No word . . . yet

Many of you have been asking me . . . "So . . .any news? What's the latest?"

I'm sad to say . . . there isn't any news and we don't know when there will be. We have been in a holding pattern for almost 3 months now . . . doing N-O-T-H-I-N-G. . . .but waiting. The adoption process is full of alot of waiting (as is much of life in general) - so we expected to have to wait. Truthfully - we are at peace. We pray every day for her Certificate of Abandonment (that we now call her Certificate of Freedom . . . doesn't that sound better?!) will be signed and released to the orphanage, but we know it's all in God's hands and His timing. The part that is frustrating is not getting ANY info from the orphanage director. I would love a monthly email (at the least) saying - "we don't have her COA yet - but the lawyer has been down to check on it twice" or something like that. . . . . .anything to show me that something is being pursued and that they haven't forgotten about us and our adoption. :) Is that asking too much? . . . . I guess so.
The pics and video that my friends brought back with them have kept me going for the last month! I am soooo appreciative of that! Anyways - here are my prayer requests:

1. Wendy/Katie's COA (COF) to be signed and in the orphanage's hands THIS WEEK!!!
2. Better communication between the orphanage and us (or even our to our agency).
3. Finances - we still need around $7-9,000 (it depends on cost of travel - whenever we finally get to go get her!). PTL for what He's provided so far!!
4. Continued peace in our hearts while we wait for our daughter. The enemy can try to sneak into our thoughts and cause doubt - but we KNOW that Wendy Elizabeth is OUR DAUGHTER! :) So . . . . we wait. . . . . .

Thank you all for your prayers and support! Let us know how we can pray for you! God can do miracles through prayer!! He has already.

Bless you all today and this coming week! I am praying for miracles to happen!

Lori :)

Our girl in motion!

Here are a few HAPPY pictures! Finally we can see that beautiful smile!

Also - here is some the footage of our friend Jack Munley and Katie Wendy that our friend Greg took on December 26th, 2006 in Guatemala at Casa Bernabe. I am so glad they could go visit our little girl!
We had to split it into 2 parts as You Tube only allows a 10 minute segment (unless you are a director). I will eventually edit these down along with Almarie's footage. But enjoy this "raw" footage for now. :) There are a few "smiles" in there and my heart just melts when she waves to "mommy" and gives kisses to the picture! :)

Lori :)

This one is 10 minutes, 29 seconds

And here's the second part! Enjoy! :)

This one is only 6:42

New Pictures

Hi folks! I know that you have been DYING to see the newest pics of Katie! :) Well . . . here they are! Enjoy them!

Lori :)

The man in the pictures is our good friend Jack. He and his wife (and in-laws) were in Guatemala for C-mas and went to visit Katie for us and give her our presents on December 26th, 2006. She LOVED the bunny and the card with our picture on it and would NOT put them down the whole time! That just tickles my heart! :)

The pictures of her in green are from Jan 2007. What a sweetie!

I'll post more later. I just got some more in church today. :) Yeah! Also, I will try to post some video if I can even figure out how to do the video blogging. :)

She has such a gentle nature. My friends say that she got attached to Jack and was a bit sad when they had to go. I can't wait to meet her in person myself! Possibly in April!

Why . . . Why. . . Why?

Ok - this doesn't have anything to do with our adoption - but I just had to share it! My youngest son, Jacob, just cracks me up and touches my heart so many times! Here's what I wrote about today:

Jacob, 4 years old, loves to ask “Why?” It doesn’t matter whether I start the conversation or he does – it will inevitably contain this common question. Today was no different.

While I was cutting Jacob’s hair outside on a warm winter day, we chatted about many things . . . cartoons, his toys, school, etc. But the best part of the conversation started off with a comment I made about his “crazy” hair.
“Why is it crazy?” Jake asked.
“Because it doesn’t know which way it wants to go. Some of it goes this way, and some goes that way, so I never know which way to comb it. It just has these crazy curls and waves.”
“Why?” he asked. (Here we go again)
“I don’t know. That’s just the way God made you.” I replied.
“Why did he make my hair like that?” he asked so sweetly.
“That’s a good question to ask God.” I thought that would appease him.
“But why did He make my hair like that?” He looked at me puzzled. “Was He trying to be FUNNY?”

I tried so hard not to laugh at his sweet innocence and insatiable curiosity. I could clearly see that he was trying to figure out the reasoning behind it all . . . figuring out the “why”. I did go on to explain that he was daddy’s son, and since daddy had wavy, curly hair, that’s why he had the same hair. God just wanted to make him like daddy. That answer seemed to please and satisfy him. . . . Finally.

I’ve long thought he will grow up to be an engineer or something along those lines – ever since he figured out how to take apart the metal arm on my front screen door when he was barely 2 years old (then proceeded to hand it to me saying “Meghan did it”. No she didn’t Jacob. “Daddy?” Nope). I didn’t even know how to take it off!

