Josie's 1st day of kindergarten

I cannot believe the day has come my baby has started school and I know that now is definatly when time starts to fly. She did great though and loves school and her teacher. She says stuff cute though like the teacher's mean though because she writes peoples names on the board:) but she really loves her and the coolest part to her is that the teacher has a baby and Josie loves babies!! I did pretty good taken her for her first day but the day I had to drop her off leaving her to walk to her class all by herself. That was the hard day for me! Everyone told me that she could do it and for me not to worry. even the sweet lady helping the car riders out. She says to me.. dont worry just watch her shell just follow the crowd and go right where whe needs to, well not my Josie she would much prefer to watch her sparkly new shoes!!! so off she went the WRONG way!! That's when I lost it! I so wanted to save her, couldn't stand watching her not know what to do but having to keep going and let her figure it out! But she is a pro now thank goodness. She says MOM , mom I go the right direction now:)  

Fun times!

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

Happy Birthday Josie

March 17- Happy Birthday My Sweet girl!  I just cannot believe it, cannot wrap my mind around the fact that Josie is already 5 years old. OHHHH I wanna stop it! Not only did she have a big birthday yesterday she also had kindergarten registration all in one day! Thank goodness yesterday was a amazing weather day so the kids and I got to  meeet my mom, grandma, and aunt for lunch then picked up my other grandma and spent the afternoon at the park by the lake. It allowed all my crazy anxiety of ALL my kids growing up to  fade away. SO relaxing!

I also had parent-teacher conference for Corie and Pedro. Both are doing great! Teachers are so impressed with Pedro's ability to face his complete life change head on and always being a happy camper at school. The deal is he just loves making and hanging out with his new friends. He loves staying busy and is a very social boy.

Corie as usual is doing great and teachers think the world of her which makes me very happy!

Christian, well his life is just changing, changing, talk about wanting to slow things down. Seems like I just put him in kindergarten now he is driving, scheduling classes for college credits, working and praying about going on a mission trip to Uganda.

I am so proud of all my kids! They are all the loves of my life and simply put "The Loves of my life"

Foster/adopt informational meeting

Anyone that is interested in foster/adoptby Mica Gunter on Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 9:53pm




Monday, February 21



6:30pm The C.A.L.L. Information SessionWhenMon, February 21, 6:30pm – 7:30pm



WhereNew Life Church (map)







DescriptionThis informational meeting for Volunteers and Prospective Foster, Adoptive and Respite Care Parents is a time to come and hear more about ways you can help children in foster care in Faulkner County. You can get your questions answered and begin the paperwork process, if you choose. Please enter through New Life Church's side office doors.







New Life Church



633 S Country Club Rd.



Conway, AR 72034

Pedro's welcome home party

Pedro was given a welcome home party by our church as a sweet token of love and support. We are so thankful to everyone who has come along with us on this journey. God is Good ! He does ALWAYS ALWAYS finish what he started. Thank you Lord for reminding me again that you will always do what you said you will do. Thank you for reminding what faith is and to never give up. Thank you Lord you always do what is best. Thank you Lord for all the provisions you have made for our family. Thank you Lord for your promises that you will always find favor in us and that we and our offsprings are BLESSED!

Pedro's adjustment to his family

 Pedro and our whole family are finally "complete?" and adjusting well. Pedro has surprised me so much in the way that he just jumps in. He went to school just 3 days after entering the US by his choice. Guess he figured there would always be a first day and that just staying home with mom might be pretty boring. He also LOVES to play futbol so to get started in school might have meant making friends to play futbol with. Yes he does have to go at it alone in some classes. He does have 2 spanish speaking teachers, he is in off-season football so that you don't have to know alot of english just what do what he loves to do. Work-out and play! Then several of his other classes are with his sister so it works out pretty good.
 He had his first futbol practice the first weekend he was home to and loved it. He is going to play on a pretty competitive traveling team that the Lord worked out for him during the process and will have a 3 on 3 tournament this weekend. So as you can see we hit the ground running but with adopting a teenager things are much different and you just have to work around there comfort zone and take it one day at a time. There will always be things he does alittle different than my other 2 teenagers because of the big culture difference but overall I think he fits like a glove in our family. So thankful God chose us to be his family and the Lord continues to grows us and there is definatly a new lesson for my kids in this situation. A lesson on compassion within our own family when sometimes we take each other for granted and not treat each other the way we should.
 Pedro also got to experience his first snow! Not sure if he liked the hit in the face he received but sure liked given it. We have snow on the ground today and expect it pretty much all week. So we will continue with new experiences, hopefully go sledding this week and will press on getting to know each other more and more. And as his mom I will say for those that fear adopting a older child, I had so much anxiety even though I knew I loved him and he was a sweet boy and the Lord definatly called us to adopt him, the fear of how to relate and to communicate with him was so scary but let me tell you even as a 14 year old boy there is still a sweetness with momma and her son and communicating, it just takes care of itself.Pedro and his cousin Bryce.

