Happy Thanksgiving

Things are moving slowly with our Adoption process, I've deiced to not look at waiting child profiles until after our Dossier is approved. It would be way to hard to become attached to a profile and then find out your Dossier is not approved.

We've got some homework to complete from Holt and are currently waiting for our book to come in from the library. I'm so excited to have homework for this, there is so much that we need to know and so much we don't even know we need to know. I just cannot wait to get this all completed and bring our child(ren) home!

Today was Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for! Our Jobs, our house, our friends & family!! I can't begin to imagine where I would be with out Brian and our daughters. I know God has blessed our family so much and even when things get so stressful I need to remember to let it go and take His hand and walk in Faith. I struggle with this very much, but I know He knows my heart and that is truly amazing to me.

Today we all said what we were thankful for before we ate, Zoe, thankful for her class pet Ozzy, Amelya, she was thankful for herself...we'll work on that next year she's only 3!! Olivia was thankful for her grandparents and mom & dad. Brian was thankful for his family, and I as well was thankful for my family. I know we have many ups & downs but through it all we find support and comfort through anything, God has blessed our family!!

Kassy

Our First Social Worker Conference Call

We had a great conference call with a social worker from Holt Wednesday night! The worker emailed Kassy early in the day and Kassy, being as excited as she is, called her right away asking if today (Wednesday) would work for her and we were lucky enough that it did.

She called us back around 7:30 and it was great! We got to bounced all kinds of questions and concerns we had off her and she was awesome answering most of them even before we could get them out! We have pretty much decided that a sibling group is what we are looking at. Kassy brought up a great point during the call of how much it will honor the children and make them fit in better if they have someone with them that looks like them and talks like them especially initially. It is also a great way to honor their heritage and country they leave behind if we take siblings. They raised some concerns about getting a child that was close in age to one of the girls, and that is something we didn’t really consider. It was a great conversation and Holt seems like they will be a great fit for us!

I’m excited! I don’t know how else to put it! Lately I have had a big urge to have a boy. I love my girls but the fact is every dad wants a son. It doesn’t matter to me what he looks like, what really matter is that he is mine! After some clear signs this week, I do believe that if I’m going to have a son, this is how God has planned it for me! So, how can I not be excited for the plan God has put forward? This is the way God has asked us to continue spreading our love and when God is on our side, I know we cannot fail!!!

Brian

We've chosen Holt!!

It has been something that was not a rush decision but well thought out and we have decided to start our adoption journey with Holt International. I will be making calls to ask a few questions but as of now we will be only looking at waiting children in sibling groups!! Please continent to pray for us and our family and our child or children in Africa!!

Kassy

Waiting Child

The decision to adopt was easy, the idea of adoption seems so stressful. I have been looking into waiting children programs such as the one at http://www.holtintl.org/waitingchild/ and I've been praying and thinking a lot about boys!! I know when my husband and I first started talking about adoption the thought of a girl was easy because we have girls and the transition we thought would be easier on all of us. However, Brian made the comment the other day of "this might be our chance for a boy!" At first I thought he was crazy but the more I think about it and the more I talk with people the idea of a son warms my heart! A son, my son, Our son, a brother, a grandson, Our Child. The more I think about it the more it feels so right!

We are a house dominated by girls but they are not all girly! I know that Zoe, Olivia and Amelya would all be great big sisters! Not one of them can stay on the ground if there is something to climb on. Making forts is a specialty and a requirement in this household. Super heros' we have plenty. Brian grew up with a brother and I think the girls would benefit from a brother!

I have been the one with a little more time to look at the Waiting Child listings and I've been drawn to a sibling group that is listed. Two little boys 4/28/05 & 8/16/06 those are their ages. That would put them just a year older than Amelya and a few months older. Not to bad she'd still be our baby but she'd also have older brothers to keep her in line!! The only part about seeing their profile is knowing that even if we apply we may be rejected not because we are not a good family or could give them the love and are they need but because we don't have our home study completed yet. That is not a reason not to fill out the application and pray that we are approved but a family that is interested and has that home study done has a better chance then we do. It's frustrating, it's such a long and expensive process and I'd hate to be approved only to know that money is the only thing stopping us from being with our child or children.

We are hoping to raise 30,000 dollars although we know it maybe more than that but hope it isn't. Our hope is to raise what we need for our adoption and then anything above and beyond what we raise will be donated to help another family like ours bring their child home. I know money should not be an issue and I know God will provide but it's truly hard to see past the now. Please continue to pray for our process, I will continue to update as much as I can. I'm sure you'll find a lot of these posts will be emotional rambles, it's going to be a way for me to relax and let some of the stress of the process go and a way to think tihngs over.

Kassy

Decisions, decisions....

So, we filled out the pre-application with Bethany Christian Services, but we are really feeling like it is not going to be the organization for us. We've been looking into Holt International for quite some time now and fell like even after we filled out the pre-application we are being called to Holt. It's not back to square one, we know we want to adopt we have not sent a check to Bethany yet so we have time to make the correct decisions!

Please pray for us in our decisions, we know were not always going to make the best on our own but we hope with guidance from the organization we choose, family & friends and our Faith that we will make the best decision possible!!

Now, we are off to watch Zoe and Olivia play Soccer, the first part of the season is almost over! Wow, how time flies!

~Kassy~

Our Journey Begins

Adoption. It is a long journey. Kassy and I have decided to blog about our time and experiences through out this journey and I (Brian) thought I would begin this blog by writing about what adoption means to me.

So… Kassy filled out the preliminary application to begin the process today, and even though I’m sick, I can’t help but to think of the life that is somewhere waiting. What is this little person doing right now? Or is this person even alive yet? The fact is God knows all these answers and will soon answer then for us.

Adoption to me is such a noble thing to do. You are changing a life. You are opening your home to someone who will change your life. The same can be said for having a child, but I don’t know there is something great about adopting a child. You’re offering a chance to a child who otherwise may not have had one. You’re shaping a child who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to experience a true family life. Most of all you are welcoming a child into your family and completing a circle that God planned for you to complete.

Jesus said, “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.” (Matthew 18:5) God calls us to do great things with our time here on Earth. While hopefully we can do many things with our time here, one of the greatest things we can do is to shape life. Life that will carry on the legacy you are creating while you are here and therefore carries God’s will after you are gone.

God has great plans for the Dunn family, I’m so excited! Excited to see, my little girls grow into women. Excited to continue to build a solid foundation with my wonderful wife Kassy. Finally, excited to welcome the new member to the Dunn clan, whom ever that maybe!