Thursday was a "blast"!

Yesterday, (Thurs March 26) was quite a day! It started off with a special treat arranged by our great friend Nori Jackson. Nori is the amazing Family Readiness Officer for 1st Battalion, 11th Marines (yes she is the person who has saved my sanity by taking over 90% of the "stuff" I was doing for the battalion!). Nori arranged for the 2 of us to go out with a Battery from the battalion on the "gun line" and "pull a lanyard" (in civilian words, we got to go out with the big howitzers and fire one!) The Marines of Battery C and their Battery Commander (Capt Kenny Jones) were our hosts. Bryant was able to go out with us too. We had to suit up in a flack jacket and helmet and had to ride out to the position in the back of a high-back Humvee! We had so much fun and learned a lot. As the wife of an Artillery Marine, I hear a lot about the gun line, the howitzers and what they do, but seeing it in action and getting to pull the cord to shoot one -- well it was amazing! Thanks to Nori, Kenny, and Battery C!

As it turns out, whenever I spend time in Nori's office I tend to get phone calls with good news (maybe that it is a sign I should spend more time there!). I was there in December when we got the call from the Adoptions office in Greenville, SC that we had been selected by their panel as Marcus' adoptive parents (the sweet little boy in South Carolina). This time we received a call with great news that is still hard to believe! As many of you know, one of the delays in our process to adopt Marcus has been court delays and issues with terminating the parental rights of the birth parents. Despite showing little to no interest in him and not taking any steps to work on their ability to be good parents, they have not been willing to relinquish their rights . . . until now -- a little over 2 years to the day he was placed in foster care! The birth mother signed the papers in court on Thursday! We are thrilled and so excited for this huge obstacle to be out of the way (it certainly brings up all kinds of questions - like why now and why did she wait so long, etc., but we are not questioning it and know that God has a plan so we just have to trust in Him!).

We still have to wait for a court hearing to terminate the rights of the birth father (or the sperm donor as I like to call him -- he certainly is not a "father" in any way). That will be the end of April and should be a simple process. Then we will see what the next step is to get South Carolina and Kansas talking!

Thank you for all your support and prayers! We know that God's hand is guiding us and we know He is hearing your words. Please pray for Marcus' birth mother - that she will get the help and support she needs and that in time will know she will find peace with her decision.

Creating bonds. . .

Hard to believe March is almost over! This has been a busy month for us as we work on building bonds! We are making plans for our move to Kansas -- building ties to that community and reconnecting with friends who will be at Ft. Leavenworth with us. Jennifer spent some time in Clinton, SC visiting family and spending time with Marcus, the little boy we are hoping to adopt. It's amazing to see how he is growing and thriving. He is growing so fast, learning new skills and developing relationships with our family. He and our youngest niece Caroline are quite the pair! Their speech therapist said they are little an old married couple -- arguing one minute and holding hands the next! I was really happy that Bryant's mom Roberta, his sister Tracey and his aunt Brenda were able to meet us for lunch one day and meet Marcus too! The visit to SC was great and could have only been better if Bryant had been there. We'll both be there in April to spend time with Marcus and to celebrate Bryant's sister's wedding! I'll have some pictures from the March visit to share soon.

Today marks 2 years that Marcus has been in foster care. He is so blessed to be with Gregg, Peggy, and their sons. They are such an amazing family! We are so grateful for the love and care they have given to Marcus.

They Say the Neon Lights are Bright On Broadway . . .

So in Kansas, we'll be living on Broadway!! Broadway Terrace that is -- so no neon lights!! We are so excited about being homeowners again! Here is a link to some photos if you are interested (warning there are a LOT of photos!): http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=3kgkaqjj.55ne998f&x=0&h=1&y=-gdrhpx&localeid=en_US

It's a 2 story home with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. I think we both are most excited about a 2 car garage that BOTH vehicles will fit into and still have room for our freezer and storage! Actually we are most excited about planning a special room for a special little boy who we hope to have join our family soon!

House Hunting Trip to Kansas

We flew out to Kansas on Monday, February 23 to spend some time getting to know the area and to look for a place to live. We figured with the market like it is, it is a good time to be home owners again.

We had quite an interesting week that certainly did not start the way we expected. On Tuesday morning, Feb 24, Bryant had to rush me to St. John Hospital in Leavenworth, KS. You see, we had a little secret -- I was about 10 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage. While we were devastated by this loss, the experience lead us to learn a lot about the community we are about to call "home". The ER doctor and nurses were so amazing -- caring and encouraging at first and comforting and compassionate when we all realized what had happened. They held our hands, provided hugs of support and even cried with us. When I had to go back for a follow up test, they all remembered us and were offering more hugs and encouragement. I was refered to a local ob/gyn who was wonderful as well! Truly everyone we met while in Kansas treated us like we were "home" from the doctors and nurses, to the pharmacist at CVS, to the waitresses at restaurants, to the staff at the hotel. Everyone was so wonderful!

On a more positive note, the realtor we worked with was amazing -- Sally Estes! She did a lot of leg work before hand and during my recovery time. She even took Bryant out and about to look at homes and areas when I needed some quiet time. When I was ready, I joined in on the 'fun'. I'm very happy to report that we found a new house to buy! We put in an offer and it was accepted the next morning -- no haggling -- yahoo! I'll put more details about the house later along with some pictures.

So we'll be heading to Kansas in less than 2 months. I will go out earlier than Bryant so I can start getting the house settled and ready for the next stage of the adoption process in Kansas.

Stay tuned for more updates later this week!