4 Double G Ranch

Adoption Update~God's Plan

2011-03-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in some time. I wanted to make sure that all close family and friends were informed before I posted any info.

I know that some of you follow this regularly and I know that I have lost many readers due to my inconsistency. I'm sorry. I have no excuses other than I was barely making it through one day without thinking of a blog.

We were faced with daily challenges like never before. The biggest challenge was 'Will you be obedient?', God's daily question of our hearts. I thought that we had been obedient, but you will soon read that we learned that obedience doesn't just stop once you do it, it continues on and on. Even when we don't understand what is being told to us, we just still are required to obey and continue obeying.

It's important for me to share with you where we are in our adoption. God's will was done with our family and He has blessed us through it.

God knows beyond anything our minds can wrap around. He knew the beginning and He knows the end. Everything works for the good of those that love Him. He knows better than we do, therefore, He has made these decisions: we just obeyed.

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a while since we have spoken with many of you. We do apologize that we have not been keeping everyone up-to-date on how things are going since we brought the girls home. It has been an experience that has been full of many joys and many sorrows. We will do our best to bring you up to speed on our situation.

As you may be aware, Light, who we thought was 4 when we adopted her, has proven to be seven. One Gun and Cowpoke also, as you know are seven. Trying to work through bonding and attachment has not been a good situation for any of us. Blessing, on the other hand, is making leaps and bounds in the right direction. Being three, she is attaching, bonding, and healing emotionally quite well! Unfortunately, with circumstances as they are, Light is not headed in the direction that we were/are hoping that she would. We have been in daily contact with therapists, counselors, and social workers trying to get her the help that she needs. Doing this for her has caused us to be unable to meet the needs of our other children, causing them to suffer. There are also other severe cultural differences that have put our children in danger.

With grieving hearts and much prayer, we have finally realized that we were the vessel to bring these girls to the US on a path to hope and a future. We know that we were meant to bring these girls here, but it is very clear to us that the oldest will not prosper within our family. Blessing and Light have bonded with one another since an early age; we have seen evidence of this. We do not want to come between what God has put together and have no plans to separate them. Please know this has been an extremely difficult decision to make. In fact, the most difficult decision of our lives, but we need to seek what is best for all of the children within our house right now. We want to make sure that the severity of the issues at hand are understood and that we are most concerned about the children's best interest for many years to come.

God has led us (through a close friend) to a Christian family that will be adopting Light and Blessing. The girls will have one older sister and will have constant daily attention from their 'new' mother who will be staying at home with them as their older sister attends school. Light will not have any competition with any other siblings that will be close in age which will be of great help for her. Our family will be in contact with the girls on a regular basis. Our continuing presence in their life is important to us and will be important to their healing. We will now be able to still spend time with them and enjoy them without the daily risks and competition. The last thing we want for them to feel is abandoned yet again. We have become friends with the family that will be adopting the girls which is such a blessing to us all!

As of right now, Light and Blessing still don't understand who 'Mom' and 'Dad' are, so they are more than willing to call anyone that. They immediately called the 'new' parents by those names, so that won't be a problem for them. Light also has developed no attachment to me and minimal to Trail Boss, as we had hoped we would see some evidence of by now. This will make it easier for her to accept them and easier for her to leave us.

Good news is this: they are completely healthy now and growing fast. We do not feel that any amount of money that has been used in bringing these girls to the US has been wasted. The girls are here, they have food before them every day, and they finally have freedom from constant stomach pain of hunger and parasites. They are growing stronger physically every day! They have hope and opportunity before them like never before, and they are loved and nurtured daily. They are orphaned no longer!

Looking back, we are grateful that God called us to adopt and feel that it was not only for Light and Blessing or just for ourselves that we were to do this. First, we were a vessel to bring these two beautiful creations of the Lord to a country where they can be nourished physically, have the opportunity to have an education, to heal physically, grow, be loved and be part of a family. Second, we look around at all of the lives that this adoption touched and we are certain that we were obedient to God’s calling for us. We have seen patience grow, love reach out, openness to others who are in need, forgiveness, obedience, faith, learning that racism is taught and can be overcome, love knows no bounds and we have seen that through our experience, others are seeing their own calling. We are excited that the Lord has given us insight and wisdom through this experience, in which we will be able to reach out to those who experience similar situations.

We pray this falls upon understanding hearts as we grieve and heal.
Love,
Trail Boss and Ranch Hand

Mysteries

2011-01-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

Browsing Through Fall Pictures...

2011-01-07T06:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day Events

2011-01-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

This is what Christmas Day looked like for us...family time sledding at an old mill that's down the road from our house.

You can rent these beautiful little cabins...

Even the little one enjoyed going down by herself!

2010-12-28T16:36:00.000-08:00

I hope your Christmas was blessed as we celebrated the day our King came to save us.

May your new year be filled with the hope of Him.

As we took our children sledding, I was so blessed to see our Savior in this world that He's created for us! Although barren, He tells us to look for Him and He will be there...in all things.

Spare Time

2010-12-28T15:10:00.001-08:00

What's happening at our house?

Let me fill you in! Three of the children are loosing teeth on a regular basis. Funny thing is, the American children seem to think that Africans must not loose their teeth because they keep trying to teach and coach Light on how to pull her teeth.

It gets better....they even had to make a video of this!

With her first tooth, they tied a string around it and tied it to a door handle. (The door is a heavy steel door.) They were so impressed at how brave Light was! I had to remind them, 'she's only been in the US for one week. She has no idea what you guys are doing to her.'

I asked myself...'Is this abuse? Should I stop this?' I decided this is the only way she will learn quickly that she needs to defend herself against these rough and tough country kids.

As Light is working on pulling her 4th tooth in the bathroom a mirror a couple of weeks ago, she yells "Shut the door!" It sounded more like SUT DA DOOR! (Ethiopians, we've learned, have difficulty with our 'th' sound.) It took me a minute to figure out what she wanted and with help from One Gun, we decided she wanted her tooth tied to the door handle. The (American) kids were ecstatic! Out came the thread...Light really is brave! ;-) (We haven't been able to see this tactic really work though.)

The competition begins! Who can get their top tooth out first? Colten gets determined....but no luck.

Little Blessing is feeling quite left out as you can see and VERY impatient.

FIRST TIME SWIMMING:
The girls fell in love! Blessing preferred to drink half the pool...this may have been a cheaper (and easier) way to treat any parasites they had! ;-)
Blessing wrapped up the evening with chattering teeth.

We put Light in a life jacket just to be on the safe side, not knowing how she would react. Would she be clingy or would she want complete independence? Let's just say she likes to do things on her own. Until she finds herself floating on her back and like a turtle trying to flip itself over, her arms and legs are flying everywhere getting nowhere. She then decides she needs us to flip her over.

Once again, I find myself spending much time on hair dos! (styles) I really am enjoying doing their hair (if they leave it alone). They enjoy getting their hair done like any female, but it's wonderful because I know I can leave it for possibly a week! ;-)

Seasons of Life

2010-12-20T06:12:00.000-08:00

I haven’t posted in some time. I find it difficult to be so open when God is dealing with me so severely!

God has shown me that so many times in life I have seen His will, whether it be in my own life or someone else’s. What I fail to see in that will is His will for the end. Instead, I take His will and see the end the way I’d like to see it or the way I understand it to be. In my words, I try to ‘write the end of the story’. I fail to see what God’s purpose really is because maybe it doesn’t make sense to me…or anyone else for that matter!

Since the girls came home…they’ve been in a bit of shock so we were able to continue live as normal, visiting, out and about shopping etc. Then the girls hit a spot where the shock wore off and they were overwhelmed by everything…even having more than one toy to choose from…more than one coat…more than one pair of shoes…or more than one pencil. We quickly realized that we needed to stay home with the girls and get them a bit acclimated to our ‘American’ life on a small scale.

I am active…very active. This has been difficult! So ready for a change…I headed to the street to run. *Note: I am not a long distance runner. God gave me the ability to run fast for SHORT distances. I am a sprinter. Someone’s hurt and you need to run to a phone to call for help, you want me…you want a letter delivered down the road to the neighbors quickly…DON’T call me; I’ll die on the way. Knowing where God has given me strength and seeing my weakness, I decided I’m going to focus on strengthening that weakness. It causes me to lean on Him. When I made it a mile the first time, it was only because I prayed my way there. When I hit 2.5 miles, it’s because I praised Him the entire time for His strength through my weakness.

I am not writing the end to my running. I never thought that I would do this on a daily basis. I love speed not distance. I'm trying to break out of the box and not write the ending to anything anymore!

God is teaching me so much as I run everyday. He’s teaching me that what He requires is obedience even when we don’t understand. Don’t question Him. He does all things for the good of those that love him. Through obedience our faith will be strengthened.

I’m seeing that as I have ‘written’ what I thought our fall and winter months would consist of; it is not what God had in mind. It was good for the girls for a time. The girls are enjoying visiting and meeting new people and are getting better with our ‘American’ lifestyle with so many options. Now it’s time for what He has written. I’m learning that even though change is uncomfortable and unsettling, it’s the most wonderful thing!

This season I am embracing change and ‘running’ with it! I’m changing (along with the Lord) so many things about my life and I love the work God is doing!
I’m excited to say the changes that I’m seeing bring me joy! The changes that have occurred in our family are causing others to change…their hearts are softening. What a miracle when a racist white person reaches out and touches the hand of a black child. Not to just touch that child, but to strain to pick up because they are physically weak and embrace that child. What a miracle when the words ‘They are beautiful’ escape from this person’s quivering lips. What a miraculous gift the love of our Savior is and how contagious is that love! What I’m seeing is that this is not just a season of change for me, but for everyone around us.

'Tis the Ammo Season

2010-11-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

The season is quickly approaching. Guns are being brought out, sighted in. Hunting gear is filling racks in stores. Ammo will be a regular item on my grocery list.

I will not be able to go hunting this year, so Trail Boss is on his own. Let's pray he does better than last year, but that we NEVER again have a hear like this!

Trail Boss~lately

2010-11-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

To help me cope and survive this...Trail Boss has set up a date night once a week for us and is making sure that I get some time once a week ALONE to myself that I am not allowed to go grocery shopping during! He is saving my sanity...but feeding an addiction...shopping at Pier 1.
(Don't tell him.)
There's nothing better than grabbing a Pumpkin Latte from Starbucks and heading to 'the Pier"! What a treat to me!

Alright, I'll try to start recovery here and now:

Hi, I'm Ranch Hand and I am addicted to Pier 1 Imports and have been since they opened in my hometown when I was a teen. (I've even received gift cards to this store every year for my birthday for so many years from the same person, I can't even begin to count.)

Hum...tomorrow is date night...

Maybe, I can convince him to take me to 'the Pier'!

Feeling Convicted

2010-11-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

Alright, it's official.

I am not keeping up with this well. It's been one month since I last update you!

We're still here, we're still trudging through.

The days right now are hard and long. The language barrier is still tremendous and the fact that Light is the same age as the twins, possibly a bit older, is difficult.

Blessing is still having difficulties trusting us, which I'm sure will last for quite some time.

On a brighter note, Blessing turned 3 on the 28th! She's still tiny and looks well under that, but her capabilities and her mind tell us differently!

Thick Ethiopian Blood

2010-10-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

This is how Light plays with car & trucks with her brothers.

This is EXACTLY how Ethiopians load their trucks. They don't waist a thing, therefore, why waist a perfectly good trip that someone is making with just a few things when you can pile things over 3x the height of the truck itself?!!

Seriously, I was thankful there were no bridges, because NO WAY would these trucks get under them, not even close!

As I glance to my right, I see that Light has gotten even more skilled at the balancing act and she now has more tractors and vehicles piled on top of what you see in the picture above.

Language Barrier, Training, & Obedience

2010-09-29T03:50:00.000-07:00

When we first picked up our girls and brought them to the hotel in Ethiopia, they knew nothing that we were saying. You really can't imagine the struggle it is to communicate things until you are smack-dab in the middle of it. The simplest command of 'NO' or 'come here' is completely useless.

This is going to sound terrible, but I don't sugar coat things and I have to tell you the truth.

