New Pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep that's us in the picture he is holding!!!! Our attorney printed it off and took to them. Now that is a good attorney!

Hopefully our next set of pictures will be Joseph opening his gifts from us.

It is more difficult than I can say, being without our other baby right now. God is taking care of him and he has a beautiful smile on his face. God loves him and God has put it in our hearts to love him too. I pray that this will be our last Christmas to celebrate without having him in our arms. I can look ahead with joy in believing that 2008 is the year our family will grow from 3 to 4! I praise God for the family he has blessed me with today. I am thankful that Tim, Nathan and I have each other to celebrate with our extended families this Christmas!

Blessings and joy to everyone!

Silent Morning...

I woke up to no voice yesterday morning. Tim was oddly pleased. Luckily I was back to my rambling self before 10:00am. The doc says I have the crud, just in time for Christmas too. Very lovely. Today I'm feeling better and plowing ahead. I got an email from our adoption attorney yesterday afternoon. When I see her name I just get excited, even though I know it's not "the news" I'm waiting for. She was writing to tell me they are looking for the package we sent to Joseph but it has not arrived yet. She also said, please know that everyone here is praying for you and that your case would MOVE quickly! From her lips to God's ears!

Here is just a little Holiday fun of Christmas' past: ahhwww how we've all grown!

It's crunch time people!

As Christmas draws closer, it is getting a little more difficult to be without Joseph. It was an amazing gift to hear his sweet voice on the phone the other day, but it pales in comparison to having him here. Our faith and trust is in the Lord, our savior. We've been reading the Christmas advent book I mentioned before. It is such a beautiful story of hope. That being said, I am filled with the hope of what tomorrow will bring.

Scripture that speaks peace to me today:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that, who was raised who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long;we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8: 31-39

still waiting...

I have not heard back from the attorney who went to PGN today to check on our file. I did however, call PGN again to check on things. I was told that the woman who answered the phone yesterday was not qualified for the job and was giving out wrong information. She informed me that my file was still in investigation. This is what I was expecting. There is still a small chance that maybe our file has been moved. We will now wait for the final word from the attorney to find out exactly what is happening with our case. This is just how this process goes. I told you guys! It is a constant roller coaster, but you asked to be kept informed. I have a strange peace about all of it, which I know comes from above.

I'll let you guys know!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, we are off to a Christmas party :)

Hop on...

We are on the roller coaster again, want to ride with us? Here we go....

For some reason, I called PGN today. I guess to feel like I was doing something. I have not heard anything from our attorney since early November so, I fully expected them to say your file is on "hold" pending an investigation. Well, instead the lady says "your file is on the second reviewer's desk!" For those of you who don't know, the second reviewer is the director of PGN who signs off on your file and issues final approval of the adoption. I'm not sure what to think just yet and I'm trying to keep my emotions in check. Very difficult to do that though. So, either our file is waiting out the investigation on the director's desk, OR, we are waiting final approval!!! We are certainly hoping for the last one. I've emailed my agency, we'll see what they say. Also, I called our other attorney in Guatemala. He is going to go to PGN tomorrow and check for me. He said the information they give over the phone is not always correct, but if it is then we are waiting final signature!

Oh God please let this be true!!

Enjoy the ride family!

What a sound!

After spending almost an entire day at Vanderbilt, for a heart check up on myself, the day ended in sheer joy! All looks well with my valve, it has been in now for 9 1/2 years and going strong. When I got home I was greeted with an email from our adoption attorney. She gave us the phone number for the foster family taking care of Joseph, and granted us permission to call directly! This is NOT a common practice among adoption agencies and attorneys in Guatemala. So Tim and I called, and we spent about half an hour on the phone with them. Their daughter who is around 16 to 17 years old speaks English, so we were able to talk to her. We got a full report on Joseph AND WE GOT TO TALK TO HIM! Although, all he did was listen and giggle! He laughed and laughed and squealed. It was an amazing sound. They were telling him "talk to mommy and papa". They said that he loves to look at our pictures, and they show him we are his mommy and papa. (sorry PapaG and PapaMax, there may be some confusion there for a little while :) She said he is very happy and loves to dance to music. The daughter was so sweet. She also told us "He really needs you". Words can't even describe what that meant to me. It was an experience to say the least. Overwhelming.

