Postponed

These are the blankets that I managed to make for all the kiddos on our Christmas list.

Well, we have had to postpone our January 2nd homestudy visit...hubby is sick. He spent two days in the hospital last week with vomiting and stomach pain. After two days of testing, IV fluids, pain meds and nothing by mouth, it was decided he probably has a bleeding ulcer. He will have an upper endoscopy after the new year to confirm, and treatment will be decided then. In the meantime, he is taking probiotics. His bloodwork indicated anemia, therefore, the bleeding ulcer theory. The poor dear is really tired and still having pain...although it IS much diminished.

I also spent four days in the hospital earlier this month with Pancreatitis. I am having an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy on January 4th and must follow a low fat diet, as my liver enzymes have tested high also.

It has not been a fun month around here, and with both of us spending time being ill, we have fallen a little behind on our adoption plans. This just kills me...we had wanted to submit our dossier to Tanner's country BEFORE the reopen date of Feb 1st (when they begin to accept new dossiers again), have it translated, and have a submission date in EARLY Feb. These plans have now been pushed back by a few weeks, but we hope that immigration will approve us quickly and still allow us to submit in Feb and get a March travel date.

Please pray with us for our good health as we endeavor to complete our adoption and bring our beautiful Tanner home VERY SOON. Thank you!

Tanner's face

My good and dear friend made a beautiful ornament for our Christmas tree...a snowflake with our Tanner's beautiful face on it! This was the MOST thoughtful gift I have EVER recieved, and I am grateful for the love with which it was made. I can't wait for next year, when Tanner can hang it on the tree himself! The pictures aren't great, but you get the idea. By the way, the tree is done in a snowflake theme this year, so Tanner's ornament fits in perfectly!

One Dollar for Kiril

From Christine:

I’m holding a $1 challenge over at www.findingkirilsfamily.blogspot.com, on the countdown to Christmas. Kiril is a little boy with significant special needs who has been waiting on Reece’s Rainbow for a long time, and has been bedridden in an institution for over 6 months now. My goal is to get as many people as possible to donate just ONE dollar to Kiril’s RR grant.

I’ve contacted many people about this already, in the hopes that they will SPREAD THE WORD, EVEN IF THEY CAN’T DONATE. To date, there’s been an amazing response, but Kiril’s path home is still far from sure. I know it is usually against the unwritten ‘rules’ to ask an adopting family for anything – and I can see why. But if you are part of a loving, supportive community, which might be inclined to help in spreading this message and saving this little boy's life, I humbly ask that you let them know about this fundraiser. I have great faith that together, we can give Kiril hope and a future THIS Christmas. Thank you.