Merry Chistmas everyone and sorry to for not updating this earlier. Things have been very busy with the holidays and with us all trying to get back into a routine. The boys are settling in very nicely and we are communicating really well at this point. Both are quite talkative and energetic little boys! Needless to say our house is quite loud these days. Heidi has done a great job with getting into routine during the day and we have tried to do the same at night. We have found that the more structure we have the better things seem to go. The boys had a very stuctured life at the orphanage so they are used to it. I am sure it is comforting to them to have a similar level here with us.
The biggest thing that we have going on now is the "sharing issues" that Louie, Benny and Macie have from time to time. We have a million toys in the house yet they seem to want the same exact one from time to time which results in a lot of yelling and screaming between the three of them. We are working on that and they are getting better. Patience....
All in all we could not have hoped for a better initial transition. It has also been nice to have the holidays as it has meant that I have more time off from work to be home and settle in as a family. But, it has not all been a bed a roses as they say, we have definitely had some tough times both us adjsusting to having 4 kids now and for the boys adjusting to their new environment. We have to remember that they have come from a place where they basically had about 40 little friends with them everyday and now they have us as their daily companions. I sometimes wonder if they miss some of them from time to time. Most of our frustrations come from our struggles with communication but again that is getting better everyday as the boys pick up more and more english.
The boys are pretty much celebrities at our church since so many people were following us along and praying for us in our adoption process. So many people have come up to meet the boys. The boys don't seem to see why people are putting up such a big fuss!
One of the big things were worried about was at Church and how quickly we would be able to transition the boys into the jr. kids class that they have while the grown ups stay in main area to listen to the sermon. We decided to try on the second time back to church and surprisingly they didn't ahve any issues being away from us. In fact I think they enjoy it since it is probably an environment(all little kids) that they are very comforable with. Since the boys are pretty much potty trained as well (thank you to the sisters at the orphanage!) we haven't really had any issues with that when we go out.
Also since we have been back for about 6 weeks now we have had time to reflect on our time in Rwanda and Kenya and it all seems like so long ago. Like most things, while you are going through it, it can seem a lot worse than it actually was. In other words while we missed our girls terribly while we were away, now that we have been home for while it definitely makes us feel that this was so worth the effort and we are so grateful to GOD for laying this on our hearts and for picking out these two very special boys to join our family. We are truly blessed!
That is it for now... Have a great New Year everyone. Be safe and praise GOD.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
WE'RE HOME!!!!
Nov. 17, 2008
Well, miracles DO happen! Our God IS a God of Miracles and one, or should I say several, happened for/ to us on this journey of a lifetime. We did indeed get our visas last Fri., though not without a glitch along the way. One of the boys' visas had him marked as a female! Luckily Pete caught it and we had to wait a couple more hours at the embassy while they ran the clearance again on this 2 1/2 yr. old and re-print the visa. Once we had it in hand we knew we were finally headed home. We caught a plane that night and arrived in Boston around 11 AM on Sat. the 15th. Not bad after all that, considering we were due in originally on Sat. the 22nd. It was incredibly emotional to see our girls all grown up waiting for us. What a release of emotions! What a wonderful feeling to have all 4 of our children together with us! We don't plan on leaving our home or our children in the next years to come. This trip truly made us appreciate the small things. The boys have settled in quite efficiently. I believe the transition has gone so well because they were already bonded and connected with Pete and I and because of our two amazing daughters who made them feel so welcomed. It snowed a little today and we were so excited! Can't wait to see how the boys react to snow. We thank everyone for the prayers and words of support. It was a painful experience being away from our girls so long and I would not recommend it to everyone, but it was truly life changing. We made some incredible friends along the way and I will write more later about them. Take care from now and Thank you's and Blessings from the Hanson Household in NH!
Heidi
Well, miracles DO happen! Our God IS a God of Miracles and one, or should I say several, happened for/ to us on this journey of a lifetime. We did indeed get our visas last Fri., though not without a glitch along the way. One of the boys' visas had him marked as a female! Luckily Pete caught it and we had to wait a couple more hours at the embassy while they ran the clearance again on this 2 1/2 yr. old and re-print the visa. Once we had it in hand we knew we were finally headed home. We caught a plane that night and arrived in Boston around 11 AM on Sat. the 15th. Not bad after all that, considering we were due in originally on Sat. the 22nd. It was incredibly emotional to see our girls all grown up waiting for us. What a release of emotions! What a wonderful feeling to have all 4 of our children together with us! We don't plan on leaving our home or our children in the next years to come. This trip truly made us appreciate the small things. The boys have settled in quite efficiently. I believe the transition has gone so well because they were already bonded and connected with Pete and I and because of our two amazing daughters who made them feel so welcomed. It snowed a little today and we were so excited! Can't wait to see how the boys react to snow. We thank everyone for the prayers and words of support. It was a painful experience being away from our girls so long and I would not recommend it to everyone, but it was truly life changing. We made some incredible friends along the way and I will write more later about them. Take care from now and Thank you's and Blessings from the Hanson Household in NH!
Heidi
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Interview, US Embassy Nairobi
Nov. 12, 2008
We are headed to our interview for the boys' visas tomorrow, Thurs. Nov. 13th. It has been a long road to get here and have learned a lot of what to and not to do, unfortunately after wasted time and money. Oh, well, we are safe and getting closer to the light, (NH and our girls!!!). Our prayer today is that the interview would go well, that they would receive paperwork still missing on Pete from NH immigration and that they would miraculously have the visas ready on Fri. so we may fly out and not have to wait and pay for another weekend here is Nairobi. The boys are doing quite well and learning what many words and phrases mean. They are particularly familiar with "NO, NO, NO!" and, "Do you need to go sit?!" They are doing well with "Please Mama", "Thank you Mama" and "Potty Please". Overall they are adjusting quite well and settling in with the comfort that we are here each time they wake up. They are incredibly busy and quite a joy to watch and to listen to. We look forward to introducing them to the rest of the family and settling them into their new home in NH. We are finally getting to the end of this long arduous trip. It truly is the experience of a lifetime and would not willing go through it again. It's not incredibly terrible, but there is some serious waiting in an area of the world that we are not real comfortable going out for a walk or anything like that to pass the time. So... this lovely guesthouse has truly been a safe haven and though there is a pool we are here in the wet season and it truly has been rainy, dark and cold with the exception of today. Pete was actually able to take the boys in the pool and they loved it! Well I am off for now, the internet costs by the min. here! Thank you all for prayers and support. We will be sure to add in more details upon returning to NH when we can use the internet freely.
Take care and God Bless from the Hansons in Nairobi
We are headed to our interview for the boys' visas tomorrow, Thurs. Nov. 13th. It has been a long road to get here and have learned a lot of what to and not to do, unfortunately after wasted time and money. Oh, well, we are safe and getting closer to the light, (NH and our girls!!!). Our prayer today is that the interview would go well, that they would receive paperwork still missing on Pete from NH immigration and that they would miraculously have the visas ready on Fri. so we may fly out and not have to wait and pay for another weekend here is Nairobi. The boys are doing quite well and learning what many words and phrases mean. They are particularly familiar with "NO, NO, NO!" and, "Do you need to go sit?!" They are doing well with "Please Mama", "Thank you Mama" and "Potty Please". Overall they are adjusting quite well and settling in with the comfort that we are here each time they wake up. They are incredibly busy and quite a joy to watch and to listen to. We look forward to introducing them to the rest of the family and settling them into their new home in NH. We are finally getting to the end of this long arduous trip. It truly is the experience of a lifetime and would not willing go through it again. It's not incredibly terrible, but there is some serious waiting in an area of the world that we are not real comfortable going out for a walk or anything like that to pass the time. So... this lovely guesthouse has truly been a safe haven and though there is a pool we are here in the wet season and it truly has been rainy, dark and cold with the exception of today. Pete was actually able to take the boys in the pool and they loved it! Well I am off for now, the internet costs by the min. here! Thank you all for prayers and support. We will be sure to add in more details upon returning to NH when we can use the internet freely.
Take care and God Bless from the Hansons in Nairobi
Monday, November 3, 2008
Farewell to Rwanda soon....
November 3, 2008
We hope to have the boys' passports by this afternoon! We'll see.... Everything is so incredibly different here in Rwanda, such as a price is not really the price, on ANYTHING! You must always barter back and forth and have a general idea of what the item is worth or you could end up paying way too much. It's good to be living with our missionary friends who have been here almost 3 years now. It's quite an experience even to make a photocopy. Today I needed a black and white copy and the machine was broken. For black and white copy it costs 150 francs, but since the machine was broken they charged me 500 francs to make the copy on the color copy machine! Ok, the catch is my copy was done in black in white since that is what I asked for, it just had to be done on the color machine and therefore they said I had to pay 500 francs. What an experience to learn how other people live. We took the boys to the orphanage to say "Good Bye" today. That went well and we learned a little more about our boys. I do have more pictures to put on the BLog and I will do my best to add them bigger at the bottom of the blog, but those will come later. Power and internet tend to go out several times a day here. We will be heading out to Nairobi on Wed. to start the visa process on Thurs. Any and all who would like to e-mail their local senator's office to ask them to e-mail U.S. Embassy in Nairobi to ask them to expedite our boys' visa process would be greatly appreciated. We miss our girls terribly and want to get home as soon as we can. We are enjoying seeing a different country and new cultures, but would prefer at this time to get home to be with our beautiful daughters.
