Adopting from Ethiopia

It's been a month

2010-04-30T13:33:00.000-07:00

Well I can't believe it's been a month since we posted last. Don't have anything new to update on really. I talked to my agency today to ask about any updates on both parents traveling, the last email I received stated one parent could travel if the other parent was military and deployed or if medical reasons arise. I asked my agency director if being pregnant was medical reason enough and she said she's pretty sure but can't give a definite yes until May 9th when the Ethiopian government meet to settle on all guidelines. We have to wait until then for a more detailed answer. This is the longest part of the process, THE PAPERWORK! Trying to be patient through all of this and concentrate on our new arrival in September and wait on our other new arrivel, via Ethiopia, after that. Please keep praying for things to go smoothly!

2010-03-29T17:02:00.000-07:00

I guess Billy the bloginator has been slacking a bit, oh well we forgive him. Well we have received news that Ethiopia government is changing their laws a bit, involving 2 trips to Ethiopia. They want both parents to appear at court and bond with your baby for a week, come home without your baby for 3-6 weeks and then travel back to get your baby. I am not too happy about this since I am 4 1/2 months pregnant and won't be able to travel until after September, if I'm able to go at all with a newborn. Don't know what the future holds but God does. He has had His hand on this whole process so I really can't let my FAITH begin to waiver now. I know He wants these two babies to grow up together and that has been His plan all along. We are getting ready to send in our dossier as soon as we update our homestudy (due to our pregnancy). The waiting will be much harder once our dossier is sent because then we will be waiting on a picture and praying she is the right one for us. Thanks for your prayers!

Forward movement this week

2010-03-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

Good news this past week. We received word that our federal fingerprinting had been approved. Then, we got our letter in the mail and sent the paperwork to Juneau for the state authentication. If all goes well, they should send it back this upcoming week and we can submit our dossier to the agency. We were told that once we send it into the agency, there is a 4-6 month average wait. However, we have learned this is only a number. Only God knows when things will happen. We were told this could happen sooner, or it could take longer. Really??!!!

So, our prayer continues to be that God will open doors and we will find His favor throughout this process. He has done amazing things and we have no doubt it will continue. We figure little Zya is not ready yet. But, when the time is right, we will be ready.

Back from Israel

2010-02-21T23:40:00.000-08:00

So, Billy Bloginator is back. Some may think it's lame to give yourself a nickname, but I consider it creative and imaginative. Of course, a person who gives themself a nickname would consider it that way. I digress. I recently returned from a wonderful trip. I never thought I would have the opportunity, but that's exactly what happen. An opportunity. I took it and have been grateful ever since. Melissa was instrumental in easing my aniexity. She assured me everything at home would be okay and I should not miss out. I think of her and the boys if I'm away. Not that God couldn't take care of them, but rather I'm not there to help when needed. Then Levi had his little incident that required 6 stitches. The same thing would have happened had I been at practice, but I could have helped with the ER visit and the other boys. A huge thanks to Tara for helping out with Isaac and Reagan during that ordeal.

So, an opportunity presented itself. Although nervous at first, extremely happy now. Much like our adoption process. I would lie if I stated we were not a little anxious. What is the entire process? How much longer do we have to wait? Are we really ready for this? Will we be the best parents for Zya? All questions that come to mind. Yet, we have before us an opportunity. One that I believe we should not let go by. We didn't set out at first to adopt, but we don't want to miss the opportunity now. With 3 boys, why do we want to add another child? We feel it is just something we need and want and God is opening doors. Why would we won't to miss this now? We will someday look back and have a hard time remembering life without our little daughter just as we do now about the boys. Surley life was good before Isaac, but it's so much better with him and the other 2 hoodlums.

If an opportunity presents itself, don't look at all the obstacles, rather look at the potential. You never know what good things can come if you give it a chance.

Still waiting...

2010-02-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

Yes we are still waiting. It seems to be our topics for the past couple of posts, welcome to adoption world. It has been 4 weeks today since we had our fingerprinting done. I sent off our homestudy the day before to the Texas office and they still have not processed it. I called a week or so ago and asked what the hold up was and I was told they are processing all of the people that want to adopt from Haiti through first. I was not happy about this, but at the same time I understood. It's just that the more obstacles in the way the longer my baby girl has to sit and wait in an orphange, that is if she is there yet, which I hope not. So paperwork, paperwork is where we are at in the process or I guess I should say waiting on paperwork. Even after we get our fingerprint results back it has to go to our state capital, back to us, we send it to our agency, they send it to Washington D.C. and then to Ethiopia, so we still have process ahead of us. Please join me in prayer for speedy processing! Our God is bigger than anything!!

