Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Oh my goodness, the long awaited day is finally here! I can't believe it! So many feelings are going through my mind and my heart.  I can't wait to  finally hold our daughter.  My daughter who has been growing in my heart who I've only seen pictures of.  I will finally get to hold her and kiss her and love on her!  I am so excited to go but I'm also sad because Ryan isn't going.  I will miss that little boy terribly while we are gone.  Then when we come home, I will be so excited to see Ryan but will miss Ella so badly while we wait for Embassy clearance.  I can't wait until my family is all on one continent, in the same state and under the same roof!

Here we go - I can't believe it!  Please pray for our family and pray that we pass court on Thursday and can show everyone our beautiful girl's face!

Packing, packing, and more packing!!!!

What have I been doing, packing! Oh my goodness, we have so many donations to take with us to Ethiopia.  I think we may have to leave some of them and take with us on our next trip when we bring our daughter home.

Garrett is going with us and as I was packing tonight, he asked me why I hadn't packed any of our clothes yet.  I told him I was packing as many donations as I could fit.  It is true, I have packed four of the six bags we can take as of right now.  I still have many donations to take and all of our clothes to take.  We are only taking a few outfits with us because they can do laundry for us at the guest house.

I can't wait to meet our daughter!  We received an update on her today from our agency.  She now weighs 17 pounds which means she has gained four since we received our referral.  She is eating some solid foods and can roll over.  The nannies also said that she likes it when she has all the attention on her.  Her daddy said, "I'm so glad she will fit in!"  She also likes toys that make music.  We received video of her this week from a sweet family who traveled to pick up their daughter last week.  Ella gives the biggest smile ever in one of the videos that shows her big dimples.  I can't wait to kiss those dimples next week.  This is so surreal!

Please pray for the following things for our court date:

1) That our entire file including our recommendation letter from MOWA is at court.

2) That either Ella's birth mother would be in court or that the police's investigation of her whereabouts would be sufficient evidence for us to pass court.

3) Pray for us as we give our answers to the judge that we would not be nervous.

Thank you so much friends!  We love you sweet girl and are coming soon!

Court - August 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I know I posted a few days ago about having a court date on October 1 but we serve an AWESOME God who changed our court date to August 5.  We are leaving for Ethiopia on Saturday and will meet our baby girl on Monday, August 2. I cannot believe this!!!!!  Talk about a total shock and awe!

Thank you Jesus for answering prayer! Thank you for moving our court date and our meetcha day by two whole months!

Please pray with us that we pass the first time! Once we pass court, we can post pictures of our sweet girl.  Please pray that they were either able to locate the birth mother or that the police letter will be sufficient for the judge stating that the police were unable to find her.

Our God is the God of miracles and I have complete faith that we will pass next week!

Court Date!

This isn't exactly the date we wanted but I know that God knows best so we are trusting in His perfect timing and plan.  Our court date is October 1.  We will travel to Ethiopia sometime the end of September to meet our daughter! When I think about meeting her and holding her for the first time, I get completely overwhelmed that God would choose our family for her.  That God would choose us to raise her, to love her, and to teach her about His ways - that blows my mind!

October 1 has many pluses - the cost of airfare is considerably lower which would make it easier for us to take Garrett on this trip.  We have a lot more time to get donations together and we will for sure be able to meet our sponsored child in Ethiopia. All of these are great things!  We serve a mighty God who loves us and works all things out for His glory and purpose.

There is a slight chance that we could have a court date of August 6.  The in country staff with our agency is going to talk to the judge and courts to see if we can have that date because some families who received referrals after us received court dates before us and they really want to get as many families into court before closures.  Whatever God chooses to do, we will follow His plan and give Him praise.  After all, He's got the whole world in His hands!

Waiting for Court

I never thought about how excited I would be to hear, "You have been submitted to court."  I am ecstatic and can't wait until I get the call that says your court date is on ???? day.  We are so close to court closures that I don't know if it will be before or after the courts close.  You ask why do courts close in Ethiopia. It is because the rains are so bad that it washes the roads away and people can't travel.  It is so hard for us in America to wrap our heads around it because our roads are paved.  We are such a blessed and spoiled nation!

So as we wait for a court date, we are praying for these specific things and would love for you to join us:

1) We would have a court date before closures and pass the first time.  50% of families don't pass the first time.

2) The birth mother would be located and would attend court.  We really want her to be in court because we really want to talk to her about what she most desires for our daughter.

3) For Ella's continued health.  It is winter there now and she has already been sick with a cold and chicken pox.  Pray that God would keep her healthy.

I think that is it for now.  We appreciate all your prayers!

Turning Donuts into Cash

We embarked on yet another fundraising journey this past weekend and I am happy to say that God can turn anything into cash when you ask him.

I know a Krispy Kreme fundraiser probably sounds weird to most people but here in Artesia, Krispy Kremes are a big deal and usually bring in a lot of money.  So we thought, why not - we could do this to raise funds for our girl.  A very good friend of mine, Rachel, and I went to Lubbock, TX on Friday night.  We did a little scrapbook shopping and then had a nice dinner.  We spent the night and got up super early (4 am New Mexico time) and went to the Krispy Kreme donut shop.  We loaded 400,  yes 400, dozen donuts into my Suburban and drove to Artesia.  I had people waiting on me at the church when I got there. People waiting to buy donuts and so I thought, "This is gonna be great! We will get these donuts sold by noon and then we can do something fun."  It was also Gus Macker weekend in Artesia and I figured that we would have lots of people buying donuts before the games.  I was wrong!  It was a slow going Saturday selling donuts!  We had three different "stations" in Artesia and it took us until noon to break even.  Our break even point was $1550.  At noon, we finally met it! Praise Jesus - that was a huge relief!  We could not have made it that far without help from our friends.  Thank you Krafts and Caseys! You both rock!!!

We continued selling donuts all day.  We were sunburned, hot, thirsty, and tired of donuts!  Around 2:30, I counted the money and we were up about $367 profit.  An hour and a half later, we were up to $900.  Around 4:30, we called it quits and went home to rest.  We had 154 dozen donuts left to sell.  How were we going to get rid of them?  We went to Roswell and sold 4 boxes! If it would not have been for a nice donation, that would have been a wasted trip!  On the way back from Roswell as we were deciding how to get rid of these donuts, we decided to donate some to Harvest Fellowship for Sunday services and took the rest to our church.  At that point, we didn't care if we were paid for them - we just didn't want them to go to waste.  After all was said and done, we made $1523 in donut sales! Thank you Jesus!

We prayed often Saturday especially since sales were so slow.  At one point, it had been quite a while since anyone had come to buy donuts so I asked Garrett if he wanted to pray.  He said yes and I asked him if he wanted to pray or if he wanted me to.  He said he would.  We held hands on Main Street in our church parking lot as my 8 year old prayed that Jesus would helps us sell the donuts.  He said, "Dear Jesus, please help people to come buy these donuts.  We need to raise money so we can get Ella home.  We need the money to get on the plane so my sister can come home.  We know you can do it Jesus so just bring the people to us.  Amen."  As soon as we said "amen," a truck came into the church parking lot and bought donuts.  As the truck was pulling in, Garrett said, "Mom, Jesus turned them around and had them come buy donuts."  I started crying as I was telling Jesus how sorry I was that I had not trusted Him with this fundraiser.  As I sat there, I wondered how many times was I going to be reminded that God has this all taken care of.  I don't need to worry.  He brought us this far, He will bring us the rest of the way.  

Thank you God for using my 8 year old's faith and donuts to bring us closer to bringing Ella home.