Daddy/Daughter Fun

This past Monday I had the privilege of escorting my two beautiful daughters to their Valentines party with their American Heritage Girls Troop.  We were able to spend time with our friends the Murray's, do the Waltz (we so rocked it!!), do some crafts and the best part (according to them) was to have dessert for dinner!  Here are some pictures of our special night:

It was great to see so many fathers there with their daughters.  I hope and pray that there is a movement in society where we as fathers are raising our daughters to have integrity and honor themselves as Daughters of God.  We all know there are too many absentee fathers in the world to their children.  It all starts with us.  We have been given a great gift as parents, but also a great responsibility.  It is one that we can only do with the help of our Heavenly Father!

Until next time....

Midwest weather!!

What a week we have had weather wise.  We were basking in the low 50's and lots of sunshine, then heavy rains, and in a matter of days we were experiencing below zero wind chills and white out conditions due to very high winds.  Where we live some of the wind gusts were reported at 60+ mph.  The old saying about the weather in Indiana is true, "If you don't like it, stick around a minute and it will change!"

We have been looking at profiles of children that are on the waiting list.  Most of these children are above a certain age and absolutely precious.  I find myself saying a prayer for each of them as I read about them.  We may not be able to bring them all home, but at least there is one more person in the world who is praying for them.  If you find yourself with a spare moment, please say a prayer for all orphans!

I know God has already chosen what children He has for us.  We look at this journey as one where we need to build our trust and faith in the Lord.  So many folks who have been through the process have shared tremendous stories of how their faith was tested, but that the Lord provided for them when it was needed.  As humans I think we have a very difficult time not being in control, I know I do!!  I pray that I will let go of the anxiety and worries attached with this journey and just follow the path laid out before us.  God Bless you all!!

Until next time..... 

A Time of Transition and Decisions

Where has the time gone??  Since our last post it has seemed as if time has just been slipping through our fingers.

I promised this blog would not only be about our adoption journey, but our lives as well.  I start with sad news.  Last Friday, my father passed away.  He was 66 years old and I know that he is in heaven with my Mom and no longer has to worry about his health issues.  I know, trust, and believe that God has taken care of him.  During this difficult time, Kim and I were touched by how many people reached out to us with kind words, support and help.  We are truly blessed by knowing all of you!

A hard transition but onto our adoption.  We have narrowed our choices for an agency down to three.  Everyone we have spoken to has been friendly, knowledgeable and professional.  What separates agencies for us has been the references of other adoptive families.  Some agency references never got back with us, some were so-so, and other sang their agency's praises from the roof tops.  We try to take all of this in stride and look through the negatives and positives to see how they would effect us.  For those of you we have reached out to, we are grateful for you for having taken the time to respond to our inquires and questions.

Our goal now is to have an agency by the end of February and start the next steps.  Fundraising has gone fairly well with the bracelets Kim has made.  So far we have sold 20+ and she continues to make new designs.  They would make great Valentines Day gifts guys, hint, hint lol.  Let us know if you are interested.

The girls are in full swing with homeschooling, dance class and American Heritage Girls!  We are so proud of them and the God loving hearts they have.  I can't wait to see what He has in store for them.  Until next time....

A New Year!

2012 was a good year for our family.  We were blessed to make some amazing new friends, travel, spend time together as a family, spend time with very dear friends and their families and heard the call to expand our family through the gift of adoption.  We truly look at this as if we are the ones being blessed!

New Years Eve got a little rowdy here, lol.  It was a fun filled night of pigs in the blanket, sweet potato fries and laughter!

Our beloved puppy Charlie turned a year old on NYE!

He is cute, mischievous, and a bundle of pure, raw energy!

New Years Day we just relaxed and enjoyed being together as a family.  There was no rush to get anywhere, which we love.  I do miss the days when New Years Day was dedicated to college football.  I am not a fan of spreading out all of the games over two to three weeks.

Later in the week, our awesome friends the Murray's brought me back a little treat from Kentucky!  ALE81 brings back childhood memories of riding down to Brownie's Market in Lebanon, IN on my bike during the summer and enjoying this sweet drink!

The response to our bracelets has been awesome and humbling!!  I want to thank everyone who has ordered them.  We have a couple being delivered this week to Bulgaria!  We can't wait to take some ourselves!  Below are some of the new designs Kim has done.  If you are interested please contact us at our email:  kimdavid2@att.net.

 

We hope and pray that all of you have a blessed and prosperous 2013!!

Love,

The Nicely's

 

 

 

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!