I also love it when I’m in the midst of concentrating or squinting, and Jacob will almost always ask me, “Are you mad, Mommy?” or “Why are you mad, Mommy?” It’s precious to see him watching those around him and trying to figure out what they are thinking and feeling. He definitely makes me more conscious of the expressions I am carrying around on my face everyday.

I pray that God develops that curiosity for His glory and His plans for Jacob’s life . . . for good and not evil . . . to prosper and not to harm. At times I can get frustrated with the endless why’s, but if I stop to really listen and seriously answer him – I just fall in love, over and over again, with this curious blessing in my life! . . . . . . . .Why? . . . . . . . . I’ll let you figure that one out!

-Lori :)

Thank you!!

I forgot to say . . . .

Thank you!! to all who purchased an Entertainment book from us! We have closed out our account and it looks like we profited over $400. That may not seem like alot to some of you - but every little bit helps! That's $400 we didn't have before! So - thank you so much!

And for those that have generously donated toward our adoption . . .

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!! I am humbled each and every time you all have given SOOO generously! We can never thank you enough!! You are helping to change the life of, not just a child, but of future generations that come from her and are touched by her!! God bless you!
Tax-deductible donations can still be accepted at Life Int'l until Jan 31st (for those procrastinators like myself). Just make sure to "preference them for Kathryn West's Adoption. They will now count towards your 2007 taxes though. After Jan 31st - any money sent to Life Int'l will help to benefit other families through that organization (in the form of grants and loans).

OK - that's it! Just wanted you to know how grateful we are to all of you! :) May God bless you abundantly in 2007 - physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, relationally and financially!!

Lori & Jeremy West :)

Please God . . .

Tonight, as in most nights, our youngest 2 kiddos -Meghan and Jacob - prayed that we could bring Katie (Wendy) home soon. Usually Meghan prays for us to "get more money so that we can get on the plane and go get her". I talked with her the other day about how it's not just a matter of money (we do still need that), but that we are waiting on the courts to release her paperwork, and then to process all of our paperwork. So tonight her prayer was "Please God, help the courts to say it's ok for us to adopt Wendy". I agree!!! AMEN!!!! Tomorrow will be 2 months from our wonderful phone call telling us about her, and yet we still haven't even been able to formally accept the referral as we are still waiting on that Certificate of Abandonment. This is not our agency's fault - I attribute it to me - asking God to show me who she is before our garage sale. :) So - I've been doing my best to patiently wait on God's timing with this - all the while still praying my heart out to see her papers released! In the meantime, I do feel like we got to connect with her in a way . . .

On December 26th, our friends - the Munleys and the Flicks - went to Casa Bernabe to visit Katie (Wendy) and bring her the gifts I sent to her. I am currently anxiously awaiting the pics and video that they took of their encounter!!! This is what they had to say in their email (hope you don't mind me sharing this guys):

Almarie, Hannah, the Flick Family, and I had the opportunity to go see Wendy yesterday. She looked great and very healthy. I don't think the pictures of her that you showed did justice to how adorable this child is. She has the cutest curls in her hair. She is so beautiful. Greg (Flick) took video of meeting her and taped me giving her the present that you sent. She loved the pink bunny and the card with the picture on it. In fact, she never put those two items down the entire time that we were there. I read the card to her and she smiled. She has a great personality.

The place itself was very clean. I was very impressed with the amount of space and land this place had. The kids there all were very clean and well taken care of. The house were Wendy was at had about 25 steps that we had to walked down to get to. Each step had a scripture verse engraved in the cement. I was very impressed with the whole place.

We took lots of pictures and video that I will send to you when I get back. I hope you are having a wonderful holiday.
Jack

It just tickles me pink to read this email! :) I can just envision her smiles and curls. I hope they got that smile on film! I had poured over many stuffed animals and had finally chosen a musical bunny (super-soft!), but then started doubting whether she would like it or not (it seemed kind of babyish . . . but then again - she's only 2 1/2!). I was soooo happy to hear she liked it! I picture her snuggling up to it in her crib at night. :) The card had a picture of our family on it, and inside I had explained the gifts we sent (they all represented each one of us in the family . . . did I already say all this in another post?). anyways . . .
I've heard that Jack is back in town, but I don't think we will get video or pics till the rest of the gang returns. At least that is what I have prepared my heart and mind for . . . . . . that way I won't be too disappointed if I don't get to see it this week.

Well folks - thanks for checking in on us! We value your friendship and support! Stay tuned for new pics and possible video! :)

Blessings!

Lori :)

ps - Oh - I had a dream back in Sept or Oct about a friend of mine being 7 - 7 1/2 months pregnant when my daughter comes home. She wasn't pregnant (in real life) at the time. However, I just found out that she is now about 10 weeks pregnant!! . . . . . . so . . . . . if my dream were to come true - we would be bringing Katie home in about 4 1/2 - 5 months! That would only happen through a miracle of God!! :) You never know! :) He DID create the world in 7 days . . . actually 6! :)