More Photos

Fun Stuff

I thought I would just add some fun photos and video of Reese mostly just to keep people up to speed on how fast she is growing. I never would have imagined how much you could love someone until she came around. She blows my mind every day with how loving, sweet, smart, kind, and inquisitive she is. Every child is truly a miracle from God.

Adoption Update

We got some great news last week from our adoption specialist. The Ethiopian program is not going to stop giving referrals to families this summer. You can opt to wait until the courts re-open in September for your referral, but Ryan and I have said we would take a referral any time. When I talked with our specialist in early June she said that people who completed their paperwork last October were getting referrals. That means we may be just a little over a month away from our referral. The hope is that our case will be one of the first ones heard in September/October by the Ethiopian courts and we may be able to travel over there by November. Ryan and I would love to have this child home by the end of the year. It has been quite the process, and we are anxiously awaiting our first picture and connection to him/her. It it nice to kind of have a time frame as well. It will make planning and getting ready seem a lot more real to us now. Please continue praying for this child and his/her family. I know it is going to be an emotional roller coaster for all involved.

The Big Move

Well....we have officially left Red Wing and are working on making the transition to Eau Claire. I started my new job May 19 at Luther Hospital as a staff pharmacist. Things are going very well, but I will be much happier when we are finally living in Eau Claire. Right now, we are still waiting for our house to sell. We have a second showing on Tuesday June 10, so please be praying that they are the ones. Until the house sells, Ryan and I are planning on living with his family in Neillsville Wisconsin, which is 1 hour from Eau Claire. It is a very long commute, and I don't like doing it. However, I think this has truly been a blessing for us and for Ryan's family. Ryan's dad, Kent, had pretty major surgery in April, and he isn't able to keep up his business like he did before. Ryan and I decided that since he wasn't going to be working in Eau Claire until August, that he could spend some time with his dad to try and keep the business going. It will be especially needed in July since Kent has to go in for another surgery. To me...it is just amazing how God's plan gets revealed to you. Once August rolls around, we plan to rent something small in EC until the house sells. We don't want to be commuting once we are both working and Reese is going to day care. Ryan has taken a job at the Newman Center parish on the UWEC campus. During this first year, his focus will be on family faith formation and youth ministry. After a year or two, he will also be taking on Campus Ministries, which will be a pretty big change for him. We are both really excited for all these great changes that are coming our way. It feels great to be moving closer to family and to a town we have loved since college. Life is a little crazy righ now, but all the change is good, and we feel very blessed for the opportunities we have been given.