Asia Grace and friends, how was storybook character day? Maybe you could reply to our comment section and let us know what characters you were since we missed the big day?
We have not booked a guesthouse yet for Nairobi, but hope to by the end of the day.
Bye for now,
Heidi
We hope to have the boys' passports by this afternoon! We'll see.... Everything is so incredibly different here in Rwanda, such as a price is not really the price, on ANYTHING! You must always barter back and forth and have a general idea of what the item is worth or you could end up paying way too much. It's good to be living with our missionary friends who have been here almost 3 years now. It's quite an experience even to make a photocopy. Today I needed a black and white copy and the machine was broken. For black and white copy it costs 150 francs, but since the machine was broken they charged me 500 francs to make the copy on the color copy machine! Ok, the catch is my copy was done in black in white since that is what I asked for, it just had to be done on the color machine and therefore they said I had to pay 500 francs. What an experience to learn how other people live. We took the boys to the orphanage to say "Good Bye" today. That went well and we learned a little more about our boys. I do have more pictures to put on the BLog and I will do my best to add them bigger at the bottom of the blog, but those will come later. Power and internet tend to go out several times a day here. We will be heading out to Nairobi on Wed. to start the visa process on Thurs. Any and all who would like to e-mail their local senator's office to ask them to e-mail U.S. Embassy in Nairobi to ask them to expedite our boys' visa process would be greatly appreciated. We miss our girls terribly and want to get home as soon as we can. We are enjoying seeing a different country and new cultures, but would prefer at this time to get home to be with our beautiful daughters.
Asia Grace and friends, how was storybook character day? Maybe you could reply to our comment section and let us know what characters you were since we missed the big day?
We have not booked a guesthouse yet for Nairobi, but hope to by the end of the day.
Bye for now,
Heidi
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
We are in AFRICA! Safe and sound and being amazed at everything. Met our boys yesterday the 29th and took them out for yogurt drinks. They are adorable and friendly. We are waiting on the minister's office to sign the "Travel Doc." we need to start the rest of our paperwork.
Hi Girls, we miss you and love you soooo.... much! Our meeting with the boys was just as I dreamed. We waited in an upstairs room and as the boys approached I crouched down to their level and spread my arms wide open. Benedict was first, of course, and walked right to me and right BY ME! He went straight to Pete and snuggled right in on him and held onto Pete's arm. It was so cute and quite funny. Louis (pronounced, Louie) was a little more timid, though he did snuggle in on me and let me pick him up. We learned an important phrase called, "short call" which is to use the bathroom facilities, since, YES, they are potty trained for the most part. They enjoyed riding in the "auto car" and eating chips and having yogurt drinks. I even got a giggle and a few smiles by the time we brought them back to the orphanage. Louis held on tight and raised his legs as high as he could when I went to set him down. The nuns laughed and said it was obvious he wanted to stay with us. They were happy about this. WE are unable to keep them overnight until we receive our "Travel Doc." from the Minister's office, which we are finding is going to be quite a difficult task! We actually met Veronique on the street yesterday Tina, though, so far that was not too helpful. We will try again today with the boys and a big back of chocolates. We plan to have the boys with us for the day today. They are such a joy! Prayers to help the Minister see that we need to get moving on this to get back home are much appreciated at this time. Our travel was mostly uneventful, thank the Lord. This is such a beautiful country and only wish you could all experience it at least once in your lifetime.
We HAVE been trying to communicate with e-mail, text, blog for the past day and a half! I guess we just got lucky at this very moment with this one. All our love, especially to our two beautiful girls! Asia Grace, How are Edward and Lilly? Oh, ya, and Bill and Judy too! ha ha Hi to the CCC from Rwanda.
Love,
Heidi
Hi Girls, we miss you and love you soooo.... much! Our meeting with the boys was just as I dreamed. We waited in an upstairs room and as the boys approached I crouched down to their level and spread my arms wide open. Benedict was first, of course, and walked right to me and right BY ME! He went straight to Pete and snuggled right in on him and held onto Pete's arm. It was so cute and quite funny. Louis (pronounced, Louie) was a little more timid, though he did snuggle in on me and let me pick him up. We learned an important phrase called, "short call" which is to use the bathroom facilities, since, YES, they are potty trained for the most part. They enjoyed riding in the "auto car" and eating chips and having yogurt drinks. I even got a giggle and a few smiles by the time we brought them back to the orphanage. Louis held on tight and raised his legs as high as he could when I went to set him down. The nuns laughed and said it was obvious he wanted to stay with us. They were happy about this. WE are unable to keep them overnight until we receive our "Travel Doc." from the Minister's office, which we are finding is going to be quite a difficult task! We actually met Veronique on the street yesterday Tina, though, so far that was not too helpful. We will try again today with the boys and a big back of chocolates. We plan to have the boys with us for the day today. They are such a joy! Prayers to help the Minister see that we need to get moving on this to get back home are much appreciated at this time. Our travel was mostly uneventful, thank the Lord. This is such a beautiful country and only wish you could all experience it at least once in your lifetime.
We HAVE been trying to communicate with e-mail, text, blog for the past day and a half! I guess we just got lucky at this very moment with this one. All our love, especially to our two beautiful girls! Asia Grace, How are Edward and Lilly? Oh, ya, and Bill and Judy too! ha ha Hi to the CCC from Rwanda.
Love,
Heidi
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The adoption is OFFICIAL!!!
The adoption took place this AM and we are now the proud parents of FOUR children!!! Praise the Lord! The boys now need their Rwandan passports to leave their country and visas to enter the US. Both of those items need to be done by Pete and I when we arrive next week. We are so incredibly excited right now! Asia Grace just informed me tonight that though she will miss us, she is the oldest (of her and Macie) and that she is getting older so it won't be so bad while we're gone. "The only thing is", she said, "that we won't be here for her actual birthday as she turns 8 yrs. old", "But", she said, "you will be bringing home my birhtday presents, my two brothers" and then she smiled and hugged me. What an amazing moment to be a mommy! I love my girls, they are just, well, the BEST! They are going to be great big sisters and we are so proud of them. Asia's teachers, Bill and Judy, have been absolutely wonderful as well. Offering to support Asia Grace and all who are tending to her while we are gone. It is so reassuring to know so many people, who mean so much to our girls, have been offering help in tremendous ways. God continues to overwhelm us with his plan and many blessings each day.
We are getting to the last few details of packing and planning and have begun restless nights of sleep as we get closer to our departure date. Asia Grace even informed me she is beginning to dream about the boys, something that started for me this last week as well. We thank the "Insider" for getting the word out for us last week as well.
We will be in touch hopefully at least one more time before we take off for Africa and then as often as technology, time and logistics allow for those of you who are interested in following our progress. Thank you again for the prayers everyone!
Heidi
We are getting to the last few details of packing and planning and have begun restless nights of sleep as we get closer to our departure date. Asia Grace even informed me she is beginning to dream about the boys, something that started for me this last week as well. We thank the "Insider" for getting the word out for us last week as well.
We will be in touch hopefully at least one more time before we take off for Africa and then as often as technology, time and logistics allow for those of you who are interested in following our progress. Thank you again for the prayers everyone!
Heidi
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Oct. 14, 2008
To those of you who read our article in the Concord Monitor Insider today and are wondering how to send anything to "Global Benefit". You may send it to our address at #358 Lower Ridge Rd., Loudon, NH o3307 and we will get it to Global Benefit or you may mail it directly to "Global Benefit" at #40 Willow Grass lane, Gilmanton IW, NH 03837 or visit them at www.globalbenefit.org We are thrilled to bring awareness to Global Benefit and all that they are doing to fight poverty in the world, currently focused on Rwanda.
Thank you in advance for all you support in our mission.
We hope to be posting the adoption date of our boys soon!
Good night and God Bless!
Heidi
To those of you who read our article in the Concord Monitor Insider today and are wondering how to send anything to "Global Benefit". You may send it to our address at #358 Lower Ridge Rd., Loudon, NH o3307 and we will get it to Global Benefit or you may mail it directly to "Global Benefit" at #40 Willow Grass lane, Gilmanton IW, NH 03837 or visit them at www.globalbenefit.org We are thrilled to bring awareness to Global Benefit and all that they are doing to fight poverty in the world, currently focused on Rwanda.
Thank you in advance for all you support in our mission.
We hope to be posting the adoption date of our boys soon!
Good night and God Bless!
Heidi
Thursday, October 9, 2008
It's OFFICIAL, we are out of here!!!
10-09-2008
We are officially out of here on Mon. the 27th! We are off to meet our new sons. We will arrive in Kigali, Rwanda on Wed. the 29th. We have now hit warp speed in this process! So much to complete, organize and plan for and so little time! It will all work out just fine, but when thinking of the big picture it can take our breath away! One piece at a time and remembering to trust God completely for all things will be our saving grace as we get closer to the finish line.
We thank you all for the continued prayers. We are so incredibly Blessed!
