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!