Waiting on a daughter

2010-01-31T23:55:00.000-08:00

Brad Paisley sings a song called "Waiting on a Woman". The video is pretty cool as it showcases Andy Griffith and his advice to Brad. I don't have too much in common with the character in the song as Melissa is usually prompt and timely. In fact, she will say that I'm the one that causes her to wait. Obviously I disagree with that, but don't tell her. I'm not scared of her, but we'll let her have her thoughts.

Back to my dilemma. I am waiting on a daughter. No more news as of yet, just more waiting. Perhaps this is a prelude of things to come. I'm hoping not, but you never know. We have our own waiting problems dealing with the boys. They will get sidetracked and take forever to get ready. If you turn the TV on, you might as well forget about it. Adding a daughter may slow down the process of getting somewhere, but as the song suggests, it will be worth it. So, we will continue to wait and keep you updated as soon as we know anything.

Different than us, but the same

2010-01-25T00:54:00.000-08:00

So, a while back, Reagan informed us he didn't think he wanted a black baby sister. At first, this startled us a little. We don't know what may have triggered his thoughts since he and the other boys knew from the start that our new addition would be from Ethiopia and she would indeed be considered black. We didn't panic, but we were curious why he would be worried? He did what any other 5 year old did and told us he didn't know. Perhaps just a random thought, perhaps just a feeling of someone new coming into the family, or perhaps just a change that facilitates conversation? We may never know his rationale at that moment, but the rest of the story is pretty cool.

Late Saturday after Isaac's basketball game, we went out to eat at Chilis. Food was good, conversation was good and laughter abounded as we shared stories. Melissa and I sat on one side of the booth and the boys sat on the other side. We finished our meal, rather we ate all we could and got a to-go box and then ordered dessert. Funny, since the boys were full yet ate all the dessert. Isn't that the way it's suppose to work? Anyway, as we were eating our dessert, a family sat down in the booth behind the boy's side. A mother, father, 3 boys and a baby girl. Melissa and I immediately noticed the little girl. Just as cute as could be with curly hair and full of energy. I would say she was about 2 years old. The family was as white as our faimily, with the exception of the little girl. She was noticably darker in skin color. Obviously, our minds went into an adoption mode. The little girl was at the end of the table in a high chair so we had a clear view. She looked our way and we started making a connection. We let the boys in on our fun and then Reagan immediately got out of the booth to investigate. We told him to say hi and she would probably respond. He did and she smiled and they had a moment of 5 year old to 2 year old communication. Whatever that entails. They both laughed. Melissa took this opportunity to inform Reagan that his baby sister may be like this little girl. He seemed to be more at ease with this as it was a visual illustration of something going on only in his mind.

During this process, we have been open and tried to explain everything to the boys. We can't control their thoughts or questions. We encourage them to ask questions so they might better understand. The funny thing is, Reagan is not the only one who has posed this same question. We have been asked numerous times why we chose Ethiopia. Truth is, we have reasons and it makes sense to us. Ethiopia or America, white or black doesn't matter to us as we will love that little girl just as much as if we brought her home from the hospital. Although she will look different on the outside, she will be the same as our family on the inside and that is what matters.

Federal fingerprinting

2010-01-17T00:58:00.000-08:00

So I decided, Sunday was my day to blog. I plan on blogging at least every Sunday from here on out, if not more frequently. I've decided to take on the name of "Billy Bloginator". Pretty cool, huh? I came up with that myself on the spot. That's how I roll.

Thursday finally arrived and none too soon. We applied October 30th and went to Anchorage Janurary 14th. Not too bad of a wait I guess. Since it was out of our hands, we had to hurry up and wait for the government to process our application.

