Update from Ethiopia-Here's everything that has happened up until Wed.

Found the Stroller…Yeah!!

We are at Dulles in gate D23 awaiting our flight to Ethiopia. It is 7am Iowa time, 8 am here in DC. This morning has been good, we slept great in our hotel and got up excited at 5am and got ready. Our luggage is hilarious, we have huge bags that are packed to the rim. I am so glad we won’t have to deal with it on the way home. We will have plenty to think about.

We found the stroller that we left last night at the baggage claim area after we checked our other luggage in, so we are taking it on the plane with us. We ate breakfast at Subway, Egg and sausage wraps, Tanya had a sausage muffin from Dunkin Donuts. We took our malaria meds with some milk and shot a little bit of video. We are now about to call the kids, it will be a little while before we get to call and talk to them again. The internet is not free here at Dulles, so I am journaling and I will blog this later. We are going to keep taking little snippets of video and saving a lot of our pictures for when we are in Addis and for our trip south. I’m going to shut this down now and charge the battery, maybe I can write more when I’m on the plane.

Almost done flying…

We’ve been in this plane all day and then some. It has been a long flight. We stopped in Rome and sat there for about 45 min. while crew changed and some Italian men came on and cleaned, then we were back in the air. The food has been fabulous, but we haven’t slept much. Mom called just as we were boarding and said the drains in the kitchen sink and the bathtub were backing up with sewage. I don’t know how it resolved because we had to take off, but I hope everything is fine.

I can’t stop thinking about the boys and what the next few days would bring. In my attempts to sleep I would just be praying for our meeting with the biological parents and our meeting with Levi and Jesse. I would find that I was ending my prayers with just praise and adoration, awe and wonder about how God has brought us to this place. I am also praying for the kids back in Sioux City and what they are doing and if they are sad missing us or just having fun and being excited about our next phone call. Tanya and I will go from smiling at each other to looking at each other and getting choked up and then just sharing our feelings and emotions. There have been so many moments of just feeling overwhelmed, looking out the airplane window and seeing God’s creation and feeling so small and yet so confident in Christ and his incredible work of grace in my life. We just filled out our little cards for the visa thing and I guess we hand it in when we get off the plane for our temporary visa. We have a meeting right away when we get there. It is now 8:00am Ethiopia time, however my body thinks it is midnight. I hope I can make it through the day without crashing. I have to shut down the old laptop, time to land in Addis Ababa.

Monday Morning

I haven’t written since we were on the plane and so much has happened, I don’t know if I can write it all now. I have pictures along the way from getting off the plane, getting through customs, visas and passports stamped, to getting our luggage, then to getting on the mini-bus that brought us to the office. Then right away we were wisked to the care center to meet Jesse. It was amazing, he was so happy, then we spent a little time with him and then wisked to the school where we met Levi, Jesse was with us. He came running out of the school to see us in the van and then the video guy picked him up and took him into the play yard to get video of our first meeting. He was so smiley and there were no other kids around and we talked with him and got to sit on the ground with him and Jesse and introduce ourselves. We spent a little time there and then went to the care center again with both boys and played. Levi played soccer and Jesse was happy to just push balls around and toddle and giggle with us. We are still just in awe. We had to say goodbye to Jesse and then Levi rode with us to the place where we eat and he LOVED riding in the car. He played there with us for just a few minutes then he had to go back to the place where he eats and sleeps and we had to eat. He kept waving and smiling from the van and he sat in the front seat with the driver, big grin!! I tried to blog real quick at the office and then it was right to bed (we had been awake for over 20 hours.)

Trip South:

The next morning (Sun) we got up very early (3:45am) and got in some land rovers with the other families to make the 4 hour drive south. I have lots of pictures and we did a video diary to document everything, so I won’t write much here. It rained the whole way, sometimes down pouring. The road was in very good shape most of the way. The closer we got to Hossaina, the worse it got and in Hossaina we did some serious off-roading, sliding down muddy, tire-trenched streets. Our driver, named Casa, was a very good driver, but didn’t speak English that great. It was very quiet most of the ride. The countryside is tremendous and beautiful, the mountains were so misty with fog and very green, our eyes could hardly believe how beautiful everything was!! Meeting Asefa and Aster was such a tremendous experience!! They also love Jesus and the Holy Spirit made our meeting such a union of peace and love. They were obviously so sad, but so happy to see pictures of the boys and video of them playing and smiling and laughing. It was a very intense moment that was made into unexplainable worship by God’s grace. We prayed together through the interpreter and then in the ceremony, I prayed for all the families in English and Asefa prayed for all the families in Amharic. It was absolutely amazing and unforgettable and truly and life-changing moment. We have pictures of us together and of them together and of each of them alone. It was fun to turn the camera around and show them the pictures of themselves. They smiled and giggled to see their pictures.

The trip back was amazing to see all the villages and all the people. We stopped at a hut and got to experience how they live, what the grow. I got amazing pictures and video at this home and the children were so precious! When we returned, it was about 3:30 in the afternoon. They told us we wouldn’t see the boys because there was no one to drive us to the care center. So, we walked with some other families, it was nice to walk after 8 hours in a bouncy land rover. We got to play with Jesse, he was happy to see us and loves to toddle around and play. He is very content and only cried for about 30 seconds when we didn’t do something right with his toys. We gave him a little rattle to chew on and he loved flicking the little wheel and biting on it. He is getting some big back teeth and has very stinky diarrhea. We didn’t get to see Levi because he is in a different building now, so we were sad about that, but we will see him today. We hope to take Jesse to Levi’s place so we can see where Levi sleeps and eats and we can play with them both there. It is now 6:30 am here (10:30 pm)

Tuesday Morning, July 9, 2007 Tanya’s Entry

Words cannot adequately express the range of emotions I have been feeling since our plane landed in Ethiopia. God is already giving us such a deep love for these precious little ones of HIS. As I was holding Jesse yesterday my eyes filled with tears as it really sunk in that he was my son. All that he has been through along with Levi is unimaginable to me. At times they seem confused, but each time we see them they become more familiar with Layne and I. Yesterday we arrived at the infant and toddler center ( Levi is at a different house) and dashed to the playroom his was in. As we opened the door, our eyes met his across the room. His face bursted into a huge smile and he ran into our arms. I scooped him up and he nuzzled himself into my neck. He loves to be held and snuggled. We have been carrying him around in a hip carrier. He enjoys this and slept for 2 hours on Layne yesterday. It is obvious that he was most likely carried like this as a baby with his Ethiopian family. Jesse is such a sweet sweet baby. He is very affectionate and loves to smile and be held. He plays gently with Levi and gets excited to be with him.

