Okay I know that I said that I was going to post and well, it's been a week and nothing. To be honest I can't get any photos to upload on the page. I don't know what I'm doing wrong and what's changed but it just locks up. Anyone else have this problem with blogger? I click the little photo image when I'm doing a new post and it all goes through like it's going to post but does nothing. Grrr! I have so many pics to share!!!

We are alive!

Okay I don't know what happened but I WAY fell off the blog posting wagon! I've thought about it quite a few times and I think that I want to write but then I should do things in order since we brought Scarlett home but I just want to do random posts..........talk about a run on sentence but this has been my brain. Ha! So I am going to do some updates and some things in order but some fly by the seat of my pants stuff. All right, all right stop yammering Lisa and get on with it!! Well, she is home. We are adjusted. We are a family and things feel somewhat normal. I am going to work hard this week on doing some updating (hopefully) and get things back up to speed.

That small stirring has come to fruitation!!!

In 2008 our hearts first started to turn towards adoption and now in 2014 our daughter will be coming home! It's been a long, challenging, and learning journey but way beyond worth it! Our precious baby daughter will be coming home next week. We'll finally be a family of 6 and my heart won't feel split between two countries and continents. I can't wait to share pics of our girl!!! Coming soon, very soon!

We're Leavin' On a Jet Plane!!!

That's right folks!!!! After 3 years and almost 6 months of waiting for this day, it's happening!!! We get to meet our sweet baby girl and let me tell you emotions are a swirlin'! Getting the kiddos ready and us all packed is a little crazy. I'm so glad I'm a list maker and planner right now! My range of excitement, to fear, to nervousness, to sadness (missing my kiddos at home), to pure joy, etc. etc. etc. can be a little tiring at times but oh so worth it! Please pray for us during this time for travel, health, and my overall sanity because this momma can get a tad bit cranky with lack of sleep and things out of whack. ;) I can't wait to share our time in Ethi*pia when we get back!!!

BP court date

Well we got word today that the birth parent court date that was supposed to happen last night didn't happen. They got lost on their way and arrived late so it has been rescheduled for the 14th. I am so very disappointed. I'm trying not to be but honestly am really struggling. My first thought when I heard was maybe this happened so our PAIR letter can get there in time so we can be scheduled for our court date right away. I sure hope that's true. I had heard that it could possibly take 6 weeks more after this court date for our court date to happen. I don't know why but the last week in March is in my head and bringing her home in April. It might just be my dream but please pray with me that this could really happen. My God is able!!!

Update!!

Well, quite a bit has happened since I last posted. Like I said before we were waiting on our PAIR letter to come and it was going on two weeks since our embassy date so I knew something wasn't right. From hearing from others that have already been through this part we should have had it in less than a week's time. Since things didn't feel right I went ahead and emailed the US Embassy and inquired about our case. I'm so glad that I did because something was in fact wrong. They had requested additional paperwork about a month ago and stated that they had yet to receive it. I knew this was wrong because my agency had confirmed that they had emailed it. Well, through lots of emails and phone calls everything was cleared up and that needed documentation was going to be hand delivered the following week after the holiday on Monday. Then we got a HUGE blessing on that Friday before, our caseworker called and said that they submitted our case to court over there. This blew me away because they previously weren't allowing this without the letter in hand in Ethi*pia. You know our God just loves to knock our socks off!!! ;) So we had a great weekend with that news and then on Tuesday heard that they rejected our paperwork. That brought us down a little bit but things got straightened out the next day and we received an email that they completed everything and where sending it on to USCIS to then issue our letter. A*M*A*Z*I*N*G!!!! So again great news!!! Okay so the next day Wednesday I received another phone call from our caseworker and this news just about made me cry.....WE HAVE A BIRTH PARENT COURT DATE!!!! People this is beyond awesome! The Lord has moved us ahead from where we were just weeks ago to being like a month and a half ahead of where we thought we were!!! Oh, PRaise Him!!! Our BP date is March 7th, I have been saying all along that I would like to travel for our first trip in March and then bring her home in April. I don't know what God's plans are but this could happen!! Pray boldly with me friends!!! He is a mountain mover and miracle maker!!! I said through all of this that I am going to give Him all the glory for everything that happens with this adoption and I am shouting it from the hilltop. GOD IS GOOD!!!!

