Hess

2010-04-27T13:38:00.001-07:00

Our CA Winter

2010-01-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 61
"Instead of shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs!!!"
Cali is now 6 years old and Brandt will be turning 3 years old this year! May the Lord give us His grace this year and the hope for a bright 'tomorrow'. Thank you for praying for all four of us!!!

Winter 2009

2009-12-29T12:04:00.000-08:00

"We do not truly see light, we only see slower things lit by it, so that for us light is on the edge - the last thing we know before things become to swift for us!" - CS Lewis

2009-10-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Brandt DeVee has been home for 2 years and we celebrated at Uncle John's! Uncle Michael is 40 years old so they celebrated together. The pictures of Brandt are with Uncle Michael... and he got a new guitar. Grandpa is an expert so he will have to be the teacher! :) God has blessed little Rembrandt in so many ways. May his little life always glorify his creator!

2009-09-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

"Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you." Psalm 9:10

2009-06-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

Cali's Adoption Day is June 10th and we celebrated by making cupcakes, going to the Ripon park, going to Fun Works & having a party at Grandpa & Grandma's. Aunt Jolyn's birthday is June 10th also so it is always a very special day. Cali Tyler is the one of the most beautiful blessings in our lives!
"Who is she who looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun..." -Song of Solomon

2009-05-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

William Shakespear said: "The quality of mercy is not strained; it droppeth as gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed - it blesseth him that gives and him that takes."

Patrick, Paula, Cali & Brandt would be blessed if you would cover all four of us in prayer. We are blessed but also having a very difficult season in our lives. Thank you so much for your love & support & prayers... we need them!!!

Almond Blossoms

2009-03-07T17:53:00.000-08:00

Our orchard is beautiful this weekend with the almond blossoms in full bloom!

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Rembrandt turns 2 years old!

2009-02-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

Since Brant's U. Craig is in the U.S. Air Force and is currently spending hours flying the skies above the desert of the Middle East, we decided to have Brant's 2nd birthday party in honor of U. Craig and all the U.S. Air Force pilots. All of us are extremely proud of U. Craig and his service to defend the USA as Commander of a EC-130H aircraft in the warfare division. Brant DeVee loves planes and he was happy to see all the planes flying around his party... some paper planes periodically hitting the guests in flight! Hopefully U. Craig is better in the navigation department than his little nephew!! : ) Brant loves Chad & Noah & Emi and has "tried" to talk about them and the "A-panes" ever since. Grandpa Paul Rumble turned 85 on Brant's birthday this year - it is Brant's only great-grandpa now!

Thank you U. Craig and all of you who are working with him and love watching our little son grow up in pictures!!! ( : We pray for you as you live in the desert every single day!

"He gives POWER to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength!" Isaiah 40:29

Hess Wedding

2009-01-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

All 9 of Patrick's brothers and sisters and their spouses & children came together from 5 states for Wendell's wedding in Goshen Indiana. The 46 members of the Douglas Hess family were together on January 3rd for the wedding. Patrick's brother Wendell married Mark Royer's niece Marie Royer from Goshen Indiana. Cali & Brant did well in freezing temperatures with a busy schedule - they loved meeting all the cousins and Cali thought that being at a wedding was the best day of her life so far! She will never forget it. There is one picture in this album of Patrick's entire family - and then several of his brothers & sisters and the neices & nephews. The Lord has been very good to Patrick's family. What a sweet time for them to be together again.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-08T20:04:00.000-08:00

We are spending Christmas in Modesto and then we will be going to meet the whole Hess family in Goshen Indiana for Patrick's brother's wedding! Wendell is marrying Marie Royer. Marie's mother is making Cali's dress - she is very happy about this and she is thrilled to be going to a wedding on the day of her birthday! Cali is turning 5 years old! Brant is excited about the Christmas decorations and all the yummy food. He will be turning 2 years old in a few months. May God richly bless each of you this December with heavenly blessings!!!
"He came that we may have life, and have it more abundantly!" John 10:10

Brant's Adoption Day Campfire!

2008-10-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

We had a little campfire celebration last night in honor of Brant being home for one year! Some of our friends were able to come by and we had a great evening by the fire. We appreciate all the prayers for Brant this past year. We are extremely blessed by Brant each day! It has been a wonderful adventure to have a little boy! He certainly is all boy and we are seeing how fun that can be. : ) Our son is a beautiful addition to our family! God has been so good to him and to us. Click Here to see a new video on You Tube of Brant's last year. Click Here to sign our guest book.

AFA - Athletes For Adoption

2008-09-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

God's Grace Adoption Ministry has their first running team - AFA! http://www.athletesforadoption.org/
We will be running the Big Sur Half Marathon in November. The pictures are of one of our long distance Saturday runs at Dry Creek in Modesto. We have lots of little supporters to cheer us on as well as many sponsors! God has blessed God's Grace Adoption Ministry abundantly this year!

Hess Family & Rumble Family 2008

2008-07-28T23:37:00.000-07:00

Patrick has 8 brothers and sisters and almost 30 nieces and nephews... and counting!!! :)
Paula has a sister and a brother, three nieces and one nephew.
These pictures include some of our grandparents and our parents. Two of Patrick's siblings as well as 10 nieces and nephews are not shown since we didn't get to see them this year!
We are blessed with a large immediate family.

