Listen

My cousin, Cassi, who is adopting from South Africa, sent me this link to a moving speech given at the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) Summit 9. This is Carissa Woodwyk, an adoptee, and an eloquent woman. I was very touched by her words, by their spirit, and by their naked truth.

SOLD

We sold the house. We. Sold. The. House. WE SOLD THE HOUSE.

The house has sold.

Hooray! Lots of packing. I'm getting lots of help from friends who find an hour or two in their day to come over and chat while we box up our lives. I have such good friends here in Cody. I will miss them the most.

Maren, Braeden and I were able to drive down and visit our oldest daughter, Chelsea, and her husband, Matt a couple weekends ago. This summer has been all about selling the house and coordinating the move, and with Brandon and Jacob already in Washington, our summer break has been a bit of a bummer. It was so fun to go down to Provo and spend a few days with this bunch and relax, laugh, and play. And Chelsea gave me a special birthday present. A super-cute scarf and a donation to the adoption fund. Love. These. Two.

Also, we received this in the mail:

This is anonymous. We have no idea who sent it. We are so grateful and touched and amazed. What wonderful examples of selfless generosity and goodwill. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Last Friday my son, Braeden, received his mission call for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When the kids apply, they have no idea where they'll be assigned. There is a place on the form for them to list any considerations to take into account. Braeden listed that his dad had taught Spanish for 11 years and so that language is a part of our home, and that we are adopting a sister from China. He and I joked about how he should put down that he does a  great Russian accent and he's dabbled in teaching himself Russian, but he didn't put it down. :) Still, I knew that would be his top choice: to go where he could learn and teach in Russian.





So when he read the call, we flipped out. In a good way. He has been called to serve two years in the Baltic Mission (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus), and the Latvia Mission region, Russian-speaking.



He is thrilled, and we are thrilled for him. He leaves January 15. He'll be able to see his new baby niece (due in November), we will be all moved and settled, and hopefully, everything will be squared away with the adoption and we'll just be waiting for travel plans. We have lots to do to get Braeden ready to go, but that seems par for the course these days! We are so thankful and happy. And I will cry later.

We are behind on the adoption paperwork simply because we have to be settled in Washington to continue. But I'm doing my best to see that once we get there and into our new house we can hit the ground running. The more I study and read about adopting, and the more I consider Sara, the more eager I am to go get her. We are being led and I can't help but follow.

Meanwhile, Brandon has been handling the purchase of our new home in Yakima. I love our new house! We hope to coordinate the closings here and there very soon, and get our family all under the same roof again.

Oh! And Chelsea started her own cute blog! Go take a look and see the countdown for my little Carly!

Grin and Bare It

Counting our blessings.