I started thinking back to when I was training our dog, Rancher (a lab) and training another dog that we had, West (a hound). Rancher was obedient and West, let's say was difficult to train, very stubborn. His nose tended to be much larger than his brain. Still, I thought my approach with them would work for the girls.

When we said, 'come here' and they did not come the FIRST time, we went to them and brought them to where we were and said it again to reinforce it. (Sorry, children in our house don't get a second chance to do something when we ask. Why give them a perfect opportunity to disobey? Expect obedience, you'll get obedience.)

This worked wonderfully, they learned very fast! So you could say in a sense that we treat our children like dogs! (Or treat our dog like children.)

This brings me to my reading this morning in Jeremiah. If you look back in history, the cities that went corrupt and completely sinful God destroyed one way or another. Does this make you wonder about all of the 'natural' disasters as of the past several years? Do you look at what these cities are known for because of the hearts of it's people?

I read Jeremiah 16:21 where God says 'Therefore I will teach them-this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name is the Lord."

He has to repeat Himself even when he says this (as if He's dealing with disobedient dogs). This reminds me of trying to train West (the hound), having to do things over and over trying to get through such a thick skull. Each time with disappointing results. He had a mind of his own, very independent, thought he knew what was best for himself, and only thought of himself. Only to end his short life in an act of disobedience.

Rancher on the other hand is always trying to please us, wants our attention, and obeys on command (most of the time). He's still with us today.

What will we choose?

Will we choose to live a life thinking of ourselves, refusing to listen to our Master who knows what is best for our life and waltz right into destruction?

Or will we choose to be obedient to our Master and escape the wrath of the Lord?

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

We went to my all time favorite State Park on Labor Day~Turkey Run~the 'new' girls were introduced to hiking.

Once again, we took one of the rugged trails. There are boulders that you have to climb, cliffs you have to walk right on the edge of, ladders to climb down to get from one part of a cliff to another, then another...Maybe we should have went with an easier trail with a two year old. It's been awhile since we've had a little one!

We made it, but we also cut it short and considered that 5 miles of doing this was more than enough for the girls, in fact, maybe we'll do things differently next time!

My Apologies

2010-09-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have no idea of what I did, but we have white.

The blog is now white. We'll be alright. We haven't lost it all completely!

Trail Boss is of no help, he just laughs. This is normal, his usual state is this:

not helping
laughing
has to leave room

I often wonder if he only married me because he knew it would be a lifetime of free entertainment...

Oh, and he likes my cookin'.

Maybe I'll get this figer'd soon...

Added Note

2010-09-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

One thing that I wanted to add as an adoptive parent:

If you have not adopted, you may not understand my last post or my future posts on the girls. I am a firm believer in letting children cry it out! Also a firm believer in not catering to children~you reap what you sow!

***BUT***

These children are special. God intended them that way. They have been through trauma that the average person has never experience. When the children cannot speak English, you cannot know what they are actually crying for. Even when they can speak English, I'm sure it's difficult to know the root of an action when they're from these circumstances.

The crying of Blessing may seem like a small thing, but in actuality everything she knows has been ripped from her~more than once. There is no way of knowing whether she is scared to death, misses her past and everything that is familiar, does she fear me? Trail Boss?, is she hating everything around her? us?, is she having flashbacks of things that no human should ever go through or see?

This is obviously NOT a child that you want to leave just to cry it out.

Don't think that I fear not being accepted by the girls, because I don't. At first, I wasn't accepted by one of them. It was very clear there were often times she wouldn't even look in my direction. But that was another issue!

I will say, I do not seek approval or acceptance from my children. The Lord put us together, we HAVE to love each other and we will learn to like each other. That simple. So I took this child who couldn't stand to look at me and preferred her father to me and carried her on my hip, or held her close to me until she decided I'm not so bad. I even think at this point she trusts me...and don't tell her, but I think she now likes me~alot. ha! I love how that works! ;-) Life is now that much easier!

Challenges and Blessings

2010-09-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

God has had His hand upon us since our return. The children are ALL getting along really well. Trail Boss and I are working very hard at spending time with each child individually so we can continue to nurture those relationships.

For those of you who have adopted or are in the process, I want to be very up front and real about the results of our life now that we are home AFTER adopting. I've heard so many stories and I can clearly see that MANY have been edited and glamorized. Yet, I've also heard horror stories that gave me no hope in the end. I hope our adoption stories will be neither, but be a blessing to your journey.

The Lord called us to adopt and we knew that it wouldn't be a piece of cake from the start. We knew that we had been called to serve Him by raising two more to know Him who may not have ever known Him otherwise. We knew that He was calling us to trust Him more and to be more faithful. This is never an easy task for our sinful, self serving hearts.

The entire adoption has been and will continue to be prayer covered along with our arrival home and our future with all the children. We are confident that all that we encounter is only to sanctify and purify us. Although challenging, we are learning to welcome all things on our path.

Our first major challenge was sleeping once we arrived home. Light has had no sleeping issues really to speak of except tossing and turning the first few weeks. Blessing, on the other hand, would fall asleep on us or in our arms only to wake up screaming and crying as soon as we would lie her down.

Originally, I was thinking that Blessing and Light would share a bed. I thought this would help them cope and that they would be able to be there for each other. (I also thought they would be used to sleeping with others in their bed.) We learned that I was wrong. Light is a tornado and Blessing fell (or very possibly was shoved by a tornado) out of bed, so I made Blessing a very padded bed on the floor. This didn't work either because she now had the freedom to get out of bed any time she wished. There was MUCH crying during this struggle with getting her to sleep and I don't care to EVER have to redo those days! I see that the Lord has given me patience through this.

I asked so many people questions, did research, asked questions on different websites. I even wrapped her in a blanket pretty tightly thinking this may help and it did a bit, but it was never a good fix.

I finally thought to myself (during one of Blessing's screaming fits because she didn't want to sleep)...'if only I could get some sort of cage or corral...'

Please remember, it has been almost 6 years since we've dealt with something like this...then it hit me...a Pack 'N Play!!!

Yes! My brother sent his down and wondrous miracles began to happen!!! She LOVED it! Going to sleep for her is a treat! She loves her 'cage'! I wish we tried this from day one, we would have gotten alot more sleep.

Thinking back, this makes sense. Blessing spent the majority of her time in a crib at the orphanage. This to her is very secure, safe, comforting. She doesn't even cry for me to get her out when she wakes up! A pack 'n play is not something that even crossed my mind. Blessing will be 3 next month. By this age the rest of our children had been sleeping in a bed for almost 1 year.

Trail Boss and I are now sleeping peacefully now and getting to bed on time with NO crying! We have been blessed! (again.)

My 'Boxed' Food

2010-09-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

I try to be conscience of everything that our family is taking into their bodies. I watch ingredients, trying to steer clear of corn syrup, MSG, and other preservatives or sweeteners. By making things from scratch, I find that I am able to avoid these.

When there are somethings that I make that take quite a bit of time to measure & mix, I line up baggies and put the children to work. They add all the dry ingredients to each bag.

This is how it works:
When we need to make corn bread all we do is grab a bag of our corn bread mix, eggs, butter, and milk, mix and pop in the oven! It may take all of 5 min. to make it.

For taco seasoning, I mix it all together in one bag (or canning jar~great for storage!) and measure out how much I need as I need it.

These are my 'boxed' or prepackaged foods:

Corn Bread mix
Pancake mix

Taco seasoning

Off the top of my head, I can't think of anymore that I have 'prepackaged'. If I think of more, I'll add them. If you have any great ideas let me know!

Freezer Meals & Time Saving Tips

2010-09-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

Alright, so here's my secret...

Before we left for Ethiopia, I made enough meals for 1 month and popped them into the freezer for our return. The best thing is it doesn't take all day, or much more time out of your busy schedule!

I'm very busy and don't have much time to constantly be making great meals. After bringing home two new ones, I have even less time to make MORE food! Funny how that works!

I LOVE to cook and I love health. But I have to say, whoever it was that came up with boxed food and frozen meals was a genius! ;-) But like I said, I enjoy the cooking part, (when I have time) and I still love health which many times is compromised when buying boxed foods. So, I've put my own little twist on this and created my own 'boxed' food I'll share with you as well as the freezer meals.

When you are preparing a meal for your family, for instance meatloaf, chili, soup, etc. make it x2 or x3 (or more!). You now have a meal prepared for your family tonight and one or two more you can pop in the freezer to enjoy a few weeks or a couple of months from now. Don't be afraid to freeze something, almost everything is freezable!

I have browned several lbs of ground beef at once just to put in baggies, 1lb each, so when making tacos, chili, sloppy joes, spaghetti, etc. all I have to do is pull out one bag and there is one less step and that many more less dishes to wash. You can add seasonings before you freeze the individual bags or add the seasonings when you take it out, I've done both. (I've also used this same method with ground sausage!)

I've also mixed up eggs, crumbled bacon (you could use sausage as well), and cheese, put it into a cupcake pan, baked it, pulled them out and popped them into the freezer for Trail Boss to have on biscuits, English muffins, or bagels in the morning for breakfast. It works well for the children too! This way they can even make their own breakfast!

Here is a list of things that I have made and frozen that have worked well:

Breakfast Burritos
Breakfast Calzones
Sausage/Egg mix
Quiche (froze it raw, poor into pie pan and bake!)
Breakfast Casseroles

BBQ Sauce
BBQ Chicken/Beef/Pork
Meatloaf
Meatballs
Pasta (any kind) Lasagna, cooked noodles, I layer any noodles, sauce, cheese, and meat and consider this 'Pasta Bake'.
Goulash
Shepard's Pie
Sloppy Joes
Chili
Soups
Stir Fry
Cooked Chicken, Turkey, Ham (you can pull it out for quick sandwiches)
Fruits
Vegetables
Sauces
Enchiladas
Beans
Casseroles
Cookie Dough (I love to have cookie dough balls frozen in the freezer to pull them out for unexpected company or a quick fix for running behind when going to a get together!)
Topping for Apple Crisp (pull apples lay in dish, crumble topping on, I don't even let these thaw, I just bake it a bit longer!)
Icing (We made too much but it's perfect warmed and drizzled over angel food cake.)

I'm sure that I've left several things out as I have been doing this for years and haven't thought a thing of it until now when I keep getting asked!

My advice, be brave, try it! The worse thing is, it doesn't freeze well and the dog gets to eat it! ;-) I have found that enchilada sauce and sour cream does not freeze well~but I've had luck with most everything else!

*Note:
Also, any leftovers you may have, don't throw out or feed to the dog! Remember this is a quick meal for hubby to take to work some day when there are no leftovers and it should be thawed by the time he needs it!

Another thought, I use either extra casserole dishes that I have for the freezer or the disposable foil pans (less clean up, but you don't save $$). I do make sure to cover it twice to ensure no freezer burn. If it's a sauce or soup, I use freezer bags, other plastic ware containers or canning jars.

These dishes are great when providing a meal for someone!

Preparation:
Take out in the morning, thaw all day, warm for dinner! ;-)

Poor Child

2010-09-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

Our children have always loved Harvest Season. They run around the fields collecting fallen ears of field corn.

They then take the corn, feed the cow, chickens, horse, goats, and dog. They also take the corn of the cob and pretend they are pioneers having to grind their corn with rocks.

Tonight they decided was 'Pioneer Night'. The older four sat around concrete grinding field corn with stones and Crazy Ropin' Girl wanted me to see how Light was the best at grinding of all of them....then it hit me...

What does this poor child think of this??

Did she have to do this before she came to the orphanage?

Does she know this is what we call 'fun'?

Does she know that we are not actually going to eat this, but be left for the ants and birds?

What can be going through that little mind as she works so hard?

Sometimes it feels as if it may be an eternity before she can speak English. I know it will all happen so fast, but in the meantime all this confusion!! I wish I could take it from her.

The Every Other Weekend Thing

2010-09-12T07:51:00.000-07:00

Once again, I am spending this weekend much like the weekend was spent two weeks ago.

Packing clothes up and unpacking the next size up.

Light (again, not her real name ;-o ), has blown through size 4t in two weeks.

