tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18554855017423489312024-02-21T12:06:10.146-06:00Our Family BlogThis blog is to connect to our friends and family as we journey and experience life's adventures.Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.comBlogger225125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-32716932527302396242013-12-24T15:11:00.000-06:002013-12-24T15:11:41.587-06:00Prince of Peace<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">Merry Christmas Family & Friends!!</span><br />
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<span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">We</span> wanted to share a little more of our adoption journey with you this Christmas and how the long wait has impacted us.</div>
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Our church has been doing a four week series called Wish List focused on the question: What if God has a wish list for us this Christmas? Each week has looked at one of the titles the coming Savior is given in Isaiah 9:6: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, & Prince of Peace and asked what would it look like to receive that gift this Christmas.</div>
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To <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">go</span> with each message, our church has captured the story of a member of our community that focuses on the theme each week. Andrea and I were asked to share our journey of choosing peace while <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">we</span> have been waiting for our son. Here is a link to the video of our story: <a href="https://db.tt/HYfKXYdB" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12.727272033691406px;" target="_blank">https://db.tt/HYfKXYdB</a></div>
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You can hear our pastor's entire message on the Prince of Peace here: <a href="http://www.wearemission.com/watch/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.wearemission.<wbr></wbr>com/watch/</a></div>
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<span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">We</span> are grateful for your support and encouragement as <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">we</span> have journeyed towards our son! You have helped us to release our anxieties and find peace in this process. <span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc;">We</span> hope and pray that this year you too may find peace no matter what challenges you may be facing.</div>
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Merry Christmas!</div>
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Mark & Andrea</div>
Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-45781683376566514222013-12-24T15:08:00.001-06:002013-12-24T15:08:56.529-06:00Merry Christmas to us!!<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Dearest Family & Friends-</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="il">We</span> are SO EXCITED to share with you that <span class="il">we</span> have our first official travel date.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">That means that in a short time <span class="il">we</span> will get to meet, hug and hold our son for the very first time! <span class="il">We</span> cannot begin to describe our excitement and joy for this!! <span class="il">We</span> are so grateful for your support and encouragement over the last 3 years as <span class="il">we</span> have journeyed through this adoption process.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Between now and when <span class="il">we</span> come home as a united family, <span class="il">we</span> will make a few trips.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="il">We</span> cannot begin to express our enthusiasm to be at this point. While the road ahead is still many months long and there are definitely still uncertainties, <span class="il">we</span> are so grateful to have a timeline before us as to when <span class="il">we</span> will have our son home with us in our family.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Your love, support, encouragement and prayers have meant so much to us and carried us along on this journey. Thank you!!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="il">We</span> pray that this Christmas your life, just like ours, may be filled with the hope of the coming Son!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Mark, Andrea & Evan</span></div>
Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-40328354181642732392013-10-03T19:17:00.004-05:002013-10-03T19:17:51.019-05:00God is answering our prayers!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today we have received some great news!!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have specifically asked you (our friends and family) to be in prayer with us for our son's continued growth and development. He was extremely malnourished when he came into care at the orphanage last year and also not even scoring on the growth charts when we were matched in April. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, today we received his correct and current measurements of height, weight and head size. We are excited to share that he is now on the growth charts in the 40th percentile range. This is truly an answer to our prayers! Thank you to all of you that have been lifting him up in prayer! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last 6 months our son has been living with a foster family. Mark and I are so grateful that he is in a foster family being loved on and cared for. This foster family has been standing in the gap for us, giving him what he needs to grow and develop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is in these things (growth, development and foster foster family) we are so grateful for and find joy in as we continue to wait.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you for your continued support and prayers!</span><br />
<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-39013723632958847772013-05-13T07:38:00.000-05:002013-05-13T07:40:18.258-05:00Mother of prayer.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am a
mother of two boys. My oldest is a
people person, snuggly, silly, kind hearted, independent, he loves cars &
army guys, he enjoys playing games, and play with his friends. He is an amazing five year old little
boy. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My youngest
son I have never met. He currently lives
on the other side of the world in Africa. I know his name and I have a two month old
picture of him.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> I know a few details of his story, but mostly
I only know the challenges he has had to overcome in his two years of
life. Challenges I wish no child had to
experience!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I long to
know him! I long to immerse him with my
love! I long to have him in my presence
to protect him, fight for him, and get him whatever he needs to grow strong and
healthy! But in this moment, I
can’t. I desire to be in control of this
adoption process, to go get him now and bring him home, but that is not how it
works. I am not in control! I must wait! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have
learned to shift my focus to prayer.
Trusting he is in the safe care of our agency partners, but most
importantly trusting to my core, he is in the care of God. I work to sit in a place of contentment. Contentment and peace trusting in God – believing
that my son is being taken care of, protected and loved by the foster family he
is with. That God is taking care of his
needs to continue to grow and develop. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Contentment
in prayer is where I sit! Prayer is my connection to God, my connection to my
son. Through prayer I am connected to
him. I am able to protect him. I am able to take care of him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am
