What A Week!!

This week is truly a special one for our family!  First of all, Gideon's official "Gotcha Day" was yesterday-- January 16th.  This is the one year anniversary of when Evan and I got to meet the newest member of our family in China for the very first time!  I absolutely cannot believe that it has been a year already since I first saw his precious face.

Tomorrow, the 19th, is the anniversary of us officially completing his adoption and him becoming Gideon Sage Lie Rowe!  Boy that was a great day!  So many complications had occurred, and we weren't quite sure if it would get done in time, but it did!  The Lord was so merciful and blessed us right in the nick of time.

Then on Friday, it will be Gideon's 15th birthday!  And his first birthday celebrated at home with his family!!  Another exciting day.  He has been repeatedly asked what he would like to do for his birthday, but the only surefire answer that I have gotten so far is to go eat Chinese food at our favorite restaurant.  :) 

This week is also momentous as we prepare to YET AGAIN send over our complete dossier to Eastern Europe.  It has been a bit of a struggle to get it all done again quickly, as usual in any adoption there are things that go wrong, and people are fallible, so there are things they do incorrectly which must be done again.  But finally, I think and I pray, I have the necessary paperwork to take with me to Raleigh tomorrow for apostille.  Then, with many kisses on the envelope, it will be mailed off to another sweet family who is traveling this weekend and offered to hand carry it to the country and to our facilitators.  Yeah!  Considering it costs almost $150 every time you mail anything over there, this will be a great savings for us, and we are most appreciative!

So, all in all quite a week for us with both adoptions past and future.  It certainly helps 2012 get off to an exciting and happy start!

Not too much else interesting going on with our family here.  Enjoying lots of cozy nights in front of the cracklin' fire, reading on our Kindles, continuing our homeschooling, and trying to start the year off right with healthy eating.  Tim and I have been eating according to the Paleo lifestyle, and so far so good.  A few pounds have come off and I hope to be able to keep it up till Summertime!  Wish me luck!

Hope everyone is having a great January.  Keep us in your prayers that things with this adoption keep moving steadily forward and that God watches out for our children while they wait for us to come.  I hate the fact that this has taken so long, but I can't worry about something I cannot change, so I will just do my best to keep us plugging along.  The reward at the end of all these paperwork complications and re-do's will be sweet!!