A little snippet...

As most of you know, we can not post pictures of the kids until we bring them home (if I knew when that would be I might be less crazy)... but I do have a few pictures that don't show their faces and are very special to us.

 Our sweet girl with her Momma

Daddy and his little peep's hands <3

The question I am getting right now the most? How are you doing without them? Do you miss them? To be honest, I have shared with the people closest to me that the feeling of leaving them there has left me with a feeling of grief so close to the death of someone you love, it actually shocked me. Don't get me wrong, I had plenty of thoughts about it being really hard to leave them, but I had in no way prepared myself for the feeling of loss and grief that I feel. And it was not instantly.

Over the past two weeks, the feeling has grown and developed into what it is now, grief. I have been praying for peace and as dear friends have traveled and seen the kids this week, I am blessed with an "in person" update that they are well. 

I wish I could hold "G" and tell him we are coming soon. I know he understands what is happening, and I want so much to be the person that explains and loves on him while he prepares for this change in his life. 

Would you call pray for the kids during this time of waiting? I want so much for them to be blissfully unaware of the wait and to play with the light hearts of children. 

Home.... and still in Ethiopia

So we are home from our Court Trip to Ethiopia! It was a trip that has forever changed our lives and we are excited to share with you all. I have a bunch of photo's that we took, most of them are of the kids, which we can not share right now, but the others are of Ethiopia and the people there.

Being in Ethiopia was amazing, it was a roller coaster of emotions. In one day, we went from the highest of high (being with the kids at the orphanage) to the lowest low (leaving them until we can return to Ethiopia). And there were lots of in-between!

We were blessed to travel with an amazing group of people, who have forever changed our lives. We love each of them and are blessed to have shared this experience with them.

I wanted to journal while we were there, but honestly it was so packed with stuff to do and by the time we got back to the guest house, we were exhausted! I am hopeful that through a bit of blogging I can recap our experiences there.

Here are just a few of the amazing moments we shared together in Ethiopia!

Ethiopian Sunrise is AMAZING! 

The Ethiopian culture is rich and proud

We were honored to have spent the afternoon with our Sponsor child from AHOPE! We were forever changed by her love and spirit! Can't wait to come back to see you "D" in a few weeks and we are praying for you as your family changes and is reunified! 

More pictures and stories to come! 

Are you getting ready??

That is the question of the month! But who has time to pack??!! Kiddos, Work, School for Mommy, School for Big Boys, House Hunting, Wedding Planning (Yippie for my sister!!), Baby Waiting (Yippie for my other sister and her twin baby girls!!), and living out of boxes for two months  makes it really really hard to think about even packing for Ethiopia! 

I don't know what to bring.. I don't know what to wear.. excuse for new clothes?? hmmm..... I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE MY SUITCASES ARE!!!!

We have been looking for a house for months now... well since March to be exact. We have put in multiple offers, all which have been accepted and then we waited for nothing! All short-sales and all taking WAY to long... so randomly we looked at a house that was farther out of town than we thought we wanted... about a half mile on a dirt road. 15 min from TARGET!!! I know... don't worry after the shock was gone I think I will be ok... Anyway, we looked it this past Sunday and fell in love! It is everything we wanted and MORE and all the things we didn't think we wanted but God said "Oh ya, you do!" and we do!

Here is one of the amazing views from the house... 

So on Monday (yes today is Thursday) we put the offer in on the house... after multiple back and forth with the agent, myself, the other agent, the seller... we agreed on a price and on Tuesday we signed the Sale Contact!!!

Sooooooo.... I am going country people! I have no idea how this will play out with my three inch heels... guessing I might need a pair of tennis shoes? We will be the proud owners of a beautiful house on 1 1/2 acres in hopefully less than 30 days!

Did I mention we leave for Ethiopia in 31 days... lol! 

We are oh so excited and Ricky has been looking at all kinda of weird stuff on Craigslist... like fainting goats and chickens... hmmmm.... I think no on the goat but I am willing to talk about chickens...

Here is the garden... and I think I could do chickens and fresh veggies! We are planning lots of fruit trees and some grapes for a little home made wine making! 

