Well, it has been a while since our last update. In November, our two old computers crashed so we are so thankful to have the opportunity to catch everyone up. We've been blessed by many kind words and acts of service from friends and family during this crazy season of our family's life. As you know we brought Hope home from Tennessee in October. Since then we have waited for her adoption to be finalized. This coming Monday(Feb 2) she will become Hope Elizabeth Myaleah Hess. Woohooo!
We are putting Myaleah as her third name b/c other than the spelling change, it was the name her birth mother gaver her. We gave her the name Hope b/c that is what we relied on throughout our fight to win her. God was there the whole time and brought her to us as we believed He would. Now the time has come that she will bare the Hess name!!! She will always know her story and that it is one of God's intervention.
We also want to give an update on Caleb. As many of you know Caleb came to live with us at the end of September. His mother continues to get help for which we are thankful but it has been a pretty hard situation for all of us. In the last couple of months we've started seeing some pretty hard things happen that are affecting our oldest two children. B/c of the closeness in age of Jude and Caleb, we have seen a lot of stress fall on Jude. The other factor has been the amount of time and energy we have needed to work with Caleb. His need for correction and discipline have significantly taken away from our time with Eliza and Jude. After Doug and I have prayed about it, we along with the support of our adoption agency, have made the very hard decision to let Caleb go. In a million years would we would have never expected to be at this point but without sharing all the details it has become necessary for our family. The kids are sad to see Caleb go but we know this is the best for all involved.
CPS said that they are going to work with us to maintain a relationship as Aunt and Uncle and allow Rose to visit him. So, we are looking forward to keeping a relationship with him but allow it to change somewhat.
2008 was a crazy crazy year. We moved twice, my little sister moved in, Caleb came, and Hope was brought to us through adoption. We've seen some wonderful ways that God has brought all of this together, nevertheless it has taken a lot of emotional energy. Please keep Caleb in your prayers as he is such a sweet little boy. We are praying for the right family for him. We know God has a plan and we are hoping to continue to be a part of that.
We'll be able to post some pics very soon. Our camera was dropped recently so this will be a pictureless post! :) We are thankful for all of you!!
