A look back at Christmas...

Another Christmas has come and gone.  All of the rush and hustle and bustle really take a toll on people.  We decided to keep it a low key event again this year.  We do our best to emphasize that we are celebrating the greatest gift ever given to mankind to our kids.  God graced us with his presence and sent us our Savior, for that we need to be thankful daily, not once a year. 

We went to some very dear friends house on the 23rd and enjoyed a Peppermint Party!!  There were games, treats, laughs, treats, stories, more treats!  Thank you to the Murray's for having us.  We baked some cookies on Christmas Eve that we left out for Santa and put out some carrots for the reindeer.  Before bed we listened to "Twas the Night Before Christmas" which has been a long standing tradition with our girls.  Christmas morning started at 6am with putting the baby Jesus in the Nativity.  We opened our gifts then had a wonderful breakfast of cinnamon rolls. 

The rest of the day was spent in each others company, watching movies, playing games and just hanging out.  I spent some of the day reflecting on what it will be like when we have our children from Bulgaria home.  I know God knows who they are, but for now I have to imagine faces, smiles and voices.  One of our daughters took money out of her piggy bank and gave it to us as a gift to be used for the adoption.  They both have welcomed the calling of expanding our family with open arms.

I hope each and everyone of you who reads this has a blessed 2013.  We appreciate you following along and are grateful for your prayers and warm wishes.

A quick fundraising update, besides here in the states are bracelets have been purchased in Canada, Australia and some are being delivered to Europe!!  We are humbled by the response to these have been.  A sincere, heartfelt thank you to everyone who has bought one. 

Fun in the snow....

We had a little of the white stuff fall here in Central Indiana.  I really like when we have a white Christmas, it adds so much more to the atmosphere.  The snow gave us a chance to get outside for some cold fresh air and exercise..

Of course we had to get acclimated to the temperature first, lol. 

Presenting our snow balls.  Even the dog was out with us..

It was a great day to play!  I love spending time with the girls and can't wait to add more children to our adventures! 

Some new designs....

I wanted to post an update with some of the new color combibations we have done for our fundraising bracelets:

We want to sincerly thank everyone who has ordered with us so far!!  Every bracelet purchased gets us one bead closer to Bulgaria.  God Bless you all!

Rainy Saturday's

I love rainy Saturday's.  They are great for reading, watching movies, snuggling with the kiddo's.  In light of the horrific evil that occurred yesterday we are disconnecting from the television today other than movies.  Today is a day for family.  We will hug our kids a little harder, a little longer and a little more often.  Even though they are not with us yet, we are sending virtual hugs to the children God has in mind for us in Bulgaria.  I hope they feel our warm embrace in their hearts....

Fundraising has begun

Sorry, it has been awhile since we posted.  The holidays are in full swing here at the Nicely homestead!  The girls are very excited and Kim and I are as well.  Kim has been working very hard on creating some bracelets that we hope will be a successful fundraiser.  She has made the below to start with.  These are handmade and she put a lot of care into making them!

We can do some custom color combinations as well.  Please contacts us at kimdavid2@att.net if you are interested.  These would make great and unique holiday gifts, and are a great deal at $15 each.  And of course all proceeds go to help us bring our children home from Bulgaria!

National Adoption Day

We want to use this blog to communicate what is happening in our adoption adventure as well as meaningful events in our lives.  Today is National Adoption Day and I wanted to share a link to a story that I felt was important.  Our adoption adventure is at the heart of this story.  There are children in this world who face insurmountable odds if they grow up in an orphanage.  I promise not every post we make will have heart wrenching, tear jerking stories.  This is us after all so there will be plenty of goofiness and amusement.  Please take a moment to read the story and then say a prayer for all those children waiting for a family and the families waiting for them.

http://ht.ly/7IncJ

We have exciting news!!!

As you can tell by the title we are adopting!!!  (insert happy dance here).  We are very excited to start this adventure and we created this blog so that we can share it with all of you. 

Why are we adopting?  We have felt God calling us to this for a number of years now.  Recently we have seen that God has put certain people and interactions in our lives and we know that the time to start is now.

We are adopting internationally and our hope is to adopt a sibling group.  These children are in orphanages and are absolutely beautiful and want nothing more than to be loved and cherished.  We researched numerous countries and programs to find what is the best fit for our family.

We have discussed this as a family and everybody is onboard!  The girls are learning to crochet so that they can help in future fund raising efforts.

We will try to keep this blog updated on a regular basis with news of our current family, where we are in the adoption process and just general stuff.

Please pray for us as we head out on this journey.  The power of prayer is unmeasurable and we are grateful for you following along.

So, pack your virtual bags and saddle up for a wild ride!!  We are expecting turbulence along the way.