Excitement is really setting in with court TOMORROW!!! We hope to be picking up Sally to bring her home FOREVER in about a month. We are still a little short on the funds needed for travel. We have one last fundraiser to help cover what is left. Check out our auction on our adoption facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1625692801017402.1073741832.1544578859128797&type=1&l=bc36ddd90f
Check out some of these awesome items!

Well, another round of harvest is done. We had a pretty good millet harvest minus a few fields that were hailed on. We are now preparing for milo, corn, and pearl millet.

Towards the end of millet harvest we learned Jeremiah could not be in the fields. We thought he had a cold, sinus infection, or something of the sort but learned it was entirely allergies. He had a severe reaction to melons also. After a trip to an allergist we learned he is allergic to basically everything and has to be on a couple medicines to keep his symptoms under control.

We were beginning to wonder what was going on with getting a court date for our adoption. We were seeing people with timelines a couple weeks later than us with court and we still hadn't heard a thing. I already felt like I was being a pest emailing every couple weeks for an update but when I saw others with dates I amped it up. Today we got word that we have court October 27th. This means we should have our sweet girl home before Christmas if all goes well. She may even be home for her fourth birthday!

We are so excited to have the end in sight and be so close to bringing our daughter home. We are very close on our funding and believe we are less than $1000 from being fully funded. This number, however, may change depending on travel costs. The closer we get to the holidays the higher airline tickets get.

God Bless

When we got home we hit the ground running. We had just enough time to get unpacked and have Josiah's 6th birthday party before harvest began. Josiah asked for a dragon cake. So, me not known to back down from a challenge went to work baking cakes to build a mountain and put a dragon on top of it. Of course this would not be enough so I also made the dragon shoot flames (OK, it was actually a sparkler designed for cakes). While constructing the cake the mouth fell twice before I finally figured it out. I piped on each scale also. It was a frustrating cake but was well worth it. Josiah thought his fire breathing dragon was the coolest!

During harvest I was packing 5 lunches/dinners for on the combines sitting on a combine all day to get home around 10pm and get up at 5:30 the next morning to start again. Harvest lasted just under two weeks and we were all ready for it to be done. I was also working on adoption paperwork. I wasn't letting anything slow down the process of getting our sweet girl home. All of our paperwork made it in before August but not soon enough to get through before the August shutdown. So, now we wait for the government to be back at work to continue processing our adoption so we can go get our daughter soon.

We went on an electronics fast for the month of July. It was a great time spent as family and not wrapped up in everything else of the world. We were able to bond and talk and just enjoy each other without the distractions and especially without the fits for having TV limited which isn't anything new. Our kids have never been allowed to have free reign of the TV but for some reason they were beginning to think they should and were getting very hateful about it. We decided if that was the reason for their nasty behavior it would just be unavailable for a while. I would recommend a fast to everyone even if it is just for one night. Pull out a game and enjoy your children and their laughter!

I hope to have more updates for you soon!
God Bless

Oh my!!! Where to begin??? I probably should have posted updates while we were in country, but I guess at this point the best place to begin is at the beginning.

We started our adventure late Friday morning. We dropped of Cat (Yes, my daughter really named her cat Cat) then we were off to drop off the kids with my parents. After eating lunch and spending a couple hours with them we were off for Denver with a teary goodbye. This also happened to be our 5th anniversary so we took advantage of the time alone to go eat a nice dinner while it was still hot! Then it was off to bed to be at the airport at 2:30 am and be off to meet our daughter.

We made it through check-in and security without a hitch then off to our gate to wait. I was not a flier when I started and was starting to get used to it by the end. We missed our last connection and there was not another flight until the next day which we had to be there to meet with the director by then. So, we hopped on a bus and across the country we went. We saw some beautiful scenery and in the end we were thankful we missed our last flight.

Our translator met us at the station and took us to the hotel to check in and get settled then to dinner. We were definitely feeling the jet lag at dinner. I know I felt like I was in a haze.

