The past few weeks have just been so surreal! In order to officially accept our referral and get all of the paper work started to adopt her, we had to fill out a HUGE packet of documents. We got those FedExed to our agency last weekend so now we are just waiting on paperwork to be completed by the orphanage and the governments, so that should be a waiting game for about a month. Then we will have some more paperwork to complete, and then another wait! I feel like the week we were filling out all of the forms and paperwork I was just waiting for the call saying "just kidding, this isn't real" or I'd wake up and find it was all a dream! Well that never happened, so it must be all for real!! It is amazing how many things have seemed to come together or make sense now, that didn't make sense a few short months ago. God is just so good through all of this I am continuously amazed at how often I see him at work through adoption.
While we wait we are focusing on getting everything ready to add a third child! We are reading books about parenting adopted children and meeting with friends who have shared similar experiences. We just want to be as prepared as we can possibly be for what's ahead. We are also trying to clean and purge our house! This is exciting because we have kept a lot of baby items not knowing if we would be matched with a younger child or smaller child and would need it. But now that we know who our daughter is we can get rid of the baby stuff! YAY!!! It's funny because I already feel like I'm nesting! I just want everything to be ready to reduce the stress in our house when we bring Sister home. I also feel like I have pregnant lady brain! Didn't expect that to happen! I think it's because I am so excited and giddy all of the time, my brain gets distracted easily. So bear with me if I'm acting crazy!
We also got some updated pictures of Sister last week and they were of good quality so I was able to print them off and put them in frames with the boys pictures around the house! WOW, such a small thing, but it just brings a huge smile to all of our faces whenever we pass one of the new pictures. She is just so cute!!
Please be praying for us during this wait. Please pray that our daughter remains healthy and well taken care of. Also pray that her heart and mind are prepared to be joined with her forever family and that she will anticipate that day just as much as we are! Also pray that we can get everything done and learn as much as we can in the next few months, I have a feeling it's going to go fast! Also pray for our hearts and minds (the boys included) that we can prepare for adding another child to our family. Thanks so much for supporting us as always!
Monday, September 28, 2015
Friday, September 18, 2015
WOW!!!! God is so good!
Oh my goodness everyone, it's been a week, but I am still completely in shock!
WE GOT MATCHED WITH OUR DAUGHTER!!!!!
What? What? What? What?
I know, I asked the same thing for about 3 days!!
We were not expecting it at all! When we found out that things seemed to be steadily picking up and that we would most likely be matched with a child within the year, that was a huge batch of information to process! We were still coming to terms with that as we were expecting at least another 1 1/2-2 year wait!
So when our case manager called me last week, I just figured she was calling to introduce herself (as she is new to us, and I had yet to talk to her in person). But when she asked if Ryan was there or if we could conference call him... I knew this was no ordinary check up call!! Sadly Ryan didn't answer his phone, so our case manager just told me the information and then sent us her paperwork. Ryan had to work late and we wanted to review everything together so we waited until almost 10:30 that night to look everything over! I was literally shaky for 2 days after that and just wanted to tell EVERYONE I saw!! I managed to have some self control though and we told our families and a few friends first.
But oh my goodness! We are so in love with her! Even the boys. They just want to look at her pictures all the time (which we kind of do :)) and want to go next week to pick her up. She is the most adorable little girl who is nearly a year younger than Eli. I can't share specifics here because I don't have a private blog, and I want to leave it open for fundraising purposes, but just know we are over the moon.
And to reiterate the fundraising part of my previous blog post, we are starting to fund raise in full force. We owe a "referral fee" that covers all of the end of adoption legal stuff, orphan care and the work our agency needs to do between now and when we bring her home , and it is the biggest fee we encounter in this process. We have saved/raised all but about $3000 of it. Please be praying that the funds will come in!
We also are looking at our first trip to Ethiopia happening in about 6 months! (I get to meet my daughter in about 6 months! Oh my goodness, doing a happy dance!!) But last minute airfare to Ethiopia is a daunting thought, so please be praying for the funding there as well! And then we travel 4-6 weeks later to go get her! Another daunting, but oh so exciting, thought!