So anyway, lots going on over here and not a lot of time to pack for Ethiopia! 

An Update and Wonderful News!!!

Ya… probably been to long since I blogged. Life can get that way sometimes. We are still in-between houses so without the normalcy of our own house I think it feels different to sit in front of my laptop and write. Anyway, enough excuses…. Here is the latest on the adoption!

We received a Court Date!! We are scheduled to leave Los Angeles on Nov 20^th at 4:00 and arrive in Ethiopia on November 22^nd at 11:45am. We are getting to have an overnight in Dubai!!!  I am really excited about that since I have never been anywhere in the Middle East!! We will be gone a whole week this trip. We bought our tickets and have confirmed our reservation for the Morning Coffee House near the orphanage. We have Court on the 25^th, the day after Thanksgiving… and boy will we be THANKFUL!!

Our big man “G” has been sick the past two weeks but we finally got a report this morning that he was completely well and they were happy with his response to the antibiotics. He lost about 2.2 lbs while he was sick and is still lacking an appetite but it sounded like they were doing a good job at enticing him  to eat good food to gain that weight back.

We have close to 200 pairs of Croc’s to take to Ethiopia!!! What a huge blessing! We really need you all to be praying over getting them into the Country. It seems in most recent trips families who have brought a lot of one item have been held at customs for some time. We have been in contact with our Agency and they are speaking with the In-Country coordinators to see if there is anything they can do for us. A letter? Someone from the Orphanage to come receive the items? I guess customs thinks we will sell them there? It makes me sad to see goods being held up in customs when they are needed so much in Ethiopia.  So please please be praying with us that all will go smoothly through customs for the Croc’s!!

I am so thankful for all who participated and made collecting these Croc’s possible! We are so blessed by each of you and especially my sweet friend Terri, who took it upon herself as mission to collect from all over the world!

I am sure we will update again soon!!

And then there was relief...

It has been an interesting journey this past few months and to be honest I have struggled with finding joy in our circumstances... but then they are just that right? Just circumstances...  They do not define who we are, unless we let them. They do not define the status of our heart... unless we let them. So how is that we can get to caught up in our circumstances that they become who we are? I feel like I have been letting my (our) circumstances make me who I am... 


We found a house we really loved... we put an offer in. It was accepted, we were ready to open escrow. We found renters and moved out of our house.... then escrow never opened. The seller would not sign the documents needed to open escrow and so we have now been out of our house a month. Shortly after that we saw a house of the same floor plan in the same neighborhood go on the market, so we offered without seeing it! Our offer has been accepted by the person living in the home, but because it is a shortsale we have to wait on the bank.... a circumstance which I have let make me crazy!

I feel like we are mid-way to no where right now.. everything we own is in boxes except our clothes... funny how little you need when you don't have it all... Ricky is funny, he gets irritated that the bank or listing agent don't communicate with transparency and he wants to set up a call with all of them to get somewhere, I am guessing it doesn't work like that right now. If every person buying a shortsale house was conference calling with the bank nothing would get done! But when it is your circumstances it should be different right?

Anyway, the insight I am hoping to glean from this moment of moving on and seeking sweet relief from my Jesus is that my circumstances don't change the fact that I am still me. I still love Jesus. I still love and am devoted to my husband. I am still the mother of 5... with two of them halfway across the globe. I am still me. AND I WILL LIVE THE JOY GIVEN TO ME.    

Submitted to Court!!!

So this is a week late... yea... kinda a lot going on right now at the Huff House!! We got submitted to Court in Ethiopia and are praying for a Court date sometime in November! Please pray with us as we are so so hoping to bring out little people home before the end of the year!

We also got an update on "Little Miss" and she is doing amazing! She has gained 2lbs since her referral and she got all 4 top teeth!! So we are at 6 teeth total for her!

We have been so blessed to have amazing people in Ethiopia picking up their kiddos and taking pictures of ours! We now have some amazing pictures and have been overjoyed to share them when anyone asks!!

Excited to have a good friend with her referral for sweet baby girl who is in the same room as "Little Miss" and we are both so excited how close in age and how close they will live forever! Best friends already!!