We tackled the doctor appointments for kind of a major physical PLUS and the doctor agreed with us, she's definitely NOT 4. That's alright with us.

As of now, she is one size below One Gun and Cowpoke, we'll see how fast she catches up! ;-) I'll keep you posted...

Clarification

2010-09-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

I need to clarify a bit. I'm sorry, I am realizing that I have mislead many of you. ;-(

The 'new' girls' names are NOT Light and Blessing. This is what their names mean. Throughout this blog, I have kept nicknames for all of the children to protect them. If you look back, you can see that our oldest daughter is Crazy Ropin' Girl, the oldest twin is Buckaroo, and the youngest twin is Cowpoke.

It's difficult to really 'know' them when you can't communicate with them, so I decided to nickname them with the meanings of their 'real' names.

I'm sorry for the misunderstanding!

We have also decided that we have a more fitting nickname for our oldest twin. It is Light's translation of his 'real' name. (Although it's not even close, it's cute!)
Buckaroo will now be 'One Gun'. It's getting to be pretty catchy around our house and tend to call him that often.

Growth

2010-09-04T05:11:00.000-07:00

We're all growing in leaps and bounds in many different areas.

Trail Boss has become an even more incredible father.

The children are trying to see how many words in how many different languages they can say.

The older three children are trying to learn the language of the younger two.

The younger two are beginning to pick up a few English words here and there.

I am learning how to cook for an army.

Crazy Ropin' Girl is having to learn contentment through no more leftovers in the fridge. (poor girl)

The younger girls have grown physically.

I took a piece of wood and stood all of the children up to it to mark their height when we got home from Ethiopia. I wrote the date next to the mark and of course with their name. I thought I'd check again, just out of curiosity the other day which would have marked two weeks later.

As I stood Light up to the board, I looked at the marks, hhuuummmm. I guess I should be more careful when I mark above their heads, I thought. Because I could clearly see, I must have goofed.

Two days later, I decided to put jeans on her (Light) because the weather has cooled off and shorts and dresses are not ideal right now. I discovered that my markings were not wrong after all!

Light in two weeks has grown 1/2"!!! I'm not sure what will be more costly in the end, the adoption fees or keeping them in clothes that fit!

My patience is being refined, in more ways than one. ;-)

The other day, both Buckaroo AND Light each pulled a tooth. They now have gap-y (is that a word??) smiles!

We should know a little better, Light's age in a few months. ;-) I'll keep you posted!

Q & A's

2010-08-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have adopted TWO girls from Ethiopia.

Yes, everything is going great and ALL of the children are getting along and are excepting each other!!

Yes, it was a wonderful life changing experience to visit Ethiopia and learn a bit of their culture in the city AND in the country.

Yes, the adoption is COMPLETELY paid for with NO debt!! The Lord provided and was faithful to His word, He also used some of you in the process!

Yes, we are busy. But we're never too busy to answer phone calls, so if you've been holding back, hold back no longer! ;-)

NO, the girls do NOT know English. They knew not one single word of English. But by day two with us, Light was singing the ABC's! (Alright, so it was part English and part something else...)

No, we do not plan to give them any "English Lessons" or start them in any "English class" or curriculum. We feel that complete immersion will work best. That's what worked for our older three, that's what worked for all babies that we know of in all cultures. Yes, we are aware that our "new" girls are not babies, but mentally they are in a culture such as this. Just as we were babies to the Ethiopian culture. We grew with leaps and bounds while we were there, I'm sure this had to do with our maturity. Just as I'm sure that Light will pick up English and our "ways" faster than Blessing.

*We do not feel that this will be detrimental to them in any way. We feel that it will benefit the girls MORE allowing them to take things at their own pace rather than forcing them into any time schedule that we FEEL that they should meet. (As if throwing them into this life isn't stressful enough!)

Yes, we are taking one day at a time and that is working for us.

Yes, I made meals for one month and popped them into the freezer before our trip to Ethiopia so I don't have to think or even "cook" for ONE month!!!

OH!~Light and Blessing are the meanings of their given Ethiopian names (which we have kept for them). The meanings of names are very important to the Ethiopian people.

Light we believe is maybe somewhere between 5 and 6. Blessing will soon be 3.

Many Ethiopians (and I'm sure many African people as well) don't find it necessary to keep constant track of time or have any way of doing it. It is not important for the lifestyle that they lead. This makes it difficult (for us) to know any exact age. Age is not all that important to them like it is to Americans. Age is important to us because it keeps track of our level of learning, what stages we may go through, laws, etc. In Africa, schools are not readily available for all and labor begins as soon as children can prove themselves responsible. We saw children that were the size of our 6 year olds with 10-20 head herds of long-horned oxen. Let me clarify, one child that size and usually around two younger children AND the herd of cattle. All this was their responsibility, miles from home. (Our boys have it EASY!)

Yes, the girls call us "Mama and Papa". But that doesn't mean to them what it means to us. To them it means an elder and possibly one who takes care of them, but isn't meant for one sole person of that sex in their life. So, they will call anyone this.

No, we don't plan to move! Yes, our house is small but this seemed to be in the Lord's plan. We are making it work, it's just a little cozy! This just means the children can't get away with much because we can ALWAYS see what they are doing!

Yes, the girls are eating WELL!! They each gained at least one pound within the first week of being here. I'm keeping track so I'll try to keep you posted on their growth!

They are GREAT helpers! They LOVE to sing and dance. Light can dance like the Ethiopians! This is another thing I would hate for her ever to loose!

I hope this has answered many of your questions, as I tried to touch on our "most asked" questions!

Introductions...

2010-08-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

I know, I keep getting requests for pictures hopefully this will hold you over until I get to more! ;-)
Meet Blessing:

Meet Light:

This is their first experience in a sprinkler. Like many things that we face daily, it is unbelievable and exciting. So exciting in fact, that I worry I may need to remove Light from the scene so that she can breath. She gets to laughing so uncontrollably over baths, the washer, the fact that our house lights have the same name as her...it's never ending...

Here they are with Buckaroo and Crazy Ropin' Girl...

...Cowpoke is MIA...I'll get a picture of all of them together soon.

Hopefully.

If I can nail all of them to the floor at the same time. (Wish me luck and hopefully, I'll come out alive.)

African Blood

2010-08-23T18:24:00.000-07:00

This girl is such a good helper!!

Is there any question as to where she's from??

She loves to hoist large objects onto her head while putting them away or getting them out.

I hope this part of Africa, along with many others, remain in her always.

We Are Home!

2010-08-18T05:24:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for praying for us and our journey!

We are now home.

Reality has hit.

That began with the messy diapers....vomiting EVERYWHERE.....

I am a mom to 5.

What???!!!

When did this happen???

I thought I didn't plan to have any children and I was going to live in a big city in an apartment and be independent and live the "good life".

uuummmmmm.....

I guess God had different plans.

I guess I needed some MAJOR character refinement.

Until next break between crying, cooking, laundry, baths, cleaning, feeding, milking, and back to potty training....

Last Post for Now

2010-08-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

Our Adoption has been completely covered in prayer and covered financially. We obeyed the Lord and waited for even the last dollars! We owe nothing~isn't He GOOD!!!!

He directed us to a path we didn't think we could make. There were many obstacles, but He provided every step of the way! His Glory and Strength shows when our weaknesses are so evident!

This will be our last post until we arrive back as a family of 7. We will not be able to access our blog from Ethiopia.

Thank you all who have prayed for us, donated to the orphanage, and supported our journey.

We'll be updating as soon as everyone gets a bit settled in.

Until then~Keep Serving Our King!!!!

2010-08-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Alright, so yesterday was my birthday. The children were thrilled! ;-)

Trail Boss and I decided last year when we sent our first application in, one year ago on the 11th, that all holidays and celebrations would be "low budget". Our children were so understanding and this didn't seem to bother them a bit! In fact, when we discussed it, they ran to their savings to give us money for the adoption. They weren't trying to give us change or ones even, it was $20 and $100 bills!!!

(Can you tell that we make our children save and not buy just anything they want??!! What terrible and boring parents we are!) ha!

I was expecting nothing but time with my family this year for my birthday, which would bless me more than any "thing". I did receive that, but Trail Boss decided to give me a gift!

It is so thoughtful, it's a small cute little notebook with the sweetest note in it. He gave it to me to keep as a journal during our trip.

He knew I have intentions of doing this, but I tend to keep notes on any old piece of paper I find and don't ever really put them in any order, then they tend to get lost or tossed. This is perfect!!

I already have a few pages filled out with questions that I will be asking our daughters' birth mother and their current caregivers. Along with a basic schedule of our days in Ethiopia.

When our girls grow up, they will have this book (and a video, hopefully) to look back at. They'll be able to read their mother's response to important questions, see what we did on a daily basis, know where we went, learn what thoughts were going through our minds, and read what lessons the Lord is teaching us through this.

I am so blessed to have such a thoughtful husband, what a perfect gift! I couldn't have asked for anything better.

And So It Begins~

2010-08-02T04:09:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, my stomach is directly connected to my nerves and it has begun.

Upon checking our email this morning, I discover that the airline has sent emails for online confirmation.

My stomach is doing somersaults. It's that simple, it didn't take much. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a few meals in before we go! ;-)

Fishing

2010-07-31T05:46:00.000-07:00

Here's my little naturalist, following right in his mother's footsteps. He found a seedpod, opened it and discovered it smelled wonderful! If we could find a way to bottle it, I'd make Trail Boss wear it every day!

Limitations

2010-07-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

We have an update...

sad...

I had asked for donations of formula for the orphanages in Ethiopia, they need it desperately.

Our airline has very tight guidelines on our luggage weights and amounts. If we are to take an extra piece of luggage it will cost us another $250.00!

We do have some donated formula and are packing that in our luggage with our clothing AND the girls clothing. I'm finding it's hard to cram all of the clothes for the girls, us, several containers of formula, AND gifts for caregivers into two pieces of luggage and keep them UNDER 50 lbs!

Unfortunately, at this point we have no more room for formula but will be more than happy to take any cash to the orphanages. They have MUCH use for cash as you can imagine.

It's sad to me to have so many here in the states so willing to help and yet are bound by rules and guidlines. We MUST do what we can~let me know if you have cash to send to them!

Perfect Timing

2010-07-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

As the day approaches quickly that we leave this country I am trying to go through all paperwork with a fine tooth comb.

I'm trying to find out what each day will consist of and when we get the girls.

But...

LOOK what I found.....!!!!!!

We get the girls on Aug. 11th!!!!!!

This may mean nothing to you, but look at the side of your screen at our timeline for the adoption.

We will meet and take with us the girls that we prayed for exactly ONE YEAR to the DAY before!!!!

God's timing is perfect, as always.

Best Kept Secret

2010-07-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

We've FINALLY learned one of the BEST secrets EVER!

Canoing first thing in the morning, when the sun has just come up!!!!

Wildlife is very active this time of day. Last week Trail Boss and I went on an over due date, canoing very early! We were just blessed with this trip!

The creek had steam rising from it as the sun rays shined down on it through the trees. What a romantic trip! And filled with all kinds of surprising sights throughout the almost 3 hr ride that we barely paddled for.

This weekend we thought we would take our sons on the same early morning trip. We were left in awe at our sights once again.

Once all four of us were situated in the canoe, we looked up to see this little guy.
Then we interrupted this guy's fishing efforts.

Speaking of interrupting fishing...this Bald Eagle was fishing in the creek as we rounded the bend and then flew to perch in the tree above. Trail Boss and I saw what we believe to be his mate the week before.

Once again...interrupted fishing...poor Herons

We've learned that many of the trees along the banks are damaged by the debris that floats down the creek during floods. We were reminded by the scars that God still loves us! (Just as the scars in His hands remind us!)

We discovered this from a not-so-little snake.

Many times we stopped to get out and let the children explore. We took fishing poles and did a little fishing.

Cowpoke used the crawdads and larva that he found as bait.

Buckaroo found a leach and watched it lay eggs. Then gave it to Cowpoke to use as bait.

We also saw turtles, kingfishers, green herons along with the blue herons, another deer and her twins visiting the creek for a drink, and woke turkeys that had roosted in the trees above the creek the night before.

