For the past week Joel would pull me aside and ask "Mommy, can you believe your baby is going to be 9?" And then he would give me a big hug. He is the sweetest boy!
God gave us Joel as a gift! I wish I could put in words how great full I am to Him for that! All of the circumstances around Joel coming into this world are truly miracles. We are blessed beyond words because what God has done in and through this little boy.

Got Formula?

The orphanage that Y is at is in great need of formula. There is a formula shortage in Ethiopia! Even if we brought money with us to buy formula in Ethiopia it is difficult to find. So we are hoping to bring formula for the orphanage and diapers and wipes for the Transitional home. If anyone would like to donate any of those items please let me know! Thanks!

Any good painters out there?

I have grown used to waiting. Not very gracefully I might add but I have grown used to it. I guess you could say I am very comfortable waiting. Not gracefully comfortable but comfortable. I can pass by Y's room without crying now and the thoughts of going to get her in January feel,well,comfortable.
When we received our referral in August Duni told us we could travel in December but it could be January. So, I have been letting myself believe we will bring Y home in January. After all,the time lines in this whole process haven't been really accurate.
So, we had a conference call today with AWAA. We learned a lot of great stuff today! One being that all of the summer referrals have court dates. And all of us that have court dates should(if we pass court)travel to Addis to bring our children home by or on DECEMBER 6th!!!! There will be 5 groups from now until Dec. going to ET to get their children!(We should get tentative travel dates on Monday!)
So, thinking that I had until January to get everything ready-I probably don't! Y's room isn't painted yet...so,friends...Is there any good painters out there?

Our first update!

It is so hard not to type our daughter's name when I am referring to her in our blog! I think from now on I will type Y when I want to type her name. The day we received our referral we knew we wanted to keep her Ethiopian name. It is the name her parents gave her and we want to honor that.
So anyway-The update. It was small, just a few lines but it is just what we needed to hear. She is in school at the orphanage, she loves playing with the other children and is friendly. We also received a new photo! Y is smiling in the the picture. She looks happy! When Isabelle saw the picture she concluded that they must have told her that the picture was being sent to her family!
The courts reopen soon-in 6 days!(there is a buzz that they might have already reopened!) So we are praying that everything is running smoothly and we receive a court date soon!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?!

This year is the first year Joel has played football on a team. He is really loving playing! He smiles a lot and is having fun. The first game rained cats and dogs! It reminded me of Friday nights in high school dancing on a muddy field. But this last game was perfect weather! Between Baseball and Football Isabelle has had to sit through a lot of games. We are thinking about inventing a princess chair with a flat screen TV built in.(The flat screen is all her idea...if she is not allowed to have one in her room why not in her chair) I think that will make for a good sideline chair!
To change the subject we haven't heard anything about our little girl. We are hoping to get an update this month! Courts reopen October 8th! Please pray that we receive a court date quickly.

Conference Call

Yesterday our agency had a conference call for all of the families with referrals. There was a lot of information given and we even had a surprise visit from Rachael,who runs the Transitional Home in Ethiopia! Rachael is back in the US with her husband on vacation.
-One of the changes that will be happening is that we will no longer be staying at the Hilton but a Guest House. The Guest House will be homey and we will be able to be immersed in the culture. We will be able to get a better picture of Ethiopia!
-Duni is hoping to send 2 big travel groups (big meaning 6-8 families) a month in October,November and one in December.
*So for us this means we will be traveling anywhere from late November to early January. Our prayer is that we could have our sweet little one home before Christmas!
-When Rachael returns to Ethiopia we should receive an update on our daughter. We are hoping to see a glimpse into her personality and how she is doing. We were able to send a small photo album to her. We are so blessed we had the opportunity to do this.

On Sunday I was reminded of a gift I have been given. A gift that at one time seemed like I would never get to enjoy. Before I had the gift I wanted it bad. It was hard to see others receive the gift I longed for. That gift was the gift of a child and the chance to be a mother.
The short story is that having children didn't happen in the way or timing that we planned. We had times of wait,agonizing wait, and at other times huge unexpected surprises. God has shown us that being parents to our children is a gift. One that he took time and joy picking out. No matter the ups and downs, He has placed them in our family for a reason and as a gift. Unfortunately not every minute of ever day do I look loving at my children and think "What a gift." sigh. The kids fight with one another, burp at the table and well,act like kids. But they are our kids,our gift. God has trusted us to raise them and seek His guidance in doing so.
So these thoughts have led me to a place in my heart I was incapable of reaching or understanding until now. That no matter how our children have come to be our children they are ours. God is no stranger to adoption. He invented it! As believers we are adopted by Him and He doesn't look at us as his pretend kids or not His real kids. We are His. He loves us and gives us everything a father gives a child and more because He is God! Which leads me to thoughts of our new daughter. God has done something I cannot explain in my heart. She is our daughter plain and simple. When we saw the picture of her for the first time we knew that she was our daughter. Not a pretend daughter, our real daughter, just as real as Joel and Isabelle! We have seen God do a lot in our lives and they don't always have an earthly explanation or make sense to other people. Looking from the outside I guess this whole thing may look crazy. "You are telling me that you have a daughter half way around the world that you have seen one picture of her, she doesn't look like you(ok,secretly, I think she has my eyes:)),you didn't give birth to her and she is 5!" Yep,that is what I am saying!