Where is our paperwork?!!!

Well, it is official....NO ONE KNOWS where our paperwork is. I can't go into too much detail yet, for fear that making all the details public could be detrimental somehow to our case.....I don't want to make things worse....better safe then sorry.
I will just ask you all to please pray that we can get this figured out soon! We have had some individuals working with us that have really tried hard to help us crack this mystery. The addendum and new approval letter was sent to the NVC and was expected to be wired to the embassy within 10 days....it has now been over 3 weeks and no one seems to know where our information is. We have been tossed back and forth to different people and gotten contradicting advice from all official parties involved. This is the short version of the story....there have been several days of tons of emails, phone calls only to end up each day, more frustrated. Tomorrow is a new day with a new plan at hand, so we are hoping that we can either figure this out or, that our new ideas will pan out.
We know that God knows all of this and He has the ultimate control...but we also know that we feel responsible to keep at it, otherwise our paperwork could be shoved in a pile with thousands of other cases and go unoticed for quite awhile....leaving our son to wait for us even longer. We have passed court, we are already approved! This was just supposed to be a simple, quick addendum because of the embassy changing Hailu's age.....
Then there is the "simple" court appointment in Soddo that had to take place last friday concerning Hailu's records....also a requirement of the U.S. embassy. This didn't turn out to be "simple" and we are still waiting to hear about the resolution to this.
I probably shouldn't be posting today, because I am not doing well....not freaking out, but still...not where I should be. I am at a place where I feel that I trust the Lord and His timing, but I am having trouble accepting that He may be using people's mistakes and pride and opinions to accomplish His will.....
Wow, this is hard!

Just What We Needed!

Last night we had a wonderful evening with wonderful friends! We left the Kebede's house with some Ethiopian coffee and Kollo and with hearts filled with joy and peace! Misiker shared all the details last night, of his time with Hailu last month. In the midst of all the delays and all the feelings that go along with that, God knew that this evening was JUST what we needed and He provided it at the perfect time!!

We have been worried about Hailu.....we were worried that he might not understand why he has been in the foster home so long....seeing other children leave, and wondering why we haven't come to get him yet. These worries are gone.....

Misiker told us that Hailu is very aware of the adoption process and that he could tell that the staff had been explaining things to him clearly.....He said that when he was talking to him about it , and why it was taking so long, Hailu kept saying "I know".....he understood......but then Misiker said that he ended that particular conversation with...."but I can't wait! I am so excited"!!! Words can't describe how that makes us feel! He REALLY wants to be with us! What makes it even better, is that, Misiker told us that the staff was truly wonderful.....he said that the two women he saw with Hailu, treated him with so much love and affection and acted as if he were their very own child. The men he met were spoken of highly also........he said that the staff showed a genuine love for God and these children. He said that Hailu seemed relaxed, happy, healthy, and so comfortable.

What more could we ask for!!!? He is happy where he is and being taken care of very well, but at the same time will be so excited when we come to take him home! This is a gift from God for sure!!!
There is much more to tell, but I will save it for another time. I will leave off now, with HUGE thanks to Misiker for spending time with our son, joking with him, playing with him, and telling him how much God loves him and how much we all love him ......and giving him extra hope and confidence for the near future. Also, with all of my heart I give thanks to my Heavenly Father who continually takes care of our every need, and has blessed us with another amazing son that we will soon have in our arms!!

Small Update

We received some new photos and an update of our sweet boy yesterday! We also have little bit more insight on what is going on with our case...although we hope to know more by the tomorrow.

I have to start by saying that I am so thankful to God for the peace that only He can give! I still have moments where my heart literally aches with anxiousness and this is when I have to return to Him....and rest in Him. He is VERY real and the work He is doing in our lives is VERY real.........one thing I am learning is that, this can't truly be seen until we reach a point of TRUE surrender! Once I reach that point, it seems that true peace from Him starts trickling in.....nothing beats the feeling of this confidence and peace!

So, on to the update....July and August are slower months in Ethiopia due to vacations for embassy workers etc.....therefore, they have cut the normal 10 children per embassy appointment to 5 children. Because of this, obviously those spots are filling up much quicker, and pushing travel times and embassy appointments later and later for many families. July 13th is filled, and there are only 2 spots left for the 27th, last I heard....but this was a couple days ago, so that could have changed by now. We are probably looking at traveling in August, or possibly even September. Our updated information STILL has not reached the NVC and now the embassy in Ethiopia has brought up an inconsistency in our paperwork....I am assuming this is nothing we have done wrong, because we haven't been asked to change anything yet. I hope to find out more about this today...... I feel like, COME ON!!!! Will you just cut this out and let us bring our son home!!!!! UGH!!!!! Obviously I need to be praying about this some more....I am getting all fired up again just typing about it.

So on to the update of Hailu! One of the staff at the foster home said that he has been spending a lot of time in his bedroom drawing and writing in the book we sent him......they said that he was quiet and shy but that he is always willing to play if a child comes in and asks him. This is a different description of his personality from when he was at the orphanage. They said there, that he was involved with all the small children, helping them read and write in English and that he was always outside playing soccer and exercising with his friends etc.... I said to Mike, that I wonder if this is a way he is "connecting" with us.....we sent that book to him and maybe when he thinks of us he draws in it. I did write in it ,that I would love for him to draw in it and write in it, and he could show us what he had done when we came to get him. Maybe not, but this is just a thought that crossed my mind since he seems to be more to himself and more quiet than described in the months past. I don't know......but one thing I DO know is that he is quite the little artist!!! They sent a picture of him drawing as "proof" that he draws really well (:
He has two uncles that are amazing artists and cousins that love to draw and are really good at it too! He will fit right in with that! Isaac said to me...."It seems like all the boys in our family can draw good except me" I told him it is because that is what they love to do and they practice all the time.... and it is a talent that God has given them. Isaac has never really been interested in drawing or coloring....he seems to gravitate to anything having to do with a ball or nature.....it will be fun to see if Hailu will bring out a new interest in drawing for Isaac.

