colombian food and enjoyed our time together - dreaming of our little Colombian princess.  Next, the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season began.  We had a wonderful time together celebrating our Savior's birth with our family and friends!  Then it was on to New Year's Day.  We hosted our family for a traditional Colombian feast called Bandeja Paisa!  It was "delicioso" and mucho fun!

Since then, we have been busily preparing for our trip.  The final countdown has begun!  We leave for Colombia in four days and get to meet our Gracey girl in SIX DAYS!!!
The journey has certainly been long and full twist and turns and we know more are sure to come.  However, we are confident that God is in control!  We continue to trust Him and rely on Him for everything we need.

We continue to be amazed by His grace and by the love and generosity of our family and friends!  We long for the day that we can hold our sweet girl and show her off.

Please pray that the next couple of days will go smoothly as we pack and prepare for our trip.  Pray for God's perfect peace and timing in the whole adoption process.  There are rumors of a renewed judicial strike in Colombia so things are still a bit uncertain. 

Also, we covet prayers for our precious Gracey.  She has been in her foster home for most of her life.  We anticipate that she will be scared and confused as she transitions into our care.  While we have been longing to hold her and love on her, she knows little about us. 

Well - that's the shortest version I could come up with!  Sorry! :)

We plan to blog as often as possible and do short updates via Facebook posts.  The estimated time for our process in Colombia is four to six weeks although Victor will only be there for the first two weeks or so. Thanks to all who are keeping up with us and remembering us in your prayers.  We are so grateful for each one of you! 

Our next update should be from Colombia!  Woo Hoo!!!

Happy Birthday to Our Precious Juliana Grace!!!

Never did we dream that we wouldn't have our sweet girl home for her 3rd birthday.

When we realized we wouldn't have her home for her birthday - never did we dream she wouldn't be in our arms for her birthday.  We were confident we would travel to Colombia before her birthday.

Well, here it is November 13th - our sweet little one's 3rd birthday - we do not have Juliana Grace home and she won't be in our arms today.  The truth is that we don't know when we'll finally meet her or be able to bring her home.

And yet, there is grace - AMAZING GRACE!

These past few weeks have been filled with so many twists and turns - ups and downs.  Quite honestly, we are dizzy and disoriented from the roller coaster ride.

Last week our  immigration paperwork had been completely approved, it seemed likely we would receive our Article 5 from the US Embassy and it appeared the Judicial Strike in Colombia was ending - just in the nick of time!  We scurried around getting apostilles in Montgomery and rushing to Atlanta to get our Colombian visas at the consulate, all the while trying to secure flights to Medellín.  It seemed that God was orchestrating every detail - it was truly miraculous the way all the obstacles were falling away!  We were ecstatic and so grateful that we would at long last be traveling to bring our baby girl home.

Then Thursday afternoon we were contacted by our agency.  They informed us that the strike was definitely NOT over in Colombia and the US Embassy had made the decision to not issue any Article 5 letters (the last document we need before travel) until the strike was completely over.  Mind you, on Thursday alone we had heard that "YES" it was over then "NO" it's not at least 3 times! 

Our agency decided Thursday that we will not be traveling to Colombia this year.  We were heart broken - yet there is GRACE!

Just yesterday - another twist! We were told that the US Embassy will be issuing our Article 5 letter this week.  What does that mean?  Could we travel?  Is there time?  Again, the answer comes, "NO."  It's just too risky.  One of us is good with risk - the other, not so much!  "I don't want to limit God!" "What if God really wants to show off?"  "We will give Him all the glory!"  "We will have such a testimony to share!"  These are a few of my rationalizations.

And yet my wise husband knows we should WAIT.  I've grown so tired of that word!

Is there grace?  YES!

Even if the strike ends definitively this week, the courts will close again on December 14th for the holidays.  They do not reopen until January 14th, 2013.  In addition, due to the length of the strike, it is expected that there will be quite a backlog of cases and that adoption cases will not have priority.  All of these factors make it very risky for us to travel to Colombia and be able to complete our adoption this year.  If we traveled and could not complete the legal process before December 14th, we would be stuck in Colombia until after January 14th.  While we would have our Gracey with us during that whole time and spending the holidays in Colombia would be great fun, we would be separated as a family and would incur many expenses that we just cannot afford.

So, we will not travel to Colombia this year.  We do not know when we will go exactly.  Where is the grace?

It has been 17 months since we first saw our little love's face.  Seventeen months since this momma knew I was looking at my baby girl.  Seventeen months since God whispered into my heart that there was grace for one more and that she was His gift of grace to us!  Yes, that's right, an abandoned orphan with Down syndrome - His grace, His gift to us?  YES!!!

