Look What I Found!!!

Sunshine and Little Buddy have another birthday coming up and I want to start a Lifebook for each of them and give it to them for their birthday. I have been dragging my feet a bit, because a Lifebook for an older adopted child is very different than a scrapbook of a child that you have had since birth or babyhood.

I don't have any baby pictures or pictures of their parents. And the first part of their life was hard. When I would go to the craft store to find stickers or paper for their books I left feeling frustrated that none of the stickers and embellishments quite fit.

With the birthdays approaching I decided to take another look and was so excited to find a whole "stack" of scrapbook paper that is called Safari Chic. Africa scrapbook paper!!! It is perfect for their albums. I bought the matching matstack to use as backing on pictures that are placed on plain paper. I found the paper at JoAnn Fabric and Crafts. The stacks usually sell for $19.99, but are often on sale for 50% off, which is when I bought them.=)

A few months back I purchased a whole die cut set from www.lifebookessentials.etsy.com My set is called the "Standard Ethiopian Lifebook Embellishment Pack." It includes sixteen die cuts with Ethiopian flags, crosses, continent of Africa, mother and father in amharic and others. The whole set was $14.95.

A friend also purchased a book for me called "Lifebooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child," by Beth O'Malley. This book explains the importance of allowing your child to help write their lifebook. It is their memories that should be placed on the pages. The book walks you through what should be included in the book.

She writes in her book, "A Lifebook is a security blanket, a concrete tool, and a medium for one complete personal history. It promotes a positive grasp of identity. It makes talking about adoption feel like everyday conversation. It promotes attachment. It honors every moment of your child's life."

I can't wait to get started on their books. As I said before, I plan to start the books and give them the opportunity to add drawings and dialogue to fill in the history of their life before they came to live in our family. I know these books will be a treasure to them as they grow up.

Sweet Momma

It Just Takes Time

My Super Little Buddy

Our littlest one is working through a lot for a four year old. I have mentioned his strong will in the past. I know that God will use this "will" for good as he grows. Determination is a wonderful quality. But right now, this determination is fighting what is right and what he wants to do.

I know that you might be thinking that all four year olds do this, but it is clearly different from normal four year old stuff. I can tell that his heart is still trying to decide if this family thing is really what he wants.

Please understand that he definitely loves our family. And as an outside observer, you would say that he is completely "attached." But as his Mommy, I know that his heart is still processing. He is still testing the waters of "trust." He is still trying to see if we mean what we say when we promise to love him forever. How does he do this? In a million subtle ways every day.

Because of his "choices" he has had the opportunity to spend extra time with me. He can be quite frustrated with this arrangement. As I have said before, he wants to do what he wants to do and have fun.

One of his consequences is to sit through big church with Mom and Dad instead of going to class. He has shared in the past that he does not like this, because it is not fun. But over the last few weeks, things have changed.

At home his behavior has sort of stalled. I have become increasingly frustrated with the choices he is making and have felt at a loss to know how to move him to the next level. His behavior has actually gotten worse. Stand-Up Dad and I discuss our options or lack of them and keep praying that God will help him trust us.

Today he sat with us in church. Stand-Up Dad held him during worship and he spent the time during the sermon snuggled up with me. He played with my hair while I rubbed his back and held him close. It felt wonderful to hold him for a solid hour. I don't have that kind of time at home. During the service he asked me if he could make a card when he got home.

Immediately upon entering the house he asked Elsie to help him make a card. The card I received ten minutes later read as follows. Elsie told me that these are his exact words.

Dear Momma, I love you. We love you. I love Mom. I love you and thank you for being a good mom. Little Buddy loves Mom. Hugs and kisses - You're smart. I love being in church with you. I love when you rub me. It feels good. Do you know I love you Mom? I really do. Everybody loves you. I'll never stop loving you. Love, Little Buddy

God knew that I needed this precious card from my precious boy. He is doing a work in his heart. I have to keep trusting and praising Him in the process. It just takes time.

Sweet Momma

It's Official!

If you ask Sunshine what happened today, she would say, "I America now!"