My only regret is that I did not take pencil and paper to record all the precious moments with our twins. Lesson learned!

Our Final Goal~Thank you!!!

2010-07-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

Thank you all who have obeyed God's call to donate to us or to partner in praying for us as we enter this mission field. Know that we are so very grateful for everyone of you and we are praying for YOU!

We are counting down the days now. We have just under two weeks before we travel and are trying to plan all the last minute details. And thank you to some great friends we have just met that have also adopted from Ethiopia, we are making some changes! We are getting some great advice from them (being experienced and all!!) and are changing our plans accordingly!

We are still just shy of the amount we need to travel, but all expenses and fees to this point are paid! We still have many things that we will need to cover once we are in the country such as visas, lodging, food, etc.

There is a way to donate to Lifesong to help us meet our new goal of $3,000.00! Check on the right side of your screen, you'll be able to click on the link and it will take you there!! Just make sure to add our number to your donation (#1347).

Preparing to Pack!!

2010-07-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

This is a message that I have just received from the person in Ethiopia that works with our adoption agency:

"Please ask coming families to bring formulas for over 9 months
children and full cream powder for elder children over 2 yrs. At the
moment we don't have both items and it is very difficult to find
quality product here. Please ask them to bring only these ones this
time not for under one year since we have stock for infants until
September."

Please contact me if you'd like to donate any of these items.

4doubleGranch@ffni.com

Thank you!

Definate Travel Dates

2010-07-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

Our official travel dates are:

Aug. 5th to Aug 15th

We have our flight tickets, finally have the seating figured out! Just working on the last minute details of our ten days there.

I'm still working on the paperwork to take with us, how our biological children will get back to the house after we get here, deciding what to take for our "new girls" to do in the hotel and on the plane, etc.

Can't wait to update you with news of the girls with information that I know first hand and haven't heard through some one else!!!

Traveling Soon

2010-07-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

We got the go ahead to get our tickets to Ethiopia.

So excited, had bank card limit raised for the day even for the purchase...only to find that we cannot get the lap ticket for Mekdez that I had planned. That would have saved around $1,300.00. She's over 2 yrs. so we have to pay for a seat for her.

Well, so needless to say I didn't plan for this expense when I called for our tickets...yet I still had this in the overall budget. But we've still praying for the right amount of $$! ;-)

Yesterday passed..and no tickets. God will provide. He is providing.

Yesterday I was thinking about our God.

Do you ever watch a Monarch caterpillar evolve into a butterfly? Evolution does exist...but it's actually more of a miracle.

Many short stubby legs~to six long thin jointed legs.

Where did that long coiled tongue come from?

The color or pattern is not even remotely similar.

Wings??? Where they inside it's body this entire time?

What teaches it to fly?

Why does the chrysalis form and how does the caterpillar know when it's time to form it? What makes the gold on it?

What about frogs...tadpoles...

How do they go from being able to breath under water to having a set of lungs?

Where does the tail go? It doesn't just fall off.

Where do the legs come from? Where they folded all up and have finally popped out?

Nature is incredible, unbelievable, amazing, we can't even describe it!

Our God created this. Which means these things that leave us in a state of awe are ONLY a small part of what God is.

Can you imagine what He really is?!?

He knew we would have to buy our baby's ticket. He knows how much $$ we have and what is coming. He has called us to this mission field.

He knows. He will provide. This is nothing for Him. We need paper...(green paper) but didn't He make the trees that it comes from?!?

Travel Date

2010-07-05T17:46:00.000-07:00

Praise God! We should be leaving on Aug. 4th!! We'll be in Ethiopia for 10 days. We can't wait!!!

2010-07-03T13:36:00.000-07:00

It's so awesome to see God in EVERY detail of this adoption. It comforts me in knowing that this is His will and we are obeying!

Today Trail Boss and I got some long overdue time ALONE together. We stopped at a garage sale, enjoying that we didn't have children climbing out of the car after us wanting anything that was under the amount of $$ they had brought.

Through this entire adoption process we have sacrificed much. We have not done any extra spending during this past year! (Including some necessities.) One thing we needed desperately was a bunk bed. We've moved Crazy Ropin' Girl into the boys' room and the boys into her room. She has the bunk beds and is sleeping on top. The girls will sleep on the bottom together when the get home. This will be so awesome for them to be able to be together in such a strange place!

This left the boys in Crazy Ropin' Girl's bed (twin size daybed). We were able to sell this bed in our garage sale for more than what we paid for it!! ;-) So the boys have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor since then. This isn't going the greatest...kicking in their sleep...stealing blankets...etc.

Back to the garage sale...

There it was, Trail Boss eyed it first.

A bunk bed.

Brand new!

And the price was...(drum roll)...$30.00!!

Praise God for supplying for our needs! We've been blessed again!

WE PASSED!!!!

2010-06-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

We passed court today!!!

The girls are ours!!!
Sneak peak of our babies:

Thank you to all who prayed for this date!!!

Garage Sale Results

2010-06-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

We have made $801.00!!! Our children are so excited and want their sisters home that they ran to their savings and donating their money. Aren't they angels??!!!

I know this information is "borderline" we have to share the news...we're getting closer with each passing day!

New Court Date

2010-06-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

We have a new court date!!! It will be June 28th. Our travel will be pushed back to around the second week of Aug. (what a great birthday present for me!!)

Pray that things will go well this time and that MOWA will have all of the information that they need to proceed with this adoption!

Weekend Sale

2010-06-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Having a garage sale this weekend, pray for no rain and PLENTY of sales!!!

Stop on out!

News

2010-06-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

We have finally recieved the anticipated news. Well, it didn't turn out to be what we were REALLY anticipating.

We did NOT pass court.

Neither did the other family that had court today from our agency. It's quite a disappointment, yes. I just remind myself that it is in His timing, not mine.

This is not an unusual occurance to not pass. They are just requesting additional background information. Pray that they will be able to get this to the correct people in the three weeks we have until our next court date.

Waiting..

2010-06-08T04:27:00.000-07:00

Today is our court date. I am excited to see that today is almost over in Ethiopia! Unfortunate for them, but selfishly I'm glad we don't have to wait so long to find out how the case went.

This is a strange feeling...knowing that we should be feeling labor pains about now, but not. ;-)

I've come to realize this is only another step down His path for us. The path will not end until we leave this earth.

Maybe later I'll be able to post pictures of our love bugs! I'll keep you posted!!!

Miracles are Happening!!!

2010-06-04T11:42:00.002-07:00

I just have to tell y'all:

God is still in the miracle business!

Our God is SO GREAT! As I told you before, we need a substantial amount of money. Since then, I have been made aware that it is frowned upon by the Ethiopian Government to post any info about fundraising for the purpose of adopting. I hope that I have not posted anything offensive to them, but will refrain from posting any further information about such endeavors. Please know that we are doing all that we physically can for our goal...if you are interested in more info, please contact us via email or phone!

4doubleGranch@ffni.com

I do want you to know that the goal that we were trying to reach has been DRASTICALLY reduced to almost half! All we have at this point to raise is travel expenses.

But God is SO amazing! I want to encourage you to ask God how you can serve Him! There is nothing that will prove that our God is REAL and IS like having to rely COMPLETELY on HIM because you cannot do it yourself!

This has strengthened our faith. I've taken to calling our method ~Going at it George Muller style!

Ask God to help you with something that seems impossible. This alone will strengthen your faith! (asking Him to do something HUGE rather than hoping he will do something small) He tells us He WILL answer our prayers~expect that He will!

Trials #2

2010-05-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

Cont.
Trail Boss was in Wichita this time (two days ago), I head to the barn first thing in the morning to milk goats and notice that Tex is acting funny. I decided that I would go ahead and milk then go check on him. He sometimes steps on stones and gets bruises when he's barefoot so I wasn't too concerned about getting right out to him.

I grabbed the fly spray, a lead, and hoof pick in case a stone was lodged. He looked at me and wouldn't come to me but kind of hobbled in a circle. I got close enough to him to see that he had a pretty good gash on the right side of his hind leg then I saw it.

On his left leg, right over the joint the skin had been ripped right down. In the shape of an upside-down "V". Blood was dripping and I could see the tendon had been hit as well. My heart just ached for him. I quick peeked to see what may have caused this, and noticed there was hair on a T-post and he had ripped some of the insulators for some length on one strand of high tinsel wire. Nothing about this pasture has changed for him, so I'm not sure what happened, but it's clear his hoof was on the wrong side for some reason.

Our neighbor (again!) was such a blessing and made the emergency trip to the vet with me (3 children tagging along). The vet did what she could, it took over and hour and a half, the stitches aren't holding well, and some of the skin is missing that needed to be reattached...so it's not going to be pretty once it heals. For now it's terribly gory. One of those things that makes your stomach turn just thinking about it, let alone seeing it.

This was not a cheap visit. I broke down on the vet, poor lady! All I could think was of was the work this will take, we may never be able to ride him again, how will I be able to give him the therapy he needs with 5 children, AND how in the world will we be able to afford this with all we have going right now! He spent the night at the clinic and came home the next day.

We paid the bill, but it took any and ALL extra money we had to put toward our travel in July. This was quite a set back. I keep reminding myself, God KNEW that this would happen. He KNOWS what fees are due and what travel will cost us.

"...The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made."
Psalm 145:13

He put us on this path, He will not leave us or forsake us. (Joshua 1:5)

Trials #1

2010-05-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to say anything about this, but I figure I can't just let you in on ONLY the miracles and blessings of our life, or of our adoption journey. I want to share with you that we are only human and are tempted as much as any other walking in God's plan.

These past few months have been challenging. The prince of darkness has been lurking constantly. This is good and we find joy in it because:

We know we are doing God's will.
Our faith will be stronger.

Again, my heart finds comfort ONLY in His Word, these times have been tough. Everyday is a challenge and Trail Boss has been having to travel a bit and work ALOT in the past few months. This always takes a toll on the family. The boys especially. When times like these come, nothing heals and nurtures the boys like quality time with Daddy.

One night while Trail Boss was working through the night, I begin to hear what I think sounds like a stampede outside. I wasn't sleeping, I had been reading because I have trouble sleeping with him gone. I glance at the clock, it says 4:30. I must be hearing things, I thought. I begin hearing the horse just having a fit, then the cow begins to yell back...in MOO language. Just as we get louder speaking to people that don't understand our language as if they are deaf and dumb, this is what the horse and the cow were doing with each other. Here and there, I kind of heard MAJOR thumping.

The kind of thumping that's so deep and close, you're not sure if you are hearing it or feeling it or maybe both.

My heart stopped.

I got out of bed to look out the winder. (ha, this was my actual typo! I thought you'd enjoy it so I left it, I do mean window.) I couldn't see a thing. Back to bed I climb, grabbing my book.
Hearing:
Tex (horse) still trying to either wake me or communicate with a deaf and dumb cow.
Then the stampede noises again.
~It really isn't my imagination.

Again I go to the window and see nothing. THEN I notice a tiny detail that I didn't notice before.......the gate is (GASP) OPEN!!!!

Again, it's 4:30 A.M. it's pitch black, (minus the mercury light that just lit up the gate enough to see) the cow is mostly black, and the horse in his winter coat is VERY dark as well. I needed to find out if the cow AND the horse were out or just one of them and which one. I woke up Crazy Ropin' Girl because the cow is VERY aggressive. If he was out and trampled me, she could call for help.

Here I go, tip-toeing out the slider that we opened quietly. Crazy Ropin' Girl watched from inside the house as best as she could. I got halfway to the pasture and hear the cow running toward me.

Here I am, in my P.J.s and muck boots, beautiful as ever, running as fast as I can BACK to the house. The cow was highly disappointed. He came to the sliding glass door, standing under a light I can now clearly see what happened.

*I did not inform you of this small detail~the horse does NOT like the cow.

The cow is standing under this spotlight looking into the dining room at us...begging for help. The horse has kicked the cow in the horn.

If you know anything about animal horns, they have a vein that is in the center of the horn. It is not a small vein. Needless to say blood was dripping everywhere. I didn't know how to help considering I can't exactly get near him without glass or fencing between us.

