60 days

You would think that after 60 days off of work, I would be ready to "get back at it" and have a routine again, but you could not be more wrong. 
I was so fortunate to be able to take the summer off and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of schedule-less days, being with friends and family, reading, soaking up the sun, camping, sleeping in, etc.  It was such a great summer.  To give you a quick recap...

We were blessed again to be part of RUN143 and what an incredible time!  Ian and I both completed the entire distance, although I can't even come close to his athletic ability.  He ran the entire distance, where I ran/walked/hobbled/biked - whatever I had to do to finish.  Once again we met amazing people, supported 2 crazy awesome families and raised lots of money for orphan care and adoption.  If you want more information about this event, visit www.run143.com

 The sign that followed us the entire journey

 Group photo after day 2

 Our awesome families!

At the end of July, I was able to go for a weekend away with my mom and sisters to Edmonton.  It's an annual event for us and I love it!

Look at those beauties! 

Okay, seriously...where did August go?  It flew by, but was a great month!  Ian took time off and we went to Kananaskis/Banff for 10 days.  We haven't had a vacation that long in a few years and it was SO needed.  The first part of our trip was spent camping in Kananaskis.  We spent most of our time hiking or sitting around the fire.  Ahhh...I want to go back!

 View walking to our campsite

 Hiking

 more hiking...

This was the beautiful lake we hiked around - 16km later and I was feeling it!  

The second part of our trip was spent camping in Banff.   We spent time hiking, strolling the streets of Banff, eating delicious goodies and facing one of my fears...white water rafting!!  After many comments of "You're going to love it!"  and "It will be so much fun" from my dear husband, I finally gave in...and he was right...I loved it!!  We went with a great company that goes down the Kicking Horse River and had such a great time.  I would even go again :)

 Floating down the river

 I got such a mouthful of water through the first rapid, I made sure that didn't happen again!

 

 After our trip down the river - we wore so many layers because the water was only about 4' C!

 

 Hiking at Johnston Canyon - Don't you just love this guy's water bottle belt clip?!  So handy! Too bad I forgot mine :)

Johnston Canyon (above & below)

 

 Can you find what's wrong with this picture?

 Lake Louise Tea House hike 

(which Ian decided to run after we had finished our hike!  Seriously!!  I am in awe.)

I told you we had delicious goodies!

Last night in Banff

Before we headed home, we stayed a couple of nights in Calgary to shop and relax some more.  It was such a great trip and as always, we were sad to see it end.

So, that brings me to the reason I started this blog - our adoption.  I thought the summer would be a good time to reflect on our situation, pray through things and really have peace about what is going on, but I almost felt as if I was trying to push it out of my mind. 

Don't get me wrong! We have been busy writing letters, advocating, making phone calls and fighting as much as we can to bring all these kids home.  I thought about and prayed for our baby every day.  What I didn't do is dwell on it and really face it.  I didn't want to let myself go there, but maybe that's okay?  Maybe the summer wasn't supposed to look a certain way and maybe I just needed to enjoy each day.

Now, work starts tomorrow.  I don't feel ready to be busy again.  I've needed this time to just "be" and I feel like I need more time. This is such a time of stretching for me.  My heart is in pieces, I feel weak and I'm trying to live with the joy of the Lord (as cliche as that sounds).  I am SO thankful for my incredible husband.  Yesterday we celebrated 7 years and I realized once again how blessed I really am; for a husband who loves me and our baby, is a leader for our family, who I feel supported and encouraged by and who loves to have fun.  I would not want to be walking this road without him.  

Whether I like it or not, life moves forward.  I know in my heart that I am not facing the days ahead alone, but today I don't feel ready to face anything.  I am sure of this though: my God loves me and our little one in South Africa and I will choose to trust Him - even if that means minute by minute.  He will be faithful.

Thanks for sticking with us. 

Really?!...A Quick Update

I'm sure there are many of you (at least the ones we aren't able to visit with regularly!) who are wondering where things are at.  It would be great if I could share exciting news, but...here we are again...
We got an update this week saying that once again CIC (immigration) is delaying their review for another 3 months.  REALLY?

Yep, really.

So, we are taking action.  We have written letters and will be sending many letters to as many people in power as possible.  Thankfully there are a number of other families who are also sending letters and hopefully we can get the attention of someone.  We need to advocate for our little ones who are waiting.

There's a lot I feel like I could say about this - but I won't at this time.  We are frustrated and pained beyond belief sometimes...but we also have hope in the One who started us down this journey.  We're not giving up yet.

I believe that there is strength in numbers and many of you have asked how can help - so, if you're interested in advocating for/with us, email us (ianandheidi7@hotmail.com) or leave a comment with your email.  We'll send you the letter and info. of who to contact/send the letter to.  There's not anything you really need to do except send the letter.  Everything is already written.

Thank you for all your prayers, encouragement and support.  We are continually humbled.

I recently finished a book called One Thousand Gifts.  It's got some good stuff.  Hard stuff, but good.  I'm not even really sure how to describe the book...it's so full of lessons, challenges and deep thoughts - about giving thanks, fully living no matter where you are, not negating the feelings of sorrow and pain, but seeing God in it all.  Anyway, I'm rambling.  I'll leave you with some thoughts from the book...

"Every time fear freezes and worry writhes, every time I surrender to stress, aren't I advertising the unreliability of God?  That I really don't believe?  But if I'm grateful to the Bridge Builder for the crossing of a million strong bridges, thankful for a million faithful moments, my life speaks my beliefs and I trust Him again."

Happy Mothers Day!

