Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas season can be so busy and hectic at times. Having the last two weeks off work has been great. We got lots of our "honey do" list done. Had time with family, which is always good. Prepared to go forward into the 2012 year and see where our journey leads us. There will be many ups and downs with speed bumps to come, but we look forward to seeing where this year leads us.

2012 will be a fundraising year to help us in preparing to bring our beloved child home into our family. There will be many ways for you to be part of this journey. We are gladly open to ideas for ways to make events creative and fun. There will be a "garage sale" event, "pop can" collections, pig roast dinner, and more. Our family has also been creating hand made jewelry that will continue. Many items are a "one of a kind" item that you will be the only one to have. If you see an item that you want just let us know. We do accept custom requests if you find something you like and want it customized for you. Visit our website http://shop.jewels2journey.com/ to shop for items or see our facebook page for "sneek peeks" at new items http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Jewels2journey/216410108408854. You are welcome to pick any items up or I can ship them directly to you.

Open houses for you to share our jewelry items with your family and friends can also be scheduled. I will bring all premade items to your home and share our journey with you. It is a great chance for everyone to see the items in hand. Pictures are great, but to hold the actual items can not be beat. Try them on for fit and take them home that night. Let me know what day/night works for you.

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year! Lets make 2012 the best year yet.

Beginning our journey

Welcome to our journey. Starting with little background that helps to understand where we are today and how we got here.

Chad and I have been married for 17 years. We have two biological daughters, Courtney (15) and Alexandria (12).  Chad and I were high school sweethearts that met at a restaurant where we both worked at while in high school. We live in a quiet subdivision in Burnips, Michigan. We enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.

   Many years ago we had no idea we would be heading down this amazing journey. A couple years ago Chad and I both  mentioned that the thought of adoption had crossed our minds a few times. (Coincidence? Probably not.)  We started praying and doing some research, and slowly the seed we believe God planted in us started to grow.  Well, two years later we had finally decided it is time to proceed. We have read books, attended meetings, and like I said before, a lot of prayer. 

We decided that we are going to work with Bethany Christian Services for our adoption.  And after much research and consideration, we have also decided that we are going to adopt from Ethiopia.  I can’t begin to tell you the amount of emotion that you experience when you decide to go through the process of adoption.  Fear, excitement, happy, and impatience are just a few of what we are experiencing.  I am so thankful God chose us for this and I can’t wait to see where He takes us as we go through this journey.

The journey actually began in Oct, 2010. That was the first “general” informational meeting which is open for anyone looking for more information about adoption and the different options available. They also had three families there that had adopted both domestic and international, which was really nice to hear from people that have been through the process and listen to their story. After that initial meeting we waited for a couple months before going any further. I guess it was fear, and we were looking for confirmation from God that this is what He wanted from us. It was May, 2011 that we had our first personal meeting with Bethany to get more information and get instruction on how to start the process. Our application was approved in July, 2011.  Upon application approval, we were blessed with our wonderful caseworker Ann. She has walked us through each step we make and has been a pleasure to deal with. As of December 7, 2011 we have completed our home study and it has been approved by Bethany. Now we begin the process of filling out the paperwork and other requirements necessary for our Dossier that goes to Ethiopia. This process can take approx. up to two months to complete, so we are going to be busy for a bit.

Let the paperwork continue…..

With the holidays here we are taking some family time and will be jumping in full force with the New Year.