New photos!

We recently sent Hailu a notebook. Isaac and my nephew and niece drew pictures in it for him, and I also put maps in it of the United States, Africa, and a world map with stick figures of me Mike and Isaac near PA with arrows drawn across the ocean to Ethiopia and a little stick figure of Hailu there. I wrote that we are coming soon! I also sent him a necklace because I haven't seen him wearing the other one we sent him since he got to Addis. I don't know if it broke or if they just didn't let him wear it, but I decided to send him another one either way~It is a little shield that has the verse Joshua 1:9b on the back of it: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." I also put crayons and pencils, a little American flag, and a pack of gum in the pocket inside the notebook. I wrote to him that he can write or draw in it while he waits for us and show us what he did when we come to get him.
WELL, we received photos of him today with all these things! I was so excited and thankful once again for this gift from the staff there in Addis. In the photos I see him trying to read what I wrote to him, and he wrote a message to us....It is hard to see in the picture, but it says "I love you Isaac- I love you Mama- I love you Papa" I was so impressed with his writing! I am not sure if someone may have had to tell him how to spell each word, but he still knew how to write all the letters correctly! It looks like he is doing really well....oh and of course we LOVED what he wrote! WE LOVE YOU TOO HAILU!!! What an exciting way to start the weekend!

Misiker met Hailu!

Once again God gave us an amazing gift!

Guy's Day~Girl's Day

Recently, we have had opportunities to have some memorable days out with good friends and family. Mike and Isaac went to the USA/Turkey game Saturday with Misiker and Grum, and had a great time together....a fun guy's day out, watching a sport that they all love. Mike said that Isaac was just taking it all in and seemed captivated the whole game!

(my niece Libby and I, that same day)

My Mom and Erica and I went to get a pedicure (late Mother's Day gift), which seems to have become a tradition for us....our once a year pedicure to get our feet pretty for the summer (: It is so much fun !

I also got to spend a day recently with my good friend and neighbor, Joanie. We always have SO much to talk about and SO much to laugh about....it was such a nice day! We are SO thankful for days like these and such wonderful friends and family! We know these are all gifts from God and we do not take these for granted!

It's not "time" yet.....

I have gotten several emails and phone calls all wanting to know...."Did you hear anything yet?!"....So I guess I better update my blog to let everyone else know that are still wondering. (:
I have been sick the past couple of days and it has been an effort to do the normal day to day stuff...my head was too "cloudy" to put together any thoughts for a post.... Ok, so...... NO, unfortunately we haven't heard anything yet. Well, I say unfortunately, but I am not really upset that this means that this coming weekend is out, it is just unfortunate because I am so anxious to KNOW WHEN we are going! I truly AM ok with WHENEVER God wants us to go. He knows the best time for us and Hailu and although we are so excited to just get over there and bring him home, I definetely have confindence that God is in control and I am happy to give that control to Him!
When I was in Kindergarten and in first grade we used to carpool with another family for school. When it was the other mother's turn to pick us up from school, I remember that I couldn't wait to get home to see my mom! I remember that every time we would come in the door she would be doing some kind of cleaning with the music blaring, and a big smile on her face to greet us. Usually the music was The Maranatha Singers......Still to this day, those songs pop into my head all the time! She played them often and the words and melodies stuck....maybe it was the way she sang along or because they have fond memories attached to them....whatever the reason, I am glad to have these songs in my mind. They have helped calm me and reassure me in many situations! This morning as I thought about our current situation the song "In His Time" came to my mind. "In His time, In His time.....He makes all things beautiful, in His time.....Lord please show me everyday, as Your teaching me Your way, that You'll do just what You say, in Your time." I had to go on YouTube to see if the whole song was there....I listened to it and it brought back so many memories and the words were so good for me to hear right now.

I should start getting ready...

It has been 4 weeks since our court date and I know that any day now we will be receiving our travel approval! If we hear something by tomorrow then there is a possibility that we will leave this coming Saturday evening!! This is only if the June 1st embassy date is still available to us. We are guessing that we are most likely going to have June 15th as our embassy appointment day, which is quickly approaching also! Either way, I decided I should start getting some things ready!