See our last blog post for fundraising opportunities. We have been blessed with a generous community around us that has prayerfully and financially supported this crazy journey. We appreciate every single one of you!
We can't wait to show you some pictures, but sadly it will have to wait until after we pass court in 6 months or so. In the meantime we would appreciate your prayers that everything would go smoothly, quickly, all of our paperwork would get to the right person and the remaining finances come in.
WE GOT MATCHED WITH OUR DAUGHTER!!!!!
What? What? What? What?
I know, I asked the same thing for about 3 days!!
We were not expecting it at all! When we found out that things seemed to be steadily picking up and that we would most likely be matched with a child within the year, that was a huge batch of information to process! We were still coming to terms with that as we were expecting at least another 1 1/2-2 year wait!
So when our case manager called me last week, I just figured she was calling to introduce herself (as she is new to us, and I had yet to talk to her in person). But when she asked if Ryan was there or if we could conference call him... I knew this was no ordinary check up call!! Sadly Ryan didn't answer his phone, so our case manager just told me the information and then sent us her paperwork. Ryan had to work late and we wanted to review everything together so we waited until almost 10:30 that night to look everything over! I was literally shaky for 2 days after that and just wanted to tell EVERYONE I saw!! I managed to have some self control though and we told our families and a few friends first.
But oh my goodness! We are so in love with her! Even the boys. They just want to look at her pictures all the time (which we kind of do :)) and want to go next week to pick her up. She is the most adorable little girl who is nearly a year younger than Eli. I can't share specifics here because I don't have a private blog, and I want to leave it open for fundraising purposes, but just know we are over the moon.
And to reiterate the fundraising part of my previous blog post, we are starting to fund raise in full force. We owe a "referral fee" that covers all of the end of adoption legal stuff, orphan care and the work our agency needs to do between now and when we bring her home , and it is the biggest fee we encounter in this process. We have saved/raised all but about $3000 of it. Please be praying that the funds will come in!
We also are looking at our first trip to Ethiopia happening in about 6 months! (I get to meet my daughter in about 6 months! Oh my goodness, doing a happy dance!!) But last minute airfare to Ethiopia is a daunting thought, so please be praying for the funding there as well! And then we travel 4-6 weeks later to go get her! Another daunting, but oh so exciting, thought!
See our last blog post for fundraising opportunities. We have been blessed with a generous community around us that has prayerfully and financially supported this crazy journey. We appreciate every single one of you!
We can't wait to show you some pictures, but sadly it will have to wait until after we pass court in 6 months or so. In the meantime we would appreciate your prayers that everything would go smoothly, quickly, all of our paperwork would get to the right person and the remaining finances come in.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Things are Picking up
Hello everyone! I have some great news about Ethiopian adoption. Things are really really picking up over there. This past year has brought a steady stream of "referrals" (children getting matched with families)!! We have felt God's voice telling us to "wait" and stay in this process even through the slow down (or stoppage) that started before we were even considered a waiting family. We knew we could be looking at a 3-5 year wait, and we were preparing our hearts for that since we weren't expecting that going into the process at all! Well, the past few months has really been encouraging as we've seen more and more children getting matched with families, and our number on the wait list has continued to drop swiftly.
Most recently, last week, we found out that our adoption agency is anticipating that everyone currently on the waiting list will be matched with a child within the next year!! Since we are not at the bottom of the list that could be significantly sooner for us! When I found this out, I've been a bit giddy ever since! We had the mindset that we would be waiting a few more years, and to find out that it will be WAY less time than that freaked me out but made me really excited as well!
However, in all of this freaking out excitement the reality side of my brain kicked in and I realized we have not raised all of the funds we will need to accept a child and travel to Ethiopia (twice) within the next year!! (oh my goodness panic attack!) However, we do have several on going and one upcoming fundraiser I'd love to remind you all about.
First off, we have an adopttogether account (there is a link to our page on the right side of the blog). This is way people can give a tax deductible donation to us to help bring our daughter home. Any amount big or small helps!