So much going on!!

Ok where to start.... So my amazing Momma has been the first to contribute to our Croc's Project!

She bought several pairs for the kiddos in Ethiopia and we are beyond blessed by her generosity and passion for our project! In fact, she put up a poster at work and today called to tell me she got an additional $40.00 towards the Croc's Fund! Excited!!!!

Ricky is working hard on a few things... 1. Getting in touch with Croc's to see about a matching commitment...  If we can can get all the orders together, will they match our order?!! So excited to have received a special contact at Croc's from a family at AVC!! Thank you so much Deanna L!!!
2. Currently he is sitting at the table "crunching numbers"... we have been praying over buying a bigger house... well since before we planned to adopt... so what? like almost three years? With the addition of not just one little person, but TWO! We are needing additional space!! So he is crunching and we have been walking through and talking on the phone... and waiting on the bank. Please just be praying for us, tonight we have to decide one way or another on a specific house and I know we are both feeling the pressure... This will be our forever house.. at least until our kids are grown and I decide that Ricky and I are going to live in Ethiopia as missionaries... I haven't revealed my grand plan to him yet... but since he is amazing, I know he will go!

Ok... what else is happening?! 

Um... I am making my own Injera... this is Ethiopian Flat bread used in all their food... it is kind of like a mix between a large pancake and crepe'.. Anyway, it takes like 7 days to make the starter and I am on day 5!

Ok last but not least... 


    When we started the process to adopt, we thought three things... we would adopt 1 child, we would travel 1 time and we knew God would provide the funds... As we now so close to the finish line... we KNOW THREE things.. we will be adopting TWO amazing little people and we will BOTH need to travel TWICE to Ethiopia and WE KNOW OUR BIG GOD WILL PROVIDE THE FUNDS! 
          We have been accepted to receive a matching grant from a foundation that assists adoptive parents with the costs involved with the process of adopting internationally. Not only are the fees higher for adopting a second child, but the travel increases as well with an extra plane ticket back to the US when all is said and done. Most grants you can not apply for until your family has been matched with little people... now that we have been matched I thought I would throw it out there and see what happened in applying for grants... and we have been accepted!!

I am still waiting on details, but here is how it will all work... every dollar donated to Brittany's Hope Foundation towards our adoption costs will be matched by them and sent to our adoption agency for our expenses! So basically, should some random person decide they want to help with $5, Brittany's Hope will turn it into $10.... Great right?! We are praying about this grant and the process involved... since I am not good at asking people for money AT ALL! I am a little nervous about getting this project moving.. it would be a huge blessing to our family, but again, not something I am good at. Sooo... please be praying for us while we make the decision to move forward with the grant process or move on without!

The love and support we have received from so many over the past few weeks and out pouring of excitement for our little people in Ethiopia has blessed my heart beyond words and I can't wait to show you all pictures!

Changing Family....

About 4 days before we got our referral we had out amazing friend Desiree Shuey do some family photos of us! Here is my favorite and the final family photo before we change again =) I love these pictures... we have one before each of the little boys were born!

I am so excited to add those two little sweet babies to our family I can hardly stand it!!

What to bring to the Orphanage??!!

Shoes are a big deal right?! The right size... the right color for your outfit.... the "coolest" kids shoes for your little people... but how about the basic need to even own shoes? There are kids around the world that don't even know what a proper fitting shoe feels like

THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW TO COMPLAIN THAT THE SHOES ON THEIR FEET ARE RUBBING ON THEIR TOENAILS!!


When we travel to Ethiopia in the next few months, we plan to pack as many pairs of CROC's as we can fit into extra luggage! We are talking multiple 30 gallon storage tubs hauled halfway across the world to kiddos who need them so much! 

Why the CROC's? They are made of a tough, durable, and long lasting material. They can be handed down from kiddo to kiddo and it is out hope that they will last longer than regular tennis shoes. From experience, we have handed down very few shoes from one boy to another just because they really get used and worn.

Will you help us? From now until we leave for our first trip to Ethiopia we will collecting as many pairs as we can packed into those tubs! We hope you will join us in this! 
I am going to add a "tracker" on my blog and we will be able to track and hopefully exceed our goal of 100 pairs! 

