Pictures!

We are so excited and blessed - here are some more pictures! We can’t wait to travel!!

We made it through court!!!!

We are excited beyond excited - we were emailed that we made it through court!!! That means we are officially/legally Temesgen’s and Tesfanesh’s parents/family!!!

It is completely humbling to think that we will have the honor of parenting these two sweet, adorable children. We are looking forward to the memories, times of growth, and adventure that awaits our family. Wow - this is an amazing journey.

Temesgen

Tesfanesh

Wanting to hope

Our court date is Friday - we are hoping and wanting our travel date to be as soon as possible. Our ideal would be to travel before school starts, we don’t have control over any of this process all we can do is pray - we would be grateful if you would pray as well.

Also the top of our prayer request list is a request for our dear friends that are waiting for a referral. Their wait has been long - we know that God’s timing is perfect, but to see progress soon would be a blessing.

Progress!

We have our first tentative court date of July 3rd - we are very surprised and excited. Oh, how we are praying that we pass on the first date, second dates are usually a ways off. So, we are praying that all of the papers are in order and that we get good news on the third or fourth of July. We will be assigned a travel date after we pass court. I will certainly let you all know when I know of those upcoming events!

I have my entire house in a complete mess - thanks to my wonderful and dear friend I have undertaken a task that I have been planning on for three years and it just seems to be put off. We completely unloaded my cellar and painted it ceiling to floor. Now the daunting task of sorting and purging is at hand. This project is not for the faint of heart!!!

We are still praying for our dear friends to get their referral call - God is sovereign, and He works things out in His time and way. I just wish that His way was faster for our friends, the wait has been long and hard.

On a brighter note there is a group from our church traveling to Greece for almost 2 weeks. That will be exciting to hear of their travels. Please pray for this group, for travel mercies and for safety while they are there.

Blessings,

Lisa

Information for you blog readers out east

They are organizing a new Ethiopian Heritage and Culture Camp in Virginia this summer - July 24 - 26, 2009. The camp organizers would like to reach out to the many people whose lives have been touched by the culture of Ethiopia.
http://www.heritageandculturecamp.org

If you are in the area please check it out and make it a point to go. It is a wonderful opportunity for families to connect and learn from/with other families.

We attended the EKC get together in Minnesota a couple of years ago and had a wonderful time!

Our dear friends are still waiting - please pray.

Oh, my! SOCKS!!

One of my least favorite chores is folding socks - so I usually procrastinate and we have a big sock basket. I figure that everyone is old enough to match their own socks. Wrong! I know of at least two members of my family that will just grab and go.

Last night it hit me - very soon I will be folding socks for 8 people! Oh, my! So this morning I was on a mission - find a good sock bag! I think it is reasonable for my family members to just put their socks right in their own sock bag. Wash, dry, & fold right from this simple but handy laundry aid. I found some!

 (I don’t know if the pic will show)

https://www.laundrybag.net/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi

Nothing earth shattering, but I thought I’d share!

Oh, how these days are just going to fly by.

Pray for our dear friends that are waiting on a referral and others that are waiting on a country.

W 2the WOOOOOO H 2the HOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are EXCITED and humbled to announce that we have accepted the referral for our son - 7 years old and our daughter - 4 years old!!!!

“God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” Gen. 21:6

Our referral story….

So, today was our last day of school for the year. I had checked my phone three times and my email once while I was at work.

Nothing.

I stepped out into the middle of the street and flipped my phone open - WHAT!!!?!!!?!!!? TWO missed calls from CHS!!! I stared at my phone. I walked over and dialed by my car and paced back and forth. I don’t remember asking for Amy - she said “Hi, Lisa - this is Amy, I have a possible referral for you. Would you like to conference call Paul?” Me - I have no idea how to conference call!!! Can you do it? How do I do it? Can you tell me more? (spazzing out trying to get my friend to come over because I am hyperventilating!) Amy says “why don’t you go home and call back so I can talk to you and Paul at the same time?”  Uhhhhhh…… Okay. So, instead of going home I go into school and tell my co-workers that I got the call. I’m totally freaking out - they ask if I am okay to drive (because I am completely freaking out)I didn’t know so I asked them if I was okay to drive? They thought maybe I’d be okay. I get home and we couldn’t find a phone ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!! So, I call on my cell phone and put it on speaker phone and we hear the wonderful news of our son and daughter. Paul gets Emily & Hudson from school and I called the high school to have Rochelle and Harrison come home and not go to there perspective practices. Me “Rochelle I want you to come home and not go to golf” Her “Why?” Me “Trust me and just come home” Her “Did we get the call” Me “Yes, we got the call” Us together “BAWWWLLL!!!!!!!!!” Her “I’m coming home!”. Harrison beat Rochelle home and he had to leave for his baseball game - so, I tortured Rochelle and let Harrison see the pictures first and made her wait. Not long after the rest of the gang showed up and complete mayhem and celebration broke out with laughter and screams and shouts & hugs and kisses!!!!

Ahhhhh… give thanks to the Lord and his wonderful sense of humor!

Our joy will be complete when our dear friends get their call and our other friends country opens up so their families can be joined together… forever.

Blessings to you and yours as our family rejoices.

Update on Us

I talked with our social worker and our home study is being updated to include a sibling group up to three and the oldest child age range up to 7 years old. We are excited and thrilled to be open to the possibilities that this will hold for our family. We had wanted to be open to the possibility of a sibling trio when we started the process, but was directed away from that path because of me being in school - school being temporary and done Paul & I decided that we were still open to the possibility (especially after our inquiry a few weeks ago). As far as the age range, through my current work and some of the things that our family has been able to experience and my work with ELL students (I love that!!!) we feel like we are also open to the age range up to 7 years old. God knows the children that he wants in our family, ALL children are blessings - we all look forward to the blessings He has in store for us.

Sad

http://vimeo.com/4023493?pg=embed&sec=

I hope this link works, if not visit

www.drawnfromwater.org

It is hard to believe that this still happens, but it does.

:’(

Easter Blessings

We have so much to be thankful for…

Part of our families Easter tradition is to be in our communities Passion Play. It is a wonderful way to be focused on the price Jesus paid for us on the cross. It is a privilege to meet with others to celebrate the sacrifice that was made on our behalf. Tomorrow we will spend time with family, another thing to be thankful for.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Easter day tomorrow!