The next morning we were off to the orphanage. After a short meeting with the social workers and the director we were taken up to meet our sweet Sally. They had been preparing her for us and so, she immediately came to my arms yet was still a little unsure. They had some activities planned for her to show us what she could do. She is an amazing, strong-willed, determined, and independent little girl. We then took her out in the courtyard to play. When lunch rolled around she said Mama had to feed her. While I know it was a control thing for her it still made me feel good. We left while she took her nap then came back around 3:30. We played inside and on the balcony for the afternoon. We learned little miss loves to blow bubbles. The day had gone so well they decided we could take her from the home the rest of the week!! This is almost unheard of for children in orphanages.

The next morning we picked her up at 9. We went to a walking museum and saw some of the amazing history and master craftsmen at work. We then went to lunch then took her back to our hotel room for a nap. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with her in our hotel room until we had to take her back at 6.

On Wednesday we took her to the zoo and then to a park to play in the morning. She enjoyed seeing the animals and was mimicking the names we would say. She really didn't get very excited about the animals. Then once again ate lunch then went back to our room for a nap and an afternoon of playing.

Thursday  we decided to do some shopping and hit the tourist information office to gather more information about the country and some of the sights we had seen. Once we were done we went to a small outdoor play area to let her play until it was time to head back to our room.

Our last day to spend time with her we decided to stay at the orphanage to maximize the amount of time we could have with her. So we spent much of the time playing with musical toys, blocks, and bubbles. It was very difficult when they came and said it was time for her to go to lunch and we needed to say goodbye. We left her with some gifts including a baby doll from her sister and a blanket that I made for her. We then went to the notary office to sign all of our paperwork to continue with the adoption.

This week solidified for us that Sally is our daughter and her personality will fit wonderfully with our family dynamic. The caregivers were afraid we would be turned away by her stubbornness and bossiness. We replied that she is a normal three year old and that we have three at home that are the same way. After the paperwork was signed we were off to the coast. This is the only time that Chris and I had completely alone without our translator. It was wonderful. We walked to the beach and Chris swam and I waded. Then back to the hotel to get to bed early for another early morning at the airport.

We made it through the airport with ease and had no issues until we reach Minneapolis. Going through customs was a breeze. But, then we learned that our bags had been short checked so by the time we had them checked to Denver again it was to late for them to make the plane even though we made it without issue.  But it was our last leg and I was ready to be back in Colorado and see my other kiddos. We stayed the night with a friend and then stopped back at the airport to get our bags on our way home.

Sally was so much more than I could have ever imagined and it makes it so much more difficult to wait to be invited back to pick her up. The next five months or so I will make it through looking at the pictures and videos we took on our wonderful meetcha trip!
God Bless!

This is a picture she took of her daddy.

What a week it has been definitely full of its highs and lows. I had a wedding cake this week which kept me busy. Boy was that topper heavy.

We were blessed to receive a $5000 grant. If you look to the right you will see we are only about $3000 from being fully funded! God has provided every step of the way and is continuing to do so. We are getting everything gathered and ready to go meet our sweet girl. The day is almost here that we get to go over and excitement is setting in.

It has been wonderful this spring having extra time with Chris. Since May 1st we have had over eight inches of rain which keeps him out of the field. We have been able to do many fun things as a family and knock out many little projects that have needed done.

As I said this week was full of highs and lows, guess it's time for the lows. On Monday I found a tick on Jeremiah. I removed it and cleaned the bite. On Thursday he was acting sluggish and just out of sorts and I woke up and knew I had a sinus infection. So, it was off to the doctor for us. At the time he did not have any other symptoms and the doctor couldn't find anything wrong, but decided to treat him as a precaution for lyme disease and gave me meds for my sinus infection. The very next day the bullseye rash appeared on Jeremiah. Glad I took him in. We were told the earlier you catch it the easier it is to treat. On Friday Josiah also ended up with an ear infection. Now to pray everyone is healthy before we leave.

