I made the muffins

I dreamt of Jess's muffins last night.  I woke up this morning and made them and they are wonderful.  Marya helped me make them.  We love to cook together.  I bet the muffins would be great with spiced tea but it is too hot here for tea.  I long for cold weather.  Jess, thank you for the recipe I love them!!!!!!!

Puppy

Tired from his long trip from Michigon

Hanging out with big daddy

Shyhlah and Kota bear meet for the first time

Marya holding her new baby after his first bath

Well we got a new puppy this weekend and we are in love with him. He is also a Siberian Indian Dog like Shylah. Which means he is part Siberian Husky and Native American Indian Dog. We love this breed for many reasons. They shed very little, they are big, they are hypoallergenic, they have no doggy smell, they have dry mouths, are great with children and other animals, very smart and loving. His name is Dakota and we call him Kota Bear. He looks like a little bear cub. Dakota and Shylah both mean friend. Marya and Ezra both like to go to their bedroom with the dogs and just hang out. My kids need no other toys, just their dogs. They are playing outside with them right now. He follows Ezra everywhere. He is inside most of the time and has not had an accident yet.

Celebration

Today is a day to celebrate for us. We got our immigration papers back and sent them in to the adoption agency today. This is our last bit of paper work for the dossier and we have been waiting months for this. We have been so excited and celebrating today. All of you that know me know that doing all this paper work and being organized is very difficult for me. I feel like I just ran a marathon getting through all of this paper work. We started this last Feb. and are just coming to the end of the paper work side of it. I am sure there will be a few more things we have to do but I am so thankful to God for equipping me to do this. I feel one step closer to our children. I am sitting outside watching the kids play and just Praising God for who He is. What a lesson in waiting this has been. Those of you that don't know, this is our second time around at the adoption paper work. Before I got pregnant with Ezra we were trying to adopt a little boy from Vietnam. We had started all of our paper work but never got this far. When we got pregnant with Ezra we had to stop the process. I some times fear that God will also stop this process. I am confident that He will prepare me for what is ahead and that His grace will be sufficient.
What is next? Our paper work will be sent to Ethiopia and be translated and then we will wait for our referrals. So we have some more waiting to do. As we wait we pray for the children every day. I have asked Marya to pray about giving some of her animals to her new siblings and she is not so sure about that. I am praying that God will soften her heart towards her siblings and she will give and never look back. I do love to hear her pray for the kids in Opiopia as she calls it.