Sadie Bella Loktung Hirschberg and our adoption journey video!

Today we went to Family Court to finalize our adoption of Sadie.  Praising the Lord right now!  We had a wonderful morning.  Our court time was at 9am and when we walked into a room full of babies, children, moms and dads we thought for sure we were going to be there for quite some time.  Much to our surprise and delight we were the first.  We walked into the court room and I was a little nervous, so much so that when asked with my right hand on the bible I said the wrong middle name...(oh dear)it wasn't a big deal at all.  The judge was THE nicest person.  He was a born again believer and really interacted with each of our children and addressing each of them by name without them even introducing themselves.  He definitely studied up on our home study report;) He really made me feel comfortable, me being nervous was...well...just me being me...lol.

 

As he asked me a couple of questions I felt the tears welling up inside as I so happily said yes!! Yes she will be treated like each of my other children and Yes she will have all the privileges they have and Yes she will be treated no differently than if I gave birth to her.  Yesss yess yes!

That was it! We were in and out in 15 minutes...then off to celebrate with a yummy breakfast.

We Praise the Lord for his goodness to us!  We have learned so much throughout this amazing journey.  Is it all roses, absolutely not but we didn't sign up for that and He doesn't ever promise that.  But He does promise to be with us each step of the way and for that we can certainly testify to.  Amen and Amen!!

She now is a US citizen which is wonderful.  But more then that our prayer is that she will one day trust in Jesus and her citizenship will be one with eternal rewards!

Here is our adoption journey on video!!! Thank you so much to Jon Gangwer who used his God given talents to help us and made the video for us.  We love it and will cherish it Jon, thank you!
(please scroll down to pause music)

 

grammy and mom-mom got to witness and be a part of the day too!

Tomorrow...tomorrow!

Tomorrow Sadie becomes "officially" a Hirschberg member according to the courts.  We of course, have already felt the officialness since coming home from Hong Kong but there is something special about getting to see her birth certificate with our last name and her US citizenship.

She will be Sadie Bella Lok Tung Hirschberg.  Yayyy!

What a complete thrill and joy the last 9 1/2 months have been.  Honestly, it feels as though we have had her since birth.  Really.  I know I know...everybody feels that way, but still it is true.

Sooo tomorrow will come and then...yes finally I will be able to blog without any restrictions on her face and what I say and what not!!! Yippee!


More to come tomorrow!!!

Happy 14th Birthday Natey Boy

Today we celebrate Nathaniel Thomas Hirschberg!!

Nate you are a blessing to our family in so many ways.  You love Jesus.  You love deeply and to your core.  You are a right-fighter whose learning he doesn't have to be right nor will all things be right.  You are a deep thinker and analyzer.  You love to agitate and are quite good at that;)  You love baseball.  You love to swim.  You love your brother and sisters.  You are a fisherman.  You love others.  You love to rough house anytime, anywhere, anyone....(ugh).  You are awesome at sock wrestling.

NATE You are LOVED!

There are moments when I could ring your neck and in the next minute hug you forever.  You have taught me many times what it looks like to love even when its hard with some of your examples.  You have a heart for people to know Christ!!  You know that you need Him!  Nate, I pray you always know how desperately you need Jesus!

Happy Birthday, I LOVE YOU!

 

 

Sadie turns 2

Today my heart is overwhelmed as we celebrate our baby girl turning two!  WE are amazed at how this little person has become a part of us and this family in a very short time.  Its as if she has always been here with us and as if I delivered her myself.  But that is not how God chose to have her become part of our family.  Thousands of miles away a young mother who gave the gift of life holds fast to her dreams she had for her little girl in which she was not able to provide herself.  Her act of selflessness is our blessing.  We are so full of love and humbled by God for truly allowing us to be her parents.  One day I hope we can meet her birth mother to be able to hug and thank her for the amazing gift she gave to us.

Sadie is two and what does being two mean? She is repeating everything you say, she dances her little heart out to any type of music that is on(even rap):) She enjoys "reading" her books and loves to play with babies and gives them lots of kisses.  And yes, she is showing those two year old stubborn acts of defiance but she wouldn't be normal if she wasn't.  Sadie is so funny and brings so much joy and happiness to our family..she truly lights up the room!  Her personality is off the charts...she loooooves people and she is truly a very happy little girl.

So today we are reminded of God's love for each one of us as for those of us who believe are adopted into His family and the love that our heavenly Father feels for us is more then we can comprehend but having adopted now we are simply amazed of how that love is just instant and soo soooo special!

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl, we love you so very much!

(one day soon we will be able to show her pretty little face, but not yet)

 

 

Gracie-cam...some videos I found on her camera!

Oh my this girl just cracks us up!! She is the comic relief in our family!! We just love her so much and I love her enthusiasm, sense of humor, and her outlook on life!! Love it!  You are in for a treat with these 3 videos they are only 20 seconds long and the one of Sadie is hysterical!!! I still laugh everytime I watch it!!!

Bethany Christian Services, Chariots for Hope, and some random pics

Okay so we just got back from being away on vacation for 9 wonderful days!!! Wheewwwww we!  Now to get caught up with some posts about what has happened in the last few weeks.

A lot of preparations were taking place as I mentioned before in getting ready for the 2nd annual Chariots for Hope fundraising banquet.  Lots of fun leading up to this special night.  It is our privilege to be able to be a part of an organization that loves orphans, Africa, and serving Him.

