Hello friends and family,

It’s been a couple of weeks since our last post… not much new to report on the adoption front.  To quote a friend of Doreen’s who has been through it before, “That process is just long and miserable.  No way around it.”

It’s fun to have presents under the tree that say, “To: Cali, Will and Davensly”!  We are with him in spirit, prayers and thoughts.  Here’s a link to a 5 minute video with some footage from our pastor’s visit to the orphanage a few weeks ago… it’s of the boys in their classroom while at school (Davensly is sitting/standing just in front of the teacher- he’s harder to spot…Stanley is closer to the camera and you can’t miss his bright eyes and smile).  Then, there are clips of them opening their presents.  Watch and listen for their giggles and excitement when they see themselves and each other in their photo books…it’s my favorite.

Merry Christmas to you all!  Consider this our card for this year 🙂  sorry, we didn’t get one out…much to the chagrin of our daughter.  Sorry, Cal.  If we had written a letter, my word for 2012 is ‘WOW!‘  Jan-Feb, we walked through some hard days with some family members, including my dad’s stroke on Feb. 25…March-went to California to see the Pearcy’s…April- trip of a lifetime for Scott and I to Cabo (thanks to Scott’s great year in sales for 2011)… also in April, 4 days before we left, I found water damage in our basement- that had trailed down the wall from the roof… I won’t bore you with all the details- but, this project was just wrapped up in November (it entailed the basement living room, Cal’s bedroom, laundry room, carpet upstairs and into Scott’s office, and kitchen).  We had a secondary flood while in Cabo.  A little ‘oopsie’ happened while my mom was here with the kids :)… May- a dear friend was diagnosed with a difficult cancer… June/July- fun at hockey & baseball tournaments and the cabin…Aug- spent time praying about adopting D., and vacationed with an incredible group of friends at Trout Lake family camp… Sept- spent time daily on paperwork and appointments for the adoption process, Scott turned 40, Dad turned 70 (as did Scott’s dad in Aug.)…Oct- celebrated mom and dad’s 45th anniversary and our 15th… Nov- Cali made the varsity hockey team… Dec- Will broke his leg while snowboarding… WOW.

Love and blessings to you all.  We rejoice and celebrate the birth of our Savior.  We rely on Him daily and are so grateful for His guidance, forgiveness, shelter, mercy and grace.