Ok, so here are a few of the new photos of Hailu, and photos of my brother's artwork......just a little bragging all around (: My brother Dan does concept art and my little brother Jon is a painter.

www.jonathanhardesty.com www.radikinstudios.com

Summertime

I know that many of you check my blog to see updates about our adoption process.....sorry to say, there isn't any new developements yet. In the meantime, I will share some other things that we have been up to.

We got a membership to a pool this year, along with my sister-in-law and Isaac's cousins. Although it has been alot more crowded than we had anticipated, the price of membership was amazing and the kids are having fun being able to swim several times a week. We noticed that there are several adoptive families there every day too....It was so encouraging for me to see this....I am hoping this will be encouraging for Hailu also, if he is home in time to enjoy the pool with us.


Isaac and Lucas (his cousin) made muffins for the first time without any help from me. I put them in the oven and took them out, but they did the rest! I was so proud of them and the muffins tasted great! The video I am posting is just a little taste of how cute they were with it all.

We have picked strawberries, we had crabs on Father's Day (Mike's FAVORITE!), and we have spent some really good times with family and great friends! Summertime is in full-swing, and I am loving it! Now we just need our other sweet little boy home to share all this fun with us!

Isaac picking crabs by himself for the first time.....he was so proud of himself and he announced that he now LOVES crabs and rootbeer together! (:

We are almost there!

Yesterday we got a call from our homestudy provider, who informed us that USCIS contacted them and said that our approval letter was in the mail ! This was GREAT news!! I also got the letter through email and forwarded it immediately to our agency....they then immediately forwarded it to Ethiopia! STEP 1 DONE! YAY!
We are only half-way there though.....We were told that it could take up to ten days for something called a cable 37 to be wired to Ethiopia. This is something in relation to Hailu's visa approval. The process can take that long, because there are a couple of steps involved.
After this takes place we will FINALLY get our travel approval and embassy appointment!
There was a bit of drama that went on yesterday with all of this, that I can't post online....so, family and friends, I will have to tell you about it when we talk.
Someone that has been "with us" from day one at our agency emailed me yesterday. It was so comforting to hear them say to us that this whole situation was confusing and not normal at this stage in the process. Someone that we trust and respect and that knows the very most about Hailu and our whole situation ,confirmed our feelings. There are only a few people whose opinion would have a lot of weight in this situation.....this person is one of them! I guess it's just nice to know that we aren't crazy for being a little frustrated and confused about all of this.
So, unless God chooses otherwise....we most likely aren't going to be traveling to pick up Hailu this month. There is a reason for all of this.....and we have no choice now but to wait, and trust the Lord that He will take care of all the details. It is hard to balance sometimes, trusting the Lord and letting Him work it out, but also making sure we do all that needs to be done on our part. My friend Ajay sent me an email the other day to encourage us...she is going through a lot right now also with her adoption process. She referred to a verse that peirced my heart and brought tears to my eyes.....Exodus 14:14 " The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. " The amazing account in Exodus of God delivering the Israelites out of Egypt...the miracles that took place then.....how hard it must have been for them to "be silent" when they were so scared. The Lord DID fight for them and won! He IS fighting for us too....we just need to be silent and let him work His miracles HIS way!

Every day we hope that THIS will be the day that we hear that all has been settled and we are approved to travel.......Today we didn't hear a peep from anyone...no calls or emails......No good news today....still waiting.

Delay or no delay?.....that is the big question!

I have waited several days to update everyone on here for a couple of reasons.....I needed to de-stress a little first, and also I was busy trying to get this small mess cleaned up. I am not going to go into all the details here online, because the whole thing can't be properly explained without going into some things that are very personal for Hailu.
Basically the U.S. Embassy physician has decided that Hailu is MUCH older than what everyone else thinks he is. Therefore, our original paperwork must be changed before we can get travel approval.

I panicked at first and even shed some tears, but the Lord is faithful and so good......I think it is all going to be o.k. now. We got an adendum from our home study provider and Mike called our state representatives office......I went there, filled out a form and faxed them our adendum and they are working on getting things expedited with a connection that they have in Washington DC! They have been amazing there! I also had the adendum overnighted to USCIS. Now the big question is.....will this cause a big delay or not? Everyone seems to think that it should be a quick fix....we will see!

I have to admit that I was so frustrated and disappointed to get a call on Wednesday, thinking it was our "travel approval call"....only to get this news. I will just say one thing on here about this issue......We absolutely agree that Hailu very well COULD be 2 to 3 years older than we originally thought, but not 5 or 6! I think this was a DEFINITE overestimation for many reasons.....we have our theories on why this may have been done, but at this point we really don't know for sure....Mike and I just are baffled. Also, at this point it is completely IRRELEVANT......we just need to get this paperwork changed, get that travel approval, and get OUR SON home!!!!

I am praying that all goes well this next week and we can still make that 29th embassy appointment! God knows all that is happening ,and He loves us and Hailu, and this is what brings peace in these times. I am so thankful for the people that worked so hard for us this week and got things done so fast.....this was a true blessing!