Sorry for the lapse in posts.  This isn’t going to be a long one but I do promise a full blown update soon.

The short of it is this:

We celebrated New Years.  Kenley fell asleep and missed the whole thing, the twins had a blast!

In the weeks following we had three hospital visits.  First my Dad spent the night for heart related problems, he is fine.  Next was Zach, broken wrist from a snowboarding accident.  In a cast for 6 to 8 weeks.  Last was my turn.  On January 12th, I totaled our SUV and was taken on a back board by ambulance to the ER.  After tests and xrays, praise God, I was sent home to rest and recover.  I have been in bed since, sore and bruised but ok.

As most of you may remember the 12th is also the twins birthday.  I was actually on my way to get Paul and the birthday sweets and take them to the boys school for their first class birthday party.  I was more upset about screwing that up than I was crashing our only family vehicle.

Thankfully, the big party is tomorrow and they are VERY excited.

So I have decided that next year on January 12th NONONE will be leaving our house.  2010 brought Zach’s appendicitis on the 12th.  Of course it is the day of the earthquake and now the accident.  We will be skipping this day from now on.

More to come soon, photos as well Tante Sheri!

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Just a reminder to all of you in our area.  Please join us tonight at 6pm at LIVERPOOL COMMUNITY CHURCH 8004th st. to celebrate the finalization of the boys adoption.  Everyone is welcome.  We would love to pack the place for the boys!!!!!!!  It’s casual, cake & refreshments and good fellowship will be served.  Look forward to seeing you there!

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Our AMAZING and wonderful lawyer team. We would not be here without them!

The whole gang. We are blessed!

Boys in there special adoption hats courtesy of lawyer Kevin!

Future Judge Kenson David

Our wonderful Dr. Nicole!

Kenley and Uncle Kevin

Victoria and Sally, two of the boys greatest supporters.

The very moment the judge announced them all ours!!!!!!

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It was here and gone.  Their first Christmas day.  All that prep and build-up and the 12 hours of Christmas has come and gone.  The day was all I had looked forward to.  The boys were overwhelmed and excited upon coming downstairs and seeing what Santa had left.  It was definitely a little nutty trying to keep things under some sense of control.  All in all we managed to do so AND enjoy each other at the same time.  The favorite gifts of the day were as follows: Kenzie-Barbie house hands down, Kenson-Kinect(even though this was a family gift), Kenley-Ironman action figure, Em-Kindle and Zach-Oakley ski goggles!  It was, as always, Gmas cinnamon buns that were mom and dads favorite tradition of the day.

After spending the last two Christmas’ speculating and dreaming of what it would be like when the boys were here it was almost surreal to wake-up with them Christmas morning.  Of course having just two days before witnessed their adoption finalization I was still on a major emotional high anyway.  I am still on a high.  I can’t put into words how it feels to finally be here.  The relief of knowing the boys are legally ours, that they are safe now if, God forbid, something happen to us.  No more jumping through hoops or begging for documents.  They are ours forever.  We have been telling them this from the beginning but strange enough it actually feels different now when I say it.

What an adventure it has been.  To think of where we were just 10 months ago.  To see the way the boys have blossomed and grown is unbelievable.  To be here sharing the magic of this time of year with all 5 children is indescribable.  I am so proud of our two teenagers, the way they have handled this all.  There have been days of course but all in all they have handled the change with grace.

Through all of this my mind lately wanders to thoughts of Rosemantha, the boys birth mom.  How is she feeling this first Christmas without her sons?  What is life like for her now?   I pray for her often and other parents like her.  We keep her in our talks and prayers with the boys as well.  I wish I could spend an time with her, letting her know of their achievements and what amazing boys she raised.

As the New Year approaches I have no way of knowing what God will do in my life.  I am, however, eager to find out.  He has done more than I ever imagined so far.  He has sustained me through trials I could never have fore told.  He has blessed me and those around me in ways I could not have conceived of.

Happy New Year to you all.

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Today it was made official.  The boy’s are legally Rumo’s.  In front of about 25 friends and family, with a kind and wonderful judge and our fabulous lawyer and his assistant, the adoption was finalized in family court.  Just about two-years to the day the boys chose us!!!!! 11 months after the tragedy in Haiti brought them home we can finally say they are ours.  So we now have a Kenzie Joseph Rumo, Kenson David Rumo and Kenley Paul Rumo!  The best Christmas present we could hope for.  Thank you to all of you who got up so early to be with us.  It meant more than you know that we had our family and friends with us.  People that the boys have come to know and love!  Promise to post photos as soon as I get them!!!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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It is confirmed, we have a date with a judge!  On December 23rd at 8:45 am the boys will be officially adopted!   I was shaking when we got the call.  I have thought about this day for over two years now and it is almost surreal to have it actually be happening!  We are celebrating for sure in the Rumo house.  Please know that we have not forgotten, nor will we ever, all of you that helped us on this adventure.  I have said this often, we are so blessed by all the people in our lives!  Recently we have been blessed by amazing lawyer and his assistant.  They worked so hard to make this day happen for us before the year end.  THANK YOU Kevin & Sheri!  Rest assured there will be many pictures of this momentous occasion!  For those of you in our area we are having a celebration on Monday the 27th at Liverpool Community Church at 6 pm.  We would love to be able to thank everyone again for all of their prayers and support and also have you share in our celebration.  I will post more info soon.  Right now just do a little happy dance for our family as we are finally where we have dreamed of being for so long.  God is amazing!!!!!!!!!

