News!

Well, we found out yesterday why we did not pass court. It was not due to paperwork (at least at this point). It was becaues the birthmother did not make it to court. We do not know why she didn't make it, just that she wasn't there. Hopefully through their efforts, people will find her int he next week and a half and get her to the court on time! We just want to thank everyone for their prayers over the last few days! It has meant a lot and kept us going. Thank you!
T

Rescheduled!

Well, we got the word yesterday that we did not pass court. We are unsure why at this point and AGCI is trying to find out for us. We were rescheduled for 12/14 along with another family. I am actually doing better with this than I thought I would be. If anyone knows me, I really try to find the positive in any situation. I have found a few, one being that we will for sure be able to spend Christmas with the family up in the mountains. Yes, I would love our baby M to be there, but that was for sure not going to happen, there was a chance we would be traveling during this time, which would have been ok by us, but now we for sure get to go and I get to see my brother and his family and their newest addition (#8 - Boaz). We usually don't get to see them but once a year. Also, it will be nice to have one last relaxing week before we have a baby and life becomes crazy for the rest of our lives (or so we've heard)! I do ask that you would all join us in prayer as there are many families going to court over the next week and then for all those of us who were rescheduled and have new dates. Thank you! T

No one mentioned...

Ok, everyone has mentioned that the night of their court appointment not sleeping well. Being excited and anxious, having a hard time calming down to rest. No one mentioned not sleeping well for days before it! Our court date is tonight. December 1 in Ethiopia. I was fully expecting to not sleep well tonight. To feel excited and anxious, having a hard time calming down. I was not expecting for it to start a few days before. Last night is the first night I have slept horribly, the others have been, eh..., ok. I have spent the last 4 days or so, non stop thing about, praying over, crying about, (well you get he picture), this court date. I am praying that God answers our prayers and we pass the first time around. I am trying with all I am to remind myself (almost constantly) of what I already firmly know - God is in Control! He has perfect timing. He is going to bring our Baby M home at the perfect allotted time. I am just a tad impatient and want him home now!!! So, all this to say, please join with us in prayer tonight that our court date goes quickly and smoothly, that we pass the first time, and that God grant us sleep tonight!

Also, pray for Rebecca and Dodd as they return to court as well Dec. 1 with us. It would be great to travel with them, getting to know them in person. It's fun to think what a small world it is as we have people in common. Dodd (I believe) used to work with Dan's brother in law. So, that was our first connection in this wonderful world of blogging.

Ok, so now that I have rambled on, and it is time to head to work, please pray for all of us and those in the following week. There is a huge group of us waiting to hear about our court results! Thanks.

this past week or so...

About 1 1/2 weeks ago we got the coolest package in the mail. Some great gifts from some great friends!

Then we dove into making cinnamon rolls for our final (hopefully) fundraiser. Cinnamon rolls for Thanksgiving. Here is Dan getting ready to wrap the rolls. I was still baking at this point I believe.

Here is Dan and I at our table at the bazaar. We sold cinnamon rolls, homemade Christmas cards, Hot Cocoa packets and a few other goodies! It was a good deal and we made enough to finish the adoption (depending on the cost of plane tickets...) ---I took out the pix of the bazaar b/c I wasn't thinking and you could see our little guy in the pictures on the table. Sorry...----

Last week we also got a great cozy blanket from Dan's sister Trista. It is cute and fuzzy and cozy. I can't wait to use it with baby M.

We are excited for all those who are in Ethiopia right now picking up their little ones. I am hopeful to maybe get an update on our little guy as well. We go to court in just over 1 week and am really excited and praying fervently that we pass the first time. Please join us in prayer for this as well.

Finally, We would like to with you all a Wonderful Thanksgiving. Celebrate all the Lord has done for you!

T

Court Dates Galore!!!

Well, court and travel date have been going out all over blog-land today. We got the call this morning that our court date for baby M is December 1st. Praise God! Please join with us in prayer as we pray to pass the first time through court. There is much paperwork and many people who need to all show up in time for everything to go through. We are praying we pass the first time around although we are prepared mentally to not pass. So yay! Mark your calenders, December 1st! Just 3 weeks short of our 1 year mark in this process!

We did our last fundraiser this weekend and I will post pictures and info on that later, have to get headed back to work for now...
T

what's happening...

To start things off, we have been working on our 'baggie of love' to send to our little guy in Ethiopia. We mailed it off last week to our agency and then they will send it on. This first album is the one we put togehter for his birth mom. It has plenty of extra pages for pictures throughout the years...
This is the cute little 'album' we got for our little guy. It is only three pages, but they are held together bythe cute little wooden ring. The pages are different material and the little leaves on the ends are different material too. it's really cute.

This is the blanket we bought for him the night we got the referral. it is super soft and cuddly.

This past weekend was Bible Bowl. We went to Denver area again. Here is one of our teams. My oldest nephew Brendan was on the team. They got 6th place in Division 1 (that's good).

We got home late Saturday night (acutally Sunday morning) and crashed. Dan didn't get to go to the tournament because it was inventory at the store and he worked crazy bunches of hours. I got to get up and make my sweet little niece macy her birthday cake for her 7th birthday. She is the only girl with 3 brothers. And let me tell you, she is all girl. here is here Barbie cake up close. Ignore the head wrapped in plastic wrap - I had to keep the hair out of the way somehow...

the bottom of the dress is all cake. it was fun to make. I had never tried one of these before, but it came out great. I also did a basic cake for her as well. We weren't sure how many people would be there, but wanted to have enough cake.

The birthday girl...

Dan with sweet nephew Grant getting some 'lovin'

Here is my sister's 4 kids. They are 11, 9, 7, and 2. Lots of fun...

Grant was just ready for the cake...

Macy was ready for the presents - here she is with some of her new makeup on that she got as a present.

And here are her and I playing with her new Barbie. She was super excited to be able to wash and dye this barbie's hair.

And this is what Dan is doing as I update this blog. We started working on cleaning out and re-arranging the living room. If you know me, you'll know I do this often. It's my way of 'moving without moving'.

I hope you all have a great evening. Pray for us as we anxiously await news of our court date!

Such excitement!

Well, so much has been going on the past couple of weeks. We have officially registered. That was fun! We had to wait on everything, not knowing what age or gender of child we would be referred. It was fun to wait because everything we registered was with baby M specifically in mind. We went to Target (local) and Babies R Us (4 1/2 hours away in Colorado Springs, but having a shower there with family and friends - thanks Trista!). We have come up with a name for baby M, but I am not sure if Dan is wanting it onthe internet quite yet. We'll have to wait and see! What else... we received our travel packet in the mail. Hard to believe we are at this point. It seems like it was always out there, but seemed so far away. Now that we are here it is very surreal. We are working on printing the pictures to send to baby M in his album as well as the album for his birth mother. We are also working on a letter to his birthmom. Not an easy task for those of you who have never written one. We have the nursery almost ready, so we will post pictures of it completed soon! What else, oh, can we say nesting! We have made a huge list of everything we have to get done (mainly around the hosue) before we travel and it is hanging on the fridge! So exciting! I hope you all have a blessed week and we will post more later. Hopefully we get out court date this week... All I can say is God is so Good! - T