Things STILL were not in the clear. I now know where the cow is but what about the horse?

I grabbed the keys and got into the car that was in the garage and thought if I back out fast enough and close the door fast enough, the cow will not get in. It was a success! I could now drive around and look for the horse.

After a few passes and shining the lights into the fields and my heart heavy with worry, I realize...I see something. I drive closer into our backyard...he's been there in the pasture the entire time! Back to the mad rush to get back into the garage to safety, but now I need to close the gate to keep the horse in.

I called Trail Boss at work for any ideas from someone who is slightly calmer than myself at that point. I was ready to leave the cow out, thinking he would just stay around and eat the grass. As I glance out the window as I was on the phone, I can barely make out the silhouette of a cow walking to the road and proceeded to walk down the road AWAY from our property.

Trail Boss let me know that I cannot just let him go, I needed to go block any traffic in case they don't see him. I jump back into the car, backing out, closing the door very quickly. As I begin driving down the road, I decided to pull into our other driveway and holler out the winder. (ha, did it again!)

HEEEERRRMIIIEEE!!! (Herman he loves his name) He turned to look at me and came a runnin'! I pulled up as close to the fence as I could running to take cover BEHIND the gate and tricked him into walking into the pasture! WHEW!!

Waking up the next morning we followed the blood trail to discover he came to the front door first, then to the back slider when he heard me, then when he received no help decided to hit the road!

Looking Back

2010-05-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not a pillar of salt ~ I don't spend much time in the past, but sometimes I do need to look back to see just how far we've come.

As we wait patiently for the next steps we have been praying diligently. I was just looking back at some previous posts and am excited to see that God's miraculous ways are impossible to hide! I just read the post about the news that nearly sent me into depression: UPDATES ON ADOPTION

When we were informed of the two trips now required by Ethiopian law. This seemed like a monsterous mountain to climb, but we had given it to the Lord. We were on the path that He had set before us. We were just trying to obey.

He blesses those who are faithful! Our blessing came as:

God's coupon good for
Travel to Africa ONCE
Second trip DISMISSED
Redeemable IMMEDIATELY!

Expires if we question Him.

Listen my friends, having faith in a world like this is so hard. Unfortunately, many times we have to be brought to the bottom before we begin to look up. He's there.

I've found that if you pick a passage in the Word read it daily, it's much easier to keep your focus and to see Him work, because He promises us that He will. We just have to expect Him too and look for His work. It's so clear when you take a moment to turn around and see! What I have been led to lately is James 1.

Please don't misinterpret my use of the word "expect". Expectations are not a bad thing. It is a belief that it will happen. You set them for children, they WILL meet them. We DON"T have to set them for God. He already tells us what He will do, we just have to BELIEVE that He will do what He says!

Possible Travel Dates

2010-05-13T07:17:00.000-07:00

We have possible travel dates the 3rd week of July. I'm disappointed that we will have to wait another month before we go, but God has His hands on this! This also gives us more time to save and raise funds!!!

I am relieved somewhat of the time that we now have. I have been extremely stressed and having troubles sleeping, this gives me some peace.

Although, I am impatient and want those girlies home!

Court Date!!!

2010-05-12T14:36:00.000-07:00

We have a court date set for June 8, pray that everything goes well and we pass. If and when we pass, Mekdez and Mebrat will officially be our angels and we can show you pictures!!!

We will be traveling soon after we pass court to bring them home!

One Special Mom

2010-05-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

This Mother's Day has been one of the hardest for me. I woke up to a husband who wanted me to do NOTHING and children wishing me "Happy Mother's Day, MOM!" Trail Boss wanted to do anything I wanted to do for the day. So, I thought it would be nice to start off the day at church.

Sitting in our Sun. School class, I was humbled. As the Spirit spoke to me, my heart was just pounding. I wanted to jump up and let everyone know just where I had gone wrong and ask for forgiveness.

We were asked by a pastor of the church that is leading our Sun. school class to share with the class a thing or two about our mothers that we are thankful for. As I sat there, I couldn't help but to think of my own mother and family...nothing but focusing on myself and Trail Boss. That's what our assignment was, right?

Then during the prayer to thank God for our mothers, I was reminded that I am nothing.

NOTHING.

We know of a mother that has love so Christ-like that she has given her two daughters to have a better life that she cannot provide. She loves these two children so much that she does not want them to suffer starvation any longer and wants to provide for them a chance.

I am so selfish, that I cannot say that I would do the same with mine. My reasoning is this: but I love them SO MUCH!

I have no idea what kind of love this is. I can only compare this with the love of our Heavenly Father, giving His son for us. Only, He knew in advance that His son would be killed.

So here I am so fully ashamed of my motives this day, I am blessed to be humbled and taught the truth. I am blessed.

We walk into service like any ordinary day, they begin to play a video of mothers with their children. It hits me so hard, the realization of exactly what this dear woman is giving up.

In America, we have children to love, hold, teach, play with, comfort, enjoy, make laugh, kiss on, give to, support, share Jesus with, carry on a family name, run the family business, watch grow up, watch them have children, etc.

She will not be able to do any of these. She will not be a grandmother to their children, she will not get to play with them any longer. She will not get to comfort or even hold them. She will not be able to kiss them, hug them, teach them, sing to them as they mature.

Not because she doesn't want to, but because she wants THEM to have this.

I ask you this mother's day to think of the women that have character such as this and lift them in prayer.

I hope that I can love my children(hers included) even half of what she has loved hers.

This Mother's Day, of course I'm thankful for my own mother, but today I am so completely grateful for the mother of our "new" children.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers who read this!

How Do People Do It?

2010-05-05T12:22:00.000-07:00

Two days have past, we have two vaccinations under our belts and I'm exhausted! How do people do this with children, homeschool, be a wife, cook, clean, blah blah blah??

I didn't sleep hardly at all Mon. night, so excited and stressed about all of the things that I never thought of.

Last night was a little better, but I'm still way behind!

Fighting with the Travel Clinic on our other vaccinations, we have an appointment, but I fear it may be too late.

God knows what He's doing, but right now I feel like I'm being drug through the muck! The good thing though, is I can laugh about it because He has given me joy.

REFERRAL

2010-05-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

It's official! We have accepted a referral of two gorgeous little girls! Ages 4 and 2

Oh, I have goosebumps just typing this!

God is so good!

Alright......

Here's the next little bit....

Please pray for things to go quickly....

This is why:

This referral is being presented to us VERY quickly in hopes that it will be considered an "open file" before the date of May 9, 2010. That is the date that the law changes and all adoptive parents will be expected to travel twice. IF it makes it before then....

We will NOT have to travel to Ethiopia twice!!!

*Translation: This will save us over $10,000.00!!!!

Well, if you can consider that saving money when it never even made it into your hands to begin with!!

It is all in His Perfect timing!!!

Now the fun will begin...waiting to see God continue to work and provide the money to bring them home.

It's looking as of now that we will be traveling to bring home our little blessings in June.

I'm still an emotional mess, I'll have to give more updates later. Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight.

Dollars for Africa

2010-04-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

We have literally been saving our pennies for this adoption. When we are grocery shopping, getting fuel, etc. and the total comes to any amount above the dollar, we round up and use the change we receive back to add to our "Africa Fund". For example:

I fill the car and it comes to $42.06 I am so excited that it didn't stop at $42.00! I pay them $43.00 and add the change to our fund when I get home.

What I hate is when it comes to $42.01 and the attendant says, "don't worry about the 1". I get so bummed, but I don't explain, they'll think I'm crazy!

Today, Cowpoke came to me and said, "We already have the cents to go to Africa, all we need is the dollars."

I prefer to think of it as:

We have the sense to go to Africa, now all we need is the dollars.

Thank you Cowpoke!

I will now keep you all informed on how our progress in our "Dollars for Africa" fund is going! If you are interested in donating at all, please contact me via email.

4doubleGranch@ffni.com

We are currently doing some research on finding Bibles in the main language of Ethiopia, when that happens, we will be looking to take any donations toward Bibles. We'd like to take as many as we can carry!

Updates on Adoption

2010-04-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Today, I just received some not-so-good news.

It is official, we will need to be making two trips to Ethiopia :-(. Of course, this means more $$$.

We are VERY disappointed, but our God put us on this path, He's opened doors, waived fees, and made our pennies multiply. I am certain, we are just waiting for His miracle!

This also means that we will have to spend one week each time we travel there. We do not have family close to stay with our children we already have at home, so pray that we will have a place for them to stay during these two weeks and that they will not be overstaying their welcome.

Just when I thought we were being tried and tested...we find out this!

Pray for the people trying to adopt these children, that these changes will not hinder them from making there trip to bring these orphans home.

Pray that all of us that are on this journey will not get discouraged, because I'm feeling very discouraged. But I also know that we are not here because we wanted to be, but because He wanted us to be here. We've made the fees thus far, not because we had them, but because He has provided. I need to remember that HE will countinue to provide!

*One more thing:

There has been a travel alert put out for anyone traveling in May. They are having elections and this could be an extremely dangerous time to travel. Pray for safety.

It's Official!!

2010-04-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

Dossier is on it's way to Ethiopia...as of today!!!!

We are now officially on a waiting list and will just be waiting for "THE CALL" telling us they found the children God has chosen for us and they are ready to come HOME!

Now, it's a matter of NEVER leaving the phone and saving $$$$!!

Oh, and to update you all:

When I mentioned before that we were $10,000 short, I think I was being optimistic. I REALLY started crunching numbers applying for grants and realized that I am WAY off!!!

The actual number is just over $17,000.

GOOD NEWS!!!

We have a Pop Can Drive starting in Michigan! There they recycle pop bottles and cans for $.10 each. Doesn't sound like much, but it adds up fast!!! If you're in Michigan and are interested in the location of the collection box, contact me:

4doubleGranch@ffni.com

If you have any fundraiser ideas, let me know!
We have a few more up and coming things we will be doing to raise money.

But praise the Lord this day is here! Pray now for a short wait!

Family Time

2010-04-17T18:58:00.001-07:00

With all of the time we've spent this winter inside, then when warm weather came all of the time that we spent cleaning barns...and then Trail Boss's busy season came and has lasted 4 weeks and is still not over yet!!! It was finally time we did something as a family.

Someone special blessed us with the opportunity to take a trip to the Indianapolis Zoo. (We were making a trip to the "big city" to begin with getting the adoption papers sealed.) So this worked into our plan beautifully! Not to mention that we needed some stress free time together.

When the boys start acting like this in the house, we know it's time to spend some time away from home!

After packing our lunch we were off to discover...

Hermit Crab

2010-04-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

For Easter our children got a hermit crab.

All three put there heads together and one of them came up with a name for it.

Our 6 year old Buckaroo. He named it "Hermit the Crab".

He's quite creative, I know. A few years ago when we got our first goats, there was one he wanted to name....you'll never guess...

"Goat"

He didn't get to name that one. But when he was three, he did name two Eastern Box Turtles we had in our back yard.

Anyone want to guess what he names them at age 3????

One was "Eastern" and the other was "Box Turtle".

Back to "Hermit the Crab", when we find or get new "friends" it becomes an entire science project for us. We learn their habitat, find out what they eat, learn any weird and crazy habits they have, etc. The kids and I just learned that in their natural habitat, hermit crabs allow sea anemones to live on their shells (which actually used to be someone else's shell at one time.) The sea anemones have stingers on them that will fight off any predators and the crab is the anemones "car". The crabs will take them place to place as the crabs walk around and the anemones run across food in the mean-time without having to make an effort in the ways of traveling.

Hermit crabs have also been known to specifically place these stinging anemones on their claws then they will "box" predators and the predators will then get stung.

One day I walked into the living room to find:

Can anyone guess?

Let me explain:
the boy on the bottom is a hermit crab
the boy on the top is a sea anemone and his feet sticking up are his stingers

Is there something wrong with my children? I don't remember doing such things as a child!!! Should I worry?

I suppose the information has "soaked in".

Home Stretch

2010-04-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

The day is officially here...

We have sent our Dossier out today!!!!

This means our final paperwork is out of our house, running the homestretch to getting it's final authentications and approvals then on to Ethiopia!!!

