Hannah Marie Ayana Self...It's Official!!!

This is the day the Lord had made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!

Today we finalized the adoption with our daughter Hannah Marie. I cannot believe that nearly 3 yrs ago when the Lord led this precious child to our home that we would be here today but we are humbled and in complete awe of His power and will for family. We are blessed...deeply! Here are a couple pictures from the court house. What an emotional moment when a judge tells you that this child shall be your forever. Our kids got to experience this once in a lifetime journey and they handled it with grace and maturity. I think we are all so happy to be in this permanent place, no more guessing, no more waiting.,.she is ours. A new daughter, sister, grand daughter and niece. I will never forget this moment...it brings me chills. I am full!

Of course we wouldn't be the Self's without our traditional crazy picture!

What an unbelievable feeling to have all the family join us for this day...Aunt Stacie (Shane's youngest sister) and Uncle Rich, (Kristen's brother), as well and Grandma and Grandpa Thoma in Washington, were with us in spirit and never far from our heart.

 Before we headed to the court house my mom came over and took a few family pictures to remember this day. Not a bad looking family if I say so myself...we clean up pretty good!

And then is was time to party! We contacted Peter Piper Pizza to see if they would open early for our party and they agreed. We had the place to ourself! We eating until we could no more and played hard. We were served by an amazing staff at the restaurant and will support them more often for making this day perfect!

I could not have pictured a more perfect day! The Lord has been faithful and blessed us beyond anything we could ever imagine for ourselves.This is truly a life lived full of immense joy! Thank you to all who have celebrated with us either in person or in spirit. You have made an impact on our life.

The Holy Spirit at work

It is not secret to those that know us well that our daughter Samantha can be a bit of a princess. She likes her life, her things, her routine just the way it is. One of the benefits of foster care I thought about in the beginning was that Samantha would have to be more flexible and more understanding of others needs that may be more important that hers. In the beginning when It was just Nathan I was actually seeing the fruit of her taking care of someone and it was a blessing. Once we were placed with "girls" in our home all that work began to be a big stretch for her.

We have struggled with teaching her to be kind to her sisters. That yes, they share a room and it can be hard but that it can also be great fun. We have broken up too many fights, mostly verbal, lately and I was beginning to feel very discouraged. I was nervous that now that the adoption was right around the corner would she ever truly embrace this new forever sister? But God has been working on her heart....

This morning I stumbled across a letter that she wrote without any prompting from her parents...it made me cry!

Valentine Cookies

My wonderful Mother brought over decorating supplies and heart shaped cookies for the kids to do on Fri night while I was at a soccer game with Jacob. I am impressed with how good these look and they tasted even better as I was told by the kids. It is always fun to have the kids get to do such fun things thanks to their Grandma!

Happy Valentine's Day for sure!

I found this shirt at the mall this morning for $8! Can you believe it? I love it and I love my hubby!!!

1 Week to go

It is hard to believe we are one week away from finalizing our adoption. It still seems so crazy! I never imagined we would be at this point almost 3 yrs ago when this adorable child came to live with us. One one hand I am over the moon excited to be her mom, and on another hand I am sad the 'system" takes this long to give a child a good family. I can't really do anything about the system except pray I guess.

As I was reflecting on this adoption one wild thing that God has done leaves me in awe of His divine power. I counted the weeks from when the judge ruled to terminate birth parents' rights and when the adoption will be final...40 weeks. 40 WEEKS!!!! It is the same amount of a normal pregnancy. God uses pregnancy to prepare the mom, dad, family, etc for the new arrival, and he used that same amount of time to prepare our family too. Is that a "Wow God Moment" or what? I am also humbled that God felt it necessary to prepare my heart for that long. It really has taken this whole amount of time for the reality and the intensity to sink in. It is going to be a joyous day of celebration. I am also humbled by the shear number of people that will be attending our special moment. We will fill that court room and I can't think of a more special gift to give her than to have so many of our family/friends come and be there. I am praying that she will reflect on this day in the future and feel the Lord's divine love and what He has done for her. I love her dearly...my daughter! (almost)

PS When I told a fabulous friend that I currently have a kidney stone, and that I get them when I am pregnant, she reminded me based on what God has done with the time line it is only fitting that I have a kidney stone right now too...AMAZING! My God finds me important enough to put all these little things together...and well, He has a sense of humor too.

Here she is...my little doll baby in May 2008. Wow, she is growing up fast

Piano Ensemble Concert

There were over 15 pianos on the stage at Mountain View High School Saturday night. Samantha and her group played "Hi Ho, Hi Ho" and "It's a Small World" together. It is a very interesting concept with the children playing all the same song, but playing different melody and harmony parts. It sounded beautiful, almost like a piano orchestra! My favorite song of the night was Pachabelle Cannon.

Life is a highway...

Nathan, as part of his train obsession, love trailers. He has always looked for ways to hook things up to each other and pull the "trailer, or train cars" behind. He asked Shane specifically yesterday if he could make him a trailer, and the awesome Dad that he is, he did it in about an hour. First, Nathan was content to just pull the trailer, but then he added himself a small passenger...and she was happy as pie too.

Baby it's cold outside

Someone wants to go out and play but it's just too darn cold. She put the stool next to the door to reach the handle with the hopes of opening the door herself...no such luck.

Chili on a chilly day

So we all know it has been down right cold these past couple of days so why not make something warm for dinner? I love making chili for a couple of reasons. One, it smells so good in the crock pot all afternoon. Second, it makes great leftovers, and third, it is yummy!!!

Turkey Chili

1 lb of lean ground turkey
1 large can of Ranch style beans
1 reg, can of black beans
1 reg. can of crushed or diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 package chili seasoning

So easy...brown the turkey. Pour all the contents of the cans in the crock pot along with the seasoning. Add the chili and cook for a couple hours. Add grated cheese and sour cream if desired. And to complete the meal, corn bread muffins. This is a simple, healthy version of a warm hearty meal on the those cold days and the family loves it!