Missing you this Christmas

Baby Girl,
Oh how our hearts longed for you to be with us this Christmas. All I could think about as the kids opened their presents was how this day will look next year when you are finally home. I imagined you sitting there with big wide eyes in awe of each present and crawling around the floor picking up all the little wrapping pieces(-: We even hung 4 stockings and filled yours with a lovie. Something your brothers and sisters still adore to this day. Aria picked out a pink Elephant.  We can't wait to meet you in person so that we can give it to you. Although you weren't with us, you were definately in our hearts and always, always in our prayers.  We love you already and don't even know you! Merry Christmas sweet baby girl!

A glimmer of hope.....

Today we received an update from the director of our ET program at our agency. A group of staff just got back from Ethiopia after being gone for 10+ days. Everyone was anticipating the details of their trip.  I had butterflies in my stomach just reading it. Here is a blurp from the letter that sent some chills up and down my spine: " I know what is on many of your minds is the status of referrals. I do not have any concrete information on specific children to share, however, I do know that we have some referrals coming our way, hopefully in the next few weeks. I saw their sweet faces and do have photos that I will share when we have enough information to refer. "  OOOOHHH, we just can't wait to see that precious 1st photo! 


Minutes later we received another email about some major investigations going on at the US Embassy in Ethiopia. Here is a line from that email: "The Department of State continues to be concerned about reports highlighting adoption related fraud, malfeasance, and abuse in Ethiopia, and acknowledges the concerns expressed by families over the integrity of the adoption process. The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa actively tracks all adoption visa cases, incorporating information provided by adoption agencies and the Government of Ethiopia, to ensure that the adoption process continues to operate transparently and ethically."  


Trying not to be too alarmed and praying that all of this gets resolved asap and that these precious children can be united with their families soon! 

Waiting Patiently......

or not so patiently(-: It depends on who you ask. We have now been on the waiting list for 5 months, and I'm getting so excited knowing our referral call is getting near. However, I've had PLENTY to do in the meantime, so it hasn't been excruitiating like it has for others in our family. That "other" is Big Sister Aria and it breaks my heart to see and hear how anxious & excited she is to meet her new little sister. She lives and breathes talking about her, dreaming about her and discussing name options with me(-: Her whole school knows, her Sunday school class, anyone who babysits her, practically anyone who she comes in contact with. Even complete strangers at the grocery store know we are adopting a baby girl. The first thing they tell me when I pick her up from ANYTHING is how much she talked about her new baby sister from "Efiopia". Daily she asks if this will be the day. She even dreams about her. A few weeks ago, I tucked her in after she had been asleep for a few hrs and as she rolled over she said "She's never coming home. This is taking forever"- all while completely asleep. She loves her babies and as she cares for them, she will say "this is how I will feed baby sister" or "i'm practicing changing diapers, so I can change baby sisters". I have no doubt in my mind that she will make one awesome big sister. 5 months doesn't seem that long to most of us, but to a 3 1/2 year old, I'm sure it's an eternity!

On another note, months ago I ran across a blog of two amazing woman who started 147 Million Orphans. I have followed it forever and am so encouraged by these two Moms.You just have to read for yourselves how incredible their ministry is......their blogs are linked to mine. We love supporting them and are starting to sport some of their really cool gear. Just another way to raise our voice for the orphans and you just may be getting some of these cute items for birthday/Christmas gifts(-:

Congrats to The Nelson Family

One of the first families that sparked our adoption and interest in Ethiopia were The Nelsons. Luke works with Micheal and they are an amazing family of faith. They have 4 biological children (2 boys & 2 girls) and their request at Christmas last year was for a brother and sister! We thought that was so cute. Of course, much thought and prayer had gone into adoption long before the kids requested their Christmas presents. God led this amazing family down the path of adopting two precious siblings and this September, they had the honor of bringing them home to the U.S.!  We wanted to give them something special and this custom piece of art done by Pitter Patter Art (Laura Kelly) just arrived in the mail today. I just had to post a picture of it because it is absolutely adorable if I must say so myself! (luckily, i don't think the Nelson's have our blog address so it will still be a surprise(-:) Laura Kelly is an amazing artist, crafter and all of her proceeds go towards bringing home another child from Ethiopia! Love this concept of not only raising money to give an orphaned child a home, but raising awareness of the orphan crisis. We hope The Nelsons love their gift and I might just have to buy one for our house!

