Big News!

Dear Family and Friends,

We have some exciting news we want to tell you about!  While we would love to talk to all of you in person, in the interest of efficiency we begrudgingly resorted to the dreaded mass communication. It’s a bit lengthy, but after reading we think you’ll understand why we chose to include so much detail.

As of this past week, we have officially begun the process of adopting an infant from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  This is a desire that has been growing in us over the last couple years, but until recently we have been unsure of when the timing would be right. For many, the idea of not having a biological child may elicit a degree of sadness, but for us it is a feeling rather opposite. Although we are not opposed to having bio kids, we both care deeply for children born into destitute situations and this has motivated us to adopt internationally. Although we both have felt “ready” to start our family for some time (surely this sounds hilarious to those of you with children), it was not until recently that we learned that we qualified to be adoptive parents through the Congolese program.

We plan to move through the adoption program as quickly as possible, which could be in as little as 6 months but up to or over a year.  We have chosen to adopt an infant between 0-3 months at the time of our referral, which means they will most likely be 3-6 months by the time we bring them home.  Currently we do not have a preference of gender and we’re still praying that God leads us to make the best decision for our family.

Our passion for adoption stems from a number personal experiences, which we believe have readied us to make this decision. Throughout the scriptures Jesus has a lot to say about taking care of orphans and widows, and while we know that everyone is called to contribute differently, these verses have done much to shape our worldview. Above all we have chosen a Congolese adoption for this reason, not simply because it‘s a program for which we qualify. For us, the situation in the DRC is too dire to ignore. The country is currently considered the most dangerous in Africa, and many years of war have left over four million children orphaned. A large portion of these kids will inevitably become child soldiers and sex slaves. Seventy percent of all females in the DRC are violently raped at least once in their life. Knowledge of facts like these have repeatedly reaffirmed and impassioned our decision.


Last week, we drove to Indianapolis to meet with the African Adoption Coordinator at MLJ Adoptions, one of two stateside adoption groups working in the DRC.  She was very professional and informative which put a lot of our fears at ease. MLJ Adoptions is Hague Accredited, which is an international organization purposed to help agencies, families & children through international adoption.  The Hague Convention basically established international adoption law.  All of this information solidified our decision to work with MLJ. We have also been getting loads of advice from the members of an Adoption Support Group we’ve been going to at Mars Hill. They’ve been a wonderful support and help.

Although we are certain of our decision, there are many unknowns ahead for us. Issues of funding and expense will of course be a legitimate concern, but perhaps our biggest challenge will be emotional. This is going to be a life changing decision that not only affects us, but will also be affect our family and friends.  We want and need your support through every step of the adoption process, but more importantly we will need your support once we bring our baby home.  We understand that we are creating a multi-racial family and are prepared to face the challenges that will come with that.  We hope that you can understand how important this decision is for us, and we’re hoping that you’re willing to support our family just as if we were having a biological child. More than anything we ask for your prayers.

Thanks for taking the time read up on our ongoing story. Yeah! We’re going to have a baby!

Just for Your Entertainment

My sister-in-law just posted some pictures from the extended Johnson Family Christmas.  This is what happens when you try to take a "nice" family photo at the end of the day.

As you can see, myeslf, my husband and my sister-in-law thought the last picture was one too many.  But when I look back, these are always my favorite.

Holiday Crazy

So, the actual holidays are now over and I can relax right?  Wrong. 

Now its back to the ole grind, both in work and with the house.  Unfortunately, its still not done completely no matter how much I wish it would be.

But our time to work on it is limited.  Even though Christmas is over, we have lots of friends and family who are visiting from out-of-state.  Since they don't come home very often, we try to open our schedule up as much as possible in order to see them a hole bunch before leaving.

I love having everyone around.  My sister-in-law, brother-in-law and his wife are all here from California which is so wonderful.  Its awesome having everyone in the same room, especially for my husband's parents.  Each time we are all together, a family photo has to be taken.  This is the curse of having a professional photographer in the family.

Here we all are, oh Johnson family.  I hope everyone has a marvelous Christmas holiday and are now able to relax and recover.

Being Domestic

The night I spent making the paper doll, I also wrapped a bunch of presents and make some granola. I wanted to make something for my grandparents, but wasn't sure of what to get.  Then came Martha Stewart's Christmas magazine and my problem was solved!

Here are the containers that I made, which are based on the Martha Stewart idea.  I had to put one batch in a non-glass container since I was mailing it to my Grandmother in Florida.  Last  year I sent here a candle which unfortunately didn't make it there in one piece. 

Here's the recipe if you want, because, as my husband says "it's so good".

4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 vegetable oil
1/4 honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup of dried raisins or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 300 F.  In a bowl mix oats, almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.  In a saucepan warm the oil and honey.  Whisk in vanilla.

 

Carefully pour the liquid over the oat mixture.  Stir gently with a wooden spoon; finishing mixing by hand.  Spread granola in a 15x10 inch baking pan.

Bake 40 minutes, stirring carefully every 10 minutes.  Transfer granola-filled pan to a rack to cool completely.  Stir in raisins/dried cranberries.  Seal granola in an airtight container or self-sealing plastic bag.  Store at room temperature for 1 week or in the freezer for 3 months.

I was actually surprised at how well they all turned out.  I started with the mindset of filling four of those jars for each grandparent/set of grandparents but screwed up the math and bought way more than I needed.  Instead of returning, I ended up making 8 batches.  Now almost everyone gets granola for Christmas  :)

I would encourage everyone to try this.  I am definitely not a cook or baker but this wasn't really hard, I actually had a lot of fun making it.

These helped a little though...

Good tea and a little companionship, it was a very successful evening.  Now off to enjoy Christmas festivities with my family.  I hope you have a marvelous Christmas Eve & Day.

First Attempt at Being Crafty

For Christmas, several of us went in on a gift for my sister-in-law who lives in California.  The item is very large so we had it shipped to someone already there so its ready and waiting when she returns.  This makes for one problem, how do you let her know what you got her?  I definitely wasn't going to cut out a receipt/picture and just give her that....BORING.

So, I thought up a creative way to let her know what her present was from all of us.  And in order to prove I have a small, but growing crafty bone I took pictures to document it.  Plus, posts with pictures are always more interesting.   We got her something for making clothes, so I thought it would be cute to give her a paper doll.

I found images online, but had to make sure they were big enough to withstand a pretty good size increase.  I printed them all on cardstock paper to avoid tears and bought a sturdy piece of posterboard.

I cut each out leaving taps at the shoulders so she could "dress" her doll.  In order to prevent damage when she dresses her doll, I reinforced it with the posterboard I purchased.

I bundled everything in to a cute box and put a little note inside stating "just something to help get you started".

I am so very excited to give it to her.  As you can gather from her gift, she is also crafty.  I hope she enjoys it as much as I do.

So, there is my first original crafting experience.  I can't wait to do more, but I may have to wait until next week since we can three Christmas parties this weekend and I have yet to make food for them.

Happy Holidays :)