learning prayer is one of the most important thing a mother can do for her
child. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This realization causes me to ask
the question, why don’t I pray more for my children?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
Mother’s Day I am challenged to control less and pray more.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-60331471009712136802013-04-29T21:07:00.000-05:002013-04-29T22:24:15.565-05:00<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Dear Family, Friends & Supporters-</span><br />
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<i>WE HAVE BEEN MATCHED WITH OUR SON!!!</i> After month after month of waiting we have the privilege of knowing who our Ugandan son is. </div>
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Currently our son is staying with a foster family so that he can have focused attention and care to help him grow and develop. </div>
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We still have quite the path ahead of us until we can bring him home to our family. Due to legal protections for children, the government processes, and courts it will most likely be 12 to 14 months until we come home as a family.</div>
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We will take 2 trips to Uganda. The first trip will be in 7 to 10 months and last for about 10 days. The second trip will be 4 to 10 weeks later and will will last 2 to 3 weeks. Evan will join us on this trip, on this trip we will get everything we need to travel back home as a family!</div>
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<i>We cannot express our gratitude enough to each of you that have supported us through your encouragement, prayers, and generous donations. It would not be possible for us to bring our son into our family without you!!</i></div>
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<b><i>[IMPORTANT NOTE]: Until we bring our son home we are not allowed to post his name or picture on the Internet. </i></b></div>
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We are so grateful to be on this journey with all of you!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Mark, Andrea & Evan</div>
Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-85032937464543371372013-03-18T15:14:00.002-05:002013-03-18T15:14:29.456-05:00Adoption Timeline I posted our Adoption Timeline in the right column of our blog. Check it out!<br />
<br />Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-7143239498170298642013-01-25T12:25:00.003-06:002013-01-25T12:25:42.539-06:00Waiting<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We will soon pass the 6 month mark for our family being on the <span class="il">waiting</span> list to be matched with our child. We are grateful to have moved towards the top of this list, although there is a very good chance we will <span class="il">wait</span> another 3+ months to be matched. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Many people have asked, "Once you are matched do you travel right away to bring your child home?" The answer is no. We fill out and file more paperwork and then we <span class="il">wait</span> for a court date in Uganda (this may take 6+ months). Once we have our court date, we will travel to Uganda for our first trip followed by a second and final trip 4 to 10 weeks later. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">When we started our process to adopt I had the mindset that, "God has called us to adopt so it will be quick and easy." Ha! I laugh at myself now, this process has been anything but! I have learned firsthand that when God calls us to risk & follow Him, He does not promise it to be quick or easy. Instead He does promise to walk with us on the journey through the lows and highs--through the hard moments when we feel like we are <span class="il">waiting</span> indefinitely and through the moments of excitement when we have reached the next step. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Many days it is very hard to <span class="il">wait</span> to the point of our hearts aching, but we try to focus on the things we are grateful for. We are so grateful for all of you to walk our journey of adoption with. We truly cannot express how much your love and support (both financial and emotional) have meant to us so far on this journey. We find encouragement knowing that so many people are rooting for us along the way. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you all for <span class="il">waiting</span> with us! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Grateful!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: white;">Andrea, Mark & Evan</span></span></div>
Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-91123605533018675402012-09-03T11:39:00.002-05:002012-09-03T18:31:33.650-05:00Adoption Update - Labor Day<span style="background-color: white;"><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">We have been officially on the waiting list for over a month now!! This means that we could receive our referral and be matched with our son any day now or up to 8 months from now. With our adoption program, families are typically waiting between 2 weeks and 9 months for a referral.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Once we accept our referral and <b>know who our son is</b>, we will wait for our court date in Uganda. This could take anywhere from 4 to 8 months. We will then travel to Uganda and spend about a week there. While there we will meet our son and spend several days with him and we will also go to court and become his legal guardians. We will then come home (leaving him at his orphanage) for another 4 to 10 weeks before our second trip. On this trip we will be in Uganda for around 2 weeks and our son will get his US Passport and we will be able to return to the States together. We are planning on bringing Evan on this second trip so we can travel home as a family.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">If everything goes as quick as it possibly can, we could be coming home in as little as 6 months from now. If everything drags out, it could be almost another 18-20 months. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">For Andrea and I, this waiting is difficult. It seems like we have been on the adoption journey for a while now and yet at the same time it seems like we might have quite a while still to go.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">At the same time, we feel as though we are continually reminded that this is not our time and our plan, but God's. And <b><i>He is continually moving and preparing the way for us.</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Just last week, someone handed me a check for $5,000. He told me that he knows the world will be a better place when our family adopts our son from Uganda.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Over the last 9 months we have received 128 individual gifts totaling $34,711 to help us cover the costs of adopting our son. </span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><i>That is an unbelievable amount of generosity—an incredible amount of people standing behind us saying ‘We are with you.’</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">When we experience the overwhelming generosity, support, love and encouragement of our family, friends, co-workers and even strangers, it reminds us of how compelling this journey is and how much the journey is worth it—no matter how long it takes. It reminds us that our God has called us on this journey and that He will never leave us nor abondon us along the way. He has a plan and He will continue to be faithful at every step.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">I have no idea how long we will be on the waiting list, or how long it will be from when we accept our referral and know who our son is until our court date and first trip, or how long we will wait after having held our son until we can return to bring him home, but I do know that we will not wait alone.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">We anxiously wait, with choosing to have glad hearts knowing that the living God is pouring out His endless love, support, and provision through our friends, family and the people around us. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Thank you for continuing to journey with us. It means the world to us.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Love,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Andrea, Mark & Evan</span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00506046972857240394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-11891654242552636822012-06-08T08:09:00.000-05:002012-06-08T08:09:09.465-05:00Update - The ProcessLast Friday we received out completed update Illinois home study along with all of the DCFS and State of Illinois Approvals!!<br />