We arrived at Levi’s school yesterday and he was quick to run up to us and let us scoop him up. The nannies took us to a room that must be like an activity room as it had a larger open space. We had brought 25 cans of playdough to donate to the school. So before we gave these away, we played with it with the boys. Levi enjoyed opening up each color and rolling it into balls. Jesse used all the cans as blocks and stacked them up on top of each other. He also kept dumping them out of the big ziplock bag and filling it up again over and over. He was a boy on a mission. We colored with Levi. He was very careful to keep the crayons separate from the pencils. Levi was a bit over stimulated and was extremely excited. It was hard for him to stay focused for very long on one particular thing. He seemed very happy and comfortable with us.

Layne’s Entry

Since Tanya wrote about our time at the school, I’ll kinda pick up there. Closer to noon, we had to get ready to go and the boys were going to eat with us. However, the little bus was not there yet and so they wanted Levi to eat with his friends. Tanya had to change Jesse, so I watched Levi eat. I’m so glad we got to see this, because watching 30 kids eat at a regular size picnic table was so incredible! They were almost on top of each other and their arms were folded while the nannies handed out Tupperware bowls and cups with lids on them and goulash inside. Every child got their food and then they prayed a little song, it was really cute, I hope I can get the words from the nannies, it was all in English. Then they began to eat, all had their own forks and they had to eat all their food before they could get up. Levi was continually taking a bite then looking to see me and smiling, he was sooo polite and quiet with the other children. He got a little silly when he would look at me.

We took them back to the guest house where we eat and they really loved this. Jesse ate Ethiopian food, Injera and wat and some creamed corn with lentils, he really liked the corn! There is a lot of corn here, very popular food. Levi played soccer and rode a big wheel around in the driveway area and we had some fun. He is verrrrry active!! When he was running up to get the big wheel off of the porch, he slipped on the very slick marble and bonked his head. It scared him more than anything because he was going full tilt. I scooped him up and comforted him, he was crying. He settled down and then was much calmer and had fun pushing the buttons on the little big wheel thing. Jesse came out too and Levi was good to share and take turns with the balls and toys. We are learning so many Amharic words, but we forget them so fast. Communication is definitely a factor. We then had to go back to Jesse’s place to have our doctor’s appointment and that is when Jesse fell asleep hard!! Geremu played with Tanya while I had the sleeper in the sling. Levi had fun wearing the headphones listening to Toby Mac and PureNRG. Levi then got really sad and fell asleep too, but he was uncomfortable. Our Dr. appt. went well, we learned about Habtamu that he has had 3 different rounds of anti-biotics for various things since he got to the care center. Ears, skin infections and the most recent is that he got the end of his right ring finger smashed in the door on Thursday and lost the nail, it looked really nasty on Sat. when we got here and he’s on amoxicillin, and it is clearing up. On sat. it was so infected, he couldn’t bend it. It is getting better but needs to be cleaned up. Levi has been very healthy since he has been here, a little infitigo on his head but that is it, no antibiotics. When he came to the orphanage he had a swollen eye. It was huge, the Dr. said, but it was just a bee sting, so he has to allergic. They didn’t give him anything for it, but we will have to keep some benadryl on hand at all times. After that, Jesse woke up happy, but Levi was very sad and confused when he woke up, it was hard. Please pray for him and the confusion, frustration and sadness he must be feeling.

Habtamu went back with his Nannies in the care center and we delivered Levi to his place. It was really nice and when we got there 29 kids had the playdoh that we brought out at little tables with little plastic primary colored chairs. Then we had to go, Levi seemed sad to watch us leave.

We met the boys

I have tons to write but I have access here for a few minutes and i'm posting to say we've met them and they are fantastic!!!!

Adventure begins...

We are just about to go to bed in DC. Our biggest mistake so far is that we forgot to pick up the stroller at the baggage claim. We will be trying to figure that out tomorrow, bright and early **smile**
The picture is with our luggage outside the Dulles terminal right before we got on the shuttle.

We had great flights coming this far and we spent some time with Tanya's cousins in VA. They fed us WELL! Crabcakes and Kabobs on the grill. Jaimee and I decided we need to get this really good cheese called boursin- Yum. It was goood!

We leave on a shuttle from our hotel at 6:30 a.m. to get to the airport, get through sec., find the stroller, check the baggage and be ready to board by 9:20ish. We are re-organizing how we carry stuff after our travel today. I'm so glad we get to stay overnight and regroup and then fly again tomorrow!

The emotions are really odd right now, because we are not at home with Kaylee, Isaac and Erin and we are not with the boys yet, so we are really missing everybody. It is great to have Jaimer with us! She is keeping us from being so overwhelmed and emotional. I am so thankful for the prayer support from home and our parents to watch the kids at home. It is really great to know that they are being loved on and kept active and probably a little spoiled.

Praise God from who all bessings flow!!!

Tonight is June 30th. One week from today we will have met Levi and Jesse in person! I cannot put together words to express my feelings. Overjoyed to say the least. Most of the time, I feel like I am in a big bubble.

I wanted to take just a moment before bed to express how the Lord has provided for this international adoption. We didn't begin this process with much money saved. (approx $5,ooo) We knew our costs could be at the least, 20,000 or more. ( we are at the MORE because of God blessing us with 2 instead of 1) We were trusting by faith and grace, that He would provide what we needed, if this was the plan He had for us. We assumed we would probably need to take out a second mortgage on our home. What is money anyway, huh?! You don't take it with you when you die, and what an honor to spend it the way the Lord guides you!

To be very honest, there were many times I really struggled with being anxious about our financial need., and then God would provide just what we needed for that moment. For example, at one point we needed 700$ to pay off our home study fees. We were rear-ended in our van. (very very minimal damage that we could live with) Because there was such difficulty getting a police report to the insurance company of the man who hit us, he offered to just pay us cash for the damage done. His delivery of 650 dollars came just in time to pay off this bill.

God has been so very creative in providing the funds. We stand in amazement and awe as we will be traveling in 5 days with absolutely NO DEPT! Here are just some of the ways God has provided: donations from our local church body, gifts from family and friends, a grant fund, a garage sale at our church where families donated stuff to sell, tax refunds, our new job of cleaning our church, eating in instead of out, doing things that cost little for entertainment.
As the costs added up, so did the blessings, and it is just an amazing testimony of God's grace at every step.
It occured to us that one of the reasons we are posting this is that there may possibly be someone or some family who is thinking about adopting, but thinks that the dollars is too big an obstacle. If He is calling you to go forward, He will make a way, even if you have to mortgage your house :)
going to bed now, need our rest...