A little update from our agency

Yesterday we received an update from our agency. I bet you can't guess what point I"m most excited about? Yep, #2. Whoohooo! And of course #5 is also good, since we are #2 on the list! But, sad to read #4....this Mama will be pulling some strings(-: Love our agency!




Dear Families~

As you know, the adoption process is ever changing. We would like to make you aware of some significant changes that have occurred and will be occurring. 

1) Court Procedure- When the court process changed in May of this year, two court hearings were being scheduled. The purpose of the first one was to have the birth parent's testimony approved and to obtain approval from MOWA. The purpose of the second one was for the adoptive parents to verify that they have met their child and wish to proceed with the adoption. The adoption was then finalized. 

As of last week, there is only one hearing automatically being scheduled. This hearing will include all aspects that that the two hearings originally covered. We are not sure exactly what this will look like but assume that the birth parent will complete their portion and then the adoptive parents will complete theirs after the birth parent has left the court room. 

There are at least two benefits to this change. First of all, this will move the process along and ultimately allow your children to come home sooner because you will not need to wait for that second hearing. Secondly, the meeting between you and the birth parent would take place in Addis, at our AAI office, after the court hearing. This means less uncertainty with whether or not the birth parent meeting can take place than if you met them in the South. 

The negative or risk with traveling to Ethiopia and attending this hearing is the slight possibility of the case not being approved and then permanently closed. This would be extremely rare, however, the risk is there. 

If, for example, MOWA (now MOWYCA) did not submit their letter of consent on time for the court hearing, this will be accepted later and neither the birth parent or the adoptive parents will need to re-appear in court. This result of this would be a possible delay in the case, although, this delay would typically be not more than a couple weeks. 

If the adoptive family is not comfortable with the risk involved with having just the one hearing, the court is allowing, as of now anyway, a second hearing to be scheduled. 

It will be at the time that you accept your referral that we will ask if you would like to attend the one hearing or if you would prefer that two hearings be scheduled.

2) Meeting Birth Parents - A couple months ago we were informed that, due to government restrictions and safety concerns, a birth parent meeting was not possible if your child was from the South and residing at EnatAlem or Africa Orphanage. We are pleased to tell you that in most cases, this meeting will be possible, afterall. As stated above, if you attend the court hearing the same day as the birth parent, this meeting will take place at our AAI office in Addis, after court. If you do not attend that hearing, we will do everything possible to make this meeting possible when you travel South on your trip. 

3) Attendance at Court - The courts are requiring that both parents, if applicable,attend the court hearing. We were told initially that there would be exceptions to this requirement, but they would need to be extreme situations, such a inability to travel due to medical condition. The courts are now allowing "less extreme" exceptions. An example would be if you currently have 5 young children at home and it is very difficult for both parents to be away from home. There is not a set list of exceptions that will be accepted; it will need to be determined on a case by case basis. 

4)Visiting your child - When you travel for your first trip you should plan that you will have two visits, lasting approximately one hour, with your child(ren) at the orphanage. There may be situations where you have the opportunity for more visits, however, in order to not disrupt the schedule the orphanage is attempting to keep, you should plan on two. One family that has traveled suggested that during one of the visits it is a good idea to have one of you focus on asking questions pertaining to feeding, personality, skills, etc...and the other one focus on spending time with your child(ren). 

5)Referrals - We have been in a bit of a "lull" with referrals, however, there have been more than you might realize. We referred 11 children between August 31 and October 19, ages ranging from 4 months to 7 years. (male & female) Referrals do seem to come to us in "spurts". We have several at one time and then we might go several weeks with very few. We are due for another "spurt". :) 

I think that's all for now. As always, feel free to contact us with questions/concerns.

Thanks,

Sally, Laura, Mary, & Kristin 

We're still kickin over here!

Not much news to report on the adoption front.....I checked in with our agency today and we are still at # 2 on the infant girls list. Good news is that court just opened back up (they close for rainy season!) so many families that have accepted referrals since the closure are now getting their court dates scheduled. There are several families traveling next week and a few more the following week. So activity has resumed for the Ethiopian program. Our coordinator did sound pretty promising in her email though that she expects referrals to start picking up again real soon. Hmmmm....or it's just me reading into things(-: Probably the latter. Being that Luke is gone for 2 weeks and I'm riding solo with three little ones, my attention is certainly diverted most of the time. I can't even imagine if this was our 1st baby how anxious and "obsessive" I'd be about all these steps & waiting.