That's right, as of today, Little Buddy and Sunshine are American citizens. The picture above shows us with Court Commissioner Dicke who signed all the documents. This was the easiest part of our adoption journey.

The US issues American Birth Certificates, which seems strange to me. We also added the name that we have given them to their documents. They are very excited to be American right in time for America's Birthday.

Happy 4th of July and God Bless America!!!

Sweet Momma

New Information Can Heal the Heart

Stand-Up Dad and I are working on our re-adopt of our two new kiddos. When we were going through the adoption process, the Ethiopian courts declared them legally ours before we had met them. It sounds weird, but that is how they did it. Because of this, the US would not consider them US citizens upon entering the United States. We need to complete more paperwork in order for them to become US citizens.

While in the process we have had copies of all of their important adoption papers out where Sunshine and Little Buddy could see them. It has been very interesting to get their reaction as we show them all of the papers with their pictures on them.

Tonight while the other kids were busy I spent a couple of hours with Sunshine talking about Ethiopia. I asked her to describe in detail the house where she lived. We even drew a picture of the rooms and beds, etc. As we talked and she shared her world in Ethiopia with me it occurred to me that she did not understand how she came to live at our house. We looked at the precious picture of her house and talked about how there were not enough beds for everyone and not enough food. I shared with her that her oldest sisters knew that it would be better for her and Little Buddy to go and live at the orphanage where they would have food and clothes and a bed to sleep on. Her siblings were very sad, because they loved her, but they knew it was best for her and Little Buddy. This was new information for Sunshine.

I went on to tell her that while she was at the orphanage, her sisters decided that it would be even better for a family from America to adopt them and care for them always. It was so hard for them to let go of their little siblings, but they knew it was best.

I got the papers and showed Sunshine where her sister had signed her name giving us permission to be her new Mommy and Daddy. She was amazed! I asked her, "Did you think that Mommy and Daddy could just come and take you away?" She said, "Yes, I thought that was what you did."

I promised her that there was no way that Daddy and I could just come and take her away without her sister's permission. Her sister wanted us to be her new Mommy and Daddy. You could see the relief on her face.

How does a five year old carry such a burden in her heart? She seems so happy each day, and at the same time is thinking that we have taken her away from her family without permission.

She jumped into my arms and told me how happy she is to live here with us. I told her that I know how she must miss her family and that I know that they miss her too. She shared how she wants to be there and here. She knows that this is a wonderful place to live, but the land and the family of her birth will always be first.

I am thankful for all her memories. I will do my best to keep them fresh as she continues to fill her head with new memories. Please pray for her and Little Buddy as they continue to process all this very deep stuff.

Before bed I asked her if she felt better knowing that her family wanted her to live with us...YES, was the resounding reply, followed by a huge hug.

Thank you God for beginning to heal a little bit of the hurt in her heart tonight.

Sweet Momma

Happy Valentine's Day Dedication

Today was an incredibly special day for our family. Our church family has embraced our adoption in an amazing way and today they joined us in dedicating Sunshine and Little Buddy to God.

Our dear friends, the Averills, who adopted two boys from Ethiopia about five months ago, also joined the dedication. When each of our children was born we brought them before our congregation and committed to raising them in a home that honors God. The pastors, staff and congregation would then also commit to praying for our child and helping us in this process. We know that dedicating a child to the Lord does not save them, it is merely a promise before God to purpose each day to serve Him through our parenting and our lives.

Our pastor was willing to allow a special dedication for our two families of adopted children. He addressed how in the Bible God sees those who have accepted Christ as adopted - and as having the rights and privileges as any other child. He asked us if we would promise to accept these children as our own and raise, love and discipline them in the same way that we have done with our biological children. He then asked the congregation if they would be willing to support us. They all stood to show their support. Sweet Pea looked at me and said, "Wow!" I agree.

The dedication ended with prayer and applause. I am so grateful for this opportunity. Would you also commit to praying for our family? Thank you in advance for the blessings that God will give because of your prayers.

Sweet Momma

Home Two Months!

Sunshine and Little Buddy, or is it Princess Sunshine and Spider Buddy?