Getting into the Department of Homeland Security Office was a little intimidating. The metal detector wasn't bad (I did find out Melissa was holding out with some change in her pocket that she didn't declare to the officer), but then we had to wait in a room as officials passed by. I think they assume we know what we are doing. Obviously they were wrong and we sat there like knots on a log waiting for someone to have the mercy to help out. We were the only one in the waiting area, so it wasn't too hard to figure we were the ones with the appointment. We filled out a form and waited. Another official checked our ID and we waited. Another official took our papers and then we waited. Finally, he took me back, rolled my fingers over a digital scanner for three minutes, then told me I was through. Melissa went in and returned in about the same time frame. So we waited 2 1/2 months for our 6 minutes of scanning. There must be a reason. Seriously, there must be.

Now we wait some more for the return, then we start sending in our stuff. I would go into more detail about the stuff, but Melissa says I don't know as much about the adoption process as her and I don't want to give away that I do, er do not. Whatever. Can she look at a periphereal blood smear and tell you the different cells? Now what!

Christmas money

2010-01-02T21:08:00.001-08:00

The boys got money for Christmas and decided to go to Build A Bear. Here are the results:
Isaac made a monkey with ninja clothes, his name is Moe

Levi made a dog dressed in a football uniform, his name is Chris.

Reagan made Alvin from Alvin and the chipmunks!

There you have it, fun times spent at Build A Bear with dinner at Outback before. Fun times with the family tonight, if we just had baby Z with us it would of been perfect!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Melissa

Fingerprint Appointment

2009-12-28T22:05:00.000-08:00

Yay! We are sooooo excited! We received our USCIS finger print appointment in the mail on the 19th. Of course our appointment isn't until the 14th of JANUARY, but none the less we have a date. I don't know what takes them so long to schedule it, but whatever. We are one step closer and that's all I care about. Nothing much to talk about, just thought I would post another milestone with the adoption.

2009-12-18T23:07:00.001-08:00

We had a day of sledding, frito chili pie, hot cocoa & decorating sugar cookies at my friend Kara's. It was so cold, -5, that the boys didn't stay out very long. On the way home here's what I captured:

Reagan & Isaac sound asleep. I had to stop and get Levi, he had gone over to his friend isaac's house. I couldn't post everyone elses picture and not his, so here it is:

Just thought I would share part of our day.

Snow, snow, snow

2009-12-17T23:06:00.000-08:00

Well, since Tuesday morning, we have had 17 inches of snow fall. I know because I measured it and shoveled it off the deck. I love snow and when it snows, it usually isn't as cold. Currently it is not snowing and -2 degrees.

I know that when we pick up baby Zya, she will too young to know much about where she is from and where she is going. It will be pretty cool to see pink or purple snow pants hanging up to dry next to the black and gray ones now. I'm sure she will be as excited as Reagan to help me shovel off the deck eventhough it takes me twice as long to clean up his part. I still wonder if I will be more protective of her than I have been with the boys. Hopefully the boys always believe I looked after them with all my heart and attention, but they are boys and I probably associate that with letting them find out how hard it is on their own. That would be a pretty good sociology lesson. It will all play out just fine and I don't think it will matter once she arrives. She will just be one of the DaHouck boys. I can't change how I address all the hoodlums just because she is a girl.

Rain, sleet, snow or shine, Zya will always be mine. Pretty good from rap Master B, huh? According to Melissa, I will take great pains to fully explain the differences of weather and the patterns that create them. I don't think I go off on that many tangents, but "she's always right". It's just easier to admit now that I'm wrong. It will save the argument later. So, I may indulge in the details, I just want people informed. The boys don't seem to mind and I'm sure Zya won't either.

Beautiful tree

2009-12-10T12:10:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to give a shout out to this beautiful tree I have fallen in love with and wanted to post it on my blog so that maybe I have some friends out there who agree. Please leave a NICE comment about my tree if you agree!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Melissa

Still Waiting...

2009-12-09T00:05:00.000-08:00

We are still waiting on our fingerprint appointment with USCIS. It's been a month and 4 days. I guess this is typical, but I would like to get it done, because after we get it done then we still have to wait for it to process and be sent in the mail and then, and then, and then, get my drift? Sometimes the waiting can get the best of you if you let it. I try not to think about it, sometimes it's hard though. I am just anxiously awaiting to hold my baby girl and give her the love she needs. Until then keep us in your prayers! Here is some pics our good friend Duke took of us for our christmas cards.

Me and my boys!One of our family pics!

Good night all!!

