So where are we??

 Oh my goodness.

We are in the throws of piles and piles of paperwork.. I thought it was a lot last time but 

this is unbelievable. I have been up for 2 weeks, late every night answering essay-type question after question, filling in endless forms, running to the bank for cashier's checks, visiting doctors, notarizing lots of signatures, taking all six kids for TB tests, getting fingerprinted, running back to the doctor for checkups or other immunizations, even getting the dog a recommendation from the vet...(I am not kidding). And that is just SOME of the things I have been doing (life still goes on, as well, in our busy household in the busiest month of the year...).

Tho I have been a bit frazzled lately, I'm glad to see I am  still lookin'  pretty good according to Jemila (in a portrait she made of me). No, I don't typically wear a crown and I'm not so sure my eyelashes or lips are nearly that big either   (Yikes!).

 The first round of paperwork has just been mailed in -  YAY! This will start the homestudy process which will hopefully only take 6-8 weeks. There will be online training classes, home visits, more paperwork, more fingerprinting, it seems endless.

Once our homestudy is approved, we will move on to the "dossier" phase - basically more paperwork, LOTS of notarizing, certifying and stamping by the state governments of EVERYTHING, waiting for clearances, translating, shipment of all the documents to China, and then more waiting.

Adoption requires one to be committed and undaunted by the endless hoops and lists and be willing to  bare it all and be wide open. It is a humbling process...and rather exhausting.

But I am NOT complaining (ok, maybe just a little...).


PUZZLE UPDATE:   33 PIECES HAVE BEEN SPONSORED! YAY!

I have had a couple of people tell me that they couldn't use the Chip-In box. It will only work if you are viewing the blog on your computer. I can't get it to show when I view the blog on my phone. If you are more comfortable mailing in a donation, that's great too! Our address is shown on the original puzzle blogpost (May 4).

We continue to feel blessed and excited to get to do this amazing journey again!

Puzzle Fundraiser Kickoff

Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west. Isaiah 43:5

Wow! Last Thursday morning, I sat nervously with my finger hovering over the "post" button on Facebook. I had written a status saying that we had a family announcement with a link to this blog - my private blog, my little home on the internet, my unknown blog. We were so excited to finally tell everyone and yet, a bit nervous that we might hear comments that weren't so positive.

No need to be nervous.

We were overwhelmed with the kind and sweet messages from family and friends who finally know our big "secret" and who are as excited as we are to meet our newest daughter. Thank you to our friends and family who have been so encouraging and happy for us.

Many of you have asked us how you can help - and some of you already are (writing recommendations, serving as our notary, providing clothes and gifts already, offering extra beds)! THANK YOU - THANK YOU!

Thank you for your offers of help - we appreciate them so very much. Adoption is costly. We have been through it before and every penny is worth it, but it is a huge expense. We worked hard to do it last time but this time will be an even harder task. We are relying on our faith that God who called us to this will not let us down and will help us to find a way to accomplish the many huge fees and travel. Which brings me to our first effort - 

OUR JIGSAW PUZZLE FUNDRAISER!

We have purchased a wonderful, 500 piece, children's map of the world puzzle (see it pictured above). Since we will be a very international family, we thought it was quite fitting!

Anyone can help us put our puzzle together by purchasing a piece or pieces. Each puzzle piece costs $10 - and you are welcome to purchase as many as you would like!

When you purchase a piece of our puzzle, we will write your name (or family's name ex: "The Snell family") on the back of the piece. As the weeks go on, I will post photos of the pieces as we label them. Be looking for your name!

Once the entire puzzle is funded, we'll put it together as a family and have it framed between two pieces of glass. One day T will be able to look on the back at the names of all the friends and family who helped to bring her home!

To make a donation, click on our Chip-In donation box in the upper right sidebar. ** This Chip-In box will NOT show up if you are viewing this on your phone.**

The Chip-In will take you to PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, you can still donate by clicking the "I do not have a PayPal account" button - this will allow you to pay by credit card. Or you can send a check to us. (3256 Turnberry Circle, Charlottesville, VA 22911).  Please be sure to note on your donation (or leave a comment here) the names you would like on your puzzle pieces.

**PayPal donations are NOT tax-deductible - we hope to have an account later in the process for tax-deductible donations. We are also planning a local fundraiser and another online (possibly t-shirt) fundraiser on line.

It is very difficult for me to ask for donations tho' I know that there are many who feel for the plight of the orphan and tho' they may not be able to "go," they might like to help "send" a family. It is gratifying to be able to give in a way that enables you to actually see the child you have helped.

I know some of our friends are also adopting, some are getting over the costs of adoption, some are saving for mission trips, and many of you (like us) are just trying to survive these financial times. Please know that we are not expecting all to be able to give. We do ask that you would pray for us!

Thank you for considering a donation to our adoption. Thank you for praying for us. Thank you for your encouragement and kind words. We are forever humbled and grateful.

God called and we said "YES"

It is with great excitement and humble hearts that we 

 are answering God's call to adopt again!! 

Where is He sending us??

CHINA!!

