It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Shawn and I love to decorate for Christmas!! The first year we were dating we started the tradition of stringing popcorn for our Christmas tree. While I put the tree together, put on all 700 or 800 lights and decorate the rest of the house, Shawn sits on the couch stringing popcorn. After he is done and we place it just so on the tree, we get to dive into our ornaments. We have an eclectic ornament collection. Many are very old and came from our parents Christmas collection. But, we have started getting some of our own and we always talk about the memories that go with each one as we place it on the tree. Some of our favorites include "Our First House," the hot air balloon we got the year we went on a balloon ride, a lady bug to remind us of our lady bug infested house, and our Steelers and Rams ornaments in honor of our favorite teams. Christmas is a very busy time of year for us, with shopping, wrapping, Christmas cards, and parties. We are looking forward to getting through the next week and a half and then we are heading back to Missouri to spend Christmas with my family. It will be a great time to relax and enjoy each other's company while we have time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas...the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

A Waiting List for a Waiting List!

We received exciting news yesterday afternoon...we are on a waiting list for our baby! Granted it is a waiting list to get on the official Colombian waiting list, but it is a list none the less. We are one step closer to our little one! So this is how it works: #1. We have been placed on our agency waiting list for Colombian adoptions. We are expected to be on this list until mid-to-late 2008. #2. During this period we will complete our home study (in Jan/Feb) and then start preparing our dossier (paperwork going to Colombia) during the summer. We will send in that paperwork around the same time we come off the agency waiting list (mid-to-late 2008). #3. Once Colombia receives our paperwork, we go on the official waiting list for the adoption house that we are going through. That wait is estimated at about 12 months! So a very preliminary estimate is mid-to late 2009 when we will meet our child!! All this can change at a moments notice...but at least now we have some idea of how things are going to progress. We appreciate all your prayers and encouragement and we will keep you updated!

Visiting with friends and family

Shawn and I have been home from Missouri for a week now, and we are still talking about the nice time we had visiting with family and friends. It is so nice that we both have Missouri ties...we get to see so many people in such a short amount of time while we are there! The day after Thanksgiving, when Shawn's mom and sister were braving the malls, Shawn and I drove about 2 hours to my grandparents house to hang out with them for a while. That afternoon, my college roomate, Cindy, and her fiance, Josh, also came to my grandparents house. This was the first time that we had met Josh and we all had a great time getting to know one another, playing games, and eating (as if we didn't do enough of that the day before!) Shawn and I were also able to hook up with his good high school friend, Bryan, and his new wife Katie. We had dinner with them one night and then watched the Missouri/Kansas game on Saturday night. Katie and I spent the evening looking at their wedding pictures and talking girl talk. It is so nice to have a girlfriend to hang out with now when Shawn and Bryan are together! Shawn's mom was sad to see us head back to Virginia, but fortunately she is planning a trip out to see us in the spring. It is so nice to have friends and family all over the US (and even the world) that we love to see and hang out with. It is a true blessing to have lifelong friends that like you, warts and all!

Thankful

We are blogging from Missouri this Thanksgiving Day. We have had a wonderful meal of turkey and ALL the fixins' and are now all kinda lounging around trying to digest! We have spent the week with Shawn's older sister, Kelly, and his mom, Jan. We all have so much to be thankful for this holiday season and Shawn reminded us with 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 that we are called to be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances. This is a really good reminder to not let the little (or even big) things in life cause us to lose the joy and thanksgiving that we have in Christ. It has been a wonderful week with family. Kelly and I have also continued on with the 3rd annual Hendricks family mystery puzzle. In case you don't know, this is a puzzle where you read a little mystery novel and then put together the 2 puzzles (whose pieces are mixed together and you don't know what the pictures are) to solve the crime. It is always a lot of fun for all the Hendricks clan, but it was up to Kelly and me to keep the tradition going this year. We are looking forward to next year when the whole gang is together, even the family that lives in Kenya! We hope you have all had a Happy Thanksgiving!