Quick Update

I wanted to give everyone a quick update about Ella and the school situatuion.  We got a letter in the mail this past week from the school district that we wanted her to go to that said she has been ACCEPTED!!!  Yeah!  Thanks for your prayers about this situation!

Now we are busy getting everything ready for school. Her first day of Kindergarten is MONDAY!  Yes, that is only 4 days away.  She is so excited!  I am excited for her, but sad for me :)  I'll let you know how the first day of school goes!

Brittany

My Baby Girl and Starting School

Y'all, Ella starts Kindergarten in less than a month!!!  I can't believe it!  I know that I have had 5 years and 9 months to prepare for this, but I'm still not ready.  I am having such a hard time with it. 

She, on the other hand, can not wait.  She talks about it all the time.  She says, "Daddy, how many new friends do you think I'm gonna have when I start Kindergarten?"  Today, we went to the school that she is "supposed" to go to and she said, "Momma, how long do you think we get to play out on the playground?"  She is full of curiousity and questions.  It makes me excited that she is excited.

I am mostly writing this to ask you guys to pray about the school situation.  Not about me having a hard time with it (I suppose I will get over it), but about "picking" the right school.  We have a school just a couple of blocks from our house that she is supposed to go to.  We have visited several times, and mostly have just talked to the secretary, but every time I leave I literally feel sick to my stomach.  There is just something about it that doesn't feel right to me.  It is way different than any school in KY.  Now I know that just because something is different doesn't mean it is wrong or is worse, etc. but I am having a hard time adjusting. 

Let me give you an example:  I told the secretary that I didn't turn in the transportation form for Ella to ride a bus because I am going to transport her myself.  She gave me the weirdest look.  She said, "Are you sure?  Everyone rides the bus.  No one brings their child to school."  She then proceeded to look at Ella and ask, "Don't you want to ride the bus?"  Of course she does, but I feel more comfortable with taking her the first year.  I proceeded to tell her that and explain that we just live a couple of blocks over and if I have to walk with her to a bus stop then I might as well just drive my car to the school.  It would take the same amount of time.  She said, "Well, I guess that makes sense."  

Another thing I am not "crazy" about is that they have to wear school uniforms, although I do understand the reasoning for it. Gold/yellow shirts and navy pants or skirt.  AND, no flip flops allowed-only tennis shoes.  We will be fighting every single morning over that one.  If you know my child at all, you know that she can not stand any closed toe shoe or socks either.  I'm gonna start preparing her now. 

Last thing that makes me uneasy is the Kindergarten schedule.  It is only for a half day and only 4 days.  Of course, that means I will get to spend more time with her, but I wonder how much instruction she will get in only 3 hours.  I wonder if she will be prepared for first grade. I wonder if she will be learning the same things that she already knows.  I wonder a lot.

I asked the secretary today about having any kind of open house or meet the teacher night, etc.  before school starts.  She said, "Oh, that would be nice, but I don't think we'll have anything like that.  We're really unorganized this year and I just don't think we'll have everything ready to do anything like that."  I promise that is what she said.  I managed to smile and walk away before I said anything that I would regret later.

So, Arizona is a state that is considered to be open enrollment.  This means you can go to a school that is not in your district.  However, you have to be approved and there has to be openings at the school.  The deadline to turn in an application for that was in April.  We didn't know that.  So we filled out an application any way and took it to the district that we want her to go to, but they don't know when they will get back with us on that.  It could be after school starts :(  Seriously, I feel like we are trying to get her into Harvard or something. 

I say all of that to say that although I don't know what is "right" at the time, God does.  He knows where my sweet Ella will go to school and who her friends will be and who her teacher will be.  He holds her in His hands.  He loves her more than I do.  So, I'm going to trust Him and be okay with what happens in the end.  Will you pray for us as we make the decisions that need to be made?  Will you pray that God will reveal His plan for Ella and that we will recognize it and trust it?  Thanks y'all!!!

Brittany

Crisis in the Congo

This is a very intense documentary about the Crisis in the Congo; the home of our son.  Please pray for this country and for these precious people.

4th of July Weekend

We had a fabulous weekend spending time together as a family!  We have had mission teams at our house every weekend for 4 weeks until this past weekend, so we took advantage of enjoying much needed family time!

First, we got haircuts.



Cutting out the tangles :)





Always so serious when getting his haircut



Aren't they hot stuff? :)

Then, we had family movie night at home.  We watched Secretariat because we love horses so much.



Notice all the stuffed animals in the background that had to watch the movie too :)

 Unfortunatley, Daddy got called to go help some friends whose vans had broken down so he missed all the movie.  BUT, it was okay because we had a lazy Sunday afternoon and watched it again!!

