Many of us plan on taking our children back for a home land tour, while others plan on taking their child back to add a sibling to their family. Whatever the reason, your child must travel on a US Passport for part of the travel and their Kazakhstan passport for the remainder of the travel. We were curious how we would go about updating our children's Kazakhstan passports - so I called and below is the information that I obtained and thought I'd share with all of you.....

Renewing your Child’s Kazakhstan Passport

Voice mail... more

Continued from Part 1 of New Years Resolutions……

Two years ago, I set my resolution of making and completing Charlie’s life book. I was very determined to accomplish that goal, not only because I thought it would be beneficial to my self in dealing with my grief, but because it was so important to me for Charlie to have it and begin using it.

I used the steps mentioned in part one.... more

Do these make me look fat? Now let me see how best to answer that. No my wife has never asked that as she is the hottest thing on this planet. It's just the all to common phrase used to describe that situation where we are forced to make a difficult choice of what to say. It leads me to a larger topic that has come up repeatedly in my path and recently in regards to Guatemala. Speaking the truth.

I am a youth pastor and find guidance in the Bible. The apostle Paul once wrote to the followers in Ephesus that the mark... more

Here's a post-Christmas story that anyone who's got kids might want to read: How materialism happens.

It's fascinating to me that this subject, near as it is to my miserly, penny-pinching, sunset-watching(*) heart,... more

When you hear the words "Older Child" many of us think of a child that is 5 years old or older. In the world of adoption,it means a child that is not an infant. More like toddler age that has not been adopted yet and then older.

It is often very easy to have children under the age of five come up for adoption. Usually this happens through Foster Care when a child has had the parental rights terminated. Or in foreign countries where there are orphanages that children are placed in at birth and are left there until they are adopted or placed in another home.

International... more

On my other blog, I wrote a sentence that I thought perfectly summed up my feelings right now. I wrote, “I plan to revel in the fact that I can look back on 2006 without regrets and that I can welcome 2007 without fear.”

Link: What Did I do in 2006?

This year has been full of firsts and good things. I really didn’t know much about blogging until this year. Oh, I knew it was the latest craze, but I didn’t understand the ins and outs. So, when I decided to apply for a position on this site as a blogger, I was really coming in blind. All I can say is that I wouldn’t have... more

I’ve written about my hospital experience before and aside from the lady from the birth certificate office and a few dirty glances from nurses, compared to the horror stories I have heard from other birthmothers, I had a pretty positive hospital experience.

I do get asked by women considering adoption if there was anything about my hospital experience I would change, so I thought today I would share those things with you. They say hind sight is twenty/twenty and at the time I didn’t realize these were issues, but looking back five years later, I wish I had done things... more

Death and taxes and childbirth! There's never any convenient time for any of them!

Margaret Mitchell

Ah, yes, this quote is from the author of that old Southern classic "Gone With the Wind." Her sentiment is as pertinent now as it has ever been. Okay, so there are some convenient times to have babies, right? When you are happily married, well-established and prosperous, a nice house, blah, blah, blah. Some women really want to be moms and they have all those things. It is responsible... more

Sadness has filled the community of Stallings, NC as fire swept through the Parry household claiming the lives of Elena (5), and Olivia (4). This tragic situation strikes a chord of grief throughout the adoption community as the Parry's were an adoptive family.

Years ago when the couple couldn't concieve, they decided to pursue an adoption through Guatemala. During the adoption, they learned that they were pregnant. Mr. Parry flew to Guatemala for the pick-up trip and brought home their baby Elena. Just months later their baby Olivia was born. Within... more

The New Year is almost upon us! Do you make a resolution for the New Year? Some years I have and some years I haven’t, but many people do.

I am sure many of us are guilty of making resolutions such as “I will loose weight” or “I will exercise more” or “I will quit smoking,” or “I will spend less money and save more.” I know I have made very general resolutions like that before. According to the article How to Make New Year’s Resolutions Stick on January 2nd, about 2 million people... more