                                               

Just last week we received our "PA"  (pre approval) from China for the adoption of a little girl we will be referring to here as "T!"

T is a beautiful little 4 year old girl from China. Our agency doesn't allow us to post a picture yet - but trust me, she's adorable! We can't wait to bring her home to be a part of our family.

We now have a new list of things to accomplish in the next six months - Dr. appointments, homestudy, fundraising, and lots of paperchasing as we compile the adoption dossier. Please join us in praying for our little daughter in China. T has some special needs and will come to us with some unknowns (as in any adoption). Please pray for our family as we deal with the expenses and the adoption process - adoption is not for the faint of heart - it can be a brutal game of costs, timelines and waiting!! Our time frame will be about a year. Also pray for our six children as they process the idea of adding another Snell to the crew. There will be many transitions ahead.

We feel blessed and overwhelmed - all at the same time!

 We rejoice that there will be one less orphan

 - one more little child who will know the love of a family and of the God who has loved her all along.

**My blog has been rather private til now - I haven't had it for too long and have never really shared it!! I don't claim to be a great writer or share anything too profound - just some of my thoughts, happenings around the Snell household, and now - updates on the adoption process to our newest daughter. 

More details to follow - background story, answers to some of the common questions about adoption, our first fundraiser, and how you can help us bring our daughter home! :)

To know you...

Wow - I heard a Casting Crowns' song on my ipod while walking today that I have heard numerous times. I'm not so sure that I have really listened to the words before because I heard it today as tho' it was a new song to me.  As I have said here before - I am not an eloquent writer. I sometimes think eloquently but then I never have paper with me or I can't write my thoughts quickly enough. When it comes to my feelings and experiences about my faith, well, I rarely can express my thoughts adequately.

This song says what I feel lately regarding my walk with Jesus.

When I went on Youtube to find a video of the words...well...they were all sorta cheesy...until I found this video. This is a live video of Casting Crowns performing this song. The person recording it obviously had AWESOME seats as the sound is quite good. The bonus is the little pre-song message from Mark Hall. (He also forgets the words which is sorta humorous and humble!). Enjoy...

Wassup??

So, lotsa stuff going on around the Snell household these days. We have non-stop school - elementary school, homeschool and college. We have non-stop sports - soccer, kung fu, baseball, and dance competitions. Church even seems non-stop with life group, youth group, music. Life is full and busy, busy, busy...

I think April and May give December a run for its money as far as being the most overbooked and crazy busy time of year.

Amidst the busy-ness we had some birthdays (Jemila and I) and we have one coming next week (Ben).  Jack earned another sash (his sixth out of eight). We (Kate and I) have attended a few weekend away dance competitions. Not my favorite world I have to admit. I love that Kate loves dance, and that she enjoys it and is a beautiful dancer - I just don't love the world of competitive dance. We travel 40 min. to our dance studio, three times a week - many weeks, four times. We do carpool, but a lot of time is spent waiting there for the girls (not to mention all the expenses and time away for competitions).  We have done this for two years after leaving the dance studio that is literally around the corner from our house. Lots of issues arose there that made it necessary to leave. Bummer because it was so convenient...

The ridiculously expensive place where one of our dance competitions was held, in D.C.

There are some other things going on behind the scenes here at the Snell homestead too ... not ready to post about it yet, but trust me - it's pretty awesome and I can post pretty soon. God's been working out some of the details of a really big new project ... more later!

Forever changed...

I've had a blog post floating around in my head for weeks. As I have said a few times before, I am not a writer. I wish it flowed from my heart and head to the keys on this computer, but it doesn't. Here goes...

I am blessed. I have been blessed beyond measure with good health, good parents, great childhood, enough money, college, jobs, healthcare, marriage to an amazing man, children, a beautiful home, wonderful memories, and then more children. I live in a free country and a beautiful town. God has been incredibly gentle with me. He has walked beside me through the darkest days after losing my father tragically, through the heights of marriage and birthing babies, to the last few years of struggle and joy as our family has wobbled while trying to find a new normal with the addition of our girls.

All the trials and moments have been proof of my God's mercy and faithfulness, His love and kindness, His discipline and guidance. I fail miserably some days, yet He picks me up and lets me start over, each and every day. He forgives my stubborn ways, my sometimes quick temper,  my rough edges - and He is smoothing them out with His forgiveness and love.

The greatest blessing of my life is knowing the truth, asking Jesus into my life and knowing that following Him is the only way to real life and real joy.  I want my life to be used by Him and for Him and to point others to Him. I want my eyes and heart to focus on the things that truly matter to Him - a hard thing to do in a materialistic world that says "it's all about me." I actually made the decision a long time ago that I wanted my life to matter in God's eyes - no one else's. That I wanted to do big things for Him. That I wanted our family to be a light in this world of so much darkness.

     Having four children in a 6 year span and homeschooling them all seemed my "big thing to do for Him." Raising my children to know and love God, to learn His Word, has been my full time job for the last 13 years. It has been a journey - exhausting and rewarding in a way I will never be able to explain - the words fail me. The memories and time with my children has been nothing short of fantastic. I will never regret our call and decision to follow God down the homeschool path and for the years we have spent learning and growing together.

