A set of twins? boy and girl?

Well, we are continuing to keep busy as we wait for 'the' call from our agency for two little boys that are waiting for a home. We are praying and waiting to hear that two little boys are available to be adopted to us. I had said to Diester last Monday evening~~"Wouldn't in be something if we got a call from our adoption agency tomorrow?" just hoping and speculating~~ Well, we did get a call from our adoption agency the next day, and our case manager had a question for us. The question of the day was: "There is a set of twins, a boy and girl that were born in July 2007, that are available for adoption, and our connection in Krasnoyarsk wanted me (the case mgr.) to verally call you and ask if you and Mark were interested in them. Would you be interested in this set of twins?" She went on to explain that we would be required to update our homestudy, and also resubmit our CIS (customs and immigration services)paperwork. Well, Diester was not home at the time, so I asked her if I could call her back. So, I got off of the phone and the girls and I started praying that we would do God's will. So, then the emotional roller coaster started for me. Wouldn't it be sweet to have a boy and girl? Twins at that? How would the sleeping arrangement work in our house? etc. etc. etc. Well, Diester got home, and was working out in the garage. I just couldn't stand it any longer (waiting for Diester to come in), so I went out in the freezing cold and explained the situation to him. Men handle things so much differently than women. He looks at me, and says, tell her no, we want boys. So much for my excitement of the possibilities. As I write this, please know that I actually had much peace when he told me that, and I am thankful that I have a decisive husband. I would have forever been wondering if we should have waited for two boys. God is good! That's the latest update~~God did hear me when I said 'wouldn't it be something if we got a call from our adoption agency'. The call that we got was confirmation that our paperwork is definitely in Krasnoyarsk. They know we exist, and they know we are looking for 2 boys. What a blessing~~YEA! It is still going to be until after the first of the year when we hear from them is what our case manager said, which is okay. The roller coaster ride was over after a short time, but there is peace knowing we are still waiting for 2 little boys, and there is another family that will be thankful that we declined this offer. BIG SMILE! ! !

Yard Sale's Over and the Remains are cleaned up~~

In light of the things I had to get rid of after redoing some rooms in the house, we decided at the last minute to have a yard sale. I say last minute because some time opened up for us, and we decided to try to make the best of it. I let some friends know that we were working on this to put any monies made toward our adoption, and boy, did we get some wonderful donations. We were open at 9:00 am on Friday morning, and then our plan was to finish on Saturday. Well, Friday turned out to be a blessing with making close to $500 in just the one day alone. (see pix) Praise be to the Lord, from whom all blessing flow! Then, on Saturday, when we woke up, it was raining. Not only did it rain for hours; but every last one of our yard sale signs (beautiful though they were~made with cardboard) came off of the sticks holding them up. So, we decided at 11:00 in the morning Saturday that it just wasn't worth the effort to try to do anything else, but to pack it up. When we opened our garage and started working towards that end, a few people did trickle in, and would look in the midst of us putting things in boxes, etc. We ended up making another $60 on Saturday between 11:00 and 1:00. What a blessing it turned out to be! We now have another $550 in our adoption fund to help with miscellaneous fees, etc. that come up here and there~~ All of this was made possible only with the donations that were so graciously donated to help us out. On our own, we might have made $50 -$60, but what a difference it makes when others pitch in. And. . . to top it off, a lady I know whose son just went through chemotherapy and radiation after having a tumor removed from the back of his head is using everything that we did not sell to go towards a yard sale they are having on September 16 & 17 to help with the outstanding bills they have from his treatments. So, for all of you who donated, please know that you are doubly blessing others! ! ! She came and got her van loaded up today for the second and final trip of items that she got from us. YEAH! ! ! Now we can have our garage space back~~OH, Diester just told me HE can have HIS garage space back~~~:-)

The Finished Living room! YEAH!

Well, here it is! The finished living room. I tried to do an 'old world' faux finish on the top part. I am happy with it, but there are definitely sections where it is obvious that I was still learning the technique. We are all enjoying it! Diester is going to hang another pix for me on the foyer wall, and then we are pretty much done. Oh, except for getting a shade for the windows! Gotta get on that!