Until next time, God Bless!

This has been a crazy week with meetings, the last week of school (even though my kids aren't there), graduations this weekend and trying to prepare for our first trip.





I was asked to make two graduation cakes and 150 cupcakes and 150 cookies. My house was neglected, children banned from the kitchen and to work I went. Now that they are delivered I can breath again and get back to preparing for our trip.

After my husband received a couple very generous birthday presents we have what we need to be able to travel and pay all the fees we currently have due. God's blessing continue as when we got our travel dates we were still $2500 short.

The nerves are setting in for me now. This sounds silly but is true. I am terrified of flying. Yes, I am adopting internationally and am scared to fly. Including layovers we are looking at 28 hours. Having the cakes to keep me distracted for another week ended up being a good thing and next week I have a wedding cake that should help distract. I can't keep myself distracted forever because eventually I will have to pack the pile in the office and let it set in that I will be getting on a plane. I keep reminding myself it is to meet my daughter and nothing is going to stand between me and her! This silly fear will not hold me back.

With our official referral we also received an updated picture. Hopefully it won't be to many more months before I can share her pictures with you instead of the randomness from our crazy life.

I have been keeping busy making items to sell to help cover costs. I recently finished a baby blanket and hope to have some weighted blankets done soon. They are slow go putting filling each row then stitching, filling, stitching...you get the idea.

Until next time,
God Bless!

As you know we were blessed to be chosen as one of April's 5/5/5 families. The goal for the month was $3,110 and with your help we exceeded that goal!

I have felt like God was preparing us for the next step as we were starting to see money coming in again and in previous steps of the adoption requiring a payment we had it right before we needed it. Well, today I received an email inviting us to meet our sweet girl. I can't wait to be able to go over and meet her and tell her she has a mommy and daddy! We are about $2500 short of what we need for trip one. We have many items for sale on our facebook page and we have to shirt fundraisers that end this week. Check them out!
MOM www.bonfirefunds.com/stum-family-adoption
DAD www.bonfirefunds.com/stum-family-adoption-1

It will still be several months before we get to bring her home. The last leg of the adoption will take about 4-6 months.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

Well another week has slipped past us that our daughter sits in an orphanage. Another week that went past just waiting for them to tell me I can go meet her, scoop her up and tell her she has a mommy and daddy who love her, want to get her home as quick as they can, and show her the love of family.

Our last paperwork has been in for awhile and all we can do is wait and pray. We get by trusting that God is in control of this entire process and his love for our sweet girl far exceeds what our love ever could be.

This week is a big week in our household. We celebrated Chris and Jeremiah's birthdays this week. The night I went into labor with Jeremiah I got a countdown to midnight  so Chris could have a birthday buddy. Jeremiah waited until morning to have his own day.

Hopefully I will have more adoption news to report next week and we will be starting the next leg of this journey.

God blesses abundantly, all we have to do is look. His blessings come in so many forms, they come in time spent with family, new pets, friends that are there, protection, and so much more. We felt with the adoption as far as it is and since we will be traveling soon it was important to get some quality time with our children.

We went on a mini vacation (one night in Colorado Springs). It was wonderful. We found an inexpensive hotel with an indoor water slide. We went to a Sky Sox game on fireworks night, and to Focus on the Family. If anyone is looking for a vacation on a budget I would highly recommend this! The time spent together just having fun without life's interruptions was a blessing to us.

It helped us to spend time with our kids without the stress and hecticness that can surround us. We can get so consumed in our lives with work, bills, meetings, adoption that we forget to take time with our children. And more so quality time. We always eat dinner at the table to have time together but when it becomes rushed because of meetings it begins to lose its value.

It is also way to easy to let the stress of life interfere with the interactions we have with our children. When we are stressed or frustrated they feel  it. They need time without that frustration to truly open up to you and enjoy being your child and for you to enjoy your child. It is hard to enjoy someone when your mind is preoccupied.