Preparations.........

Today was a busy busy day. I am thankful to my cousin, Natalie, for being here to help with the kiddos! It was rainy all day and she did a wonderful job keeping them busy. They made goop, rock candy and puppets. Kaylee had a Barbie playmate and Isaac had a cheering section as he played Hotwheels.com. The kids also made a paper chain to count off the days until we leave for Ethiopia. We will have to make another for them to count down for our return.

I was busy making airline arrangements, getting legal paperwork together, sorting clothes to pack for Levi and Jesse and keeping up on laundry. My head is swimming. I decided to write all the things I have to do down and sort them into categories. Each topic has its own list. Here are the topics so far.

Paperwork
Adoption to do
Phone calls
House Projects
Packing
Medical
Church Commitments

This has helped me from letting my mind wonder to far. I am also trying to ask God daily for the grace to not be overwhelmed. Philippians 4:6-7 has been encouraging. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." I need much grace to be able to go to Him in prayer in the midst of my mind spinning into "task" mode. I long to be near to the Lord as I prepare all these things.

Tonight I had a sad feeling............Levi is heavy on my heart. Poor precious little one. He has so many more upcoming changes. He has already been through so much. Layne and I are feeling the urgency to pray that he will bond to us quickly. I can't imagine how our little Erin would react if all of her familiar surroundings, her mommy, daddy, and siblings were all of a sudden gone. The grief seems unrepairable. How he must long for his Ethiopian family............

Dear Lord,
You are a great God! You are the ultimate healer and comforter. It is by faith in you alone that I can say with confidence that you are working all of this together for the good of those who love you. Please comfort the boys. Help them grieve and feel Your comfort through our love. I am thankful for your presence when my faith begins to flounder. Some days I wonder if we are making the right choice and then YOU remind me of the way you have orchestrated all this to come into place and I feel peace and excitement for what is to come. I cannot wait to get my hands on these precious ones.

Tanya

Were going get the boys!

Today we received the call we've been waiting for since April 17th. Around 4:30pm today, we were told that we were declared (legally) in the courts of Addis Ababa the parents of Habtamu (Jesse) and Geremu (Levi). Overjoyed! Thrilled! Excited! Nervous!
Tanya was quickly on the phone with the Travel arranger guy and attempting to work out flights and times, etc. Tentatively, July 5th looks like the day we will leave SC and get into Washington DC. We would then leave DC for Ethiopia on the 6th and arrive on the 7th (Thats a Sat.) With timezone changes, we'll pretty much lose about 10 hours. July 14th looks like it could be the return date. We would like to fly in to SC if possible. It would be ideal to not have to drive after flying and being jetlagged.

So many of you have joined us in praying towards bringing our little guys home! Thank you so much!! The reality of getting closer to having them here with us is hitting us and we still have stuff to get done before we go. More to come....

Go Eagles

My nephew plays baseball for the Eagles and we went to his game tonight! The kids had fun and they reallllly love to see their cousin! They got to each have a dollar to spend at the concession stand.
The girl at the stand said to Erin, "What would you like?"
Erin: "candy"
Girl at the stand: "what kind"
Erin: "red"

It was very cute!
Note the bloody right knee on Isaac. Just before that picture, Isaac skidded on the pavement. No
tears, tough guy.

Updates on the Boys

We received a physical growth update on Habtamu (Jesse) yesterday. I thought I would just post both of their growth chart readings since they have been in the care center.

Jesse(Habtamu)

3/27 weight 22.35 lbs and 29.13 inches
5/1 22.97 lbs and 29.72 inches
6/3 24.64 lbs and 30.31 inches (great gains here!!!!)



Levi (Geremu)

3/27 weight 33lbs and 37.2 inches
4/15 34.17lbs and 37.4 inches
5/15 34.17lbs and 37.4 inches ( no growth here, we are praying for more gains)


We continue to pray for our paperwork to clear the Ethiopian courts(possibly by June 6th) We are very excited to get there soon!

Tanya

Happy 3rd Birthday, Erin!

Our little girl turned 3 today,.
In her words "my birfday is June furd!"
We had a family party and it was fun!
great aunts and uncles came, Grandmas and Grandpas, teens and youngsters. A good time was had by all.
We started around 2:15ish, and we opened presents first, then we did cake, desserts, coffee or juice and ICE CREAM! Erin's cake was a Princess cake! She got clothes, flipflops, books, a backpack, some dollies, and a really cool Puppet Theatre that her bopie made. It hangs in the doorway.
She was so excited to have her party and she said to me before everyone came..."I'm queen of the day!"

The village of Hossana

When we received the referral for the boys, we found out that we have the opportunity to travel south of Addis to the village of Hossana to meet Levi and Jesse's biological family. Most likely it will only be their Ethiopian mom. The father is suffering with illness and someone needs to remain behind to tend to their small piece of farm land. Conditions there are incomprehensible for us to relate to. They grow food to survive and most families are having a difficult doing this with. Starvation is a reality to most of these families, education and medical treatment is virtually unattainable. Our boys have most likely never been to a doctor until they entered the care center 3months ago now.

Layne and I have cried many tears imagining this meeting. What will we say? The picture in my mind is crying uncontrollably and wanting to hug and hold this woman, assure her of our love for these beautiful boys and the commitment to love them forever. I long for her to tell me as many details about their childhood as can be translated and what she wants them to grow up hearing about their Ethiopian family and their country of birth. We will always be very open with Levi and Jesse about how much they were loved by them. In a way our whole family will now be grafted into this family on the other side of the world.

My intent in writing this post was to record the list of items we have been told to pack for our day trip into VERY rural countryside in the southern region. Layne and I have never traveled out of the country before and we can't think of a better first experience than to bring home the boys God has ordained to be a part of our family forever.

Trip South Packing List( We will be gone from the orphanage about 13 hours)

water for the whole day
snacks for the day
hand sanitizer
baby wipes for cleaning
cameras
pictures or our family and the boys for the Ethiopian family
map of the world with Iowa circled and united with a line to Ethiopia(most of these people have never been educated or seen a world map)
bug spray
sunblock
medications(malaria meds, Advil)
handkerchief to cover face and protect from the dust
All packed in a comfortable backpack

Thats all for now
Tanya

Dear Levi and Jesse...........