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That afternoon we mailed it and the other necessary paperwork to the US Government to update our Federal approval. This should take 30-45 days.<br />
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Once we have this in hand, we will submit it with some additional paperwork (all together our dossier) to the agency that will actually place our son with us, Holt International. Once they have it we will be on the waiting list to be matched with our son!!<br />
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From there, we could wait a few weeks to several months to receive our referral. After we have accepted our referral, we will wait a few months for a court date in Uganda and we will travel there to meet him and to become his legal guardians in Uganda. We will then return home and wait 4-12 weeks until we have the final approvals from Uganda and the US government and then we will go to Uganda and <b><i>come home with our son!</i></b><br />
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There are still many steps to go but we are moving forward!!<br />
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Many of you have asked how our fundraising is going. To date we have raised almost $28,000 of the $35,000 we need to bring our son home!! Your generosity is overwhelming! You can see our exact progress and contribute at <a href="http://adopttogether.org/thewittigs/">http://adopttogether.org/thewittigs/</a><br />
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Lastly, as we move closer to bringing our son home the reality of this journey is becoming more and more real to us. The post below this one, is a letter I wrote to our son. It is becoming harder and harder for us to be without him as our love for him grows.<br />
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Thank you for your support, encouragement, and prayers! We could not complete this journey without you!<br />
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mwMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00506046972857240394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-9965366523537545532012-06-08T07:57:00.000-05:002012-06-08T07:57:43.898-05:00Letter to My SonI am coming for you.<br />
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I don’t yet know you. In fact I know very little about you. Just 3 things really:<br />
1) You are alive at this very moment <br />
2) You are halfway around the world from me<br />
3) You desperately need to be loved<br />
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My heart is breaking inside of my chest as I think about you, imagining where you are, what circumstances surround your life, what your name is, how old you are, if you are healthy or not.<br />
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And it seems like there is an infinite number of things that separate us. Not just the thousands of miles of oceans and war-torn countries that lie between us, but the tens of thousands of dollars it will take for us to be together and the seemingly endless parade of governments that demand to put their personal seal of approval on our family.<br />
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But none of that matters. I don’t care what stands between us, how big or insurmountable it may seem. I AM COMING FOR YOU and there is NOTHING, NOTHING, that will keep me from you.<br />
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You see, even though I do not know you, you are my son and I am your dad. And I love you so much, that I can’t really understand it. And as your Dad I am desparate for you to understand this overwhelming love that I have for you, a love that will always be there. And I am going to show you this love by breaking down every barrier that the world may put between us. I am going to do what does not make sense, I am going ask other people for money, I am going to prove and again and again to every government under the sun that I can and will take care of you, I am literally going to travel to the ends of the earth to find you. To pick you up into my arms and hold you and wash you with my tears as I completely swallow you up into my embrace.<br />
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And son, I don’t understand this love that burns inside of me when we have not even met yet, but I know where it comes form.<br />
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You see son, <b>He came for me</b>. I didn’t know Him and the chasm between Him and I makes all of things between you and me seem like nothing at all and yet He litterally moved heaven and earth ad everything in between to be with me. Me.<br />
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And son, He is doing the same for you right now. He has poured His love into me and He is opening every door and providing for every need so that I can pour my love into you and you can know what it means to feel the love of the Father.<br />
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I don’t know how much longer it will be until I reach, but I do know that I will not stop until I do and that once I find you I will spend the rest of my life loving you. I will not be able to give you His perfect, unyielding, never ending, always forever love (He will do that for you) but I am going to love you to the best of my ability with all of me.<br />
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<b><i>I love you son and I cannot wait until you know it.</i></b>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00506046972857240394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-34277165253456020182012-05-16T10:28:00.000-05:002012-05-16T10:28:20.326-05:00Mommy's Heart Went POP!I was so excited to see this book! And I am even more excited to read it!!!<br />
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Our family is in process in adoption from Uganda and we have been researching/looking for books about Caucasian families internationally adopting from Africa. I was very surprised when I did not find any. I was thinking I needed to write one myself, but now I don't have to! Yay!<br />
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I am filled with anticipation to read this book, because my own heart is about to pop with love for this little person in Uganda we are waiting for. <br />
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When I receive this book and read - I will post my own review of it. But for now - It looks amazing and am so grateful for it! <br />