We will try our best to keep you updated as we begin our physical journey, though we are not so sure about internet connection along the way. We have high hopes of being able to upload pictures of the boys and the countryside and such, but we'll have to see what our options are when we get there.
Heidi
We are officially out of here on Mon. the 27th! We are off to meet our new sons. We will arrive in Kigali, Rwanda on Wed. the 29th. We have now hit warp speed in this process! So much to complete, organize and plan for and so little time! It will all work out just fine, but when thinking of the big picture it can take our breath away! One piece at a time and remembering to trust God completely for all things will be our saving grace as we get closer to the finish line.
We thank you all for the continued prayers. We are so incredibly Blessed!
We will try our best to keep you updated as we begin our physical journey, though we are not so sure about internet connection along the way. We have high hopes of being able to upload pictures of the boys and the countryside and such, but we'll have to see what our options are when we get there.
Heidi
Thursday, October 2, 2008
They are good to GO or should I say COME?
Oct. 2, 2008
Our boys have tested negative on the health screening and are good to travel home. We now have to get their police record to get their specific birthdates and correct full name spellings for their passports. We will be ordering our tickets to fly very, very soon! We are so thrilled to think we will be meeting our new sons in just about 3 weeks!!! Thank you all for the continued prayer and support in many ways. We will keep you posted.
Heidi
Our boys have tested negative on the health screening and are good to travel home. We now have to get their police record to get their specific birthdates and correct full name spellings for their passports. We will be ordering our tickets to fly very, very soon! We are so thrilled to think we will be meeting our new sons in just about 3 weeks!!! Thank you all for the continued prayer and support in many ways. We will keep you posted.
Heidi
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Here they are!
We are so incredibly blessed! The picture to the left is of our boys ( special thanks to Rich and Peter for getting the picture to us so quickly)!!! The nuns at the orphanage (Home of Hope) prayed over the weekend and picked these two little guys for us. Their names are Benedict on the left and Louis on the the right. As our friend Jo predicted one of them is named after the Pope. Heidi and I are going to most likely make their first names their middle names and will give them new first names when we adopt. We will let you all know when we make our final decision. We don't have all the specifics yet but they are both roughly 2 1/2 years old and we don't think they are brothers based on their different facial features. According to our friend Rich, Benedict is a little more outgoing than Louis. We just can't get over how GOD just continues to answer prayers and bless our family. Of course the girls are as excited as us now since seeing this picture brings a little more reality to everything. They both want to have them here now as do we. We definitely have a lot more to do as we need to have some tests done and then need to have the official adoption date set up but it looks like if things keep going at this pace we may be heading over to Rwanda in late October. We want to thank everyone who has been praying on our behalf, Heidi and I could not be humbled more by the power of prayer and GOD. Thank you everyone for the prayers we truly appreciate and are in awe of the outpouring from friends and family!
More info to come as we get it! Stay tuned and GOD Bless! Pete and Heidi.
Scroll to bottom for an additional picture of the boys!
More info to come as we get it! Stay tuned and GOD Bless! Pete and Heidi.
Scroll to bottom for an additional picture of the boys!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Sept. 21st, 2008
WE just got word that "Peter" our contact in Rwanda was able to drop off our letter at the orphanage on Fri. and that the nuns we very happy and would be praying over it this weekend. They hope to have our boys chosen on Mon.!!!! Yahoo! Peter will call them to confirm Mon. evening and go to see them on Tues.
Asia Grace, and possibly Macie, will be on another TV show which will actually air before our HGTV Gig. It begins on Sat., Oct. 11th @ 8pm on Animal Planet. It is a series about dogs. They were asked to play with a friends new litter of puppies while being filmed. Macie wasn't too into it since I mentioned we were going to Cooper and Eliza's (her cousins) afterward. She just kept asking when we were leaving to go see her cousins, so...I am not sure if she actually held a puppy long enough to be filmed. Oh, well. Asia Grace really enjoyed her time with the puppies though.
Pete and I just came back from a day and a half in the Manhattan area for an intimately, wonderful wedding of a couple friends. What a great time we had! (no kids, that won't happen again for a long time! ha ha ha) Our friends just happen to be going to Africa on safari for the honeymoon. Maybe they can give us some travel tips when they return.
It is officially the last day of summer and what a beautiful one indeed! We are just taking a lazy day hanging out in the sunshine with our girls. We are so truly blessed and grateful for our health, happiness and the weather, does it get any better than this?!!
We will update as soon as we have details about our boys. Till then, "Happy Fall".
Heidi
WE just got word that "Peter" our contact in Rwanda was able to drop off our letter at the orphanage on Fri. and that the nuns we very happy and would be praying over it this weekend. They hope to have our boys chosen on Mon.!!!! Yahoo! Peter will call them to confirm Mon. evening and go to see them on Tues.
Asia Grace, and possibly Macie, will be on another TV show which will actually air before our HGTV Gig. It begins on Sat., Oct. 11th @ 8pm on Animal Planet. It is a series about dogs. They were asked to play with a friends new litter of puppies while being filmed. Macie wasn't too into it since I mentioned we were going to Cooper and Eliza's (her cousins) afterward. She just kept asking when we were leaving to go see her cousins, so...I am not sure if she actually held a puppy long enough to be filmed. Oh, well. Asia Grace really enjoyed her time with the puppies though.
Pete and I just came back from a day and a half in the Manhattan area for an intimately, wonderful wedding of a couple friends. What a great time we had! (no kids, that won't happen again for a long time! ha ha ha) Our friends just happen to be going to Africa on safari for the honeymoon. Maybe they can give us some travel tips when they return.
It is officially the last day of summer and what a beautiful one indeed! We are just taking a lazy day hanging out in the sunshine with our girls. We are so truly blessed and grateful for our health, happiness and the weather, does it get any better than this?!!
We will update as soon as we have details about our boys. Till then, "Happy Fall".
Heidi
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sept. 17, 2008
YAHOO, YAHOO!!!! WE have officially been approved! We found out yesterday and got a copy of the approval e-mailed to us. We also found out we were actually approved on Sept. 3rd and there was some sort of glitch in the e-mailing process where the Rwandan Gov. thought we received it and we did not and had no idea so I kept calling every chance I had attempting to get a hold of someone and get some answers. It had been 6 weeks since any communication when I got a hold of our contact last Fri. the 12th. She seemed confused about my phonecall and explained that we had been e-mailed a letter a while ago. They attempted several more times to send it and then left for the weekend. She never was able to confirm if the letter was indeed an approval. Mon. came and went with no communication though I called and e-mailed several times. Mon. night I wrote an e-mail to both offices I have been attempting to communicate with to explain I still had not received any e-mail with a letter attached concerning our adoption and begged and pleaded with them to try it another way. Upon arising Tues. AM I checked e-mail just before showering to find a couple e-mails and one had the actual approval letter attached! It was truly a miracle! I wrote back thanking them for their perserverance! Then the next miracle came when my cell phone rang its restricted ring about 4:20 pm the same day. I assumed it was someone from DCYF since Jakee is no longer with us and I thought the case worker may have a follow up question for me or news about him and how he was doing. NO, the call was from RWANDA!!!!!!!! One of the women, the one who wrote the approval letter, was calling to make sure I had indeed received it!!! HOLY COW!!! Not only was it a miracle that THEY were calling ME, but that they were doing it at 10:20 PM their time! So much unlike all our lack of communication over the past couple of months. We are truly thankful and feel that this is so meant to be, we just keep having answers to impossible questions fall into our laps!
We hope to know who our new sons are in a week or two. We will find out their ages, current names, height and weight. We have a few names we have been throwing around as a family, but will wait and see their ages and their names and decide then if we feel it is appropriate to change their names completely.
It looks like we may travel as soon as the begining of Nov. or as late as mid Nov. Either way, it looks like we should all be home as a family by Christmas!!! The girls are quite excited as well at this point.
Asia Grace was asking last week if she could have 10 girls sleep over for her birthday in Nov. and of course we said NO!!! Then she said maybe just 6 or 7? and we said NO. Then she heard about our approval and was asking details about when we would be going. I mentioned to her that we may very well be gone over her birthday and she squealed with excitement! She said, "Does this mean if I have an Auntie or an Uncle watching me that THEY get to decide how many girls I can have for my sleep over and I replied, "SURE!" She is so thrilled to think we will be gone over her birthday, a response, I must admit, I would have never thought of , but am quite pleased by her perception of the situation. Macie on the other hand is going to miss her "Mama". Since Asia Grace left us for 2nd grade and Jakee left us about the same time, Macie and I have had a lot of one on one time doing projects, household chores together and even a little "Homeschooling" which she loves.
Well we are making our final plans to head on out to get our boys across the world very soon and hope to keep you posted along our journey!
Thanks to all who are following our story and thank you even more for any prayers said on our behalf!
Good night for now.