Dear Levi and Jesse,

I know you're far away but I feel like you are in America already and in our house. I hope that you like the stuff we sent from here. I miss you lots and I know you can't read this, but there is something I want you little guys to know. I LOVE you very much and that I wish your little faces would pop up in front of me. Your picture is on our refrigerator and I wish you guys would pop out. I miss you very much and I wanted to tell you one last time, I love you.


Love,
Big Sister Kaylee

Wait

Tanya's sister posted this on her blog and I was so moved, that I thought I would share it here too.
It really hit home with me, and God brought others to my mind as well.

Wait

by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, “Wait.”

“Wait? you say wait?” my indignant reply.
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming your Word.

“My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign,
Or even a ‘no’ to which I can resign.

“You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:
I’m weary of asking! I need a reply.”

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, “Wait.”
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting for what?”

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

“I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You’d have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.
You’d not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.

“You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there.
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

“You’d never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

“The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

“You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I’m doing in you.

“So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait.”

Updates on the boys

We have received a tiny weeny piece of medical news on both boys. The care center in Addis sent us updated growth information. Both of the boys seem to be gaining weight. Jesse came into their care weighing 22.3 pounds on March 27, 2007 and on May 1st he weighed 22.9. Not much, but better than losing...... He is also 29 in. tall. Levi came into the center weighing 33 pounds and weighed 34.1 pounds on April 14th. He is 37 inches tall. We were also emailed a milestone report on Levi. It was a sort of checklist. Here are some of the questions they answered.
Does he use eating utensil.........Yes
Does he wash and dry his own face and hands.......Yes
Exibits a sense of humor.........Yes
Understands taking turns.........Yes
Can count 5 objects(not sure in what language?)........Yes

Some of the things they were checking, they weren't able to get an accurate account because of the language barrier. He fluently speaks his tribal language. He is currently learning Amharic (the national language) and English in pre-school. He goes every morning until right after lunch. We were also told that the boys get to spend time together everyday in the afternoon. They do not stay in the same area, so we are thankful the care center lets them be together often. I get choked up thinking of how soothing it must be for both of them to see each other and not feel so alone.

We did find out that our social worker in Minneapolis finally got her travel date to go. She is the one who will be delivering by hand the photo books we made for each of the boys. We put pictures of our immediate family, our house, yard and some rooms in the house. We also sent a digital recorder with our voices on it. We spoke to them, sang to them and each of the kids said a little message. Layne played his guitar while we all sang and Kaylee played her violin. Hopefully these little ones enjoy music. She will leave the states on June 1st and hopefully get some updated pictures of them while she is there. I asked her to hug them for us and tell them we can't wait to come for them.

This leads to what I am struggling the most with..............Not knowing when we will be traveling. I am daily asking God to give me patience in the wait. It is just really hard. We are hoping to hear soon, and in the meantime we are getting many things in order.

Tanya

qoyta

qoyta....that is how you say wait or waiting in Amharic (the Ethiopian Language)
We have been doing lots and lots of stuff around the house during this waiting period.
Here's a brief overview:
Painted both bedrooms
put bunk beds in both rooms (had to assemble them, it wasn't too bad)
Moved furniture around, the girls room has the white stuff now (book/toy shelf and new/used white dresser Tanya found at second-hand shop)
had to get some new mattresses for the beds, but God granted us a great deal at HOM furniture on some clearance mattresses.
moving clothes around, and digging out some of Isaacs old clothes for the boys to wear.
We now have couple extra box springs as it seems you don't need those when you have bunks. I'm not quite sure how to store them or if i even should.
We spoke at Fellowship of Christian Athletes for West High tonight. We haven't been involved with that for about 5 years now and it was really neat. We both shared our testimonies and how God has moved in us, our family and our newest members.
Maybe we can get some pictures of the rooms. The kids love their new beds.
goodnight.
Layne

Be Still and Know that I am God

The last few days have been spent painting bedrooms and getting ready for two sets of bunk beds. This leads into an incredible story about how our first set of bunk beds came into our possession.
The first Sunday after hearing about Levi and Jesse, we announced the news in church and displayed their pictures on the screen in the sanctuary. There was a new couple and their family visiting church this day and after listening to our news, they decided they wanted to help in some way.
The next morning, after looking our number up in the phone book, I get a phone call from Tammy and she said she had a question for us. She explained that the Lord was moving her and her husband to call to see if we had a need for any bunk beds?! I about croaked! Instantly, I was so touched at the thoughtfulness of this couple and their willingness to listen to the voice of the Lord, that was prompting them to call.
A little side note..........After hearing about the boys, Layne and I started looking on- line at bunk beds. We had decided that we would like to have the set in the boys room be the kind with a Full bed on the bottom and a twin on the top. This would enable Levi to sleep comfortably with Isaac or for one on us to lay by him if he was scared or sad in the night. Both Levi and Jesse are used to sleeping with others. Families in rural Ethiopia most of the time sleep in one room huts on the dirt floor with siblings or parents close by. So now with this added info, I will continue about the bunk beds.
Anyway, Tammy explained that they did not have a need for these like brand new beds because of a change in their sleeping arrangements. I explained we would want to pay them and she insisted that they wanted to "bless" us with these. She began to describe them to me. She said they were wooden and their was a FULL bed on the bottom and a single on the top. My eyes were moved to tears and instantly my thoughts were filled with reminders of how faithful and gracious our God is. With our finances already stretched beyond our means (but not God's), we were receiving bunk beds nicer than anything we would have been able to afford. God also provided some discounted mattresses from our friend who manages a furniture store in town.
Throughout this adoption I have been very tempted to be anxious about the total lack of finances in our budget to afford to do this. We did not begin this process because we had all the money saved or even an idea of where we would get it. We felt the Lord directing our hearts toward adopting children and caring for orphans. I am typing this and we still have about 7,00o dollars to come up with in order to bring our boys home.
Isn't it funny that because of bunk beds, I was reminded once again of how He provides. As I think and look at these bunk beds in our home, God reminds me of His precious words in Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God" Ahhhhh...........stillness in the Lord is a much more peaceful place to be, rather than doubting and anxious.

Happy Birthday, Isaac

Isaac will be 6 on May 9th. He had his party today with his little buddies. They had a blast.
The lunch served was Brats on the grill and Doritos, and strawberries, Coke or Root Beer to drink. We had cupcakes next. Right before Isaac blew out his candles, he shouted "I wish my brothers were here!" It was so sweet! It was rainy, so we went up to North Middle School and did games in the gym. That was so fun, they rode scooter boards, played kickball and wiffle ball. Then, they got to break a spongebob Pinata.
Kaylee got to spend most of the day with her best friend and they even went out to supper at a Mexican place.

