A Family ONLY God Can Create....

This picture represents a family. . . .A family created by my Creators hands. One of the most amazing moments was when we met the boys' birth mother and their older brother. The love this woman holds for her children is the most selfless love; we all could learn something from women like her! One of the questions I asked her was. . . .What dreams do you have for the boys that we could help to fulfill? What is your vision for them? The answer was so simple and will live with me forever. . . ."I come from nothing, anything is better than what I can do!" When she said that all I hear her say is. . . I am nothing! That women has no idea how amazing she is; she will truly live with me daily through the boys. I will forever feel her in my arms; I am blessed to have been able to wrap my arms around her.

The young man holding Eyob is their brother, he is nine years old. His tears broke my heart; that young man will grow up with nothing, but it is my prayer that he grows up to know that he is something! We will be sponsoring him through Hannah's Hope, he should get the care and education he needs. I also pray that one day he will make a trip to America.

I have so much to share, but in all honesty I am still digesting all I have experienced. We are transitioning pretty well. Abel is so happy and full of joy and contentment. . . . and there is a reason for this:) Eyob is a wonderful, free spirited young man. He has a lot to learn and rediscover; he is making great strides each day. These great strides are not without great, long battles though. My husband and I have committed to winning this war, because Eyob deserves it!! There will be good days and better days to come. . . .today was a good day:)

Getting Closer...

WooHoo! We are about four days from leaving to pick up our little men :) We have had a few bumps in the road to our travel date, but may I remind Satan that he can "get behind me." Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Matthew 16:23 There is nothing that is going to take away the joy and excitement I feel anticipating the meeting of our sons! It all started last Thursday as I sat at the Health Dept. waiting to get the last of my shots (and I'm just saying I think she chipped the bone with that needle, OUCH!). I had put a call into the USCIS, because I had not received my new FDL stating that we had been approved for the two children. A looooong story short, I had to drive up to downtown Chicago (6+ hours round trip) pay $585 and get this white piece of paper that had a lovely 2 in place of the original 1. We had managed to fall through the cracks; an incomplete file just sitting there never to be found until it became urgent. Ummm...hello, I'm leaving to only days to get these boys from Ethiopia! The following day we ended up at the hospital with Amelia and a horrible bladder infection. She was and unfortunately is still very sick. She has a very high fever and her bladder is causing her a lot of pain; it is really very sad. We are praying that she is on the road to recovery and feeling much better by mid week. Doctor thought it could take 3 to 5 days for the fever to go away and for her to really start feeling herself again.

On to a brighter note...We had the best time at our fundraiser this past Sunday. We had 200+ people come and celebrate the boys with us. We had asked God to AWE us with support for our adoption and that is exactly what He did! We raised over $4600 that day, which covered the airline tickets we had purchased a day earlier! Praising God, and so thankful for all of you who came to celebrate with us:) Here are some pictures from that day....

Me and my sweet hubby!

Daddy and our Elaina girl making lemonade!

My beautiful Grandma and our Miss Alison!

My college girl, Erica, and my baby girl, Amelia!

Simply Amazing!!

YAY! We have our travel dates! We will leave on March 22nd and return home on March 28th with two beautiful little boys:) We can hardly wait; I get butterflies in my belly every time I think of it.

I have yet another amazing story of how awesome God is....throughout this journey I have prayed and placed little hopes in my heart of things I would like to see happen. Small things that would make this journey that much more sweet, but wouldn't take away from the journey if they didn't happen either. Our first travel date was to leave on March 29th. By leaving on the 29th three little hopes I had would pass away, but that was fine with me because I was bringing my boys home! Well, it seems as though God said, "Oh, you really will be happy even without your hopes being made reality." So then the call comes that our travel dates have been changed to March 22nd! I'm thinking"What, are you kidding me?" Let's just say that our new travel date not only meant I was a week closer to my boys, but that my three little hopes would become a reality!

• The week we are gone my girls will be on Spring Break. What a blessing to the Grandparents! It makes things much easier; One hope down and two to go!


• John and I celebrate our 19th anniversary on March 25th. We thought it would be so cool to be in Ethiopia picking up our sons. Guess what? We are! Two hopes down and one to go!


• My family has planned a shower for the boys on March 29th. Yes, the day we were originally going to be leaving! When planning the shower I had said, "It is going to be pushing it, but hopefully it will work. If we happen to be in Ethiopia the girls can take my place and it will be fun for them. But, wouldn't it be cool if we were home with the boys and they could be there?" Yep, that's right we will be home and God willing we can ALL be there! That's all three little hopes becoming reality!

God continues to amaze me with His attention paid to the small details. I actually hope I never become use to it, because that probably means I'm just not looking for it anymore. We serve an amazing God! So thankful!

By the way, that beautiful head of hair I shared with you in the post before....has been shaved off :-( That's right, something about hygiene. Oh I know, I know it will grow back!

It's Official...

WOW! We are now the parents to SIX children. Yes, I know....SIX! My husband and I look at each other and say, "Who would of thunk it... that 19 years ago when we were married we would EVER have six children!" God would of thought it and He obviously did!! Oh the great plans He had for these two babies (17 years old) and we didn't even know it; we didn't really even know Him! John and I have been on an awesome journey since we married as seniors in high school; one filled with amazing moments and not so amazing moments. One filled with joy, sorrow, fear and praise God faith! We are rejoicing for the work God as done in our lives; rejoicing for the precious sons He has so graciously given us! I'm going to leave you with a glimpes of a couple of my favorites: "E's" hair and "A's" chin!