Didn't Pass Court

Well, I have postponed posting because we didn't pass court. I was hoping that the next time I wrote I would have good news. But unfortuntley I do not. Our MOWA letter was not in the kid's files so they gave another court date in three weeks, which was really hard since so many families 2nd court dates are usually in a couple days not weeks. However, there was a lot going on in Addis last week. They had elections last Sunday and there were riots, protests, and celebrating that caused some delays. But before the week ended, I had to email our adoption manager and ask if he heard any news about our MOWA letter before everything shut down for the weekend and I got some good news. Our MOWA letters arrived so this Wednesday the lawyer will petition to the judge to see if we can get our court date moved up. (They only can petition to the judge on Wednesdays) Also, Mekie's mom was in court, so there is no way she could come back now and change her mind. So even though we didn't pass, we made baby steps closer to getting our kids.

I just want to thank all of you for all your prayers and thoughts this past week. But please continue to pray for our little ones. Pray that they will be ready to accept us, pray for their health, and pray for this coming Wed.! We got to see video of our kids this morning and they are so precious. It brought me to tears watching them. It was so hard being in America while they were all they way over in Ethiopia. I wanted them home so bad!!

Court Date!!!!

I am so excited to say that we have a court date, May 25th!!! We could have 4 children officially on that date! So, how this works is that if we pass court on that day Ash and Mekdes will officially be ours. But most times, families don't pass court the first time or even second time. Paperwork is not correct or missing. Not on our part but of the courts over there. Put once we pass court then we should be given an embassy date can could be traveling as soon as 5-7 weeks after we pass court. So please be praying for us as we are waiting to pass court and that hopefully we will pass court the first time and that God will be working in our children to prepare them for our family!

Good News

I just got an email yesterday saying that all paperwork was submitted to the courts. So we beat the deadline and as of right now we won't be traveling twice, just once to bring our kids home! Also, we should have a court date in the next couple of weeks and the date will probably be, I'm guessing, late May to early June! I just received the cutest pictures of the kids from a family that just traveled! Derek, I, and the boys are so excited about Ash and Mekdes! We can't wait to bring them home!

Referral

We received our referral of two little girls on last Thursday. We were on our way back from Indy and received a call from our adoption coordinator and she said "have you been checking your email? I sent you pictures of two little girls. Let me know what you think". So it was an exciting drive home then. When we got home we looked at the girls and they were so precious. There were a few issues though. They were unrelated, the one girl didn't have her medical papers ready or any information on her, just her pictures. So once we were considering looking at unrelated children, I told Derek that I received IAG's newsletter this past month and they had some waiting children unrelated in there that we should look at. So we pulled it up and I showed him this little boy, Ash. And he is so adorable. So we continued to look over this 3 children and had medical reports on Ash and Mekdes but not on the other girl. So I took the 2 medical records I had and had them looked over and evaluated by a doctor. She came back on Friday afternoon with a good report. So Derek and I prayed that entire day about Ash and Mekdes and we knew God was telling us to accept those 2 children. However, after seeing that one little girl it was so hard to let her go especially since I would be able to get 2 girls but I know that God has a plan and it's for Mekdes and Ash to be in our family. So on Saturday morning, we submitted our referral acceptance form into our agency. So it's offical that we accepted Mekdes,girl age 2, and Ash, boy age 4.

We are overjoyed with excitement right now! The boys are excited! But I won't lie, we are a little overwhelmed with joy and fear at the same time and everything we want to get done before we can bring our children home. So satan has really been working hard in us to bring fear and doubt into our lives. I know with all my heart that we are where God wants us and that we need to hold strongly onto his Word and be praying that God will help grow our faith through this and make us stronger! God is so amazing in how he works out his plan in our lives. I have seen so much of how he uses us or others or situations to change and work it to how he wants it to come out. And it is so amazing to me! So please be praying for us as we are going through this process! We ask for strength that we may keep our eyes on the Lord and keep moving forward. We ask for prayers for our children in Ethiopia, for our children with us all ready that they will be accepting of their new siblings that will be coming, and for Derek and I to grow even closer together in faith. We thank our friends and family so much for all your support and love you have been showing us. It is such an exciting time but yet so scarey. And with out your support, love, and encouragement it can be really hard some days! So Thanks!

