Halloween Fun

Since life has been absolutely nuts lately I have some catching up to do for documenting purposes.  This is just a little bit of what our fall festivities were like this year.  First we hit up Halloween at the Zoo like we have done every year.  Sadly, we usually do this with Abbey and her girls, but Presley was sick : (  We met Kim and Will at the zoo and I must say we had the CUTEST cowgirl, unicorn, and Elmo around!

Next came our trip to Huber's Farm to pick our pumpkins.  Our trip started out with some rain, but it ended quickly.  Honestly, I will take a little wind and rain if it means I can go during the week and miss out on the crazy crowds.  I can be anti-social  ;)  The girls had a great time petting the animals and it was so much fun to watch.  Hadley really got into it this year, and she and Camy ran all around the pumpkin patch. Aside from watching the kids my favorite part was the fried biscuits and homemade apple butter!

 Trying on Witches hats

 Camy needed and evil bird with hers

 Dad and Hadley

 She liked the big one!

 Miss. Independent did not want to be held

 Sticking her tongue out

 Cheesing with Daddy

 The girls

 Hadley is going to hook these goats up!

 Camy watching her beloved peacocks

 Too funny not to post!

 Going down the big slide

 A bicycle built for four

Fun with Dad

And lost but not least, we trick-or-treated at my mom's house.  We ate chili and let the kids have pretty much whatever they wanted.  Hadley was a pro at trick-or-treating!  She would walk up to the door with her chubby little unicorn belly, hold her bag open, and say "Tweet!"  Too cute for words!!  Of course she did not want to ride in the stroller or be carried.  Her little 18 month old legs walked all around the neighborhood.  Will and Camy did really well too and had tons on candy to show for it. We had a great time!

December Update

We are now #46 on the wait list!! Very encouraging to move up 8 spots and for 10 orphans to get referred to their forever families. The best part is one of those referrals was for the my best friend!! I cannot wait for the Petersen's to meet their daughter and for her to meet her precious parents. It's pretty much the next best thing to us getting a referral! God is good ALL the time....... even while we wait and wonder.
More posting to come about our move, Thanksgiving, and life for the Burt's.

Big News

I know our blog has kind of been a ghost town lately, with only the occasional tumbleweed rolling through, but it has been for good reason.  Life has been crazy with a capital C.  We have been praying about Josh's future with his current employer for over a year now.  He loves where he works but wanted to advance and we just weren't sure if that was going to happen.

Let me back up a little and say that back in May he was asked to apply for a sales manager position in Omaha, NE.  Talk about knocking me backward when he comes home with that new location for our family.  I have never lived outside of Kentucky and only lived outside of the Louisville area for 3 years of college.  That is just how my family does it.  Everyone lives here. We get together for all the holidays, your cousins are your first friends and you get to see them often.  It's common for Papaw to stop by announced or not and bring goodies, help with projects around the house, or just visit.  Mamaw does everyone's hair so we have no clue what it would cost to have someone foil your entire head, wax your eyebrows, or listen to what's on your heart. That is the only way of life I've ever known and was very comfortable and happy that my kids would have the same.

So back to Omaha.  This hit me like a ton of bricks.  I knew what I as supposed to say and what my role would look like in this, but my emotions were not on board.  I cried for a solid day after I told Josh that if he felt the Lord wanted us there, then He would get us there so go ahead and apply.  Long story short, that was not where God wanted our family.  Thank you, Jesus.

Fast forward to mid September and we are presented with another opportunity.  This time it's a sales manager position in St. Louis.  Much better location, but remember all that stuff about cousins and comfort, well that is still a factor in this move.  The tears were not flowing like last time and with more confidence I said I was supportive and for Josh to apply if he felt God wanted us there.  After some waiting, Josh was officially offered the job last Wednesday.  I am so proud of this huge accomplishment and all the hard work he's put forth to get there.  I know he will be an amazing manager and leader to his team.  I also know that the Lord has called ALL of us to this.  This is my source of comfort and peace.

