DTE at DISNEY

We celebrated our official DTE while in Disney, and this is Disney's year of a million celebrations, so we added ours to the mix and wrote WE'RE DTE on our buttons. Jason was at first peeved that I had not written WE'RE ADOPTING or something that people could understand just by reading it, but writing something strange and unknown actually opened a door we were not expecting. Instead of reading our button and moving on with their lives, SO MANY people couldn't help but ask, "What's DTE?" and it was the perfect opportunity to share our story, our faith, and our journey! We talked to several people about Ethiopia, about adoption in general, and shared our faith. We heard so many say, "I've thought about that, but doesn't it cost a lot?" Which gave me the chance to share what God has done in our lives to provide, and how He will do the same for them. I was able to live and share our testimony to so many who would have never stopped and bothered discussing it with us otherwise. My life's call lately has been "We shall overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony." and by focusing on this, being willing to share what God has done in my life whenever it's relevant, I've been amazed at the opportunities God's put in my lap to do just that. Adoption is a journey, and it needs more people on the journey! Whatever we can do to share our faith, and our story, I'm ready and willing!

DTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got our email from Nicole, our family Coordinator at AWAA confirming our DTE date of 9/4/2009!

"Root Family, you've finally become DTE!

What are you going to do next?"

"We're going to DISNEY WORLD!"

What makes it so incredible is that many many moons ago I asked God to make a way for us to take the kids on one last "Family of Five" vacation, and He did. Then as things drug out, a few months back I prayed that He would please let all the pieces come together so that we could be finished with our paper pregnancy before we left on our trip, and HE DID IT! Our cruise and our DTE date are the same!!!!! YOU ROCK GOD!!!! Your timing is PERFECT, I'm sorry when I momentarily lose sight of that sometimes!!!!!

Psalm 68:31 ". . .Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God." We're praying for you little package, you're our love, desires, hopes, and obedience wrapped up in a little box. Be safe, travel quickly.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school in our district. Per our usual tradition, I lined the kids up in front of the garage to take their picture before we piled into the car. I yelled out, "Kids! Get together and put your arms around your brothers and sister, like you like each other."

I started snapping away and I hear Jason giggling behind me. I realized I was zoomed in and not getting Nathan's arm. A bit frustrated I said, "Come on Nathan, put your arm down," thinking he was being difficult, until Jason said, "Gina, he's putting his arm around our other kids." Nathan just looked over at his arm as if there was another kid standing there and started giggling.

He's such an adorable character. Wherever and whoever our "unknown" children are in the world today, know this, your family - already - sight unseen - dearly loves, includes, and giggles over you.

From Our Agency. . .

Decorating the Ethiopia Transitional Home
A small volunteer group will be traveling this Friday to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with the mission of decorating our Ethiopia Transitional Home. Our desire is for our Transitional Home to feel more like a home and be as welcoming as it can be to the children and babies who will live there temporarily.
We are working on creating new baby beds and bunk beds and on adding more lighting. We are also having the floors redone and painting murals in the school room, boys room, girls room and baby room. We also hope to paint murals in the court yard.
We would like to raise funds to help with this project through our Orphan's Ticket Home campaign. We cannot purchase the supplies without your help. Any amount will benefit this endeavor. You can donate here. Just be sure to put in the Notes section: Ethiopia Transitional Home Decorating.
We will be sure to share the photos with you of the updates!
Thank you!
AWAA

Just as a note: You receive a tax donation form if you wish to make the place our children will live for almost a year of their life more comfortable!

We're in the System!

We can no longer commit any major crimes and hope to escape unnoticed. Our prints are officially in the FBI system! The lady taking mine commented, "Oh! Wonderful, your prints are so nice and plump! Most stay at home mom's we scan have no fingerprints at all. It's as if they've scrubbed them off with a brilo pad." To which I have to say thank you Rita for exposing two of my most negative secrets, 1. Everything about me is nice and plump sister, and 2. No, I do not do housework or scrub anything with a brilo pad thereby creating any opportunity for removing my fingerprints. They are and will forever be present and accounted for.
Let the countdown to our I-171H arriving begin. And please allow me to apologize to the mailman in advance, excuse me, mail lady, I will be stalking you. Whenever your loud little red truck with the magnetic US Post RURAL sign slapped crooked on the door is heard coming down the street, engine and brakes alternating in a hum and a screech as you stop at each mailbox, I will run out like a mad woman, and I may even forget to make sure I'm properly dressed. This is your two week notice.

We have APPOINTMENTS!

Today has been a really great day! My mom kept her job amid massive downsizing, prayers for those who didn't, I reached my first goal in my healthy lifestyle plan, my first adoption tshirt arrived in the mail, can't wait to sport it around town, our truck is ready at the shop, and God provided the funds to pay for all the repairs, and

OUR FINGERPRINT APPOINTMENTS ARRIVED FROM USCIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once we complete these appointments, our I-171H should arrive in the mail a few weeks later and then we'll be DTE and move from PAPER CHASING to WAITING FOR REFERRAL!

God Provides, yes He does!

Why do we worry? Why do we even think about taking one step on that path? I'm learning not to. I'm learning not to entertain even the hint of concern over life, finances, my children, the future. Because I serve a God who loves to pour out blessing on me. He loves me to death, literally. He delights in providing for me. He gets a kick out of coming through for me when I need help. He giggles when I tear up with shear joy from seeing Him move on my behalf.

I almost stepped my foot on the path to worry about the rest of the money for this adoption. I was concerned about the flights, physically and financially, and God showed me today that He's got it all under control. So I'm done! I'm laughing with excitement to see how God provides next, cuz it just gets cooler and cooler, the ways He finds to surprise me. Goose pimples, gotta love em!

We're State Certified!

Our State Certification seals came in the mail today! Now we're just waiting on our fingerprint appts and then our I-171H to arrive and we're DTE! Everything else is in and waiting on the Immigration Dept!

We got the receipt for our I-600A!

Tonight when I went to the mailbox I got the receipt for our I-600A from the USCIS office, which means our 1171-H is officially on the way! (But still a good 2-3 months out!) I'm so excited! We're one half step closer to being DTE!!!
(Don't you non-adopting families just love all this lingo which is plain garbled rubbish to you!?!?) Just say a whoo hoo with us! It's great news!

Moving Along!

I haven't had a moment free to post, but I thought I would carve one out just to update the timeline and preserve some thoughts. . .

The last two weeks have been extremely hectic on the homefront and the adoption front simultaneously! (Of course) We recieved our home study from Katherine, which means we are able to move forward with the next steps in the process. We spent most of Friday in line at the Passport office, what a nightmare! It's of course a usually non-eventful activity but never when it involves our family! Today the kids and I spent a few hours in the car and too much time walking from building to building in downtown Fort Worth trying to obtain Criminal Background Checks on Jason and I. I also mailed off our USCIS application, so we are getting so close to finishing up the paper chase and submitting our dossier.

We're also in the middle of deciding whether or not to sell our home and move. It's a financial and emotional decision I'm just not being willing to commit to either way. On one hand, I want to stay in this house because it makes the MOST financial sense, but on the other hand, I don't know how it's physically possible to fit two more children, or even one more child, into this cozy home. Add to that the stress of home repair, getting a new roof, and a new fence, and replacing a ton of electronics that were damaged in the lightning strike, and I'm just money poor and exhausted.

And today while I'm on the verge of tears with the weight of all of these decisions on my shoulders, I'm thinking about those precious souls God has chosen for our family, and it seems nothing is too complicated or potentially financially stressful to undertake in order to bring them home where God has called them.