I'll post some pictures of the party in the near future, gotta hit the hay!

Layne

A gift...

Yesterday was such a gorgeous day, and we had just returned late Saturday night, so we were spending some time working in the yard. I had to mow and there were many other tedious jobs to be done. Isaac was out with me most of the time and it was very hot. 93 degrees is what i heard. Around 7:30ish, it was a little cooler and kids were playing on the swing set. Tanya had cleaned up the grill and we needed a new grill cover and a few other things, so I decided to take the kids and make a little wal-mart run. Isaac was rummaging around in his room and came to me and said, "Dad, can you help me find my billfold? It's really important!" Well, I was wanting to get going and just said "Don't worry about it, it'll turn up, you need to find your flip-flops so we can get going." But what I got was "Dad, I really need to find it, it's really important!" So I helped him find it, while asking what was so important. He said, "I want to give something to mommy and it is REEAAALLY important!"
He found his billfold underneath his bed and proceeded to take out a $50 bill (His Christmas money that he has been hanging onto for something special) "YES!" he pronounced as he left me in the room and made a dead sprint through the house and out the back door for mommy, who was sitting on the back porch, still scrubbing down the grill. When I caught up to him, this is what I heard.
"Momma" he said "I want to give this to you, to bring my brothers home faster." The look on his face was a serious joy like I'd never seen. Tanya just melted and gave him a huge hug and he fell limp in her arms. She grabbed his little face and proceeded to tell him how much his gift means and how much it will help in bringing them home. After the hug, he ran back to his room and grabbed out another $10 (the rest of his Christmas money) and sprinted back to his mommy and said "I just want you to have all my big bills." and he smiled and got another big hug!
I just had to write this story down, because I don't ever want to forget how special it was. The kids are always asking about what time it is in Ethiopia and what Geremu and Habtamu might be doing right now.
The kids read a book today called A Family from Ethiopia that they got at the library. There was a page that talked about how one family had an 8 year old girl, whose primary job in the family was to look after the baby. Kaylee said "Momma, do you think Habtamu will love me, because he's used to having a sister that looks after him?" It is just amazing to hear the questions they ask and comments they make, and so encouraging to hear them pray, at every meal, and bedtime, without fail, for their new brothers.

Map of Care Center

This is really cool.
We just got a newsletter from CHSFS (agency) and it had this satellite photo in it of the care center. If you click on the picture at the right, it will enlarge so you can read where things are. The Care Center is the orphanage, the guest house is where we will stay when we go. The big greenish area just south of the guest house is a Home Depot.
We just got back from Minneapolis. It was so good to see the kids again. the were all bathed and smellin' so sweet and it is late, so they were very snuggly and ready to hit the hay. I'm so glad bopie and bompa kept them up, so we could luv'on 'em!
Many thanks go up to God for the family who were caring for our babies this weekend. Fireman Ed, The Davidsons, Uncle Bob, Aunt Rae and Cuzin' Nate, Memah and Bumpa K.K. and Bopie and Bompa! They had so much fun and it makes the opportunity to go to the conference even sweeter.
2 Thessalonians 1:3
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, family, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.
As our family is growing, our faith is growing abundantly and our love for our family is also increasing. What a great promise and blessing from the Lord!

Agency visit

It was so great to visit the agency today.
The person we talked with is actually going to the care center in Addis in 2 weeks and will be able to hand deliver the stuff we took to her today. We asked her to give them big hugs for us and she said she would give us updates while she's there. That is so exciting and amazing.
We also got to see a video from the care center and footage from the villages in the south. We had a million questions and learned more about what the boys may have experienced up until now.
here's a link to the pictures that are in the baggies we sent: Click Here
The conference is great. We loved hearing Wayne Grudem today and CJ mahaney tonight.
We will be getting audio of everything at the conference and sharing with the Sunday School teachers. It is really good stuff! We are so thankful to our church for sending us.
T went to a really good seminar on new things to add to the sunday school curriculum. I went to a seminar on worship with kids.
Tomorrow after the conference, we are going to try to make it to an Ethiopian market to get some flour called Teff, so Tanya can learn how to make Injera bread.

Vaccinated

Tanya and I went together on Monday and got Yellow fever and Hep A shots at the Community Health Center. Neither of us got sick, just a little bit of a sore arm We are in Minneapolis for the Children Desiring God Conference and may get to visit CHSFS on Friday. We are sending pictures and voice recordings of ourselves to Habtamu and Geremu. We get to send a gallon size ziploc to each little guy. There are also little toys and books in there. I can't believe the emotional roller coaster that I feel I've been on. This week has been really strange that way, that I'll be really excited for a time and just enjoying this time in our lives and for our family and then I'll be really sad and wondering about the boys and what their day is like and how they are adjusting to the changes they are experiencing. We pray for them and it is so neat to hear how Kaylee, Isaac and even Erin pray for them.
Layne

