Saturday, September 27, 2008
Blog moving to Facebook
Thank you to everyone who has been following our adventure here on Blogspot. We will continue to post new entries, but we are moving all entries to Facebook (www.facebook.com). If you do not currently have a profile you can sign up for free. Find me in the friends list and I'll be sure to confirm you.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Summer Fun
First, I want to thank you to my wonderful husband for throwing me a surprise 40th birthday party! It was a beautiful day on the waterfront with family and friends. Here is a picture of the whole gang at the party and a picture of me with my two Moms. 
July 4th weekend was spent at Aunt Bethie's house in Ocean City, MD. We had a full house with my mom and Ray's parents there also. We spent time on the beach, going to yardsales (love my new Air Force Barbie for $3!!!), walking the Boardwalk, watching the fireworks and just general silliness. Justin went golfing for the first time (thank you for the junior clubs Uncle Bob!) with Ray, Dad and Uncle Bob. It was wonderful to be together with family. We can't wait to share our family with Sunshine. We talk about her often. I pray that she is safe and that God will keep her in the palm of his hand (love...love...). My cup runneth over....
Pictures of Justin golfing with the men and Mom and the gang at OC beach.
We received notice that the regulations for adoption in Albania have changed. It doesn't look like (at the moment anyway) that it will affect us, but we'll see. They have added requirements for adoptions submitted after May 1st. Our adoption was submitted in December and approved and accepted by the Albanian Adoption Committee in February. If we need more than one update(since adoptions take so long your information needs to be updated every 18 months) then we may fall under these new guidelines. Pray we get her soon!
I can't forget to mention how wonderful Montana was. This year's Indian Youth Camp in Hungry Horse, Montana was June 9 - 13. The theme was Heroes. We had about 200 Native American children from many tribes/reservations and camp staff from all over the US. The weather was a bit crazy, it snowed on June 10th! It was in the 70s by the end of the week - bizarre. There was a lot of restlessness with the campers at the beginning of the week and some even needed to be sent home, but by the end of the week God showed them his strength!! The chapel for the last night was on fire. God's presence was thick in the air with campers crying out for Him!! Praise God!! I love that my children get to witness such a place, holy ground.... 
It was great to see our "Camp" friends. Thank you for sharing my 40th birthday with me. We love you all!!
Blessings to all,
Deb
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Mother's Day 2008
Well, it's been since February that everyone has heard from us. Here is the update as to where things stand. . . we're waiting. We have no new updates.
But, with Mother's Day upon us, Deb is constantly thinking of her. We continue to pray for her and wonder where she is and who is taking care of her. We'll be adding some new pictures of the family pretty soon. Deb wants to get a new shot of all the Ruiz grandchildren online. I'm sure we will get one of those this weekend at my mother's.
We are also very busy with preparations for Indian Youth Camp (www.indianyouthcamp.com) this year. All four of us are going out this year. Staff and camper numbers look pretty low this year. We're praying that God will do something amazing with the ones that he chooses to attend.
Please pray with us for both the continued strength, patience and financial provision for the adoption and God's Grace with camp this year. I really want to see him work though the staff again this year.
Blessings,
Ray
But, with Mother's Day upon us, Deb is constantly thinking of her. We continue to pray for her and wonder where she is and who is taking care of her. We'll be adding some new pictures of the family pretty soon. Deb wants to get a new shot of all the Ruiz grandchildren online. I'm sure we will get one of those this weekend at my mother's.
We are also very busy with preparations for Indian Youth Camp (www.indianyouthcamp.com) this year. All four of us are going out this year. Staff and camper numbers look pretty low this year. We're praying that God will do something amazing with the ones that he chooses to attend.
Please pray with us for both the continued strength, patience and financial provision for the adoption and God's Grace with camp this year. I really want to see him work though the staff again this year.
Blessings,
Ray
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
The Holidays are behind us and the year is in full swing. Everyday we think about . . . and pray about her. We don't know how long it will take before we get the call from the agency inviting us to make arrangements to travel.
We are continuing to pray that some of the latest developments in the region do not cause too much instability and lead to longer wait times for our adoption. With the recent separation of neighboring Serbia and Kosovo and the Albanian majority in Kosovo, the region is being watched carefully. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1957254220080219 Please continue to pray that this does not create any problems for our adoption.
I have also begun to make some progress on our travel budgets. I have contacted United Airlines which has a partnership with Austrian Air (http://www.aua.com/us/eng). The main flight to Albania is through Vienna. Deb and I will most likely need to purchase more flexible flight options, but the boys and their chaperone can fly through Vienna on a United code share flight for 50,000 - 80,000 miles (points). Since the airline is pretty rigid with timing and the boys don't need to have much flexibility in their schedule, we can use this great tool. I will have enough for one flight in my account and I have been promised another by a co-worker. I would still like to either earn enough miles or have more donated for the final ticket.
I have also begun to put some effort into collecting change and beginning to put that into the Sunshine Fund. I know that it is not much on a daily basis, but over a two year period it could end up being something of substance. Also, a big thank you to one of Deb's co-workers at T. Rowe who walked up and gave her a check last week (thank you NM!). This came as quite a surprise to Deb. She has not been vocal about the financial need behind this process. God is so good to provide for all needs.
There is still a great deal of excitement around this process. Even though we are continuing to wait, God is doing some wonderful things. He is allowing our boys to mature a bit more before Sunshine comes home. He is putting a greater burden for Small Group ministries and starting a group for Adoptive Families on my heart (I need to get one started at Mountain). And, He is encouraging us to share our Adoption story with others. So many of you have been great about asking about the progress. I wish I had more to share, but we are being patient.
Family Note: Big Congratulations to Deb’s brother David with the new job as Offensive Line Coach at West Virginia University. Go Mountaineers!!
We are continuing to pray that some of the latest developments in the region do not cause too much instability and lead to longer wait times for our adoption. With the recent separation of neighboring Serbia and Kosovo and the Albanian majority in Kosovo, the region is being watched carefully. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1957254220080219 Please continue to pray that this does not create any problems for our adoption.
I have also begun to make some progress on our travel budgets. I have contacted United Airlines which has a partnership with Austrian Air (http://www.aua.com/us/eng). The main flight to Albania is through Vienna. Deb and I will most likely need to purchase more flexible flight options, but the boys and their chaperone can fly through Vienna on a United code share flight for 50,000 - 80,000 miles (points). Since the airline is pretty rigid with timing and the boys don't need to have much flexibility in their schedule, we can use this great tool. I will have enough for one flight in my account and I have been promised another by a co-worker. I would still like to either earn enough miles or have more donated for the final ticket.
I have also begun to put some effort into collecting change and beginning to put that into the Sunshine Fund. I know that it is not much on a daily basis, but over a two year period it could end up being something of substance. Also, a big thank you to one of Deb's co-workers at T. Rowe who walked up and gave her a check last week (thank you NM!). This came as quite a surprise to Deb. She has not been vocal about the financial need behind this process. God is so good to provide for all needs.
There is still a great deal of excitement around this process. Even though we are continuing to wait, God is doing some wonderful things. He is allowing our boys to mature a bit more before Sunshine comes home. He is putting a greater burden for Small Group ministries and starting a group for Adoptive Families on my heart (I need to get one started at Mountain). And, He is encouraging us to share our Adoption story with others. So many of you have been great about asking about the progress. I wish I had more to share, but we are being patient.
Family Note: Big Congratulations to Deb’s brother David with the new job as Offensive Line Coach at West Virginia University. Go Mountaineers!!
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