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Check it out on Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mommys-Heart-Went-Christina-Kyllonen/dp/1937498069/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337182001&sr=1-1">http://www.amazon.com/Mommys-Heart-Went-pop</a></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-56873767249774653332012-04-09T09:01:00.001-05:002012-04-09T09:01:35.532-05:00Adoption Update Spring!<b style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); text-align: -webkit-auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Friends & Family-</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Spring is upon us! Easter is here!! It is a time of newness and excitement, especially for us having survived our first winter back in the midwest in many years (even if it was a pretty mild one!)</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">One of the most exciting things going on right now in our lives is obviously our adoption! In the last few months, we really feel like we have had some big wins and are gaining a lot of traction.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">This month we finished everything we have to do for our Illinois Home Study Update including our home inspection. Now we are waiting on our final Home Study Update to be written and then several levels of approval (State of Illinois and the US government). Once we have all of these approvals and a few more documents we will submit everything to the government of Uganda. </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">We hope to submit our dossier to them in July of this year. </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Once everything is submitted we will be waiting on our referral. According to Holt International, our placement agency, we can expect this to take anywhere from 2-7 months and then 4-8 months later we will make our first trip to Uganda and 6-10 weeks after that we will make our second trip and come home with our son!</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">While the road ahead is still potentially long, we are excited at the progress we have made so far!</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Another huge encouragement to us has been our progress on our fundraising so far! </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">To date we have raised almost 26 of the $35,000 we need to fund our adoption.</span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "> We cannot begin to express our gratitude to all of you who have given so generously to help make this dream a reality. </span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Without all of you it would not be possible for us to welcome our son into our home. Thank you!!</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">We will be sure to keep you all informed as we receive the various government approvals and move forward on our adoption journey.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Your prayers, encouragement and support mean so much to us. Thank you for continuing to journey with us!</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Happy Easter!!</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Love,</span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Andrea, Mark & Evan</span><br /><a href="http://www.adopttogether.org/thewittigs" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); "><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">www.adopttogether.org/<wbr>thewittigs</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><a href="http://www.markandreawittig.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); "><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">www.markandreawittig.blogspot.<wbr>com</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "></span><br /><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">PS - Andrea has been using her experiencing from fundraising with Team World Vision and with our adoption to help coach almost 20 other families that are now raising funds with AdoptTogether for their own adoptions! We are so excited to be able to use our experience to help other families as well!</span></b>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-22754986161806760012012-01-27T07:41:00.000-06:002012-01-27T07:52:53.344-06:00Message From Evan<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwxh06cjKcGmb2TcnIBuLvAXCV6Uysi5GGixfcKELPcKXZcyTz4xuS8oBIOvIEqbPQOIwqsCl9e6r55dqrG3w' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00506046972857240394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-57514681094032075062012-01-11T20:34:00.000-06:002012-01-11T20:40:21.744-06:00Adoption UpdateDear Family & Friends:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">THANK YOU!!</span><span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span> With your amazing generosity <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">we have raised 50%</span></span> of the funds we need to complete our adoption and bring our son into our family in just 5 weeks! <span style="font-weight:bold;">We are humbled by your commitment to support us financially in our journey!</span><br /><br />Just this week we were accepted as an official Cradle Family and we will be able to complete our Illinois home study update with this amazing agency that has been helping place children with loving families for 89 years!! (<a href="http://www.cradle.org">http://www.cradle.org/</a>)<br /><br />While we are working on our home study update, we will also be working on our dossier, the paperwork we will need to give the Ugandan government. We are working closely with Holt International the agency that will actually facilitate our adoption on this. (<a href="http://www.holtinternational.org/uganda/">http://www.holtinternational.org/uganda/</a>)<br /><br />As many of you know, we have partnered with AdoptTogether, a brand new non-profit that exists to help families that want to adopt with raising the funds they need to adopt. We are their very first family and we have been able to start coaching some other families that are looking to work with them as well. (<a href="http://adopttogether.org/">http://adopttogether.org/</a>)<br /><br />While our fundraising is going amazing so far, our agency has set a goal of $19,000 for us before we can move forward with the next part of our home study update. <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">This means we need to raise at least $2,000 as quickly as possible.</span> If you have not contributed financially would you consider donating now?</span> <a href="http://adopttogether.org/thewittigs/">http://adopttogether.org/thewittigs/</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Also, would you consider talking to your family and friends and sharing our story on social media? We have had several donations from the friends of our friends already and are amazed by people’s generosity!!</span><br /><br />Thank you so much for your encouragement, prayers, and financial support!! Without all of you we could not be moving towards our son so quickly!!<br /><br />We love you all!<br /><br />Andrea & Mark<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_sLJgUzpktv65RRP1ZfjJ_kqdqVK0o00RlqYytsX5Wir1bimfTDqoYkIiM39Lc9AjzaGXC2EFaiP3VusoIN8ETvqPEw6SvVMI8WztAN6hVOL4bwnuZ9-MgQaYwpB_Vc1MB-dOxlmmyOc/s1600/MilesAgo35.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_sLJgUzpktv65RRP1ZfjJ_kqdqVK0o00RlqYytsX5Wir1bimfTDqoYkIiM39Lc9AjzaGXC2EFaiP3VusoIN8ETvqPEw6SvVMI8WztAN6hVOL4bwnuZ9-MgQaYwpB_Vc1MB-dOxlmmyOc/s400/MilesAgo35.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696569691922739314" /></a>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00506046972857240394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-12451452756355000932012-01-06T11:18:00.001-06:002012-01-08T22:16:09.753-06:0032 years, 32 people, $32I thought I would get a little creative with our need to raise funds to be able to continue on with our adoption journey. :-) I am turning 32 on January 7th so I put a goal out there on social media asking 32 people to contribute $32 (or more:-) to our adoption. I have been <u>blown away</u> at the 14 people that have chosen to donate on behalf of my birthday thus far. Thank you to all!!! <div><div><br /></div><div>Each time I think and reflect on the ways our friends, family & acquaintances have have chosen to support our family - I get emotional. Now those of you that know me, know that is not much of a surprise, but I sit here in such surrender and amazement of the ways so many of you have loved us and supported us. In 5 weeks of asking for support we have reach about 40% of our financial goal. I am so amazed!