Just Another Manic Monday

Monday April 16, 2007 started out as a pretty typical day..........Kiddos to feed, chores to do and supervise, laundry, and school lessons to teach. School was such a priority today that I decided to not even attempt to answer the phone and just let the machine get it. Whew, I had no idea the call I was going to miss around 10:30 am. The Lord was bringing about a moment in time I could only begin to imagine. The call that would change our lives forever and reveal to us the child/ children that would join our family. Oh how I had dreamed of this day, but had not even let myself hope it would really happen until the middle of May. (Ok, maybe it was in the back of my mind quite a bit.......smile)
After teaching Kaylee her lessons and Isaac his math and reading, I decided to check my email. As I opened up my email, I noticed a message from Janette our social worker from Lutheran Family Services in Iowa. She expressed a desire to speak with us. My mind instantly began spinning and wondering, could this be a referral?????? Yes, Lord, please let this be the day. I send the kids outside to play and with shaky hands I dial her number. Busy....... Next my cell phone rings and my sister Lea tries to decipher her older sister's words on the other end. In haste, I promise to call her when I know anything.
All of a sudden my thoughts stop cold turkey. OH no, I think I know what this call is about. The week before I had emailed our worker at Children's Home Society (our adoption agency) to tell her of our desire to change the age limit from 2yrs to 4-5 years for a sibling group. This would make our options even more broad. (infant boy, infant twins, or a sibling group of two with an infant and a sibling up to age 4-5) Surely, Janette is calling because she will have to update our home study yet again. ( We had a typo to correct in Jan) I am sure this has to be the reason for her call. However, I then remembered her message included the statement that she wanted to reach us today. Paper work can always wait, right?! But a referral would definitely warrant a comment like this. My hopes are sky high again.
I dial for the 3rd time and YES! It is ringing........ Now my throat begins to feel thick and my eyes are starting to burn with that "I think I may cry any moment" feeling and my heart is racing. Lord, is this the day? Please let this be the day! Janette answers in her cheerful voice and I immediately identify myself and weakly try to squeak out my question. "Janette, please just tell me yes or no right away. Do you have a referral for us or not. If not I will be fine but I just need to right off the bat." She giggles and says I am taking away her fun. She wanted to begin the conversation by explaining that Children's Home had called her and wanted us to get some more paperwork completed to update our file for an older sibling.
Her next words would cause a flood of tears to burst out and a indescribable sense of joy to overtake my body. She says she does have a referral for our family. As I begin to cry with joy, I quickly call Kaylee, Isaac and Erin in from outside by screaming we have a referral. Come quick and listen. Why I decided to put her on speaker phone is now beyond me. Of course this is the moment Erin begins to whine and complain at Isaac for doing something and he is trying to defend himself. Instantly I turn off the speaker phone and announce it is Iowa Public television time. Yippeeee for the younger two an peace and quiet for Kaylee and I.
Janette first says she has a sibling group. I am sobbing at this point, because all along a desire of my heart was to have a more than one. Kaylee has been praying for two and telling others to pray the same. (smile) Dear Kaylee is crying and giggling at the same time as I scramble for a paper and pencil. Janette assured me that she would forward all this info on email, but for some reason I just kept writing and writing not wanting to miss a detail. The older, Geremu just turned 4 and his baby brother, Habtamu, had just turned one. What happened next totally caught me off guard. I was overcome with a deep sorrow and sadness for the birth family of these precious boys. By giving them up, they hoped to give them life.

Dear precious Father, as I type this memory of this day, I am reminded of the abundant life you give Layne and I as we trust you as our Lord and Savior. Without your grace and leading, we would never have begun this adoption walk on our own. You have blessed us with a renewed faith in the ability to trust in your Sovereignty. You continue to remind us that you will provide the grace we need to get through each new day. In this moment of I am humbled by your power and control over all things. It is evident that You have ordained little Geremu and Habtamu to be a part of our family forever and it is our prayer that we will be able to love them with the love of Christ in hopes that one day they will call you their Lord and Savior. Please grant us the grace to wait patiently for their paperwork to get through the Ethiopian courts. I wonder what they are doing all the way on the other side of the world. My heart aches for them. They have to be missing their family and siblings so much, especially Geremu. Oh how I long to hold them in my arms and pick apart every detail of their faces, and kiss them and become familiar of the smell of their skin. Lord, keep them safe. Provide someone to love them until their mommy and daddy from Iowa can bring them home.

Referral, Referral, Referral

It's true!! The news is out! Now it is on the web. We found out April, 16th at around noon.
Two, that's right, 2, brothers. Geremu (GARE-uh-moo) just turned four and Habtamu (OBB-tah-moo) just turned one. They are adorable and we will be posting pictures soon!
So many questions and I don't have many answers, but I know this is all in God's hands!
For example...
All along, Tanya has had on her heart and in her mind a little 4 yr. old boy. I have always been the hold-out. A while back, you may remember we had a little issue with the Immigration services paperwork and God gave us the opportunity and prompted us to change our age range on an older sibling up to 3. A few weeks later, I was at a school working with a teacher and met a little boy and God used him to change my heart to move it up again. That was right before we left for Chicago on Easter wknd. We chatted and prayed about it on the 8hr ride there and the 10 hour ride home. When we returned home, Tanya just emailed the agency to see what it would take to up the age on our paperwork to four. We got some information back and were prayerfully considering it and then WHAM-O, God drops these boys in. His perfect timing and providence at work!

When are we going? (This seems to be the most common question) Could be up 12 weeks before we travel (were hoping for 8 weeks, but would leave tomorrow if we could)
How long will we be gone? Don't know for sure, but we would like to travel to south to meet birth family, so it could be up to 10 days.

More Pictures from Chicago 07

We had such a great mini-vaca to visit the Taylor's in Chicago. We had a full itinerary, and yet were able to soak up the moments spent with each other and the kids.
Below are some more pics from the trip. To the right is a view from the train on the way into the big city!
Easter Basket hunt!
Easter Morning before Church
Fun at the Farm
Visit the Ramsey's on the way home!

more to come...

Preparations

The Bench Seat is almost done. Saturday, my friend who is an industrial arts teacher, built with me this bench seat. The tops are off, being painted in the garage. The top will be hinged so Tanya will have more storage in there. You can also see the vent. I had to bring that through from the wall. This is such a blessing, because it will allow us to have all of our family around the table in the kitchen at the same time! There are room for 6 little bottoms on the benches! I'll post another photo of the finished product.

Windows

Isaac has a new window! (in his mouth) He lost a second tooth. He ran up to me Wed. night at awana with bloody mouth and a big wiggly tooth and said "Dad, I have loose tooth!"
Five minutes later he had yanked it out and was showing his trophy.
He thoundz thweet when he talkthz. The tooth fairy was generous :)

On the adoption front...
Another family through our agency received a referral this week. They were waiting on an infant boy and had been waiting five months. (Their new son is nine months) We have been waiting three and a half months (it will be 4 mos. on Apr. 15th). So we are hopeful that by 5 months we will hear something. We are so thankful for all the prayer and support we have received. Please continue...Our baby is probably born. Join us in praying for him and his birth family and those caring for his needs. (And don't forget the possibility that their could be more than 1 *big smile*) Ta and I both need prayer to fight anxiousness.

Layne

God's precision and timing

The last few weeks, we have been battling anxiety and attempting to fight against worry.
When we would pray and ask for peace, He would grant it, but the worry would creep in.
This last weekend, we were graced in a big way by financial gifts from family. Our church also gifted us with enough to completely cover our shots, (a cost we were completely unprepared financially for.)
Today, we received word from Katelyn's Fund that they will be assisting us financially with our adoption! We are so overwhelmed and the words Thank You can hardly cover what we are feeling. This gift will enable us to pay off the outstanding balance (past due) with the adoption agency! We are so in awe God's faithfulness.
We feel so blessed by the financial support of these gifts. We also have felt the power of Christ through the prayer and emotional support of our church, our family and the Katelyn's fund ministry.
Meeting with the people from Katelyn's fund was such a huge encouragement. Rejoice with us in this huge gift and praise God for his never ending faithfulness!