This week marks two months since we brought Sunshine and Little Buddy into our home. I am so amazed at how well things are going and overwhelmed at the same time by how far I have to go before I will feel back to normal. Maybe this is my new normal.=)

Sunshine is an amazing little girl! She is super smart and doesn't miss a thing. She takes great effort to order her world in such a way that best suits her. She has been the more challenging child of the two. Even saying that, she is not crazy challenging, she is just older and more emotional in the way she deals with life. She is very passionate about life! We often hear her say things like, "I LOVE THAT!" or "Sooo CUTE!"

This past month, as she and her brother continue to learn English, I have heard many stories of life in Ethiopia. The more they share, I realize that life there is even more different from here than I realized from our short visit. Cultural differences are not truly felt while staying in a nice hotel or guest house.

I also realized this past week that they do not see life in our house as permanent. Why should they? We know that they will live here forever and will grow up in our family, but they don't. Recently they asked me - can we could go back to Ethiopia now? They call the guest house that we stayed in for a week "the little house." That is where they always ask to go. I assume it is because it is the nicest place that they ever stayed in Ethiopia, yet they were still in Ethiopia. The food was familiar, the people spoke their language and looked like them.

I have a hard time answering these questions. I know how their hearts must ache for their home, their family, and their friends. Please pray that God will give Stand-Up Dad and I wisdom as we try to help these little ones transition into life in America away from everything that they know.

Little Buddy is such a wonderful little guy. He is very "three," and we are all loving the fun he brings to our home. He has much more self control than many three year olds I know and yet he is very impulsive. I am amazed at how helpful and obedient he is. He loves to help with any chore that his older brother is doing. He absolutely loves having a mommy and daddy. He is snuggly and very affectionate.

They are both very affectionate! They hug anyone who shows interest in them. I am not sure if this means that they are not bonding with us or that they are just very friendly. I do think the bonding is going well, but I have never done this before and I'm only going on the information I have read in books. I will be sure to ask our social worker about it this week as we have our first post adoption appointment.

Our whole family is definitely still in transition. This month we began just living life as we came down from the high of bringing them home and getting through Christmas. I would say that Sweet Pea and Pumpkin are struggling the most with the transition. It is such a big change to share a room with a new brother or sister and learn how to readjust to life as an older sibling. Please pray for them as God stretches them through this experience.

Stand-Up Dad and I are fairly worn out. I don't know how to describe how we are doing. A friend described it as, "A tornado has just gone through your house and you are trying to put everything back in its place." That seems about right. This process is something that I knew we would experience, but I didn't know what it would feel like. It's kind of like childbirth. Your friends can tell you what it will be like, but it is not the same as experiencing it.

As I share all of this I want you to know that we are so thankful for your prayers and appreciate your friendship more than you know! We know that BIG life things, like adoption, take time to adjust to. So we move forward in faith that the God that called us to bring these precious kiddos into our family will continue to be faithful through this part of the process.

Sweet Momma

And so it begins...

Sunshine in Ethiopia in her favorite dress!

Today, for the first time, Sunshine prayed in English. My heart is sad. I knew this would happen, but I am sad just the same.

I knew before we met these sweet children that we would take them from everything they know and teach them a new language. I have actually wished that the language acquisition would happen even faster than it has. There are things that I really want them to understand. They are amazing! They are learning English at breakneck speed. I am amazed at what they understand already.

And yet, as they acquire English, their Tigrinya must trickle away. I know. I can't have it both ways. I don't speak Tigrinya.

Sunshine said it best today as we were talking and misunderstanding each other again, "Tigrinya hard for you and English hard for me." She is definitely doing better than I am on the language acquisition.

With all of her new English she is daily sharing more and more of her life in Ethiopia with me and I am continually amazed at how strong this little girl of five is. She has been through so many things and is trusting me enough to share her world with me. What a privilege it is to mother her and love her and be freely loved in return.

I guess I can say that our transition is going better than I would have expected. I am so thankful. God is so good.

Sweet Momma

One Month!