Welcome Home Pedro!

Pedro's Homecoming

We are home safe and sound and Pedro seems to be adjusting very well. I ended up not able to use the computer much while we were on our trip so wasn't able to update here. It was a day to day process though while there until Friday afternoon at 3:00pm we finally had the visa in hand and new 100% we were getting to come home. What a relief! but it truely wasn't until we were off that last plane that i felt at rest. We did have great people to deal with while we were there and other than the Mexican way of timeframe we had a good experience. Pedro is doing well. Really does well when he has the kids to hang with. He was very nervous though once we had the visa in his hand because then it became a reality and he was very nervous of the unknown and everything new. We had a great welcome home though and had our family around all day yesterday, I believe he was surprised but seemed very happy! Since then we have been to church and to the school so he could play on a futbol field with turf rather than dirt and i believe that may have possibly made everything Alright!!! Anyway we are very happy to have this chapter over and begin this new one!

Day 2

Beautiful morning here!!!! Just alitte cold though, I'm sitting in a room beachfront and wearing my coat somethings wrong with that!  Seriously no complaining I have my son here with me and don't have to leave without him,  I had the best cup of coffee this morning that would make Christian and Corie so sad to miss becuase it reminded us of La Casa Grande in Guatemala!! our family favorite. This trip is starting to feel real. Today we are going to say our goodbyes to Mazatlan. The business will begin en la manana.

Pedro's Homecoming

Today we began our trip for Pedro's Homecoming! We arrived safe and sound. Picked Pedro up and his smile has been amazing all day. We had our first one on one Mom and Son conversation today where we truely were able to speak without communication problems. I believe that was just a God gift cause he doesn't speak much English and I don't speak much spanish and most of the time I am jealous because his talks are always with Carrol since he can speak spanish. So anyway Pedro is very happy and he says God time is perfect but for him its alittle bitter sweet cause my sweet boy has a girlfriend! he is very torn to leave her. I know there will be many more but to him she is the world right now and it brings me back to when Carrol and I became boyfriend and girlfriend and many people told me it was just puppy love and I would have many more well that was somewhere around 22 years ago and I am still in love, so I try to take it seriously and realize to him this is very hard. He is such a sweet boy though and just keeps saying how much he thinks of Christian and Corie and Josie and can't wait to be home with them.
Thank you Lord for your opportunities! thanks for opening our eyes to the specialness of adoption! Thank you Lord for my family!

Woohoo!!! we are going to MEXICO! we will be traveling on Monday to pick Pedro up! I CANNOT believe this is finally coming to an end. Wont rest though till we hit the US soil with him though. Praise the Lord.

SO much going on!