 Some good news from our end is that I think we've settled on a name! Luke doesn't know we've settled on it yet, but he really likes it. Ha! We decided from day one that we will be keeping her given name. If it's a name we love, it will stay as her 1st name. If it's just too hard to pronounce or unheard of here in the US, then we'll use her given name as a middle. So, we've been working on a "back up" first name and found one we love. I honestly didn't think I'd find one I love, but I do this one. Just going to keep ya'all on your toes...what are the Nieuwenhuis' going to come up with next!? Oh boy. Haha!

Movin on up.....

We had such an exciting day today! Not only did Kai & Aria start their new schools and have a great day, but we also got some good news on baby #4. I did my monthly "check in" with the agency, and we've moved up on the list! We are now #2 on the infant girl 0-12months and #4 overall (yes, there have been 4 referrals these past few weeks)! Not only this, but they told me that they were getting information in on several more children and forsee some more referrals coming shortly. WHAT!!!!??? We've only been on the waiting list for 2 months, so I'm just in a little bit of shock with how fast things are progressing. Maybe God wants to complete our family sooner than we thought/planned? (-: I guess we'll wait and see.

A taste of Ethiopia

Dear Baby Girl,


Friday night we ventured out with your brothers and sister, along with another family that are also adopting a little boy from your country, to an authentic Ethiopian restaurant- GoJo's. And let me tell you, it was quite the experience! We were greeted by the owner and his daughter who made the food, ran the restaurant and waited on us. They were SO friendly and very interested in our adoption stories. We were thankful that the restaurant wasn't busy, because let's just say your brothers and sister were not on their best behavior. I'm sure you will be much better behaved(-: Having some new friends to run around with was way more exciting than sitting at the table. And the chalk walls, they were our saving grace.

Our meal was served "family style" on a large platter with the base being Injera bread-your countries main staple. Injera is also used as your utensils, plates, you name it, until our new friends snagged a few forks and we cheated(-: It included lamb, chicken, lentils, collard greens, and so much more-most of which I could not pronounce nor really confidently could make out. The food was quite spicy, and both Mommy & Daddy really liked it. Not sure how well we'll do eating it for 10 days straight, but I'm sure we'll survive! The Ethiopian iced tea was soooo good. It had a few spices in it such as ginger, but not sweet. Just how we like it. When dinner was served, your brother Kai (in which they made a "special kids chicken dish") snubbed his nose and said "EEEWWW! Why did they put mustard (curry)on that chicken? EEEEWWWWYYY" Your sister, who usually repeats what Kai will say even if she doesn't mean it, said "EEWWW! That looks disfusting!" She neither proceeded to try it. And your little brother Becket, well, he was too interested in the getting out of his seat and running around. I do have to say Kai was quite excited to try Injera as he is a total bread lover, but the sourdough taste and spongy, cold, moist texture turned him off quite fast. Thankfully, the Mommies came to the rescue with our typical American junk food. I'm sure some day you'll love that kid food as much as your siblings. We topped off our dinner with the famous "Ethiopian coffee" which was excellent! They are known for their incredible coffee beans, so we are really hoping to take a bunch home! (a few families recently have had problems getting it out of the country-we'll see.)


It was so fun having dinner with our new friends and such a blessing that we will be able to share each other's journey. They have already seen pictures of their little boy (child #3) and will travel to Africa to meet him in October! I have a feeling he's going to be one of your buds(-:


But best of all, we got a glimpse into your world, and we couldn't be more excited. We can't wait for you to be a part of our family...hopefully our next trip to GoJo's will be with you!