Heidi
YAHOO, YAHOO!!!! WE have officially been approved! We found out yesterday and got a copy of the approval e-mailed to us. We also found out we were actually approved on Sept. 3rd and there was some sort of glitch in the e-mailing process where the Rwandan Gov. thought we received it and we did not and had no idea so I kept calling every chance I had attempting to get a hold of someone and get some answers. It had been 6 weeks since any communication when I got a hold of our contact last Fri. the 12th. She seemed confused about my phonecall and explained that we had been e-mailed a letter a while ago. They attempted several more times to send it and then left for the weekend. She never was able to confirm if the letter was indeed an approval. Mon. came and went with no communication though I called and e-mailed several times. Mon. night I wrote an e-mail to both offices I have been attempting to communicate with to explain I still had not received any e-mail with a letter attached concerning our adoption and begged and pleaded with them to try it another way. Upon arising Tues. AM I checked e-mail just before showering to find a couple e-mails and one had the actual approval letter attached! It was truly a miracle! I wrote back thanking them for their perserverance! Then the next miracle came when my cell phone rang its restricted ring about 4:20 pm the same day. I assumed it was someone from DCYF since Jakee is no longer with us and I thought the case worker may have a follow up question for me or news about him and how he was doing. NO, the call was from RWANDA!!!!!!!! One of the women, the one who wrote the approval letter, was calling to make sure I had indeed received it!!! HOLY COW!!! Not only was it a miracle that THEY were calling ME, but that they were doing it at 10:20 PM their time! So much unlike all our lack of communication over the past couple of months. We are truly thankful and feel that this is so meant to be, we just keep having answers to impossible questions fall into our laps!
We hope to know who our new sons are in a week or two. We will find out their ages, current names, height and weight. We have a few names we have been throwing around as a family, but will wait and see their ages and their names and decide then if we feel it is appropriate to change their names completely.
It looks like we may travel as soon as the begining of Nov. or as late as mid Nov. Either way, it looks like we should all be home as a family by Christmas!!! The girls are quite excited as well at this point.
Asia Grace was asking last week if she could have 10 girls sleep over for her birthday in Nov. and of course we said NO!!! Then she said maybe just 6 or 7? and we said NO. Then she heard about our approval and was asking details about when we would be going. I mentioned to her that we may very well be gone over her birthday and she squealed with excitement! She said, "Does this mean if I have an Auntie or an Uncle watching me that THEY get to decide how many girls I can have for my sleep over and I replied, "SURE!" She is so thrilled to think we will be gone over her birthday, a response, I must admit, I would have never thought of , but am quite pleased by her perception of the situation. Macie on the other hand is going to miss her "Mama". Since Asia Grace left us for 2nd grade and Jakee left us about the same time, Macie and I have had a lot of one on one time doing projects, household chores together and even a little "Homeschooling" which she loves.
Well we are making our final plans to head on out to get our boys across the world very soon and hope to keep you posted along our journey!
Thanks to all who are following our story and thank you even more for any prayers said on our behalf!
Good night for now.
Heidi
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Nothing yet.....
It has been a month since we last updated the blog and for good reason... We have not heard anything from Rwanda since our last post. While this is discouraging we do have faith that this will happen in GOD's time. We still have our little foster boy who is now 7 1/2 months old. He is doing great and we are enjoying our time with him.
It is Labor Day weekend and we hope that everyone has a safe and fun weekend! Be careful and God Bless.
Pete
It is Labor Day weekend and we hope that everyone has a safe and fun weekend! Be careful and God Bless.
Pete
Friday, July 25, 2008
July 25, 2008
HALELUJIA!!! I actually got through to Rwandan Gov. and spoke to the person I have been trying to communicate with for over two weeks. Many wee hour calls to no avail, but then a miracle today! I was very nervous when she said to give her 5 min. to look for our paperwork and to call back. I asked if I could just be on hold because it is so difficult to get a call to go through and she said "No", "you should call back in 5 min., OK?" I reluctantly said "OK" and hung up. I waited about 7 min. and called back and she answered on the first ring by saying, "I found it, I have your paperwork right here!" I almost passed out! I did tell her that I loved her which I think she found rather amusing. We proceeded to have a wonderful conversation and she said to call back next Fri. same time , as she will be going over our paperwork next week to see if anything is missing. Just last night Pete and I had decided not to do any more wee hour calls, calls to Rwanda between 2 AM and 5 AM, and to let God work out the details. I am getting much too tired trying to call during the so called "best hours to call" and still raise the three children we have in the home currently and run my practice and run the house and few other things, but enough about "poor me" ha ha ha anyway, we just let go and let God as of about 9 pm last night. This AM around 9:30 I was going to make a call in my office and saw the Rwanda numbers and decided to try one for kicks and it went directly through to our contact person! It was truly a miracle after the many many hours of hitting redial and not even getting through to the country over the past couple of weeks! Hopefully we will experience the same kind of miraculous connection next Fri. We'll see....
Thank you all for the continued prayers and financial and emotional support through this process, we truly appreciate it all!
For now may God Bless you and have a wonderful weekend as I know we will!
Heidi
HALELUJIA!!! I actually got through to Rwandan Gov. and spoke to the person I have been trying to communicate with for over two weeks. Many wee hour calls to no avail, but then a miracle today! I was very nervous when she said to give her 5 min. to look for our paperwork and to call back. I asked if I could just be on hold because it is so difficult to get a call to go through and she said "No", "you should call back in 5 min., OK?" I reluctantly said "OK" and hung up. I waited about 7 min. and called back and she answered on the first ring by saying, "I found it, I have your paperwork right here!" I almost passed out! I did tell her that I loved her which I think she found rather amusing. We proceeded to have a wonderful conversation and she said to call back next Fri. same time , as she will be going over our paperwork next week to see if anything is missing. Just last night Pete and I had decided not to do any more wee hour calls, calls to Rwanda between 2 AM and 5 AM, and to let God work out the details. I am getting much too tired trying to call during the so called "best hours to call" and still raise the three children we have in the home currently and run my practice and run the house and few other things, but enough about "poor me" ha ha ha anyway, we just let go and let God as of about 9 pm last night. This AM around 9:30 I was going to make a call in my office and saw the Rwanda numbers and decided to try one for kicks and it went directly through to our contact person! It was truly a miracle after the many many hours of hitting redial and not even getting through to the country over the past couple of weeks! Hopefully we will experience the same kind of miraculous connection next Fri. We'll see....
Thank you all for the continued prayers and financial and emotional support through this process, we truly appreciate it all!
For now may God Bless you and have a wonderful weekend as I know we will!
Heidi
Monday, July 7, 2008
July 7th, 2008
Hi everyone, so sorry for the delay in posting new info.!
Ok, our fundraiser was a success and thanks to all who participated and/or worked, performed etc....!!!! We greatly appreciate all your efforts in helping make it such a successful event. A special "Thank You" to Shelley for organizing us and keeping track of all the items and the money!
"Thank you" to Dave and Bruce for the spectacular Magic show!!! Check out http://www.davechandlermagic.com/ for info. on a big show in Sunappee on July 18th and 19th.
"Thank You" to Jim Reidy for MC'ing our event, you did a fabulous job and I believe you are a natural! Thanks for the Fisher Cat's donation as well!!
Ok, we made over $4,000 at this fundraiser! We think we broke $4,400, but are still trying to square up with a few people.
We got our approval from the US Gov. to bring home to unknown orphans and our paperwork has been sent to the US Consulate in Nairobi, Kenya for the boys' visas.
We are now waiting on approval from the Rwandan Gov. which could be in a few days or a few months, it is really kind of quirky the way their system works.
We met Rich and Robin, the missionaries from Rwanda, yesterday at church. They reiterated that we were welcome at their home any time, that Kenya is quite safe and gave us advice on the best way to fly there. They also mentioned that there are currently so many babies in Kigali right now that the nuns have begun to ship them out to other areas of the country!
We do have a new foster placement, who is 6 mos. old today, and his name is Jacob (Jakee). He has been with us for 3 weeks now. Yes, a little crazy, we hadn't had a placement in 2 1/2 yrs.! He is so adorable, lovable and so cute! The girls really enjoy him and he them. I am just trying to get used to getting up a few times a night for feedings! I suppose this is God's way of breaking us in gently to the baby stage with one at a time instead of two at a time.
Well, we are done with the HGTV shoot for "My house is worth what?" and that should be airing sometime this fall, we'll let you know.
We are done with our camping trip of the summer and now we can chill out a little and begin planning for two more children. Thank you again for all the support in so many ways. Pete and I and the kids really appreciate it!
Heidi
Hi everyone, so sorry for the delay in posting new info.!
Ok, our fundraiser was a success and thanks to all who participated and/or worked, performed etc....!!!! We greatly appreciate all your efforts in helping make it such a successful event. A special "Thank You" to Shelley for organizing us and keeping track of all the items and the money!
"Thank you" to Dave and Bruce for the spectacular Magic show!!! Check out http://www.davechandlermagic.com/ for info. on a big show in Sunappee on July 18th and 19th.
"Thank You" to Jim Reidy for MC'ing our event, you did a fabulous job and I believe you are a natural! Thanks for the Fisher Cat's donation as well!!
Ok, we made over $4,000 at this fundraiser! We think we broke $4,400, but are still trying to square up with a few people.
We got our approval from the US Gov. to bring home to unknown orphans and our paperwork has been sent to the US Consulate in Nairobi, Kenya for the boys' visas.
We are now waiting on approval from the Rwandan Gov. which could be in a few days or a few months, it is really kind of quirky the way their system works.