Below is their vision statement from their website:

Our vision for this ministry:
To offer financial, emotional, and prayer support to Christian families who are feeling God calling them to adopt. To establish a fund that would assist Christian families in adoption costs. Katelyn's Fund Board would communicate needs to consistory and families would need to share their personal testimony, and have an approved home study. Katelyn's Fund Board would take responsibilities for procedures, establish criteria, and report to consistory and church members. The long term impact of this ministry would not only be saving lives in the literal sense but also eternally. It would be to call other Christian families to consider or to support those adopting. For our church to rise up and proclaim it’s love for those near and far, the same and different, and the unfailing love of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Tanya with her nephew visiting from Illinois this week!

Happy Birthday, Ta!

I thought i'd get Tanya a balloon for her birthday!
I wish I could give her a ride in it. Look at that green grass!

Shootin' for 2

You might think this post is about March Madness. However...it's about a response we recently received from Citizenship and Immigration services.
We have received our i-824 back from Homeland Security. We are now officially allowed by the US government to bring two children back from Ethiopia. This does not mean that we will, it just means that we can. We haven't written about this before, but the story goes like this.
At some point after we had our fingerprinting done (December 27th), we got approval from Citizenship and Immigration services that we had approval to bring 1 child back as a citizen from Ethiopia. We were confused, because our home study clearly stated that we were open to twins, so we started making some phonecalls and emails to make sure this was right. We found that we had a flaw in our home study and needed to have it changed in order to get the ability to have citizenship for 2. long story short... just got the form back last Monday. God was totally ordaining this from the beginning though, because having to change our homestudy allowed us to change our age limits, too. So now we are open to... Up to 36 mos. old as the oldest of a sibling group, or twins.
It was a little frustrating, however, Tanya's sister Lea really put it in perspective recently when she wrote in her blog about the perfect moment in time that God has prepared that we will meet our baby or babies. And even though this seemed like a hold-up, it is really just part of His perfect plan.

L

Snowy Day

Today, Daddy didn't have to go in to work. Awesome blizzard! Thank God for our warm house!
Anyway, Lego's provided some entertainment and below you can see pictures of the work Isaac and Kaylee did. I'll let you guess whose is whose.

Red Dress Contest

Yesterday we went to Mercy Medical Center's Cardiology area for a reception because Kaylee won 1st place in their drawing contest! They even interviewed her on T.V. and we watched it last night on the 10pm news. She was really smiling and we are so happy for her. She got a trophy and a big check$$. A quote from Kaylee "it makes me feel happy to know that maybe my drawing might help someone to be more heart healthy."




I also found the Journal article and pasted it below:
Mercy announces Red Dress Art Contest winners
Mercy Heart Center's Red Dress Ambassadors have announced the winners of their annual "Red Dress Art Contest" which sought to alert Siouxland residents of all ages about the serious threat of cardiovascular disease -- especially to women.

In January, children in kindergarten through the eighth grade were invited to submit an original, color picture on 8 1/2 by 11-inch paper that incorporated a red dress. Hundreds of entries for the art contest were judged last week.

The winners in the following divisions were:

Kindergarten through second grade: 1. Kaylee Henn, Clark Elementary; 2. Emma Lamson, St. Michael's.

Third through fifth grade: 1. Aubrie Wauhob, Riverside Elementary; 2. Emily Gengler, Whittier Elementary.

Sixth through eighth grade: 1. Abbie Leigh, West Middle; 2. Tommy Thelen, Holy Cross.

First place winners in each of the three age categories will receive checks for $50 and second place winners will be awarded $25 prizes at a special presentation at 1:30 p.m. Sunday on the fourth floor of Mercy Heart Center.

All of the contest entries will be displayed on the fourth floor of the Heart Center through the end of February which is National Heart Month. The winning entries also can be viewed on Mercy's Web site, www.mercysiouxcity.com.

"This was the second time we have hosted an art contest for children," said Carla Galloway, chair of Mercy's Red Dress Ambassadors. "We received even more entries this year and were very impressed by so many outstanding, creative works of art."

"We wish to thank all of the children who entered the contest, their parents, and their teachers for their support of this effort."

Adoption Support meeting

A week ago today, we went up to Sioux Center last week to an adoption support meeting. We got to meet our friends new baby! They just returned home from Ethiopia 4 days before that and it was so exciting and encouraging. There were about 7 families there so we didn't get to talk with them as much as we would've liked, but hopefully soon we will get to see more pictures and hear more of their story with this new little guy. The kids were in awe. They loved seeing that little guy. In Erin's words "Mama, I like that black baby...He's Doorgeous!!"

L

New family game- Sleeping Queens

We have been playing more games together as a family and a friend/babysitter brought this game over and the kids absolutely LOVE it. Ta and I love it, too. It is fun and cute and we are learning some great lessons together playing games. We also love to play Trouble, Swap, Set and Race to the Roof.

Isaac's letter to our baby boy

Isaac dictated his letter to Tanya and then did some artwork at the bottom.
(Click on it below to get the full size letter)

photos

There is a family that has pictures from their trip to Ethiopia and the care center in Addis Ababa.
click the link below:
http://www.the-heits.com/the-heits/photo_album.htm

L

just an update

Hello everybody:
We have been so encouraged lately because our friends are just returning with their new son from Ethiopia!
Isaac said something the other day that was really cute. He asked, "Dad, if my new brother speaks Spanish, how will you be able to understand him?" He is so excited and has a billion questions.
Soon to come, Isaac's letter to his new baby brother.

L

Kaylee's letter to her new brother

I scanned this in so you could get the full effect of her writing it. It just seemed better to see her writing than to have it typed in.
Enjoy the drawings she did at the bottom of her letter. (Click on it below to get the full size letter)

L

passports

We received our passports in the mail yesterday. That was really exciting and a reality check!
I never would've imagined having a passport 10 years ago, but I can't think of a better reason to have one!

L

Friday Dance

I'm excited that tomorrow is Friday!
I will be doing the Friday dance at around 4:30 pm- you can count on that!
Adoption news---
We are currently in the process of applying for financial assistance from a couple of churches that have adoption ministries. One is in Sioux Center, IA and the other is in Minneapolis, MN.
You could pray that anxiety about finances would not overwhelm us.
Also, we need to get started on our series of shots and stuff we have to get for traveling. Below are the vaccinations we need:

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B,
  
• Malaria:
  
• Meningococcal (meningitis)
  
• Rabies,
  
• Typhoid vaccine.
  