</div></div><div><br /></div><div>We literally would not be able to grow our family through adoption if it were not for AdoptTogether and our friend, family & acquaintances that have been and I know will continue to be so generous. We have a 60% to go, but we are EXTREMELY encouraged & feel so LOVED!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>These words - THANK YOU - are not enough to express our gratitude.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://adopttogether.org/thewittigs/">https://adopttogether.org/thewittigs/</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>UPDATE: </div><div>Over 32 people contributed to our adoption on behalf of my Birthday and we are now about 48% to our over all $$$ goal. GRATEFUL!</div><div><br /></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-92086470337921782722011-12-19T15:55:00.000-06:002011-12-19T15:57:48.907-06:00Merry Christmas!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8aHwUUwd9E71zgWhIPzyj9GGuwcEZ8XhtuDkA0SxT9iy0NdQL09tQEz9z3GcfDUvKp-MtR-vPOe_SXq1aGxw_9ydK4vK81jWx0bWAn7fPQPpGpbeAT7ApJOsFIbyPlL0_ymc3B1kkk4/s1600/Wittig+Christmas+Card+2011.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8aHwUUwd9E71zgWhIPzyj9GGuwcEZ8XhtuDkA0SxT9iy0NdQL09tQEz9z3GcfDUvKp-MtR-vPOe_SXq1aGxw_9ydK4vK81jWx0bWAn7fPQPpGpbeAT7ApJOsFIbyPlL0_ymc3B1kkk4/s400/Wittig+Christmas+Card+2011.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687961908622034050" /></a>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-50790376054041685312011-12-19T15:25:00.000-06:002011-12-19T15:48:43.878-06:00Will you join our community supporters?<div>Dear Friends,</div><div><br />Almost four years ago Mark called me on the phone somewhat emotional and said, “Andrea, we need to adopt.” He had just gone through an AIDS in Africa experience in which he felt the tug on his heart and deep desire to love and adopt an orphaned child into our family. </div><div><br />After listening to Mark share about his experience, without hesitation I said, “OK, let’s do it!” I have often thought, I am not extraordinary at any one talent, but one thing I know I am meant to do in life is Love. I have learned that being a mother is one of the greatest ways to be able to LOVE another human being. I deeply desire to love a child who no longer has parents of his own, to become his mother and love him for the rest of his life.</div><div><br />Now, four years later we are ready to grow our family again and this time we long to do it through international adoption. Last spring we completed a home study in California and last summer we received our USCIS (US government) approval. Currently, we are working on updating our home study for the state of Illinois, updating USCIS and working with Holt International‘s Uganda program. Holt is our placement agency and they will actually facilitate the adoption. Our hope is to adopt a little boy between the ages of 0 – 3 years old. We have been working on the adoption process for almost a year and we expect to work and wait another 8-12 months. </div><div><br />The adoption process has been and will continue to be long, emotional and resource intensive. We cannot continue to go through this process without encouragement, prayer and financial support from our friends and family. We would like to invite you to journey with us throughout this process.</div><div><br /><b><i>Will you partner with us and support our family in bringing our Ugandan son home to our family? </i></b></div><div><br />If you have the financial means to support our adoption, no amount is too small or too big; $5 to $5,000 - any and all funds will help! Our goal is to raise $35,000. And, 100% of your financial support will go toward our adoption costs, thanks to Adopt Together. </div><div><br />We also very much need your encouragement and prayer support! Paperwork can be tedious, interviews are nerve racking, waiting can be hard & traveling twice to the other side of the world – things can go wrong or missing…we need a community of supporters to walk through all of this with us. </div><div><br />Will you join our community supporters? </div><div><br />We are so grateful for the love and support you have already shown us and we long to continue our journey together and share the joy of bringing our son home with you!</div><div><br />Love,<br />Andrea, Mark & Evan</div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt">Ways to support the Wittig’s throughout their adoption process:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <ol style="margin-top:0in" start="1" type="1"> <li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt">Prayer. </span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt">Commit to praying on a regular basis for our son, for us, and for this process to go quickly and smoothly. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt">Encouragement. </span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt">Check-in with us. Send us letters and emails. Share your experience with adoption. Help us to remember what the work and wait are for.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt">Financial. </span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt">We are working to raise $35,000 to cover the costs (legal fees, social workers, government documents, 2 trips to <st1:place st="on">Africa</st1:place>) involved with bringing our son into our family. You can contribute by going to:<b> <o:p></o:p></b></span><a href="https://adopttogether.org/thewittigs/">https://adopttogether.org/thewittigs/</a></li> </ol> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:10.5pt">Adopt Together is a non-profit created to help families raise the funds needed for adoption.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt">Ways to stay connected with our journey:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <ol style="margin-top:0in" start="1" type="1"> <li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt">Our blog:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt"> <a href="http://markandreawittig.blogspot.com/">http://markandreawittig.blogspot.com/</a><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt">Twitter:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.5pt"> <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/WittigsAdoption"><b>@WittigsAdoption</b></a></span><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt">Phone, Email, Letters</span></b></li></ol></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-29050668251291025042011-12-07T21:25:00.000-06:002011-12-08T12:42:02.922-06:00AdotptionAbout a month before Evan was born in 2008 we decided to adopt.<div><br /></div><div>As many of you know, last year we decided its was time to grow our family again, and began the adoption process. In December 2010 we started our CA home-study and completed it in March 2011. Mark's job change put a hold on things until we were settled into our new home here in IL.</div><div><br /></div><div>Its taken a few months to get the ball rolling but we are finally gaining momentum in process with updating our home-study and we were accepted into the Uganda program with Holt International adoption agency (check out their Uganda Program info here:<a href="http://www.holtinternational.org/uganda/">http://www.holtinternational.org/uganda/</a>).</div><div><br /></div><div>Mark and I are so excited to be working towards bringing another child into our family.</div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-6146134275430438312011-09-14T11:42:00.000-05:002011-09-14T13:25:11.755-05:00Race weekend in Minesota<div style="text-align: center;">Evan and I went up to Minnesota to cheer on my sisters and dad while they participated in the 13.1 Minneapolis half marathon. We also had the opportunity to cheer on Evan's cousins, Caleb, Mikayla & Anika at a triathlon they do every year on behalf of cancer and caner survivors (which Mikayla is a Leukemia survivor). </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Both events were super fun to be a part of - cheering everyone on & celebrating these accomplishments.