I have had many moments of sadness, fear, and anger so please know that I haven't dealt with all of this in the best of ways.  However, I have been digging into God's word, praying, and having great friends pray as well and I can honestly say that it is getting easier every day.  Every day I am preparing the house to show, raising the girls, cooking meals, trying to organize our life so that this transition can be as easy as possible.  I hate to think what all of that would look like without the Lord.....can you say scarey!!!   Our house went on the market late Thursday so somehow we were able to get it ready in a week; Thank you God.  Next we need someone to buy it so that we can buy another house in St. Louis.  I am tempted to worry and be anxious about this but God's word knows the truth, not my crazy emotions.  Nothing is too hard for God.  He spoke the universe into existance so how easy it will be for him to send us the perfect buyer and find us the perfect new place to call home.  This is what I know is true. I'm telling you this, because I'm telling myself this daily if not hourly!

So there you go the big news.  The Burt's are moving to St. Louis at the end of November.  Our next little girl will come home from Ethiopia to St. Louis.  Lots of Camy and Hadley's memories will be made in St. Louis.  My biggest prayer is that God will make it clear to us why we are there and use our family for His kingdom.  I pray for an easy transition and for godly friends and a good church home.  I pray for all our family and friends since this effects everyone. I pray I can always remain thankful even when this is hard because God is truly so good.

October Update

For those of you who read September's update you may be thinking, "Isn't that the same number they had last month?"  Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!  Sadly, yes, we did not move up on the wait list for our baby girl.  August was full of updates and postings of referrals and September just wasn't.  In fact you could hear the cyber crickets chirping, but that's just how it goes sometimes. 

I am a little sad about this, but not totally crushed. There has been so much going on in our lives lately that this number is put into perspective.  (Posts to come about the latest happenings).  I am giving everything, especially our adoption to the Lord.  I know everything has always been His and anything I thought I controlled was a big fat joke.  My worrying and planning, my calculations and thoughts are all from such a limited point of view.  And to be quite honest the physical and emotional toll of all my "fake control" is getting to be too much.  So there you go.  I'm refusing to worry for my daughter.  I'm refusing to calculate when I think she may be home and if I need an extra Easter basket or Christmas stocking.  I just can't do it. . . not today at least.   I don't know if I will be able to say this tomorrow or in an hour, but right now I am clinging to His promises.  I wish I could say this was my plan since I'm uber spiritual, but it's really just because it's all I'm capable of right now.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  2 Corinthians 12:9

Have Some Compassion

Since starting our adoption journey, and even before we began this process, my heart has always been for children.  They truly are humanity in it's purest form.  So innocent, trusting, helpless, and priceless.  I have prayed to have my heart broken for the things that break God's heart and some days it is too much to bare.  The sadness in this world is crushing.  But once you get out of the fetal position and dry your tears (If a person were to do that...), you become bold.  Bold, that because of Christ living in you, you can make a difference.  Maybe not for everyone, but for at least one.

 If you think back to your childhood  maybe it was wonderful or maybe it is something that holds a lot of pain for you.  Mine was a mixture of both, but through God's amazing grace here I am.  Growing, learning, changing, and most importantly walking with Christ to try and be just a little bit like him.  He rescued me from bad situations and saved me from my own sin.  In that process he sent me so many people at just the right time and in just the right ways to get me to Him.  There were people who filled my belly and people who invited me to church. There were people who kept me safe and people who assured me that I could be forgiven.  Do you think you could be that person for someone? 

Right now there is a wonderful opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ through Compassion International.  September is Blog Month for them and they are trying to get 3,108 children sponsored.  Right now they are 881 short.  881 faces with beating hearts and sweet eyes looking to people like us to help them at just the right time and in just the right ways.  Click the link below and you can search for children from specific countries, ages, and birthdays.  You can help provide financially for food, clothes, education, and more.  You also correspond with your child through pictures and letters so you provide for some of their emotional needs as well.  You can encourage them and reassure them with each letter of your love and God's love for them.  Please prayerfully consider if this is the way God wants you to care for the least of these.  I guarantee your heart will be blessed by them, just a much as your sponsorship blesses them.  This is also a great way to show your kids how to live out their faith and invest in someone else!

