My sweet sweet friend, Katie, is the Thirty-One queen! She sells Thirty-One like it's her job....orrrr because it is her job! :) Welp, guess what?!? Katie offered to do a Thirty-One fundraiser to benefit our adoption! From now until January 15th, she will donate 30% of the sales from her event "Adoption fundraiser for the Boswell's" to us! How awesome is that?!? So, if your are interested in purchasing some amazing product {from an amazing company} and helping us bring Love home, please go here, click on 'My Events', choose 'Adoption Fundraiser for the Boswell's' and start shoppin'!

{And FYI: we leave in NINE days! That's right! NINE days! That means in twelve days, I'll be holding my babe once again! Trey will be meeting him for the first time. Lord willing, on this trip he will become legally forever ours. Oh.my.heart.}

xo-

Is she in my head?!?

A few weeks ago, my SIL called me to tell me she was finishing a book I HAD to read! I Love You More (The Divine Surprise of Adopting My Daughter) written by Jennifer Grant. Now, my sis in law reads.lots. Sometimes, I think with her English/Lit background, some of the books she recommends might be a bit beyond me. Then I read her review, (which you can see right here) and waited oh so impatiently for her to pass it on. I started reading it and was blown away. I remember saying to Trey, "It's like she's in my head. Literally reading my mind." Holy cow! The way she addresses and answer questions about adoption is amazing. Reading, I kept saying to myself "Yes! That's what I've been trying to explain to people. Yes! That's exactly how I feel!" If only I was as good as putting my thoughts into words.....As I was finishing the book today, a certain part stuck out to me as I was reading:

"If I've learned anything since adopting Mia, it is that trying to control the opinions of others is a fruitless pursuit. I can't control what others think of her. I can't protect her from people who may say something insensitive to her about her adoption. I can't help it that some people will only see the color of her skin when they look at my daughter. Adopting Mia brought my own limitations out into the light. I want to be liked too much. I doubt myself too much. I fear the disapproval of others too much. I coddle myself, lick my wounds, and I don't trust in God's love for me the way I should. I am quick to forgive others, slow to forgive myself. It's torn off the veneer and helped me to live a little more honestly-which to say, of course, that it's made life harder."

As I read these words, tears came. Her words went straight through me. Her words were me. Others opinions are always on my mind. I'm constantly thinking about whether others like me.agree with me.understand me.  I realize I've cared too much about others opinions more than God's. And I'm realizing that with this line of thinking, I'm constantly setting myself up for failure. Am I truly trusting God? Do I feel He can use our story to further His kingdom? Absolutely! But do I constantly try to it on my own? Unfortunately, yes. Slowly and faithfully, He's changing my mind, thoughts, heart. Each day He asks me to let go of a little more. Let go of what others think of me. Let go of disapproval. Let go of control. Let go of control. Let go of control. (obviously, this is one that I struggle with  daily hourly.) As time nears for us to board a plane for a 21 hour flight, fly halfway across the world to our son, stand in front of a judge who has the authority to make us Love's parents, reality hits. It's not, has not ever, nor will any of it ever be in my control. He has made this path for us. He goes before us and is with us every.step. He's asking for us to trust and obey. Fully. Is it going to be hard. oh.my.yes. Am I going to be uncomfortable at times? Yes. Will it be hard to leave half of my heart here in Swayzee? More than you can imagine. But He doesn't ask of us what we are not capable of doing. So step by step, day after day, through only Him and by only Him am I able loosen my grip a bit at a time and gain so much freedom in His promise. 


***For what it's worth, I HIGHLY recommend this book! If you are connected to adoption, thinking of adopting, or are just fascinated by adoption, please please read this book! It will be making it's rounds around our family and I CANNOT wait for everyone to read it!

And the winners areeeeee.....



We let Trenner choose so we wouldn't be accused of cheating! :)



So here you have it:

Hounds Tooth purse: Karen Key

18 Month Christmas Dress: Tammy Johnson

Vera Bradley Purse: Rachael Allen

2T/3T Christmas Dress: Julie LaPat

'Enjoy the Journey' Necklace: Joy Elzinga

Hand made Owl Hat: Stephanie McCracken

Thank you, so much, to all of you who participated and shared our story!

We made enough for almost 5 days stay in Ug*nda!

We are forever grateful!

xo,

Need an uber cute last minute Christmas gift?!? Welp, here you go......

We are sooooo close to getting to our baby love! To help close the gap, we're having a give away of sorts. Wouldn't you love one of these sweets just in time for Christmas?




Vera Bradly 'Morgan' bag in 'Frankly Scarlet'



Handmade Hounds tooth purse made by my friend, Renee






'Enjoy the Journey' necklace from the paper roSe





Hand made, crocheted owl hat.





Beautiful size 18 month dress hand made by Brenda from the paper roSe.



Hand made dress size 2T/3T also made by Brenda.



Here is your opportunity to win one and help us out at the same time: For a donation of $3 you can add your name to the hat once. For a donation of $5 your name will be added twice. For a donation of $10 your name will be added FIVE times! To donate, use the Pay pal button in the top right corner and please,don't forget to leave your contact information. (If you would rather enter the give away with a check, please email me at bvboswell@hotmail.com) The give away will be open through Friday,December 16th. Friday evening Trenner will draw 3 tickets out of the hat and we'll contact the winners. (First name drawn will get to choose from all 3. Second name drawn will choose between the remaining two, and so on.) Gifts will be shipped out first thing Saturday morning. So, please spread the word and know we are forever grateful!

