Corn is Good!

Emma and I spent the day freezing sweet corn with my mom, grandma and grandpa. I remember when I was a kid we used to do this every August. My brother and I would help husk the corn out by the garden but our favorite part of the day was eating the "corn logs." Those are the bits of corn that are left in chunks when you cut the corn off the cob after blanching it. Yum Yum! Today we froze 54 quarts of sweet corn. My grandpa said it was a record for him. So that must really be a lot. It was so fun for me to have Emma experience this with my grandparents. Growing up in the country, things like this were such a big part of my childhood. I love that Emma got to experience it for the first time this summer. She had so much fun husking the corn. She picked every little hair off the ear. Of course, she really loved eating the corn logs. She also snuck over to the raspberry bushes for a mid-morning snack. I must admit that I couldn't resist the little red jewels myself. It was a great day that we can remember every time we pull out a bag of great-grandpa's juice sweet corn this winter.

Emma and Great-Grandpa picking the corn

Corn is good!

Emma with Grandma Ross...again eating corn.

A Miracle...and his name is Jack!

This spring, Matt and I began to consider the possibility of adopting again. After several weeks of research, prayer, number crunching and more prayer, we decided that it just wasn't going to happen. We came to the conclusion that by the time we could a) afford another adoption and b)wait for the process to happen Emma would be about 7 and there would be too large of an age gap between the kids. We decided not to adopt again and eventually became at peace with the fact that Emma was going to be an only child. Emma is our miracle and we would be a happy family of 3.

Then this week, God did another miracle. He has put it on the heart of another to provide the funding for an adoption. I almost fell off the couch when I was told the news. I can only imagine that it was like waking up one morning and discovering that you are pregnant. I was in complete shock! This was not even on our radar and now we are going to have another child.

Matt has always wanted a son and since going to Malawi in 2006 he has had a desire in his heart to bring that son home from Africa. So, that is what we are going to do. We are going to adopt a baby boy from Rwanda. Unfortunately, Holt does not work in Rwanda at this time but America World does. It is kinda funny actually. Back in 2005 when we were first looking into adopting from China, America World was our agency of choice. It is also the agency that our dear friends Craig and Julie used to adopt their little Ivy from China. We know that we will be well taken care of through this brand new process. There have only been a handful of adoptions from Rwanda in the past few years so this time we are helping to blaze the trail.

We are hoping to submit our initial application in the next week or two and then begin the paper pregnancy all over again...this time the wait is only 12-15 months though! At least it better stay that way!