The Wall Bloggers

Just a few pictures from some fun things we have been doing in between our preparations...   Adrianna loves playing with this "copy machine."  It is actually a writing board that holds carbon paper underneath, so it looks like it is making a copy.  She looked at the picture of the dog on the box and made one of her own.  I thought it turned out cute. Last Saturday, we went to our friend Natalija's sixth birthday party at a local preschool. And on Sunday, we had a lovely picnic break with Scott's parents.  It was so relaxing to take some time away from all the responsibilities, and simply enjoy a beautiful day.

Four months ago today, we "met" Abel.  At that time, our agency told us that at the latest, we should be able to pick Abel up in May.  We do not know all the reasons why our case has been so delayed, but we know that God's timing is perfect.  And so we hope to be allowed to pick up Abel in mid-late June...  Almost half a year after we "met" him -- wow. For our fourth-month anniversary, we got the most special surprise: a new picture of Abel!  In the past, we have only received updated pictures as families traveling to pick up their children took them for us.  So we always knew in advance when more were coming.  Getting this one -- out of the blue -- today was a very special surprise.   We also learned that Abel gained four-and-a-half pounds in the last four months!  Good growing, boy!

Last night was Haagen-Daz's annual Free Scoop Night.  Because we live in a small town, that's our kind of adventure.  Of course, we had to go.  The funny thing is, we were most excited about getting another free family photo in front of the fire truck.  :) (To compare with last year's picture, click here...  Free scoop night 2009 ) Since Monday, when we passed court, life has gone from pause (where is has been for the last several months) to fast forward .  We are suddenly jumping in to all the travel plans we have not been allowed to make until now.  We are making doctors' appointment, talking with travel agents, taking letters from other families so that we can take their children's pictures (just as so many others did for us), gathering I-600s and I-864A's (don't ask me; I barely understand them!), planning a fund raising yard sale, preparing for family to watch Adrianna, and so on. We are also continuing to pray.  We do not have a guaran...

We are praising God this morning!  After two unsuccessful court dates, we passed court in Ethiopia today! And what verse should I read this morning, but Psalm 34:3... "Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together."    (When I read it, I was hoping beyond hope that I would be able to post it on here after we passed court!) Now we are finally allowed to introduce our son to you!  His name is Abel (which means "breath").  We love his name and are so excited to raise our son in the legacy of the Biblical Abel, a faithful and righteous man, and the first prophet (Luke 11:46-51). These are the pictures I have been longing to share.  The first is the referral picture -- the first glimpse we got of our little boy. Here are the pictures we took of us with Abel's picture, which we put together on a ring to send to him.  (We're hoping he'll get to see those now that we have passed court!) The following are ones that families trav...

In the middle of the night tonight or maybe in the early hours of the morning, our court case will be determined!  The suspense is building!!  Pray with us?

Three more days until our third court date...!

Four more days until our third court date.  More waiting.  More praying. I want so badly for our family to pass court, so that we can make plans to pick up our son in a month.  I am struggling with fear about us not passing court for the third time.  But I am claiming the verse that God has shown me many times.  1 John 4:18: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear."  If I am trusting God with our court date and our son, I cannot fear, because His love casts out fear. Will you pray with us again?  Thank you, dear friends and family.

Five days until our third court date...  Hoping... PRAYING!

Yesterday was Mother's Day (as you probably already know).  After several previous Mother's Days with confused expectations and martyr-like behavior, I finally got bold, and just told Scott what I wanted for the day. Scott even did more than I asked for, and started the day with honey pancakes and eggs, courtesy of Scott and Adrianna.  From there, we dealt with a lot of screaming (we think Adrianna might have anxiety about making holidays special, which might come out in her screams), before finally making it to church.  The church part was another gift in itself.  Not just so me, but to the whole congregation.  After six years of waiting, we are finally allowed to enjoy our new facility.   As per my request, Scott made some delicious chicken enchiladas for dinner.  And his dad made a lovely concoction salad (who knew that croutons, lettuce, Parmesan, and oranges went together?!).   One of my favorite parts was watching Adrianna give the presen...

There have been several big projects I want to do before we bring our son home.  The first project on my list was organizing my 30 years' of photos, and was necessary for a couple of reasons.  First, piles of unorganized photos filled up drawers in our son's dresser.  Second, we all know what happens to big, time-consuming projects when child number two arrives: they go to the back burner until the kids are away at college! I started the photo organizing attempt... hmm... seven years ago, when Scott and I lived in Colorado.  Needless to say, every time I tried to get into it, I got overwhelmed with the enormity of the project.  My photos were so haphazard, that they were literally in piles with a photo from 1981 next to a photo from 1997 -- and this was hundreds of them.   Soon after we got our referral, I forced myself to pull out the piles.  I worked a little for a few days and then procrastinated for several weeks.  Finally, in April, after pu...

First, I must thank you for praying with us and for us.  Thursday was filled with tears, but since then, there has been tremendous peace.  God has been so good to us.  We know that it is just a matter of time before our dear boy will be here. And I am making a bold request to God.  If you wish, feel free to join me in asking Him for this... I am asking God, if it would be His will -- if it would bring Him glory -- to allow our court date to be moved up with a successful passing (sooner than May 17).  I am also asking that our tentative travel date (the week of June 21) would be moved up, too. We have seen with other families in our agency that both of these events can and do happen, so I figure we might as well ask for them! Another adopting mom ( http://www.allglorybetogod.blogspot.com/ ) gave me a list of specific requests that she prayed for her court date.  I will include them here, if you want to join with us in praying for our next court date....

A few days ago, our friend Brittney said that she was looking for models.  She's taking a photography class, and needed new faces to model for her, so that she could get some more photos for her class.  I happily snatched up her offer.  So as yesterday morning dawned brisk and bright, we met at our park, where Brittney had already chosen a few perfect photo spots. We are so pleased with the results, and so grateful for sweet friends with great photography skills!