I was driving to have coffee with friends last night when I realized that today is our one month anniversary of meeting Sunshine and Little Buddy. That was the fastest month of my life. While in Ethiopia I was sharing with Almaz (the wife of the orphanage director) about some of the difficulties we were having with Little Buddy. She said, in her beautiful broken English, "One Month, be better!" She was right. Thank you Almaz.


Don't misunderstand. We are still in the major adjustment phase and I am anxious for them to know more English, but things are so much better than a month ago when they didn't know us and we didn't know them. I think they are doing amazingly well.


Sunshine has proven to be more of a parenting challenge than Little Buddy. Her issues are so emotionally based and come up when you least expect it. She understands much more than her brother about the adoption and I believe is grieving more than he is. She pursued me from the first day to bond with and that has been helpful as we rock and sing and pray together. We have a lot of pictures of their life before America. This has proven to be an invaluable resource as they share their world with us and we lovingly honor their past. Please continue to pray for their transition and that Stand-Up Dad and I could know the best way to meet their needs.


Christmas is a very difficult time to bring new kiddos home. We have tried very hard to stay home and not overwhelm them with too much stimulation. But it is Christmas and we have to celebrate a little bit.


The pictures below show all the fun we have had over the last several days. My favorite memory of the week happened today when I helped them wrap gifts for their siblings. We had not planned on them giving gifts to us as I did not think they would understand why we were doing this. Sunshine has informed me that in Ethiopia, "No presents at Christmas." I sat them both down and talked about the gift that God gave us at Christmas. They are very aware of the whole 'Jesus birth' story. I explained that in America we give gifts to each other to celebrate the gift that God gave to us. I took them in our room and showed them all the Ethiopian clothes that I had purchased for the whole family and asked them if they would like to give these gifts to their siblings and Daddy and I? They were so happy to help wrap the gifts. Tape is so much fun! They were rolling around on the floor giggling, they were so excited!


May God bless you all as you celebrate and delight in the wonder of His birth!

This is the favorite after dinner activity...Climb On Daddy!!!

Sunshine cutting her first sugar cookies

Gingerbread Houses

This tradition confused them, but when they saw all the candy they willingly joined their siblings in the fun!

Sunshine decorating cookies

Little Buddy, painting on the frosting

Sweet Momma

The Way to The Heart...

It has often been said that "The way to the heart is through the stomach." I know this is often true when trying to win a beau, but I have found it to be true with newly adopted kiddos.

These little people have left everything they know behind in Ethiopia. Everything here is new and different. They have both been doing really well with American food with only a few exceptions. There have been a few new favorites and a few things that they turned up their noses at. Broccoli is definitely an acquired taste.

Stand-Up Dad has been working in Seattle. Yesterday after work he found an Ethiopian market where he could buy injera. This is a bread that looks like a big pancake. It is eaten at most meals in Ethiopia, but is fairly difficult to replicate without Ethiopian ingredients. He bought two big packages, one to freeze and one to keep in the fridge. They were SO excited when they saw what Daddy had brought home. But nothing compared to the excitement of lunch today.

While in Ethiopia I bought some berbere (Ethiopian spice) and shiro powder. I used both of these to make a shiro sauce that is eaten with injera. I boiled eggs to add to the lunch. They often eat boiled eggs that are left whole and cooked in sauces.

When Sunshine saw what was on the plate she pushed her siblings out of the way and ran to me with hugs and kisses of thanks. Such a small thing that means so much to these precious little ones. They thoroughly enjoyed their lunch. Sunshine ate every last bite. After lunch there were more hugs and thank you kisses.

Since we have been home it has been very important to Sunshine and Little Buddy that they have the same food and portion size as everyone else. Today was different. To make the injera last longer I did not serve it to the big kids. They got leftovers. Sunshine was totally OK with it. She said, "Sunshine and Little Buddy, Ethiopia (motioning to her food), they, no Ethiopia!" Big smile, as if to say, "more for me!=)"

Sweet Momma

The Day We Met!!!

Sunshine with her new "Coffee Ceremony" set.

Little Buddy giving one of his adorable smiles.

Moments after we met we gave them backpacks full of fun things. Here they are exploring their new toys.

