Good morning.  I was just thinking about how much has changed in our adoption process over the last few months, and that I should really post an update here.  So, I logged in and realized that the last time (and only!) time I wrote about the adoption was at Christmas.  Yikes.  When we initially started this website (right before we got married) we did it for two reasons: 1) to give ourselves a sweet email address that we would never have to change and, 2) to keep our family and friends updated with what was going on in our lives, since we lived so far from where we grew up.  Well, I joined Facebook in 2007 (thanks, Timeline, for letting me know) and shortly after that the frequency of our posts slowed down to nil.  Just about all of our family and friends have joined Facebook since then and, alas, Litschers.com has been all but abandoned.

However, where popular social media often fails is providing a place for long-form update  of things that matter.  So that’s what I hope to do a little more consistently here.  All that to say: here’s an update of things that matter, in a little bit of a longer-form. (Yes, I’m blaming social media for my personal failure to blog.)

The biggest news is that we do have an update on our adoption journey.  After much prayer and consultation, we have switched our adoptive country from Ethiopia to Uganda.  The very long story short is that our adoption agency (Bethany Christian Services) has started a pilot program in Uganda and had openings for a dozen or so families to join it.  We were expecting to have wait 2-3 years in Ethiopia and we will probably have our Ugandan child home by March (or even sooner)!  We did have to redo all of our paperwork though, and since we did this at my busiest time of year, Renee really did it all.

Our dossier!

So, after getting our home study amended, all of our documents re-signed, everything notarized,  county authenticated, and then state sealed, we are officially waiting.

We have had to make a bit of a mind-shift as well–we had learned much about Ethiopian and its culture, had figured the child will probably be 2-3 years old when we traveled to bring him or her home, and I thought I’d be done with my Ed.D.  Now we’re learning about Uganda (the Pearl of Africa), may have an infant (under 12 months), and I will be nowhere near done with school.  (We’ve also formally requested a girl, and expect to get one.  So weird to think about “my daughter”!!!) Since we were expecting to have 2-3 years of preparing, saving, and raising money to pay the rest of our fees, we are also trusting that the money will come through too.

We are so thankful for the support of our church.  There are two other families who are in the process of adopting, and our church has rallied around us as we’ve raised money through yard sales and cookbook sales.  (If you are interested in purchasing a cookbook to help us all, they are $15, $20 if it needs to be shipped, and has almost 300 fantastic recipes in it! Just send me an email at ken@litschers.com.) It has been such a blessing to have their support and love.

If you would, could you please pray for us for the following things?

• For our daughter in Uganda: that she is being cared for and protected during such a vulnerable time of life.  That she will bond with and attach to us quickly.
• For our daughter’s birth family: as excited as we are to grow our family through adoption, it is a stark reminder that things are not as they should be. Her family, through death, illness, poverty, or any number of reasons, is unable to care for her, and we will always grieve for her and for them.
• For Renee and I as we prepare: 4 kids – YIKES! A daughter – YIKES! Wisdom as we walk through parenting an orphan.
• For our biological kids: as they adjust to having parents gone for a few weeks when we travel (Gabe has asked me more than once when I leave for work if I was going to Uganda). For their patience as we care for a new child. For their adjustment as we will probably have to parent (and discipline) our daughter differently.
• For our finances: we are fully trusting that God will provide – and He has so far.  But we will have some big bills soon, along with our travel costs.  We have applied for a matching grant (if people donate towards it, they will match the donation) and hope to hear back soon.  We are also selling those cookbooks and I am making some cedar Adirondack chairs to try to sell locally.

Adoption Yard Sale!

Adoption Yard Sale Families

Move-in Weekend

First Day of 2nd Grade

Adoption Cookbook – $15

`Adirondack Chairs – $110 apiece

To make a long story short, Union University in Jackson, TN – between Nashville an Memphis, about 4 hours from where we are now – had an open position in their Student Services department, Director of Residence Life.  Over the past two years at Covenant, I have really seen my gifts line up well, and have desired to pursue a career working in Higher Education.  I also have an old (history, not age ) friend who took a position at Union last year and had nothing but great things to say about the school and the department.  So, after thinking, praying, and seeking advice, Renee and I decided I should apply. Almost two weeks ago I was interviewed and offered the job.  I start in a week and a half (June 8th) and we – Lord willing – will close on a house on June 29th.  A whirlwind you say?  Life as usual for the Litschers.

