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This month we were able to travel to Niagara Falls for a long weekend! It was absolutely beautiful. We enjoyed one anothers company and packed each day with fun. We did all we could at the falls and then spent a day at Marineland and another at the African Lion Safari. It was so nice to get away and enjoy the beauty of the falls.

We also had our stairwell finished which freed up the closet in the nursery!! Ang immediately had to hang all the little clothes up in anticipation of a little one to wear them. It's exciting... always one day closer!!

Our summer has been flying by! We have had crazy weather... rain one minute, hot the next! We have used our pool a few times... not as many as we'd like though! Family and work keep us busy!

The nursery is looking cute. All the furniture is there now and it's so nice to rock in the chair and think of our future. We pray all the time that our little one will find their way to us!

This week has been busy!! We opened up our pool on Sunday and had water delivered Monday. Since then it's been days full of cleaning the walls, vacuuming, and putting shock in it! It's freezing cold water so we won't be swimming any day soon but at least it's on it's way to being ready!

Other great news is that we decided on a crib/bedroom set and purchased them! We put the dresser together last night and the changing table together today. This weekend we'll do the crib! Now we simply wait for the joyous little one to fill the room with love!

We've been keeping busy with life and still praying that our lives are touched by a baby very soon. This weekend we walked in the local Relay for Life. Aaron volunteered to work the pancake breakfast the morning after the luminary cerimony. We have started clearing out the room that will be our nursery... it was a study room for Aaron during school but that's not needed anymore! We are starting to shop for a crib and supplies. We're very excited and looking forward to a new addition to our family.

We've had a busy week but it's all been great stuff! Aaron graduated on Friday and we had his parents stay with us for the week. Then yesterday we mowed our lawn for the first time this spring!! Nothing better than the smell of fresh cut grass! It's nice to be getting back out into the yard and doing what we love!

Seven years ago today we were engaged. It's funny how much has happened since then! We'd both do it again today!

We are so excited... Aaron will graduate with his Masters Degree next week! He has to finish his take-home final and then next Friday, April 25th, he'll walk across the stage! Yea! His parents are coming to stay for the week to celebrate. It should be lots of fun.

The other good news is that the weather in Michigan has finally gotten nicer so we've been taking advantage of it and doing some spring yard clean up. Our tulips and other flowers are all coming up and it's beginning to look a bit more green around here!

We became an official waiting family two days ago... on April 4th! Our profile went online, we received and documented that we got our approved home study and began the waiting game! We are so happy to finally be waiting, not waiting to wait! Family began making bets today on when we'll get our first official selection from a birthmother... we are praying for the soonest guess!

Today I heard from our social worker and our profile should be on Bethany's website in the next day or so!! We are both thrilled. We went shopping the other day at Babies R Us for the first time looking only for US!! We know that the wait may be a while but we are just happy to be waiting for a child. It's like expecting but without a due date. Our profile books that contain more info about us have been ordered and will be delivered in the next two days and we'll get them to Bethany CS to have on hand to share with birthmothers. How exciting all of this is!

So many exciting things have been happening! First of all, our references were all sent back last week (got the call Feb 20th, a Wednesday) that they were all in and we'd soon be hearing from our case worker to set up our homestudy. This morning I got a phone call from Jennifer, our case worker and we've set up our first appointment for Monday March 3rd!! I'm very excited to get started so we can become an official waiting couple.

In the meantime we've been working on our profile here on-line but also on our profile book for Bethany Christian Services. It's all starting to come together and that makes me happy! Aaron is on a break right now from classes (on a spring break) so he's been working on things more as well.

We'll keep you updated as the homestudy progresses and hopefully soon we'll be looking for our birthmother and growing baby.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I am really excited to celebrate and pray that it's my last birthday not being a mom. Only time will tell! We've been moving right along with all of our papers. We've talked with all of our references and we know that they've sent all papers back in the past few days. Our priest met with us yesterday and he'll have his in the mail today he told us! So, I think that is the last one. I'm hoping that I can call on Friday morning and set up our home study. They said that as soon as all references are back, we will be assigned our case worker and complete our homestudy. I'd love to have all of this done by April 1st so we can get moving on the waiting part! We both continue to pray and hope that we'll soon be parents!

I contacted Bethany CC and they'll send out our reference letters first and once those are all returned, they'll then set up the home study. I hope that everyone gets things turned around quickly because we can't wait to begin waiting! Haha. Really, we're both very excited and want to get things up and running. Hopefully we'll hear more soon!

Yea! Today we sent in our application packet to Bethany Christian Services. We had our information meeting a week ago on Monday and felt fairly certain after leaving that we really wanted to work with them. Then on Tuesday we went to another agency's info session just to be sure. We got our packet together as quick as possible because we are so excited to begin this journey! We were surprised at all that goes into it. Now we schedule our home study and the agency will check references etc. We're moving right along! We will hopefully have more to write about soon!

We had a very nice Christmas this year! We spent a lot of time with Angie's parents since they live so close. We enjoyed our festivities on the 22nd with Angie's sister, brother-in-law and nephews as well as Angie's parents. We had a great time! We built a six foot snowman with Joshua, our nephew and godson. He got to put the carrot nose on! On Jan 2nd we'll head south for Aaron's parents and enjoy a few days with them for the holidays as well!

As I write this (Angie) at work the day after our Lords birth, I am overwhelmed with excitement as our days come sooner to our information meetings and the beginning of our adoption journey with an agency. I pray that this is what God has intended for Aaron and I and I look forward to this new road we're travelling.

We are so excited to begin our journey toward adoption! We've still got so much to learn but are sure having fun building our profile. We hope that you have as much fun looking through it as we have had designing it.