Referrals & Royals...

What can I say? Since our last post (May 8th) the referrals have been ROLLING in at CHI! 9-COUNT 'EM, 9 REFERRALS!!! We are now #20 on the overall list and in honor of being #20, I'm dedicating our new adoption # picture to one of the greatest K.C. Royals of all time: #20, Frank White! I'm certain that our "actual" number is actually much, much lower but our agency won't give us that info. It's really amazing, we spent what seemed like months in the 30's and now, within a matter of days, we have blown through the 20's like they were nothing. Things are starting to get really exciting on the adoption home-front. Maybe it's time to start looking for new closet doors for the nursery, finish painting the house and stain the deck, since I'm sure the few months between our referral and travel will be filled with shots, packing lists, travel bookings, dotting our i's and crossing our t's.

In other Hansel-news: last week my brother and I treated our dad to a Kansas City Royals game for his birthday. It has been years and years since our annual outings to the K so I thought this would be a great b-day gift for dad. We had a blast! Not only did we get some quality family time in but the Royals won, 8-1. It was great just hanging out with Dad and Ryan like the good ole days.

Until next time, have a great & safe holiday weekend and congrats to the lucky 9 who received referrals this past week!--Kris

Marriage!

Today Kris and I celebrate 7 years of marriage! I love spring and this time of year always reminds me of our wedding, because everything was in bloom, especially the spirea bushes. I had two very good friends do all the flowers, and since the spirea bushes were in full bloom they used some in the candelabras in the church with the other flowers, they were so beautiful.

This reminds me of our wedding each spring, the spirea bush!

my parents gave us this bush for our anniversary the first year we were in our home.

I will leave you with a few wedding pics! Enjoy!--Staci

this is my favorite and I loved my bouquet!

New number...

For all you number watchers out there, I was informed yesterday by Toni, that we are number 28 on the overall wait list. I am hoping there are still several families in front of us waiting on boys.

These last several months have been so discouraging with referrals so hopefully these next several months will be much better! So anyone who reads our blog please pray for Kris and I, it is so hard to be so close but feel so far away.--Staci

CHI waiting list and JBJ play list...

Just found out that we've moved up 1 more spot on the wait list. A couple that was #11 overall and #7 in line for an infant girl, just requested a child on CHI's waiting childs list. This should move us fairly close to the 20's overall. We have absolutely no idea what our "actual" number is for an infant girl 0-12 months, however. At this point it's all one big waiting and guessing game. Here's to more referrals this week. Let's keep them rolling in!

Blog Design Update: Just added a music player to our blog. Enjoy our kickin' J.B.J. play list found at the bottom our page!--Kris

8 months and referrals in the air...

Today marks 8 months on the list and already this week there have been 3 referrals!!! We received an update from our agency informing us of 2 referrals on Monday. Yesterday we received notice from a family that they had received a referral yesterday morning. We never received an official update from CHI so I'm hoping they had so many more referrals that they didn't have the time to post an update. Fingers crossed for many more.--Staci

best weekend EVER...

This past weekend was a blast!!! My brother got married in K.C. and the wedding was nothing short of fabulous. Friday afternoon we had the rehearsal and then a very nice dinner at Cafe Italia in North K.C. The meal was very, very good and so were the "refreshments" :) It was great meeting some of Krissy's family and friends throughout the evening. Krissy's friends put together a very nice slide show of both her and Ryan through the years. Needless to say, there were lots of laughs and tears and a good time was had by all.
Saturday all the guys got ready at Ryan's and waited for the limo to take us to the church. The limo was awesome! It was a huge SUV type limo decked out with lights, speakers, t.v.'s....the works! The wedding itself was a very nice Catholic ceremony. Once the I-Do's were exchanged, the party really started. Because the wedding was over around 3 there was a lot of downtime until cocktail hour began so the wedding party took some photos in downtown K.C. The reception was held at the President Hotel in downtown K.C. and it was spectacular! I've got to admit, it was hands down, the best wedding/reception I've ever been to. Lot's more pictures can be viewed on my FB account if want to check them out. After all the great parties this weekend we're going through a bit of post-wedding depression now that we're back to the grind :)

Speaking of depression, there is absolutely nothing new to report on the adoption homefront. For some unexplainable reason, referrals through our agency have pretty much hit a brick wall. It's been a pretty frustrating past couple of months.
We did get some letters for Marley's room this week and got them hung. Next we're going to get the big Heart-in-Africa decal from the Sager's Etsy Store. It's going in the corner of our nursery. We also need to get some new bi-fold closet doors and a new rocker/glider. Just a couple of more things to do to help pass the time. We're approaching 8 months on the wait list and the whole wait-game is getting harder and harder to play. Please pray for Staci and I that things start to pick up and that we can get a referral and travel date sometime THIS year. In the immortal words of the great Jon Bon Jovi, "we gotta keep the faith". Until next time, enjoy the pics!--Kris

The happy couple making their first appearance:

First dance:

Staci & I waiting on the limo:
lil' bro Ryan and our cousin Abby:
Our new nursery letters:
This is where we're putting our glider & the big Africa decal from the Sagers:
The little bracelet Staci's mom made for Marley:

MORE REFERRALS!!!

Just notified that there were 3 referrals today! A 4 month old baby girl and 2 boys; 19 mo. and 2 years. Congrats to the lucky families! Can't wait to see who they were.

Why international adoption???

This is a question we have been asked on more than one occasion often to the tune of, "Why not adopt from the United States? There are plenty of children in our own country that need homes." For months we have struggled trying to come up with just the right words to express WHY we are adopting internationally and now, thanks to one of our blog buddies, Brooke, we have found those words. She really hit the nail on the head. The following is an excerpt from her blog. Thanks Brooke!--Kris

-----The fact is, that international adoption is NOT the answer to the world's orphan population. Tackling the problem within each individual nation seems to be the best way to help children living in poverty. I completely believe that the most optimal situation is for children to stay with their biological parents, and within their own country. BUT, when a parent is unable to provide the basic necessities of life, or they are deceased, and at that point no one steps up and says I will care for this child here in their home country.....at that point adoption should be the next best option for the child.

Furthermore, I am more than irritated by the thought that we as Americans should only adopt Americans. "There are so many kids in the U.S. that need homes, why don't you adopt them?"

For one, my love for children doesn't stop at the borders of this country. We believe that children deserve love wherever in the world they are born, what ever skin color they may have. Kids need and deserve love.

Though the foster care system here in the U.S. is not ideal for children, it can and often does work. Though the situations that force these kids into Foster Care are often horrendous, the system is set up to provided the basic necessities to the children. They should be provided food, water, shelter, clothing, and education. I'm not naive enough to say that children in the Foster Care system are always looked after properly. I realize that their are many instances that the system fails these kids.

In countries like Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, and on and on, many orphans will not have access to any of the necessities listed above. Children will be forced into unthinkable circumstances, with no one looking after them. If they survive, the chances that they are able to live a healthy life are not likely. They will probably not be afforded the opportunity to attend school or have access to medical care.-----