6 REMPELS!

Did I mention that I am a terrible "Waiter"? This two year wait has just really drained me. We have been keeping busy and that has been important. We are currently waiting to hear about how the court day on Tuesday went. We are also waiting for our update on how Emebet is doing, her weight and height. We are praying for a complete miracle to bring her home for Christmas but we know the chances are slim.

Our children seem to realize that she will be coming soon and are very excited. They have colored many pictures for her and have written her letters and cards. There is a part of me that worries about how Jonah will feel not being the baby anymore. I do know though, that the Lord led us to do this adoption and he will help us through any struggles that come up.

Plans for the fundraiser are coming along really well. We have had an excellent response to the people we have talked to. I expect the turn out to be good. A friend of mine works for the local paper and is doing a story on our international adoption and will put our fundraiser in the paper so that should help.

We have done very little packing or preparing for the trip. I am thinking we will get a new travel package from Cafac as far as donations needed and what types of gifts and how many we will need. I look forward to getting the travel date and then I will be pumped to pack. It kinda still seems so unreal that we are even doing this. We have dreamed about it for so long that I can't believe it's actually going to happen. I will post as soon as we have our update.

WOW!! Praise the Lord!! We got our court date for Emebet's hearing. This means that because her father is still living, he needs to show up at the court house to officially relinquish his rights.

The thought of this makes me teary eyed every time. The thought of relinquishing my rights to any one of my children is devastating. I can not imagine the point where I could not feed my child, but loved them so much that I would give them to someone who could provide. I don't in any way think that adoption is the perfect solution to poverty, however; I do think that the people who adopt these children have good intentions and desire to help and love these children.

Another exciting thing that happened is that we have got our BO number. This is yet another important step to be able to travel. We now wait for the court date to be over and Pray that the Lord will allow Emmy's father to get a way of making it to the court house. This can be very difficult. He lives approx 3hours driving from Addis and will need to be first of all notified of the date of the hearing. Someone will drive to where he is and tell him, and then have transportation to the city.

Once the court date is over and if it is all approved, then the medical part of the immigration work can start. (This is how it was explained to me) At this point her birth certificate can be redone and so on. PLEASE PRAY that he will be able to show to the court hearing on Oct 23.

I would also appreciate prayer for a fundraiser I am hoping to do locally. I am thinking of doing a sausage and Kielke supper and maybe having someone who has adopted to speak on the experience for them. I would LOVE feedback on this idea or other good fundraising ideas.

Well, it looks like things are slowly falling into place for us to be able to get our travel date. Roberta was just in Ethiopia and now we are waiting for our update. We will get new sizing and weight on Emmy. I also requested a drawing of her feet for buying shoes. As soon as we get our update here, I'll do a post and let you all know how she is doing.

Wow, I've never waited for anything in my life so desperately. The first month after we received our referral was ok. We enjoyed sharing her pictures with family and friends and really just relaxed about the whole thing. We have now been waiting 1 1/2months and needless to say, I'm ready to go get her. Nothing as far as packing has been done because I know that once I start putting stuff together, every day will feel like forever.

Something we are praying about right now is our court date. The courts reopen tomorrow from their new years celebration. It's frustrating because first, we had to wait for the court to reopen and now it could be a while for us to even get our court date. I really hope because Emmys father is still living, that he can come to the courts and this would shorten the process a little. We also need our BO number and medical forms. This apparently is kinda done by luck.(when you get them) So frustrating!! I just want this to all be over. I just want my girl home! Roberta is in Ethiopia right now and will bring home updated pictures and her sizes. This is a little encouraging but it's not her.

Welcome home to our new friends Shadae and Tesahni. They are beautiful daughters to Jossie and Earl. Congratulations guys!! We look forward to getting to know you better.

Things on our end seem to be slow again now. We received our acceptance of referral package and sent that back to them. We also have received our letter of no objection from the province of MB. I think as I understand, we are going to get our BO number soon. I'm having a hard time understanding the whole process. We're trying though.

Emebets room is all ready for her and we can't wait. The only thing I am unsure of is the size of smaller clothes to get her. I don't know how much she will grow in the foster home between now and the time we go get her. We will just wait to buy the small sizes until we have her size. I am soo happy with how her room turned out. It was wonderful to have something to keep us busy during the wait. The first 6 weeks of waiting to travel has gone well. It has gone by fast. I was so relieved when we received the referral that I now finally have a picture of my girl, that I have relaxed soo much knowing she is mine/ours. Praise the Lord. I have a shoe fetish and I can't wait to buy cute shoes for her.