Anyway, while we are thrilled about this next chapter in our lives, it will be hard to leave Covenant and the community we’ve invested in for two years.  We definitely weren’t looking to leave – which makes this transition both harder and easier.  We’ll miss a ton of great students and working with the staff we’ve been with for two years as well.  But we do have peace, which makes it bearable.  And while Jonathan knows we are moving to Jackson, TN, I still don’t think he realizes what that means – that the “big kids” he’s known & pretty much grown up around won’t be there to bother in the lobby or nag into playing with him.  He was having a hard enough time when they were going home for the summer.  We’ve been playing up the fact that he’ll have a yard and get his dog back, but once it hits him that he won’t get to see his buddies here, we may have to get out the tissues.

Well, that’s it for now.  I’m up early (late?) with a bad sore throat so I’m going to attempt a few more hours of sleep before the day starts.  Pictures will come soon.  And by soon, I really mean soon-ish.

It is hard to believe another December is upon us and it is time to write our Christmas letter!  We hope and pray this letter finds you and your family healthy and well.  Our family is thankful for another year of God’s gracious blessings and provision in our lives.

The biggest event for our family in 2008 was the birth of Gabriel Drew on April 18^th!  After much waiting and prayer, God has blessed us with the gift of another little boy!  Gabe is a very smiley baby, and looks just like Ken (red hair and all).  He already has four teeth and weighs at 8 months what Jonathan weighed at one year!  Jonathan loves being a big brother and showers Gabe with lots of kisses and hugs.  It is so fun to watch the boys interact together and while our deepest prayer is that they will grow to love Jesus, we also pray that they will remain lifelong friends.

Jonathan is continuing to grow up so quickly.  He will turn 4 in January, and often times Ken and I are in shock about how we have a child old enough to attend preschool in the fall!  Where has all the time gone?!?  He loves attending Mother’s Day Out twice a week and has made a lot of new friends at school (along with all the college students on campus that he considers his friends J).  He still loves cars and trains, and constantly amazes us with the things he understands and the ways he communicates.

Ken is halfway through his second year as a Resident Director at Covenant College.  He continues to enjoy his job and we are so thankful for the ministry we get to have with the college students in our building and across campus.  We have 8 Resident Assistants on our staff this year (2 more than last year), and our building is almost completely full with about 110 students.  Ken also oversees the on-campus apartments where another 60 students live.  He works very hard building relationships with students, mentoring leaders, and encouraging the spiritual and social aspects of our Residence Hall.  God has truly wired him for this kind of work, and it is exciting for me to watch the ways the God is using his gifts and abilities.  Ken is also on the Alumni Board at Trinity, and enjoys his twice yearly trips to Chicago for meetings and the chance to hang out with some of our college friends.  When he has free time, he still loves watching Packer football, reading, and playing his guitar.

I am still working per diem at a local hospital in the Special Care Nursery.  I am working a combination of nights and days, and I am so thankful for the flexibility nursing allows our family and my role as a mom.  I have started attending a MOPS group this fall (which I love), and when I am not busy with the boys or helping out with things at the college, I love to read and connect with friends.  This fall Ken and I have also enjoyed leading a small group for engaged and seriously dating couples on campus.  We are studying The Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas.

Our lives are busy and full, and we have settled in to life in Chattanooga and adjusted to yet another big transition.  We have been able to develop some great friendships with some of Ken’s co-workers and have enjoyed the crazy lifestyle of being in Residence Life!  God is good!  We are looking forward to traveling again at Christmas to see family in MI and WI, and I know Jonathan is hoping for lots of snow to go sledding!  J

We are thankful for those of you whom we have been able to physically connect with over the past year, and love hearing from those of you who we haven’t been able to see.  We pray that you all have a Merry Christmas as we celebrate God’s greatest gift to us – His son Jesus!