We met Rich and Robin, the missionaries from Rwanda, yesterday at church. They reiterated that we were welcome at their home any time, that Kenya is quite safe and gave us advice on the best way to fly there. They also mentioned that there are currently so many babies in Kigali right now that the nuns have begun to ship them out to other areas of the country!
We do have a new foster placement, who is 6 mos. old today, and his name is Jacob (Jakee). He has been with us for 3 weeks now. Yes, a little crazy, we hadn't had a placement in 2 1/2 yrs.! He is so adorable, lovable and so cute! The girls really enjoy him and he them. I am just trying to get used to getting up a few times a night for feedings! I suppose this is God's way of breaking us in gently to the baby stage with one at a time instead of two at a time.
Well, we are done with the HGTV shoot for "My house is worth what?" and that should be airing sometime this fall, we'll let you know.
We are done with our camping trip of the summer and now we can chill out a little and begin planning for two more children. Thank you again for all the support in so many ways. Pete and I and the kids really appreciate it!
Heidi
Friday, June 13, 2008
June 13, 2008
CORRECTION, CORRECTION, CORRECTION!!!!!
The RED SOX Tickets Retail starts @ $650 not $400 !!!!!
Come prepared, psyched and financially ready!
So sorry, we just took a minute to look them up during our final hours of preparedness and discovered I have been drastically under cutting this particular item!
We are so excited about tomorrow night and can't wait to see you all there. It is sure to be a night to remember for all!
See you very soon....
Pete, Heidi and the "girls" (for now, ha ha)
CORRECTION, CORRECTION, CORRECTION!!!!!
The RED SOX Tickets Retail starts @ $650 not $400 !!!!!
Come prepared, psyched and financially ready!
So sorry, we just took a minute to look them up during our final hours of preparedness and discovered I have been drastically under cutting this particular item!
We are so excited about tomorrow night and can't wait to see you all there. It is sure to be a night to remember for all!
See you very soon....
Pete, Heidi and the "girls" (for now, ha ha)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
June 12, 2008
Wow! the Concord Monitor did a great story on us on the FRONT PAGE!!! Thank you Chelsea!
We are so excited, just over 24 hours till our big event! WE are still adding items!!!
How about a couple rounds of Golf at Owl's Nest Golf course in Campton NH including golf cart $180 value
Antique Rocker Donated by Craig and Jan Briggs $85-$100 value
Antique Adult sick chair Donated by Craig and Jan Briggs Value ???
3 certificates each good for office visit @ Pembroke Animal Hospital $39 value/ each
Heidi
Wow! the Concord Monitor did a great story on us on the FRONT PAGE!!! Thank you Chelsea!
We are so excited, just over 24 hours till our big event! WE are still adding items!!!
How about a couple rounds of Golf at Owl's Nest Golf course in Campton NH including golf cart $180 value
Antique Rocker Donated by Craig and Jan Briggs $85-$100 value
Antique Adult sick chair Donated by Craig and Jan Briggs Value ???
3 certificates each good for office visit @ Pembroke Animal Hospital $39 value/ each
Heidi
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
June 10, 2008
Asia Grace is officially a second grader as of 3 pm today!!! The girls are finally on summer vacation after their hectic school year schedule. phew! :)
Ok, we have a few new items to add to our ever growing list:
Gift certificate for one week camp Donated by Flipz Gymnastics $100 value
Gift certificate for the Common Man Donated by Microdesk, Inc. $100 value
Gift basket for Chunky's Cinema's Donated by Microdesk, Inc $100 value
We are so close to our big event, a little hot and sticky and very excited to hear how so many plan on joining in our festivities!
**Plan on eating at the Restaurant if you can, that is the only way the owner can recover some of his expenses donated to our evening. Thank you in advance...
A very special "Thank You" goes out to Julia Latham, one of Asia Grace's 1st grade friends who brought in her allowance savings a couple days ago and donated it to our adoption fund! Thank you Julia for your kindnes, generosity and for caring. We are so happy to have you play an active part in our mission! Thank you, thank you!
Heidi and Asia Grace
Asia Grace is officially a second grader as of 3 pm today!!! The girls are finally on summer vacation after their hectic school year schedule. phew! :)
Ok, we have a few new items to add to our ever growing list:
Gift certificate for one week camp Donated by Flipz Gymnastics $100 value
Gift certificate for the Common Man Donated by Microdesk, Inc. $100 value
Gift basket for Chunky's Cinema's Donated by Microdesk, Inc $100 value
We are so close to our big event, a little hot and sticky and very excited to hear how so many plan on joining in our festivities!
**Plan on eating at the Restaurant if you can, that is the only way the owner can recover some of his expenses donated to our evening. Thank you in advance...
A very special "Thank You" goes out to Julia Latham, one of Asia Grace's 1st grade friends who brought in her allowance savings a couple days ago and donated it to our adoption fund! Thank you Julia for your kindnes, generosity and for caring. We are so happy to have you play an active part in our mission! Thank you, thank you!
Heidi and Asia Grace
Monday, June 9, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
June 8, 2008
We are in the final days before our BIG event!
God has really been making things happen for this event. People have come to me out of the blue and offered help, items to be auctioned and even random donations that were completely unexpected!
We are excited about this big event and what it really represents. People coming together for a greater cause, saving two children from a life of poverty and giving them a chance at making a difference in the world! To us there is no greater cause or better way to serve the Lord than to Father the fatherless.
We thank you all for your support and committment to help us make this mission a reality. Praise the Lord for everything!
Heidi
We are in the final days before our BIG event!
God has really been making things happen for this event. People have come to me out of the blue and offered help, items to be auctioned and even random donations that were completely unexpected!
We are excited about this big event and what it really represents. People coming together for a greater cause, saving two children from a life of poverty and giving them a chance at making a difference in the world! To us there is no greater cause or better way to serve the Lord than to Father the fatherless.
We thank you all for your support and committment to help us make this mission a reality. Praise the Lord for everything!
Heidi
Saturday, June 7, 2008
June 7, 2008
We are finally done with one major deadline, the recital! It was incredible and of course our girls shined! We had the Concord Monitor hanging out with us today along with a photographer who followed us to our recital. Our Dance Recital is now going to be featured on the front page of the Monitor due to too many cute pictures of kids getting ready for and dancing in the recital. I believe the owner of the dance company is rather happy about this.
Ok, one week to our BIG EVENT!!! We have a few new items for everyone to check out.
Goedecke Decorating gift certificates 2 @ $100/ each !!!
Photography by Nylora (Bellies and Babies) $300 gift certificate
Framed map of Cape Cod Donated by Pat Peck value $75
Overnight for two @ Cape Cod (details to follow....)
Fisher Cats Suite details: Value $1,000
Includes: airconditioned suite able to seat 12, food, drink, (including beer) , picture with Mascot, VIP parking and so much more!!!!
Please tell all you know about our event!
We also have traditional handwoven baskets from Rwandan women to support their homeland will be auctioned off as well. Proceeds to benefit Rwandan residents directly. Information will be distributed for all to take and read and hopefully raise awareness.
We thank you all for your interest, support and for following along our amazing journey!
We hope to see you all in a week at The Red Blazer.
Have a great week and we wish you all the best.
God Bless.
Heidi
We are finally done with one major deadline, the recital! It was incredible and of course our girls shined! We had the Concord Monitor hanging out with us today along with a photographer who followed us to our recital. Our Dance Recital is now going to be featured on the front page of the Monitor due to too many cute pictures of kids getting ready for and dancing in the recital. I believe the owner of the dance company is rather happy about this.
Ok, one week to our BIG EVENT!!! We have a few new items for everyone to check out.
Goedecke Decorating gift certificates 2 @ $100/ each !!!
Photography by Nylora (Bellies and Babies) $300 gift certificate
Framed map of Cape Cod Donated by Pat Peck value $75
Overnight for two @ Cape Cod (details to follow....)
Fisher Cats Suite details: Value $1,000
Includes: airconditioned suite able to seat 12, food, drink, (including beer) , picture with Mascot, VIP parking and so much more!!!!
Please tell all you know about our event!
We also have traditional handwoven baskets from Rwandan women to support their homeland will be auctioned off as well. Proceeds to benefit Rwandan residents directly. Information will be distributed for all to take and read and hopefully raise awareness.
We thank you all for your interest, support and for following along our amazing journey!
We hope to see you all in a week at The Red Blazer.
Have a great week and we wish you all the best.
God Bless.
