Family Update

Ken and the kids playing in the snow the day after Ken and I returned from Guatemala.
Celebrating Briana's birthday a day late. She had a great time and Brett shared his "Super Cola" that we brought for him from Guatemala City.
The Schaurer great grand children and 2 grandchildren performed the Nativity Scene for the Schaurer family christmas. It was great fun! Thank older grandchildren for planning it.
March found us at Panama City Beach again. What fun it was. We never tire of the sand and water. We did have some cold days, but we still enjoy just waking up beside the ocean. We always enjoy the view so much and makes us think of how wonderful heaven must be!!
Briana practicing the "bored girl" look while the boys are just havin' fun!! Is it supposed to start this young?


Since I can't update much on little Kami Rae, I thought I would post some pictures from the last several months. I just loaded these pics from our camera card to the computer (I am not sure why it took me so long) and thought it would be fun to let you all see some of them. This is supposed to be a family blog so I guess I should keep it somewhat updated. Thankfully, the snow is now gone and our trees are in full bloom. It looks like spring around here. We are so glad it is here! We have planted a little garden and I am looking forward to having fresh veges right outside my back door. Ken has done some field work, but it is mostly still too wet to actually plant. We will see what next week brings.
We were disappointed a week and a half ago when our coordinator let us know that we had been kicked out of PGN. They are working on or have fixed the document that needed fixed and we are praying we are back in (now) or soon and just maybe this time we will be out quickly. Only God and knows and we continue to look to Him for strength.
Have a blessed weekend!

13 months old

Kami is 13 months old today. These were taken on the 12th of this month so she has probably grown a little. We continue to try to wait patiently. There are cases coming out of PGN which is what we are praying for soon. After our file has been approved from PGN, we will be ready to go in approximately a month (maybe longer). Hope this finds you all well. We are looking forward to spring here in Ohio. We had a beautiful day yesterday. Brett and Briana enjoyed being outside and I enjoyed it too. God Bless You All!

Happy 1st Birthday Kami!

Kami is now almost 1 year old. We just received these pictures that were taken last week. They say she is walking and saying "mama" and "papa." It is hard for Ken and I to believe that she is walking around. She wasn't crawling when we were with her so it seems like she is getting too big too fast, but we are so thankful that she is growing and doing well. The ziplock bag in the corner of the pics is her birthday gift from us. We hope that good memories of us come with the toy she is holding. It was one of her favorites when we were there with her.
Our process is still moving; albeit very, very slowly. We have seen more progress in the last couple of weeks so that is exciting for us. We still have a ways to go, but we do continue to pray that God will hurry it along. His timing is perfect even if we have other plans and ideas. We feel your prayers and His comfort during this time of waiting. We appreciate your continued prayers and support. We will try to keep you updated as we receive pictures that we can actually post. We recieve medicals with pictures every month, but I have yet to figure out how to post them. They come as word documents. Any ideas?
We hope this finds all of you well. We have snow on the ground this morning so we will be staying in all day. It has also been very cold the last several days. We are ready for spring, but I guess it isn't quite time yet. Brett and Bri are doing very well. They have been playing well together and enjoy asking when Kami will come home. They are so sweet about it and can't wait for her to be here with us. They will have some surprises when she actually gets here. It should be fun!! Well, I better try to get something done today. God Bless You All!!

Returning Kami, Returning Home

Yes, it was hard, very hard. But God is in control and God is still good. We feel very blessed to have had a wonderful week in the country of our children's birth. We feel very blessed that we have seen Kami bond to Ken and I. We feel very blessed that we leave her most of all in God's care, but also in the care of a wonderful foster family. We were able to spend a good 30 minutes with the foster mom, foster granny, and foster 3 yr. old brother on Friday morning. It was a huge blessing. We could feel and see the love they have for her. Also, Kami was extremely content with all of us. We were still able to hold her and see to her needs even when her foster mom who she has known so much longer was sitting right there. We know that God has answered our prayers and we have peace. As of today, there is a new adoption law in Guatemala that will take effect Dec. 31, 2007. Most of you know that we knew there was change coming, but opted to try for the adoption to go through. Once again God has heard our prayers, the new law does contain a "grandfather clause" and so our adoption should proceed under the law that it was initiated under. Of course, there could still be many bumps in the road, but we are feeling much better about the process. It is very good to be home with Brett and Briana. We are slowly getting back into the swing of things. Thank you to all of you who have petitioned God with us and we would continue to ask to be remembered in your prayers. Merry Christmas to all! (I do plan to keep this up, but I can't say that it will be too timely. It is a lot harder to get it done at home.) Love to All!

Day No. 4

We had a wonderful day today. She is getting to be herself more and more. It is so fun to see little glimpses of her personality. We spent most of the day outside enjoying the beautiful weather again. We give her up at 9am in the morning which is going to be very hard, but we are very anxious to be back home with Brett and Briana. Happy Birthday Briana! We have enjoyed our stay very much. Our hotel is full of adoptive families. It has been a blessing to get to know them and share encouragement with one another. We had news today that our process is moving along and we are thankful. We continue to pray for a quick process. We will keep you updated in the weeks ahead. Thank you all for your prayers and support. God Bless You All!

Mom & Dad left this morning and Ken and I did not do real well at getting pics. Here are a few candid shots of the day. The first pic is of the La Casa Grande which is where we are staying.

Day No. 2 with Kami Rae

We had a good night. Of course, we were up a little, but I am pretty sure I should not complain. She did go through another little spell of being scared after she had slept for about an hour, but we got through that and she slept till 4am, was up for an hour, and then slept till 7am. So Heather, you would probably say we had a great night. She has had a good day; slept little cat naps, will not drink her bottle very well, but still enjoys her baby food and the table food I will give her. She watches everything that goes into our mouths including drinks. She is getting teeth on the top so I think that makes her a little more touchy, but we can't complain. The foster mom has been through chicken pox and two teeth so I won't say too much. I do feel sorry for her though so she has gotten some tylenol to help out. We have really enjoyed our stay at the Casa Grande. It is fun to see all the different families come and go. There have been many here on their pick-up trips which is very fun for them. Mom and Dad are preparing to depart in the morning. They enjoyed a trip to the mall this afternoon and walked some this morning exploring around the neighborhood. I think Dad has enjoyed his first trip out of the country. Thank you all for all your prayers. I had serious doubts about this visit trip thing yesterday. It seemed like it was so hard on her and I just wondered if it was all worth it. God has seen us through though and I know that your prayers are holding us up. Please continue to pray for Friday morning. As each hour goes by I know it is going to be harder and harder.