This vacation was one of our blessings from God this week. After a stressful frustrated week we were given the opportunity to unwind, relax, enjoy, and love each other as a family.

Through this process we have met the occasional person that has nothing but negative things to say about us adopting. It seems in recent that those people are increasing in number and I felt like people should know a few things about adoption (or at least ours).
1) We weren't ready!
       So many times God's plans differ from what we think is right for us. We wanted to wait until we could afford to adopt. We now know that if we waited until everything lined up and was the perfect time to adopt we never would have. God has used this to teach us to trust Him in all things. Every fee has been paid and much of the money wasn't there until the day before it was due.
2) I don't feel equipped!
       I am a stay at home mom of three young children. I home school the older two. We have a farm where we grow primarily wheat and millet that takes a good portion of my time during harvest. I wanted my kids to be a little older so they could help around the house more. If God brings you to it He will bring you through it. In the short amount of time since we started the adoption process my kids have gotten better at helping around the house, keeping things picked up, and doing school with fewer arguments. God has shown me that dependence on Him makes my days a lot easier to get through.
3)Sometimes I want to quit!
      In my moments of human weakness I want to just quit! When people have nothing but negative to say, there is a fee coming due, and paperwork got sent back because it wasn't just right I want to quit. Then, I remember that beautiful little girl sitting in an orphanage without a mommy and daddy to love her. I remember this is God's plan not my own and if I lean on Him He will be faithful to give me the strength and endurance to make it through. God has already put love in my heart for her and I know it will continue to grow as we continue this process and finally meet her and then finally bring her home officially as our daughter.

I'm sure I could list more if I had more time to sit here.
Whether you are in full support of someone's adoption or are against remember to think about the stress they are going through and that many times they are being attacked by satan! Pray for that family. Pray for wisdom and strength. Many families are called to adopt and it may not be the most opportune time. By answering God's call these family allow God to build them, mold them, and teach them many, many lessons.

It has been an exciting week in the adoption world for us! The paperwork that was kicked back has been redone and is on its way back over. Now we wait for travel dates. We also learned that we were selected as one of this months 5/5/5 families on Reece's Rainbow.

5/5/5 for Families is a great program to help families financially bring home their children. It is a great opportunity for you also as you don't have to choose just one family to donate to if you are on a tight budget. Meet this months five families here http://reecesrainbow.org/category/sponsorafamily/555-family. These are families that are close to having many of their expenses due. To learn more about 5/5/5 and to donate visit http://reecesrainbow.org/555families.

Two weeks ago we celebrated Cayleigh turning 4 with a Frozen birthday party. It was a great time spent with family and friends. I loved making her cake and enjoyed how simple it was and how pretty it looked.

Easter weekend was spent with family. Cayleigh and I went to see Cinderella at a special Easter showing for kids. On Saturday we made Resurrection Rolls and colored eggs. Resurrection Rolls have become more of a tradition to me than coloring eggs. I love being able to show my kids the Easter story. I love they can see we put something in the "tomb" but after we bake them the "tomb" is empty. Chris and Josiah went out to dinner then we all met to go see Home with my parents. We spent Easter day at my grandparents. It was a fun day filled with family, food, and Easter egg hunts. I look forward to next year when our sweet little girl should be home to join in on all the fun!

When all seems to be going well something else happens. This time while something small it took a month to get resolved. Chris' medical was returned as not having enough information in regards to his foot. After a lot of phone tag, letters, and finally a new medical we are back at it. The medical should be in the mail to our NGO next week. I was so excited to finally be submitted and be waiting for travel dates then this...I know it is all in God's time and we must keep the faith that we are doing what He has called us to. If I didn't have that I would have given up a while back I think. I am a planner I must know what is happening and when it will happen and that is not at all possible in this journey. I am thankful God is bigger than me and helps me to focus on we will be meeting our daughter in a relatively short time and this will all be worth it.Thanks for all the prayers that see us through these discouraging times.