Heidi
Thursday, June 5, 2008
June 5, 2008
We got word our paperwork is in Rwanda and headed to the Minister of Gender and Family Promotions! This is a very exciting and slightly nerve racking time for us. We are getting ready for both our girls end of year dance recital this Sat., we have a reporter named Chelsea coming out from the Concord Monitor to hang out with us the first part of the day Sat. to complete her family interview for a story they are running on us, we are trying to get our last couple of hours in to stay licensed with the state as foster parents, we have our big fundraiser, as you all know by heart now, next Sat. the 14th and we have HGTV coming to film for a day on the 24th for the show "My house is worth what?" Oh ya, and we are attempting to get in a few baseball games for Asia Grace and her coachpitch team! But it is all GOOD! When we come home with two more children, and all these big events are behind us, it will ultimately slow down and feel much simpler. I guess this is God's way of preparing us for what lies ahead :)
OK, here are a few new items for the auction list:
Gift certificates for Longhorn's Donated by Interstate Concrete 4 @ $25
Raffle tickets for a chance to win an all inclusive weekend for 2 at the Balsam's Resort, (includes, lodging, food, drink, golf, etc...) est. value $1,700 Donated by Interstate Concrete 5 @$20 each to be sold for face value
A basket of goodies from Yankee Magazine, including a year subscription Total value $100
We got word our paperwork is in Rwanda and headed to the Minister of Gender and Family Promotions! This is a very exciting and slightly nerve racking time for us. We are getting ready for both our girls end of year dance recital this Sat., we have a reporter named Chelsea coming out from the Concord Monitor to hang out with us the first part of the day Sat. to complete her family interview for a story they are running on us, we are trying to get our last couple of hours in to stay licensed with the state as foster parents, we have our big fundraiser, as you all know by heart now, next Sat. the 14th and we have HGTV coming to film for a day on the 24th for the show "My house is worth what?" Oh ya, and we are attempting to get in a few baseball games for Asia Grace and her coachpitch team! But it is all GOOD! When we come home with two more children, and all these big events are behind us, it will ultimately slow down and feel much simpler. I guess this is God's way of preparing us for what lies ahead :)
OK, here are a few new items for the auction list:
Gift certificates for Longhorn's Donated by Interstate Concrete 4 @ $25
Raffle tickets for a chance to win an all inclusive weekend for 2 at the Balsam's Resort, (includes, lodging, food, drink, golf, etc...) est. value $1,700 Donated by Interstate Concrete 5 @$20 each to be sold for face value
A basket of goodies from Yankee Magazine, including a year subscription Total value $100
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
JUNE 2, 2008
Today we are adding to our auction list a few items:
-Locally handmade quilt- full size Donated by Cynthia Parent $225 value
-An overnight at Weir's Beach Motel and Cottages $100 value
-Sapphire professional whitening service Donated by Cosmetic Dentistry of Concord $400 value!
-Spray Tanning Certificate Donated by SunKissed Tanning $35 value
-Locally handmade children's blanket
-Pair of Original oil paintings, professionally custom framed Donated by Brock Roberts Framing and Art Gallery $250 retail each
-2 pair Hotel Grade window panels, tone on tone taupe in color/ brand new help keep sun out in summer and heat in during winter Donated by Heidi Hanson retail $200
-1 week RV rental, sleeps 6 comfortably up to 8 if some are small children (NO SMOKING, NO PETS) Donated by the Hanson Family Retail $1250
-Cobblestone $25 value
Check back often we are still out hustling for a few more items to make the night one you will all remember!!! Thanks again for the support.
Heidi
Today we are adding to our auction list a few items:
-Locally handmade quilt- full size Donated by Cynthia Parent $225 value
-An overnight at Weir's Beach Motel and Cottages $100 value
-Sapphire professional whitening service Donated by Cosmetic Dentistry of Concord $400 value!
-Spray Tanning Certificate Donated by SunKissed Tanning $35 value
-Locally handmade children's blanket
-Pair of Original oil paintings, professionally custom framed Donated by Brock Roberts Framing and Art Gallery $250 retail each
-2 pair Hotel Grade window panels, tone on tone taupe in color/ brand new help keep sun out in summer and heat in during winter Donated by Heidi Hanson retail $200
-1 week RV rental, sleeps 6 comfortably up to 8 if some are small children (NO SMOKING, NO PETS) Donated by the Hanson Family Retail $1250
-Cobblestone $25 value
Check back often we are still out hustling for a few more items to make the night one you will all remember!!! Thanks again for the support.
Heidi
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
June 14th Fundraiser Info.
Experience the Magic and Mirth of Dave Chandler and ? for a one time only show this summer in Concord, NH!!! The night begins at 6 PM with the magic show set to start around 6:45 PM. The Live auction is set to start approx. 8:15 and closing the night around 8:45 with the last call for silent auction bids. The following are the sponsors and items we have collected so far:
Gold's Gym 1 yr. membership including tanning and childcare (Concord) $780 value
Pair of 2nd Row, Box-DUGOUT RED SOX Tickets!!! July 3oth Game $400 value
Oil changes- Concord Tire $28 value (each)
State Inspection and oil change- Shorty's towing $75 value
4 pack Manchester Wolves (lower bowl) $200 value
Gift certificates for:
Dos Amigos $20 value
Panera Bread $25 value
Bread and chocolate $50 value
Joe King's 2/ $25 value
Things are cooking $25 value
Cool Moose $15 value
Imagination Village 2 / $20 value
Dance Inspirations $50 value
Gill's Restaurant (Manchester) $10 value
Don Giovanni's 2 / $25 value
Concord Camera Store $10 value
Margaritas 2/ 2 Mexican Entrees
Massage (several) $60 value each
A Customized Facial Donated by Red Lotus Spa and Wellness $75 value
A five day pass to Raquet Club of Concord
Office Visit Weiss Chiropractic $40 value
Concord Lincoln Mercury- Full Vehicle Recon!!! $169 value
Have a room or two painted by a professional- Lori Jean Durand
One free session of Emotional Freedom Technique by Mary @ Hypnosis Solutions
Homemade dessert bar to be auctioned off as well
and just a reminder to check out http://www.davechandlermagic.com/ to get a sense of what you are in for. This is a professional magic show that is going to blow your mind and possibly create a few laughs as well!!!
We are thrilled to know how many people already plan on joining us for our big event, but we still ask that you invite friends, neighbors, family, etc. to join you so that we can be as successful as possible. Thank you and check back to see new items next week. We are still in pursuit of great deals and one of a kind opportunities for our friends and family!
Heidi
Gold's Gym 1 yr. membership including tanning and childcare (Concord) $780 value
Pair of 2nd Row, Box-DUGOUT RED SOX Tickets!!! July 3oth Game $400 value
Oil changes- Concord Tire $28 value (each)
State Inspection and oil change- Shorty's towing $75 value
4 pack Manchester Wolves (lower bowl) $200 value
Gift certificates for:
Dos Amigos $20 value
Panera Bread $25 value
Bread and chocolate $50 value
Joe King's 2/ $25 value
Things are cooking $25 value
Cool Moose $15 value
Imagination Village 2 / $20 value
Dance Inspirations $50 value
Gill's Restaurant (Manchester) $10 value
Don Giovanni's 2 / $25 value
Concord Camera Store $10 value
Margaritas 2/ 2 Mexican Entrees
Massage (several) $60 value each
A Customized Facial Donated by Red Lotus Spa and Wellness $75 value
A five day pass to Raquet Club of Concord
Office Visit Weiss Chiropractic $40 value
Concord Lincoln Mercury- Full Vehicle Recon!!! $169 value
Have a room or two painted by a professional- Lori Jean Durand
One free session of Emotional Freedom Technique by Mary @ Hypnosis Solutions
Homemade dessert bar to be auctioned off as well
and just a reminder to check out http://www.davechandlermagic.com/ to get a sense of what you are in for. This is a professional magic show that is going to blow your mind and possibly create a few laughs as well!!!
We are thrilled to know how many people already plan on joining us for our big event, but we still ask that you invite friends, neighbors, family, etc. to join you so that we can be as successful as possible. Thank you and check back to see new items next week. We are still in pursuit of great deals and one of a kind opportunities for our friends and family!
Heidi
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Non-Objection Letters Received!
Hi everyone,
We received the non-objection stamped letters back from the Rwandan embassy last Friday and what a relief! So that step is taken care of. While there are still some approvals to be received that one was the first and it really has made this all become more real to Heidi and I. We continue to pray daily about this and our faith in GOD has really helped us deal with the anxiety and emotions that creep up on us from time to time.
Heidi worked really hard over the weekend to get all the paperwork (application to adopt) organized and into a binder for the Rwandan government. She mailed that out Monday to our contact in Rwanda who will hand carry it to the appropriate ministers office in the Rwandan government. We are incredibly thankful to have help over there and are truly blessed by that. In addition Heidi mailed out the application form that the US government requires today. That application has a nice little price tag attached to if of $830.00 plus postage.
So what happens from here you ask? Ok here is the deal. Both of the applications will, if all things go well, take approximately 6 weeks to process. That puts us into the first week of July. If we get approval then we work with our contact over there to move forward and contact the orphanage to pick the children and get them tested for HIV (we will have our contact have them tested for other diseases as well) . At that point then our contact will also look to get a court date set for the adoption and notify us of that. Then we have to start planning out trip in more detail.... There are other things involved with this process, this is sort of the boiled down version. I will update the blog when we get some more news.
In the meantime, we have also made great strides in our fund raising. We are having a Magic Show and auction at the Red Blazer here in Concord on June 14th from 6-9 pm. I will provide more info on this in the next couple of days including some of the items that will be up for bid during the silent and live auction! Once again, Heidi has done the majority of the legwork on this by going around to local businesses asking for donations for the auction. We have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of companies that are willing to donate. Despite how we are often perceived in the world this country is still the most giving on the planet and we are finding that out first hand. We are truly thankful for everyone that has contributed to date and will provide a list of the companies that have done so soon so stay tuned!