MORE GOOD NEWS TOO....
It looks like the amendment to allow "in-process" adoption cases to continue has been approved. Actually, now it is not an amendment, I think it is just known as a new law. My dad emailed a link to me from Fox News about this, I also read about it on guatadopt.org. I'll put the links to these articles under "we we are now".

Thank you for all your prayers, and don't stop now. KEEP PRAYING! It's all we've got.

Nathan's Jingle Bells!

This one is for the grandparents. It will certainly get you in the spirit, enjoy!

Merry Christmas to you and yours

I don't think we'll be sending Christmas cards this year. It's nothing personal, it just isn't humanly possible to do EVERYTHING on my Christmas list this year. We're talking 7 chocolate Christmas cakes to bake, 2 dozen gingerbread cookies, 2 dozen sugar initial cookies, a foam nativity scene to build, 30 (although it feels more like a hundred) boxes to wrap, school parties, church parties, work parties, and let's not forget 1 birthday party thrown in there. Regular life in the mix somehow as well. Top it off with 3 more presents to come up with, my darling sister's game idea, my crazy game idea and well you've got one 32 year gal who is very close to loosing her marbles. Actually I'm having a blast with it all, but I'm also embracing my limitations. Christmas cards were an easy cut. SO, with no further adieu here is an online Christmas card for all of you who we love so dearly.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

May the peace and joy of this season find you at Christmas and all year long!
Love,
Tim, Tracy and Nathan

Latest News...

I am determined to not be discouraged. As the Bible says, worry about nothing, pray about everything. As our time seems to keep growing longer and longer as we wait for Joseph, our love for him keeps getting bigger and stronger. I truly have a peace about the situation, I am not anxious. I know our hearts will be sad not to have him with us for Christmas, but the hope that he will be with us next year is enough for now. I appreciate the support of all our family members through all of this!! You guys are awesome! Alright, so here is information I got a few days ago from my agency about more delays in Guatemalan adoptions. Keep praying and petitioning the Lord for our case to MOVE. We are still waiting for the attorney investigation to wrap up. We did find out however, that attorney investigations are much more common than we thought. That is somehow comforting to us. Thanks for visiting my blog! So here is the news:

EXTENDED SUSPENSE DATES

Due to recent events that have caused the State Department to recommend against adopting in Guatemala, it has become necessary to scrutinize more thoroughly each case. This additional scrutiny has caused us to extend our self-imposed suspense goals. The goal for adjudicating the pre-approval for complete and accurate cases has been extended from 30 days to 60 days from date of receipt of DNA results or in abandonment cases from date of receipt and the processing time for complete and accurate final documents to be sent to the consular section for issuance of the immigrant visa interview appointment has been extended from 2 to 4 work days not including Fridays and holidays. Please see the Q&A recently posted at
http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/convention/convention_3170.html.

Other happenings....
How about I share some cute Nathan news?
He has decided he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. He says that his Dad is going to fly in space with him. He had me tape a tiny little rocket ship toy thing to the back of his shirt, so he could pretend he was flying into space. He spent several hours that afternoon "on the moon with all the panets in pace" You gotta love that kid!!!!

In the spirit of Christmas we have been reading our Advent Christmas book. We turn off all the lights in the house, so that it is pitch black dark. We light a candle signifying the star that was in the sky the night Jesus was born. We find our way to our Christmas tree where we have a little nativity scene set up. Then we read from the book. This has been so much fun! Not only does this get Nathan worked up to hear the true story of Christmas, but Tim and I get just as excited about it! When we get done he always says he wants to play "Noel" which is him acting out a movie that his Mimi gave him, called "The Very First Noel". This game is quite the sight to see.

I hope you all are enjoying your holiday traditions, and getting in the spirit!! Tune in later this week. (that's just fun to say:) I'm going to try to post another short video clip of Nathan in a homemade Christmas performance.

Tracy
P.S. Leave a comment and tell me your favorite holiday tradition!

Praying for Joseph

You will forget your misery;you will remember it as waters that have passed away. And your life will be brighter than the noonday;its darkness will be like the morning. And you will feel secure, because there is HOPE; you will look around and take your rest in security. Job 11:16-18