Sharing the News!

Spreading the news has been so much fun!  Curt and I spent hours planning up ideas of how to tell our parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, and coworkers.  We wanted it to be meaningful, and we wanted them to share in our excitement for this anticipated child and God's provision in our lives.

The first people we told were my parents.  We invited them over for a casual dinner, and after we finished eating, we were sitting around chatting.  We handed this frame and a homemade card that said grandpa and grandma on it (see photo below). We wrote a short letter to them from their future grandchild(ren).  While it took them a few minutes to put all the pieces together, they cried tears of joy!  It came as a bit of a surprise... But definitely a great surprise!

The following day, we had Austin over for lunch.  Now, something you need to know about Austin... he has been NAGGING for nieces for nephews since the day Curt and I got married, so we knew this news would be just what he's been waiting for.  Austin is going to be an awesome uncle!  He has so much love to give, and our children sure will be blessed by him.  He was so excited... a little unsure about the two year wait, but it will be well worth it!

Then we headed over to my grandparents.  Curt was planning to plant some tomato plants there, so it was perfect timing. As we were sitting in their living room, we gave them a copy of our first blog post and a little magnet that says wait, hope, expect (see below).  They both read the letter, cried, and shared in our excitement!  They have been models of what it is like to live your life for Christ, and if it wasn't for the faith that they have passed down from generation to generation, I don't know if we would be following God's calling to adopt today.  We asked that they keep the magnet on their fridge as a reminder to pray for our child and us often on this journey.  Eventually that magnet will hold precious pictures of our little blessing or blessings from Ethiopia.

Then we headed over to Curt's parents.  We created a similar letter to Curt's parents from the perspective of their future grandchild(ren) from Africa.  Curt also read the first blogpost to them.  Curt even got choked up as reading it, and if you know Curt, he does not openly share his emotions.  Curt's parents also took a minute to put all the pieces together, but once they figured it out, they were so excited!

Then we stopped and Curt's grandmas house, as well as at his brother Nick's house.  We also gave them a magnet like the one above to keep on their fridge.  They also shared in our excitement as Curt read the first blog post to them about our calling from God to adopt this child.  We had to wait until the next day to tell Curt's brother, Dan, and his wife, Meghan.  They knew something was up after we tried to meet up with them a couple times in one day!  They were thrilled (and shocked) as well!  We have such supportive family, and we couldn't be more grateful!  This child (or children) is going to be so blessed by the Peuler and Bolhuis families!

Finally, this week, we shared the great news with our coworkers.  My friend Ashley helped me construct an awesome poster of Africa with the phrase, "I have prayed for this child" on it.  I also made cute purple and blue frosted cupcakes (because well... at school, you can't really announce something without a treat!). We are so blessed by the outpouring of love and support already in this journey.  We recognize that this journey will have its highs and its lows, and we are SO grateful to family and friends praying for us every step of the way.

We are coming for you sweet child! We are ready to work tirelessly to get you home in our arms forever!