But first, the day before the banquet Bob and I had another privilege to speak on a panel for Bethany Christian Services.  We got to share about our adoption journey and answers questions from families that are in the process of adopting right now.  I looooooved this!! Seriously could have hung out all day and just talked and chatted with other families and also encourage prospective families.  I got the wonderful privilege to meet a friend!!  Liz and her hubby and Bob and I were in this same class a year ago and did not know each other but then started corresponding with one another and following each others journeys via our blogs as well as emailing.  We got to meet each other and each others children.  Looooove it!  Oh her sweet boy Landon is just so handsome.  I feel like I have known Liz forever!  Can't wait to meet up sometime this summer:)

In the pics below we are sporting our awesome t-shirts that we got from Kelly.  You can get these shirts in various colors, women's cut available and now they have another neat shirt with one of my favorite verses on it, Micah 6:8.  Go check out her shirts and buy one to help support bringing their little one home from Korea:)

Our girlies were taking a few pics(they are a little blurry and not the most flattering shots but it gives you a look at our day:)

Liz and Landon, me and Sadie

Liz and her handsome boy, Landon

Then off we were back to church for more setting up and decorating for the banquet.  The banquet was designed to showcase the different sustainable projects that are going on in the 7 different orphanages that Chariots funds.  Bob had so much fun building his structures.  If you know Bob, he loves creating and building and combine that with a cause that is near and dear to his heart, well it makes for an all round fun time.    Enjoy these pics:)

Sadie hanging out...such a good girl, just loves to be with people and loved being in the middle of it all

these girls were acting out what the children in the orphanage do in the tech center
Brag alert: Bob made all of these structures that you see...he loves to

the centerpieces...so cool!

Sandy used her incredible gift of artistry in making the murals which are taken from the pics that are hanging....a.m.a.z.i.n.g!!!

the other artist, Debbie..Unbelievable!!

our family minus Sadie Bella
The beautiful murals were to make you feel as though you were walking into one of the orphanages, Maai Mahiu for the night.

our drummers for the evening, Brian and Mark (blurry..sorry)

Chariots director, Caleb Eckardt. I made him take a pic in the long drop...hee hee!

Bob and Sherri did a great job sharing about the orphanages and some staggering statistics as well as Bob sharing his experience and how visiting Africa has changed his life and ultimately our families as well.

Our great friend Mark Hayner did an incredible job on the video!!!! Loved Danny Oertli's song, "Dancing with Orphans".   Danny has been at our church several times and our family really enjoys his music.
Please watch this video! Turn off my music on sidebar:)


Dancing with Orphans from Mark Wakeman on Vimeo.


If you are looking to get involved in supporting orphans or wanting to sponsor a child each month please check out Chariots website!  Your life will change!

Picking up where I left off...

Well, it's been 3 plus weeks since I last blogged and of course the last post I left you with was Nate in surgery.  He is now out of surgery..lol!  Let me bring you up to speed.

We thank the Lord for bringing Nate through surgery.  The surgery was a lot harder and more involved then what they had expected which made this momma very nervous as I watched the clock tick right on by...1 hour turning into 2 and longer.  Our surgeon, who I just loved (she looks a little like Nicole C. Mullen), had to call in another surgeon for help.  I will spare you all the details....but God was gracious and they feel as though they repaired the hernia and got every other part of him back to where it should be.  They expect a full recovery.

We have been just plain ol' crazy busy.  The allergies/asthma are doing quite a toll on us, but we are loving this warm weather.  I still haven't managed to get into a "routine" yet with having our fifth.  Working hard at figuring out how to do that but meanwhile enjoying every minute with our precious girl.  It has been so sweet to see our entire family bond in a new way with our China doll.  I have seen so many great gifts in our children in how they care and love on their new little sister.  They are so proud to show her off and she loves them each so much.

My heart is overflowing with joy!  We just love our Sadie Bella so very much.  She has really attached herself to her daddy, it's been a delight to watch as well as to see him fall deeply in love with his little girl!

We simply can not imagine our family without her!!  I was saying just the other day that I feel as though I gave birth to her...I actually am grieving the fact that I didn't birth her.  Does that make sense?  I know that one day she too will go through those feelings as well.  She's my baby girl and I just love every part of her even when she hits, has a full blown temper tantrum,  tells me "no",  refuses to eat or listen, I just love her no matter what because she is my girl!  It's been 2 months that we have had her in our arms...seems like she has been here forever.

We are preparing for the Chariots of Hope banquet this Saturday!!! Yay!! We are so thrilled to be a part of this and to see what all God has in store as Chariots continues to support orphanages in East Africa.  Bob has been verrrrrry busy building "small buildings" that one might see over in Africa.  The banquet is showcasing several different sustainable projects that are on going in the orphanages to help sustain them and as well as to teach many different skills to the children.  Our church will be transformed into one of the orphanages Maaiu Mahu.  It has been so much fun to be a part of this great organization.  Can't wait to see what God has in store this weekend!  Our whole family(except Sadie) will be involved in this in some way....love it!  I hope to have some pics and more to share after this weekend!

Many things have been on my heart that I can't wait to start to share here.   Processing it all and sometimes the words just don't come out the way you want them to...know what I mean?  Oh maybe that's called a writers block? But I am not really a writer so I'll just say...blogger's block:)