• Yellow fever,
• As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles, and a one-time dose of polio vaccine for adults.

Sounds like fun, huh?
Kaylee just got glasses, and she is pretty excited! Isaac recently lost his first tooth and Erin is just plain growing too fast! People really liked the pics i posted before, so will put some more in. Enjoy!
Layne

FBI Approved

We were fingerprinted on the 28th and on the 29th we received an email that we were CIS approved and cleared, so another hurdle crossed.
I'll post more later, gotta run to Awana!

L

Fingerprinting

A letter arrived from Homeland Security office notifying us that we have an appointment in Sioux Falls to get fingerprinted. Yeah!!

Officially Waiting

Kristina called from the agency today and said she had received our dossier packet and officially put us on the waiting list! It is so exciting to say that our next step is actually getting a phone call for a referral!! God is amazing!
I put some pictures in here that are from the kids being in a Drama Class at the Comm. Theater.
They don't really have anything to do with this post. I just thought they were cute.
Buzz

36th Birthday

My birthday was Saturday and I couldn't help but think how close my birthday will be to our new child's birthday in Ethiopia. I am continuing to be refined and my faith tested as we move farther and farther along in the process. Tanya went Friday and applied for her passport at the P.O. I will go tomorrow and apply for mine. I learned that my Dad was born in Spencer, Iowa and my Father-in-law was born in Lincoln. My mom and Tanya's mom were born in the same hospital! How cool is that. I wonder where our new baby will be born (or was born)? Completely different from anything we have ever experienced, I'm sure!
We are now beginning to apply for different adoption grants. I printed out the application from Steven Curtis Chapman's website http://members.shaohannahshope.org and another one from Sioux Center. We are praying that God will grant us more grace and more faith over the next few months. We really want to use this time of waiting to strengthen our family bond in Christ. Teaching and preparing the kids for what is to come.

Layne

The blessing of Pinkeye

Completed the Dossier! Today we are sending it in and it was largely made possible by the fact that I had pinkeye. I was contagious, so I couldn't go to work, therefore Tanya was able to go run around and tie up some loose ends, like making copies, getting money orders and running to the bank.
I need to write these entries more often, so I will try to do better on the updates.

Layne

Home Study Approved

Hooray!
Our Home Study received approval by CHSFS!
We know have our paperwork for completing our Dossier.
The Dossier is the culmination of documents that will be sent on to Ethiopia to represent our family.
Lord willing, we hope to have this done by the end of Nov. and then would officially begin our 4-6 month wait for a baby.

Kaylee mentioned the other day that she really hopes we get twins :)

If the Lord leads you, please pray that we would be efficient and accurate in filling out the paperwork.

L & T

Ethiopian Ministry

We went to a meeting tonight with our friends the Langton's at a home in McCook Lake, SD.
There is a family here in Sioux City that is from Ethiopia. They have a ministry (Generosity International) in Ethiopia in some villages. They assist farmers, start schools and support churches. We went to hear more about their country and to meet this family. It was very informative and it turns out that our Kaylee goes to Clark School with their oldest daughter. They hit it off famously and had fun talking and playing together. We hope to meet with this family again and have more time to talk with them, not just about their culture, but about their ministry and their faith.
I took some pictures, they are at http://hennfamily.shutterfly.com
The Langton's I have mentioned before. They adopted from Ethiopia in '04 and are patiently waiting for a referral for a new addition to their family.

L

update: the website for the ministry we heard about is genint.org

Homeland Security

I sent in the form (CIS) that allows citizenship for the baby when it arrives today. It goes to Des Moines and then they set up an appointment for us in Omaha to get fingerprinted. It usually takes 60-90 days to process this document. Longer than I thought or expected.
We should hear tomorrow or Monday if our home study has been approved from CHSFS.
After we hear from the agency, nothing else can go forward until that CIS form process and we get fingerprinted.

L

Another "baby" step

Our Home Study reached Kristina at Children's Home in Minneapolis today!!
YEAH!
It goes to their social worker for Review and that usually takes about at week - It is about 11 pages, not counting all the documents that go with it.

Now we begin our International side of the paperwork. We hope (Lord willing) to be done with all paperwork by the end of November and then be officially awaiting a baby- WOW! Children's Home is saying that the wait will be between 4&6 months. God is so good!

L

Final Home Study visit 10-19-06

We went to Schleswig, Iowa again today and visited with Janette for our final HomeStudy visit.
It was good to visit with her again and hand in all of our paper work for Luth. Family Services and get signatures on much of the things for Children's Home.
Janette will be emailing off our home study to Children's Home tomorrow. There is much more paperwork to be done, because the next step is the dossier. We don't know much about this yet, but the dossier is what goes over to Ethiopia to the orphanage and represents our family. It is very exciting to see how God has sustained us throughout the process so far. It is evident more than ever that it is God that is giving us this desire to adopt.
We are looking forward to the next few weeks in how our home study will travel from Schleswig to minneapolis then to Fort Dodge then on to Ethiopia. Please pray with us and for us. Here are some other things that are coming up in the next few weeks.
1. Our family Dr. told us to start preparing to travel by getting vaccinations. It makes me think about the lack of medical supplies that the Ethiopian people have. We are so blessed here in the USA.
2. We need to look into grants and funding opportunities that are available. We know of one that we will be applying for from Sioux Center and there are others out there that we need to apply for. The costs are beginning to pile up quick.
3. Getting passports and filling out paperwork for a visa for a baby from the Embassy, i think the form is called an I-600.
4. Getting fingerprinted - i'm not sure where we do this, hopefully we can do it right here in town, we've heard that others have had to travel to Omaha or Des Moines.

Thanks - I'll write again soon.

L

update 10-8-06

It's been about a week since our last post and returning from Minneapolis to visit the agency.
A crazy week it has been! We are coming up on our final home visit appointment, however, we are in need of prayer to finish up all the paperwork forms, retrieval of letters from employers, police departments, birth certificates and much, much more!
There are some things that are a bit time consuming to attain and we just need grace in staying on top of all there is to be done.
This weekend we had a conference at our church where Jerry Bridges taught about the Sovereignty of God. It was so encouraging to know and to hear that God has planned every detail (even the bumps in the road) for our good and ultimately for His Glory. It really allows for no complaining from us. However, calling out for prayer and being in need is completely appropriate. God puts others around us and uses others to complete His purposes!
Thank you for your prayers and support. I will try to post more frequently to keep everyone up to date.

L