We cannot express the joy we feel after finally meeting these precious gifts of God!

November 23, 2009 will forever be Sunshine and Little Buddy's "Gotcha Day!" It will be very easy to remember as it is the day after Pumpkin's birthday. We arrived in Addis around 9:30 in the morning and were taken to our guest house where we settled in and waited for Sunshine and Little Buddy to arrive. We were up on the third floor and were unsure of how the first meeting would take place. Should we wait up in our room or go down to the court yard to wait.

Before long a van pulled in through the gates and I saw two couples with their babies get out of the van followed by our two little kiddos. I ran down three flights of stairs and met them at the bottom.

We took them upstairs and enjoyed their wide eyed smiles and giggles of delight as they went through their new backpacks. Soon after we all went down for lunch. They ate great and were still all smiles.

Our first meeting was precious and the beginning of a very up and down week. I will tell more about this at a later date.

Please continue to pray for us as we all adjust to life as a family of eight. Today has been pretty good so far. All the kids are doing well together and we have only had three or four melt downs from Little Buddy, and they only last ten minutes or so. On the flip side he has wanted me to hold him for a good part of the day, usually while I am trying to work in the kitchen. I am very thankful for big kids that can finish meals for me.

More to come later...

Sweet Momma

Selam (Hello) from Ethiopia

Hello everyone. It's Stand-up Dad and Sweet Momma writing to you from Mekele, Ethiopia.

We arrived in Addis Ababa Saturday morning (Ethiopia time) about 9:00 a.m. We never left the airport, as we waited for our flight to Mekele later Saturday afternoon. We arrived in Mekele about 4:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

In Mekele, we were greeted by Gebe, who along with his wife Connie run the orphanage where Sunshine and Little Buddy have lived for the past 14 months. Gebe took us to our hotel in Mekele and we had a nice dinner with him last night.

Today (Sunday) we visited a Bible College in Mekele, where 120 men are learning to be pastors. We then traveled to the orphanage where our kids have been until just a few weeks ago when they were transported to the House of Hope in Addis Ababa (the transition house for our orphanage).

The orphanage in Mekele is beautiful, as are all the children who live here. They are truly delightful children, full of love and hugs and we feel very welcomed. One of the little girls who lives here made and served us our very first Ethiopian coffee ceremony. It is also an honor to vist and get to know Gebe and Connie and see the marvelous work they are doing here. We also get to learn more about Sunshine and Little Buddy. Later this afternoon we will get to meet with our new children's brothers and sisters.

Gebe and I just finished putting together the bike that we brought for the kids (it's a Green Machine and it's really cool). We've also been playing with the kids outside. Mekele is a bit windy this time of year, and the hills around us remind Sweet Momma of the hills and mountains she grew up around in eastern Washington.

Tomorrow we leave Mekele to return to Addis Ababa where will we meet our kids for the first time! We are very excited to take this next step in our journey. Thank you so much for all of your prayers - please keep praying for safety, for our first meeting with our new children and for a smooth rest of the trip.

We'd also like to ask for prayers for our four children back in Washington. To Elsie, M&M, Sweet Pea and Pumpkin - we love you very much and we miss you. We know how excited you are about having a new brother and sister. We'll be home before you know it! To Pumpkin - Happy 7th Birthday! We are very proud of you and how you turned your birthday into show of love and support for the orphanage here in Mekele. We will try to call later tonight (Sunday morning Washington time) to wish Pumpkin a a happy birthday and say hello to you all - but we aren't sure if we will be able to get through. If not, we will certainly call from Addis Ababa. Finally, thanks to the host families back in Washington - we couldn't do this without you!

We give thanks to God for bringing on this adoption journey and bringing us here to Ethiopia. God is truly at work here.

We'll post again from Addis Ababa if we can.

Stand-up Dad

We're on our way . . .

After three days of scrambling, we have arrived at SeaTac airport. We're all checked in and waiting for our flight, scheduled to leave at 1:20. The last three days have been filled with a birthday party for Pumpkin, packing four kids for two weeks and figuring out just how much you can stuff into a suitcase and still have it weigh less than 50lbs.

