Today is the last day of 2017. What a year of memories for our family! Thank you for coming along side our family in so many ways both pre and post adoption. God has used each one of you to bless our family in countless ways and we will be forever grateful!

November was a very special month for our family. It is National Adoption month so we participated in the Run for Orphans on November 4, a one mile for the younger children and 5 miles for adults and older children. It was truly a beautiful day to walk/run around Windsor lake and be surrounded by so many people who have lives touched by adoption. The next day, Sunday, November 5, we had Angelica dedicated at church. This was our way of publicly stating that we will teach her about God and raise her in a loving, Godly home. Before the dedication our pastor had all the families who have adopted children or adults who have been adopted come forward. The front of the church was filled with families! The affirmation from the congregation to help assist us teach Angelica about God was very moving. The pastor made it a special “Orphan Sunday”. Orphan Sunday is celebrated around the world the second Sunday of November and for the first time in the history of our church it was truly celebrated; just one week early! For years I have wanted our church to celebrate Orphan Sunday and God answered my prayers!

On November 14 we thanked the Lord that he got us safely to Ukraine last year and on November 17 we thanked Him for how He placed only Angelica’s picture in our file at the Ministry of Social Policy. We also thanked our children for the great sacrifice they made in letting mom and dad leave last November. On November 21, 2017 we celebrated that one year ago Angelica decided to be adopted by our family! We were in Kansas visiting Jason’s side of the family so we all made a toast to family and drank our sparkling apple cider. We celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a complete Aldridge family in Kansas and we all missed Grandma who was back in CO. (Last year she cared for our 4 children and did Thanksgiving for additional family that came to visit. I am not sure how she did it all, especially with staying at our house and having family stay at her house! We have been truly blessed by a supportive Grandma/Mom!)

The anniversary of when court granted us custody of Angelica was December 15, so we once again praised God for His provision. Our first candle light Christmas Eve service with Angelica and then dinner at Grandmas was very special. Christmas day was extremely fun for the children despite mom getting sick around lunchtime. December 26 is the biggest anniversary date we have celebrated so far! It was the day that Angelica officially became an Aldridge! We celebrated by reading her a poem that her parents wrote for her and then we sang “Happy Gotcha Day to you - and us” before eating red velvet cake.

Angelica wants to celebrate January 13, with a fish fry at Grandmas. It will be the anniversary of her first day to meet her siblings and come home forever. Her first meal with the family was at Grandmas so it seems fitting to hold our celebration dinner there with one of Angelica’s favorite foods that she thought she would never eat! We pray it will be a truly special day for our family.

Thank you for your prayer support throughout our journey. God has seen us through many challenges. We come to you once again with more prayer requests.

One of Angelica’s friends/roommates from the orphanage is arriving on Tuesday, January 2. This friend is being hosted by a family who wants to adopt her however the friend decided in November that she does not want to be adopted. She did not want to be hosted by this family until Angelica was able to call her at the orphanage and talk to her. She agreed to be hosted again because the family was willing to fly her out to spend a week with us. When I talked to Angelica about what was happening she said she had to call and talk to her friend. She said she wants her friend to be adopted so she can be happy like she is! What a blessing to hear her say that. Angelica has been facetiming her friend since she arrived for hosting earlier in December. This friend continues to say that she wants to stay in her home country and be with her friends. She is almost 14 so in 2 years she will be on her own and I am pretty sure that those who are trying to convince her to stay will not stick by her side. Please pray fervently that her time with our family will show her how happy Angelica truly is and that God will use us to show her His will for her life.

I, Christy, have had influenza since Christmas day so please pray for God’s speedy healing. No one else in the family has gotten sick and we are thankful to God for protecting them. We pray that he will protect Angelica’s friend from illness as well.

We still do not have Angelica’s certificate of citizenship. Our local senator’s office has been working with USCIS and Department of Homeland Security to find all of the original documents that have been lost, found, and then lost again. We are quickly approaching one year from when Angelica entered the United States so we are not sure what might happen if the documents are not found before January 13.

Thank you again for being our prayer partners. We praise our Heavenly Father for His mighty work and pray for His continued guidance and strength for all circumstances. May you see and feel God’s abundant blessings in the new year.

“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.” Isaiah 26:4