Monday, November 3, 2008

Forever Families for the week!!!








The above families are in Ethiopia picking up their kiddos and loving on our this week!! Follow along on their journey and hey, maybe even get on board with giving another one love in your own home!! God is Good all the time ~ All the time God is Good!!
And of course now that we can here are some more of our girls!!!! We are coming girls - only 11 more days till departure!! So many things I should be doing!!!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

An OFFICIAL day of Emotions!!!!!

This is how my day started:

"Jori & Tracy: Your oldest daughter is so full of love!!! She would leave me for a few minutes and the come right back with more hugs and I gave her lots of kisses for you. At the end when we were leaving, she and I kept kissing and hugging right up to the green gate with promises of seeing each other tomorrow. I told her how much her family loves here and how wonderful they are. The little one is a busy body too and hard to catch on film. I did get a few, but couldn't’t find them last night "

Just to whet your appetite….your girls are amazing!!! So loving and smart!
Was one of the best emails to open!!!

(This is a photo in "real" time! My dear friend Amy is in ET right now and sent me this photo!! Only 1 more way to get more real than this and we will be doing that in 2 weeks and 3 days!!!!)

Followed a little later with this WONDERFUL email as well:

Dear Traveling Family,
Congratulations!

We are happy to announce that you have passed court. With this news we are now able to confirm concrete travel dates. Your group will depart for Ethiopia on November 15th and will return home on November 22nd .

Friday, October 24, 2008

Traveling Families and Preparing to Travel ...


These two very excited mommies are on their way to Ethiopia to pick up their little kiddos as I type! I had the privilege of meeting them both in Portland at the fundraiser just a couple weeks ago so I thought I would post them today! The first is Teresa and they are bringing home 2 girls ~ Well, only baby M has passed court so far because of some paperwork issue but we are all praying they would be able to appeal and move mountains to bring home beautiful E this week as well!!! The second is Amy (Cali girl) and they are bringing home their little Ezana!! He seems to be in pink alot so I just had to get him a shirt to prove how cute boys can be in pink!! (I know, sorry guys! I am sure he will be in blue once at home! :):)) I have not had the opportunity to meet the others in person but I know they are all beyond excited and I love all my "blogger" friends! Praying for safety and Gods-Speed dear friends!
We have also confirmed a very wonderful friend of the family IS coming in to stay at the house with our 2 youngest while we are in Ethiopia. A very big blessing to our family and the kiddos will be very spoiled once we return I am sure!!! Thank you so much Beverly and Landon and to their missed partner. We love you Ben ~ Can't wait for you to meet our girls and thanks for lending us your wife!!
Airline travel ~ Can I just say yuck and get it over with!! I have not traveled internationally before and really do not like looking into all the different flights and fees and taxes and yuck, yuck, yuck!! We are trying to book our own and though it seems to be working I would not want to do this very often!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Can you say Travel Dates ...

*** Edit***
Dear Ethiopia Families
Our new tentative date of departure to Ethiopia for your group is November 14th. You will be in Ethiopia for approximately 6 days.

So, change is the name of the game in adoption and we are gonna roll with it (today is a good day!) :):):)



Travel October 25-November 1:
Redfern Wempe Schmidt Lusse VanWetton


Tentative travel November 1:
Laughner Britton Hammond Nunez Terwilleger


Court November 8:Wistrom VanWetten Hutchinson


Tentative travel November 21-28:

Caldwell Juvinall Armstrong


Tentative travel November 30-December 5:
Sloniger Sparr Savage Stager Pridemore Witter


Now, this is only TENTATIVE travel dates. We still have to pass court some time in the next 2 or 3 weeks before we can officially book tickets and such. But still, THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!!!!!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Project Impact = 40K!!!!!





Well, what do I say? First off, I must thank the Van Wettons for their absolutely generous and gracious time and effort to put this weekend together. So many more than we know I am sure were blessed. I just love the love their entire has for our Lord and each other, the servant hood was incredible. Thank you for the stories you shared that have given me courage to get through those tough days ~ I will be calling on you! :):)
I must also thank the Joner family for "putting me up" for the weekend! What a joy it was to share in your life, even if only for a short time. You are a wonderful family and the boys are going to be awesome big brothers!! I love you guys! The sharing of your heart about Julia this weekend will continue to touch many. I am so praying the next time we meet it will be in Ethiopia picking-up our children!! :):)
It was a great time getting to meet so many special people that are on this journey with me. A couple are home and the rest of us that were in attendance all have referral and are waiting to pass court and bring our kiddos home. It was great to talk with Duni in person and see her with her family. Caleb is adorable! It was almost surreal to hear him walking around saying words in Amharic (English will be his second lang.).
I came away a much more enriched person and I love you all!! We must get our kiddos together!!!

P.S. So many boys seems to be in pink girl outfits ~ I had a tshirt made for Amy's little guy!!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Court is in ...



OK, so here is the deal: Please pray for the following families as they are trying to pass court Oct. 8. This will make the kiddos officially their's and they will travel soon to bring them home!! It has been a long court closure season so we are all excited to "get things moving again"!!!
Redferns, Wempe, Wistrom, Schmidt, Van Wetten, Lusse, and Hutchinson!!!!!
Praying for you all to start off this season with a bang and looking foreword to "seeing" your kiddos soon!! :):):)

Monday, October 6, 2008

Where, oh where, has my Duni gone ...

Ethiopia Updates
October 06, 2008
Duni's Transition within America World. Duni Zenaye, Africa Program Director, will be moving to Ethiopia with her family (husband: Abenet and son: Kaleb) to oversee our Ethiopia and Rwanda programs from there. Duni will focus on developing our Ethiopia program to respond to the growing numbers of families pursuing adoption from that country. It was decided that Duni would be the most effective by overseeing the intricacies of the program and the transitional home by being on location in Addis Ababa. Her last day in the corporate office will be the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 26. Duni says "I love working with the families here but I am looking forward to meeting all of them personally as they come to finalize their adoption. I feel that my move will better serve families as I will be able to be in the frontlines of their adoption". Nicole Wiegold, currently working in the China program, will be coming alongside Terra Bailey as Africa Family Coordinator.

Well, I think this will be great on the Ethiopian front lines but we will miss our Duni very much here in the States!!!!