The Boys' Room

Green and Blue.

Dresser from IKEA, Crib from Dan's co-worker,
Crib set from Aunt Cathy & Uncle Shane

E's bed is a trendle and a swing to the right

Just imagine S snuggled here for naps
or bouncing along the side rails :o)

Oct. Update

1. We got new photos and videos of both boys. What a great agency we have to give us so much feedback on how the boys are growing and doing. It was wonderful to see them on our screen, and we long to see them in person.

2. Madeline received a significant donation from a girlfriend towards her plane ticket to go with us on our Embassy trip (2nd trip). It is a "God" story. This young lady is only 15 yrs. old, and the Lord put it on her heart to give. Like the young boy in scriptures who offered his 5 loaves and 2 fishes, the Lord multiplied her gift in a matter of hours and turned it into well over $1000. Thank you, Jesus! Thanks for the faithfulness of a young girl! :o)

3. The boys' room is finished! It is wonderful to walk into and see a place prepared for them. The Lord has prepared a place for each one of us in His kingdom if we will but come to Him! Yeah! Thanks Father.  I also realize this will probably be the CLEANEST their room will ever be. Ha Ha.

4. Dan and I leave soon. Woo Hoo and woa-oa. My mother's heart is so excited to embrace E and S and at the same time struggling to be so far away from my children here. ON THE FLIP, my kids are very excited for the time to spend with friends and Grandparents coming to stay with them.

Bless you.

It's All Coming Together.

It's all coming together. I've been painting the boys' room, garage sale shopping, collecting items to pack for our trip, and working on MORE paperwork.

We leave very soon.... wow. Part of me feels like I am going to the moon to be so far away from my biological children and walking into a completely different culture/ language/ food/ landscape. I realize it is good for me to experience this as it will be the way the boys feel when they come to LIVE with us in the U.S.

We will only be in Ethiopia for one week. We'll meet E and S for the first time. We are so looking forward to gazing into those little faces and into their eyes, hugging them and beginning the first steps of bonding.
I am praying for the Lord's hand on our time together. He knows Dan, me, E and S. I can hear Him now saying, "Peace, Be still. I have had this planned for a long time." I realize Dan and I are going to be very strange to them. We are a different color, smell different, sound different, eat different foods... Lord build a bridge of trust and common ground. Bubbles, balls and Matchbox cars sound like a good place to begin. :o)
We have been told that the people at our guest house will be great help with translating language between us.

We will take a trip to E's orphanage.
We will see where S has been staying.

Dan and I will go to court and meet with the judge. We are told that we will have to answer a few questions and will know right away if we pass court or if there is still a document that needs to be added to our file before the case clears. Please pray with us that our case passes that day!

As long as we can get good internet connection in Ethiopia, we will post here our news!

So...it is all coming together. Amazing. We are going to Africa! We are going to meet our sons!

Puzzle Update

Here's what the PUZZLE looks like as of today! THANKS!

We've got the A F R I in Africa. Looking forward to filling in more. YOU are truly helping us to Bring Home our Boys.

It seems so real now that we are going in the near future.

Simple Joys

Okay.... I couldn't wait to share. I just got off the Chat group with our agency. My director is in Ethiopia right now and has visited with both the boys. These are the words she used to describe my littlest guy - "hilarious, he is a riot, he is phenomenal. He is getting up on all 4's, rocking and laughing. "  She said she was going to send photos soon. :D 

Thank you Lord for blessing him to grow in strength and stature. I am so glad he is in a place to know joy and to laugh. I look forward to when we can share it with him.

We got photos of E. yesterday. He looks to have such a sweet, gentle spirit about him... very endeering. So fun to see him smiling as he plays with play dough and watching in wonderment as someone blows bubbles from a bubble wand. How precious to get photos of these simple joys we so take for granted.

A different kind of stretch marks

Read these thoughts below from Katie about her adopted daughter. She is an American young woman that has given her life to serve in Uganda. The Amazima link on our blog's front page leads you to her ministry site. I find her blog so insightful and humble and real. I see Christ through her everyday sacrificial loving of the people God has place in her life.

 http://www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/  Aug 15th.

I want her to be a baby so I can strap her on me and hold her there and she will feel secure and safe and protected. I want to be the person who taught her to write her name and how much fun it is to make mud pies, and I want to be the person who laughed with her when she lost her first tooth. I want to know where the scars came from that she can’t remember the stories about, and I want to be the person who wiped her tears when she fell.

But I know that is not how God intended it.

He did not choose me for those moments, He chose me for these. I entered motherhood through a different door, and I get a different kind of stretch marks.

I believe that this is how He has loved us and I do not pretend to know why. But I know that He who did not spare His own Son will also graciously give us all things we need, and so I cling to believing this is for good.

I believe that He held her all the years that I didn’t. I believe that He stood beside her in the line for porridge that the UN workers passed out, and I believe that He clasped her hand as she made the long journey from Arua to Masaka without her first momma, and I believe that she leaned her head into His shoulder as she fell asleep on hard dirt floor to the sound of her uncle’s drunken fury. I believe that He carried her all the way here to this new family and I believe that His hand is on her still.

And maybe the missing pieces just allow me to trust Him more.

Aug. 5th is also touching as she describes a Holy Moment.
Read on...http://www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/

Collecting bits and pieces

"Mom,  __ days till we go to Africa to see the boys. I can't wait." - Mae.

Even though Mae is not physically going with Dan and I, she totally is in heart and spirit. I get an update on the number of days till we leave every so often. :o) We are often in the mode of day dreaming about meeting the boys and wondering what it will be like for us and for them. Mae also says she is looking forward to being an OLDER sister and not the baby anymore. Sigh, life stages and changes. :o)

We have been collecting and picking up a few things here and there with excitement for the future of 2 more boys in our home. I went garage sale shopping with a dear friend a few weeks back and picked up a super cool little tykes black truck for S to ride inside. I'm sure E. will have fun with it too. I've been slowly adding a few baby boy things to the laundry, folding them and putting them in his dresser. Just beginning. The director from our international agency is in Ethiopia working and visiting. She is going to get an update and hopefully some good estimates on sizes for the boys - Foods they eat (especially the baby- formula or baby food?) When we go, Dan and I will be responsible for all there clothes/shoes/ food and needs while they are with us.

Today, we will begin taking off the old wall paper in E & S's room in preparation to paint. It will be great to get it completed so we can take photos to E. of what his room will look like when he comes to live with us.