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDB1XRfDtTw2_Uf93K703xyy6reUi5RKFl0TqiDZPF_cpd5I-wXgMwcZ-ThgZ-pnH2VGhxmv2_5Sgy7F5ksSkBmZXWHbJmHyLZoIxtrEoRL-Ocr_8FY318E8ovuFSqgdp4EAXBCBQawhg/s1600/Summer+2011+037-2.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDB1XRfDtTw2_Uf93K703xyy6reUi5RKFl0TqiDZPF_cpd5I-wXgMwcZ-ThgZ-pnH2VGhxmv2_5Sgy7F5ksSkBmZXWHbJmHyLZoIxtrEoRL-Ocr_8FY318E8ovuFSqgdp4EAXBCBQawhg/s400/Summer+2011+037-2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652281562540705250" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cousin's at the tri</div><div style="text-align: center;">(left to right) Zoe, Evan, Caleb, Anika, Ella (from Texas) & Mikayla.</div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitEfY-rQCZ3VXN0qe7pfMuH-0e1tFJBlF41l2gBsw2abrN9AoYHJeNgI_mb2tivK6M9oYCa7T2o6a882LOs5f-g476P7buu-Aop0tFuxLqXybY0Bvt4N4i0WpqmNXUSSEPhJ7C-Oi94TE/s1600/Summer+2011+034-2.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitEfY-rQCZ3VXN0qe7pfMuH-0e1tFJBlF41l2gBsw2abrN9AoYHJeNgI_mb2tivK6M9oYCa7T2o6a882LOs5f-g476P7buu-Aop0tFuxLqXybY0Bvt4N4i0WpqmNXUSSEPhJ7C-Oi94TE/s400/Summer+2011+034-2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652280201473440146" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Erlenborn family after the tri</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-Dh0oPW7L5Ac-j4y-46_BIms_hdXwQCUHKshb3sIQWRWvImDd3llavmkAclxdGGiJrUAeMXSfHok55T0aN6WUu-1xNt84YiVAoai2B0R3TqSeRpGcg0GLaGcKi5BYFd-nO1u5VuATbo/s1600/Summer+2011+031-1.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-Dh0oPW7L5Ac-j4y-46_BIms_hdXwQCUHKshb3sIQWRWvImDd3llavmkAclxdGGiJrUAeMXSfHok55T0aN6WUu-1xNt84YiVAoai2B0R3TqSeRpGcg0GLaGcKi5BYFd-nO1u5VuATbo/s400/Summer+2011+031-1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652280196368474226" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The three, youngest in their family, cousins waiting to cheer the kids on as they finish their run.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL0rZRrdeO867fpWxPEwUc0eYfOKyyqbx7duCqBs2LCLRFip3P5loRL4f0e4_yhlveXDC4lyqRrYF8OP3FEA_IP3ub9VC_HjjtTu6Uvc_SbkT1-wYrYHPfOQkLvRJTEGRw6hqQPVf9F7Q/s1600/Summer+2011+022-1.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL0rZRrdeO867fpWxPEwUc0eYfOKyyqbx7duCqBs2LCLRFip3P5loRL4f0e4_yhlveXDC4lyqRrYF8OP3FEA_IP3ub9VC_HjjtTu6Uvc_SbkT1-wYrYHPfOQkLvRJTEGRw6hqQPVf9F7Q/s400/Summer+2011+022-1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652280189225880466" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Evan and Caleb after his finish</div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1flMo0M6EuFCWBBmut1IktR3e6fWmxgXGnJ0MoQVnxPAxDAvIC7ge2eouvSqMdpywwQw-FLdABbAU33DOgUA4727vq0GILTE1hP12RJ39iC-VtG4e9emry6-Arr3aMUtY3P3bC3_OTo/s1600/Summer+2011+025-1.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1flMo0M6EuFCWBBmut1IktR3e6fWmxgXGnJ0MoQVnxPAxDAvIC7ge2eouvSqMdpywwQw-FLdABbAU33DOgUA4727vq0GILTE1hP12RJ39iC-VtG4e9emry6-Arr3aMUtY3P3bC3_OTo/s400/Summer+2011+025-1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652278792327142146" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Mikayla and I after her finish.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiqIjQHyn-izEkdsDaVlaM9nmV8B5Y5d9HQHTqnV9k2Bxmen7Ux0_UkP23HvfpM8fnkAcIkprkpogYf2biIBkjcla9LCXM0GyVzJqV9eqd6KBxGtSqlnewMw4tTmqcr4-wj8H5vWcVFcg/s1600/Summer+2011+024-1.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiqIjQHyn-izEkdsDaVlaM9nmV8B5Y5d9HQHTqnV9k2Bxmen7Ux0_UkP23HvfpM8fnkAcIkprkpogYf2biIBkjcla9LCXM0GyVzJqV9eqd6KBxGtSqlnewMw4tTmqcr4-wj8H5vWcVFcg/s400/Summer+2011+024-1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652278782454123682" /></a><br /></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-89584458005660710352011-09-14T11:32:00.000-05:002011-09-14T11:41:58.426-05:00Day at the WI State Fair.<div style="text-align: center;">A few weeks back we all went to the State Fair in WI. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Grandma and Grandpa went on the big yellow slide with Evan. </div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GrYbeWShXN8mnkWcichNRFpyFz34c21mr7MV5iSQAEPwIcD57jd_y8pnd5E6jSy5O9VMsGMHBbhPLuBxG9wLOn1JkdUxFjAS7lruKRu4X4GhIdwtzFt96swgD4di9BtDAnLGzMHHcQk/s1600/030.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GrYbeWShXN8mnkWcichNRFpyFz34c21mr7MV5iSQAEPwIcD57jd_y8pnd5E6jSy5O9VMsGMHBbhPLuBxG9wLOn1JkdUxFjAS7lruKRu4X4GhIdwtzFt96swgD4di9BtDAnLGzMHHcQk/s400/030.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652256042159289586" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRf-wA53if_hFYaIxG78cqNA9DJeMRhyQ1wuRLiSVJcH59Wo2UZKyhyphenhyphenuw2i1QNOQg04SiIH03j7DRx8tXXrY0waMjxwP6Z10KIjzYlphDBess2f-o_f5YESRE34WFsPT1Gy1K-YiKdig/s1600/033.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRf-wA53if_hFYaIxG78cqNA9DJeMRhyQ1wuRLiSVJcH59Wo2UZKyhyphenhyphenuw2i1QNOQg04SiIH03j7DRx8tXXrY0waMjxwP6Z10KIjzYlphDBess2f-o_f5YESRE34WFsPT1Gy1K-YiKdig/s400/033.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652256034811150946" /></a><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;">Cream puffs...<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">mmm</span>...</div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAe8tY3QkR0Icki1NK-v0hF0QqCWQ13qUJf_ffnkDbg2gaJEpfN_LY4cG9MwOwelaOndH5aHrcptgDBOpT_7gBRpzgrMnU2vnI267UUUsxtVv6Ore_4y_FL3WE1d0APPqVI_dCe91nraA/s1600/035.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAe8tY3QkR0Icki1NK-v0hF0QqCWQ13qUJf_ffnkDbg2gaJEpfN_LY4cG9MwOwelaOndH5aHrcptgDBOpT_7gBRpzgrMnU2vnI267UUUsxtVv6Ore_4y_FL3WE1d0APPqVI_dCe91nraA/s400/035.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652256027424538962" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2ZM-uJAYtWMGBrzsRlGnJOWEScvCFULXX4aPFmy2aEj305qQVpNyTMhiUmpGgYknnCrMktmaRrNx40YjXhRgb6NThb2l4TKNK3SqoLYK9xJ3o2xHxRObXyQXPpJWVZtLwvR4XJz7o-c/s1600/037.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2ZM-uJAYtWMGBrzsRlGnJOWEScvCFULXX4aPFmy2aEj305qQVpNyTMhiUmpGgYknnCrMktmaRrNx40YjXhRgb6NThb2l4TKNK3SqoLYK9xJ3o2xHxRObXyQXPpJWVZtLwvR4XJz7o-c/s400/037.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652256017548982498" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGMfoSnP9teKKctW4KkXu4DN8_O5O00y-Ksu7LLLL6_edF4r-Gi5P00Ia2z6flLafGTB4KdnfbyojE-bHCwxAMu48TZsmGjWVhX_7TPMX7aBUXhFjNiqtKaIFpmeiomZMVHBXlLBrzUE/s1600/040.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGMfoSnP9teKKctW4KkXu4DN8_O5O00y-Ksu7LLLL6_edF4r-Gi5P00Ia2z6flLafGTB4KdnfbyojE-bHCwxAMu48TZsmGjWVhX_7TPMX7aBUXhFjNiqtKaIFpmeiomZMVHBXlLBrzUE/s400/040.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652256007907033554" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Fun day at the fair!</div></div></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-44574602470570355892011-07-13T17:48:00.000-05:002011-07-13T18:05:04.502-05:00Evan and Cars<div style="text-align: center;">Evan was anticipating the movie Car 2 for the last several months. We capitalized on the opportunity as motivation to potty train. After 6 days of looking at the Cars in the packages it was motivation enough to learn a lot about his body and was completely potty trained.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here is Evan's current collection of Cars. </div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5q8JX9a1FfFAF_CT4C59ZeFC9lYt2imYuMfoENoTKF9I9kroFCS0yMmOcwlI2OA7FZHmr_jk5BJ6zQj1XMzjIARHSS2Eza-2YHlXErz82HP27kt_kNUSyKQKZfdyNYeooZiK-S8ZGaoA/s400/Evan%2527s+Cars.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628975388110516194" /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The week the movie came out David Hobbs who is the voice of David <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Hobbscap</span> in the movie (green announcer car) was signing autographs at his Honda Dealership just a few miles away from where we have been staying in Milwaukee. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvIWOQVKmgXILYYt_Gm9PY96mcmBjpLeJJasLru7onxmHXAwo-Dr0u_DowoH8QR32ZJTniSn55VU_BPvABF7PLKKez40rnOiXb_RF_H6nEPv1dQYBISiqEzZCu4dQeHd2yiAYjchcY8cs/s1600/Summer+2011+039.