Thank You

We would like to say a sincere thank you… I know I have been bombarding everyone with our recent fundraising endeavors. I promise that I won’t be flooding your email accounts and Facebook pages every day. The holiday season provided us an opportunity to grow our adoption account and I hope you benefited as well by getting some Christmas shopping done. We enjoyed opening up our home for the craft sale and thank our friends who came. I also want to say thank you to Denise Cindle. She is a Pampered Chef consultant with a big heart. If you are interested in ordering any Pampered Chef items or hosting a party, I would recommend contacting Denise at www.pamperedchef.biz/dcindle.  Thank you for your support and helping us bring our children home. It has been AMAZING to see God work!

2 Months

Our son is 2 months old! I don’t know where time goes. Everyone tells you that time seems to go by faster as you get older and now I am starting to believe them!  He now weighs 10 lbs 11 ounces. He loves to be sung to and play on the floor. He rolls over now and smiles all the time. We are such a proud parents and could go on and on about him... but will spare you all  the details and just share some pictures!

Pampered Chef

It is time to start shopping! I am having a Pampered Chef party. It is the perfect time to buy some Christmas gifts and pick up some new serving dishes for your own holiday party. The best part is… that ALL OF THE PROFITS ARE GOING TOWARDS OUR ETHIOPIAN ADOPTION!! Just click “shop online,” type in my name and start shopping. Please share the link with any of your friends and family who enjoy Pampered Chef products. Thank you so much and happy shopping! www.pamperedchef.biz/dcindle

I love Pampered Chef! These are two of my favorite kitchen gadgets and they both get a ton of use. Either would be a great addition to your kitchen or a fabulous gift idea.

Mini-Serving Spatula $6.00
A comfy handle helps you get homemade cookies and rich brownies more easily. 3 1/2" beveled-edge stainless steel blade. Dishwasher-safe.

Classic Batter Bowl $16.00
Mix, store, reheat and even bake in this heavy-duty tempered glass bowl. It features standard and metric measures, a convenient spout and handle. 2 qts. Bowl is dishwasher-, freezer-, microwave- and oven-safe to 350°F
 

Our son

 

One month old

It is hard to believe that our son is now one month old! I don't know where the past month has gone. It seems like yesterday we were driving to the hospital anxiously awaiting his arrival. October brought plenty of smiles, midnight feedings and of course more dirty diapers than we can count! And somewhere amidst the family visits and naptime we have learned more from this little boy than I could have ever imagine. While he is completely dependent on us as his parents, I am being constantly reminded how we are to be dependent on our Heavenly Father. All too often I find myself trying to do things on my own and often ending in frustration and tears. While we are not guaranteed  an 'easy road' with Christ we are promised that He will be with us and has our best interest in mind. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 While parenting has been the hardest thing I have ever done, there is a great peace to know that I won't be doing it on my own. I look forward to watching him grow and sharing these special memories with you. Please pray for us; that we will be the parents God has called us to be and seek His will in all that we do.



Born October 9, 2012
8lbs 3.7oz  21" long

Happy New Year

Happy New Years!! That’s right, in Ethiopia they just finished celebrating the new year. They are ringing in the year 2005! Ethiopia follows a Julian calendar which has 13 months; this means they celebrate New Years on September 11th.  Who knew that Ethiopia celebrates the new year in September?! When we visited Ethiopia in 2010, we learned so much about Ethiopia and the rich culture there. We want to share just a few things that we learned.


Before our trip, we always thought of Africa as being dry and hot. This is not true for all of Africa. Ethiopia enjoys a moderate climate despite its proximity to the Equator and was surprisingly green in many areas. Ethiopia has two main seasons – a rainy season and a dry season. When we visited at the end of summer, Ethiopia was in its rainy season.

Before our trip, we had never tried any Ethiopian food. We quickly learned that most meals are served on injera. Injera reminds me of a spongy pancake that is very sour! They add sauces, meats, beans and vegetables on top of the injera and everyone shares the food eating with their hands. I was told recently that Whole Foods now carried and injera mix that you can make your own injera at home. We have not tried it yet, but it is on our to do list! And you can’t talk about Ethiopian food without including the coffee! It is said that Ethiopia is the birth place of coffee and it is still a very important part of their culture. We participated in many coffee ceremonies while visiting and drank too many cups of coffee to count. Since I (Jessica) am not a regular coffee drinker, I was happy to see that the cups where tiny little tea cups.

We enjoyed our trip to Ethiopia and can’t wait to return again one day! Maybe you would like to go with us...

Back to Blogging

So, we started our blog 8 months ago and we only have 4 post. We have not done a very good job keeping it update! That is about to change… We are going to try to do better to keep everyone informed about the adoption process we are going through, having a newborn, and the amazing way that God is working in our lives.