Acceptance Paperwork

So the last two weeks have been a crazy world wind of activity! We signed and express mailed our acceptance paperwork to the International Coordinator of Bethany... that one Visa Application is HARD!! Sheesh... I think I messed it up like three time! She has already sent it to Ethiopia to be translated and she promised they would push really hard to get our paperwork submitted to Court before the closure... since no official date for the closure has been announced. We can not post pictures online of our little people so if you see us around and want to look, you likely will not even need to ask, but please do! 

Many have asked "What next??"

1. We will wait to hear that our paperwork has been submitted to the Court
2. Then we will get a Court date... !!
3. Travel to Ethiopia for our first trip which will entail meeting the kiddos and attending a Court hearing
4. Travel Home without my babies... =(
5. Wait to hear that we passed Court and have a letter of recommendation from MOYA
6. Wait to be submitted to the United States Embassy for travel documents to bring the kids home..
7. Be invited back to Ethiopia for our Embassy appointment and to bring the kids home

We are hoping and praying that all of this will happen before the end of the year!

There is an ongoing drought crisis in Eastern Africa that has me on my knees in prayer for all the millions of people affected by this...please pray with us for the people there! We need to do something.. Ricky and I are in the processes of trying to find ways to help... we will be reaching out to you all when we have nailed something down and asking that you join with us... how can this not break your heart!

Let me count the ways....

I have been secretly working on this blog post for a while now… I wanted it to be EVERYTHING that I could possibly think of… so here is goes!

Today marks 5 years of marriage to my best friend…

Today, I am more in love with him that the moment we said “I do”

Today, I am more excited to spend forever with him that I was 5 years ago…

I am thankful for his kind spirit, his willingness to bend and break to what God has called him to do. I am thankful for his amazing tender heart towards me and my crazy emotional self.

I am daily blessed by the laughter he brings to our home, the crazy stories and ideas he comes up with and his willingness to embrace the “boy” so he can play with our crew.

I love how he loves my Jakey. There are no words to describe how it makes my heart feel to know there is no difference in our home, blood or not, Jakey is his baby too.

I appreciate how thoughtful he is, leaving at 8:30 at night to go get me ice cream… and getting up at 5:00am to be home early to pick up the kids.

I am in awe of his devotion to me. Just in awe… there is nothing in my being that can describe the wounds he has healed, the scars that he has made less visible. The time and tender devotion has made me a new woman, and I will be forever grateful.

My most favorite moments with him are when he laughs, it melts my heart. His smile from across the room in a weird or awkward situation calms me, the look in his eyes when he knows I have been hurt by someone else makes me feel safe.

His steadfast love for our children, the ones who are here in our home and the ones who are across the world, brings me to my knees in thanksgiving.

He lets me sleep in every day of the weekend, no matter how many times each of us has been up in the night with the kids…. He continues to show self-sacrificing love on a daily basis and I am forever thankful for the moment he walked into my life.

I love that he calls me several times a day from work just to say HI! Even when he is at work, it is important to him to make me feel loved, and I do!

5 years ago today we were getting ready to say “I do”… we had planned and prepared for nearly 6 months and all seemed perfect… The off ramp to our wedding venue had a fire and more than half our guests were stuck in traffic from the fire and missed our ceremony… but through all of that (even as a crazy bride) my question was “Is Ricky here?” This has continued as we have moved past the party to celebrate our vows and into our lives. If he is here, then I am ready!

Yesterday we received an anniversary gift that could not be matched by material gifts to each other… we were matched with the sweet additions to our family. When the moment hit me…WE WILL HAVE 5 KIDS!!.... I again went back to “Is Ricky here?”

I love you Big Bird… you inspire me and I am thankful for every moment of time we get to spend together and the moments we are apart I am praying for you and thinking of you!

On day 238.... and WE GOT A REFERRAL!!!

Our my gosh!! What an amazing day this has been! I promised myself I would blog about the referral on the first day, so it would be fresh in my mind... here you go!!