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Some pictures of recent happenings ( and some not so recent)

First up we had a great Family Fall day with our church at Adam’s Eden.  The day was perfect.  The pictures prove it!

The models of the family!

EAsier than fishing just LOOK for the fish.

Em was less than thrilled for this one.

Pile on!

Gma & Gpa came along for the wagon ride.

My favorite pic from the day!

Next up is our trip to Radio City for the famous Christmas show.  Em & I went with the twins.  My sister took us along with her children & grandchildren.  As you know we all LOVE the city and as usual were happy to be back.  The show was spectacular and the boys were mesmerized!  Thank you Aunt “chicken” Susan for this wonderful day!

This brings us to Thanksgiving and once agin to the Big Apple.  Our family tradition for many years now has been to go to the Macy’s Day Parade.  This year we almost had to cancel when Zach became quite ill and could not stand the ride down.  He decided to stay home but wanted us to go ahead.   Then on the way down Em came down with a horrible puke bug and was up until midnight getting sick.  Trooper that she is she got up at the butt crack of dawn and went with us.  Very proud of her.  The weather was good this year.  We were joined by the Rosenburg family which is always fun!  The parade was a hit and the kids were all fantastic!  Not sure which the boys liked more the parade or the feast afterward.  I think it was a tie!

Our sick one braving the parade. She spent about 2 hours in this position.

Finally this brings us to our annual Christmas tree cutting trip.  We make the annual trek to Grace Farms in Central Square with the Simon family (and usually Gma & Gpa make the trip but this finds them in sunny California).  It was chilly but dry out.  The boys had a blast running through all the trees.  They also loved helping to carry the cut trees out.  This year it was Em & Zach that picked the perfect tree.  At home the boys played Santa while we put the tree up to be decorated.  I am continually amazed at how God has blessed me with 5 amazing and beautiful children!

And just for laughs I am throwing this one in.  Kenzie is an amazingly creative boy.  He draws and invents and builds and designs all day long.  One night he wanted to do my “make-up” which then turned into face painting with my make-up and this was the result.  Not bad for a 5 year-old.

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OK, we are in desperate need of a CERTIFIED translator who is able to translate some of the boys documents from french creole to english.  As it has been throughout this whole thing we need it done yesterday.  If anyone out there can help PLEASE let me know.  As always, prayers that we are able to get everything done by Christmas are welcome!

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The boys are all being circumcised on the 11th.  We have been talking about this a lot lately.  FIle this under things I never thought I would hear.

Kenzie:  ”Mom, what comes after October?”

Me:  ”November”

Z:  ”AWWWW, I don’t want it to be November.”

Me:  ”Why not?”

Z:  ”November is penis month mommy!!!!!!”

Bet YOU never knew November was penis month!

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For those of you who have been around awhile I am reposting my November 2009 post on National Adoption Month.  Please re read it if you already have or read it for the first time and truly give thought to how you may be called to be part of adoption.

In a perfect world all children would be able to stay with their birth families. Alas, it is not a perfect world which is why from the very beginning God laid out a plan for adoption. Adoption is not plan B when plan A fails. Adoption is a way that God, in His infinite wisdom, PLANNED for the orphans He knew would be part of our broken, sinful world, to have families to care for them.

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out; “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

We are “adopted” into the family of God through baptism and receiving Jesus Christ as our savior. This is not plan B by any means!!!!!!!! This is His plan for all of us. One definition of adoption I have seen is; a permanent place as a son or daughter, with all the rights and privileges as the same. This is exactly what God has given us, a permanent place in His family with all the love and security that goes with it. So it is that He commands us to do this for the orphans of OUR world. To assist in providing them a place filled with love, security and a forever family they deserve.

I understand completely that not everyone is called to adopt. However, many of us never even think to open ourselves up to the IDEA that we could adopt. It is a scary, long, difficult journey. A journey that God has commanded us to consider undertaking. If I could count the number of people who have said they had always “thought” about adopting and then go on to list the “BUTS” they had. Paul and I had this list as well, it took a leap of faith and lot of prayer to get over our list, but we did and we are SO blessed because we did!
So you have decided you have not been called to adopt, then help in other ways. There are many!!! Here a just few I have found on other sites and some of my own.

Pray for them daily!
There are lists and lists I could give of children waiting to come home if you feel called to pray specifically otherwise pray in general for their care, safety and for their forever families to bring them home.

SPEAK UP for them.
There are plenty of websites out there explaining how you can champion the cause of the orphan

PROVIDE for their needs.

• Give to a reputable orphanage.
• Give towards someone’s adoption.
• Visit HelpOrphans.org
• Organize a drive in your church to collect supplies for children in foster care or orphans overseas.
• Check out Flip Flop Fleet & Cry of the Orphan

SUPPORT those who support them

• Mow, baby sit, clean or organize meals for foster/adoptive parents.
• Pray with them offer a shoulder to lean on.
• Encourage a family adopting by hosting a shower for them.

VISIT them where they are

• Go on a mission trip to an orphanage as an individual or family.

GIVE sacrificially to them.

• Support reputable orphan care organizations on an ongoing basis.
• Contribute generously to an adoptive family to help offset their costs.

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