With much love,

Ken, Renee, Jonathan & Gabriel

Jonathan and Gabe - 10/08

Playing in the lawn

Summer came and went and before we knew it, students were back and life got busy.  The boys are doing great.  Jonathan is a fantastic big brother – and Gabe adores him.  He’ll hear Jonathan’s voice and whip his head around right away to see what he’s up to.  I’ll try to get some video up soon of Jonathan making Gabe laugh – he’s the only one who get get him giggling non-stop.

Gabe has four teeth now, with a few more coming in.  He was kinda grouchy for a bit, but is normally a non-stop smiler.  He is a great baby and is always happy – we’re so blessed.  His hair is still red and he’s a chunker!

Just Chillin'

Renee’s folks were out for a bit this fall over Halloween. It was fun having them there and they babysat for us while Renee and I went off to Nashville for my birthday present – going to see the Packers play the Titans.  Unfortunately they lost in overtime, but it was a great game and a fun time to be Renee.

Late congratulations are due to Kyle and Megan on the arrival of Baby Carter!  We’re so happy for you all-bummed we’ll miss you in Wisconsin-but hope to see you soon and meet the little dude!

We’re off to the Midwest in a week and a half – after I have shoulder surgery on Monday – and will be making the rounds and seeing a lot of family and friends.  More pictures coming soon, but for now, these will have to do.

Jameson Alexander Donaho - 9 lbs, 2 ozs!

After spending all day in labor yesterday, my sister Kati gave birth to Jameson Alexander Donaho. It’s been a bit of a rough night, as Kati had a C-section at 11:15pm and then the doctors took him immediately to the nursery because they were concerned about his breathing. They did a chest x-ray and saw that one of his lungs had collapsed and they took him via ambulance to a different hospital with a higher level acuity NICU. Kati still had not seen him at all (other than his huge feet in the warmer) because she was recovering from the c-section.

Over the night Jameson improved quite a bit, though he is still having tests done to see if he needs a chest tube or not. Kati will be transfered over to that hospital today to finish her recovery and meet her baby. She is recovering pretty well and isn’t in a ton of pain. Keep praying that things would continue to improve…it was a pretty scary ordeal. I’ll update once I know some more.

“Daddy, I’m going fast potty. It’s flying out of my penis.”

We were also excited to be in Michigan at this time because my Freshman roommate Mark just had a baby. Well, his wife did. He wasn’t the Oprah sex-change dude who was pregnant. Mark and I were placed together by the Res Life staff at Trinity and didn’t know each other going in. We lived with each other 3 out of our 4 years together at Trinity and were in each other’s weddings. It’s been a great and providential friendship, and it is really cool to be on the other side of it now–the ones making decisions on who should live with who and where. Here’s Gabe and I with Mark and Eddie. (They are also The Brinks over on the right if you’d like to see many more pictures of the little dude.)

We also spent a day with Renee’s extended family out at Muskegon State Park and partook of some excellent boating adventures. Jonathan went tubing for the first time and loved it. I celebrated my Third Annual “Get Drug Out of a Lake on a Wakeboard 30 Times Until You Make It Up” Ibuprofen commercial. And Renee didn’t get in the water at all. We always have a great time hanging out with the Van Den Berg crew and mooching their boat. We had a blast up at Renee’s brother Jon’s land one evening as well. A picnic outside and 4 wheeling around the property was a fun and relaxing end to the trip. We made the treck back down to the South and survived the 14 hour car ride…barely. Of course the kids both finally fell asleep when we were driving up the mountain to the college…

More pictures here.

The book follows the interactions of recently divorced environmental lawyers Nick and Lena. Nick gets all of the lobsters from the local grocery stores and puts them in the mayor’s swimming pool as a protest. Lena volunteers to represent him at his hearing (they still like/love each other) and he is ordered to have a psych evaluation. He maneuvers his way into being released into Lena’s custody and is ordered to undergo community service at a local animal shelter. Nick discovers the fate of the cats and dogs that spend 30 days at the shelter (nighty night Fido) and it severly disturbs him. Nick pulls one more trick out of his sleeve at the end.

