Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. ~ James 1:27
It's official! Our first trip is booked! *insert girly squeal here* Goodness, what an exhausting and overwhelming decision that was.
We will spend three days in Paris before we go to Ethiopia to meet Little E. We figured, when are we ever just going to be in the neighborhood again? Might as well spend a few hundred dollars to make a dream come true instead of thousands at a later date. We got a great deal on airfare and are paying less than some of the quotes we got to go directly to Addis and back with no long layover anywhere. Next on the agenda is to find a super cheap hotel in Paris. We're open to suggestions! We leave in 81 days!!! *girly squeal #2*
We got a health report on Little E yesterday. He sounds like a typical three year old. He wants attention and gets upset when he doesn't get it. I can guarantee he'll get plenty of attention here! The kids can't wait for him to be home. The report also said that his speech continues to improve since the surgery, although he's often hard to understand. Probably why he gets so frustrated! I wish someone there could do sign language with him. We did it our last two babies and still use it some. It's such a great way to help little ones learn to express themselves. We'll be starting on that as soon as he gets home.
Our flower bulb fundraiser is about over. I have another one in mind for the fall that I'm excited about. I need to work out some things and then will share all the exciting details!
In non-adoption news, Justin has decided to drop back down to part time with law school. Instead of being done next August, he won't finish until December. Still way ahead of where we thought we'd be at this point and less stressful. Full time work and school are just too much. Either way, he can't take the bar until February 2010, so why kill ourselves to get through and then have to wait six months anyway? This makes much more sense!
Soooo, we have some prayer requests: 1. For Little E's health and happiness 2. For travel dates to not change unexpectedly 3. For financial blessings
The excitement of having a court date has given way to the stress of trying to figure out travel plans. Ever since we found out that there would be two trips, we've planned to add a couple of days in Europe onto the first one. Our discussions about it were in vague terms of what if this or what if that. Then we'd get distracted by life and off we'd go.
Now, we have to actually make decisions and it's beyond stressful. Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't spend a penny without agonizing over it. I bought a dress on clearance for $1 two weeks ago and I'm still questioning whether I should have spent that buck on something I don't really need. It took us a year and a half to plan our Jamaica vacay a few years ago. We're trying to do this in a matter of days.
It's throwing me for a loop. The options are enticing - Paris, Rome, London, Amsterdam, and Dubai. We had about decided on Amsterdam because it's the cheapest option. But nothing we see to do there overly interests us. London and Rome are really just too expensive. Dubai is, well, so new and glitzy. And then there's Paris. Ahhhhh... my dream since 10th grade French class. The Louve, Versailles, the Eiffel Tower!!
We can make it happen - actually for several hundred dollars less than one of our quotes to go directly to Ethiopia and back with no stopover. The problem now is scheduling. We can be there for 24 hours or for about three days. We'd prefer two, but no cost effective way to do that has been revealed yet.
Then there's all the fretting this mama does. What about the kids at home? Will their world end if we add another day onto our trip? Is our happiness and couple time worth my perceived long term damage to their psyches because I'm away from them 24 hours longer than necessary? Will they even notice we're gone? Oh gosh! What if they don't brush their teeth the entire time and who will rub Maci's eyes so she can get to sleep?
So, yah, I'm flipping out a bit. We need to make a decision ASAP. Flights in the states will start filling up soon, since part of our travel is on Thanksgiving weekend. That should be fun.
Stay tuned for a decision. Justin wants to have the tickets booked by the end of the week...
Big, huge, super exciting news today! We are to appear at Ethiopian High Court on November 26, 2010!!! We are beyond thrilled. We didn't expect to hear anything until the end of September. Now, we can book our tickets three months in advance and relax knowing that we've done everything we can do. It's an amazing feeling to finally know the date that we will meet our Little E. A mom who recently brought her child home met him while she was at the care center. She said he seemed sweet with a bit of a mischievous smile. I can't wait to see for myself!!
The court date is great for us for a couple of different reasons. Most important to us, our first miscarriage was the day before Thanksgiving 2001. Since then, it's been a bittersweet holiday for us. There's always serving of sadness to go along with the ham and pumpkin pie. This won't erase the loss of that child, but it does, as a fellow adoption mom put it, bring beauty from the ashes. I loved that she said that, since that's how I've described our adoption journey - rising from the ashes of our most recent miscarriage on Christmas Day 2009. Again, I reference our adoption theme song --- What Faith Can Do by Kutlass. Makes me cry every time with its relevance. Our dreams are moving mountains, I've seen miracles just happen, and our broken hearts ARE becoming brand new. That's what faith can do.