As of today we are still waiting on the call from the US embassy in Mexico city to tell us our case is ready to pick up. So here is the details apparently I dont' know if this is only for Mexico or other country but the case still isnt complete without a final approval from the Mexican Ministry of Foriegn Affairs SRE. Our case is complete at the US Embassy, so we have our I-800 approval from USCIS on Dec. 2,2010. We were issued our Article 5 on January 3,2010 and now we wait on the Article 23 from the SRE. UGHHHH!! another Mexican office, which totally throws me for a loop because the last step to bringing my child home lies in the hands of people that work on NO time schedules!! but I was told from the very awesome officers at the Embassy I should know anyday. SO believe when I say I am so sick of waiting ONE MORE DAY!
Once the SRE does say our case has been processed though we travel. We go to that office to pick up the Article 23. Get a Dr. appt for the TB test and as soon as that is read we will get our visa interview and Get home as quick as possible with our son onto US soil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So God has ofcourse been up to more!!! And shook me to the core and definatly put me up to a test. I have been privatly so worried about how we would even afford to pick Pedro up. We found out that Carrol and I both have to go for the visa interview which of course added lots of money to the bill by me having to fly as well. And we can't fly round trip becuase we have to travel to pick up Pedro then travel to Mexico City then the 3 of us will have to get a last minute one way flight home. Not to mention hotel stay in the city which is not cheap for 5 days! SO needless to say that is very overwelming! but I just kept telling myself that God will provide, He has chosen this timing so HE knows and I just have to give it to him and not worry!! Yeah right that is not easy for me.... SO I decided that now was the time we had to get very serious at hearing the LORD and trusting him. So I began to fast. Very desperate true fasting trusting and believing he would show us how he was going to take care of this problem. HE did... He blessed me with a significant raise at my work that was very overwelming!  Praise Praise! So then as my family was resting at the end of the day enjoying watching Forrest Gump, laughing and carring on... I got a phone call from DHS! yep even though we were on break to bring Pedro home feeling like that was the best decision for now, He tested me. The call was for a child with Down Syndrome that no one was excepting affraid of his illness and feeling that was more than they cold handle. SO all I could do was tell the lady I would call her back... I hung up the phone and Balled my eyes out because I knew without a doubt the Lord was speaking!! My whole family began to cry. He was promising he would always take care of us and needed to know that I would take care of his child. Take care of the least of these MICA.  Well ofcourse we took this precious 3 year old boy with down syndrome. Scared to death of what to expect and of course GOD showed himself when this child was placed with us. My whole family with the exception of my precious daughter Corie who has always had a heart for special needs children, was so nervous that we couldn't do this. Well I will say in a instant the Lord has changed our hearts, I watched Christian go from a look of fear to a look to true love and compassion. It is simply overwelming what the Lord has done in our lives through one simple yes. It is amazing how he taught me what a true fasting is! It is amazing the things he has planned for our lives that we would truely never expect. Though Pedro isn't home yet and my hearts hurts for him to be home with us I know that to the Lord one day is like a thousand to him. He has a perfect plan and I know there has been many lives changed through this process and I believe and know Pedro will be home and all of this process will seem like nothing other than a growth in our faith! 

Update

I am just not as good at blogging as I used to be and I am not sure why other than I guess I have to sit and think about things all day I am tired of them by the time I can write so anyway, Where we are now is our case has been forwared to Mexico City and that will be where Carrol will be traveling with Pedro to the US Embassy. Our case is there and they requested that I send Pedro's new Birthcertificate with his new name and copy of his passport as well as passport photos and the visa application. The reason this step is taking so long is because after going crazy I found that my case sat at the USCIS for 8 days after approval. Then at the National Visa Center (which FYI folks that have been approved of there I-800 there is a phone # and E-mail to contact at the NVC so that you can track your case) There it sat for 5 days without moving. Now we are at Mexico City going on 1 week waiting for approval to travel! UGGHH   So sadly no Pedro will not make it home for Christmas but hopefully they will atleast grant us a travel date tommorrow before everyone goes on Christmas break so that atleast I can rest becuase everyday that they make us wait makes the dreadful fear of something going wrong again come back into my mind. So say a little prayer for us. We have spoken to Pedro on the phone and he is still very excited about coming home and ofcourse we can't wait!

And as for the rest of the Family, everyone is great. Tonight we celebrated Jesus's Birthday and it sure tells me that all the time I spend worring and fretting on when and if Pedro is coming home I should be spending that time with the Lord and trusting him! And instead of fretting over Pedro not being home for Christmas I need to remember there is something even more special than that and that was our Jesus was born to be Savior of the World!  

We have been provisionally APPROVED! again

Pedro visa is finally been approved and this time it is for real!!! WHat a ordeal this one has been! In the end though what matters is our son is coming home and will be home for Christmas WOOHOO! Through all of this what the Lord keeps on and on having to teach me is pray without ceasing even when it doesn't feel like he is even there because he Always is! He never leaves and I am so thankful. I am so thankful for my prayer warriors that carried us through as well, what would we have done without them. I am so thankful that Pedro will no longer have to worry over wether he will ever really get to come home or not! I am so thankful he didn't give up on us as well. I am so excited for this new chapter in our lives. I just hope to slow down and enjoy all the moments we have to come. What a wonderful December! We hopefully will travel next week to bring Pedro HOME!

My Favorite picture of some sweet times!

Hunting Season

Josie loves to touch them believe it or not!

Josie's First hunting trip

Christian's 10 point

Corie's First Buck

Hunting Season is something my crew looks very forward to and this year has been a great one! Fun Times in our home.
On the Pedro front.......Looking very positive is all I can say right now since I don't want to get my hopes up to much again  but My Hope lies in the LORD and Pedro is coming home soon!