6:56am- Missed Call from Unknown Number...
7:05am- Missed Call from Unknown Number..
7:10am- Email from Grand Rapids, MI BCSI Headquarters...

Dear Brandi,
I am trying to get a hold of you we have a referral for a 9 month old girl and a 3 year old boy! Please call me!!

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7:15am- Call Ricky crying hysterically... he assumes someone needs to go to the ER (LOL) and I finally am able to get the words "referral" out!
7:30am- Throw all three boys into the car... someone was only in underwear and they had all not eaten... and drive them to my in-laws house... "They have not eaten and are dirty...I gotta go!"
8:05am- Meet Ricky at my office (half way between our house and his office).... Set up webcam to record the call and call BCSI back to get more info...

8:42am- Open email to look at pictures of our sweet new additions!! AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING!!!

I have spent the rest of the day on cloud 9billion and didn't get any work done! I came home early after picking up all 30 copies of their pictures from Costco and now are are headed to tell the boys about their new sister and brother!
We are over joyed and so thankful for this moment!

Praying Boldly..

So after reading this post I have been thinking a lot about praying boldly and being honest with God... even when the answer is no or not right now to know that I can come back to Him when I am disappointed because I have already gone to Him with my honest and bold request and am more comfortable going to Him with my sadness.

So I am asking, BOLDLY, that each of you pray with my for a referral this week!! Please pray this with us as we desperately want to bring our little people home from Ethiopia before the end for year! Please pray with us!  

Needed this tonight....

Thanks Kim for remind me....

"Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that when you are done the will of God, you may receive what is promised."  Hebrews 10:35-36. 

Last night...

One of the reasons we want to move is so our kiddos can ride their bikes in our neighborhood. We have a few people who live on our street who DO NOT CARE to drive slow... even thought I think 90% of the houses have children who play out in the front yard. It is really annoying and after a little girl got hit in front of our house last year, we have not let the kids ride bikes at all outside.

So when we got home from running errands yesterday afternoon, Jake asked to ride bikes... So we packed everyone up and headed to the park to let them ride the track around. It ended up being a fun evening and I took some sweet pictures of my boys playing.

 Safety First...

 Big Boy!

 Carter on his big wheel!

 Noah wanting to ride a big boy bike too!

 I DID IT!

 I am super fast!!

 Carter is really scared of this  bike for some reason... so Daddy was showing him all the parts... breaks, tires, etc.

 Then he sat on it... and that was the end

 Big J with his bike =)

 Shooting some hoops!!

Lovin' Summer

We are well on our way through summer, Jake has been out of school for about 3 weeks now and we are excited to have already checked some items off our "LIST"! But first, here are some more pictures of the night we made the list. I am not a very, well crafty, person so I get excited when I can think of something else to do besides play in the dirt or go to the lake with the boys. Please feel free to pass along your summer ideas... I can use all the help I can get!!

 Starting the list....

 My big man working hard to make sure we get to see Kung-Fu Panda 2

 He is getting so big writing and spelling all by himself!

 Here is Root Bear Float Night! We are so blessed to share a lot of these memories with our sweet friends... who also have 3 AMAZING little men in their house! Love each of these boys! Just missing Little C but he is too tiny for Ice Cream or Soda

 This not on the list... because it is a given that we will spend the majority of our summer at the lake. Tuesday's are a must and I meet my sweet E there with her crew and we normally spend several hours letting the boys play while we chat and I get to snuggle with Little C.

 These are from today.....

 I love this one... All 5 boys spread out and playing hard!

 The thing I say the most times at the lake... "Don't throw sand on your brother!"

 "I am going to get you!!"

 Ha! This is classic for our little family....

Bestest little buddies before we packed up and went home for nap time!

I am so thankful for these days with E and the boys.... they make my week amazing and the memories are just priceless! Can't wait for next Tuesday!

More on the list... we actually did do Slip N Slide... but I was making dinner and didn't get to take pictures... so we will do it again for the official record. 


Thursday we are going to the Drive In Movie to see Cars2 and I have to say, the overwhelming excitement from the kids is making me super excited... in addition we will be celebrating the birthday of a little man who is so near and dear to our hearts! What a special week this will be!