Great News!!!

We got a call yesterday from our case worker that the birth parent embassy interview went well! I was very relieved to hear that and felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Now we wait for our PAIR letter from NBC here in the US. I have heard of another family getting theirs less than a week after their BP interview. So I am holding out hope that we might receive ours just as quickly so that we can send it onto Washington DC to get authenticated. I feel like we are accomplishing a lot but still so far away from meeting our girl. I have to take each step at a time and praise God when each one is accomplished. Someday soon I'll be holding our precious one in my arms!!!

So excited today!! We finally heard that we have a birth parent embassy date for this next Wednesday, January 29!!! I was looking for emails for two weeks now because the custom is for our family to be copied on the emails between our agency and the US Embassy but I received none of them. This afternoon our case worker surprised me and called to let us know that there was a date set up and very soon. So now we wait for this to occur and pray in the meantime that the family makes it and that everything goes well. After this is when they issue this new PAIR letter. Once we receive that in the mail we send it to Washington DC through a courier service to get authenticated from the State Dept. and the Ehi*pian Embassy. Once that is completed we send it onto Ethi*pia and their court will review our case and set up a birth family interview then we get our interview date with them. I have really no idea on a timeline on this but to guess I might say 7 or 8 weeks from this first interview. I would totally guess that we might end up going for our first trip around the middle of March. I would love for it to be much quicker but pray it isn't later. Thanks for following along with us on our journey.

Showing His Glory!!

      Well, He showed up and in a big way! The Friday before New Year's we received an email from our adoption agency concerning some talk about Ethi*pia closing all foreign adoptions. We honestly weren't too concerned from the way they worded everything but then by Saturday changed our mind. There was lots of news and talk about closing and we were very scared. We asked others urgently to pray and I think I was in constant communion with God on this matter. I felt like I was grieving and was so very worried that we wouldn't be able to bring our little one home. During this time I realized how guarded I was keeping my heart from fully loving our daughter. I had been so afraid of something bad happening that I kept up a wall. With the thought of really losing her I let down those walls and knew that I loved her with my whole heart. On Monday we received some very reassuring news that they were not going to close, at least anytime soon. I felt finally like I could breathe once again.
      Then we went to our friend's house for a long New Year's celebration and had tons of fun. On the last day that we were there I received a voice mail from our CW from our agency. She was asking if we had received two emails that morning about the US Embassy requesting a birth family interview. I had been checking my email on my phone a lot during the time that we were gone but didn't receive anything. I called her back and found out that they probably went to my spam and sure enough they did. I had just called NBC again that morning in hopes to find out some information on our case and had gotten our officer's voice mail. I had called two times within the last two weeks and had been told both times that it was still pending so I was completely shocked to learn that our case had in fact been sent on. I am praying for things to move quickly and miraculously fast from now on. He provided this nice surprise for us when we thought we were so far behind so I know the Lord can continue to move mountains and provide a miracle!!!

This Christmas

Wow! This was quite a Christmas for me and not in a good way. It was hard on many levels. To save the embarrassment for my 10 year old lets just say there were some issues. On my end those issues brought out all the emotions that I have unknowingly been bottling up for weeks. Let's just say that it wasn't pleasant and it kinda lasted for days (still reeling from it). My poor kidneys are still throbbing...my MSK has been acting up. My four year old hasn't been sleeping well because of having croup so I wasn't sleeping which absolutely did NOT help things. The whole holiday stress was getting to me and I dearly miss my soon to be daughter. We didn't receive word like I had hoped that our case had been forwarded on and I found out that it is STILL pending. (What???) My heart is just aching today for my baby girl that's halfway across the world. I'm taking some time today to just sit and renew. Listening to worship songs, reading the Word, and doing as little as possible. My heart is just crying out to God to bring good news and to move mountains! Please Lord my soul needs this today.