Please pray for travel safety, cultural sensitivity, sleep for Sweet Momma, and a smooth transition when we meet our kids. Also, please pray for all our kids and especially for Pumpkin. Sunday is his 7th birthday and this will be the first time we've missed any of our kids' birthdays.

We'll check in when we get to D.C.

Stand-up Dad

Change of Plans!!!!

We were thrown some amazing and surprising news this morning...

Last night Stand-Up Dad and I were talking about our Embassy date. I said that I hoped we would hear about our ability to travel and keep our December 10th embassy appointment by friday. Stand-Up Dad said that he hoped we would hear tomorrow (Monday.)

This morning I opened the email and saw there was an email titled "Embassy Appointment." I thought, "Oh, isn't God good to answer so quickly." But God also has a sense of humor and there is nothing that throws Him, but He threw me off today.

Here is what the email said: "We just heard from Tsegay that you would be able to come for the November 25th visa appointment if you want to change your flights and leave a few weeks early!"

Oh My! I walked over to the calendar and realized that a visa appointment on Nov. 25th meant that we would need to leave in three days. This Thursday!!!!!!!!!!

It has been a very busy day of phone calls with travel agents, my agency, friends and family who will watch our children and of course my husband. We changed our flights and have moved my son's birthday party to tomorrow. It is going to happen and we are very excited and completely overwhelmed!

This is God's plan, He has known it all along. Once we get on the plane, whatever we didn't pack will not matter. Our kids here are going to be so well cared for, for that I am thankful.

Speaking of being thankful...we will meet our new son and daughter one week from today and spend Thanksgiving in Ethiopia with our new kids. Wow!

Please pray for those here at home. We will be gone for Pumpkin's seventh birthday. He is definitely OK with it. When I asked him what he thought about it he said, "Mom, you need to go and get them and bring them home. It's OK." Such a mature almost seven year old.

Please pray for quick packing, safe flights and God's continued protection over all of us.

Sweet Momma

Showers of Blessing!

We are so blessed to have so many family and friends who have prayed with us through this adoption process. They are all so excited about God's work in our lives and the lives of these two precious children that God has chosen to become a part of our family.

This week we were blessed twice by Adoption Showers. Last Wednesday the ladies of our care group put on a beautiful shower for me and my children. They are so creative. They made their own version of Pictionary where all of the words that we had to draw had something to do with adoption, family, or Ethiopia. Some of the most difficult to draw were "dossier" and "70 million" (that would be the number of people in Ethiopia.) We had a great time and I was very impressed at some of the drawing skills I witnessed. I am not skilled at all in that area. The shower ended with a precious time of prayer. I don't know what I would do without the covering of prayers during this process. I am overwhelmed by the power that it carries. Thank you ladies for your time and the adorable books that you made for our children.

Today we were blessed again by more friends that love to celebrate growing families. Two of my friends, that already have six children, took time out of their very busy lives to bless us with a shower at our church. Our good friends the Averills also came and helped with games and sound. The cakes and tables were so pretty. I wish our new kiddos could have seen it. But I am also glad that we had it before they came home.

We played a game where we quizzed our friends on their knowledge of Ethiopia and our adoption process. We also showed a video that told all about the orphanage that our children are from. The video showed life in Ethiopia and told about all of the work that they plan to do for the community.

This shower also ended with an amazing time of prayer. Stand-Up Dad said that it was his favorite part of the shower and I completely agree. Thank you all for your prayers on our behalf. We treasure each one and know that God hears and will move because of them.

We feel so incredibly blessed to share this experience with so many people who love us and love the Lord! May He be praised!

Sweet Momma

National Adoption Awareness Month

This month is National Adoption Awareness Month. Last Sunday was Orphan Sunday. If you have some time you should watch this: www.gospelmusicchannel.com/orphansunday

My kids and I were amazed and moved by this message. We are so humbled to be a part of adoption and hope you will consider how you might help the orphan.

Sweet Momma

Earrings for Ethiopia

Elsie and M&M have been very busy making jewelry. They love to make earrings and necklaces. They had a brilliant idea to make earrings and sell them at our home school co-op. They would then donate all the money they made to the orphanage where Sunshine and Little Buddy were.

