So, How Cool Would This Be............

Some of you probably already know that my sister, Larisa, and her husband, David, have started the process to adopt their second child from Ethiopia. Earlier this month, they started in on their paperwork again. But, since they are now old pros at this, they will soon have it all turned in. If their social worker is on the ball and gets their homestudy completed as quickly as she did last time, they could be added to the waitlist fairly soon. Their agency is the same as ours - All God's Children International. SO HOW COOL WOULD IT BE IF WE GOT REFERRALS AROUND THE SAME TIME AND GOT TO TRAVEL TO ETHIOPIA TOGETHER???? Not sure that it is likely, but wow - how fun if it happened!! We are planning to take Shana with us on our first trip over there, and David and Larisa will probably take Yikealo on the first trip as well. So... if we traveled at the same time, Shana and Yikealo would be able to hang out together for a whole week. They are best buds anyway, and could enjoy his native country together! Yikealo absolutely adores Shana, and when David and Larisa told him that they were going to adopt again, he wondered if they could get a kid just like Shana from Ethiopia. Well.....not sure about that, Bud! I highly doubt whether there are very many blond, blue-eyed kids in Ethiopia, and you'll get one younger than yourself, not older! But it was a sweet thought, just the same!

Shana and Yikealo

Yikealo - isn't he just the munchiest?

Anyway, we'll see what happens! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

In My Spare Time....

I have been working on some pages to put in an adoption scrapbook for our child(ren).

Number 1:

Journaling reads:

If You Were Mine

When my heart is troubled

And I am weighed down,

Then I like to think of how

This lonesome world would be,

If I could see your face

Or hold you in my arms.

If you were mine,

If you were mine.

If you had a bad dream

I would jump inside it.

And I would fight for you

With all the strength that I could find.

I would lead you home

By your tiny hand.

If you were mine,

If you were mine.

I would sing of love

On the blackest night.

I would sing of God and how

His goodness fills our lives.

I would sing to you

'Til the morning light.

If you were mine,

If you were mine.

-Fernando Ortega

Number 2:

Journaling reads:

A Place For You

One little stranger

One in a million

One homeless angel

One helpless child.

In the fields that God has sown

Blessings live, life is grown.

An empty space, the Father knew

There is a place for you.

So come across the ocean

Safe to the harbor

Into a family

Two worlds away.

Far from your tragedy

Safe and secure.

All along, the Father knew

There is a place for you.

In the sight of Heaven's view,

There is a place for you.

-Wayne Watson

Number 3:

This last one is about an Ethiopian restaurant that Chris and I visited as a cultural experience while doing our adoptive parent training. The food was great, and it was so neat to be able to experience something authentically Ethiopian.

Have a happy Tuesday!

Our Waitlist Numbers!

The paperwork stage of our adoption took a lot of time, patience and perseverance, and almost every night found me camped out at the dining room table, our Adoption Command Center. I learned more about homestudies, dossiers, notarizations, criminal checks, document revisions, USCIS, powers of attorney, financials, adoptive parent training, myself, grace and trust than I ever imagined! We made it through, though, knowing that each document we signed brought us that much closer to our child(ren)! So we were absolutely thrilled when we got a call on June 18 from one of our case workers, who told us that we finally made it to the waitlist! We are finished with the paperwork stage! Our official numbers are:

Girls

Boys

Siblings

We have been approved for a boy, girl, or siblings from 0-3 years of age. We can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us next!