We have another fundraiser running at flowerpowerfundraising.com. They have a nice selection of plants and flowers including everbearing strawberries!

As we wait for our next step we keep ourselves busy with the farm and trying to get our yards completed. Our house and yards have been a working progress since we moved in three years ago. Our lawns finally have patches of grass and plants.This year my goal is to complete the front yard and start on the back. I love seeing the progress each year and enjoy looking back at pictures and realizing how much has been done since being surrounded by bare dirt three years ago. Our soil is very poor and has taken a lot of work to get it healthy enough to grow again.
Blessing until next time! 

Well another successful fundraiser down. After a long weekend at my parents we finished the weekend with an Indian Fry Bread Dinner and Silent Auction. We had many friends and family attend.

We also had many great donations from friends and local businesses. Thank you to everyone that came and supported this dinner. We are $1250 closer to our daughter. Thank you to our donors: Bar K Corral, Bamboo Panda, Village Inn, Tri-County GM, Katy Harris, and the many family members that donated items.We are so blessed to have the support of this community!

Sometimes it feels like the waiting, financial stress, preparing for a new family member, the paperwork, and everything else is going to bog me down. Then I look at all of the friends and family we have that have supported us along the way financially and in prayer. I can never say thank you enough and for helping us get through this long journey. We still have a long way to go but we are getting so much closer. So, THANK YOU for everything!

They're here, they're here!!! They're finally here!!!!! The background checks came in the mail yesterday! It took them almost 20 weeks to get here but we finally have them. They are now off to be apostilled and then off to join the rest of our dossier. It has been weird not being able to do anything in this step and just wait. I guess it is preparing us for the months to come while we are waiting for travel dates and then pickup dates. We are still fundraising like crazy. The mustache fundraiser brought in over $400. We are now preparing for a dinner and silent auction this weekend. God Bless!

This week I have been working on painting the girls' bedroom. It was the nursery and needed an update if it is going to be a room for two little girls. We let Bug pick the color and we were not shocked at all when she picked purple. Chris was mortified by the color choice but hey, if the girls like it that is what matters. Bug also wanted butterflies which helps to tone down the purple.Chris thinks they look like spiders.

We are still adding more butterflies in more colors. I can't wait to get "Sally" home and add her butterflies to the wall. We submitted our dossier to begin translation. We were told they are almost done and we are just waiting on the background check. It seems ridiculous to me that it takes 18 weeks to get back and is a very frustrating when their website says 12 weeks. Guess that's the government for ya. Hopefully it arrives this week and we can get it sent off and be traveling soon.

We are still about $16,000 short of being fully funded.
-We have another fundraiser dinner and silent auction coming up on March 7th 5-7pm at the East Holbrook Mennonite Church. We will be serving Indian Fry Bread. Hope to see many there!
-I am taking orders for Peanut Butter Easter Eggs 6/$7 or 12/$12 shipped. They will ship by March 27th.
We also have many items we are selling and have listed in a photo album on Facebook. Check it out here https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101809718796013.1073741829.19219491&type=1&l=4ed25b61c3
And remember any donations made through Reece's Rainbow are tax deductible.
Praying God blesses your week!

It seems as though whenever I finally just do a post because there hasn't been much to report on the adoption a few days later something big happens....maybe I should post more often. While we are still waiting on the background check our dossier has been sent over! We were told it would be there Wednesday and then will take one to two weeks to translate. After translation it will be submitted to the MOJ for our official referral!
We also got an update on "Sally", they tell us she is being well cared for and is as feisty as ever. I pray this is true and hope you will join me in praying for her well being while wait to be able to bring her home forever.
Things finally are starting to move so stay tuned for more updates to come!

