Neighborhood Luminaries

Our neighborhood has a tradition of setting out luminaries one night during the Christmas season.  The Little Princesses loved helping put sand and candles into the bags while Isaac was at basketball practice.

But the REALLY FUN part was to see the end results!  Tikvah and Isaac walked with a neighbor friend and her mother while the rest of us rode in the van.

LOA Wait...

During an adoption one develops an obsession with dates.  We obsessively count the "wait" days between the significant steps.  After checking the wait times for LOA with the other kids, the fact that I am a crazed mama now makes sense.  With the girls it was 46 days, and with Isaac it was 42.  We are now on day 48 with Pat.  (and with the current computer system we'll likely know about 10 days before LOA is issued - nothing in sight)  NO WONDER it seems like something should be happening!  Yes, we were always on the short side of the LOA wait, and at that time the average was 60 days.  The average wait time now is into the 70s.  I may need sedation.  :)

Cincinnati Dragons play their first game!

If I could choose just one thing for Isaac to participate in it would be basketball.  Imagine how thrilled we were when a BRAND NEW ADAPTED LEAGUE was started in our city!  They have been practicing for several weeks now, and today was their very first game.

Isaac was a little nervous when we first arrived.  His coach helped him get his loaner sports chair all set, then it was time for warmups.

They formed their "perfect circle" for a pre-game pep talk.

Meanwhile in the bleachers ... the purple fan club awaited the beginning of the game.

And it is game on!  Isaac is number 5.

We had some WONDERFUL referees.  Our team is very young, as in they just had their first practice on November second and many of them are still learning the rules of the game.  Our refs were so very patient, and they took the time to explain to the kids WHY they made the calls they made.

They also took the time to give encouragement and pointers on how to improve their play.

The dragons played a team that had much more experience and a lot of talent.  We scored our first points in the fourth quarter - it was #5 for the basket!  Yay, Isaac!

Score!

I am so thankful to coaches Jake and Ian for the many, many hours they sacrifice to encourage our kids.  I have never seen Isaac as excited about anything - EVER - as he was following today's game.

Here is our weekly update on the matching grant. We have just passed the half way point in meeting our requirements for the matching grant. In order to receive the full grant we still need $1245 postmarked by Friday, December 11 - just one week! 

Thank you to all who have helped us make it to this point! If you'd like to help us meet this goal, please include our name on the OUTSIDE of the envelope only - do not put our name on the check itself. Send to:

Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.

Ethan and Randy Lanz

18318 Mimosa Court

Gardner, KS 66030

Thank you!

Decorating the Tree

Oh the excitement as the tree is untied and readied to decorate!

Every year we add ornaments to each child's personal collection.  Isaac even had a few that we had gotten him last year in preparation for his homecoming.  He was surprised that he had a box with ornaments!  So many of our lights had burned out that after the personal ornaments went on we took a break until the next day so we could get a few more lights.

Decorating resumed the following morning. When a wheelchair and walker are added into the mix, decorating gets a little bit more crowded and confusing, but everyone got involved and had fun.

Jen is a REALLY hard worker, and she stayed on to fuss with ornaments long after the other kids had called it, "good enough."

What we are hoping for this Christmas is our LOA from China!  We hope you all have a blessed Christmas season!

O Christmas Tree!

It has been a tradition in our family for about thirty years now to cut a Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving.  The two little princesses wait for everyone else to be ready to go.

On our way to the tree farm!

Tree farms aren't very wheelchair friendly, but with team work we got the job done!  Everyone got a turn to cut the tree.

 

Less than 2 weeks to hit the goal

At the end of October we got the good news that our family had been awarded a dollar for dollar matching grant up to $2500!  In order to receive the full grant it has to be matched however.  With less than two weeks to go our fund stands at $510.

If you would like to help us meet our $2500 goal to meet this match, (and be involved in the Tag His Bag fun) please send your donation made payable to "Hand in Hand Christian Adoption" and postmarked by December  11.  For tax purposes please include our name on the OUTSIDE of the envelope only - do not put our name on the check itself.  Send to:

Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.
Ethan and Randy Lanz
18318 Mimosa Court
Gardner, KS 66030

If you have any questions concerning this grant you may contact Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc. They can be reached at 913-248-5015 or by email at handinhandadopt@gmail.com .  

Thank you for your prayers as we continue to work towards Pat's homecoming!