Picture Recap

Hello!  I hope after the Holidays I can begin to update more frequently again, but here is a pic recap of a little of what we have been up to.

Please also check out our update on the adoption blog and a prayer request for our son.  www.itsgodsgospel.blogspot.com.

Kitchen Snuggles...The two melt my heart!

 

Dressing up for the Blessing Meal at her School....

Of course Mo wanted in on it too...do you like his new way to smile....

 

(Still) Working on potty training...everyone does it in their snow boots, right??

 

 

Time spent with friends who are family from Texas and Florida

 

 

Annual decorating of the tree in our jammies....

 

Packing snacks, wearing our jammies, and touring lights around town...we do this at least twice a week and they love it!

 

 

Last but certainly not least...We celebrated this beautiful young lady being in our Family.  We cannot believe it has been in five years.  You are a beautiful joy EJ and the funniest girl ever.  We love you forever and thank God for you every day and pray that you grow into the woman he purposed you to be and that you take the hard in life and give it all to him so he can make blessings abound for you and the people you touch.

 

 

Purse made in Guatemala.  Helping build families for special needs orphans in Guatemala.  (more on that in the future)

 

 

 

 

Pure Love.

 

 EJ- 5 1/2

 MO-3 1/2

 

This Just makes me smile

 

 This Just Makes Me Smile Really Big

 

Can't WAIT to add more to these pics and have even more imperfect, but perfect photos....

"God sets the lonely in families....."

Kindergarten

I many reasons for not blogging lately. One reason is the canning season, but that will be over after the weekend. There is lot to update, but for now please be happy with this. :)

My sweet girl started Kindergarten. I have a love/hate feeling about this, but she is loving it and is in great care all day and is being encouraged to grow for the Kingdom while we work. That makes my heart happy. Isn't she cute?



Mr. Mo had to get in on the pic taking too...I love my kids so much



A lot has been going on; hopefully I can sum it all up soon. God Bless.

Bananas

Yep that's right....Bananas

Who knew my next post after such a serious hard and joyous post would be about them, but it is...trying to get back in the swing of things after so much and still so much going on..so we are going light on the post for today.

I started freezing bananas not that long ago. Best thing ever! The grocery around here will have them every once in awhile crammed into these bags for $1.25! It's because they are starting to turn brown and most do not want them. I love them. So for $5 I filled up 4 gallon bags! Cheap y'all!



So far we only use them for smoothies, but they are a great filler and give a very sweet taste which helps stretch my more expensive fruit. Plus I have a child that only eats apple sauce and raisins, so this is a great way for me to get different fruit in him. He thinks they are shakes.



The smoothies are really simple and I hardly measure anymore. We start with vanilla yogurt or plain, raw honey or agave nectar, cinnamon depending on the frozen fruit we use. Throw in fruit....we use bananas, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Put a little milk in and blend. YUMMY! A warning on blueberries though; do not use too many and mix them with other fruit. If you use to many they make the smoothie consistency really funny and jelly and not good. ENJOY!

A Hard Decision

In case you do not follow or adoption blog, I wanted to post this big news here too. Thanks


So I have been pretty MIA in a lot of things lately and it’s time to share one of the reasons. Our family has lot of changes being talked about, being made, and waiting on the Lord to reveal, but one decision we have made just recently has to do with our adoption journey.

If you note our timeline for our journey to adopt from Ethiopia we started thinking in Feb of 2011, and officially signed on in May of 2011. We have been on the wait list for 9 months now, and that wait is still a very, very, long one. We were initially ok with the wait, but felt another path being pressed upon us. We tried to request a change in policy with our current agency about allowing concurrent adoptions, and that became a complicated path. There were times of hope that this could work and we could stay the course as we wait, but it simply didn’t work out.
The short of this all is that we are in the process of terminating our contract with AGCI and stopping our Ethiopian adoption, and then at the same time in the beginnings of starting a new adoption journey domestically. This is the short and simple of it.

To be honest I am not going to share all of the painful, hard details of the change here, but our decision was not made lightly or easily. It was hard and painful, but we know we are where God wants us to be.

A friend of mine who is adopting for the second time said something like this when their journey took a completely different turn…”Sometimes God leads us in one direction only to take us in another.” At the time I read this, this statement made sense but also hit me at a level I didn’t completely understand at the time, until now.