Link to Compassion International
http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/sponsor.htm?referer=112698

HERE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE SWEET CHILDREN;

To sponsor Nathaniel in Bangladesh click below;

He has been waiting for a sponsor for 421 and lives in

an area with high risk of exploitation and abuse

http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/child-biography.htm?needKey=BD5060249

To Sponsor Margaret in Tanzania click the link below;

She lives in and AIDS infected area and is in an

area with high risk to exploitation and abuse

http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/child-video-biography.htm?needKey=TZ2520106

 

 

To sponsor Anitha in India click the link below;

She lives in a area at high risk for exploitation and abuse

http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/child-biography.htm?needKey=IN1940141

 

To sponsor Agung in Indonesia click the link below:

http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/child-biography.htm?needKey=IO5840185

 

 

Please leave a comment below if you sponsor a child, I would love to know and pray for you and your sponsored child!!!

 

Family Vacation!!

We just got back from a fun filled week in Myrtle Beach, so I have to document the vacation!  A few months ago we decided to take a little family trip once all the big kids started school and the rates were cheaper.  To be honest we struggled with this a little since we are saving for our adoption, but it boiled down to, do we make memories with the kids God has already given us or do we save?  The choice became very clear when we were told our referral timeline was bumped up from 6-9 months when we first applied, to 11-12 months at the time our dossier was received in Ethiopia.  So we went for it, and I'm so glad we did!
We started out on our long drive on Sunday, after Josh and I returned from Empowered to Connect on Saturday night (Blog post coming soon on this amazing event!!).  Hadley couldn't make it the entire way since by the time you have potty breaks, lunch, and dinner it would have been well over 12 hours, so we stopped for the night in Ashville, NC.  Monday morning we made it to the beach! Can I just say, seeing the ocean, smelling the ocean, hearing the ocean does my heart all kinds of good.  I could live at the beach, no problem. It only requires my entire family to agree to move as well : )
We had a great time, even though it was only really sunny on our last day.  We still went to the pool, beach, baby pool, and lazy river everyday.  Usually after lunch Hadley would nap and then we would all get ready to go out to dinner.  We did venture out to Ripley's Aquarium, Broadway at the Beach, and we may have gotten ice cream more than once ; )  Cameryn absolutely loved everything and had no fear when it came to playing in the waves of the ocean.  I delegated that task to Josh since during the short time I took her out a piece of seaweed clung to my leg and I screamed leaving my three year old to fall on her butt and fend for herself! Not a proud moment. Hadley did okay. We joked saying that she is "travel size" but does not travel well.  She was either really happy or really unhappy on our trip.  She liked the pool sometimes, the ocean every now and then, and the sand for a little while.  I was very impressed that she wasn't really a bit afraid of the ocean.  She put her tiny feet right in the surf and would splash her hands in the water. It was so precious so see our tiny girl next to the enormous ocean and know that God made them both.
We had a great week making family memories and showing our girls lots of beautiful things that God made.  We drove through the mountains, played at the beach, looked at the moon, listened to the waves, and examined incredible creatures at the aquarium.  I am so thankful for these things and for getting to see it all through the eyes of my kids.

 Riding the luggage, ready to hit the road to the beach!

 Happy to be out of the car

 Sisters

 I can never get them both to smile at the same time!

 Precious Grandparents

 Our little fish

 Baby pool time

 Hadley's first time at the beach

 I LOVE this picture

 Camy loving the waves

 Family pic

 Staying afloat in the living room

 Camy holding a horseshoe crab

 Pretending to be scared at the dinosaur exhibit

 "Ish!"

 Daddy and Hadley inside the puffer fish tank

 "No feeding the animals!"

 Riding rides at Broadway at the Beach

 

Happy Girl!