Welcoming Mark home from Uganda!

What a cool weekend to be at an adoption Airport Homecoming!! I can't imagine anything better than welcoming a precious child into a family for the first time, especially one I have already met! Charles Tucker and Mark were buddies at his babies home. One of the first days I was there, sweet Sara texted me in Uganda to tell me they just received a referral for a precious child named Mark. I was so excited to take pictures, video, and love on him a bit while I was there. The mamas there called him "the giggly baby". He always had a smile on his face! So this is super special to be welcoming him home.

All of us waited anxiously for them to arrive...

Sara and Judah waiting for Daddy and baby Mark...

Sweet Sara has been waiting for them to come home for weeks while she held down the fort at home with Judah (2) and new baby Kyah (2 months). Yes, Sara will have three children under 2! God must love her so much to give her three precious blessings all at once. This mama is meeting her child for the first time at the airport...Wow, that is a lot to process...

So glad Amy Levy was there to meet Mark for the first time, love hanging out with her family...

Amy brought home Sarah from Uganda a little over a year ago. Sarah has come a long way in a year. She is blessing to us all. Love that girl. She is still having some medical problems, so please pray that the Lord would heal her and give the doctors wisdom in how to treat her. What a cutie...

Henry loves Sarah's brothers...maybe a little too much. And Mary Taylor seems to have a crush on Tyrese. She kept trying to hug him the whole time. It was precious. See her searching for candy in the background of this picture...Where there is candy, there you will find Mary Taylor...

Actually both were hugging him and driving him crazy...

Charles Tucker is waiting for his buddy Mark to arrive...

Sara and Jeremiah just moved from Las Vegas a couple of months ago to our neck of the country. So cool to meet someone in the blog/facebook world and then to have them move near you. Pretty Amazing! And to think our boys will grow up together and always have Uganda and their babies home in common. Only God could orchestrate something so prefect.

Can't wait to know your sweet family more over the years as we watch our children grow up. So excited to be doing life with you. Congratulations on becoming a family of 5 today!! I know you are on cloud nine.

What an amazing way to spend Easter! Thank you Lord for new beginnings!!
(remember to pause the music at the bottom of the page)


If you would like to follow their blog go HERE.

Gottcha Day Video must see...

Speaking of the Good to Be Crazy family from my last post. Here is their Gottcha Day video. A must watch video that will certainly bless you. Praise God for their faithfulness....(pause the music at the bottom of the page before watching)

Love you guys!!!

Four less orphans in 2011

For the past year or so, I have had the privilage to get to know several adoption families through blogs. Some I still talk to through their blog and email, but others I have called on the phone for advice or even met  person. Three of these families have finally completed their adoptions in January 2011.

Rachel and her husband Brad just got Legal Guardianship of their sweet Amelia last week. Amelia is a beautiful girl who I got to meet and love on while I was in Uganda. She lived in Charles Tucker's baby home. Rachel, Brad and Amelia are still in Uganda waiting to get Amelia's visa to come home to be united with their other daughter, Caroline. I am praying they will be safely home in the next couple of weeks. You can follow their journey HERE.

Lora and Andrew just returned home from Uganda last night with their sweet Mira, to be united with their five other children. This family has been through a lot in two and half weeks (which is extremely fast, our adoption process in country took four and half weeks), they had their money stolen and they almost had to come home with out their daughter. But, the Lord provided and now they are at home loving on all six of their children. I had the amazing privilage of meeting Mira in Uganda while I was there. Charles Tucker and I loved on her for an hour or so, while we took pictures and filmed her for her mommy and daddy back in the states. Only one month later, her parents were able to hold her in their arms. God is good!! You can follow their journey back home HERE.

Then finally, Julie and her husband just brought twin infants into their family through domestic adoption. I knew Julie through her blog Flutterbugs, but then realized my sister-in-law Leslie knew her as well. Julie and I finally met at one of the African Adoption Fellowships in Atlanta about six months ago. Julie and her family inspire me. They now have five children after waiting seven months to welcome home their babies. They are truly grateful to their birth mother who sacrificially gave these children up so they could be raised in a loving family. Such an inspiring "Gottcha Day Video".  (remember to pause the music at the bottom of the page)


Love seeing orphans come home to their forever families! It never gets old!!

Charles Tucker's Adoption Day-February 4, 2011

Last week, around Tuesday, Dee came home and said, "I am about to file our papers to adopt Charles Tucker? Are you ready to go to court any time they tell us to go in the next couple of weeks?" Me: "You mean any day we will adopt him? Wow! That was fast!" Sure, enough, Dee filed the papers on Wednesday and our court date was set for Friday. It usually takes about six months to adopt in the states once you get home, but ours only took five weeks. Way to go Dee for working so hard on this!! So that is why you have been staying late at work???!!

So Friday morning before our court appearance, we headed to the airport to pick up an adoption blog friend, Sara, whom I had never met in person. She came in town for the Created For Care retreat for the upcoming weekend, but decided to spend the day with us, before the retreat started. Well, Sara, I hope you enjoyed our crazy family!?!

 Yes, I got them to pose in their p.j.s and boots, I could not resist taking a picture before we headed to the airport! Can you believe my crew is cooperating so well these days!! So fun for this mama!

