I always wanted to adopt, even when I was a little girl. After we got married, even before we had biological children, I asked Dale if he had any interest in adoption. At that point, the answer was no! But, about 18 years and 7 kids later, God changed his heart. We searched and prayed as a family for a child to join us, and about a year later we found our son from Guatemala. Nine months later we brought him home, and four months after that I gave birth to our ninth child. Then, when the baby was about 10 months, after telling Dale I really wasn't interested in international adoption anymore but only domestic, I got an email from an adoption agency that contained a picture of a little 3 year old girl from Ethiopia who really looked like she was supposed to be in our family. After a few days of researching and praying, we found out she was!! We committed to her adoption, then a few days later we received the news that her brother was also adoptable and they had to be adopted together. Well, we were thrilled to be able to bring them both home after 11 months. A couple of years later, we felt led to adopt again. After months of wondering who, if anyone, the Lord was going to bring into our family, we found out about a little eight week old baby girl in a NICU not far from our house. She had been born very early, and her prognosis was very uncertain. We took a leap of faith, and couldn't have been more blessed to add her to our family after spending 2 1/2 months with her in the NICU. Now, we feel our family is not done growing, and we are praying again for the Lord's will for our lives and the life of a precious child or children that will hopefully join us soon. We are open to various special needs and races. We are very familiar with various jargon, doctors, therapists, equipment, and unknowns. We love to celebrate all the differences in our children!
Our adoption journey is a family thing. We all work together and love together. That is a true blessing from God!!
Thank you for sharing our lives with us for a little bit.
With love and prayers,
Dale and Cara
Ashley, Travis, Hannah, Whitney, Sara, Tanner, Trevor, Kenny, Kelsey, Brenna, Titus, and Bella
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