Adoption Finalization

2008-05-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

"Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." Ephesians 1:5

We went to court today to get Brant's California Birth Certificate. On the way out of the courthouse Cali said, "Brant is OFFICIALLY your son daddy!" : ) Brant is very much part of the Hess & Rumble family already but it was fun to see it finished legally in America! God has been so faithful.

Also, Brant visited Memorial hospital on May 8th. He had a grand time showing all the nurses how adorable he is!!!! It was quite the experience - mommy and daddy were happy when the day was over and we were all back home. Jesus healed him.

A Lemonade Stand

2008-04-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Cali and her cousin Allison Flory had a lemonade stand at our house. It was a huge success! We sold over 100 lemonades!!! Allison and Cali had a great time filling the cups with ice and lemonade! But the interesting thing was when they took the money... since they are 4 years old and we had told them that they may need to give change back... some of the time the "change" for a $10 bill was a $20 bill! : ) But since most of the money they made went to a baby who is being adopted from Vietnam - most of the time the change was given back to them for a donation to Baby NEHEMIAH PERRYMAN who will be coming home to his daddy and mommy within the next 6 to 8 months! Allison and Cali were able to donate $400.00 to Nehemiah's adoption from the 100 lemonades they sold!

Brant's Dol Celebration

2008-02-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

Brant's first birthday was February 13th. We did our best to celebrate his birthday in the traditional Korean way. In the past the mortality rate was so high that often a child would not make it to his first birthday. Because of this a child's first birthday is a significant celebration in Korea.
At the "Dol-Jabee" table Brant chose a roll of string (meaning he will be blessed with a long life) and a musical instrument... (meaning he may be very musically talented!) :) It was fun to have good Korean food to sample thanks to the generous donation of a local Korean restaurant. It was also fun to share some of the Korean traditions with our friends and family. Brant seemed quite interested in the whole event. He was very happy the entire evening!
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I sanctified you." Jeremiah 1:5

Cali's Queen Esther Birthday party!!!

2008-01-18T08:41:00.000-08:00

Purim is a Jewish holiday celebrating the salvation of the Persian Jews from Haman's evil plot to have them all killed. The highest point of the celebration is the reading of the story of Queen Esther. Sometimes it is acted out with costumes or puppets. It is tradition for the guest to use noise makers (gragar as they are called in Hebrew) to make as much noise as possible whenever Haman's name is mentioned in the story. The purpose being to stamp, drown, or blot out Haman's name which comes from the book of Deuteronomy which says, "You shall blot out the memory of the Amalekites (Haman's people) from under the heavens."

Cali turned 4 years old. She wanted to celebrate by being "Queen Esther" at her birthday party. She attempted to share the entire story of Esther after daddy read about the Feast of Purim - but when everyone made so much noise at the mention of Haman she continued to start back at the beginning and couldn't finish... the stomping and shouting were too distracting. : ) She was very blessed by the evening and we were happy to do something for her that she has talked about for months. To God be the Glory!!!

"For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this!!!" Esther 4:14

Brant's 1st Christmas & Dedication

2008-01-04T15:36:00.000-08:00

We spent a week at Pajaro Dunes over Christmas - Brant was in high demand the entire week and loved every minute of it. We think he was disappointed to come home and find that he couldn't be held and kissed every moment. His little life has been given to the Lord many times but his formal dedication was on December 30th. He is doing so well and is so sweet, we feel so blessed and constantly wonder at how much the Lord has chose to bless our little family! Cali tells us often, "Daddy, mommy, we are soooo RICH in Jesus!" and it is true! We are and we see it everyday! We pray that the Lord will continue to abundantly bless Brant's life and that he will give his whole heart and life to Jesus! What a blessing his life is to us! Thank you Lord.

1 Samuel 1:27-28 "For this child we prayed, and the Lord has granted us our petition which we asked of Him. Therefore we have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord. So they worshiped the Lord."

Brant's Welcome Home Party

2007-10-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had a welcome home party for Brant at U. Jason & A. Jolyn's house. Brant was happy to meet many family and friends. Cali is now VERY proud of her little baby brother and has become very protective of him. Since the party she has assumed a very motherly and protective position in her little brother's life! She wants to help feed him, bath him and make sure that we refer to her as, "Brant's sister". At first Brant was more fond of Cali than she was of him. Cali wasn't so sure she wanted to share her mommy & daddy with a little boy... but now Brant has two "mommies" mothering him every minute!!! : ) We are adding more pictures of them together. Thank you so much for your prayers for our family.

"One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts." Psalm 145:4

Hi from Brant

2007-10-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

Hi. Last night when I woke up to see mommy she showed me this blog! I like the video of daddy tossing me up in the air. Daddy and mommy told me about my family and friends who have prayed for me and how much Jesus has loved me through them. Cali told me about church, about Jesus, and about many other things that I don't understand yet...! I now say "Da-da". My favorite thing is being outside in our almond orchard! I like to look at the trees and watch Cali run and jump all around me. I love being with my daddy and mommy and sister.