Then, Sunday night, we went to the community fireworks show.  This was really the first community event that we have went to and participated in.  It was a little different walking into a crowd of over 1,000 people and being the ONLY white family there.  Eric said it was like a reverse Tater Day (for those of you who live in Marshall County and can understand that statement) haha :)  Nevertheless, we had a really good time.  We met up with some of our students from church and hung out with them and their family.  There was all kinds of stuff to do: food, water slide, basketball tournament, skateboard tournament, etc.  There was also a chicken scratch band (the type of music that many Natives listen to and dance to) that played the whole night.  Ella and Brayden danced the night away :)



Eric talking with Joker, Doug's dad

Of couse, my camera went dead before I could get the pics of the kids dancing and the fireworks.

On Monday, we relaxed and played in the water.  That night we went to the drive-in in Scottsdale and watched Cars 2. 



 They wanted to go swimming, but we don't have a pool.  So, we did the next best thing-filled up a bucket of water :)  You only have so many options when you live in the desert! 




Ready for the movie to start!

We had a fun weekend!  Hope you did too!!  Happy 4th of July!!

Brittany


IT'S A BOY!!!

We officially received our referral one day last week!  We are adopting a sweet, precious baby boy from the Democratic Republic of the Congo!  Right now, he is 6 months old!! 

We do have a picture of him, but we are not allowed to post it online- only after everything is official through court and he is officially a Gibbs. 

I can't tell you how excited we are and ready to meet him face to face!!  We love him so much already and can't wait to hold him in our arms!! 

Please don't forget about our matching grant that we received from Lifesong for Orphans.  They will match up to $3000 of what we raise, so we could have $6000 to put towards our adoption expenses.  Any amount donated at all is helpful to reaching our goal- even if it is $5 or $10.  (See previous post for the mailing address.) Or you can make a donation online @ http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/  and go to make a donation (type Gibbs Family adoption #2064).

Thanks for all your prayers and financial support to help bring our little boy home!!!

Brittany

$3,000 Matching Grant

We are super excited!!!  We found out this week that our family was approved for a matching grant from Lifesong for Orphans!!!  This is awesome news!

Basically, this means that Lifesong for Orphans will match up to $3,000 of all donations that we receive.  So, we could have $6,000 to put towards our adoption!!!  This is such a God-thing because our next payment to our agency is going to be close to 5,000 and we do NOT have the money.  However, God will provide!!

Our goal date to have the money for the grant is August 12, 2011.  Lifesong for Orphans is a non-profit organization so anything that you donate will be tax-deductible. 

Please don't think: "I don't have that much money that I can give."  No amount is too small, especially since it will be matched by Lifesong!!! 

If you would like to help bring our child or children home please consider giving to this organization so that they will match your donation. 

There are two options:

1. Mail a check.  Make it to Lifesong and in the memo line write "Gibbs Family Adoption #2064"
 The address is: Lifesong for Orphans
                        Attn: Gibbs Family Adoption #2064
                        PO Box 40
                        Gridley, IL 61744

2. Or you can do it online.  http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/donation.html 
     When you get to the page, follow the instructions where it says one-time donation/gift and put the same info "Gibbs Family Adoption # 2064"

Please pass this along to anyone that you think would want to be involved with making a difference in the life of an orphaned child and ultimately impacting the Kingdom of God!!!

We sincerely appreciate our family and friends for supporting us through this journey!!!

Brittany

My Old Kentucky Home

Last week we had the opportunity to travel back to Kentucky!  It was an awesome week visiting family and friends.  I posted on our ministry blog (liveloveaz.blogspot.com) about some of our experience, but I wanted to add a couple of things that we did!

• We ate our favorite restaurants!  Belew's 3 times and Los Portales 2 times!



Eric and Harper



It was cold this day that we went.  I about froze after drinking my milk shake!

• The kiddos got to play with family



Aren't they a cute bunch?



• We splashed around...



They're gonna love me one day for this pic!!

• One of the major events of the week: Ella finally decided to get her ears pierced!!

After we got to the store, she wasn't so sure anymore.  She had a melt down.  So after a long talk, she decided that she did want them but was gonna cry anyway.  This is me having to hold her arms down so she wouldn't move.



This is right after.  She was saying, "It hurts! It hurts!"




About a minute later, she was all smiles and so proud of those new earrings.  She showed everyone that would look!  BTW, they are Minnie Mouse!



• We acted like monkeys!!

• We went swinging!

• Our muscles grew bigger and stronger!



Yep, he's definitely gonna love me for this!



• We learned all about deer and hunting and looked at these:



The deer died this way! You can't separate them!

• We loved on each other!!!

• We went swimming!!



• We rode go-carts and bumper boats!

The winners!!



Getting wet!



We just had lots and lots of fun!!

We seriously did have a really good week!  We look forward to seeing everyone again at Christmas!


Brittany