We are here!

We are here- it was a long but good trip. We got a few hours of sleep and will be heading out to the orphanage soon. Looking forward to holding this precious girl! We will post more later.

Mother's Day

I am filled with gratitude today...the day to celebrate mothers. There are so many mothers that have blessed my life. Today I am thankful for Brenda and the gift of her wonderful son, Jimmy (who makes me a better mother everyday). I am thankful for Grandma Bessie and her inspirational life. I am thankful for Sudie in ways I could never put into words. And while thankful everyday, today I am especially thankful for two women I will never meet for the blessings of Davis and Gabre Meti. And last but certainly not least, I thank God for the past four and a half years with Sarah Bess, the past two and a half with Davis and look forward to the years to come and the addition of their sister.

COURT DATE!!!!

We have a court date!!! Yes, I am about two weeks late in posting this to our blog (just can't seem to get blog organized yet!) but wanted to document it here anyway. We were originally told we had a court date of May 14th. We were shocked, because it was just 3 weeks away and before some other dates we knew had been given. Once the shock wore off (in about 3 seconds) we were so excited that we were that close to meeting our baby girl. The next day we were told that date was a mistake (who knows why?) and our new date was June 1st. After a day of being sad about a date that 24 hours earlier would have made me super happy, I got over it and returned to joy at our court date. I have to confess the joy is tempered with anxiety over meeting our daughter and then leaving her for an unknown time period, or anytime period for that matter.
We are so thankful for the families traveling to Ethiopia for court date or embassy that send us pictures of our beautiful daughter. We can't believe how much she is growing. We hope we can pass court while there. As soon as we pass we will post pictures. One thing to share is how amazing her eyes are. Sarah Bess says she has eyes like tomatoes... (no, they are not red but I think that is the biggest thing she could think of to describe them). Davis looked at her picture today and said "She sure is growing." in a tone of adoration. Can't wait to have them all home together.

It's A Girl!

Yes...that's right, we have accepted the referral of a beautiful 3 month old baby girl! She is so precious and I look forward to the time in which we can share her picture. We are overjoyed and are enjoying looking at her sweet face. We are unsure on time frame at this point... we just wait to hear of a court date next. We will keep you posted!

A Few More Christmas Pictures

Christmas 2010 in Pictures

I'm not sure that much can top a Christmas with two 4 year olds. What a blessing to see it through their eyes. Here are a few photos of Christmas fun from this year.

Adoption Update

We haven't posted any news on what's happening with the adoption, because not a whole lot has been happening. We have been (what feels like to me) SLOWLY creeping down the list and as of yesterday morning had moved from 53 in May to 35. It has been WEEKS since there has been any referrals at all. I have been outwardly expressing 'all in God's timing' while praying to convince myself, but still feeling dissapointed at times.
But in less than 48 hours we have moved 3 spots...now to 32! Still a long way to go but too excited not to share.
Merry Christmas!