Alpheus and I are so thankful today that the homestudy visit went well this morning!  Candace is a really sweet lady and we are so thankful that God led us to her.  Last week when she forgot our appointment date, she was so apologetic.  In order to show how sorry she was, she brought us a quart of already shelled, homegrown pecans!  They are delicious!  Wasn't that sweet!

We went around the yard first and looked at the garden.  She and her husband have many pecan trees and pear trees so hopefully this November we will take her up on the offer to come up and pick a whole bushel!   We of course shared a quart of the green beans we have already canned from the garden.  (Alpheus did another 14 quarts last night so we are moving right along there too!)  We also chatted about gardening struggles and successes.

Next Candace reviewed the material that we had turned in and clarified a few details and such.  She already knows so much about us, and we have read her biography page that she shares to help us get to know her, so it kind of feels like we are old friends already! (She adopted her two children.) One very encouraging thing that she said was that she knew this was the best place for Lydia to be.  She also wanted to let us know that this adoption proposal would be legal for a year so if we wanted to pursue another adoption right away we wouldn't have to pay for another homestudy if we did it within the year.  It made us feel confident that she would recommend another adoption!

Following a tour of the interior of the house, she asked if we would like to see a couple of quilts she had just finished.  One day on the phone, I had mentioned that I was trying to sew a dress for one of the girls, so she knew I would love to see them!  They were so beautiful!  It was actually what she was doing when I called last Saturday to see if she was still planning to come. 

The girls did really well while she was visiting.  Hannah loves to be with the adults and listen and talk.  I was proud of her for listening more than talking.  Basically the girls played while we went over everything and they played very nicely.  Candace also commented on how happy and involved Lydia was in playing with her sisters.

So we are thankful!  Thankful that God has led this far in the process and thankful that we see a light at the end of the adoption tunnel!   Thank you for praying!