In March, we shared that Jessica was pregnant. Wow, has time flown by?! It is now almost September and we are just weeks away from the October 7^th due date we were given. We are excited to meet our son Colton Douglas Nix. The bible says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139: 13). We know that God has already been at work in Colton’s little life and ask that you would continue to pray.  Pray for a safe delivery and that we would be the parents God has called us to be.

While we are looking forward to Colton making his arrival, we are also thinking of the children we plan on bringing home and adopting from Ethiopia. This Nix family will be doing some more growing in the future! I want to reiterate that we still plan on adopting. Our excitement about our adoption is every bit as real as our excitement about Jessica’s pregnancy. While we are waiting for Colton’s birth, we have been busy working on adoption paperwork. Officially our adoption has been placed on hold until April, which will give us time to work on all of the required paperwork and training courses to adopt. We hope to keep you better informed about where we are at in the adoption process and how you can pray for us as well as share more about adoption and why this cause is so important to us.

The Growing Nix Family

In January, we started our blog called The Growing Nix Family. However, when I went to add a new post I discovered that we no longer have access to it. The blog is still online, but we cannot add to it. So we had to create this new blog; The EVER Growing Nix Family. However, I thought people might be interested what was posted on our first blog, because that is really when our journey began. Below I have included the four entries that were on our old blog. 

Sunday, March 25, 2012  Curve Ball
We have been blessed. Just when we thought we had God’s plan for our life figured out He threw us an amazing curve ball. Jessica is pregnant. We are in the 12th week now and it still seems unreal, at times. Sitting in the Doctor’s office during our first visit, looking at the jellybean sized child with a heart beating out of its chest, the miracle of life became very real. We are excited.
What does this mean for our adoption? We called and spoke with our adoption agency. Obviously, adopting a child and having a biological child are both huge events that deserve their own space in time to be celebrated and adjusted to. For this reason our adoption has been placed on hold. Just on hold, it is temporary. Our excitement about our adoption is every bit as real as our excitement about Jessica’s pregnancy. Having this child does not change the fact that there are 150 million orphans in the world. And it certainly does not change our calling. We still feel that we have been chosen to be adoptive parents. We can place the adoption on hold for up to two years or can start back up again April 2013. At first we thought that April sounded soon after just bringing one baby home. But if we do start back up in April, it may still be 12 to 24 months before we get to bring our child/children home from Ethiopia. We have been blessed and are extremely thankful for all of the support that you have given. We want you to know that all the support we have received will be used for what is has always been intended for. Please continue to pray for those children in need of parents, also for us as we continue in this journey.
1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.


Wednesday, January 25, 2012 Why Ethiopia
When we decided we were going to adopt we knew immediately that we were being called to adopt internationally…. but where from? We don’t feel that it is a coincidence that Dwight’s parents live in a country where there are 5 million orphans.  5 MILLION orphans…  When you hear a number like that, how can your heart not be stirred?! The further along we go in this process it has become clearer to us; this is all part of HIS plan. We didn’t choose to adopt from Ethiopia, it was already chosen for us. It is a great comfort to know that it is in His hands.
Last Thursday we had our orientation meeting with our case worker with the adoption agency. He laughed and said that the adoption process includes a lot of “hurry up and waiting, hurry up and waiting, hurry up and waiting…” We are definitely in a ‘hurry up stage.’ We completed the first 20 pages the agency sent us and signed our names and initials more times than we can count. We are now looking for a home study provider.
As we continue the adoption process it is amazing to sit and think that we are adopted children in God’s family. Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Please join us as we pray for the orphans in Ethiopia and all around the world. Pray that they will not be left as orphans, but that people would rise up and go to them.

Ethiopia 2010

Wednesday, January 11, 2012 The Adventure Has Begun
Last night Jessica and I both sat in one chair at the computer as we filled out the application for the adoption agency we chose. We filled out every line, double and tripled checked it to make sure everything was right. At the end we stopped and prayed, for guidance, patience and obedience.  Then with excitement we hit the submit button.

There has been a lot of seeking and listening that has gone on between us and God to get us to where we are today. Initially this process was not something we could easily get excited about. The truth is we started to think about adoption only after our “perfect plan” was not going the way we thought it should.  The more we looked into adoption and prayed about it, the more the burden grew stronger. There were some tough times, sadness and wondering why our plan was not working like we wanted it to. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  We ultimately realized that our plan was not working because God has a bigger, much better plan.  Finally we decided that we would be obedient to His direction in our lives, how awesome it has been. In the last couple of months the excitement we have felt has been overwhelming and this is just the beginning…

Sunday, January 8, 2012 Welcome to Our Blog!
Welcome to all of our friends and family! Jessica and I have decided to make a very 21st century kind of move and make a blog to document our adoption adventure. We hope that this will not only serve to keep everyone informed about the process we are going through but also to reveal the amazing way that God is working in our lives. We cannot wait to share this adventure with everyone we love, so check back regularly as we share the awesome opportunity that God has put on our hearts.