Love,

MOM

The Hole in our Gospel

Yes, this is yet another book that I had been hearing more and more about. Our pastor has mentioned it several times, our bible study started a "book discussion" on it, and friends have talked about it. So what did I do being the avid reader I am? I bought it for Luke to read! Well, he started it and left it on the plane. I guess if you're going to leave something behind, this was a good thing. Then, I bought him another copy and he lost it. So finally, I decided to read it myself. And boy did I read it....the entire thing in one afternoon. Yep, I couldn't put it down. It touched my heart so deep that when I finished all I could think was "Yes, Lord! I want that life!" He talks about many things that have resounded with my soul for many years, so it was refreshing to see it presented in such a profound way. I will admit, this whole surrendering my life to be of God's service is a constant struggle for me. Even in between the breaks of reading the book, I would find myself dreaming of buying a cottage on the lake someday or having a new boat. Pretty sad as I was just made aware how much the rest of the world struggles just for their daily necessities, while we sit there and plan for luxury. It really started to provoke my thinking. What does it really mean to live for the kingdom? What does it mean to not live for the things of this world? What would it be like if all of us came together and embraced the "whole gospel"? Accepting the gift of salvation AND living out that faith by meeting the needs of the poor, orphaned, widows, etc. Do I really live and believe this stuff? What if God intended our extras to be used for others rather than luxury for ourselves? What if God provided JUST ENOUGH for us that and he wanted us to be changed in the process of helping the poor instead of keeping the extra for ourselves? Essentially, God has provided a way for those who suffer to suffer no more, but it requires His people to open their hearts to be used as a vessel to meet their needs. Do you know that collectively the body of Christ could end all of the poverty in this world if everyone just did "something"? For us, the magnitude of suffering has seemed so overwhelming. So much so that we often ask ourselves "how do we even begin to fix this?" So instead we do nothing. But, this book has challenged us to start somewhere, even if it is a babystep. I feel in a way this adoption is our "babystep". And selfishly, we'll be given a daughter to love in return(-: As much as I hate to feel that struggle between what my heart wants to do and what I know is right.. I like it too...it just shows me that God isn't finished with me yet, that I have a long way to go, and if he can use and change me, he can change and use anyone! I wanted to pass along this video I ran across the other day that a friend had posted on her adoption blog. Maybe this is yet another "babystep". I have a feeling it's going to be contagious(-:

Ordinary Hero~ A day in the trash dump in Ethiopia from Kelly Putty on Vimeo.

Why?

I'm sure I'll be asking myself this question many more times along the way. Yesterday we received some sad news from our adoption agency. Ethiopia has decided to ban all meetings with a birthfamily for children coming from the South. I can't even begin to tell you how upset I am about this. The fact that our little girl will be denied the chance to know her roots just breaks my heart. Here these babies are usually given up due to the death of their parents (in this case there is usually family members alive, but too poor to care for them) or extreme poverty. So not only are they forced to give their baby away, they will never meet the family that will care for them. I know this will leave a void in all of our hearts. This was such a huge priority when we chose our agency (some don't encourage these meetings). So you may be asking why? Their reasoning is to eliminate coercion/child trafficking, which is huge right now. We knew this was inevitable and we're happy they are taking precaution. And unfortunately a few adoptive parents have compromised this by entering into a meeting, becoming so overwhelmed emotionally and offering to give that mother money to keep the baby and raise them herself. Obviously, this is against the law. I know this new procedure doesn't hit home to as many adoptive parents as you'd think. Surprisingly, many that I've talked to actually prefer the "closed adoption" route to eliminate the fear of losing that child someday to their birthfamily. I really don't understand that logic and frankly think it's a bit selfish. Yes, that's a bold statement, and maybe I would change my mind someday if faced with that situation. But I could get on a soapbox explaining all of the benefits of having this small bit of information/pictures as they grow up.

The good news is that the door is not completely closed. Children that originate from the orphanages in Addis Ababa are not yet under that new stipulation. So if our baby originates from Addis, we may be given the opportunity to meet the family. I just have to keep reminding myself that while I look at this as a huge setback in all of our lives, God knows the future and what it holds. He has a purpose for every circumstance and we just have to trust that.

Some fun stats....

So today we got word where we fall on the "list" and an approximate timeframe before we see the face of our precious baby girl. Which by the way, Luke thinks she was born on June 30th or July 1st! Don't ask me why, he just had that feeling. Anyways, here's what we were told in a nutshell. There have been SO many referrals lately, and things are moving along very fast. We are overall #10 on the waiting list for everyone adopting from Ethiopia through Adoption Associates. Out of the nine families ahead of us, there are 2 waiting for infant girls 0-12 months, 5 waiting for either gender and 2 waiting for over age 1. If there are a slew of boys, that puts us at #3 on the list! As far as an approx timeframe, they are very careful giving these out. Max wait time is 10-12 months (as originally told), but the director feels it will be closer to 4-8 months. I'm not sure if this is good, fast, etc because we've never done this before, but it brings me to tears thinking that by early next year, we could be meeting this little baby that was made for our family! Please join us in praying for all of these children that are sitting in orphanages waiting for their forever family. May the Lord unite each of them to the families he has planned for them very soon.