To my beautiful wife on this Mothers Day.
Heidi, I love you!  I am blessed to wake beside you today and to share in this incredible life and journey with you.  When I think of the past few years and our journey to bring our child home, there is one word that surpasses all the pain, the joy, the hope and longing... your love!  So today I give the words from our good Lord found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous; is not proud; is not conceited; does not act foolishly; is not selfish; is not easily provoked to anger; keeps no record of wrongs; takes no pleasure in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Heidi, I know the wait is often painful and that you long to hold our child in your arms, but the way I see you hold them in your heart each day is an inspiration to my life.  When I think of the love you have for our child... a child we haven't yet met... and to think of the incredible love they will have when they are physically here... it blows me away!  I give this verse to you today to encourage you and bless you.  

Heidi, today you are my hero!  I love you and cherish you.  Thank you for loving and caring for our babe the way you do.  I am definitely a better person because of who you are and how you love.    I know as each year has passed I say the same thing, but I will say it again... your Mothers Day is coming soon.  Hang in there babe! 

Love you!  

-Ian

Still Here...Still Waiting

Just thought I'd let you all know that we're still alive!  Obviously I have not blogged in a VERY long time, but that's just the way things go sometimes.

In some ways I just want to cry when I look at this blank space - waiting for me to fill it with words.  It's a reminder that I don't have much to say in the way of our adoption.  We do know that there has been some signing of government papers, but we are still waiting for one more hurdle before the light is fully green.  We continue to pray that things move ahead soon.

The past few months have probably been some of the toughest through all this waiting - can't really say why - they just have.  Not every day is terrible, but the ache doesn't really go away.  We're always thinking of our little one and what the next day, month or year might bring.

So, besides that...life keeps ticking along.  I am definitely loving the warmer weather and can't wait for summer nights on the deck!

We are also planning for RUN 143 again and are excited to be supporting 2 more families who are on the journey of adoption!  What a great event to be a part of!  Unfortunately, I will not be running much due to my knees and lack of dedication to my physio exercises.  Ian, on the other hand, is training like crazy and will be running the entire 143km again!

That's it for now.

Thanks for the support and prayers.

We are blessed!

29 years...

Happy Birthday to my funny, smart, talented, kind, handsome, amazing husband! I love you and pray your 29th year is the best year yet!!!

Merry Christmas! (and a quick catch-up)

So, since it's been a while, I figured it might be nice to recap the past couple of months for you ...

October

• Got my wisdom teeth pulled - now that was an experience! I've still got painful, numb teeth from that wonderful appointment! On the up-side, I got to enjoy a few days at home relaxing and sipping soup.
• Started a Return to Run program (my knees were kinda shot after RUN 143 and I've been going to physio since August)
• hmmm...what else...hockey started in full swing for Ian which takes up most of our weekends. I usually go watch as it's a time to visit with the other hockey wives.
• Best of all, as I mentioned in my last post, my awesome nephew was born!

Isn't he adorable?

November

• Went to an adoption conference put on by Patricia Irwin Johnston. We both thought it was worth it and now have a few more books to read.
• Had the opportunity to share at Journeys church about our adoption as well as receive the donation from the RUN 143 fundraiser. What a blessing to be a part of this event...I'm really looking forward to next year!
• Return to Run program started to go downhill...my knees weren't liking all that running again. Ian's running, on the other hand, is going great! He's already gearing up for next year!
• Went to cut down our Christmas tree again...here's a few pics:

(notice no crazy facial hair this year!)

(We figured it was easier to just shove the tree in the back of our vehicle)

December (so far...)

• Went for x-rays for my knees - things just weren't going well! I have now stopped my running program since I've been in more pain lately and am trying to stay motivated with my physio (if anyone has tips on how to make those exercises less painfully boring, please let me know!)
• Started looking into what we need to do for our 2 year paperwork update for the adoption :(
• As it usually goes in December, we've been busy getting ready for the Christmas season - buying gifts, baking cookies, Christmas concerts, family gatherings...all that good stuff
• We've also been trying to find times of quiet and peace during this season of advent and of waiting (sometimes easier said than done)

And to give an update on baby Klassen...well...there's ups and downs in this crazy world of adoption. A couple of weeks after we got the good news that things looked like they would be moving ahead, we got the unfortunate news that Canadian immigration was still reviewing things and we would get an update within 3 months - again. So, there's been silence since that update in October. No referrals, no new news, no signs as to when things will actually get rolling along again.

What can I say? This past month has been tough on both Ian and I. There are many days when I feel like I'm barely holding it together. We continue to wait with hope - some days with joy & peace, some with heartache & longing. We love you little one!!!

I pray that you will have a wonderful Christmas celebrating His birth...that's what it's all about!

SO Thankful!

I am overflowing with thankfulness, joy and hope today. As you know we've been waiting for an update regarding all the delay's with our adoption. Well...I am so happy to say that we got our update today and referrals can now continue!!!!!!!!

I don't really know what to do with myself. Ian called me at work today to tell me the news and I just couldn't control my emotions. It was like all that aching just came pouring out and I'm sure if I was at home I would have been a blubbering mess. I pulled myself together though and went through the day in a daze of gratitude and peace.

Ian and I went out for supper to celebrate and we were talking about God's incredible faithfulness through this process. We've seen His strength & goodness on the days that are painful and now on the days of celebration. In every season...He is still God.

We are now back in a place of waiting for the "call" and although that could still be a few months away, it is just so exciting to know there will be movement in the program again. I'm already thinking of all the things I need to do in anticipation for that big day. Better get going...

Woohoo!!!

I can't believe it. I am over the moon.

p.s. My sister had a baby boy yesterday so I became a first-time auntie! We love you, Finn! You are a little miracle! :)