More paperwork

2009-12-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

I'm in the process of writing two letters. One is for the orphanage that gives them a brief bio of our family. This will help them with the matching process. For those of you wondering, we do not go over and pick out a child. The orphanage will match depending on our paperwork and letters. This is why this letter is difficult to write. How do you explain and talk about your family in a letter and make them see who you really are?

The second goes to the Ethiopian government. This is basically to tell them we will take care of the child we are taking from their country and further teach them of their culture. This one seems to be no big deal as it is more of a form letter.

As far as the matching process, we will write the letter and send pictures. The agency assures us the orphanage is very good at matching, but seriously, how would you turn down who they offer? No sorry, we don't like that one, could you try again. It would be like picking out a big screen TV. I would rather have the Sony instead of the Samsung because it looks better. I'm sure as soon as we see the picture, we will both say that's our little girl. Of course Melissa will cry the whole time and want to get on the plane immediately. Me, I'm more reserved and will analytically assess the situation and process the next steps to ponder as we contemplate our next move. Then, I'll excuse myself to our room and cry like a baby. Scratch that last line. Where's the delete button? I'm a man, I'll be tough.

Billy's take

2009-12-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

What's up, blogland. I'm not sure how to address the readers, so there it is.
1 beautiful wife, 3 wonderful boys, what else do I need? A little girl. Actually, I technically don't need a daughter, but I am extremely excited about the concept. My friend Jeff Nance went all goofy when they sang "Butterfly Kisses" at church one Fathers day. He said I didn't understand yet, but when I have a daughter, it will make sense. Well, hopefully in 2010, I will experience that feeling.
I guess it's different with boys. We're into the chest bumping, UFC moves, using the bathroom outside and I have heard at least 28,954 times, "Dad, you want to go play catch?" Not that girls can't catch, but obviously there are differences. Me and the fellas have had the run of the house and soon that will change. Longer lines at the bathroom door, the whole waiting on a woman thing and pink camoflauge? It should be an eye opener.
Some say, she will have me wrapped around her finger. I say, it will be no different than the boys. We'll see. I may be just as wrong as "they" are, whoever "they" are. My kids are my kids and I wouldn't trade them for any other kids regardless of the many times I've told them I would. Just kidding, I have never told them, audibly. Seriously, just kidding. I'm sure people think my boys are spoiled and they have me under control. That's what we do, invest (spoil) in our kids.
I wonder if she will look like me or Melissa? Yes, I know we're adopting from Ethiopia, but I can still laugh at my own thoughts. She, of course, will be the most precious little girl. God has a plan and I am enjoying every bit of it. I can enjoy it because Melissa is doing most of the work. You women will say that is always the case, but I do have my moments. I'd say I put in about 20% effort to her 80% as you can tell from this blog. I do more, but nobody believes it. That's just on the outside, on the inside, I am just as excited. I just more reserved.
Well, there are my thoughts for the moment. I'm sure I'll have more later.

T-shirts & bags

2009-12-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

Front of t-shirt says I will not leave you as orphans....
John 14:18. The back of the shirt which I didn't take a pic of has a pink footprint and it says I helped the Houck family bring home their baby girl from Ethiopia. If u live locally they are $20 out of towners please add $2 for shipping

These are messenger bags we have also, charcoal grey $35. I only have 7 of these left.

my iPhone Melissa

2009-11-30T22:16:00.001-08:00

Ok so Reagan felt left out and I had to take a pic of him and (toast it) post it on my page.

I forgot about Levi's little owie from Reagan throwing a snowball at him and it had a piece of ice in it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Melissa

Hair bow

2009-11-30T21:56:00.001-08:00

I bought this cute headband with interchangeable bows. Poor Levi was my guinea pig! He will probably be mad that I posted this but he don't know how to get on my blogspot, so don't say anything to him.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Melissa

2009-11-25T21:18:00.000-08:00

Okay so I got a call today from our agency and they said they are going to work out our homestudy issue for us since they didn't catch it months ago, thank you to whoever prayed concerning this issue. God is in complete control! I just finished preparing food for Thanksgiving. It's just me and the Reagan boy at home tonight, Billy took the other boys to the Alaska Basketball Shootout, OU's playing! Can't wait for homemade cornbread dressing tomorrow. I called my grandma and got her recipe, I sure do miss her dressin'. Hope you all have a Happy Blessed Thanksgiving!!

FRUSTRATED!