And then came adoption.

Our adoption  - the decision to follow God down a path that seemed crazy and ridiculously expensive and overwhelming to some. It seemed crazy and ridiculously expensive and overwhelming to us. Jumping off a cliff (and believe me, that is really how it feels) is scary and "lump-in-your-throat" terrifying and also the most beautiful and awesome thing ever. To know God in a whole new way sounds too trite to explain it. To see God do miracles for children who are forgotten and abandoned half the way across the globe and to work out details and money needs and travel and ... the list goes on - this is to see a side of God that I could never have seen before.

Jemila and Kulate the day after they entered the orphanage in 2008

The girls on Jemila's 8th birthday 2012

Our God is about adoption. He loves children and longs for us to help orphans and widows. This is where His heart is and to be a part of that is just not like anything I can even express. To now see our girls bubbling with excitement over something they just learned, or giggling as they ice skate, or drawing pretty pictures, or singing praises in church - well, it's a feeling I can't even explain. To think that God used me and my family in some way so powerful to set these little girls in a family with love and the knowledge of Him, well, it is just too much for this challenged writer to put down here.

I am forever changed.

It is hard to look at life the same now. The things and ways I spent my time in the past seem empty and unnecessary. My priorities have changed and the things of this world do not entice me in the way that knowing and being a part of what is close to God's heart does.  Going to Africa shook me up and put me back together in a whole new way. Life will never be the same.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

("I am happy that I am me and I am happy that I have a Mom and  I have a Dad" - Jemila)

This blog post can be found on Deathbygreatwall.com as part of a link up to adoption stories. Head over there to check out some other wonderful adoption stories!

Hundreds of Hats

 I love to knit. I love to knit hats. Baby hats.  They are quick and cute and necessary and allow for lots and lots of creativity. They take just a little yarn to knit up and ALWAYS put a smile on a new momma's face! Five years ago, I was knitting them so often that I decided to give it a whirl (is that a word??) and open an Etsy shop (see The Mustard Seed button to the right).  I even tried selling at craft shows, consignment, and sold lots to friends. I even paid for all of our Christmas presents one year with what I made just knitting little hats! I found that starting a new little hat every few days kept my short attention span at bay, kept me from snacking at night, and always gave me a little something to do while waiting for an appointment or activity with the kids.

Our two beautiful Ethiopian daughters benefited from my hats during our adoption as I knitted to help pay for adoption fees.  These days I don't knit much for profit. My Etsy store (see on the right) is often empty. I will have a creative energy surge every now and then and knit up a few for the store but mostly my efforts have been gifts or for donations.

Sometime in the last year, a friend we met during our adoption, posted on Facebook about a missionary doctor working in Soddo, Ethiopia. Never heard of it? Well, the two Ethiopian faces above were born there and lived their early years there. This doctor, Dr. Hail, is working in a hospital there delivering babies and caring for women. From reading her blog it is apparent that she is doing many more things there as well.

When I first looked at her blog, I was excited to see that among her requested items she could use at the hospital were BABY HATS!! YAY! I can do that!

So I advertised and asked other friends/family who knit, if they would help me make 100 hats for Soddo! Several helped me out, and I knit a whole lotta hats and...voila...100 hats!

The girls and I put together little cards to attach to the hats - they have a crayon colored heart and the word "Love" in Amharic (tho' the language in Soddo is Wolaitan, I believe they are close and that the intention will be received).

What a joy to be able to give a little something back to such a special place with such meaning for our family. The hats will go to premie and newborn babies of rural and very poor women to help the babies survive a very critical time right after birth when they are vulnerable to changes in the temperature - mostly at night, and unable to regulate their own body temperature. 

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A whole lotta love...

I must admit I have been a bit of a Pinterest addict lately. It's a little like impulse buying: see it - like it - want it - get it - have it. Well, you don't actually get "it" but you will forever have the link (directions, recipe, printout, or whatever) so that "someday" you will get around to making it, sewing it, cooking it, doing it, printing it, etc. So it sorta feels like "buying" it...it is a bit addicting, I must admit.

Valentine's Day is a holiday that I love - I love red and hearts... and of course, I love "love." Nerd. Ah well. I enjoy candy hearts (a little too much I am afraid) and making valentine cards with the kids is always fun.

So this year, I had a wonderful Pinterest bulletin board of all sorts of fabulous foods, decor, crafts that fit with Valentine's Day and I was determined to DO them! So we decided to share a little love with our wonderful Lifegroup (are you a part of a Lifegroup or small home group through your church? It is a wonderful thing!).

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We decorated with Pinterest inspired balloon strings and made heart shaped crayons (those required a bit of work on the little girls' part throughout the week) and gave out little bags of crayons and candy hearts!  It was so fun and a great way to tell our friends how much they mean to us!!

The girls had fun making their valentine cards for school friends and it was fun talking about what love means for family, God, friends.

Until the next time...