Dossier Sent!

I really can't believe that today is the day...a HUGE milestone in our process. Today is the day our dossier is being sent to Ethiopia. On 6/28 I overnighted all the documents to an organization called The Assistant Stork. They are a courier service that hand delivers your documents to the Dept of State and The Ethiopian Embassy and gets them all authenticated. This process typically takes a few weeks. On Monday (a week later) I decided I would pull up the tracking #'s just to see where they were and found out they were delivered to our agency the prior Friday, July 2nd! So in 1.5 days, Assistant Stork got everything authenticated and back to our agency. I was blown away. If you're going through the adoption process and need a courier service, I highly recommend them! So Adoption Associates did what they needed to do on their end to prepare them some more and shipped everything off to ET today! This means we are officially "in waiting" for our baby girl! I really can't believe how quick and smooth this process has gone so far...maybe it's a sign of what is yet to come??(-:
Ps. Check back for a pic of all those documents(-: They involved so much work that I had to take a picture-haha!

Got the Golden Ticket!!!!

On Friday just minutes before we headed off for a weekend of camping with the kiddos, we got our mail and found our "Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition" -In clearer terms, we were approved by US Citizenship & Immigration Services to adopt a baby from Ethiopia! So this means tomorrow a.m. I will anxiously run off to get this approval notarized, head over to the Office of the Great Seal to get ALL of our dossier documents "sealed", stop off at 5/3rd and pick up a money order, write a few checks, head to the Postal Connection to make copies and at last overnight ALL of our dossier paperwork to "The Assistant Stork" which is a courier service that will hand carry our documents to the Dept of State to be authenticated, then onto the Ethiopian Embassy to be authenticated, then back to Adoption Associates, who will then turn around and submit our COMPLETED dossier to Ethiopia. We will then officially be put on the waiting list (10-12months) for our baby girl! Whew! Did I loose you in there? I'm sure I'll have to go back through my list in the morning. Anyways, in short, we're one step closer to meeting baby Nieuwenhuis and we couldn't be more excited!

Brings me to my knees....

"I believe that this could very well be looked back on as the sin of our generation. I look at my parents and ask, where were they during the civil rights movement? I look at my grandparents and ask, what were they doing when the holocaust in Europe was occurring with regard to the Jews, and why didn't they speak up? And when we think of our great, great, great-grandparents, we think how could they have sat by and allowed slavery to exist? And I believe that our children and their children, 40 or 50 years from now, are going to ask me, what did you do while 40 million children became orphans in Africa?"


~Rich Stearns, President of World Vision~

There Is No Me Without You

Most of you that know me well, know that I am not a reader. (unless it's a celebrity gossip magazine with lots of pictures- if you can even call that reading(-:) However, from the very beginning of our adoption process, there was one book mentioned over and over as a "must read". My first thoughts were "Wow, this book sounds like it's made a big impact on many of its readers. I wish I could read a book!" Ok, so it wasn't that I couldn't read, I just dreaded the thought of reading an entire book to completion. But in reality, I deep down admired those book worms that would take the time to sit down w/ a good book. I loved the fact that you could learn SO much from reading, so much so that I would actually buy books that I "wanted" to read and give them to Luke to read on a long trip. Ha!

So defeating all odds, I was on a mission to buy this book and read it. Luke just chuckled. (probably thinking it was another book I was going to try to get him to read and then translate it to me) Well, I bought it and started to read it. I did have a hard time following along in the beginning-(it may have been the fact that I was on the beach and constantly interrupted with "Mommy, will you build a sandcastle with me or Mommy, I'm hungry...you get the picture) It was alot of history and statistics. But, just as I was confirming the reason why I never read, it started to grab my attention. I found myself with that book in my face almost every night, soaring through the pages and sobbing through many of them. I have never read a book that so profoundly touched my heart. (ok, so I haven't read a ton of books, but trust me, it was compelling)

Without giving it all away and allowing you to read it(-:, it is a story of Haregewoin Teferra, a middle class Ethiopian woman who found herself at the heart of a global health crisis- AIDS. After losing her husband and daughter and experiencing great grief, she reluctantly agreed to take in two of Addis Ababa's thousands of AIDS orphans. There was literally NO place for them to go-they were completely shunned. Soon children of all ages began to appear at her tin walled compound. She eventually started an orphanage and began facilitating adoptions to homes all over the world.