I do not doubt that we will indeed return to Africa to adopt again; in fact we plan on it, but right now God has us here on a journey that is unknown, and to be honest, a little scary.

There are some of you who will no doubt have questions, and I will gladly answer them. I invite you to leave a comment or send me an e-mail at carriestamm@gmail.com. There are just too many things to try and write out and explain on the blog.

Truly I want to end this very sad and hard post with pure joy. Joy in our next step, and request for prayer as we are completely laid bare before our maker and trusting him in this with everything we have. Thank you for your support and love; truly means so much.

As things progress more we will keep you updated on our domestic journey.

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

~ Philippians 4:6

And the winner IS.......

OK, the winner!!!

Our friends, the lovely Ripke family won the $500 give a way!! Plus, Our Awesome friends are splitting the winnings between 3 families adopting, AND they are adding $25 of their own to make it an even split! Seriously, how cool is that??? Love it.

This just warms our hearts, and I have been so excited to see what the Lord was going to do with this money. Just Awesome!

I will IM the families they have designated, and Thanks again for all the support and prayers!

Ryan And Sarah, may God bless you abundantly more for what you have given to his children....

Jeremiah 29:11

Give A Way Update...

There is still a little time to enter if you want or missed out. We will be compling the list of entries later today and then annoucing the winner.

GOD HAS BLESSED US WITH $1,040.00!!!! Thank YOU doesn't quite seem enough, but Thank You.

We still have another $1,960.00 so please prayerfully consider donating.

Check Back later for the winner!

Thanks, and God Bless!

UPDATE-We are GIVING AWAY $500.00!!!!!!!

Give A Way ends tonight!
Monday afternoon update** We are at $825 out of $3,000.00. Please keep the prayers coming and please prayerfully consider sharing this give a way with others and or giving. We can't do this without you,God's army, to help us complete this goal and give a child or children a home. We are humbled by everyone's prayers and thoughts of support and all the generous donations so far. God bless you all!


**Saturday Update** As of 3 p.m. we are at $670 out of $3,000.00 in our give a way! We are humbled by your prayers and generosity. Please continue to pray and help if you can so we can reach our goal by the end of Monday. We Love seeing the Lord move, and cannot wait to see who we can bless back with $500!! Thank YOU!


**UPDATE** So far on day 4 we are at $220 out of $3000.00. I love seeing God move hearts, and I cannot wait to see who he will bless with $500!! There is still time to share, give, and enter, please prayefully consider. Thank YOU!! **

Yep, that’s right; we are giving away $500. This exciting opportunity comes along with some exciting news: WE ARE STARTING ANOTHER ADOPTION!


After much prayer and pursuit of God’s will we are going to start a domestic adoption. While we are so very excited to answer God’s call to care for orphans; we cannot officially start until we raise the initial funds of $3,000.

Now let us tell you how about your chance to win $500.

We are going to give $500 from our “first fruits” to help one blessed donor with their own or someone else’s adoption, their favorite mission or their church/synagogue. We are so very excited to see who God will bless through His gift of donations to our adoption.

There are two steps to enter:

1. Go to Facebook and click like, please post to your face book page, blog, or send an e-mail to all your friends telling of our giveaway. (Just make sure to let me know you are doing this so I can track your entry) You can message me on Facebook, leave a comment on our blog, or send me an e-mail at carriestamm@gmail.com.

2. For every $10 you donate you will receive an entry. So if you donate $50.00 that gives you 5 entries plus a 6th entry for telling your family and friends.

How you can donate?

You can easily donate by going to our adoption blog and clicking on the donate button, and your payment will be processed through PayPal. A donation receipt will be provided after you make it. Blog www.itsgodsgospel.blogspot.com

If you do not want to use PayPal you can mail your donation to P.O. Box 430 Archbold, OH 43502.

Please just leave me a message if you are going this route so I can make sure to count your entry.

Easy Peasy!

Our family is stepping out in faith, but it takes God’s army to give a child a family.
I borrowed this statement from another adoptive Ma Ma, and it is so true! We cannot do this without you.

