Texas Adoption Story

My children are such a testimony to me and a reminder of God's faithfulness to provide the desires of my heart. Here is our second adoption story. The beginning sadly tells of us losing our first set of three siblings who ended up with a grandmother to the youngest. We were devasted with the blow after taking care of and loving the children for 8 and a half months. During the following 6 months, we waited for the grandmother's evaluation period to end just in case the children were put back in the foster care system and hopefully come back to our home. My favorite song for this time of our life was "Praise You in the Storm" by Casting Crowns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo2nJr7JHsI). I had to choose to praise "the God who gives and takes away". I am so glad I did because His story was not done. Seven months after losing Alon, Nick, and Michelle, we got our next adoption phone call. The rest of the story is below...

11 Oct 07

Hello once again,

Well after several months of waiting to see if Alon, Nick, and Michelle would come back we found out that they are doing great and will remain with their grandmother. It was hard for me to move on, but I finally agreed that God still has a plan in our life. Well, much to our amazement and awe, He has blessed us once again. This time we recieved a phone call to adopt two brothers (3 1/2 and 2 1/2) who were living with relatives after their parents' rights had been terminated. We eagerly said yes!!! Two days later we verified that CPS had chosen us to take them and they sent us an email about them. However, when I opened the file, I found three names - they have a 4 1/2 year old sister. I called about her and found out that she is in another foster home and that they gave up trying to place all three siblings together. Eli and Bryan joined our family tonight and their older sister, Alizhia, will join us in a few weeks. Once she is placed with us, we should be able to start filing adoption paperwork so that the adoption can hopefully take place in the spring. We must have them for 6 months, then the following month we go before the judge. We are so excited at another opportunity to see God have our family grow. Please add us to your prayer lists once again as our hearts become attached to these little ones. We are so blessed!!! The Lord gives and takes away! Blessed be His name. ; )

In Him,Mike, Melissa, Stasia, Dasha, Eli, and Bryan



14 Nov 07

Hello again to all,

We wanted to share the news that Alaizha has now joined our family. She got here yesterday afternoon and has been overwhelmed with her welcome by her brothers and new sisters. We have seen her smile a few times and pray that as she becomes more comfortable, we will see more. Bryan and Eli, along with Dasha and Stasia, are absolutely thrilled with having one more child in the house. It is amazing how exponentially magnified chaos can be when one more child is added. ; ) We did get good news too that since they have been in foster care now for three years, we should be able to find a favorable decision with the judge to waive the six months waiting period. We would then just wait out the time it takes to pull together all the adoption paperwork. With the holidays, it make take longer than normal. However, it is likely that we could see the adoption take place as soon as February. YEAHHHHHH!!!!!

Please be praying for us, our agency, and our adoption attorney-that we would do all the required paperwork. And that others affecting the paperwork getting done, would not delay longer than necessary. We are so excited to see these three children become part of our family. I am so humbled at how God has provided in His timing, which is always perfect even when I can't see or understand. Thank you to those that have been praying with us on this endeavour since last summer. I am praying in faith that this time the adoption will soon come to pass. We are so incredibly blessed to have friends walk with us through this - physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

In Him,Mike, Melissa, Stasia, Dasha, Alaizha, Eli, and Bryan

25 Mar 08

Hello once again to all,

Sorry for the months of delay in our updates. Beleive it or not, this whole time we have been getting paperwork done and waiting to fulfill our 6 month obligation (which is officially 13 May). We have crossed a huge hurdle as of yesterday, our case has been officially been transfered to the adoption unit with CPS. This means we are in the final stages of the process and should hopefully finalize the adoption in several more weeks. Right now we are being told mid to end of May. So please keep praying for us as we complete more paperwork and now have to involve attorneys and set adoption dates. We are eager to see God close this hectic chapter of our lives and open a new door for our children, assurance that this is THEIR family forever. Thank you again for walking this road with us emotionally, spiritually, and for some of you physically. We could not do this without the strength that God provides from your prayers. We will hopefully send another update soon.

In His Grace,Mike, Melissa, Stasia, Dasha, Alaizha, Eli, and Bryan


2 May 08

To all,

It is our pleasure to announce that we will be going to court on May 21st at 1:30 pm, central standard time, to adopt Alaizha, Eli, and Bryan. This is the culmination point of over two years worth of prayer to see God have our family grow. We are excited, anxious, tired, and yet so incredibly happy that I have cried because we are finally at this point. In just nineteen days, they will be officially part of our family with no other home visits, inspections, reports to write, medicines to log, etc. They will be part of our family just as if there were born into it (and believe me, I feel like they were birthed into it, at least emotionally!!!). One last time, please keep us in your prayers that this court date will come and go smoothly with no delays. We will travel to Odessa, TX, about 4 hours (?) away. And I will send out our final adoption update then. Thank you for your two year endeavour with us as you have prayed with us, laughed with us, cried with us,and now rejoice with us for what the LORD has done. I look forward to writing to you again in less than three weeks. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!

In Him,Mike, Melissa, Stasia, Dasha, Alaizha, Eli, and BryanPS Two pics are below - one is of Bryan and Eli (Bryan dressed himself with his clothes on backwards) - the other is us indoctrinating the kids with Aggie Spirit.

22 May 08

To all our family and friends,

It is our pleasure to announce - We did it!!!!

We would like to announce the adoption of Alaizha Grace, Elias Michael, and Bryan Andrew Pontiff at 2:00 PM on 21 May 2008.

It was a long 4 hour drive up to Odessa, Texas but well worth it for the short 30 minute court appearance. The culmination of 2 years of foster care, paperwork, and uncertainty finally came to an end. As many of you know this journey has not been an easy one for us, but the end result makes it all worth it.Here's a short synopsis of what happened at court. Our attorney called CPS to the stand to testify that adoption is in the best interest of the children and the State of Texas, and that we were a suitable and loving family. Then he called Mike to the stand to testify that he was ready to assume full legal responsibility for the children as if they were born into our own family. Mike tried not to cry, but failed. Then Melissa was called to the stand and testified about how she loved the children and gave a praise to God during the testimony. Stasia and Dasha also testified that they wanted them to be their brothers and sister. Following all the testimony, the judge ruled that adoption would be in the best interest of the children and granted the adoption and name changes! That was it! We stayed for some pictures and hugs.

We were joined in court by our pastor and his wife as well as two of my Air Force coworkers. Also, Melissa's Dad drove all the way from College Station to be with us for the short ceremony.

In this long journey, given the many hiccups and one failed attempt, you might be wondering if we are done with adoption forever. We'll just be happy to say that we are done for now. It's time to let God mature our family together and if we feel called to adopt again, you can look forward to hearing from us in similar format. Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement. Glory to God for bringing us through this joyous and happy event. Here are some important dates for all you family members who requested birthday information, and a picture taken at court today.

Alaizha - 29 Nov 2002Eli - 26 Dec 2003Bryan - 19 Nov 2004

With love,Mike, Melissa, Stasia, Dasha, Alaizha, Eli, and Bryan