God Bless and have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!
We received the non-objection stamped letters back from the Rwandan embassy last Friday and what a relief! So that step is taken care of. While there are still some approvals to be received that one was the first and it really has made this all become more real to Heidi and I. We continue to pray daily about this and our faith in GOD has really helped us deal with the anxiety and emotions that creep up on us from time to time.
Heidi worked really hard over the weekend to get all the paperwork (application to adopt) organized and into a binder for the Rwandan government. She mailed that out Monday to our contact in Rwanda who will hand carry it to the appropriate ministers office in the Rwandan government. We are incredibly thankful to have help over there and are truly blessed by that. In addition Heidi mailed out the application form that the US government requires today. That application has a nice little price tag attached to if of $830.00 plus postage.
So what happens from here you ask? Ok here is the deal. Both of the applications will, if all things go well, take approximately 6 weeks to process. That puts us into the first week of July. If we get approval then we work with our contact over there to move forward and contact the orphanage to pick the children and get them tested for HIV (we will have our contact have them tested for other diseases as well) . At that point then our contact will also look to get a court date set for the adoption and notify us of that. Then we have to start planning out trip in more detail.... There are other things involved with this process, this is sort of the boiled down version. I will update the blog when we get some more news.
In the meantime, we have also made great strides in our fund raising. We are having a Magic Show and auction at the Red Blazer here in Concord on June 14th from 6-9 pm. I will provide more info on this in the next couple of days including some of the items that will be up for bid during the silent and live auction! Once again, Heidi has done the majority of the legwork on this by going around to local businesses asking for donations for the auction. We have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of companies that are willing to donate. Despite how we are often perceived in the world this country is still the most giving on the planet and we are finding that out first hand. We are truly thankful for everyone that has contributed to date and will provide a list of the companies that have done so soon so stay tuned!
God Bless and have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
April 27, 2008
Hi everyone and God bless!
We sent off some of the required paperwork to the Rwandan embassy in Washington, DC on Friday. We hope to hear back within a week and if we get this first step of the approval process we can then start with the other paperwork that needs to go to the Rwandan government and the US government to seek approval to do an international adoption. We will keep you all posted as to how that goes.
We have been talking with our girls more and more about the adoption, answering their questions and talking about what it will mean to have one or two more kids in the house. While we understand that Macie and Asia Grace don't fully understand what this all means we do feel it is important to make them as much of this process as we can. To date they are both really excited about it and have been all smiles when we bring the topic up. Heidi and my biggest concerns still or at least our biggest area of anxiety is around the travel required and the potential to have to be away for up to 3 weeks to pull this off. But, we pray daily and know that GOD has placed this on our hearts for a reason and each day we become more resolved to follow GOD's will on this. With GOD all things are possible.....
Also we have been fortunate enough to get a dining room at the Red Blazer restaurant in Concord on Saturday, June 14, 2008 for our fundraising event. The event will run from 6-9 pm. Thank you to the Red Blazer! Also I was able to line up a friend of mine who just happens to the be the best magician around to be the main entertainment for the night, his name is Dave Chandler and you can check out his website at http://www.davechandlermagic.com/. You will not want to miss this guy in action, he is truly amazing! We will be holding a live and silent auction throughout the night and have already got some great donated items for the event, the biggest being TWO 2ND ROW BOX DUGOUT SEATS TO THE BOSTON REDSOX LATER THIS SUMMER! YES THESE ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST TICKETS! They are literally the 2nd row behind the dugout and should get any true Redsox fan excited!!!! We are extremely grateful for Aramark food services for donating the tickets to our fund raiser!
I will update the list of auction items as they come in so people can stat planning on what they will want to bid on, so stay tuned!
Take care everyone and god bless,
Pete
We sent off some of the required paperwork to the Rwandan embassy in Washington, DC on Friday. We hope to hear back within a week and if we get this first step of the approval process we can then start with the other paperwork that needs to go to the Rwandan government and the US government to seek approval to do an international adoption. We will keep you all posted as to how that goes.
We have been talking with our girls more and more about the adoption, answering their questions and talking about what it will mean to have one or two more kids in the house. While we understand that Macie and Asia Grace don't fully understand what this all means we do feel it is important to make them as much of this process as we can. To date they are both really excited about it and have been all smiles when we bring the topic up. Heidi and my biggest concerns still or at least our biggest area of anxiety is around the travel required and the potential to have to be away for up to 3 weeks to pull this off. But, we pray daily and know that GOD has placed this on our hearts for a reason and each day we become more resolved to follow GOD's will on this. With GOD all things are possible.....
Also we have been fortunate enough to get a dining room at the Red Blazer restaurant in Concord on Saturday, June 14, 2008 for our fundraising event. The event will run from 6-9 pm. Thank you to the Red Blazer! Also I was able to line up a friend of mine who just happens to the be the best magician around to be the main entertainment for the night, his name is Dave Chandler and you can check out his website at http://www.davechandlermagic.com/. You will not want to miss this guy in action, he is truly amazing! We will be holding a live and silent auction throughout the night and have already got some great donated items for the event, the biggest being TWO 2ND ROW BOX DUGOUT SEATS TO THE BOSTON REDSOX LATER THIS SUMMER! YES THESE ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST TICKETS! They are literally the 2nd row behind the dugout and should get any true Redsox fan excited!!!! We are extremely grateful for Aramark food services for donating the tickets to our fund raiser!
I will update the list of auction items as they come in so people can stat planning on what they will want to bid on, so stay tuned!
Take care everyone and god bless,
Pete
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Passports back! April 8, 2008
Who says the government works slow?! We were expecting to wait another week or so for our passports to come back but yesterday both of them came in the mail so things are rolling! We paid a little extra to get them expedited and it was well worth it. Now we have to continue to put paperwork together and fill out forms to send to the Rwandan embassy in Washington to get approved to adopt and we also have to file some paperwork with the US government as well to do an international adoption. Of course there are costs associated with both of those filings.
Heidi continues to do a great job doing a lot of the research on things with of course a lot of guidance and help from Tina. A lot of phone calls, internet research and driving around, it requires quite an effort but Heidi is really getting after it, she deserves a lot of credit. I am truly blessed to have her as my wife. We talk daily about the status of this or that and it is nice to see progress almost everyday. I don't think either of us realized how mentally and emotionally taxing this was going to be. I guess that comes with the territory when you take on something this life changing...
We have started to look into other fundraising opportunities and are looking seriously at having a silent auction at a local restaurant as an option.
This past week we opened a bank account a the local bank called the Hanson Family Adoption Fund so we can keep track of any donations we get (See bottom of blog). We also have the donate button at the bottom of this blog which goes into a Paypal account and then will be transferred to the bank account. We have been truly blessed to this point and have already recieved over $1000.00 dollars in donations. This takes a lot of stress off Heidi and me since the expenses are already starting to add up. Heidi did some research and got some pricing on flights and by all accounts it looks like we are going to be in the $2500.00 range each for our round trip flights. That does not include the extra tickets we will have to get for the boys we adopt. We continue to say a lot of prayers and have faith that GOD will provide for us in this area. Again, thanks to all of you who have contributed to this point!
Our girls (Asia Grace and Macie) are getting excited about the possibility of having more kids in the home. We talk alot about moving the bedrooms around and arranging things to accommodate the new little ones. It is all very exciting. One of the things that Heidi and I have started to prep them on is the fact that we are going to have to be away for possibly 3 weeks. Asia Grace can grasp this to a certain extent but I don't think she realizes just how long that is. Macie really has no understanding and basically thinks it is like going to the store and back..... Being gone for that long is really the biggest struggle for Heidi and I and we continue to prepare ourselves for it and pray a lot about it.
well that is it for today. Thanks again everyone and thanks for reading! Stay tuned and take care, GOD Bless!
Pete
Heidi continues to do a great job doing a lot of the research on things with of course a lot of guidance and help from Tina. A lot of phone calls, internet research and driving around, it requires quite an effort but Heidi is really getting after it, she deserves a lot of credit. I am truly blessed to have her as my wife. We talk daily about the status of this or that and it is nice to see progress almost everyday. I don't think either of us realized how mentally and emotionally taxing this was going to be. I guess that comes with the territory when you take on something this life changing...
We have started to look into other fundraising opportunities and are looking seriously at having a silent auction at a local restaurant as an option.
This past week we opened a bank account a the local bank called the Hanson Family Adoption Fund so we can keep track of any donations we get (See bottom of blog). We also have the donate button at the bottom of this blog which goes into a Paypal account and then will be transferred to the bank account. We have been truly blessed to this point and have already recieved over $1000.00 dollars in donations. This takes a lot of stress off Heidi and me since the expenses are already starting to add up. Heidi did some research and got some pricing on flights and by all accounts it looks like we are going to be in the $2500.00 range each for our round trip flights. That does not include the extra tickets we will have to get for the boys we adopt. We continue to say a lot of prayers and have faith that GOD will provide for us in this area. Again, thanks to all of you who have contributed to this point!