I am so thankful to have all of these documents collected, finished, and out of my house! It has taken 9 months from the start of this to now.

Normally, I'm used to expecting to give birth to a baby right now...being nine months and all so I'm having an extremely difficult time being patient.

For now, the waiting game begins. The ball is out of our court, what a wait off! Whew!

Prayers Please

2010-04-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

As we travel closer to being done with our paperwork stage and closer to our referral stage, I'm beginning to see an end to our available resources financially.

I don't have an exact number, but the approximate amount that we need to bring these little love bugs home and to our family is in the ballpark of $10,000.

We have been applying for grants and have not been able to receive any assistance thus far. We are trying to pay cash for this entire process rather than taking out any sort of loan. We are trusting that God will take care of this completely in His time and don't feel that if we were to take out a loan that we would be waiting on Him.

We also don't feel that it would be a wise decision to borrow and have to pay back when we get our children home. When they are home, our desire is for our resources then to provide them with a bed, a few clothes, shoes, food, and soon we will be needing another vehicle...(ours is large enough praise God, but I'm not sure it will last more than another year.)

So, after taking so much of your time...I ask for this:

Your Prayers.

Pray that God will provide the resources for us to finalize this adoption (or adoptions).

If you have any fundraisor ideas~I would love to hear them!!!

The Lord is Good

2010-04-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

We now have our I-171!

If you don't know what this is, don't worry~just know that we are another step closer!

We do now have permission to bring two beloved dark skinned, dark haired, sweet little cuddly, bundles of love into the U.S.!!!

Basically, in a nutshell, that's what that form means.

The sad thing though, I have been running to the mailbox every time our mail carrier comes. She must think, That lady needs to get a life!!!

Yesterday, the form came. I was excited as I opened it, then all excitement left. I had no idea what paper I was holding in my hand. I called the adoption agency, is THIS really what I was waiting for?

Did I shave my legs for THIS???

It did not look very "official" and there was not big gold seal telling us we were granted anything.

I was assured, this IS it. So here we go...down the next road!

Can you see what a hard cookie I am? God has His work cut out for Him! (Not that anything is difficult for Him) It's just that sometimes I really need to be slapped in the face before I realize what I'm to do or what I have.

In His Time

2010-04-15T15:29:00.000-07:00

I've asked that you pray that our paperwork would go through in the Lord's time. Wow, sometimes I wonder what I was thinking!!! If I had known that He would have us wait an extra month when I could have been DOING something!

Seriously! I could have been doing something in that month on my own time and REALLY messed something up!

So, if you were the guilty one that prayed for "His timing"...

~THANK YOU!!!

I mean it, I am so good at messing things up because I am impatient and don't wait for Him.

What I'm talking about is this:

Remember that form that told us that we had been "REJECTED"??? Then the next form that was stapled to it that said that it was a "MISTAKE"??? Well...

What it failed to tell us was that only PART of the letter was a mistake. The part that said that we didn't send enough money was correct! But, I thought that it was a "mistake" so I didn't send any money and I just sat around and did NOTHING for two months waiting for a fingerprint appointment which never arrived.

Finally, I decided, surely something must have happened, got off of the couch and made the dreaded phone call. Which went REALLY well and they were very helpful! But when you deal with government agencies, that's not what you typically expect. Anyhow, I found out that I did need to send an additional $80.00.

NO PROBLEM!!! Because if you are in the adoption world, you know that $80.00 is a drop in the bucket!

I send the $$ immmediately and a week and a half later we had our appointment in the mail!

All too True

2010-02-25T15:07:00.000-08:00

Thought this was cute and sad. I found this on a blog that I visit every now and again.

Mom's on the Computer (to the tune of Cat's in the Cradle.)

My computer arrived just the other day,
It came on the porch in the usual way
So many blogs to read and games to play
My child learned to walk, while I twittered away
And he was talkin’ for I knew it, as my friends list grew
He’d say I’m gonna be like you mom
You know I’m gonna be like you

And mom’s lost on the computer, lettin' dinner burn
Little boy wanders, he just wants to learn
When you getting off mom?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then
we're gonna have a good time then

My son turned ten just the other day
He said "thanks for the wii, mom, come on let’s play"
"Can you teach me how it works?" I said “Not today”
"I got a blog to write" he said “that’s okay”
And he walked away while the computer never dimmed
He said, “I’m gonna be like them, yeah”
You know I’m gonna be like them

And mom’s lost on the computer lettin' dinner burn
Little boy wanders, he just wants to learn
When you getting off mom?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then
We're gonna have a good time then

Well my son came home just the other day
iPod in his ears, while he texted away
"Son, I'm proud of you, can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head and he said with a smile
"I'd really like to Mom, but talkins' not my thing"
"Check my status, for what's happening"

And mom’s lost on the computer lettin' dinner burn
Little boy wanders, he just wants to learn
When you getting off mom?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then

Well my blog's retired and my Facebook out-of-date
My son texted, “Hey mom, I just can't relate"
I said, "I'd like to see you if you have some time."
He said, "I'd love to mom but skype if you don't mind."
"You see my website's down and my workload just grew."
"but it's nice texting with you, mom"
It's been sure nice texting with you."

And as I typed “c u later” it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

Rancher

2010-02-12T18:07:00.000-08:00

Our not-so-little dog:

When we chose to bring this animal into the family, we really wanted a dog that we could include on family trips.

We had no idea that he would grow to weigh 90lbs. He has outgrown both his parents, and three of his brothers that I know.

~I wonder if the mailman has a dog.

No, really, he was from a litter of 10 and so were two of his brothers that live with a close friend of mine. Yet somehow, he seems to be larger. Maybe it's just fatter...

I'll just think that it's muscle and he just wants to be big to protect us.

Getting to the point, he doesn't go anywhere with us except for the vet. Poor dog.

His nose is black during the summer and turns this color in the winter. Can anyone tell me why?

These things puzzle me.

Here's a better look at Rancher.

Look at those neck muscles...

NO, the collar is not tight, it's on the last notch and can easily slip off of his head. We do have to dig under a roll or two to find it though!

His lips are kind of droopy...

He can win your heart as he lazily lies on the floor and tries to look at you from under heavy eyelids. He lifts one eyebrow at a time trying to see you.

Yes, dogs have eyebrows.

I've shown you his smile before, but it is so breath taking, I'd like you to see it again.

No, he has never bit anyone.

He cowers when he thinks that he's done something wrong, I don't think he would hurt a flea.

I'm wrong.

He eats spiders and ladybugs.

He's smiling. He does this anytime we come home, we're are happy for him, on command, or when someone shows up to visit or to buy eggs.

He LOVES to sell eggs.
It makes him so........HAPPY!!!

Oh, and for some strange reason, every time he does this it makes him sneeze.

Another puzzle to me, do you have the answer to this?

Prayers Answered

2010-02-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for praying!!!

God has answered all of the prayers, we have received a clear answer and are on our way.

We're still waiting for our appointment for fingerprinting. hum. This seems to be taking a while, so we'll be calling just to check in.

Prayer Request

2010-02-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

PLEASE....PLEASE....PRAY...

For:

Wisdom
Guidance
Financing
Patience...we need this, but if you pray for patience for us, you have no idea of what you will be doing! (I don't like the path we have to go down to get this!) But if you feel the need, pray, just give us a warning!

The adoption journey, is just that; Quite a Journey! Wow, when you put your life in the hands of the Lord, be ready for the unexpected! So many things have happened and I've shared many with you. We are experiencing His presence and work in our lives. Never have I felt closer to Him than I have in the past year.

We right now are just faced with some VERY challenging decisions. Pray for God's will, not ours. I find myself being selfish and trying to make my own ways work because I don't see God doing things when I'm ready for them. I'm seeing my own evil heart at work more during this time than ever. It's like seeing it under a magnifying glass. I'm understanding the true definition of the Lord's refining.

Over and over and over and over and over and over...

Will His job ever end I wonder? I feel terrible sometimes keeping Him so busy on little ol' me when there is an entire world out there.

Then He reminds me

"I AM"

oh.

How quickly I fall into doubt. Maybe one day I'll be an inch closer to the character He wants me to be.

Thank you for your prayers in advance. Even the prayers for Patience!

Update

2010-02-01T05:03:00.000-08:00

Things took a bit longer than expected...still having troubles....hopefully we'll get all this technology figured out!

Wanted to give you an update on our adoption:
I don't want you to think that I forgot about you! We are still at a waiting point. We are waiting for an appointment to get our fingerprints done and then will be waiting AGAIN for clearance. During this time though, we are preparing another set of documents to be sent in.

Thanks for checking in!

Sorry~I'll be back!!

2010-01-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

Please be patient with me...I'm having computer difficulties...should be back up and running by the end of next week!

Thank you,
~Ranch Hand~

Wishing we were south still...

2010-01-04T13:11:00.000-08:00

Disney at Christmas

2009-12-31T04:17:00.001-08:00

We visited some parks at Disney for all of the children's birthday's. This is what the castle looks like in Magic Kingdom at Christmas time.
They also redo All of their gardens for the season, they start in Aug. and work all night to do these things so that no one sees them.

That was me, walking through these parks, wondering why their gardens are perfect and I don't see a single gardener. EVERYTHING is decorated with Christmas decorations, and I don't see a soul decorating...It really is MAGIC here!!!

Sorry for the Delay

2009-12-30T03:18:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to show you why it took me so long to post after vacation.

If you've never had your own eggs, you wouldn't understand. After being gone for a week, we had a bazillion of these to clean up!

Eggs don't just naturally look this beautiful. I will save you from seeing what they really look like. I'll just tell you that we scrub the daylights out of them before you come buy them at our ranch!

OH, not really, you can still make sunny side ups, we just scrub the outside until the color is no longer white, green, black, and covered in straw or hay. This is what true "farm fresh" eggs look like before they are glamorized!

I have to share this with you. I always use spell check. When I just used it, it told me that I spelled bazillion wrong. The truth of it is, I really didn't even know that that was a true word!

Venting...continued...

2009-12-30T03:08:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry.

I stated that our countries top priorities are funding abortion and gay rights. I did not mean to leave out or berate the importance of controling:

CARBON DIOXIDE

I truly feel that the government soon will be ruling with attempts to instill great fear in us. Can we think of any other countries run this way and how successful it was or is for them?

Why would you not want your people to be anything but encouraged, lifted up, productive, and successful? I would be proud to be a leader of a country of people like this!

I heard an interesting quote from a scientist last night. He said, (as he was speaking on the "global warming") "if people are put in a state of fear, they are easily controlled."

*Note to remember*
Fear is not of the Lord.

Emotional Roller Coaster, AGAIN

2009-12-29T08:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I checked the mail, I was early. Evening came, the children were "snug as a bug in a rug" in bed and I realized that I never did end up getting the mail. Trail Boss was so sweet and willing to go get it.

He walks in the door and hands me the mail without looking at it. (I think he was disappointed we didn't have a movie from Netflix arrive!)

As I'm sorting through junk and the "good stuff", I inhale VERY loudly because something took my breath away!

I did tell you that we sent our I-600 in. This is our application to Department of Homeland Security to bring an orphan into the country from outside our country and of course, like all things we had to send a pretty large check to cover the fees that went with this. We are now waiting for an appointment for fingerprinting AGAIN! I thought that this is what this envelope was holding.

What I didn't tell you was that I have been psychotically watching our checking account, waiting for the day that the check cleared. It came a little over a week ago and I was totally thrilled! Now, waiting for the beloved envelope and now IT'S HERE!!!

I tore into the envelope, ready to cancel any and all things to make this appointment, only to discover at the top it reads:

REJECTION NOTICE

WHAT!!!????

I immediately started sweating, not knowing whether to scream, cry, call the number that's listed and let them have it. Then, I started to get mad, why has this not come with our reimbursement?
I wondered, is this God putting a stop to us AGAIN???
How can we come up with the money to apply again? ~CAN we apply again?

Alright, let me explain myself. I tend to over-react without completely reading all things thoroughly, Trail Boss can testify.

Trail Boss, standing at my side at this point, took the paper out of my hand, which I then realized as I can hardly breathe, my heart was no longer beating, and through my sweat...there is an attached paper.