This journey has not been easy.  Yet there is grace! So much GRACE!

We are so blessed that our Gracey was allowed to remain in her foster home for the duration of her adoption.  So many precious ones just like Gracey wait while tied to their cribs, sitting in their own waste with little to eat or drink.  Their frail bodies wasting away.  Please pray for the forgotten ones.  The ones no one has chosen.  His grace is for them too!

We greatly appreciate those who have prayed for us and loved us so well in this journey.  Please continue to pray that God will make His way clear to us and will grant us peace in the waiting.

The Concert was a HUGE Success - another overdue update!

Obviously, I'm not keeping my promise of updating the blog regularly.  So sorry!  May I have one more chance to be a good blogger?

The concert was a fabulous success!!!  So many came out to help us "Bring Gracey Home!"  The music was great, the popsicles were delicious and refreshing and the silent auction was exciting!  Thanks to all who came out and enjoyed the evening.  Thanks also to each of the bands who played so well.  So many worked hard to pull of the benefit concert and we were moved by everyone's generosity. 

Debi Blaising confessed after the concert that she hoped to raise $2,000 to help us bring our girl home.  Her kids told her she was dreaming and that it would be great if the concert brought in $1,000.  BUT GOD --- the "Bring Gracey Home" Benefit Concert raised over $3,000!!!  Can you believe it?  God is SO good and the Blaising family is simply amazing!  Thanks just doesn't seem adequate.

If you missed the concert, make sure to click on the link in the post below to watch the video and hear the amazing song.

As far as an update on actually bringing Gracey home, there is not much news.  We are still in that dreaded "hurry up and wait" stage.  Our dossier is in Colombia and has been reviewed.  The Colombian government had a few requests from us that we were able to complete within a week - yet another miracle!  Now that the revisions are hopefully translated and back in Colombia, we wait yet again.  The window for traveling this fall is getting really small but we remain hopeful.  We would love to have our baby girl home before she turns 3 in November. 

Please pray for God's perfect timing!

Bring Gracey Home - Benefit Concert

Hey friends, join us Saturday, July 14, at 7:00 at Shades Mountain Independent Church for a benefit concert to help "Bring Gracey Home."

Check out the event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/242622802507527/#!/events/242622802507527/

Hope you can come!  Please invite your friends!

A Long Overdue Update!

We apologize to the faithful few who have checked in and wondered what is going on with Juliana's adoption.  I wish we had some amazing reason (like we had traveled to Colombia!) why we have negleted the blog these last few months - but, we don't.  We've just been busy with life and feeling like we didn't have anything noteworthy to blog about.  However, as I sit to gather my thoughts and reflect back over these last months, I realize how very mistaken we were. 

God has been abundantly faithful!  I'll recap since February:

     *We held 3 garage sales over 5 weeks and raised over $8,000!!!  Only God could do that!
       We've never made more than $100 at a garage sale.  We met our matching grant goal and
       were able to send in our portion to Brittany's Hope Foundation.  Simply amazing!

     *We completed our home study with Lifeline Children's Services and after being officially
       approved with Children's Home Society and Family Services, we began the arduous task of
       completing our dossier for Colombia.  After over 3 months of collecting vital documents, having
       those documents notarized and then apostilled, we have finally sent everything off to
       Colombia! Major praise!

     *Over the last months, God has continued to move on our behalf!  Faithful friends and family,
        have sacrificially given to help us with Juliana's adoption.  Here are just a few examples:
               *Some dear friends ate beans and rice for several weeks for Sunday lunch and donated
                 their savings to our adoption fund. 
               *A precious family (and cousin!) held a garage sale on our behalf in Texas and sent
                 us the proceeds. 
               *Several others have donated to our paypal account or to our One Way Ministries fund.
               *A creative group of young adults have planned a benefit concert to help us bring our
                 baby girl home! 

We are overwhelmed and so very grateful to all those who have prayed for us and helped us thus far in our journey.  Most certainly, this is not about us - it is about God and his abundant GRACE!!!

On that note, we would like to announce that we have prayerfully decided to name our sweet girl Juliana Grace Nichols.  We will be calling her Gracey!  His grace has been so evident to us in this whole process and we don't want to ever forget.  We want the world to know that His GRACE is sufficient!!!

We are now in that "hurry up and WAIT" phase of an adoption.  We covet your prayers for God's perfect timing and peace.  We had hoped to travel to Colombia this summer to bring Gracey home but now realize that it will be fall at the earliest.  Not our plans, but His!

News about the benefit concert coming soon!

The Mountain is Moving!!!