This is Stephen Evans first novel, and it’s a decent attempt. The problem is that he has built the dialogue (which is fun) and drama of the story around Nick and Lena, but we don’t get a chance to get to know them really. There’s a bit of a flashback to how they met and were married, but Nick’s quirkiness (he was diagnosed with a delusional disorder) seems much more annoying than endearing. It’s a quick book to read and I can’t help but think that another fifty to a hundred pages of character/relationship development would have been a helpful addition to the book.

I was not as bothered by some that Evans wrote the book after discovering the prevelance of animal euthanasia in the United States. He basically wrote the book to bring it to the public’s attention. I didn’t have a problem with the storyline, it was the way we were supposed to latch on to the protagonist without much/any reason to. Anyway, it was an enjoyable afternoon read, but won’t be one I’ll be encouraging others to be sure they pick up.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Yes, we had a new baby a month and half before the last update.

Yes, our friends and family are mad at us because they haven’t seen any new pictures of Gabe.

So, here they are.

Our trip to the Midwest (first Chicago, then Wisconsin, then Michigan) began well because we were breaking in the 2004 Odyssey we had purchased two days earlier. I’m a big believer in minivans. Though selling our Saturn Vue was hard, we definitely enjoy the room, leather seats and wireless headphones (!!!) the new car has. We could put music or movies on for Jonathan and he could sit back there and listen away while we didn’t hear a thing. Beautiful!

In Chicago we invaded Doug and Kim’s house again, where Jonathan proceeded to have the kind of temper tantrum you can only have after 1 nap in 8 days. First time he went to bed without dinner. We went to Lincoln Park Zoo, a wedding, and breakfast with some other great friends of ours from college. Chicago was great, but rushed.

After that we drove up to Wisconsin and stayed at Papa Phil’s house. We had a great time just hanging out with family while we there, and I was able to spend a bit of time out on Papa Phil’s boat fishing. We didn’t do great, but I did catch the biggest Sheephead (freshwater drum) I have ever seen. What fun to bring that in on a 6 foot perch pole!

Jonathan and Gabe (mini-Phil) loved playing with the cousins and being around Aunt Katie and Uncle Josh, as well as the rest of the extended family on the 4th of July. Jonathan had his first experience with sparklers (or “sticks with fire” as he called them), and we watched a bit of the fireworks from Nanny Linda’s dock. It was a fun, relaxing trip and we look forward to being back over Christmas/New Years. More pictures from the trip here. More pictures and part 2 of the trip coming soon!

Do you ever feel incredibly busy, yet also feel like you are not getting anything done? That describes my life the past couple of weeks. The boys are doing great, but there is just so much more work with two. A friend described it this way: with one child, the parents are able to employ a “double coverage” defense; with two you go to “man to man”; and once you have three or more you go straight to a “zone/prevent” defense. Really, we’ve been doing great, but it just takes us twice as long to get anything done.

Dad was able to make it out for a long weekend a few weeks back (you may recall me saying something about the Eagles!!!)

We had a great time relaxing and explored Lookout Mountain a bit. We took a ride on the Incline Railway, the steepest passenger railway in the world. Jonathan loved it (surprised?) and everytime we drive by it at the bottom of the mountain he has to look for “that new fun train.” He’s really been quite a trip lately. Though he is going through a bit of a whiny/needy phase, he just says and does some of the funniest things.

We’d really like to video some of the things he does, because they are much more hilarious when they are caught in the act, rather than described in words. Just yesterday I gave him a little bag of Cheezits and he offered one to me. Then he kind of held his hands out, palms up, and said in an apologetic voice, “They’re all squares, Daddy. There aren’t any rectangles.” I tried not to be too disappointed, as rectangular cheesy crackers do taste much better than the boring square ones, but I managed.