Our girls (Asia Grace and Macie) are getting excited about the possibility of having more kids in the home. We talk alot about moving the bedrooms around and arranging things to accommodate the new little ones. It is all very exciting. One of the things that Heidi and I have started to prep them on is the fact that we are going to have to be away for possibly 3 weeks. Asia Grace can grasp this to a certain extent but I don't think she realizes just how long that is. Macie really has no understanding and basically thinks it is like going to the store and back..... Being gone for that long is really the biggest struggle for Heidi and I and we continue to prepare ourselves for it and pray a lot about it.
well that is it for today. Thanks again everyone and thanks for reading! Stay tuned and take care, GOD Bless!
Pete
Saturday, March 29, 2008
March 29, 2008 - Update on the process!
Hi everyone and GOD Bless,
Heidi and I applied for our passports yesterday and paid the extra money to get them expidited. Cost was $161 apiece. They should be here within 3 weeks but we are hoping sooner. We were going to get the girls their passports since you need them to go to Canada these days but based on our budget we decided to push that out.
Up to this point we have been doing a lot of the leg work to get this process rolling. Fortunately we have a virtual "adoption team" that has been helping along the way and that GOD has put in place for us to use. First I want to give some up front credit where it is definitely due. We have had some really great guidance from Brock and Tina, a couple that goes to our church. They adopted a little boy from Rwanda last fall and have been an invaluable resource to us to this point. Tina and Heidi seem to talk everyday and Tina has provided us with a lot of information that will hopefully make this whole process go a lot smoother and faster. She has provided us the contacts we need and is always available when we have questions. In addition to that she has given us advice on virtually everything we need to consider when we actually go over, including clothing suggestions, baby supplies, etc. Thanks Tina!
We have also begun email correspondence with the missionaries in Rwanda that we will probably be staying with while over there. That takes a lot of weight off us to know we have people on the ground over there so to speak. In addition, we received an email from the gentleman who will be helping coordinate a lot of the paperwork on the Rwandan side and act as our "Power of attorney". Again, another gift from GOD. So we are starting to build our network and feel that things are moving quickly. If things go smoothly and we can get all the approvals that are required we are projecting to be heading over to Rwanda in late July of this year.
I must admit a lot of things have been streaming through our minds while Heidi and I have been going through the decision making process regarding whether to adopt or not. Actually it wasn't really a question of whether to adopt again but more of a question of where to adopt from. We have both felt a calling for a while but really struggled with whether this was what "we were supposed to be doing" or was it just our selfish interests. How would this affect our other two children? Can we afford it? Do we have enough room in our house? Will Heidi have to change her work schedule? Will I? All these questions swam around in our heads. And I am sure in the heads of our friends and family who we have told to this point. Everyone sort of has their own idea of how much is enough and having a family of four these days is not the norm.
So we sought feedback from friends and Godly council from others within our church, Brock and Tina, and also one of the associate pastors (Mark) that have been on several missionary trips to Rwanda over the last few years. We also, of course, prayed endlessly over this to GOD and in the end both Heidi and I felt confident this was something we are indeed supposed to do. What it really came down to in the end was our own fears of going to Rwanda for three weeks and leaving our girls back in the states with relatives. What if something happened? Who would take care of them? Those types of fears. Mark really nailed it though when we had dinner with him and his family recently. He said that fear is really not an excuse to not do this. In fact using fear as an excuse was basically saying that we didn't have faith in GOD that HE will take care of our daughters. If we really did feel that GOD was calling us to do this then surely GOD has a plan for our daughters regardless of what happens. When he said that it all made perfect sense. Of course GOD will take care of everything, he always does.... On the way home that night in the car with our two daughters laughing and chatting away in the back, Heidi and I decided that this was something that we were going to do. What a great feeling! Let's do it! With GOD leading the way all things are possible. I can only think that GOD already has the one or two little boys picked out for us and at that exact moment across the world in Rwanda the light shined on those boys and the connection was sealed.
Thanks for reading and GOD Bless! Pete and Heidi
Heidi and I applied for our passports yesterday and paid the extra money to get them expidited. Cost was $161 apiece. They should be here within 3 weeks but we are hoping sooner. We were going to get the girls their passports since you need them to go to Canada these days but based on our budget we decided to push that out.
Up to this point we have been doing a lot of the leg work to get this process rolling. Fortunately we have a virtual "adoption team" that has been helping along the way and that GOD has put in place for us to use. First I want to give some up front credit where it is definitely due. We have had some really great guidance from Brock and Tina, a couple that goes to our church. They adopted a little boy from Rwanda last fall and have been an invaluable resource to us to this point. Tina and Heidi seem to talk everyday and Tina has provided us with a lot of information that will hopefully make this whole process go a lot smoother and faster. She has provided us the contacts we need and is always available when we have questions. In addition to that she has given us advice on virtually everything we need to consider when we actually go over, including clothing suggestions, baby supplies, etc. Thanks Tina!
We have also begun email correspondence with the missionaries in Rwanda that we will probably be staying with while over there. That takes a lot of weight off us to know we have people on the ground over there so to speak. In addition, we received an email from the gentleman who will be helping coordinate a lot of the paperwork on the Rwandan side and act as our "Power of attorney". Again, another gift from GOD. So we are starting to build our network and feel that things are moving quickly. If things go smoothly and we can get all the approvals that are required we are projecting to be heading over to Rwanda in late July of this year.
I must admit a lot of things have been streaming through our minds while Heidi and I have been going through the decision making process regarding whether to adopt or not. Actually it wasn't really a question of whether to adopt again but more of a question of where to adopt from. We have both felt a calling for a while but really struggled with whether this was what "we were supposed to be doing" or was it just our selfish interests. How would this affect our other two children? Can we afford it? Do we have enough room in our house? Will Heidi have to change her work schedule? Will I? All these questions swam around in our heads. And I am sure in the heads of our friends and family who we have told to this point. Everyone sort of has their own idea of how much is enough and having a family of four these days is not the norm.
So we sought feedback from friends and Godly council from others within our church, Brock and Tina, and also one of the associate pastors (Mark) that have been on several missionary trips to Rwanda over the last few years. We also, of course, prayed endlessly over this to GOD and in the end both Heidi and I felt confident this was something we are indeed supposed to do. What it really came down to in the end was our own fears of going to Rwanda for three weeks and leaving our girls back in the states with relatives. What if something happened? Who would take care of them? Those types of fears. Mark really nailed it though when we had dinner with him and his family recently. He said that fear is really not an excuse to not do this. In fact using fear as an excuse was basically saying that we didn't have faith in GOD that HE will take care of our daughters. If we really did feel that GOD was calling us to do this then surely GOD has a plan for our daughters regardless of what happens. When he said that it all made perfect sense. Of course GOD will take care of everything, he always does.... On the way home that night in the car with our two daughters laughing and chatting away in the back, Heidi and I decided that this was something that we were going to do. What a great feeling! Let's do it! With GOD leading the way all things are possible. I can only think that GOD already has the one or two little boys picked out for us and at that exact moment across the world in Rwanda the light shined on those boys and the connection was sealed.
We would also like to thank "Mike", one of the Pastors at our church for being our original contact when inquiring about the orphanage in Rwanda and has been so helpful in leading us to amazing contacts for this process.
On another note, one of the things that is a reality of doing this is the cost associated with it. One of the big things of course is the cost of the flights not only for Heidi and I but for the boys when we come back. There are also a lot of fees and other costs that come along as well. All in all we are probably looking at a total cost of around $12,000 to $15,000 to make this happen. As most of you know we can get a great tax deduction for this in the coming years when we file taxes but we have to come up with the money first. As you can see on this blog site I have added a "donate" button at the bottom of this blog. It is straight from Paypal and according to their website it is a secure way to make donations to our cause. We are setting up a separate bank account that we will use for all the money we receive towards are adoption. The account will be called the Hanson Family Adoption Fund. All the money we raise will only be used to help us with the costs assocaited with the adoption. So with that being said we are asking that anyone who wants to give please do so. Big or small, we appreciate them all! Every little bit will help! We intend to hold other fundraisers as well and will keep you all posted via e-mail and this blog. Also please feel free to send the link to this site to anyone you know that may be interested in following along on our journey!
Thanks for reading and GOD Bless! Pete and Heidi
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Ok everyone, here we go! We have a calling!
Happy Easter! Heidi and I have felt for some time now that we have been called by GOD to adopt (again). Specifically through the way God has used our church, Grace Capital Church (http://www.mv.com/ipusers/gcc/) in Pembroke, NH to help the children of Rwanda. We are blessed and honored to answer the call! Please join us and come along for the ride, even if only by visiting this blog.
Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. James 1:27 (NLT)
But you, O God, do we see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. Psalm 10:14 (NIV)
At this time we are looking to adopt at least one if not two young boys from Rwanda. We would prefer to have them younger than 3 years old and at least 1 year old but that may change.
We invite each and everyone one of you to join us and to please forward the link to this blog to everyone you know that may be interested in following our journey.
Thanks and God Bless!
Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. James 1:27 (NLT)
But you, O God, do we see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. Psalm 10:14 (NIV)
At this time we are looking to adopt at least one if not two young boys from Rwanda. We would prefer to have them younger than 3 years old and at least 1 year old but that may change.
We invite each and everyone one of you to join us and to please forward the link to this blog to everyone you know that may be interested in following our journey.
Thanks and God Bless!
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