But also, there is also the possiblity of traveling twice still. The deadline is May 9th and even though we accepted our children we have to have everything submitted to the courts by that date or we will have to travel twice. So we are just kind of waiting to hear what will happen with that.

So that is the update for now! I will keep you all posted when we receive further information!

Wendy

Under Attack!

We have had quite a month! The month started off with a coffeemaker breaking (not so bad), followed by our microwave, then Derek's work computer overheating and crashing (right before he had to travel). That happened the first week of the month. I had just gotten back a few days before this week started from Ohio. My mom had knee surgery and I was with her for 4-5 days and I was just starting to get back in my routines with the boys when this started. I also had to catch up with my work since I had been gone for a few days.

So the second week started with Derek traveling for most of that week and just me and the boys. So while he was gone, Garrett started to have a lot of problems with school. Then that same week, we received emails that Ethiopia is establishing stricter regulations for their adoption process to make sure the children are truely orphans (which is a good thing, but adds time to the process) and then the big news came out that there will be 2 trips now to Ethiopia (which will add another traveling cost to the adoption). So Derek was still gone at this time, it was really hard to discuss all of this while he was gone.

So the start of the third week, we still were having some issues with Garrett but as the week progressed we started a new approach and was doing good by the end of the week. Then come to find out, the 2nd trip to Ethiopia is not in effect yet but something the courts are working on. So good news, right? Well, this week was seeming to be better! Garrett doing better with school, not a second trip yet, Derek was back home. But things came up with Derek's work and he was only home for one day before he left again and was gone most of the week. So not too bad for the 3rd week but getting tired of Derek being gone.

So the 4th week started, and we were so hopeful for a good week with Derek being home with no sight of traveling this week. And then our home computer crashed one night and not knowing if we could get any of our data off it (kid's pics, my work). Then the very next day our water softner breaks. Not knowing it yet, started laundry and clothes came out orange! Then Molly, our dog, got sick the very same day. Was up all night coughing! So had to take her to the vet. So it was a very expensive week!!! However, by the end of this week we were in such disbelief with everything that had happened I was just starting to laugh! I had cried so much by this point there was nothing else to do except laugh!

So as this week started, again we were hopeful for a good week but starting to feel defeated. But thanks to my great friends, I had lots of encouragement! We started off with some good news that we were able to restore the computer with no data loss. So as of right now, we are waiting for a water softner and iron eradicator (I love saying that!!). So yesterday, I headed to the laundry mat to finish our laundry. And today we were able to let Molly back in the house (no more coughing), we have our computer back and running. So I am feeling like we are starting to get back to normal. Still need a microwave! The coffeemaker seems to be working again but the coffee taste horrible because of the water! I wish the more expensive things would fix themselves! Garrett is doing great in school again and Derek is going to be home all week and weekend!

But with all that bad news, we had great news today! We mailed in our dossier! We are officially on the waiting list! We are first in line for a set of girls and 2nd in line for a sibling set of a boy and girl! We are so excited! I can not wait to see what children God will bring into our lives!! He is such an amazing God. Also, my goal for myself of getting in the dossier was April 1st and it will be there today at 3pm. So all in God answered my prayer but not a day sooner!!!

We received our draft for our homestudy yesterday. I was so excited! Finally something new has happened in the since the few weeks. So soon as IAG approves it then we can get everything ready to send in for our dossier!!! We have been occupying our time by reading up on Ethiopia, learning Amharic (Derek more than me right now) and following our yahoo group with IAG.

However some news came last week that they may be trying to have two trips to Ethiopia now instead of one. We is exciting that we could see our kids sooner but frustrating because that will add another big chunk of money to our expenses. So at one point last week they said it was true that it is two trips now but than they came back later in the week and said that it's not true yet but Ethiopia is trying to get 2 trips. So, I know that God is in control and that whatever happens it will be for the best!

We also taped our testimony last night for the church services this week. That was so hard for Derek and I as we don't like being in front of people on tape. But so excited that we had this opportunity to tell the church what God is doing in our lives! So we are nervous to watch that tomorrow!

So that's all for now!

Music

I am so excited I just figured out how to add music to my blog. What an accomplishment!!!