Jonathan is also starting to give up his afternoon naps. Which he is not allowed to do, because afternoon nap time is also known as “halftime” in the aforementioned game of parenting. We’ve told him that if he doesn’t want to sleep that he can bring some books into bed to read, but he needs to be in there by himself for a while every afternoon. Normally we’ll hear him playing with some cars or trains on the bed and telling one of them not to be mean to the other one or they will have to go sit in the naughty spot. I took the following picture when I went in to wake him up from an actual nap.

He had gone down from his bed, went over to his bookshelf and then brought his piggy bank, bulldog paperweight, and a stone polar bear back to his bed, presumably played with them for a bit, and then lined them up looking at him while he took a nap. Seriously, our child is the strangest kid I’ve ever been around. It’d be great to have an invisible camerman just follow him around to capture everything, because he turns into such a ham when we turn the camera on him. He gets loud and starts speaking gibberish and wants to see the video played back on the screen. (Aside: isn’t it unbelievable that kids under 10 don’t even understand the concept of taking a picture, and actually having to wait several days/weeks until finding out what it looked like?) Anyway, he’s a really good big brother and helper.

Gabe is doing great, he just went for his month/six week checkup and was a whopping 9lbs, 12oz. Jonathan was 9lbs, 3oz at 2 months. We’ve got a porker on our hands. The picture to the left is of Gabe snoozing in Mommy’s arms shortly after giving himself a hickey on his arm. He’s definitely going to be a thumb sucker when he has the brain power to actually remember where his thumb is and take it out of his fist and get it to his mouth. He’s been such a good baby though…sleeping pretty good, rarely fussy, eats well. We think he’s starting to smile, which is encouraging. When you have a 3 year old who won’t stop talking (seriously, he talks in his sleep), it sometimes feels like nobody’s home upstairs with Gabe. But he’s starting to interact and it’s fun.

Ahhh. And Rover. So, I was on my way to WalMart with Jonathan the day Dad was leaving to go get him the new Eagles CD (since, you know, we saw them two days earlier), and as I get down the mountain and am driving on the 45 mph highway, a dog darts across right in front of me, ran into the drivers side door and got clipped under the back tire. I didn’t know what to do-Jonathan asks me what happened, I said there was a bump in the road, I see the dog rolling around on the road before getting up and limping off. I couldn’t bear the thought of stopping to scrape the stupid mutt off the highway with Jonathan there, unforgiving because I killed a dog, so I kept going. I ended up going back–there was actually a Sheriff Deputy right near there (not the nicest part of Chattanooga) who heard from someone who saw it that the dog went home and the owner took him to the vet with what looked like a broken foot/leg. Sheesh. No fun. What would you do-traumatize your son or leave the dog with a death wish to suffer the consequences of his foolish decision?

Anyway, Renee’s mom came down here for a week because I leave tomorrow to go to a Student Development conference in Cedarville, OH. It will be a great time of hanging out with our staff, being challenged with new ideas, networking, and being around other folks who truly do understand what your job is-even if you can’t succinctly sum it up in a two sentence description. I’m looking forward to it.

New pictures were added here.

At or near the top of my bucket list since about 1995 has been to go see an Eagles concert with my dad. Well, a few months back I realized they were going to be in Atlanta shortly after Gabe was born, so I quick called my dad up and said, “Hey, you want to come out in May and meet Gabe and see the Eagles?” He said yes and I purchased tickets roughly 2 minutes later. Last night we took off for the new Verizon Wireless Amphiteatre in Atlanta and after finding our way through an unexpected detour because of traffic, we finally made it to the parking lot and took the shuttle over to the Amphitheatre. Now, it was just time to wait for them to start.

The Eagles are currently out touring in support of their new CD Long Road Out of Eden (available exclusively at Walmart) and they opened with their first single from that album, “How Long.” They pushed through a couple other new songs from LROOE and then a fantasticly haunting trumpet solo went on for a few minutes. As the sound slowly faded, there it was–the most distinct B-minor chord in musical history–”Hotel California.” The crowd, which had been going nuts since the lights darkened right before the concert started, went crazy. Glenn Frey dedicated “Lyin’ Eyes” to his first wife, also known as “Plaintiff.” They went through and nailed a bunch more classics and took a brief intermission.

