Process or Product?

In the world of adoption "journey" there is a stretch of road that we walked through that changed our lives.
We also gained alot of respect for those families who have walked before us on their adoption journey.

Here we are in front of the " Immigration Office" in Yakima WA. This was a big day for us a we filed our I-600A.This stretch of road on the journey came into clearer view as we were standing at the window at the immigration office. The man behind the window was kind and excited for us and our adoption. He asked a few questions about our new kids, in a "break the ice" Kind of fashion.

(he must of seen the nervous look on my face, wanting to do all things correctly and organized)


Then one by one he began to ask the questions, "please fill this out and hand it to me, Please hand me your passports, your birth certs. your check for the amount of $$$ (gasp)
and "hand me your Homestudy"
At that moment, the 3 ringed binder that had been living on my kitchen counter for months, was in my hand and out of it I pulled the "Homestudy"
I slipped it to him through the slot in the window and did not expect the emotion that came over me.



It appears to just be another part of the paperwork, yet when I handed it to him I flashed back to the hours of training completed, the home inspections, photo copies of everything, the Dr appointments and notary seals, the bank visits, the 4-5 social worker visits (that were pure gold moments of great wealth of information) and the 1,000 conversations we had as a family as we lived the weeks it took to get the "Homestudy" done.

WOW

There we were, for the first time with out it in our possession. Interesting how this document is created to be given away. It is what you need to proceed, yet it becomes a part of you as you learn and grow in the process.
So concluding, we as a family have wholeheartedly agreed with our amazing social worker that
a homestudy is a "process not a product"



So we are joyfully in process, looking forward to the next leg of the journey.

CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS TIME at the BLASKE HOUSE!


Each year brings new things and old traditions.
Dave and I sought out to make this Christmas a bit different than years past after we read a great book called "After the Dream Comes True" (speaking of a family who wrote down
the events that occurred after they brought their adopted kids home)
We were touched by their awareness to make things simple and meaningful for their kids. We always set out to do this and I think our traditions represent this in many ways. But this year we set our focus...lets say "a bit more focused"
We we were able to gather some gifts, books, clothing and letters for Victoria and John that we sent with Phil and Amanda to Ghana. (Thanks guys...this was a BLESSING of big proportions)
Here you will see them at the Beacon house opening the gifts we were able to send. Nothing could prepare our hearts as we looked onto these pictures. To see the joy in their faces and the excitement filled us up. What blessed our hearts more was to see the Christmas day events at the Beacon House. They are in a GREAT Place and we are soooooo thankful.

(a live action shot of Victoria's Delight as she sees the package we sent to her)

(here is our little man John...waiting to open his gift)


We know we will be working hard to preserve the family connections the kids have in their hearts for all who live there.
While John and Victoria were in t-Shirts and bare footed 80 degree weather, we were watching the snow fall. It has been many years since we have seen snow on Christmas day.
What fun to sip hot chocolate under a blanket on the couch watching the snow fall.

I know lots of families have a tradition of new jammies on Christmas Eve, and we are no different. Here are the kiddos in their new jammies ready to sleep at Grandma and Papa Swanson's house in Redmond. It is hard to believe that we have had 18 years of new P.J.'s

(Look at the little brothers reaction to the "little" jammie shorts, to funny..little did he know that Ash was planning on wearing them OVER the LONG bottoms they came with .)
(No Daddy...they do not go on your head :O)
Blaske Kiddos looking sharp in their new Jammies!

One of the ways we got to bring everyone together was a God moment we had of reading the prophesies of Christ and the fulfillment of them in scripture. It was a great time of reflection that we serve and love an amazing God and all he says and does is RIGHT AND TRUE! It was a special moment in my mommy heart to hear my family pray around the room for the ones in need, lost, forgotten and sad. We are Thankful that we serve a God who hears us.
On another God note...Dave and i had decided a few months ago to get the kids a WII game station. We had seen that my parents had one and it made for GREAT fun family events and group play. I can say that our other game stations leaves my kids to say things like "Thanks for trying Mom, but your not so good at this" Hee hee! They are Right.
We looked and looked and even bid on one on E-BAY, but NO WII for us. We decided to go ahead and buy a few controllers and write the kids a note telling them we would buy one when the supplies went up again in the Spring. We did that and went on with life...less stress and ready to go on with Christmas.
We travel to Seattle area to spend one day with each set of grand parents over Christmas. It is a time of year and tradition we really look forward to.
Our first stop was Dave's Dad and step mom's house. They gathered the kids around and gave them a gift....they opened a WII system! We did not know this, but looked across the room at each other and smiled...God takes care of even the small non eternal desires of our hearts.

So we traveled to each families house with a packed van of food, fun and excitement of new memories to be had.
Here are some pictures of our group play with the WII. I realized that bowling is GREAT...I can actually beat my kids and Dave. Grandpa is another story!
(Papa Zopfi showing Grandma how to bowl)


(The boys playing golf with the golf Pro Papa Swanson)

So I wrap up this entry with a thankful heart for our Saviour Jesus Christ, our new memories, games, puzzles, food, prayers, new jammies and most of all a family to share it ALL with.
As we draw closer to the day when the Blaske 6 will be 8, we lean each day on Jesus for our HOPE and STRENGTH to make it to that day, He is in control and we are thankful.
Merry Christmas To All!