I got all the donations together and put into Rubbermaids....I had so many wonderful clothes of all sizes left over from the yard sale and I put as many as I could into Space Bags and managed to cram them all into the container. It is a tight squeeze, but I think after we put the zipties on the container lids it will stay securely shut! I am excited to give them all the things that we have collected (thanks to family and friends)! We also went to Trader Joe's yesterday after church to get some food for the trip. I wish we had one of those closer to us because it is without a doubt, my favorite place to food shop! We got a lot of great things that will be good for us and or will fill us up when we don't have a "safe" meal available to us. We still need a few more things, but it was a great start!

I made photo copies this morning of the documents (I-600 and I-864) and our dossier. Now I just need to fill out one of the copies of each document to have it all ready (:

I really need to make a list today because I KNOW this will be so helpful for me! Making a travel list was on "my list" of things to do this weekend (LOL) , but that didn't get done.

My mind is swarming with so many things right now that I think this will be a good place to stop, and I will post more later. Hopefully I will have some good news at the end of the day!

.......I am thanking God today for a day without appointments.....I am free to get done what needs to be done, and I am so thankful for a husband that works so hard every day which allows me to have days like this! Home with Isaac, taking care of the him, and the house, and all the chores and responsibilities that go along with every day life....I love it!

Short Notice ?

We received Hailu's birth certificate this week through email.....It was so exciting to read the court decree and to see ours names listed as his parents!!! Wow! It is so hard to believe that we will be there soon to pick him up! We were told to be prepared and to check out all the different flights for certain weeks, because it could be very short notice that we get for our embassy date. Of course we don't HAVE to take the earliest one offered, but if at all possible we WILL!

What is our life going to be like when he is home? So many questions flood my mind......The unknown does scare me a bit, but one thing is for sure, this adoption is without a doubt what God has shown us that He wants for us! Keeping that in mind and resting in Him is the only thing that can ease a anxious heart and mind like mine right now. The reality is starting to set in.....and I can't handle all that this entails on my own.

On another note, things around here are adjusting to Sampson being gone. It was really tough that day that I made that drive to the vet clinic, and our other dog Buddy was acting really strange for a couple of days after too. 14 years is a long time to have a pet.... I still keep thinking that I am going to see him laying on his bed when I walk down the steps in the morning, or hear him get up from wherever he is to come beg when there is food out in the kitchen...

I will say that we are glad that we did this before Hailu came home, because we didn't think that it would be a good start for him here to see the sadness we had and have to explain why we had to do what we did for Sampson.

Buddy is a crazy, goofy, but very sweet dog, that has kept us laughing and has made letting Sam go, much easier. He is a handful, but we love him (:

This upcoming week I am preparing a few things to send to Hailu and I plan to get the paperwork ready for when we travel..... Isaac and Mike are going to be going to a soccer game with our friends Misiker and Grum on the 29th....USA vs. Turkey.....I bought Isaac and Hailu each a USA soccer jersey at Target the other day....Isaac will get to wear his at the game, but we will have to wait to give Hailu his until we get to Ethiopia. Isaac is so excited to give it to him! We decided to take a picture of Isaac holding it and send Hailu the photo.

Time to say good-bye

I have been dreading this day for about a year now.....Sampson is 14 and tomorrow we have decided that it is time to "put him down"....His health has been deteriorating for a couple of years now, he has multiple issues now.....I used to work at a vet clinic and witnessed many dogs coming in at the end of their life suffering and in a pathetic state of being, and it has been bad enough to watch Sam the past few months so uncomfortable...we decided that we should not delay the inevitable any longer, and do this now, before he gets to that absolutely pathetic state. My dad has been gracious enough to offer to do this for us...we just can't....
He has been such a good dog....smart, protective, affectionate, and VERY obedient....what more could we have asked for in a dog? It is going to be hard to say good-bye, but I know that this is what it best for Sam. He needs to go peacefully....not in a state of absolute pain and suffering. We will miss you so much Sam....we love you....


I took these pictures today....