Another ongoing fundraiser is our Amazon referral program. (Again the link to it is on the right of the blog). As I said in the previous paragraph, EVERYTHING helps! With people's consistent remembering to use our link, we have earned about $40 each month since we started doing it! at first it didn't seem like much but over the past 2 years, it's really added up, and we put that money directly into our adoption account. This is a program that really picks up this time of year too and goes strong through the Christmas season! So we will probably be reminding people about it more over the next few months.
We also have the sheet fundraiser, where we sell very soft and very comfortable sheets for $35 any size with a variety of colors to choose from. We have done well with that and have done 2 orders since we started it in June. We are looking forward to do an order or two more before Chirstmas (Remember they'd make GREAT Christmas or wedding presents for people)! If you'd like to order or have more questions about this opportunity please contact either Ryan or myself and we can answer any questions you have.
Lastly, my mom and I have decided to do a craft fair in her area in November. We both have a few different items we are working on and trying to build up our supply to sell. All of the proceeds of that endeavor will go directly to bringing Sister home (Thanks mom for the idea and the help!) If you are a crafty person and would like to donate items for us to sell that would mean the world to us! Please contact either myself or my mom if you have any questions about this endeavor as well!
Again, I am so excited to see God's faithfulness in Ethiopian adoptions! It has been so amazing in this season to get to witness children getting matched, families going to meet their kids, and finally getting to bring them home (a few families traveled just last week to bring their kids home). I am also so excited and nervous to know that we could be matched with Sister in just a few short weeks or months! Please Please Please remember us in your prayers! Thank you friends and family for all of your love and support through this process!
Most recently, last week, we found out that our adoption agency is anticipating that everyone currently on the waiting list will be matched with a child within the next year!! Since we are not at the bottom of the list that could be significantly sooner for us! When I found this out, I've been a bit giddy ever since! We had the mindset that we would be waiting a few more years, and to find out that it will be WAY less time than that freaked me out but made me really excited as well!
However, in all of this freaking out excitement the reality side of my brain kicked in and I realized we have not raised all of the funds we will need to accept a child and travel to Ethiopia (twice) within the next year!! (oh my goodness panic attack!) However, we do have several on going and one upcoming fundraiser I'd love to remind you all about.
First off, we have an adopttogether account (there is a link to our page on the right side of the blog). This is way people can give a tax deductible donation to us to help bring our daughter home. Any amount big or small helps!
Another ongoing fundraiser is our Amazon referral program. (Again the link to it is on the right of the blog). As I said in the previous paragraph, EVERYTHING helps! With people's consistent remembering to use our link, we have earned about $40 each month since we started doing it! at first it didn't seem like much but over the past 2 years, it's really added up, and we put that money directly into our adoption account. This is a program that really picks up this time of year too and goes strong through the Christmas season! So we will probably be reminding people about it more over the next few months.
We also have the sheet fundraiser, where we sell very soft and very comfortable sheets for $35 any size with a variety of colors to choose from. We have done well with that and have done 2 orders since we started it in June. We are looking forward to do an order or two more before Chirstmas (Remember they'd make GREAT Christmas or wedding presents for people)! If you'd like to order or have more questions about this opportunity please contact either Ryan or myself and we can answer any questions you have.
Lastly, my mom and I have decided to do a craft fair in her area in November. We both have a few different items we are working on and trying to build up our supply to sell. All of the proceeds of that endeavor will go directly to bringing Sister home (Thanks mom for the idea and the help!) If you are a crafty person and would like to donate items for us to sell that would mean the world to us! Please contact either myself or my mom if you have any questions about this endeavor as well!
Again, I am so excited to see God's faithfulness in Ethiopian adoptions! It has been so amazing in this season to get to witness children getting matched, families going to meet their kids, and finally getting to bring them home (a few families traveled just last week to bring their kids home). I am also so excited and nervous to know that we could be matched with Sister in just a few short weeks or months! Please Please Please remember us in your prayers! Thank you friends and family for all of your love and support through this process!
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