Cider Pressing and Home Study all in one weekend

Howdy folks. Incredible weekend. We received the rough draft of our home study on Friday which was followed by the updated version of our home study contract on Saturday. We had the chance to review the contents of the twenty page home study document this weekend and will send it back to our caseworker in the morning for her to review. Her goal is to send it onto the agency in Virginia by Thanksgiving. Once this is approved we will send in our I-600 application. Moving forward..praise the Lord. Thanks for your prayers and words of encouragement as we continue to slowly meander through this process.


We did some cider pressing this weekend which will be the last of the season.
Our neighbor has an old press from the 1800's which just adds to the beauty of the experience.
I don't think I have ever tasted such yummy cider in my whole life.


As for other happenings, not all that much to report. We are just enjoying each others company as we prepare to hunker down for the long winter ahead. We have already broken into the hot cocoa, the wool sweaters, and I will soon be putting my bike away for the winter. Randy on the other hand will ride through the winter with his studded tires. He is so hard core.

Lastly, Grayson asked if we could go to Jerusalem today. I told him that would be a pretty expensive trip and we would have to save for a long time. He chimed in, "After we go and get the baby in Rwanda, then we can start saving to visit Jerusalem." I asked why he wanted to visit there and he remarked, "That's where Jesus was and I would like to go someplace that Jesus visited as well." So maybe we will be heading to Jerusalem sometime in the future. Who knows where our footsteps will take us.

The weekend

Finally a weekend where we can be a little lazier than usual, no major running around to speak of, hot cider on the stove, pizza dough rising... I am Laura Ingalls or so I like to imagine. I love nothing more than snuggling up with my warm cup of whatever and reading about this time period, fictionally of course. Jeanette Oke has done a beautiful job of capturing me through her Love Comes Softly series which I am almost finished with book 4 of 8. If you are looking for a little break from the day to day you are facing, I cannot recommend another book so full heartily. I think you'll love it.

As many of you know, I recently returned from a visit with my parents in Las Vegas. Here they are at Valley of Fire cuddling.



Here I am climbing about because thirty is the new twenty. I had a close call on one of the sandstone structures and began sliding rapidly, but thankfully caught myself on a ledge. Will gear up next time.



Going to get back to crocheting a blanket. I promise to share something when we hear from the home study folks. Lifting it up!

Coffee Anyone?

Alright, so I have got some very exciting news for all of you who like coffee...no love coffee. We have a fantastic opportunity to raise a few additional funds by selling some really good coffee. Please stop by our storefront at http://www.justlovecoffee.com/thestahleys From here you can purchase fair trade coffee or other delightful products. For every pound of coffee and T-shirt we sell, we receive $5.00 toward our adoption. What's even more incredible is that we can continue up to a year after the adoption is complete. Woo Hoo! It is possible to do a one time purchase by clicking on the individual bag on the lower section of the screen. The shipping is the same for two bags and what we have done is signed up to receive 2 bags every other month. So please share this link with your friends, your kin folk, or anyone that just likes a good cup of coffee.

Fall is slipping away and winter is sneaking in behind. We actually had flurries here today. Not sure how I feel about that, but with each season that passes, we are just a bit closer to meeting our little one. No new news on the adoption front. Please pray for our home study as it sits in limbo while we wait for our home study agency contract to be revamped to state all the specifics that need to be stated. It has been 10 weeks since we have completed our final meeting. I have not felt one bit anxious because the Lord has been carrying any raw emotion that attempts to seep in. He is soooooo good!