As Trail Boss reads this, he starts laughing.

THIS IS NOT a laughing matter to me!

What was he laughing at?

This attached letter reads:

"Due to a system problem, your attached notice was printed in error...your application has been received and forwarded for further processing."

God, if this is you, I am not finding this funny AT ALL.

But, God, thank you for not allowing me to find this myself while Trail Boss was at work, knowing that I don't read through things before I react!

I know, I've still got a long way to go. And I know, I really need reminding when I need to work on things, but was this absolutely necessary?

I mean, I think it took some years off of my life!

Vacation

2009-12-28T10:38:00.000-08:00

Better late than never, I guess, huh?

Over Thanksgiving our family made a trip to Florida making a couple of pit stops, one in Georgia and one in Kentucky.

We were able to visit family, relax and also have some wild and crazy fun!

Learning what ocean water tastes like on your fingers.

After spending Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa, Grandma took us out to pick oranges that we brought home to make fresh orange juice with! This was such a wonderful time to visit, because so much of their fruit was ripe! We were able to see cotton being harvested and collect some cotton that had blown to the road.

The children never realized that "school" never really stopped this entire vacation!

I will post soon about our visit to Disney...

Venting...

2009-12-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

I try not to get too political here, but....

I have a burden:

Doesn't the "United" States have larger concerns than legalizing gay marriage and passing a health care bill that makes abortion government funded?

Why is it that this seems the main focus of most? Is there nothing else to do with their time and our money?

Alright, thank you for letting me vent! I have been frustrated ever since I heard of a ten year old not saying the pledge in his classroom because, "there isn't liberty and justice for all." This poor little boy has been convinced that because gay marriage is not legal we do not have liberty in our country.

Pray for the children of our country, they are our next leaders! Can you imagine if children were taught to have the courage to stand for Jesus like this little boy did his father's belief, what this country could be!!!

How far will our country have to fall before our faith is truly tested and we take a stand for what we believe? We need to stand NOW.

Our Special Guest

2009-12-22T16:28:00.000-08:00

I have to be completely honest. I have had fears. Going into the adoption, I had no fears, I was ready to take it all on head first. After jumping through the hoops we were required to jump through to this point, my head has been filled with fear. Not from listening to horror stories, or worse case scenarios, but by some of the "educators".

I have struggled explaining how we punish our children during our homestudy. Our children are good. (I'm not bragging.) They make mistakes, yes, so do I. We mainly punished our children ALOT within the first 5 years of their life, now we don't have to do it so much. (Note that I used the word SO.) I love my children and they are far from perfect. When people ask how we punish our children, they want cookie cutter answers. Like, when Cowpoke disobeys, we:

look mad.
raise our voice.
tell him he needs to go to his room for a time out.
let him out in the number of minutes that he is in years old.
give him candy or whatever else he asks.

uuummm...not us. We discipline depending on what punishments work, on which child, AND try to make the punishment fit the crime.

This is not what people want to hear, nor do they understand this concept, but turn and comment on our well behaved children.

We (as adoptive parents) are then expected to adopt children and push them out like a factory making them all from the same mold. If we don't, we are failing. We're told, buy a bigger house NOW, bigger vehicle NOW, DO NOT live in the country, move to a diverse city NOW, the list goes on. I cannot believe all of the "advice" we are given and it comes pounding down on us so hard, I actually started to believe that I needed to change many things before we will be successful with our adoption. In the beginning of our journey, I thought that [Christ's] love would be able to raise and heal our children, adopted and bio. Isn't Christ's love enough for us? I now have been told by professionals that I'm wrong in this thinking. I should have prepared myself for this.

Then the Lord sent us Moses:

Moses is a messenger of the Lord to the 4 Double G Ranch from Zimbabwe, Africa! Moses graced us with his presence at dinner one evening here at the ranch. Oh, that poor man had no idea what he was getting himself into! :)

We all had so many questions for him! I of course, asked him many as well, including, "Thinking back to when you first arrived in the States and the overwhelming feelings, what can we do for our new children when they arrive home to help them to better adjust and quickly?"

His answer........drum roll........

"Love them."

I could have cried. Of course, what was I thinking, this is what the Lord told us in the first place! Oh, may I not continue to follow in the Israelites forgetfulness!

Upon preparing for Moses's visit, I was so nervous! Unlike you can ever imagine.

I was so humiliated that I am who I am. Here, we have closets full of clothing, a kitchen inside, Moses would be welcomed into a carpeted living room, in which no one sleeps because we all have bedrooms. We have how many Bibles wandering our book shelves? We will have leftovers...we'll have several meals a day. I have fruit sitting on the counter, we have a modest house according to America's standards, but I was embarrassed that it's so big.

We have so much and yet we still want more.

Moses has gone home to Zimbabwe to his mother's home (she is a widow). He lives with her because his government tore his house down (long story, this story maybe found in the book that's been writtin about him, although I'm not sure. It's on my reading list! Salvation in Indiana.) There are also around 16 other people living in this same house with him. He compares the size of his home to our two car garages in the U.S. Here he is a pastor, missionary, and planning to get married soon!

Click here if you'd like to help support him or learn more about Moses Thomas's mission.

I-600

2009-12-09T04:56:00.000-08:00

One week ago today, I sent out our I-600 to immigration. We are now awaiting our appointment for fingerprinting.

One more step under our belts!

Another Evening at the Ranch

2009-12-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

If you have never read this book, it's a wonderful read for the children. My children would get down and disappointed every time I told them that was it for the day or we needed to take a break.

They were all intrigued by William Tell.

We decided to practice this at home. Daddy sat on the floor with safety goggles on and set an army man on top of his head. The children lined up with their ammo (rubberbands.)

Buckaroo nailed it the first shot. He walked away, not with a smirk or a smile and no pride, but like it was not a big deal. He has such amazing aim! (This was the main reason we did this, we wanted to see if he could actually do it.) Not many of this child's shots are waisted and we've noticed this for a couple of years.

Next in line, Cowpoke, he hit the guy. He'd been practicing all day before, but it does take him a little more effort and a few more shots.

Then Crazy Ropin' Girl. She was able to hit it with the first shot as well! She was thinking it was luck, I'm sure, although this girl is wicked with her gun! She has excellent aim with that, she just hasn't mastered the art of shooting rubberbands.

I promise they are all practicing daily with those. I have been amazed at what fun and hours of entertainment $1.50 can bring! A bag of rubberbands and the entire family will be warring with each other for days and hours!

*FYI~we've learned that not all members of the family have good aim with these, it's important to wear safety glasses or just sunglasses!

*another note~Trail Boss is alright, no major wounds were inflicted, just took a few shoots in the forhead, but with a receeding hairline, how could we miss?

uuuummmmmm, sorry honey, you know how I love what age is doing to your appearance!

Really.

Seriously, age is very sexy on him......sorry family! It's good to know the attraction is still there!

ha!

We're Back!

2009-11-30T12:36:00.000-08:00

Home from vacation and still trying to catch up...will update soon, sorry for the delay.

We are one step closer with our adoption though! Praise the Lord!

Welcome

2009-11-16T03:31:00.000-08:00

If your new to our blog, WELCOME!!!

Let me introduce the family: I am Ranch Hand. I am usually help with just about everything on the ranch, fencing, construction, throwing hay, delivering kids (goats), butchering chickens, rounding up an escapee calf at 3:00 a.m., roping a ram who secretly snuck in with the ewes at 10:00 p.m., lifting things women were NEVER meant to lift, the list goes on. Even God predestined for me to be "the suitable helper"!

Trail Boss is my one and only. (He forgets that I'm his wife, not his buddy and my muscles are not what his are!) We have a daughter (see below) and twin boys (6 in two weeks) Buckaroo and Cowpoke. Buckaroo is a little on the wild side and Cowpoke is very deliberate and precise in all that he does.

The 4 Double G started in Vicksburg, MI as a ministry to reach people with special needs of all ages. It means "For God's Glory." With God's leading, (or nudging, shoving, forcing a couple of stubborn people) to relocate, we moved to Bringhurst, IN. Don't ask what's here. There isn't anything here. The people are sparse, pigs are many, and there's corn for miles.

Oh, sorry, got off track......The 4 Double G.....has evolved into a ministry that is reaching to Ethiopia, Africa awaiting the gift of two orphans the Lord has knit for this family and his purpose.

4 Double G Ranch: Our name has changed some since our move to Indiana. We now live in a ranch with many animals. (There were animals before, I just didn't struggle to take in the lost or dropped off animals!) So we always have an abundance!

With our ranch's name, we hope that all we do in our lives will be for God's glory. In fact, we even have a 12 year old girl, aka Crazy Ropin' Girl, who visits with all of the animals, teaching them the love of Jesus and helping them accept Jesus into their hearts! (I like to call this preparation for the future.)

I'd like to explain how to navigate this site....and reminders for those who forgot...(my family!)

The Post: Appears on your screen when you visit will be my latest post. Periodically, I will have pics of my goofy family, but you can skip those.
Comments: Can be left by clicking on the word comment below the post you wish to comment on. Was named Yee-Ha but we hit a language barrier here. Sorry!
Searching for a subject: These are my favorite stalls that are always clean! The Barn Stalls are where I keep the posts organized under different subject topics. This is located in the right hand column. For ex: if you're looking to read about our adoption, go to the list called "Which Stall" click on Adoption in the right hand column and all the adoption posts will come up.

You may also vote on the post you read! At the bottom of the post, there will be a box for different thoughts you may have, if you click on one of these, that is your vote!

We also have a list of sites that we visit and links to blogs of friends, feel free to visit them as well!

Sunday Morning Again

2009-11-08T06:32:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for church.

Getting shot by rubberbands.

Will this become a weekly thing?

Linguine with Clam Sauce

2009-11-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

What an excellent dinner with home made buttermilk rolls.

My Cowboys aked for me to repeat it and didn't kick me out!

Thank you PW!

Perspectives

2009-11-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

How can you teach two young boys that the plague of frogs in Egypt was not a "cool" thing?

Buckaroo just thinks this would be the most awesome event in the world! This is what he is picturing:

"The Canoe Trip"

2009-11-05T04:03:00.000-08:00

(Wanting to clarify: this story is year old, but thought I'd still share.)
My dear sweet Trail Boss got me a canoe last year for my birthday, a gift I have asked for for many years!

He waited until we moved to IN before getting me one. I'm not sure why. Michigan is absolutely beautiful with rivers and lakes everywhere you turn!

I'm not complaining, I now have it and am in love with it!

We decided to take our first little trip in it down Wildcat Creek which is not but a couple of miles from our house. (The creeks here in IN are somewhat like the rivers in MI. What we called creeks in MI are drainage ditches here!) We have been on many canoe trips, so this was not a first for us staging vehicles or planning our own trip.

We go to a beautiful spot (Adam's Mill) to put in after staging our vehicles perfectly. "This should be a wonderful relaxing trip," we were thinking! Trail Boss showed me that he was leaving his cell phone right in the car so if anything happened, he wouldn't loose it. Great idea, so I put mine right with his. He then proceeded to show me where he was setting the keys for the other vehicle in this car so we wouldn't loose them and if he forgot where he put them, there would be me to remember. "Excellent plan," I thought.

We put the canoe in ready for relaxation and exploration....we had all three of the children in the same canoe with us. It fits us perfect!

WOW. UMMMMM.....

Let me share with you my notes from the trip:

Indiana creeks rise and fall drastically with the amount of rainfall that we get.

We did not know this. ~We're always learning something new here!

The weather had not been really dry, so there was quite a bit of depth to the creek, although, NOTHING like MI rivers.

Indiana creeks are nothing but rocks, with BIG rocks thrown by God here and there, barely wide enough to get a canoe through. Again, we did not know this.

Also, the flow is slow UNTIL you find a ton of rocks. Then we were white water rafting with three terrified children.

Trail Boss and I learned to work as one that day and could spot invisible rocks under the water in plenty of time to veer around them. We also learned how to not to over-react and scare the children!

I did not realize with the slow flowing creek that we would be missing a meal, so the snacks that I took were minimal. I also didn't think that we would need sunscreen for this quick little trip.

