Update...

Well.... more waiting.... waiting.... waiting.... waiting.... I think that is the story of this adoption! -WAIT!- And that is okay because,

"He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil." Psalm 37: 6-8

"I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God." Psalm 38:15

"I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope." Psalm 130:5

And Proverbs 21:30 & 31 says: "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. The horse is made ready for the day of battle but victory rests with the Lord."

Isaiah 26:3 says, "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."

I can gladly say that my heart is at rest! I cry out to God for these children but behind that cry I KNOW that God loves them far more than I do and he will act in their best interest and the timing of their coming home will be PERFECT. I know that because all my God's ways are perfect and in him is NO error.

So all that to say, we are still waiting! The new adoption laws are to be in place by the end of August. If the Liberian government officials begin to then work within the bounds of the law we will be glad! If they do not then we may begin making various phone calls to ask them why they aren't!

We will be doing our home study over again since it has been a year this October since our first one was approved! I never dreamed it would take this long! It feels like we are starting all over again!

When will these children get out of my dreams and into my home?? :) :)

The latest....

The pictures are from a reunion of ELWA Liberian missionaries and their "MK" kids. We were so thankful to be invited to it and it was so neat to be in the presence of so many godly people who love Liberia! I felt I was in the presence of royalty! (and I truly was)

Our adoption agency director is going to Liberia soon for a week to work on our case. Please pray that she is able to get a lot done and that God thwarts any obstacles that might come along to prevent her from progressing things. She is going to try and get a letter from the judge to give to the minister of health so that he will do our case history. The case history is necessary for the children's visas. This is very important that she is able to do this as well as schedule the exit interviews for the birth parents. Pray for her safety and the families that will be traveling to pick up their children with her. This is an exciting time as several families will be united with their children in the next 2 weeks!

There will be another group of families due to travel (including my sister and brother-in-law) hopefully by beginning of September. Because we do not have case histories at this time I do not believe that we will be one of those families. But miracles do happen so maybe!

If we aren't one of those families I expect that we will be in the next group of families to travel sometime between late September and Christmas time. We continue to pray for God's timing because only he knows best, we cannot fathom really what he is doing and all the details. So we are leaving the timing up to him! :)

On another note, we had an AWESOME garage sale this weekend and have raised almost 1,000 dollars just in the past 4-5 days! We are continuing to collect garage sale donations because it is such a great way to raise money, people are thankful to get rid of their old stuff, others are able to buy stuff they need/want for cheaper, and we get to bring home Serena, Gidstina and Gideon! It's a win/win/win thing! So we will keep it up for a few more months. So contact me if you have anything you'd like to donate!

This past garage sale, it poured down cats and dogs at the end and several of our neighbors came to help throw everything in the garage!

A big thankyou to Dreamy Gelato and Chocolates for raising over 400.00 dollars for our adoption through selling chocolates as well as collecting spare change! Wow!

This Tuesday, July 29th at 7:00pm I'm hosting a Taste of Home Entertaining Party to raise money for our adoption as well. My friend Kelly Clark is donating all of the proceeds from the party to our adoption! Thanks Kelly!

At this point, we are hard at work fundraising and I'm continually nesting and trying to get my home in order as well as get prepared for this homeschool year. We're definitely keeping busy!

Thanks to everyone for your support and prayers! These are three VERY loved kids! Can't wait to meet them!

Garage Sale MADNESS!

Our garage! This is Steve's place he likes neat, clean and decluttered!

Gianna are faithful helper! She was GREAT! Her parents are from Sierra Leonne. It was such a blessing to meet them! Thank you Gianna!

CLOTHES! CLOTHES! AND MORE CLOTHES!

So far we've made almost $2,000 dollars from the past three garage sales! Thanks to everyone who has donated! That is almost 1 whole plane ticket to Liberia!

I had FuFu and met a Liberian Ambassador!

We went last night to my Liberian friend Rose and James house. She made the traditional FuFu which you should have seen my 5 year old's face when he ate it! His eyes buldged out from his head and his grimace made everyone howl with laughter!

While Liberian music blared in the background and the men congregated by themselves in the garage "bar" and ate peanutes I learned about Liberian culture! They invited other family and friends over and I talked to me about what Liberia is like. We had Liberian Rice Bread, and spicy chicken with sweet potato leaves, and of course, fufu.

One of the men that was there was Amb. Kronyanh Weefur, the Liberian Ambassador to Sierra Leone. He gave me his phone number and told us to call him when we come to Liberia!

Yummy Icecream Fund Raising Event!

1) For those people that watch this blog and our EMC employees, Dreamy Gelato and chocolates is having a fund raiser for our adoption at the EMC Office in Duluth on July 17 from 11:30am to 1:30pm. Feel free to stop by the cafeteria and take a sample of the Gelato and chocolates available. Dreamy Gelato and chocolates will be donating a portion of the proceeds to our adoption. http://www.dreamygelato.com

1) Everyone is invited to Dreamy Gelato and chocolates on Sunday, July 20 to check out the new gelato and chocolates. For directions, please visit http://www.dreamygelato.com/ If you have a chance to go by, please let them know that you are coming in to support the Walsman Family Adoption and a portion of your purchase will go to our adoption.

THANKS SO MUCH Dreamy Gelato and to everyone who is going to treat themselves to some gourmet ice cream on behalf of our adoption!

WE GOT OUR COURT DECREE!!!!!!!

They are ours! Their names are Gidstana Vah Walsman, Serena Vah Walsman and Gideon Vah Walsman.... :) We are so excited!

Now we need their visa's and passports.... We know God's timing is perfect! Please keep us in your prayers...

We are having another garage sale in a couple of weeks, we've got a LOT of stuff! Thank you to everyone who has donated!

Sorry I've not posted sooner!

Things have really been on hold and that is why I've not posted recently. The Liberian government did not process international adoptions prior to the 14 year civil war. So adoptions have only been being processed since 2004. The government needs to have some time to get some new laws and/or regulations in place concerning international adoptions. We are hoping to have some news this week as to whether or not they are ready to move forward with our adoption!

We eagerly await the arrival of our beautiful children! We know God's timing will be perfect...not a minute too soon or too late!

As for now, I am busy trying to start a BAKING business to raise money for the travel expenses to pick up Serena, Gidstina and Gideon! God has blessed us with a dear friend who has volunteered to do all of our deliveries to the Alpharetta/Duluth area (about 30 minutes away from my home). I'm blown away by her generosity and know that it is totally a "God thing"! She is also pretty much my sales person, as I STINK at selling things! I'm excited to see what God does...

We will also be preparing to have a garage sale in two weeks. Thank you to my friend Kelli Clark who donated a lot of goodies for our garage sale, one of which I posted on eBay. It is a Southern living plaque that is absolutely gorgeous and it is evidently very desirable because you can't get it anymore. It is already at 22.00 dollars and has one day left for bidding. Thank you Kelli!

Thank you to everyone who continues to check this website for updates and for your prayers. We appreciate each of you!