Secondly, Justin's in his third year of law school. He kinda has to be there. He kinda has to be in Ethiopia, too. [I keep insisting that he should get some sort of credit for appearing in court halfway around the world.] For our court date to fall on a week when he's already off of school and work for the most part is an amazing answer to prayer. He's talked to most of his professors already and they're cool with it. Still, the sheer volume of material he would miss by being gone for a whole week of class would be overwhelming for him. Now, we don't have to worry about that. Awesome!
Finally, childcare should be much easier to line up that week [right, Clovis peeps??]. My mom will be off of school for at least the end of the week and hopefully other people will step up to volunteer for a day or half day. We'll get back to the states over the weekend and be ready on Monday to get back to life, even if we're beyond exhausted.
Our next thing is to figure out how to pay for all of this traveling. It seems that it will be a little cheaper than we were anticipating. Our flower bulb fundraiser is still going for a few more days. If you're interested, let me know and I'll get the info to you!
Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. - Isaiah 43:5
Last weekend, we headed home to take pictures with my family to celebrate my parents' 35th wedding anniversary. We all drove to my family's ranch and had a crazy Saturday night. Boy, did we have fun! 16 people and a two hour photo shoot. Kierstyn put on quite the modeling performance and Justin and I got in on the action some, too. In one of the pics on Kasey's blog, the one with my parents and us four sibs, I'm trying to get everyone to do a 'top model' pose but it seems that I'm the only one who actually did it. :)
Our photographer was amazing. I've been hearing about her for years from a mutual friend and was so excited to finally meet her. If you're anywhere near Clovis and want some awesome pictures, I highly recommend her.
To represent Little E in the pictures, our 'little' part of the family wore a red ribbon around our wrists. There's an ancient Chinese saying that a red string connects the hearts of those who are destined to meet. So, Little E may be half a world away right now, but our hearts are connected to him. Kasey took a picture of our ribbons [minus Maci -- she couldn't be troubled to hold still!] so we can have that for him someday. It's a very sweet picture, she has it on her blog.
Today is a day I dread arriving. Last November, Angie and I found out we were expecting our fifth child, who we had nicknamed Cinco. We were very excited, but only told a few people.
Things were going well as Christmas approached. On December 22, as is our tradition, we had our family Christmas celebration before traveling to Clovis for the big event. Typically, we go out to eat at a nice restaurant for lunch (usually at Olive Garden), then return home to open presents and relax for the rest of the day.
We decided to tell the kids about Cinco as a Christmas surprise, or more specifically, I decided we should and Angie gave in. They were so excited to be welcoming in a new addition to our family. We had a joyous meal and discussed the new baby a lot. Then we headed home to open presents.
Maci fell asleep in the car on the way home, so I sat with her for a few minutes after we got home while we tried to decide whether to wake her up to open presents or let her sleep while the other kids waited. Meanwhile, Angie went in to the restroom. She returned with a grim look on her face and told me she was bleeding.
My first thought was "Lord please no." We'd been down this road four times before, twice it ended in miscarriage. Angie and I didn't know what to do, so we let the kids open their presents and hoped it would go away, but it didn't. We spent all night at the ER, knowing there was nothing that could be done, but praying for something. The doctor told us he detected a heartbeat, but the hCG levels were low. We didn't let our hopes get to high, but at least we knew thought was a chance.
Angie spent the next day resting, but the bleeding continued. On Christmas Eve, we headed to Clovis for the big, family Christmas. When we got there, Angie told her parents what was going on. We went through the motions of Christmas Eve festivities for the kids. Poor Angie was so strong through the evening. She didn't let on to anyone what we were going through.
The next morning Angie got in the tub because she was cramping badly. I sat with her because we knew what was happening. She was losing the baby on Christmas Day, just three days after we told the kids and had that happy lunch. Sure enough, the baby was "delivered" in the tub at about 8 weeks gestation. The embryo was about the size of a grape. We could make out the major parts through the sac. We could see the outline of the head, the back bone and a little black spot that was the heart.
We held Cinco in our hands and cried for several minutes. Then I went forward with one of the hardest days of my life. I started with telling my father-in-law and watched as tears welled up in the eyes of the strongest man I know. Then I told my mother-in-law and the kids. I held the kids in my arms and cried with them. Then I called my mom and told her the situation. It was easier to tell her over the phone than to look her in the eye. She knows the pain. She's been down this road too.