Adoption is truly not for the faint of heart, and it is not for every family. We have to rely on the Lord completely through the good the bad and sometimes the ugly. We not only need your financial support, but your love and prayers especially. We need support to help heal and love the children with whom God is blessing us. We just couldn't do it without you; truly.

So as hard as it is to ask we are asking for financial, emotional, and even more important your prayer support as we seek God’s will in our next adoption.

Let’s see what the Lord can do and give $500 back to Him as we do it!

Give a way starts today and will end on Monday June, 11th! Winner will be announced sometime on Tuesday, June 12th.

Thank you all so much and God Bless!

Psalm 115: 1-2 Not for our sake, God, no, not for our sake, but for your name’s sake, show your glory. Do it on account of your merciful love, do it on account of your faithful ways.

Strawberry Season! A Jam Fundraiser

It's Strawberry season, and it will be short so you need to act quickly!

We just froze and made some jam out of 5 flats of Strawberries last night.

As a fundraiser for all you local friends I will make your freezer jam for you for a donation to our adoption.

If you are interested send me a message and I will e-mail you what supplies I will need. Then all you need to do is drop off and I will make you the best strawberry jam you have ever tasted. The great thing is this keeps for well over a year in the freezer! carriestamm@gmail.com

Here are some pics to get your taste buds going!

Snap Shot Update

Well a lot of time has passed and life has been crazy busy, but hopefully after next week I will be able to post more frequently. I feel big things in store for our family!

Cutenss I witness every day...so blessed!



Dance Fest in the Kitchen...



Another blessing in church to raise our daughter for the kingdom....



Blessed w/Tickets to Beauty and the Beast...awesome time with my girl.



Surprising the Hubby after the fact w/a cake for his birthday (shh he turned 40)



New Tradition...making resurrection rolls



Easter







Someone needs a sister...nuff said



Our little man, whose smile lights up a room, turned 3! Seriously...where does the time go.





More photos caught on the camera, but enjoy!

Want to help?

Want to help a starving street child in Uganda have food for a day?

Read the link below first. I will be doing this with my children in the next week or so to mail off. If you want to help or give us items to put in the bags, let me know. Thanks!

LINK

Ground Beef Enchilada's

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Beef
Black Beans (I freeze my own, so as much as you like; prob equiv to 1 can)
Bell Pepper (Red, Yellow, or Orange)
Small Onion
1 Large can Enchilada Sauce
Corn Tortillas -Made 16 Enchilada's
1 bag shredded Cheddar Cheese

1. Fry Ground Beef, Chopped Pepper and Onion, When cooked through turn off burner and mix in black beans (I put some onion salt in as I was Frying)

2. While your meat mixture is frying, heat a small fry pan of olive oil on Med/Low setting. When Hot begin frying your corn tortillas...just a few seconds on each side to soften.

You could probably make the meat mixture ahead of time if you want to do this during the week after work or a busy day. I started making this about 5 last night and we were ready to eat about 6:20 which works for us. The kids snack on fruit while this is baking.

3. Pour 1/2 can or less of Enchilada Sauce in Beef mixture; enough to coat and flavor



4. Begin putting meat mixture in tortillas, roll, and place in pan. The pan I use is bigger than a 9x13 because we like leftovers in our house.




5. Once all the tortillas are in the pan, cover with the rest of the enchilada sauce. Make sure all the tops have sauce on them to keep from getting to crunchy while baking.



6. Cover with cheese.




7. Put in 350 degree oven and bake until golden brown and bubbly. About 30-45 minutes. (I forgot a pic of the final product...I was hungry. He He)

**Side Tips and Variations**

1. Ever wonder what to do with that left over Pot Roast Meat...Shred it and put it in This recipe...instead of the pepper and onion just mix some salsa in with the enchilada sauce--Yummers!

2. Sometimes when I make this I will also use a small can of chicken meat too and have both, which you will need more shells. When I do this my pan is a lot fuller and the enchilada's are pushed together more.

3. If you have left over meat mixture you didn't use; freeze it and put in in Velveeta cheese w/salsa for a dip, or put it on a salad for a taco salad.

Weird Weather makes for fun outside!

We have had a strange March...unusually warm to the normal temps for here...Just check it out in the pics...love being outside with the kiddos no matter what temp..