Happy Birthday!

My sweet babies get a year older today.


Born the same day but six years apart. Twins without being the same age.


Kiwi Boy turns 13. Finally a teenager, ready to face the world.


Jelly Beans turns 19. Almost done with her teenage years, a woman in her own right.


What a joy they have been to parent. So many years left to look forward too.


I love you guys!


Happy Birthday!!!


Mumzy

Answered Prayer

Before Christmas, when Papa Bear was last in New Zealand, I had to send my Passport down to have an official copy made of it for our adoptions.

Nothing unusual there. It took about 3 or 4 days to make the journey.

Our lawyer had the necessary notarised copies made and promptly put it back on a courier. Papa Bear had left the country by this time.

We tracked its travels for the first day or two and then nothing. The last we knew about the Passport it was still in New Zealand making its way to the Auckland Airport.

Week one... nothing.

Week two... nothing.

Week three... nothing.

Week four... nothing.

By this time I am imagining someone had stolen it and was making strange forged copies. Before I knew it I would be arrested for crimes in some far off country I had never dreamed about, never mind visited.

Week five... still nothing even though the Lawyer is making daily calls to the courier company.

No we didn't expect it over night. Just under a week. 

Finally after 39 days of wandering the universe it turned up in our mailbox through Canada Post. So much for signing on the dotted line to say that it had been delivered safely and to the correct person.

Praise be to God it was still sealed and in tact!

I had my Passport in my freezing cold little hand, dancing and skipping and freezing my way back to the  warm house.

 If my Passport had disappeared forever we would have needed to order a new one and then had all of the copies redone. Agghhh what a time waster that would of been!

Thank you Lord for answering our prayer!

Mumzy

Grace of God Update

 

She is growing!

 

But still she is as tiny as a button.

 

 

She is growing out of her smallest preemie clothes.

 

 

 

She has now reached 5lbs!

 

 

 

 

This is my favourite picture.

She is watching the snow fall outside the window.

 

One day, Grace of God, you will be joining

your brothers and sister out there.

 

Making snowmen,

and sledding,

and ice skating,

and snowboarding,

and having heaps of fun!

 

May the Grace of God be with you always,

 

Mumzy

 

 

 

 

Looking Back

Do you kick yourself sometimes after you have said something?


I have been regretting something I said last week. Nothing mean or insulting to anyone. Just something expressed at the wrong time and in the wrong setting, with the wrong attitude.


As some of you know we immigrated here to Canada in 2010. We were very excited and looking forward to achieving some life long dreams we had.


Then God got involved and things changed... dramatically!


We could only sell half of Papa Bear's business before we came here. It meant we had a drop in income of about two-thirds and a business to run on the other side of the world. It was hard... very hard! It still is.


Then we ran into some unexpected issues and God began to ask us to walk through some very tough days. At this time God also asked Papa Bear to enter Divinity College, way outside of our comfort zones. Papa Bear loves to learn, but Divinity College? Surely God had this one wrong!


Papa Bear is now half way through his Master of Arts in Theology and is a pastor of a church. If God had indicated just a tiny bit of where He was taking us when we left New Zealand I think we would have talked Him out of it. "Let's stay right where we are, God has blessed us here!"


This is where what I said last week was not so great.


I practically had a whine about following God. Following Him anywhere, anytime, anyplace.


We were being encouraged to put God first and all I could say was how hard that can be. How terrifying in reality that is. We followed God and we lost everything that we took for granted, everything we felt God had blessed us with.


And that is what I am ashamed of.


Looking back just like Lot's wife did.


What I needed to do was look forward. Look at how much closer we are as a family to God. Look at how much God has carried us through. Look at the adventure God is taking us on.


Just simply, LOOK AT GOD!




Mumzy

Yes, We Got It Wrong!

Yesterday we received an email from Immigration Canada stating,


"We are not able to process your application as it is incomplete."
 
Oh great! What do we have to provide now? What documents did we miss? Which forms were incomplete? Agghhh!!!!


We have two more forms to fill out and send, per application. That means per child we are bringing home.