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvIWOQVKmgXILYYt_Gm9PY96mcmBjpLeJJasLru7onxmHXAwo-Dr0u_DowoH8QR32ZJTniSn55VU_BPvABF7PLKKez40rnOiXb_RF_H6nEPv1dQYBISiqEzZCu4dQeHd2yiAYjchcY8cs/s400/Summer+2011+039.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628973835896212482" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">They had <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Grem</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Acer</span> in the parking lot. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Evan LOVES the bad guys!!!</div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRdauZeo5Qspu94rXNapxm6p1PSh7Icfv_wU3MZVhQMpkH0qV3ZMwOSi_Dho6zf8tGCU1LEFIaog-XpBmLqBvGDzKXtwwH6mded9uXyBuM0K4o5YVJnQRh5e0AP_tywG3iKhv3axkKvn0/s1600/Summer+2011+038.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRdauZeo5Qspu94rXNapxm6p1PSh7Icfv_wU3MZVhQMpkH0qV3ZMwOSi_Dho6zf8tGCU1LEFIaog-XpBmLqBvGDzKXtwwH6mded9uXyBuM0K4o5YVJnQRh5e0AP_tywG3iKhv3axkKvn0/s400/Summer+2011+038.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628973822574101634" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeRWPV5aAvjUWoc2tVdfy1RaaUW7Kb9f58B45bJH0-dKoOkp2NbAmhcXiUFsS9XPP0OQHl52wleyFWsEXvy1_DxIitXRR0Ll8YPFqhb3MoaJg3JxzU5h-QcyiftvhATSI2prXU6eNJ5I/s1600/Summer+2011+036.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVeRWPV5aAvjUWoc2tVdfy1RaaUW7Kb9f58B45bJH0-dKoOkp2NbAmhcXiUFsS9XPP0OQHl52wleyFWsEXvy1_DxIitXRR0Ll8YPFqhb3MoaJg3JxzU5h-QcyiftvhATSI2prXU6eNJ5I/s400/Summer+2011+036.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628972923188844914" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We had a blast at the movie and Evan keeps asking to go back and see it again. </div><div><br /></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-55930786553751345322011-03-31T12:13:00.000-05:002011-03-31T12:13:40.993-05:00Evan Spring Concert 2011<iframe width="480" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uXsMrxBViNo?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-55608407905736552832011-03-27T15:35:00.000-05:002011-03-28T10:18:44.918-05:00Evan's Spring Performance!<div style="text-align: center;">Evan and his class preformed the bunny hop and sang a song.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Evan was one of the loudest singers and one of the best bunny hoppers/dancers. </div><div style="text-align: center;">We hope to upload the video of performance very soon! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Watching his class was so darn cute!!!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Note Evan scrunching his nose to have a bunny nose. :-) </div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfZbg9ee3q2nKYEWyxhKEGzUswzsFW2rzrP75UuCSXuXFoScY_mA0aKEPgahNMmvtSdAsXGwC6uhNJqGkKM3YbogEvGYOwWs93nAopPwCxe7mX8azTbs0JvBDK-lbXhj5VM15JLmas6Dg/s1600/IMG_2299.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfZbg9ee3q2nKYEWyxhKEGzUswzsFW2rzrP75UuCSXuXFoScY_mA0aKEPgahNMmvtSdAsXGwC6uhNJqGkKM3YbogEvGYOwWs93nAopPwCxe7mX8azTbs0JvBDK-lbXhj5VM15JLmas6Dg/s400/IMG_2299.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588863450145838178" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgwEqv41qKnwkHM44SH-aKtwycBhW_i07dwbGkAEiXk42DXOoNsjZa-Axt8KWiqDWoCpVIR0TqqV-csurK6khTZ8-WJmzsDZjNHM9LNwUk6IE_mSwP3HzgEZs5WxNfIHLuCep3_5pfZQ/s1600/IMG_2300.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgwEqv41qKnwkHM44SH-aKtwycBhW_i07dwbGkAEiXk42DXOoNsjZa-Axt8KWiqDWoCpVIR0TqqV-csurK6khTZ8-WJmzsDZjNHM9LNwUk6IE_mSwP3HzgEZs5WxNfIHLuCep3_5pfZQ/s400/IMG_2300.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588863441884741890" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfYFZYoSrR2GS2I8s1TuRqkWo8VAbCfNbY-9VJpx64rLw2M6Udkc45hj9IlBzq_zVWIUpm9wwR-y47rwgfeLWKWwFP5FCV1T-nVx3ZcokGqp83YkOVxp7yLKvDs_IkRhbAXH_7h7hmg8/s1600/IMG_2301.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfYFZYoSrR2GS2I8s1TuRqkWo8VAbCfNbY-9VJpx64rLw2M6Udkc45hj9IlBzq_zVWIUpm9wwR-y47rwgfeLWKWwFP5FCV1T-nVx3ZcokGqp83YkOVxp7yLKvDs_IkRhbAXH_7h7hmg8/s400/IMG_2301.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588863434695677074" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP1M123hpv5SIbJ2O-dLM8vs1FNYu6RKhq6nnR_pHLAZDvCUsGlH2R_8DM0iLLcKS8aYwnNkqBGSnl-z1PVn9QhfuBXr4o11eMEudDIYFAfbHK9CWHe_ui4CaSn0UC6hyphenhyphenmfoKxhcirqs/s1600/IMG_2302.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP1M123hpv5SIbJ2O-dLM8vs1FNYu6RKhq6nnR_pHLAZDvCUsGlH2R_8DM0iLLcKS8aYwnNkqBGSnl-z1PVn9QhfuBXr4o11eMEudDIYFAfbHK9CWHe_ui4CaSn0UC6hyphenhyphenmfoKxhcirqs/s400/IMG_2302.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588863411764327842" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGo6YqIWcTysGL7zDjHJCKyWf8tWPCLyumJtmFfvgsp6oz78Rp6mDiDEkzngsjgt9dBzz4BrWlVLKBEep2oonWMjs5DbwNhQUlGn4HQ-f_evRxmekbbHLmmowZinWQhtNuUiJIVqE8ycU/s1600/IMG_2303.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGo6YqIWcTysGL7zDjHJCKyWf8tWPCLyumJtmFfvgsp6oz78Rp6mDiDEkzngsjgt9dBzz4BrWlVLKBEep2oonWMjs5DbwNhQUlGn4HQ-f_evRxmekbbHLmmowZinWQhtNuUiJIVqE8ycU/s400/IMG_2303.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588862279573920066" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Cd2t5BlqglLnQfC2aBo7ebSYGX4f7OSC3shl1Visz6KLbML3mC4WNnSXVun1EwTVj8lfYC15mxtTJ2511l2VyfestNU4XmYLXcXsAYowjMLZepLRNMQlhS-gRju06ewXqkRJ45T8jos/s1600/IMG_2304.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Cd2t5BlqglLnQfC2aBo7ebSYGX4f7OSC3shl1Visz6KLbML3mC4WNnSXVun1EwTVj8lfYC15mxtTJ2511l2VyfestNU4XmYLXcXsAYowjMLZepLRNMQlhS-gRju06ewXqkRJ45T8jos/s400/IMG_2304.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588862271110389650" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWIw9JotnrWwBmKkdpI4c5d_ECDIeRAdXHaGS7jjgUWf26MHEO1X1Q4rFKKTTjWQQOc6UkYmhs-S9x_zcl0WleGGHme0sKC8uiyp5ORNKjZnh7bcbhpoA1Yb8eExrzAw9iVOJY4dMVZg/s1600/IMG_2305.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWIw9JotnrWwBmKkdpI4c5d_ECDIeRAdXHaGS7jjgUWf26MHEO1X1Q4rFKKTTjWQQOc6UkYmhs-S9x_zcl0WleGGHme0sKC8uiyp5ORNKjZnh7bcbhpoA1Yb8eExrzAw9iVOJY4dMVZg/s400/IMG_2305.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588862261654493906" /></a>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-41377181286959962122011-03-27T12:50:00.001-05:002011-03-27T13:10:45.481-05:00Evan turned 3 years old!<div style="text-align: center;">Our big boy turned 3 on March 20<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span>. </div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WtBmo_IXgrosHXp3G9vqdiFGDhbDOuefNXNWoymRg4YmKOqUttjL4PPU9BPO96IYYFadAnHPSHq8HRdzU8NdagQvt9964nLDlntXSfELDWgs13J735zWrYVfbwr51kFulQ7xDbnquq4/s1600/IMG_2274.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2WtBmo_IXgrosHXp3G9vqdiFGDhbDOuefNXNWoymRg4YmKOqUttjL4PPU9BPO96IYYFadAnHPSHq8HRdzU8NdagQvt9964nLDlntXSfELDWgs13J735zWrYVfbwr51kFulQ7xDbnquq4/s400/IMG_2274.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588822822911473890" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">On March 21st Mark and I went to Evan's classroom for lunch and had a Birthday Pizza Party with all of his school friends. It was a blast!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Pizza and cupcakes for everyone! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRTXLnIX0jDzpTY6P1DBg5y7PtXgpSs4pPZiklnWOHQsJDAkcBAVRCFu5mcHBis2__cC8Fs27l8a952uTyZ1MZOcS4FCqK8TrQwzbd5Pa79bshPD1lRQd00hyM6MY63sR6j1_57Bcv8c/s1600/IMG_2280.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRTXLnIX0jDzpTY6P1DBg5y7PtXgpSs4pPZiklnWOHQsJDAkcBAVRCFu5mcHBis2__cC8Fs27l8a952uTyZ1MZOcS4FCqK8TrQwzbd5Pa79bshPD1lRQd00hyM6MY63sR6j1_57Bcv8c/s400/IMG_2280.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588822816776003378" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiIG_BfyWtV1Qc7Quok3qmV-9yD1njFaAIcKDRCfMAb02YsSleEm1oXoxpMloL_3iOv4fIcGyER34LHQSso3ewTY1UzEWNUKotP_oUkIk3EUnBXrmPX8DnL8KmC-5Txrbus8jhEVVV4Yc/s1600/IMG_2283.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiIG_BfyWtV1Qc7Quok3qmV-9yD1njFaAIcKDRCfMAb02YsSleEm1oXoxpMloL_3iOv4fIcGyER34LHQSso3ewTY1UzEWNUKotP_oUkIk3EUnBXrmPX8DnL8KmC-5Txrbus8jhEVVV4Yc/s400/IMG_2283.