I took the kids to breakfast at my mom's house, then back to the in-laws for lunch and then to my dads for dinner. Throughout the day I put on my happy face, took pictures and tried to avoid ruining Christmas for the kids. No one in the family knew about the pregnancy, so I had to tell each person about the situation as the arrived. Each time, I had to go through the shock again, but still hold it together. Angie was a wreck. I don't think she remembers anything from that bath until Kierstyn's birthday on the 27th. Even then, the next week is pretty sketchy. I vaguely remember going to a New Year's Eve party at a friends house.
I tell this story now because today is Cinco's due date. The due date is the second hardest day of the miscarriage because you can't help but think about what might have been. But it is also when you can start putting the tragedy behind you and begin to heal. Obviously, Christmas day will always be hard, just like Thanksgiving. We had our first miscarriage in 2001 on the day before Thanksgiving.
On this day, I choose to honor God because through this tragedy God has begun a mighty work in our lives. This tragedy set us on the path to Little E. See God wanted us to have another child, but he already had a child in mind for us. Angie and I made the decision to try for another baby in August, 2009. This is exactly when Little E entered the orphanage. God had already delivered our next child to us as soon as we decided we were going to add to our family. He knew this little boy needed a family and he began working on our hearts.
As we began our adoption journey, Angie prayed that the baby we would adopt would be born near Cinco's due date (at the time we were looking to adopt a baby). Little E's birthday is August 9th. Our God is mighty, powerful and yet personal. He knew exactly how to send us the message that Little E was our child and he had planned for it well in advance.
Lord, today I choose to trust you with my life. I choose to trust you with my family. Lord, you have cared for me in the past. You fulfill my daily needs in the present and I choose to trust you with my future.
There is no better song for moments like these. If you don't know the story of this song, look up Horatio Spafford and "it is well with my soul."
Little E is three today! It was a bittersweet day, but we talked a lot about what fun we'll be having with him on his next birthday. Pretty cool day to have a birthday this year - 8/9/10. :) KJ baked him a cake and all three girls decorated it. It's amazing to me how much love we already have for this little guy we've never even met!
The kids in our homeschool group have joined forces to raise money for plane tickets to Ethiopia for our family and the Norris family! The Norris' are also adopting from Ethiopia --- two precious girls!
So the kids are selling flower bulbs and the brochure is making me drool! I love, love, love growing flowers [even though I mostly kill them]! My favorites are the black tulips pictured above.
If you would like to see the brochure, you can click on the link below. Good luck deciding what to order. They all look exciting! You can send me a message with your order and we'll work out how to get the money to us. If you're a member of Celebration, you can talk to just about any of the homeschooling children and they can take your order.
All orders should be prepaid. We are taking orders from now through September 15. The bulbs will be received soon after that, just in time for fall planting season. We'll hand deliver them to you. If you're in Clovis, don't despair! We'll make a special trip down there to drop your bulbs off.
The bulbs are guaranteed to bloom. If they don't, they'll be replaced for free. Check out the brochure and thanks so much for supporting us!!!
We got word this morning that our case has been submitted to high court in Ethiopia!!! We didn't expect it to happen quite so fast. Little E's paperwork must have been all ready to go. He has been in care for a year now, so I guess they've had plenty of time to get everything together.
So what exactly does this mean? Well, when we find out our court date, Justin and I will fly to Ethiopia to appear before a judge. We'll meet Little E briefly and talk to his doctor and nanny's. That trip will only be a few days in country, but after that he will be legally ours!! Is that when you bring him home? No. We have to come back home and wait for the paperwork for his visa to be completed. Then, we will be given a date to appear at the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to apply for his visa. That will happen anywhere from 8-12 weeks after our first trip. For that trip, it will be me, my dad, and Cade. We also hope to meet Little E's birth father at that time.
When will you find out your court date? Unfortunately, today is the last day that the courts are open until the end of September. They close for the rainy season. We hope to find out our court date soon after they re-open.
Please continue to lift us up in prayer as we continue this amazing journey! We are starting to gather donations to take to the care centers. If you're interested in being a part of that, let me know and I will get a list of requested items to you.
We're also gearing up for more fundraising. Traveling halfway around the world with two weeks notice is not cheap! Stay tuned for some fun things you won't want to miss!
A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones. Proverbs 15:30
HIM: IT manager/law student
HER: Homeschooling mama/birth doula
US: Doing everything we can to simplify life and raise our four children to glorify God in everything they do. We are currently in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia.