2009-11-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

I got an email today from our agency saying our home study is not approved because our home study guy is independently owned. Why are they just now telling me this when 4 months ago they reviewed our home study for corrections and didn't say one word about him not being contracted with an agency. I immediately got on the phone and called him, which he is very hard to get a hold of, for some reason today he answered, thank you Lord! He told me he had never been denied before so he wasn't for sure what was going on. I told him well I would appreciate it if you would figure out the problem and fix it because I don't want to be out $1000. What a headache! We are so close and this would be a huge stumbling block in our process. Please if you are reading this, PRAY!!! When I get more answers I will keep you posted.

2009-11-23T20:15:00.000-08:00

No news on adoption, just waiting for fingerprint appointments. I went grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, since we don't have family up here we are starting our own family tradition. I'm excited to start cooking, I love to cook. Nothing much to post just thought I would try to say something daily, have a good night!

Spaghetti Feed Fundraiser Nov 7th

2009-11-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

We (Kara, Donna & I ) started planning our spaghetti dinner about a month before. Finding a place around here big enough to hold at least 200 people was difficult. We asked tons of places and either everyone had something going on or they didn't allow other groups to come in, except for Palmer Church of the Nazarene. We were so excited to actually have a place to decorate and feed people!YEA!! Now we had to decide how many tickets we wanted print and who better to design them than our dear friend Derick Rowlan, he did an outstanding job. I would show you a picture, but I don't have one yet, maybe later. We decided on two sessions so we printed 200 tickets total, I know call us crazy. Kara and I went around to different businesses and local consultants to ask for donations to our silent auction, we had an awesome turn out of items. With the Flu and other sickness going around which everyone got weeks prior except my family, guess whose kids get sick the week of? MINE! Not good, I couldn't believe it, Reagan got it first, day later Isaac and then Thursday night Levi had it. Are ya noticing a pattern here? Billy and I were getting a little worried along with everyone helping us with the spaghetti feed. I did get sick on Friday, but only with head cold stuff, nothing like my boys had, thank the Lord! Kara, Donna & I decided to meet two days before the event and make all the Pumpkin Bars, Brownies and last minute Chocolate Chip Cookies, which was the best decision we ever made. This was before Levi got sick and after Isaac had been sick. Saturday came and I was getting nervous. We all arrived at the church at about 130pm, our first session started at 5pm so we wanted plenty of time to set up. A team of friends volunteered their time to help serve where needed at our event: Cheryl Land, Trish Applehans, Becky Day, Joanne McAuliff, Lorna Henze, Debbie Dietz, Amy Broemeling, Victoria Metoyer, Carla, Shelby Land, Carrie Land, Kayla Ballard, Jordan Ballard, Isaac Houck, Aaron and if I have left anyone out I apologize. People started showing up at about 430pm, luckily we were all ready by then. Becky Day auctioned off desserts each session which people loved and so did we because that meant more money toward getting our baby girl. Certain items in our silent auction were people pleasers also, I won't mention any names, you know who you are! We had about 150 in attendance. We are so blessed to have so many people care about our adoption! We were sad to see the night end, but some of us did have church in the morning! We had nothing but great compliments about the whole thing. We raised a little over $3000, what and awesome GOD we serve! He knows what we need when we need it. Kara and I got together afterwards and counted the money and with what we raised at the spaghetti event and the money certain ones had given before we have $6500 to send in. THANK YOU LORD!!! A big THANK YOU to everyone who supported our event by coming or donating we appreciate it! Kara & Donna are ready for fundraiser #2! My crazy girlfriends! I also have Tshirts & messenger bags for sale also if anyone is interested. Tshirts- $20 please add $2 shipping cost if you live out of state Bags $35. I will try and post a pic soon! Thanks again everyone!