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588819680365917330" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7pbwWFDEWMkDdGyW4L9DYbG2IIDLuq6xUfjSlLSVPQU7lLS6t8QKqYaDNdrrSaHyla-TFHrE3QqxZOEV4h5ffls90qGigsUZOc-p-p_naiNY5_NZ-KdPlV1CxsXhTaXnWo0VujzuOxL8/s1600/IMG_2289.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7pbwWFDEWMkDdGyW4L9DYbG2IIDLuq6xUfjSlLSVPQU7lLS6t8QKqYaDNdrrSaHyla-TFHrE3QqxZOEV4h5ffls90qGigsUZOc-p-p_naiNY5_NZ-KdPlV1CxsXhTaXnWo0VujzuOxL8/s400/IMG_2289.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588819677282784834" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4-h3Iqax9T3ItsX24TDX8tgC9VGxWr682jw4_zze1v14mRHgqLAkUGQFoNGf8__eZj8ZHhoJM0B6XXU9TZdxo5eRh7Q5Xhh3xFwbOW3rVlDsTlXt2iuuXjb1idz5qtgzo0pNO5KqX1A/s1600/IMG_2295.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4-h3Iqax9T3ItsX24TDX8tgC9VGxWr682jw4_zze1v14mRHgqLAkUGQFoNGf8__eZj8ZHhoJM0B6XXU9TZdxo5eRh7Q5Xhh3xFwbOW3rVlDsTlXt2iuuXjb1idz5qtgzo0pNO5KqX1A/s400/IMG_2295.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588819665885326034" /></a><br /></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1855485501742348931.post-87910970899731074312011-03-27T11:29:00.000-05:002011-03-27T12:41:10.360-05:00Our Trip to Monterrey Mexico with Back 2 Back<div style="text-align: center;">Mid February Mark and I had the privilege of going to Monterrey Mexico to learn about & experience <a href="http://www.back2backministries.org/">Back 2 Back Ministries</a> (an Orphan Care Ministry). It was an amazing trip that has changed the course of our lives forever! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We were with a medical team, doctors and nurses from FL, OH, & TN. Below is a picture of three doctors caring for (diagnose & give medication to) people that live in one of the slums of Monterrey (Back2Back serves the poor to try & prevent parents having to give up their children). For two days we cared for people in this room. My job was to keep the flow of people coming to the doctors. Mark had a much different & intense labor jobs these two days (pictures below).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBbyKb4Czf-8ge2a2G71vECYMleK-VBb3b9F_EUFZDb-VNsSMBtocRBn0cQt67iwp2FopYaPQNNkI0QMmeB0N1ClWKbvjeuDEFc_aZXaZ8YiVf6LRjIAA0KLHeLPvnsxF2D6qwHs-bVi0/s400/IMG_2225.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588801153006055442" /><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;">Day 1 at a church in a slum of Monterrey Mark dug out the floor in the corner of this church/community center. They were lowering the floor to build a kitchen. In this church they feed the community one meal a day. Back 2 Back partners with this church in serving this slum community. Mark shoveled and wheelbarrowed out the dirt for 5 hours. </div><div><br /><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9lK6fvOn8zyLRaeVIv5LlTtY80jZlPYNOhYdBMN6Z7JpkNeWx8-zogTMPB8zPrMuH7Wr0TVRscBPmZjnpRob0H939baSTitFh0Jzferz3GH2B5Kcdg2zvEUn1SLR9KM27Sg68RpYMsqA/s400/IMG_2226.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588804442552250658" /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Day 2 Mark helped jackhammer and sledgehammer out a portion of the wall in the church. </div><div style="text-align: center;">See the pictures below to see he progress. </div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkhkA91UnDM5bRGL8VPsexkSc5AgSA07-YWkn9OzbXrt8XuvRBkN82HwyUcoKZW6MmrcxhdYdZvduI9BSvn5q_TtdyqKcqmRpF5SrZ0Y3TmfBVGy-S2Qowo7ItibG3sjrzR7SftEXQRU4/s400/IMG_2240.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588802476758954594" /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShQML3HpoA_GvecxOZjDhJsU4J4M99Lxix9HXtVgIqt2LscouIaWH0fF2xfNc90p0b4S_qukl4Vfa93Zg0zN8TFFOFQDeUcqarp2NS6lKKZErEEuSOBqlVzdj1ID3A3U6fX66xTHX42o/s400/IMG_2245.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588802467904603122" /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyOBRrCLk1_i-v1a3a4Ut6Q8z_rBaXDzC8rKUx1pwUHgsFAIexQCA4oxjUds5qT_AUssdB85WzuizTAk5mO9gvHM7zhJuJkJvqwyiZMoQOsJ41SeEyD7tA2nlr307fol3hFHsvHG9GJY/s400/IMG_2254.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588802457725318866" /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I also found a few kids to play with. </div><div style="text-align: center;">It was hard not being able to communicate with even the kids, but we found ways to still play together. We all smiled a lot at each other. :-)</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItHffQoBpenYMHXOpG5GtiwCFfZbNR3to-mPG5E2fX3oQweud6Uk1mh85Zs9lIP-rS_HJoZcRsEDuvsKNy2kT-ifxHdCMGihCQkZDKShJfxEakGRQLTpEBfoyvJBwofNxEu0SFUmlTFk/s400/IMG_2255.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588802447807685442" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEzYMpTIgkY0ZhbCtMr00BmHWbLV51FyUy01XuWk7QX-HQk7lFn14huQe6L2w0gmTEN0NBMBvZrk2WjCPQ1ENTE59q3hm0Q9VLcQyw1YxCRgMZ9rOisgGCuKbmcOs0loW9JOopKj1ciJE/s1600/IMG_2229.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sunday morning we made pancakes (for about 80 kids) and them brought the pancakes over to one of the orphanages, ate pancakes with them & then went to church with them. Mark LOVED making the pancakes for the kids -he loves a fancy breakfast!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEzYMpTIgkY0ZhbCtMr00BmHWbLV51FyUy01XuWk7QX-HQk7lFn14huQe6L2w0gmTEN0NBMBvZrk2WjCPQ1ENTE59q3hm0Q9VLcQyw1YxCRgMZ9rOisgGCuKbmcOs0loW9JOopKj1ciJE/s1600/IMG_2229.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEzYMpTIgkY0ZhbCtMr00BmHWbLV51FyUy01XuWk7QX-HQk7lFn14huQe6L2w0gmTEN0NBMBvZrk2WjCPQ1ENTE59q3hm0Q9VLcQyw1YxCRgMZ9rOisgGCuKbmcOs0loW9JOopKj1ciJE/s400/IMG_2229.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588804453030537154" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This little boy LOVED Mark. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Picture taken after church.</div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIm5kPoGCYk8cBc9-Kl_6JDHzmyTL7UHSM6hJbM0Ty9_jhV4q6esbC6cs0gBNMaEUE986y_-oy1FNG4pYdUn1v8wVnQVKLZdB14HRcQ6bm11OnWYF_Y8AnIOaqzLhpgDwJ1B52xrCGAn4/s1600/IMG_2239.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIm5kPoGCYk8cBc9-Kl_6JDHzmyTL7UHSM6hJbM0Ty9_jhV4q6esbC6cs0gBNMaEUE986y_-oy1FNG4pYdUn1v8wVnQVKLZdB14HRcQ6bm11OnWYF_Y8AnIOaqzLhpgDwJ1B52xrCGAn4/s400/IMG_2239.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588804449149755522" /></a><br /></div><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The below pictures are from the slum area in Monterrey we worked in for two days. </div><div style="text-align: center;">People literaly made their homes out of garbage & they lived in a garbage dump along a river. You see a horse in one of the pictures (note how thin it is).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fPU34pynr7kk0p9cNmJYW5xdkObFivmFhUSrOH3sh8ugKVwMIK98Glt8o8QmLjFc1YUZh0s2-gLStdWVtkl_6HGT0tJswYogq_YAmg0-xA7_m_7lSTHxwQYYGeHWnfralD4k4QTzw5E/s1600/IMG_2217.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_fPU34pynr7kk0p9cNmJYW5xdkObFivmFhUSrOH3sh8ugKVwMIK98Glt8o8QmLjFc1YUZh0s2-gLStdWVtkl_6HGT0tJswYogq_YAmg0-xA7_m_7lSTHxwQYYGeHWnfralD4k4QTzw5E/s400/IMG_2217.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588801144967463522" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3LKGSbrYU3bAajm09xFKNlR2fkrEenXuTD_Us21A5OB9gJZO1H42i4LfI44GYkXKNZ5-nvdLu9Ul1mIlc_hz9HJBihlpbZ47FcqzeH9HB1oWQhm0er39CkjQmntjAlI1LIlbUfGKnxY/s1600/IMG_2221.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3LKGSbrYU3bAajm09xFKNlR2fkrEenXuTD_Us21A5OB9gJZO1H42i4LfI44GYkXKNZ5-nvdLu9Ul1mIlc_hz9HJBihlpbZ47FcqzeH9HB1oWQhm0er39CkjQmntjAlI1LIlbUfGKnxY/s400/IMG_2221.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588801135279208050" /></a><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">It was a powerful trip for Mark and I. </div><div style="text-align: center;"> Our future while we were down there was very unknown, but really connected to what Back 2 Back is doing. We are excited for the future possibilities to continue to support & work with Back 2 Back. :-) </div></div></div></div>Andreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03992907854937734266noreply@blogger.com0