Fundraising is kicking up for us again. We are getting close to another fee being due. We have crocheted dish scrubbers 4 for $8. I am also making many personalized items. And the most fun for us is our mustache growing competition. We have several men in our family that are participating and for every $5 donated they grow their mustache a day in March. Just $155 each makes it so they must grow the entire month! Our FSP is growing slowly but surely. We greatly appreciate all of the support we have and are receiving both financially and in prayers!

We are still waiting on our background check and would appreciated prayers as we have everything else complete and are approaching our deadline. We expected it four weeks ago. Our agency has emailed the rest of our dossier to begin translation so that when we have the background check in hand and apostilled it is ready to be submitted to the MOJ.

Off of the adoption topic it has been just as crazy. A very dear gentleman from church passed away and we had his funeral last week, Chris was gone for a conference the beginning of the week, and now Jeremiah is not feeling well (I think he is teething). Chris also broke the foot on his prosthetic.

So, this week I am trying to put my focus on positive things otherwise I would be completely stressed out by now and losing my mind.

I have an amazing husband who finished the kids swing area. He welded them to the underside of our deck so we have no more worry of swing sets blowing over, I am a part of an amazing and supportive moms prayer group, had a wonderful time today with my older two kiddos making homemade bubblegum, and we are enjoying the warm weather and the chance to play outside.

God has blessed us abundantly and if we did not take the time to thank Him for these blessings we would lose faith and have a negative attitude. It is because of Him and His promises and blessings we can keep moving forward knowing He will never give us more than we can handle and will be with us as we continue through this adventure we call life.

As our paperwork winds down the realization that in just a few months we will be meeting our daughter is setting in. I know we still have a long road ahead of us but as we navigated the paperwork and jumped through all the governments hoops there were times it felt as if we would never get it all completed.

It is also setting in how far we are from funding this adoption. I have gone into full out crazy fundraising lady mode. I currently am crocheting pot scrubbers ($8 for 4), sewing lace boot cuffs $10 a pair, and on February 1st we will begin taking donations for our mustache growing competition.

This mustache fundraiser will be a fun competition between the males of our family. For the month of February the wives will be collecting donations. For every $5 the wife collects the husband will grow his mustache one day. The guys will begin growing March 1. The guys participating include Chris (Daddy), Jim (Grandpa), Lane (Poppah), Tyler (Uncle), and Sean (Uncle). Let's see who can get the longest mustache in March! If you would like to see one of these guys grow a 'stache either talk to their wives or you can donate at reecesrainbow.org/sponsorstum then email me your receipt with the name of the guy you want to see with a mustache!

Apostilles here we come and then our dossier will hopefully be in our agencies hands within two weeks!

As of January 6th we now have immigration approval! We submitted our application November 20th, had our fingerprint appointment December 22nd, and approval arrived in the mail January 8th. We are only waiting on a background check which we hope will be in our hands next week. Once we have that all of our paperwork is ready to be apostilled and then be sent to our agency and go for translation. We are getting so close to having everything ready and to begin the wait to meet our daughter. Cayleigh still gets up every morning and asks if we can go get her sister today. I am so glad that her excitement is not fading with the time. There are days that it seems like this adoption is never going to happen with all the paperwork, road bumps in paperwork, and waiting. I keep reminding myself everything happens in God's time and if this is His plan (as we feel it is) He will take care of it and the adoption will happen.

On the family side of things...
I celebrated my birthday on Monday. On Saturday Chris and the kids took me to Garden City to an auction, to get things to work on the house, and for a birthday lunch and ice cream. It was a very enjoyable day and we allowed the kids to get fish. They picked out glofish. They are very bright colored fish. It is fun to watch the kids enjoy the fish and WANT to take care of them. On Tuesday C had an appointment with a plastic surgeon to check the alignment of her lip from her stitches. The surgeon does not believe that surgery will be necessary. She thinks when the swelling is completely out that it will not be noticeably off. PTL!
Signing off until I have more news to report. God Bless!