After intermission they planted themselves on the front of the stage on stools a la Hell Freezes Over and went through a few more new songs. They started with their tight harmonies on the new “No More Walks in the Wood” and though I would have preferred “Seven Bridges Road” to highlight their vocal maneuvering, it was impressive nonetheless. They mixed in some old songs, some new ones, and some from both Don Henley and Joe Walsh’s solo careers. They ended with “Life in the Fast Lane” and then came out for two encores before the night was over.

It was amazing. These guys can still bring it. I couldn’t believe Joe Walsh’s fingers could still move that fast (or that he could remember the songs). I couldn’t believe Don Henley could still hit those notes. I couldn’t believe how well guitar player Steuart Smith fills Don Felder’s shoes. It was a blast. Dad and I sang along to all the songs (quietly to ourselves, unlike the folks behind us who were determined to hit every note that Don Henley did. It sounded like cats in heat). Best concert ever? I think so…I think I was just in disbelief that I was sitting there on the lawn with Dad listening to the Eagles play for 3 hours. If ever they should return, I will be there. With Renee, as she was incredibly jealous of us both. We tried not to rub it in too hard. Actually, we didn’t try hard at all. But she’s a good sport.

Oh, just an FYI. Running a marathon is also on my bucket list. I hope to get back on my running routine this week after a couple weeks off.

5 out of 5 stars

Setlist

• How Long
• Busy Being Fabulous
• Don’t Want to Hear
• Guilty of the Crime
• Hotel California
• Peaceful Easy Feeling
• I Can’t Tell You Why
• Witchy Woman
• Lyin’ Eyes
• Boys of Summer (Don Henley)
• In the City
• The Long Run

Intermission

• No More Walks in the Wood
• Waiting in the Weeds
• No More Cloudy Days
• Love Will Keep Us Alive
• Take It to the Limit
• Long Road Out of Eden
• Somebody
• Walk Away (Joe Walsh)
• One of These Nights
• Life’s Been Good (Joe Walsh)
• Dirty Laundry (Don Henley)
• Funk #49 (Joe Walsh)
• Heartache Tonight
• Life in the Fast Lane

Encore #1

• Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh)
• All She Wants to Do Is Dance (Don Henley)

Encore #2

• Take It Easy
• Desperado

At 9:30 am today, April 18th, Gabriel Drew Litscher was welcomed into the world at 7 lbs, 12 oz & 20 inches long. After months of waiting and praying, Baby Brother was finally introduced to his family. He’s got a good bit of red hair and the general consensus is that he closely resembles Papa Phil. Renee had an appointment for an induction at 5:00am this morning, so we got up dark and early and made our way down the mountain to the hospital. By 6:00 she was started on pitocin, by 7:00 she had her water broken, by 8:00 she had an epidural, by 9:00 she was pushing, and after a couple big pushes Gabe made his appearance.

Renee and Gabe are doing great…she feels 20 times better this time than she did after Jonathan, and Gabe has been a good eater and sleeper so far. Jonathan was SO excited to meet his baby brother and absolutely adores him. He was so good holding him and stroking his face and giving him kisses. He wants him to come home to play cars with him Both the boys are doing great and we can’t be more thankful. Well, enough with the story…here’s the rest of the pictures from Gabriel Drew’s Birth Day!

• Changed layout and style
• Made it more ‘dummy proof’
• Back end redesign to run faster and more efficiently

Some of the future updates I plan on making are

• Add a widget to enable display in sidebar
• Make compatible to pre-WP 2.5 installations
• Make compatible with YouTube.co.uk, etc.
• Other back end changes to enable higher efficiency

So, any thoughts so far? I’m surprised by the number of people who have downloaded it and would like some feedback. Anything you’d like that is missing? Anything you wish was changed? Anybody tweak the css and like it better than how it comes? I’m all ears!