What an amazing weekend!!!  We held our first fundraising garage sale this Friday and Saturday and it was absolutely incredible!  So many people donated wonderful things, tons of people came out and shopped, the rain held off until everything was packed up and WE RAISED OVER HALF OF OUR $8,000 MATCHING GRANT from Brittany's Hope!!!  I'm not sure why we are so surprised?!?  We prayed that God would provide and that His perfect will would be accomplished.  We shouldn't be surprised that He showed up and showed off!  God is always faithful!!!


One of the most delightful surprises was the support we received from the local down syndrome community.  Each day several parents came by from the PADS (Parent Advocates Down Syndrome) group to meet us and support our adoption.  We are so encouraged and excited to join this fabulous support network.  Thanks to all who took time out of your busy weekends to come out and support our family.  We loved meeting you and especially loved meeting your children!


Many thanks are also due to our wonderful family and friends who showed up to help us sort items, set up the tables, brought breakfast and baked goods, helped customers, handled money and then helped us break down on Saturday afternoon.  We couldn't have done it without you guys!  We are so grateful that God has called each of you to support our family on this Joyful Journey to Juliana!


One more thing - this weekend was such a success that we have decided to have another sale on March 2nd and 3rd.  Please pass the word.  We are available to pick up donations at your convenience.  So, if you or any of your friends were afraid you missed the opportunity to donate your treasures, have no fear!  Just give us a call and we'll set up a time to pick up your donations.  Thanks!


Off to tally up our total and update our thermometer.  Check back soon!

Lots of News!

God is SO faithful!!!

I've waited too long to post an update and now have way too much news for one post. In an attempt to keep this as brief as possible (don't laugh), I'll use bullet points for the highlights. 

Here are a few of our praises:

*Our *5-4-5* account is growing!  In addition to donations to our PayPal account, a few very
  generous friends have given us a cash or checks.  So, the correct total of our adoption
  fund is not reflected on the meter on the sidebar.  As of today, our total is $2,786!!!  
  Our home study is covered and we had enough money to complete our first set of
  fingerprints and paperwork fees!  Isn't God good?!?

*We are now connected with One Way Ministries (http://1wayministries.org), a wonderful 
  organization whose mission is to boldly share the message of the One Way to receive
  eternal life and how to have that life in abundance, experiencing eternal life from today
  forward. Because they have allowed us to come under their ministry covering, we are
  now able to offer receipts for charitable contributions to all those who donate money or
  items for our adoption fundraisers.  We are completing those forms now for all those who
  gave in 2011.  God is taking care of EVERY detail!

*Because of your generous support, we were able to call our social worker at Lifeline
  (http://lifelineadoption.org) and set up our first visit for our home study.  We meet with
  Lynn on January 26th.

*We received our ABI / FBI clearance on Friday!  It only took 3 weeks!  Amazing!

*We received a scholarship from our placing agency, Children's Home Society and Family
  Services (http://www.chsfs.org)  in the amount of $3,000.  This will cover a large part of
  our fees with CHSFS and will leave us a much reduced fee of $3,400.  Excellent! 
 
*We have also received a matching grant from Brittany's Hope Foundation 
  (http://www.brittanyshope.org) for $8,000!  That means we will be required to raise $8,000
  in order to receive the full grant.  Seems impossible to us, but our trust is in our faithful
  God!  $2,500 seemed impossible just a few weeks ago!

*Juliana has $730 in her adoption account with Reece's Rainbow.   
  (http://www.reecesrainbow.org)  We are still working on completing paperwork in
  order to be an approved family with RR but look forward to building a relationship
  with this great organization.  Juliana is now listed under the "My Family Found Me"
  section and is listed as Julie if you'd like to read the write up about her.

*We have finalized plans for our HUGE Garage Sale.  We are holding the sale on
  February 3rd and 4th.  We have received many donations and have more to pick up this
  week.  We are hoping to make the $3,400 needed to pay our remaining fees at CHSFS. 
  Wouldn't that be great?

*We received word from CHSFS that Juliana is going to be allowed to stay in her foster
  home and not have to be moved to an orphanage as is regular procedure in Colombia!
  We are so thrilled and relieved.  We hated the thought of her having to be moved.  From
  the few pictures we have, Juliana seems very close to her foster mother. They seem to
  have a loving relationship.  We feel so blessed!

Here are a few of our prayer requests:

*Please pray for the Lord's direction and perfect timing in this adoption. 
  We long to clearly hear His voice regarding every aspect of this adoption.

*Also, pray for Juliana's health and safety.  We are so thankful for her foster family and
  are praying for God to shower them with blessings.

*Pray for our HUGE sale on February 3rd and 4th!  We need masses of people to show
  up and buy tons of stuff.

*Please pray for us to have creative and successful ideas for other fundraisers.  After
  raising the remaining $3,400 for CHSFS, we need to get started on the $8,000 for our
  matching grant.  Any ideas?