The most frustrating thing about the whole thing is we don't know which children we will finally adopt. And the forms are entirely about the child!


Name: Unknown


Date of Birth: Unknown


Height: Unknown


Eye Colour: Unknown


It is so hard to fill these forms out with true and accurate information when we don't have any information! After about the fifth "Unknown" I feel pretty confused and are convinced we are filling out the wrong forms.


But it just can't be, these are the forms they requested! Aggghhhhh!!!!


Never mind we shall just send them all back with UNKNOWN written again and again. Then it becomes their problem trying to enter all the unknowns into the computer program that requires exact answers.


Please pray we weren't sent the wrong forms!


Mumzy

Adoption Update For January #2

Things are moving so we need some prayer... lots of prayer!


We have chosen a sibling group of four that we are interested in adopting from the List of Available Children For International Adoption that Lithuania releases three or four times a year.


We totally understand that we still need to be chosen by Lithuania as their adoptive family. And approved by the adoption authorities here in Canada.


But we are very quickly falling in love with them!


Here is where the prayer is needed.


We are still waiting for all of our documents to be legalized. Both here and in New Zealand. And they need to be in the Lithuanian lawyer's hand by the beginning of February or we will not even be able to apply for these children.


But God is working!!!


About a week ago I didn't think it would be possible. Only by the grace of God.


3 days later the New Zealand lawyer had received all of our original documents and had sent them off for legalizing. And what's more, they are being done urgently, AND because they are for adoption they are being done at a DISCOUNTED RATE!


God is so good!!!


We have also received an email from Immigration Canada saying that they have received our application for bringing the children back into Canada. We just don't know if we sent in all the right forms?! I guess they will get back to us informing us of our errors and a request for all the correct forms. Hopefully we got it right!


Please pray for all the right documents to be in the right hands when they are needed for the right children. The children God has already chosen for our family.


And...


THANK YOU!!!


Thank you so much for helping us bring our children home!


Mumzy

Running in Circles

I have been running in circles but not going anywhere...


Until today.


I have a new car! 


Well new to us anyway. It is my car for now. One day soonish, like in the next 3-6 months it will be for the girls to use. But for right now it is mine. It needs to be, I no longer have a van!  )c;


So today we went and dropped off Little Monkey as she has been staying with us for the last two nights, just because we like to have little ones around.


Then I got to do the drop off and pick up for Kiwi Boy's swimming.


Wiggles and I got to spend some quality mum/daughter time at the local mall.


Finally I did the drop off for youth group tonight. And I shall be returning soon to do the pick up. Which is just as well as Papa Bear is in class all evening!


I am so grateful for being able to be a two car family!


Now we just need to start looking for a large van to fit us all into once the new children come home. Something with 10 or more seats. Sigh...


Mumzy

Adoption Update For January

Things are moving along!


Slowly...


But definitely moving!


All of our documents, both in Canada and New Zealand, are at the government agencies getting legalized. Once this is completed everything gets sent to Lithuania for translating. And then finally on to the Lithuanian Adoption Services, part of the Lithuanian Social Services. Then everything should be ready for us to be selected as the new forever family of a wonderful sibling group.


We are guessing, hoping, praying for us to be coming home with the children this summer!


Mumzy  

Silence

My house is silent tonight.


Wiggles is at a birthday party. Kiwi Boy has gone to dine at a friends for supper. Jelly Beans is at a swim meet. Papa Bear is an official at the same swim meet (no disqualifying our delightful daughter you hear. Well ok, but only if she does something really wrong like cheating on her turns).


And I am at home quietly enjoying the silence.


That is apart from the soft rattle of the snoring dog by the fire... And the murmuring music coming from a radio left on upstairs... And the gentle gurgle of a fish tank filter...
And the quiet hum of the pallet fire working at the other end of the house...


So I suppose I'm not home quietly enjoying the silence at all. Its more like enjoying being home in the quiet.


No loud voices calling... No raucous computer games... No blaring TV shows... Just comfortable quiet for a few hours.


I can't wait until they all come home. I'm lonely!


Maybe its time to have some more kids... Maybe three or four... We could adopt... From Eastern Europe... Lithuania sounds good...