It was so neat to finally meet Sara face to face after a year of knowing her through her blog and occassional texts and phone conversations. She is about to go pick up one of Charles Tucker's best buddies from the babies home in Uganda. Please pray she gets a court date fast, hopefully in the next couple of weeks!!!

So around 10:30, we headed to the court house downtown to make Charles Tucker officially a DeBardeleben. We got there early just to make sure we did not miss our court appearance.We found a small corner for the kids to play and run around. Then around 11:30, we entered the Judges' chambers and within three minutes, Charles Tucker became part of our family! It was somewhat anticlimatic, with our kids making noise and acting out, but thankfully we brought Sara along to cry for us and help us realize the magic of it all. Charles Tucker DeBardeleben is officially an orphan no more!! That is definitely something to cheer about!!

Then daddy had to go make some copies before we left of all the documents, so we let the kids run around a little bit more. Look how excited Henry is about his new brother!!!

Let me present to you "Charles Tucker DeBardeleben"

Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine. Isaiah 43:1

What a privilage it is to be chosen to be Charles Tucker's mommy. He is a precious little boy with a savior who loves him more than I will ever have the capacity to love him. He shows me more everyday what a blessing he is to our family. I am excited and thankful for the rode we have ahead of us and I pray the Lord will show me more and more how to best be the mommy he has called me to be to our new son.

**Sara and I then headed up to the Created for Care retreat to hang out with 250 other mommies who love orphans.. More on that later!

We're HOME....Ringing in the New Year at the Atlanta Airport

I am blown away by such a great support of friends and family who welcomed us home at the Atlanta airport New Year's Eve. Before we arrived, this is what was going on....

I was told, Sweet Sarah and Mary Taylor were so excited to see each other...giving one another a kiss. How precious are these two??? Sarah Levy is a precious child from Uganda too. Her story was such an encouragement to me through my wait to Charles Tucker. Her mother Amy is an amazing lady. She posted about our arrival HERE.

I could just eat her up!!

Mary Taylor seems to really like this teddy bear Sarah brought to her...

And Henry seems to be interested in the toy the Levy boys picked out for him. Sweet Neema thinks it's pretty cool too!

Little bitty Neema is from Tanzania, who belongs to Heath. She is Henry's age and full of life!! So glad they are both living in America for a while...I have loved getting to know these two... How precious is her sweet face?? Follow their journey HERE.

Oh, and then there is Isaac....wow has he grown since the last time I saw him...Isaac Young was adopted six months ago from Ethiopia into a family of three older siblings. His mother Andrea and I go way back to college when we spent a summer in East Asia, in one another's weddings, couples bible studies, and now on this adoption journey together. Love doing life with this family...they're pretty cool...Andrea took some great pictures of our Homecoming HERE.

Laney is also part of the Young family...

Can't wait for this family to get a referral and head to Uganda sooner than later. Yes, the Gilberts are ready to see a picture of their baby and get this show on the road, but they are patiently waiting on God's timing...which is not easy. Love you guys!! Thanks for cheering us on this whole time while you wait on the sidelines. Can't wait for it to be your turn!!! Follow their story HERE.

Even Teddy and Kenser came out to cheer us home!!

Miss Jenna... Great to see your face!

I have such an amazing church community...so many came out to the airport to welcome us home...Loved seeing you all there!...Hannah, Elie, Beverly, and Jenn....

Ahh...Caroline and baby Liam...this was my first time to see this precious face. I feel like I missed a lot these past five weeks...Love this picture!

 Speaking of pictures...Along with Andrea...Elisabeth (pictured below) and Shelley did such a great job capturing this great event through photography...I am forever thankful to them...such a gift! Elisabeth gave an amazing account of our adoption journey on her blog, Growing Home...you can read that post HERE.

A new friend...Joy Harty also came out to the airport for the second time in two days to welcome home orphans from Uganda. The night before, Dan Owens with Joseph and Hannah arrived home to be united with their whole family. Joy is such a sport to come out again...along with the Levys and the Youngs...you guys are committed!! Joy also posted about our homecoming HERE.

Sweet Caroline waiting for us..

Jenn and Elie...

So glad to see my brother Nathan and my sister Amelia in the crowd too...

Wow...I am impressed...I wonder how long Henry sat here like this?? My guess is thirty seconds...

We arrived a little later than expected...so "pretty pretty" might have been getting a little tired...


t looks like everyone had a good ole time catching up while they waiting for us to arrive...

Charles Tucker and I finally arrived at 7:30 p.m., New Years Eve to this crowd of amazing friends and family who welcome us home after 32 days in Uganda!!!! What an honor to see all their faces when I stepped off the plane. It was a joyous celebration of which I will never forget!!

I was overjoyed to see my family..

Charles Tucker went straight to Daddy...

So many of our friends and family were there to greet us...We felt so blessed by each of you being there to welcome us home!

Charles Tucker's first time to meet his cousin Dexter...

The other photographer, Shelley and her husband Eddie meeting CT for the first time...

So good to see my sweet sister Amelia...

My first and second babies...

and my now my third..

From orphan to a son...

I am overcome with thankfulness...

My twins...

  Our first family picture all together on American soil...

The Lord has done great things for us..in this I rejoice! All praise to our father in heaven.

***We are adjusting quite well...pictures to come of the last week and half, as a family of five. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement throughout this year. We seriously could not have made it this far with out your constant love and support. Love you guys!!!