*Pray for our social worker as she works closely with us to complete our home study as
  quickly as possible.

*And finally, please pray for our clearance to come quickly from DHR.  The CAN forms take
  a very long time in Alabama.  We have been told to expect at least three months.  Our
  social worker said, "Alabama is the slowest state in the union for CAN reports!"  Evidently
  other states can have them returned in a matter of days.  Please pray that God would
  expedite our reports.  Our social worker cannot complete our home study without these
  clearances.

We are SO thankful for each of you who are

following along with us on this journey! 

Please know we have thanked God for each one of you! 

You are a blessing!

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed.

Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

Isaiah 1:17

God Multiplied Loaves of Bread for Our Family Today!!!

One Dear Friend + A Basketful of Her Wonderful, Homemade Bread = $77 for Our Adoption!

PRICELESS!!!! 

Unbeknownst to us, our dear friend Jan Deuel brought a laundry basket

 full of her delicious, homemade bread to dance class this morning and

announced that the proceeds from selling her bread would go directly to our adoption. 

I was speechless! 

Such sacrifice and love.  Jan left with an empty basket

and we have seventy-seven more dollars towards our adoption of Juliana Grace! 

Thanks to all who bought her yummy bread but most of all

thank you for the encouraging words and smiles! 

Jan, you will never know how much your act of kindness meant to our family.

She humbly said this morning, "I can't adopt but I can help your family adopt."

THAT'S IT! 

Some CAN Adopt, Some CAN Give, WE ALL CAN CARE      

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father

 means caring for orphans and widows in their distress."

James 1:27

*5-4-5* FIVE FOR FIVE *5-4-5*

God called.  We answered.  We're figuring out the rest as we go!

We have completed our initial applications to our home study agency and our placing agency.

Our next step is to have our social worker come out to begin a home study.

However, in order to get things moving, we need to pay Lifeline a total of $2,000.  

This is just the first fee of many on this journey to Juliana.  

The expected cost of this adoption is at least $25,000.  

We are hoping to qualify for some grants but first need to complete our home study.  

SO, we're launching our first fundraising campaign 

 "FIVE FOR FIVE" or 5-4-5 !!!

Our goal is to find 60 friends who will commit to finding 20 friends

who are willing to "chip in" $5 or more toward our adoption.  

Juliana will be our fifth child so "FIVE FOR FIVE" seems fitting.  

We feel and hope that a $5 donation is something that almost anyone can help with.  

We will use this money specifically for our home study,

application and program fees and document expenses in the coming weeks. 

If you can help us bring Juliana home, we would sincerely and humbly appreciate your support.

Just click on the "Chip In" button on the sidebar of our blog to donate via Paypal.  

You don't even have to have a Paypal account. 

Then, share this post with 20 of your closest friends!  

Feel free to link our blog in an email or share on Facebook.

¡Muchas Gracias!

La Familia Nichols

EXCITING NEWS!!!

We are SO excited to announce that we are beginning another adoption! 

This past summer we learned of a precious little girl in Medellín, Colombia who needs a forever family.  Her name is Juliana and we are simply smitten with her!!!  Sadly, we cannot share her pictures online yet but believe us when we tell you that she is adorable!  She appears to be spunky and likes toys that make loud noises.  Sounds like she'll fit in perfectly around here!

Juliana just turned two years old.  She is a special needs orphan who has Down syndrome.  We learned about her through a couple of adoption lists we are connected with.  We were drawn to her immediately and began praying if possibly the Lord intended her to become part of our family.  We know from the world’s perspective, we have our hands full (and we do!) with our family as it is.  However, we desire a Kingdom perspective and we cannot deny the call the Lord has placed upon us (all of us!) to care for orphans.  We have asked the Lord to break our hearts for what breaks His.  And as absurd as it may seem,  we have a strong desire to care for this orphan!  We long for Juliana to be part of our family.

We have spent the last months praying and seeking the Lord for direction.  We seemed to be in a holding pattern because we do not have the finances to begin another adoption. We kept waiting to figure out a way to pay the fees on our own.  However, a few weeks ago, we sensed the Lord nudging us to step out in faith and watch Him provide for Juliana.  Very scary!  So, we're diving in and beginning the initial paperwork involved in an adoption.  We are gathering ideas for fundraising and trusting the Lord for each step of this journey.   

Also, we thought we would try to do things a little differently this time around and actually start the blog at the beginning of the journey instead of just a week before traveling like last time.  Can't promise how well we'll keep it up but our goal is to keep you faithful followers updated as we go along.  We covet your prayers as we begin the process of adopting again.

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. 
God sets the lonely in families. . ."  Psalms 68:5-6