Our New Adventure -

Last time I updated this blog, Kate was turning 2.  She's now 3 1/2!!  Chloe turned 2 at Thanksgiving, and the Lord has asked us to turn aside and take a different direction with our family.  So...we're back to blogging!  :)

As most of you know, Dan and I are in the process of becoming foster parents through Serenity Infant Care Homes in Covina.  As we get closer to finishing the certification process, both of us have felt a need to start asking for prayer from you - our family and friends.  So here's my attempt to start blogging again, using this platform to share our story and prayer requests with all of you!  We would greatly appreciate your prayers on behalf of our family!  Thanks for all the love and support we've received from so many of you so far!

And now for some details:
- As of now, the plan is to be placed in early May.  I (Kristi) plan on taking a month off to bond with the boys after APU's graduation - this is a slow time for our office and a good time for me to take off.  Then when Dan is off for his summer break, he will be home with the kids for June and July.  Would you pray this timing works out and we can use the summer wisely to get our family adjusted?  Pray for good, quality time together, getting to know each other and learn how to be the best family unit we can be.

- Yes, we've told the girls, and so far Kate is (mostly) excited to get some brothers. :)  Kate can articulate that the spare bedroom will be the "boy's room" and that it will be fun to have more kids around.  Would you pray for our girl's hearts?  Would you pray they would be open to this big change, and see the Lord work in all of us as we obey Him?

- Yes, we are fostering first...we won't know for a good long while if adoption is a possibility with our first placement.  There is a good chance we won't be able to adopt our first placement...that's just the way the foster system works.  (If you want to know more about the process, we would LOVE to share that with you sometime!  But it is a lot of information, so I'm not going to share it here.)  But would you pray for those two little boys?  Would you pray the Lord would protect them from trauma?  Would you pray for their little hearts and minds?  Would you pray their transition into our home (whether they want it or not) to be a smooth one and a happy one?  Would you pray they are open to Jesus' love?

- And for now, my last prayer request is one we've had for several months now - simply, that Dan and I would get good sleep.  Our girls (for numerous, varying reasons) have not been sleeping well the last few months.  They slept so well as babies, and neither Dan or I function well with little sleep.  This lack of sleep has a way of discouraging us and making us think we surely are not capable of taking on more kids.  Would you pray not only for more sleep, but for clear thinking for us when we are tired?  OF COURSE we can't take on more kids!  (Well, not in our own strength...)  Of course we are going to have to rely on God's grace every single day of this process!  That just gets harder to do when we are so tired. 

Dan and I are going to both try to keep this blog up in order to share our journey with you - thank you in advance for your prayers - they are the most powerful support you could give our family this year!  Until the next update, what leaps of faith is Jesus asking you to take today?