The story was extremely educational, heartbreaking and inspirational all at the same time. Each time I would pick it up, I was re-affirmed on our decision to adopt from Ethiopia. At heart, it was a book about children and parents, wherever they may be, however they may find eachother. I would handsdown recommend this book to everyone to read. And because of it, you may just find this "non reader" with another book in her hand at the beach this summer(-:

Fingerprinting Appointment......

WHAT!? Today I received our biometrics appt from the USCIS. It's scheduled for 6/15. Our caseworker said we now hold the record for the fastest processing at USCIS. Must be slow over there this time of year(-: We were also informed by our agency that we should try showing up at an earlier date. They will typically get you right in and it will knock a few weeks off. We'll give it a try.

Receipt....already?

Yesterday I was quite shocked to get a paper document from the Dept of Homeland Security acknowledging that they received our paperwork and request for orphan approval. I was told it would be a min. of 2-3 weeks before I got this and it was 9 days. But before we get too excited, this is only a notification stating they received it. It will be another 2-3 weeks before we get an appt for fingerprinting and another 2-3 weeks before our actual approval comes in the mail. However, our agency informed us to write our check out for the wrong amt, so that could delay us a few more weeks. But, the good news is that it's there and in the midst of being processed.

On the dossier front, I spent a day this week running around getting bloodwork done, local police clearances, passport photos, letters typed, etc. On Monday, we will have it all notarized and most all dossier items checked off our list! I remember the day I received the dossier packet and how overwhelming it felt. But slowly we've been chipping away at it and it's hard to believe that info is almost all gathered! Once we receive our approval from USCIS, we can throw it in with our dossier paperwork, get it all sealed and sent off right away.(of course there are many small steps in between there, but who cares about the details, right? haha)

Today we also received some more news.......get this......I told you a few weeks ago that our agency signed on with a new orphanage. Well today we received word that they have added 2 more! AAI is now working with 5 orphanages throughout Addis & Awassa. There are at least two other agencies working with these same ones as well, but the referral list is being knocked down as I write this. They are very careful about the timeframes they give people in waiting(they don't want to open the door to any false hope-especially when it involves a child)but I was actually told this week that our initial approx. 10-12 month wait (once our dossier is submitted) will probably be shorter. AAHHH! I sat there and thought about this after she told me and my heart started to race and all sort of thoughts ran through my mind. She actually may be born right around now-what if she's being abandoned today? What if she's starving right now? What if medical complications are beginning to set in? What if her needs aren't being met? What if her mother's needs aren't being met? But Becket is still a baby- I thought he'd be at least 2 1/2. Where will she sleep if it is earlier than we expected? We still have lots of research and reading to do, there is no way we'd be prepared in 6-8 months! AND THEN IT HIT ME...this is only a glimpse into our adoption story. And like many that have come before us, it really is a ride. And for Missy Planner over here, it offers up so many lessons.
1) We need to "pray without ceasing" for our little girl (and all the orphans for that matter)-PLEASE join us in this!
2)Our "perfect plan" is not always His.
3)This thing called adoption demands that we constantly release ourselves and place our complete and utter trust in Him!

Sure, part of it stresses me out, but if I'm outright honest, I have butterflies just thinking about it.

USCIS Paperwork....CHECK!

So yesterday we attended the trans-racial training that is required for all families adopting from another race. It was very eye opening and the excercises really made us think about how we are going to incorporate Ethiopian culture into our family and expose our little girl and our other children to people of other colors. We really live in a "white world" here in West Michigan-our schools are predominately white, our church is predominately white, our doctors/dentists are predominately white, our friends are predominately white and the list goes on. We really never thought about it before, because we feel comfortable in our surroundings. Maybe she won't feel as comfortable standing out. We are now brainstorming on how we can become a more multi-cultural family-for all of our benefit, not just our ET girl. There were two adult speakers-one was an African American lady adopted into an all white dutch family back in 1968 when it was illegal to adopt an African American child. (Can you even believe that was a law!?) The other was a Korean lady adopted into an all white dutch family...surprise! Their stories were so inspiring and taught us some critical things. It was great to get a broadened perspective from people who have "lived" it. The common thread was the pure greatfulness these women felt towards their adoptive Mom & Dad-especially when they took a lot of flack for it.