2009-11-19T22:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in awhile because I just got the hang of this blog thing. A lot has happened since I last posted. We found an agency Dove International Adoptions based out of Banks,OR. We were accepted in May 09. After getting the contract to sign, which was probably 15 pages, we had a month to send in $3000 with the contract. Ok, I don't know about some of you, but who has that sitting in their bank account ready to be given freely, not I. I believed God had purposed this in our heart and He was gonna supply us with the money. Low and behold a $1000 check came in the mail from a couple who didn't even know we were adopting, the letter said just thought you could use this, you betcha we could. Several other people stepped out in FAITH and blessed us with money too, which all added up to about $1500. We have $1500 left to come up with so my best friend Kara & I planned a garage sale around the 13th of June (i think). We had an awesome turnout. Saturday after it was all said and done we counted the money and had exactly $1503, with $3 left to put toward our next installment. God is so mindful of our need! I told my husband, God is never early, never late always right on time! Our deadline was June 18th and I sent it in on June 15th. Whoo, one down 3 more to go. We left later that week for Oklahoma for a month. The big question we get is why are you adopting from Ethiopia? Our response is Why Not? I mean there are a lot of reasons, but God placed Ethiopia on our hearts, so why not? We have some friends in the ministry from Arizona and Missouri who have adopted from there and I have been drawn to Ethiopia ever since. While in Missouri this summer I got to sit down with Gwen from Arizona and discuss adoption. She gave me helpful information regarding adoption. Our dossier packet was sent to us while we were in Missouri. Dossier is information about you and your family, medical, financial, housing, debt everything you can think of to be filled out and send over to the Ethiopian courts to look at. Lots of copies & notarizing. We have 6 months to fill out all of this plus get fingerprinted at Homeland Security office. Yippee! Needless to say I put it on the back burner for a while due to some medical issues I was dealing with. After going through a rough spot, God reassured me that the baby girl He has picked out for our family is going to be so much more precious than I could ever imagine. She's gonna be a Houck, of course she will be precious!! Our next installment of $6500 is due in Decemeber. This is where my FAITH comes in increments, if you know what I mean. I will back track a little, in August we had our 3 day ladies retreat. Our speaker was from a town called Peters Creek, I had just met her in June before I left for Oklahoma and I felt connected to her right away. After retreat, we were starting to clean up, she came to tell me goodbye and I gave her the love offering. She immediatly gave it back and said God told her to give it to me for my adoption. Talk about humbling, I started crying and couldn't stop, God is so thoughtful of me! You feel so unworthy sometimes. Billy and I told God right from the beginning, we don't want to borrow the money or put it on a credit card, so far we haven't. As of October we had $3200, just from certain ones giving to us. My best friend Kara ( whom i have named CEO of the Houck Adoption) and Donna planned a spaghetti dinner with a silent auction/dessert auction. Talk about FUN, now that it is over! We have never done anything like this before, what were we thinkin? I will post about that later, this is enough info to get ya by for now, my hand hurts. Good night!

Adoption Process

2009-03-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have been a little lax in the blogging, but here I am now.
We have started the adoption process, FINALLY!
Home study is done, background checks are done & fingerprinting.
Now we just have to pick an agency we feel is a good fit.
We told our extended family this week and everybody is excited for us as far as we can tell.
Our boys are really happy!
Now if the agencies will call me back we can move one more step closer.

2009-01-26T23:05:00.000-08:00

So today I thought we were going to lay carpet in the downstairs, well it turned out we didn't know what a headache it was going to be until we started asking how you lay carpet on concrete, well apparently it is tidious, more work than my husband and I wanted to do. My house is going to be a toronado for another 2 weeks at least which I am not happy about. Hopefully no one will wanna come and visit!LOL! I am thankful that our downstairs is getting done, after living in it for 8 years unfinished. The Lord blessed us today by letting us get a new TV. Our other one had a bulb go out and they were going to order the part and let us know when it was going to be in. After 4 weeks of not hearing anything my husband decided to call and ask what was taking so long. They told us we are waiting for you to come in and pick out a new TV because the part is going to more expensive to replace than a new TV, so my husband was doing his victory dance. Thank You Jesus, you are and awesome GOD! We are still in the process of getting our house ready for the home study as you can tell in the above blog.

2009-01-24T22:24:00.000-08:00

Well what a lazy day, no not really. We slept in till 9am, got up drank coffee, fed the kids breakfast and packed away toys that I am tired of looking at. Garage Sale here we come! My oldest son Isaac had 2 basketball games back to back and won both of them. He scored a total 12 points for both games. Way to follow in his fathers' footsteps. We also got caught up on Lost and Friday Night Lights our favorite TV series. Not much else going on here in Da'Houck world.

2009-01-18T15:11:00.000-08:00

Hi, my name is Melissa Houck and I am new to this whole blogging thing. Just want to get in contact with people who have adopted internationally or are planning to adopt.