Children's Ministry

Here are our child's future children's ministers. Hmmm...

New Info.

So, we had another monthly Gladney conference call on Wednesday. The only reason I'm posting the details is for anyone who might be reading this to gather more info. about the Ethiopian adoption process. I know when I was researching I got A TON of the most up to date info. from blogs and I always appreciated as much info. as anyone was willing to share.
As of this month the wait times for referrals are:
0-12 months: average 8 month wait from submission of dossier
13 months and up: average wait time of 4 months

The courts will be closed from August 8th to September 25th for the rainy season. What this means is that the courts will not be issuing decisions during that time. Paperwork can still be submitted to the courts for review through August but families will not receive a court date until after the 25th of September. Families that receieve a referral before the courts close but who do not get their paperwork submitted to the courts before the end of August will have to submit after the courts reopen. At this time there is usually a backlog of those families that did submit paperwork before the August deadline. Pretty confusing huh?

All that being said we were told that court paperwork must be submitted by the end of May in order to get a court date before the rainy season.

What does this mean for our family? Well, we requested 0-18 months so that could mean we could get a referral in the next few weeks. We're praying that is the case. Or we could have at least 4 more months until a referral and then several more months until travel. We really don't know.
What we do know is that God is in complete control of this situation. He's shown us how amazing His providence is this week and we are in awe of the way He works in the details of our lives. Whatever the timing is, we truly have a peace that it will be perfect and for our good and His glory.

Chick Fil A Song

We love Chick Fil A at our house. This is pretty funny.

"What Do I Know of Holy"

The words of this song are amazing.

Week 10: Waiting Pictures

We had a friend from church take some pictures of us as a family of 3. It was extremely difficult to get Miley to look at the camera as there were ducks in the pond, kids, people and dogs everywhere. She only broke her leash and ran away one time.


Lots of families have gotten their court dates; only four months out after the date of their referral. It'll be a miracle if we make it before the rainy season in August. But God is a god of miracles. We keep praying

Here is the link to our awesome photographer:

I Need Africa...

While We Wait: My First Purchase

Now, that we've been on the wait list for over two months I can't help but look at the baby stuff when I go shopping. I don't know why I do it b/c I can't buy anything. We don't know if we're having a boy or a girl or an infant or a toddler. Both Brent and I think it's going to be an older boy since everyone seems to be requesting infant girls. But, God could have a surprise for us. However, the other day at Tuesday morning I found this diaper bag and I bought it. It was only $9.99 and came with many cool accessories, as you can see. I figured it was a pretty safe buy b/c it could be used for either gender and I'm pretty sure our child will still be in diapers when we get them (at least for a little while). Of course when we get our referral I will have Baby R's name monogrammed on it. We're not 100% on names yet. We're pretty well settled on the boy name but not sure if we'll use the same name for a girl. Anyway, here's what will probably be my only purchase between now and our referral call.

Speaking of referrals: 5 families made it through court on the 19th and at least one referral was given on the same day. I'm praying for Justin, Kendall (they used to go to church with us) and Baby Ewan who have their court date on the 23rd. Their blog is posted on the right.