What was I thinking?

We saw some of the most beautiful scenery. And yes, some would even put lower MI to shame. We also had to go under 7 bridges. For some reason I only have pictures of 6 of them....

With the creek running at a MUCH slower pace than expected, this trip took all day! Finally reaching our destination, just before portaging, I realized that the keys to this vehicle were where Trail Boss so proudly showed me he was being responsible and placed them in the OTHER vehicle. And I watched him and thought that he was REALLY thinking!

Ohhhhh, if you only knew.

The place I picked to portage is in the middle of NO MAN'S land. I'm not kidding.

The nearest house was at least a mile away and we had just moved here, so it's not like we could call someone to come to get us once we got to this house. We would need to depend on these people to get us to our other vehicle that was 20 min. away.

We started praying and Crazy Ropin' Girl and I started walking. Then from nowhere a car passed us. This was not a place cars just drive....

I ran back to Trail Boss and asked him to talk to the man that was driving. This man was checking out the creek and launch then was headed home.

He lived by THE MILL.
Did you get that? THE MILL.
Our car is at THE MILL!

God answers prayers! This was answered faster than any prayer I've ever prayed!

He was an angel that took Trail Boss to the mill to get the other car.

Final Analysis:

Next canoe trip will be after huge rains.
No children.
Lots of food (just in case.)
Lots of sunscreen.
Keys...NEVER leave your keys behind.
Don't go if your marriage is on the rocks, this will make you or break you.

Sunday Morning

2009-10-25T06:05:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday morning.

I'm getting ready for church.

Just got shot in the chest from nerf gun cross fire.

What is my life coming to?

For Your Information

2009-10-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

The grooves on the roof of a dogs mouth are the perfect depth for lady bugs to get stuck in.

The grooves are long enough to hold many at one time.

The dog is going crazy.

I will do many disgusting things, but can't bring myself to reach in there to remove them for his sanity.

Poor dog.

Still gaining knowledge and passing it on for your benefit.

Gift Idea

2009-10-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

Wanted to share the knowledge I've gained today.

I have a great gift idea:

A VENUS FLY TRAP

I know, sounds crazy. You'll find your children gaining control of the insect population in your home! They will then put them into the Venus fly trap container. They will be entertained for a long time! They have to watch and see if the bug crawls into one of the traps.

Believe it or not, this gift in our home has not gotten old! It still entertains every time a bug is found.

I've learned is that I've waisted my morning watching a stupid fly with the children. I've now learned how they take baths. I watched this fly wash everything from his front legs to his back legs.

Knowledge gained:

Did you know that flies can put their back legs up over their wings and slide them down over top of them to clean them? Haven't you always dreamed of putting your legs on your back?!

Ummmmm, I think I've lost my appetite...need to loose weight? watch a fly closely!

Oh, I know y'all are envious of this homeschool mom! Look out at the future lessons I'll pass on!

To Come.....

2009-10-23T03:49:00.000-07:00

I will soon be posting a time line of our adoption!

We are well on our way!

4-H Fun Show

2009-10-23T03:35:00.000-07:00

Crazy Ropin' Girl had a fun show with the 4-H group. They had many different events, carrying an egg on a spoon while trying to do different tricks, riding double and switching the people around on the horses back, riding double with one person riding backward, they also had a costume contest...

Poor Tex...I don't think that trail construction is a good fit for him.

Country Living....

2009-10-23T03:29:00.000-07:00

Bear with me or is the bear in the computer? Maybe we'll soon have our computer running better. "The men" came yesterday and said that they'd be back in a week to fix it.....

That's what happens when you live in the middle of nowhere!

Keepin' Up with the Jones's

2009-09-30T04:15:00.000-07:00

It's official, this summer we decided to let our children have a "4-wheeler". You know, every child has one, and the neighbors have two!

This "4-wheeler" is attracting even the neighbors, they all have to come take a spin! Cowpoke is cool driving with one hand.

When I said the neighbors were coming over, did you really think that I meant children, naw...
I know this is a terrible picture, but I just had to show you just who it is that loves this little get around. When the neighbors were over, it was the men who were just having a blast! They discovered the heavier you are the bigger wheelie you can do. So then that was it, who can do the biggest wheelie!

Alright, I need to tell you the full story on this little mobile. It is a Craftsman mower. It was a gift from my dear Father-in-law not long after Trail Boss and I were married. Him and Trail Boss were just thrilled over this. I wasn't sure what to think.

Did he like me?
Was he just trying to do his son a favor and get rid of me?
Did I like him anymore?
What was I to say to him?
or my groom?

I then decided to take the approach:

"This will be perfect for the children! All we have to do is take the blades off and away they go!"

Trail Boss looked at me like I was insane. (Mind you, he loves old things and loves to see them work for what they were made for.) He said that we were going to get this thing runnin' and use it, because we did not have a rider mower.

OK

Let me paint the picture:
We lived in a village with VERY close neighbors.
We lived on a busy road, next to a school.
These Junior High School kids could see my every move from the school windows.
(They told me this!)
I was young, pretty, and newly married.
I worried about what people thought.

Next, I was pregnant with twins...could you see me on this with a monstrous belly?! I would have been popping wheelies all over that yard, talk about making heads turn!

So, one thing that I have considered a weakness in Trail Boss became the best thing that ever was: procrastination. It saved my reputation and pride! This poor little collector's item, antique mower was put on the back burner and never got running until this summer.
Perfect timing, just when the boys can fall in love with it!

Status of Father-in-law:
Still kicking.
I did him no harm for this, although maybe one day, he'll just have it coming.
I'm still not sure what his motives were to this day with that mower.
I think he likes me...most times....
I like him....most times....
He has never done anything like this since.
Maybe he was just testing the waters?...
I hope he got the results he was looking for...if not...he'll just have it coming.
Or maybe he (and his neighbors) loved driving this around so much, he thought he'd share with his son and neighbors.

(I truly am blessed to have him as a father-in-law! -I had to add this in case he reads this...God only knows what he could do next!)

Can I go out to Play Now?

2009-09-28T04:20:00.000-07:00

We're coming up on the end of canning season. I have been non-stop canning for weeks-years it seems! I have officially neglected the house, the children, the car, truck dog, horse, barn....you name it, I have ignored it!

But, we'll have food to eat this winter that was nearly free.

Trail Boss has successfully mowed down the garden as we all kept running for cover to dogde leftover tomatoes shooting out from the mower deck.

Not really, but that's what I thought would happen...I hope he did clean off the mower deck when he was done!

I can't wait to go outside to play! I feel that I've been stuck in a house full of flies trying to can...

Any ideas on how to teach little boys to close the door behind them after going through them?

Any ideas on how to servive this season I'm renaming "Fly Season"?

The Christmas Story Child

2009-09-17T11:53:00.001-07:00

I have no words...

I do want you to know that Cowpoke wore these for hours, several days in a row. For those of you concerned about the safety of his eyes, these are safety glasses (I think from the 60's), no worries.

Pictures!

2009-09-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

Wanting to introduce to you...

I couldn't believe this! Here Crazy Ropin' Girl got to her brothers. Cowpoke and Buckaroo...the sad part was, Buckaroo actually looked and was acting like a girl. I thought I was going to die laughing! This was a complete surprise to me.

Crazy Ropin' Girl in the sun.

Buckaroo running down a sand dune for his first time.

Cowpoke. Do I have to explain? Haven't you ever seen a child try to look at their own tongue?

Help Me Organize Memories!

2009-09-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

No, I have not lost or forgotten how to use the camera.

In fact, I'm overwhelmed.

I usually put the pictures onto the computer from my camera and then e-mail them to Meijer.com. I don't recommend doing this, as they have been cropping my pictures as they desire. I have been so frustrated with them, the pictures come back so off center, and if you order different sizes of the same pic, they crop them both different.

I haven't decided where to go from here, if you have any recommendations, I'm open to all and any!

Needless to say, I've been loading all of my pictures onto the computer, and now I have a complete mess to clean up. Does anyone have any advice???? How will I ever find time to do this?

So anyway, I thought that I would search the neverending stashes that I have and share some with you.

Spiritual Rollercoaster

2009-09-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

I LOVE roller coasters! Crazy Ropin' Girl took Trail Boss on his first roller coaster, he told me just how nervous he was. I found this just to be hilarious, because Ropin' Girl was calm as can be, well filled with excitement as well.

This roller coaster is not a fun one, and will probably be the longest and best one of my lifetime. We are faced with so many trials during this time and temptation. It's amazing when you take the path God really intends for you to be on, how certain you can be of this when the trials approach. He is definitely testing our faith! It's so wonderful to see Him work in our family. Some days pass and I feel so worthless to Him. Then I see where He's taking us, and I realize just how important we are, I am too Him.

How exciting it is to know that He has a plan for us, and it's better than anything we could ever imagine!

Adoption

2009-09-07T05:01:00.000-07:00

I know that last year I kind of left you hanging. We started the adopting process again only to find the Lord stopping us because it was not His timing. Here we are once again taking this journey only to find that God is opening doors for us left and right that were closed before. It is amazing to see how God works when you move before He is ready and then when you move when He is ready.

We have already been faced with many challenges so far. I am aware that there will be more to come. Some people are very supportive, some very disapproving. I can't imagine living this life and not doing it. We are being obedient to His calling and waiting on His timing. I am fully aware that this will be huge and very difficult more times than not. Isn't that how children are, yet blessings at the same time? I'm am aware of the difficulties we may face when the children come home, but God is gracious and He is my Healer and will be these children's Healer as well.

Please pray with us for our children. Pray that we can bring them home soon and pray that we are able to make all of the fees that are necessary. We are already seeing that when we pay the fees that we are able to pay, when other fees are due and the money is not there~amazing things have happened! God has already waived fees and made our pennies multiply without our knowing! God is so good!

When things like this happen, how can you ever begin to question whether or not you are doing His will?

Flowers vs. Herman

2009-09-07T04:28:00.000-07:00

It's been some time, I know. I'm not sure if life has been that dull or so exciting that I can't decide what to write about!

Trail Boss and I have been working on redoing our pasture fencing. More him than myself, but I'm helping between canning tomatoes and making meals. We're hoping that high tensile fence will keep in our little calf that we've had for a couple of months.
Unfortunately it does not until it's electrified!

This calf's name is Herman. The cute little thing squeezed himself through that fence when no one was looking and marched right over to my impatiens and had lunch! Then left a surprise right in front welcoming any visitor.

I'm wondering if my planting any flowers or doing any landscaping around the house is a waste of time! This little escape artist is getting good. One night last week, he made his escape and came right to the boys window and was yelling at them to come out to play. He didn't seem to care one bit that it was 11:00 at night. The boys sleep hard and did not wake to all the commotion and mooing, it was mom. I was not interested in playing and am understanding this cow's tactics now. See, the boys were feeding the cow, we got him when he was on a bottle, then we moved him onto grain and as soon as the grain was done he snuck out into the night to beg the little cowboys for more food without mom and dad knowing.

They are all the same. I'm sure that he first went ram-shackling the barn looking for some sweet grain before coming to the window, they all do this. If the horses ever got out, they never left the barn, they just binged, same as the goats.

Maybe it's my parenting skills? There are wonderful books and websites on parenting humans, I'm not having much luck at parenting animals, they still end up like wild animals regardless!

Romanced

2009-08-04T03:35:00.000-07:00

It is early morning and the Lord is playing some soft music for me. (Crickets) ~How romantic, just what my soul needed. I am excited because I know what is next. The very sun that He created will be rising over the corn that seems to blind the eyes from the world this time of year. As I glance out the window, I notice that He has sent a light fog in the distance to settle just above the tassels on the same sky reaching plants. I can't wait to let the sun warm my skin and soak up what He has created for my enjoyment. What can we ever repay Him with for this?!

He created these things for me. The rooster is crowing, just as the rooster crowed as Jesus walked this Earth for me. He gives me what I don't deserve Psalm 103:10.

Jesus is in love with me and I am in love with Jesus!

How funny it seems to write that! I feel the excitement of a child!

~Know that when you read His word, that is His love letter to YOU! Read it as if it is just that-VERY personal!