This last Monday they took their wares to co-op and were so excited when they sold 18 pairs. I have so enjoyed watching my children step out in boldness for orphans. They understand how fortunate they are and want to do what they can to support those that are not as fortunate. What a blessing that they understand this at such a young age.

Sweet Momma

No Autographs, please!

Take a look at what was in my mailbox on Saturday! They are so adorable. It is so strange to see the picture that I have been staring at for weeks on the cover of a catalog. This catalog was put out by Children's Hope International, our adoption agency, to give people an opportunity to donate to various humanitarian efforts. We were thrilled when they asked us if they could use this picture for the cover.

I was looking at it when I realized that Saturday was one month to the day that we hope to meet them. I became overwhelmed with emotion and had to explain to the kids in the car that I was just having "a moment."

It seems as if we are living life as the "before they are home." And the next sentence is always, "After they are home we will..." The truth is, we are not sure how things will go after they are home. We are going to give them all of the time they need to adjust to our family, new culture, new food, new everything. Please pray with us that God will lovingly walk all of us through the process.

There is no news on our Embassy appointment. It is still tentative and we hope to hear in a couple of weeks. Please pray that we will be scheduled for the Dec. 10th appointment.

Thank you again for lifting up our whole family in your prayers.

Sweet Momma

Good News!

This has been a good week! We received a wonderful email from the Orphanage Director at our kiddos orphanage. We sent him a list of questions concerning our children. He was so kind to answer each question in detail. He and his wife are doing such a wonderful job with our kids and all of the children at Hope Community Services. The story about how they chose to build an orphanage is amazing. I will tell more about that another day. The letter let us know that our children are loved and being very well cared for.

Good news #2! A family member of mine had surgery yesterday. We were not sure what the outcome of the surgery would be, but God heard our prayers and she was given the best possible diagnosis! Thank you God!!!

Good news #3! The quilts and pillow shams are complete and on the beds!!! Pumpkin did a happy dance when he realized that I had completed everything. It feels so good to have this big project complete.

Now I just have to plan a birthday party, purchase Christmas gifts, decorate for Christmas, pack for our trip and gather items for donation to the orphanage. We will get it all done.

After I finished the quilts today I made a twirly skirt for Sunshine. I heard that she loves to dance and I don't know a five year old little girl that doesn't love a twirly skirt with sparkles! So much fun!!

Sweet Momma

One Down, One to Go!

Today I finished the binding on one of the boys quilts. Pumpkin has been so sweet during this process. He told me last week that if I didn't have time to finish both quilts, he would like to give the first one to his little brother. I told him that I was sure that I would be able to complete them both. I really like how they turned out. They are more patriotic than I thought they would be, but they are great for two little boys and will grow with them over the years.

Here is a look at the first quilt already on his bed. He says that he loves it. It is so warm. I put polar fleece on the back of them, so that they will be very cozy in their beds. The second quilt is finished except for the quilting and the binding. I hope to finish it this week.

The really big news today is that I booked flights to Ethiopia! (Yes, I purchased changeable tickets in case there is a change in our plans.) If all goes well, we will leave one month from today!!! It is so hard to believe. There is so much to do...I better go get sewing!

Sweet Momma

Every second brings us closer...

Today as I sat down to read to my two youngest I asked Pumpkin to pray and ask God to bless our school. His prayer began like many other prayers and then he began to pray for his little brother and sister in Ethiopia...that they would have a good day and that they would be happy. "And God please help us to pass court, because every second that goes by brings us closer to the moment when they will be home."

This sent me into a fit of tears, how profound from my little six year old boy.

Would you please pray for:

- all of our paperwork to be in order.

- the family member of our kids that may be at the court proceeding. That God would comfort her and give her peace.

- the judge that signs the papers.

- our new little ones, as they are told that they have a new family.

We will be praying Wednesday night because Ethiopia is nine hours ahead of us. We hope to know if we passed, sometime Thursday morning.

Thanks again for your prayers,

Sweet Momma