At the same time, we were able to bring home our completed homestudy last night. We read it as soon as we got home and it was literally like a flashback of our entire lives! It was as if we were reading about someone else(-: Today, I anxiously drove over to the fed-x store and overnighted the homestudy along with all supporting documentation to the US Citizenship & Immigration offices. Now, we will wait. We've been told it will be a few weeks before we get acknowledgement of our paperwork, a few more weeks before we get a fingerprinting appt, and another month before we receive our actual approval. Once we get our "golden ticket" (aka: orphan visa approval I-171-H) we will be onto the most daunting portion of the paperwork- our dossier!

Moving right along....

We got word yesterday that our homestudy document was completed by our caseworker and is in the process of review and notarizing at the agency. We are hoping to go pick it up next week and send everything off to the United States Citizenship & Immigration services (USCIS).

On another note, we received some encouraging news from our agency this week. They have now joined hands with another orphanage in Addis! The name of the orphanage is Engida and their children are from Addis Ababa and parts of Eastern Ethiopia. They referred their first baby from that orphanage last week! Their ET contact is also searching for more orphanages to parter with, which we are very excited about. It will speed up that list of those "waiting" and find homes for those orphans more quickly. However, when I read this to Luke we just laughed that we need at least another year to get Becket out of his yelling & "busy" (aka:destructive) stage before we have any more babies(-: God knows best though. Looking forwrd to seeing His perfect plan unfold!

Homestudy Part 3...check!

On Wednesday (4/14), we had our 3rd and final homestudy meeting with our caseworker. This final meeting was at our home and the purpose was to wrap things up with us, examine our living conditions and meet our children. I've been so fly by the seat of my pants with these meetings, which has really helped our caseworker see our true colors and what life is "really" like over here. At least that's my justification(-: I think she was a bit overwhelmed walking into our chaotic house, but she didn't deny us, so that's a good sign(-: We had a sitter come over to entertain the kids after she was able to meet them. Of course, Aria and Becket had just woke up from their nap and were disheveled, clingy, and shy which is so contrary to their personalities. And Kai, yeah, well he was Kai. He eagerly and HONESTLY answered all of her questions making us laugh with each answer. At one point she asked him if he had any concerns with us adopting a baby sister and he goes "yeah. just one" She says, well what? He goes, "We don't have a room for her to sleep in" When we told him we had it all figured out, he insisted we share with him our plan right then and there. After he heard the plan, his "concern" diminished. Guess he's a planner like his Dad. Then she asks Aria if she was excited to have a baby sister and with her head down, snuggled in to daddy's chest, she briefly nods her head. Kai goes, "well at least I'm the only one excited about this adoption!" We quickly shuffled the kids outside with our sitter (ha!) and she took them all to the park while we finished up. It's hard to believe this phase is over already- even though our sessions were long, we really flew through the homestudy process quickly-less than a month! Our caseworker hopes to type our official 8pg homestudy document next week and hopefully by the beginning of May, we'll be able to file our I600A so we can start our wait for approval from Immigration. One thing that really touched our hearts was her comments on our reference letters. She told us how beautiful each and every letter was and how heartfelt they were. Even though she sees these letters often, you could tell she was really blown away. You guys must all be professional writers!(-: Thank you so much. We are truly blessed with wonderful friends (and family) to support us on this journey. Thank you for walking this road with us-it means the world to have you by our sides in whatever life brings.

Homestudy Part 2

On Monday, April 5th, Luke and I had our 2nd homestudy meeting with our caseworker. This time, she was going to meet with each of us individually. I went first and came out of the room an hour and half later. When I asked her how long they typically go,she politely said they can go anywhere from 30 minute to 1hr and 30 min. I guess I was on the far end and thought for a moment that I must be her most "talkative" client. I told her not to worry, that since Luke was next, it was sure to be only a half hour. He IS a guy and I'm sure his answers would more than likely be one or two words. WRONG! He was in there for 1hr 45 minutes and topped her record for longest individual homestudy. Ha! I guess we have lots to share(-: It was an interview with the purpose of really getting to know each of us. We both found it hard to remember things that happened 30+ years ago, but it was very thought provoking. There were many things that came up that explained the way I am today. Much of that I'm thankful for. I was once again reminded how grateful I am to have grown up in a loving, christian home with a Mom that stayed home with me. (even though there were times I wished she would get an outside job so I could get into trouble-sorry mom(-:)

On another note, we were notified this week that the Ethiopian government is now requiring two trips for the adoption process. This was unfortunate news as one of the appealing things about Ethiopia is that it only required a one week trip, which is less time to be leaving our other 3 children behind. But I know God has it all planned out. He will provide a way, and hopefully childcare for an additional week(-: Who knows, by the time it's our time to travel, things could very well change again. I'm trying not to get too phased about each turn in the road. I'm sure there are more significant ones coming up. That's life, right!?