In the B-ginning

This is a first, a start, a B-ginning...Blogging. Wow, it took my daughter Ashlie coming back home from traveling around the world to get her out of "tech" touch mode Mom on board with blogging.

I have always said, "I can write what I need to say better than I can speak" so I will give this a shot.
I am choosing to start with the Thanksgiving letter that we sent out a few weeks ago, for some of you, it will be a repeat...sorry, but it seems to be a good place to start.

About 7 years ago Dave and i realized that God had planted the same dream in our hearts. A dream to help hurting children. We journeyed on a road of wonder, prayer, sickness, foster care, loss and a long desert. Little did we know that all of that was water on the seed He planted, that is now growing!

In November of last year we learned of "Cry of the Orphan" the combined efforts of Focus on the Family, Family Life, and Steven Curtis Chapman to launch the local churches around the world into action to helping the orphan. When we heard of this, it was like the Lord said, "here is the HOW that you need to carry out the dream I have given you."
We were stunned, excited and empowered. About 5 years ago a dear friend prayed over me one night and looked right into my heart and said, "Carrie God does not just have one or two kids for you to care for, but hundreds." Dave and I did not know where to put that .....but we are starting to see more clearly now.

Through a series of events, from February, to May we received the go ahead from our church, had an informational meeting (60 people plus our team attended) and His Kids Our Homes was born. From May until now, people often ask, "How is it going?" Our answer often is, "it feels like we are holding onto a running elephant." It is Big, Powerful, fast and gets stuff done!

What we are learning is that we stepped out in faith, let the dream out of our hearts and into actions, (scary thing) and God had people all lined up to step onto the His Kids Team. (social worker, computer tech guy, trainers, existing experienced adoptive and foster families and the list goes on and on)

So, here we are in November, very amazed at where God is taking our family. As I write, Ashlie is on a plane on her way home from a five month YWAM Hong Kong FEET travel team. Wow, to be 18 and travel the world telling everyone about the love of Jesus! Cool! It would take pages to tell you of all the incredible things Ash got to see and do. The best way to get a first hand look into her life these past five months is to check out her "Blog" www.missionsupdate.spaces.live.com
I am amazed at the way she is able to communicate all that God did...take a look.

Brock is 16, driving, working with a siding company, living soccer every chance he gets and is of course taller than his mom. We are blessed daily by the things the Lord is building into his life.

Tanner is 100% 13! He is enjoying Taekwondo, voice lessons (look out, we have another theater buff in the making) and has an indoor playroom in his room, hammocks and all.

Tristan is 12 years old, has an inborn song in his heart, is taking drum lessons and is getting pretty good. he and Dave get practices in together some times...so fun!

Dave and I are in our last year of being in our 30's. WOW! where does the time go? Dave continues to work at Heath Tecna, plays drums at church, (his passion) is an AMAZING daddy and still manages to organize and launch this awesome orphan ministry. For me, i am wife, mom, homschool teacher, mentor, taxi driver, ministry administrator and hungry after God. it all keeps me on my toes for sure.

One of the blessings of our dream being answered in our hearts is a connection we were able to make with an orphanage in Ghana Africa called Beacon House!
Shortly after His Kids launched we began a journey of relational connection with an amazing Christian woman who runs this private orphanage.
A family in our church met her while they were over in Ghana picking up their twin girls they had adopted from a government orphanage. (they stayed at Beacon House while their paperwork cleared)
Through some amazing God events several families in our church started the journey of adoption. We are one of them! Yes we are going to be parents again!

We are navigating the international adoption process with lots of help from great people on our team and those who have gone before us. Coming to the Blaske home are these two kids.

Victoria is a beautiful, fun, nurturing, caring 9 yr old girl. John is a fun, quiet, playful, full of life 5 yr old boy. They are not siblings, but they are a good fit to come to our home together. As we journey we are looking at going to Ghana to get them in February.

One of the exciting things for these kids is that several of the kids they have been living with at Beacon House will be living in Lynden with new families that are friends of ours.
Along with that are a few families in our church who are adopting from Ethiopia and China.
God is stirriing up the hearts of His children to love the lost and help the orpahn. Wouldn't it be great to have every tribe and nation touched by the love of Jesus!

We have done a lot of training/classes to help them with the transition of new family, friends, home....Everything! We have a LOT to learn, and i am sure they will bless us MORE than we could ever do for them.

We are excited to connect you into the process to their beautiful lives.

This is a first for me...Blogging....it took getting Ashlie to get me set up, walk me through the process a few times (I still am a bit baffled by the "picture loading piece of things" but am learning. )
We set this up as a way to update you on our lives, the DREAM that God is bringing to fulfillment through His kids Our Homes, and the new additions to our family.

We are on a ride, but the Holy Spirit is giving us the FUEL for the journey. With out Him we would be overloaded and self serving...we are so thankful for His EVER PRESENT help and direction.
Our prayer is that our blog will give HIM ALL the Glory for what He is doing in and through us.
Blessings
Carrie <><