Praising.Praying.Peace.

'The' email came....

Yesterday, my head just about exploded. not even kidding. Mid morning I received 'The' email. We, ladies and gentlemen, have court! Go ahead. Dance.Scream.Shout.Jump up and down. We did! Trey and I will be leaving for Ug around January 8th. Court is at the end of that week. The judge will hear our case and ask us to return on  a different date for our ruling. At the ruling hearing, God willing, we will be Baby Love's legal guardians. Praise Jesus. We still have 4 weeks and lots to do. Our biggest mountain is funding. We still need to come up with a certain amount of money before we can go. It seems like a huge mountain to us, but thankfully, an ant hill to God! So, we're praying, trusting, and racking our brains on what we can do to make that number dwindle. If you have ANY ideas, feel free to pass them along. If you feel led to help by donating, you can use the PayPal button on the top right of this page or message me at bvboswell@hotmail.com if you would rather mail a check. Any and everything will help! Every ONE dollar adds up! Prayers are still very much appreciated. Please pray for our lawyers. Pray they work diligently and nothing in our case goes undone. Pray for our Judge. Pray the Lord will reveal our hearts and our character to him before we arrive for court. Pray for Love. Pray that he is feeling love and peace as he waits for us to come. Pray for Trey,Trenner and I. Please pray for peace of mind, child like faith, and for our funding. Please pray that the Lord will begin to prepare Trenner's heart for the time we will be away.

Oh what a glorious Christmas present!

praising Him,

Showered with Love

This weekend baby Love and I were blessed beyond measure. One of my dearest friends, Brenda, hosted a baby shower for us. It was magical. Homemade scones and sugared pecans (made by Rich), individual breakfast casseroles, orange juice and milk served in old fashioned glass bottles with straws, fresh fruit, a coffee bar, and the most delicious chocolate cheese cake made by my friend, Lori. Brenda went above and beyond decorating. Magazine style. beautiful. I was showed with love by some of my closest friends and family. Loved ones who are invested in our journey. Ones who love our baby Love without even meeting him. Ones who make this crazy, emotional, heart wrenching, joyful, wonderful journey even better. So I say 'thank you' to all who showered us. The beauty and love you bring into our lives is pretty darn amazing.

{prepare for picture overload. my friend Liz took pictures and they were all too good to choose from.}



My beautiful and gracious host!





One of my bests...we date back to 1987ish. sheesh...



Room full of love. Is there anything more beautiful?

"God redeems something by buying it back through the payment of a ransom. He gave the life of His Son as the ransom to buy us back from the clutches of sin. He has also bought back the rights to our past and all it's failures. If we cooperate, He'll turn every single one of those failures into something useful for His kingdom." -Beth Morre 'Daniel'

a little heaven in your mouth

One of my most favorite parts of the holiday season is baking. I mean, like, from scratch.takes hours.flour everywhere.whole house smellin' good.kinda baking. One of my favorite items to bake is pie. Not just any pie, but sugar cream pie. Not just any sugar cream pie, but my mom's sugar cream pie. Seriously.good. And guess what? It's your lucky day because I'm gonna share not only the pie recipe, but the homemade crust recipe as well. So, grab your favorite apron and let's get started....

Fist- the crust.
1 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 Cup shortening (if you want extra flaky and yummy, use plain ol' lard. I get mine at my mom's (she owns it along with her 3 sisters) small town grocery, Hodson's in Converse, Indiana. If you love small town, ol'school hospitality, service with a smile, great product with a whole lot of choices, check Hodson's out. I KNOW they'd love to see you there!)
4 to 5 Tablespoons cold water (needs to be COLD. mom always adds ice to her water)

Stir flour and salt together. Cut in shortening (or lard) until pieces are size of small peas. (I use a fork only because I don't own one of those cool pastry cutters.) Sprinkle in water 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring and kneading until the dough is moldable. You don't want to add too much water because it will make it too sticky and slimy. At this point, you can wrap in plastic wrap and store in fridge until you're ready to use it, ooor, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and start rolling it out. (Makes enough for 1 pie crust)

                                             

Combining Flour and salt.



Cutting in the Lard




After sprinkling in 5 Tablespoons, kneading with my hands, and rolling around in bowl to make it into a ball




Rolling out on floured surface. {make sure you flour your rolling pin too! and don't forget to flip your dough to flour both sides! noting worse when your dough sticks to the counter top!}




mmmmm.... Homemade goodness.


Second-a little heaven on earth: the filling.
1/2 Cup flour
1 3/4 Cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
nutmeg

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside. Heat cream enough to where it just starts to boil. Pour cream over dry ingredients and mix well. (I use a whisk) Add vanilla and pour into your delicious, just rolled out pie shell and sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until set. Let cool completely.

Flour, Sugar, Salt

Mixed well with {almost boiling} whipping cream and vanilla



Sprinkled with Nutmeg




Baked and ready! {is your mouth watering yet?!?}


I love this pie cold! super creamy and the top gets a bit chewy. add a cup of coffee and wheew wee. your taste buds will do a happy dance!

Happy Baking,