Mumzy

Life!

Today we have been doing life.


2 phone calls to the adoption agency.


1 courier package of documents sent.


1 vehicle requiring immediate replacement.


5 hours of schoolwork completed.


2 hours of swim training endured.


15 meals prepared and consumed.


2 loads of washing washed and dried.


1 floor swept.


Multiple hugs given. (My favourite part of the day)


Words of encouragement spoken.


High 5's shared.






Still to be accomplished?


Kisses goodnight!




Mumzy

A Little Trouble

I Love my blog!


I love giving my Mum and friends back in New Zealand a little peek into our lives here in Canada.


I love showing them just how freezing cold it is on the other side of the world while they are sweltering under the hot summer sun.


I love sharing our hopes and dreams, our highs and lows, and our struggles of everyday life.


But most of all I LOVE POSTING PICTURES!


Only for some reason I can't anymore. Something has gone horribly wrong with my computer and I can no longer add photos to my blog.


Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can fix this? I am not at all computer savvy and don't even know where to begin trouble shooting this issue.


Hopefully we will get it all sorted out soon.


Mumzy

Acts 2:17-21

In Acts 2:17-21 it quotes Joel 2:28-32 in saying this,

"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Just thought that it was a rather funky passage.

Thanks and GOD Bless

~Wiggles

Creation is So Good

Sometimes I just look around...

Whether it is at the stars at night, or at the wonders of nature that my great God created.


I think about all the galaxies that make up our universe...

How vast...

How many mysteries that we do not yet know...

How many awesome sights I have yet to see...

How blessed we are when I look around at what God has given us!

The beauty of the four seasons...

Oh yes the other day it was cold when I was going to check the chickens. The wind off the mountain felt like it wanted to cut my face off.

But we don't have too many blizzards...


The sparking ice drops with the sun shining through them...




The powdery snow that looks like waves in the sea...

The perfect snowflake that falls like icing sugar... 

All so beautiful!

I count all of creation as a blessing from God.




I hope you get the chance to see just what God has blessed us all with. And that we look after the creation that He has entrusted to us.

Papa Bear

God Protects!

I feel a lot of people must have been praying in our region of Canada. We had no major power outages, just freezing cold.

But with heat that isn't a problem!

There is a mountain (large hill), behind those trees.

 

It was so cold that we had ice on the inside

 of our double glazed windows.

 

This an original window, so only has single glazing.
All the white is ice not condensation.
 

 

The water in our toilet had ice in it and the pipes froze. The water in the bath, in case we lost power, also had an ice crust over it. Thankfully we have another bathroom that is better insulated that didn't freeze!

The "ripples" in the water are ice. As is the drip!
 

We sat on the couch wrapped in blankets watching videos all day. While Papa Bear kept the fires burning.

God certainly blessed me with one of the best men in the universe!

This morning he had to dig out the front door as the wind had blown the snow in on to our veranda.

You can see the depth of snow in the foreground.

 

He also had to dig out the driveway where the snow plow runs.

The sun was just rising and he was about finished!

 

But all is well.

Thank you so much for all your prayers!

There is firewood somewhere under all that snow!

 

Mumzy

 

 

Yet Another Storm!

We are shutting ourselves in, preparing for another storm.

This time a blizzard.

The local Community Centers and Fire Halls are setting themselves up as Warming Shelters because wide spread power outages are also expected. Praise God that we put in a big, beautiful wood cooking stove. No cold sandwiches here for supper!



What me do lack in a power outage is water. We have a deep well that requires an electric  pump to give us running water. So the bathtub is full of water so we can keep the toilets flushed. Going out behind the shed, down by the trees in a blizzard is NOT an option!



We woke up this morning with -21C where it has stayed all day. But it is the wind chill that really hurts, -29C and dropping to -31C later tonight.

Brrr that's cold! We couldn't even imagine what -14C would feel like when we lived in New Zealand.







The snow begins  overnight and continues through tomorrow so if you don't hear from us for a few days expect to find us huddled around the fire drinking lots of hot chocolate!


Take care and God bless,

Mumzy