Homestudy Part 1

We had our first homestudy meeting on March 18th (one of 3). It lasted about 3 hours and was actually a really neat session. Luke had just gotten home from being in Asia for 10 days, so our meeting was actually the first time we had really talked in 2 weeks (other than a quick hello on a daily basis). Yikes! We weren't sure what to expect, but it ended up being pretty fun. Even after being together for 12 years, we learned new things about eachother. Ok, so maybe we knew these things, but it was a good reminder on the ways we could use improvement and an opportunity to take joy in the ones we "think" we have nailed. A thought provoking session. In the meantime, we have about 12 credit hours of training to do....no, that's not an actual 12 hours....more like 112 hours of training. We started the workbook "With eyes wide open" while in Florida this past week and it took us 3 evenings (once the kids were in bed) to complete 2 of the 22 chapters. This is just one of the 10 assignments. But, I'm not complaining-this training is really preparing our hearts. This week we'll do round two. This session is an individual session where our caseworker will meet with each of us alone. I'm sure we'll pass with flying colors-ya right! Along side all of the training, we're working on our paperwork for the USCIS. We've got dr's appts, letters to gather from school, work, friends, neighbors, criminal background checks, oodles of paperwork, you get the picture. Once our homestudy is completed, we will submit the paperwork for the USCIS portion and file an orphan petition. Then it's on to the dossier paperwork, which I'm speculating will be our most challenging portion of the paper chase!

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork...

We just received a HUGE packet in the mail today from Adoption Associates (the agency we chose)regarding our homestudy, USCIS and dossier documents and what each entails. It. Is. Unbelievable. So, so, so many steps. I knew it was going to be a long process, but holy cow! It will literally be a full time job! Guess what I'll be doing during naptimes for the next 6-8 months?!

A leap of faith

Isaiah 30:21: Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying "This is the way, walk in it"

Many of you already know that adoption has always had a special place in our hearts. Luke's brother and my brother-in-law, along with a few friends are all adopted and we've always felt that the concept is just plain miraculous. It was definately something we would consider doing someday, but it stayed a "consideration" for many years. Throughout the years, God has planted many seeds in our hearts. If there was a turning point in making this a reality, I would have to say it was probably a few days after the earthquake hit Haiti. It was once again a reminder of just how many children are orphaned and now the numbers just rose by thousands. It was a real eye opener for both Luke and I and I'll never forget our heart to heart talk we had in a little outside cafe in Southern California. Sitting there on that quiet afternoon, we discovered our hearts were breaking for the things that break God's heart. Adoption quickly turned from a matter of "consideration" to a matter of "moving forward" in a split second. We both sat there with this overwhelming feeling of how blessed we've been. We have three healthy biological children who mean the world to us. God has provided Luke with a great career, we live comfortably and all our needs are met and more. Why not share this with at least one child who has been orphaned? It was so clear that God was placing this decision before us that we had no choice but to listen and respond. Sure, do I think I have the patience for more children sometimes? Nope. Do I feel we're the best parents equipped to deal with emotional ups and downs that come along with adoption and beyond? Nope. But we do know God provides a way for those who trust Him. So here we are....a leap of faith. A very scary, yet exciting leap of faith!

We've been attending informational meetings, scouring the internet, chatting with friends and obtaining as much "knowledge" as we can about the process and what country would be the best fit for us. There were so many things to consider! We quickly discovered that out of the handful of open countries there was a desparate need in Ethiopia. Here, some of these children simply won't be fed, provided medical care or educated if they're not adopted. The country is quickly being swept away by HIV. To date they estimate that there are 60-150 MILLION orphaned children in Africa right now. Babies are being born and children abandoned by the deaths of their parents at alarming rates. It really is unfathomable. All things pointed to this country...and let me tell you, the guidelines are not as easy as one would think.

So today we submitted our formal application and will begin our adoption journey to Ethiopia! I can't even begin to tell you what joy Luke and I feel in our hearts. Please pray for us as we make this important decision to move forward!