Birthday Girls

This week two precious girls had birthdays. Our Grace turned 3 on Tuesday. She had a horse themed tea party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our little girl in Ethiopia turned 1 on Wednesday. We lit a candle and sang happy birthday to her from the other side of the world.

Count Down to Court

It’s time for a blog update. Past time, really. Updating the blog has been on my list for months but it just keeps getting pushed to the next week. Today I have a cold and it is slowing me down just enough to free up some time for updates. Here we go.

 

We started school last week. John is in 2nd grade and doing well. I was concerned that he would have lost ground since last year but we seem to have picked up right where we left off. He absolutely loves history and science. He loves it when I read to him even more. He enjoys math and he enjoys reading to himself or his siblings. He tolerates grammar and handwriting. And he hates spelling. Will does preschool everyday and he is already doing much better than last year. Grace goes along with all of Will’s preschool activities and loves to color. We stick to a strict schedule all day long, broken down into 1/2 hour increments. The kids are thriving on the predictability of it all after a long and chaotic 1st grade year and summer. 

 

We have restructured our role as Children’s Ministry Directors at church. I have resigned from the position and Bob is continuing on. I still put in many hours behind the scenes but Bob now bears the weight of responsibility on Sunday mornings and through the week. This has allowed me to focus more on home schooling and we hope the change will help as we transition into our new family.

 

Our court date is set for October 8, 2008. We have been counting down the weeks to that day since June 27th (the day we received our referral). All of our paperwork seems to be in order and updated. We are waiting for one more form from USCIS verifying the fingerprint renewal we completed last week. We have received many photos of our girls from other families who have traveled as well as monthly updates. Our youngest is said to be very particular about who she will go to. We are praying that God would open her heart to us and ease the transition when we are finally able to meet her. We were even told that she doesn’t like white people so we are asking God to really work to prepare her for our meeting. Our older daughter is said to be doing well in all the reports we have received. We have been able to send her two care packages and even have a video of her wearing the new dress we sent her. We are anxiously awaiting more video of the girls which is scheduled to arrive later this week.

 

If we pass court on Oct. 8, our tentative travel has been scheduled for Oct. 24-Oct. 31. I plan to begin packing the girls things this week and also to begin collecting donations to bring to the orphanage and transition home (the facility run by our adoption agency where our girls are now.)  

 

Our precious friends have moved to Montana. I have another post in mind that I’d like to write sometime about them – we’ll see if I ever get to it. We got together with this family almost every single weekend for over six years, plus weekday visits, holidays, vacations and more. We shared deep struggles, tears, joys, laughter and fun with them. We miss them dearly.

 

We have begun the process of searching for a new vehicle. It is literally impossible to safely seat 5 children (all in car seats or boosters) in our old van. We knew this would be a potential need if we were to get a referral for two children, but somehow it still seems hard to believe that we have this huge expense to cover right now. However, God has blessed us by connecting us with a man who buys cars at auctions outside of MN (apparently cars cost more here). He has been watching the auctions for about three weeks now and he seems optimistic that we can get a good deal on an 8 passenger Sienna sometime in the next few weeks. We trust that God will provide the right vehicle before we need it in October. 

 

My parents, who have been living in our basement for over 4 years, have closed on their new home and moved out. We are so excited for them as they get settled into their new house and routines. Of course, this frees up some space in our house and we have been busy reorganizing and spreading out a bit more. The basement is all set up for school and works wonderfully. The girls’ rooms are also all set up and organized, ready for them to come home.

 

We are humbled any amazed by God’s provision all through this journey. Just when it seems that we are up against a wall and there doesn’t seem to be a way to get over the next financial hurdle, God has provided. Some provision comes in the form of unexpected work we have been able to do, as well as the additional job we have had this past year. Some provision has come for the amazingly generous gifts we have received. To those of you who have opened your heart to the need of orphans and to our family, we thank you. We are more grateful than we will ever be able to fully express. And now we stand at another hurdle as we prepare to travel, and we are so excited to see how God will see us through. God has also provided for small details as well, with gifts of clothing and other items for the girls. Our older daughter’s closet is full of clothes for this winter and I have only had to shop one time. Amazing!

 

Not posting often enough makes for excessively long posts. I apologize and thank you if you made it this far. We will be sure to post photos of the girls on Oct. 8th if our court date is successful. We hope and pray that it will be! We would be so very grateful if you would pray with us. Thank you.