"He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to His heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young." Isaiah 40:11

Brant is HOME!

2007-10-12T21:04:00.000-07:00

We arrived home on Thursday at 4:00 pm and went to Grandpa & Grandma's house at 7:00 pm where Cali & six little cousins were anxiously waiting for Brant. We attached videos of this event, Brant seemed very happy to find that he has a sister and likes her very much. He also seemed very happy that he has such wonderful grandparents, fun cousins and sweet aunts. He was very exhausted from the long trip home but definitely seemed to revive at the lively greeting he received in California. He was even giggling while his sister and cousins danced around in the Korean traditional hanbok's that we got them! The flight home was very difficult and long and we could tell that everything is new to Brant but God has given us precious moments with him and he is adjusting well! Brant seems to be content in our home and in his new bed. He loves to cuddle with mommy and loves to laugh and play with daddy and Cali. His foster mother said to Brant's social worker that she will be praying for Brant as he adjusts to his new family. We know all of you are praying too and that God is answering all of our prayers. God is good all the time!

Hello From Korea!

2007-10-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

We have Brant with us but now we do not have the time to add photos and comments! : ) He is doing very good. We feel so blessed by all that the Lord has done for us! We love having him in our arms. We are falling in love with him more and more and it is very easy to see that he fits perfectly with us. He wants to look at Daddy as much as possible but likes to have mommy hold him. He has been so sweet, he likes to snuggle so he reminds us of Cali but he definitely is a boy and likes his toys to bang together! : ) God has blessed us abundantly!

We finally see Brant!!!

2007-10-05T02:15:00.000-07:00

We got to see Brant this morning. His foster mom brought him to ESWS and we were waiting in a little playroom for her to bring him to us. It was an incredibly emotional moment. So much waiting and longing is over... He is so much sweeter and so much more precious than we could have imagined! We spent some time playing with him on the floor while his social worker told us all that he is doing and eating (translated from his foster mom)... We are so in love. Brant seems smaller than we thought he would be - especially after we saw a lot of the other little babies at ESWS. We are very overwhelmed with this beautiful blessing from the Lord! God is good! Thank you for covering this day in prayer for us!

At San Francisco Airport!

2007-10-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready to board Singapore Air. Our agency just told us that we will get to see our son at 10:00 Friday morning - 6:00 Thursday evening CA time!
"Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is His work, and His righteousness endures forever!" Psalm 111:2-3

Leaving For Korea!

2007-09-28T13:13:00.000-07:00

We received Brant's approval to travel. We are praising the Lord for His faithfulness and thanking Him for this great answer to prayer! We are leaving the first of next week and will be home from Korea with Brant on October 11th. This site will be updated as often as possible with hopes that we can share pictures and video clips with you. Please pray for safety for us as we travel and pray for Cali too. She is happily staying home with Grandpa and Grandma but we will miss her very much. With all of our hearts we thank you for your love and encouraging support for us over these long months. God has been very good to us!

Update from Korea

2007-09-21T20:34:00.000-07:00

"Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to read." - C.S. Lewis

We are in California and Brant is in Korea. We thought we would give you an update. Brant is saying, "Oh-mah" (Mommy in Korean), he is sitting up, rolling over and he has his blankie - we sent it to him a couple months ago. He weighs about 19 lbs. and just turned 7 months old. He is very content, shy of strangers and sleeps through the night now. :) Hopefully that continues through-out his life! We have had a very long week but the Lord has given us a lot of hope that our wait is coming to an end. We do not have travel dates yet so please continue to pray with us and pray for Brant as he waits to come home!

Brant at 7 Months

2007-09-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

God is working...

2007-08-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

On August 17th Brant's paperwork arrived in Fresno at the CIS (Citizenship Immigration Services) office. Please pray that processing goes smoothly and quickly and is returned to Korea ASAP where they will then be able to request a VISA from the US Embassy in Korea. We hope to see him very soon - Lord willing in September! Thank you for your support and prayers.

We have a baby boy!!!

2007-07-19T22:29:00.000-07:00

Brant DeVee Hess was born on February 13, 2007 in South Korea. Our agency called us today with the news and tomorrow we will receive our formal referral package. We are praising the Lord for this precious blessing! We have two pictures of him in our family album on the link below. Please continue to pray for him to be home in our arms soon. We will keep you updated!
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think."
Ephesians 3:20

A Verse the Lord gave us as we are waiting!

2007-07-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

"Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west." Isaiah 43:5

Prayer Request

2007-06-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

Please pray for us!
Pray that the infants ready for adoption would be released earlier by the South Korean Government. With the new policy it is possible for the babies to be held longer and the orphanages are seeing the devastating effects. They need the infants to be released to their parents so that they can care for the newborns coming in. Please pray that the Lord will supernaturally soften the hearts of those in the South Korean Government and that the Lord will provide food for the babies and strengthen the caregivers since they have more infants being held at the orphanage than ever before and are not sure what they are going to do to care for them.
Please pray for our baby where ever he or she is. We know the Lord is taking care of our child for us and we are comforted by this. Please pray that our baby will be home with us soon!