T-shirts!!! Only 25 left!!

Ok we only have a few Tshirts left so who wants one???

It says "I will not leave you as orphans I will come to you" John 14:18

Sizes we have left are:
7 XL's
13 Lrg.
2 Med.
4 Sm.

Leave a comment of what size you want then scroll down to our Chip In button on the side. The cost is $20 each..

As soon as I sell the rest of these I will order more!

Ethiopia travel and donations

Our first trip to Ethiopia is most likely going to be in October so while we wait I want to get a jump on my To-Do list! First things first we need to raise the money we will need for our travels. It is now a TWO trip travel itinerary.

First Time: In October just Anthony and I will travel. We will be meeting our children for the first time!!! We will attend court and hopefully the judge will declare them legally ours!!! This trip will last 5-7 days and will cost between 5,000 and $7,000.

Second Trip: This will be anywhere from 4-12 weeks after our first trip! I am praying for 4! At this time at least one of us will travel but most likely both! We will attend an embassy appointment and be granted our childrens visas. Then WE BRING THEM HOME! This trip will cost about $7,000 and last between 5-7 days.

So if you have totalled that.. we are looking to raise around $10-$14,000 before December!! So watch for our upcoming fundraisers: A Night at the Movies TBA, Tshirt sales..ONGOING on our blog www.ourethiopianblessings.blogspot.com. We also have a donation button CHIP IN (it is through paypal) if you would like to donate to our travel funds. We apologize ahead of time but we NEED your help to bring our kids home! If you are some of the lucky ones to have seen thier pictures you know how much God has blessed us!!! They are an answer to our prayers! PLEASE be a part in giving them a new future!

Care package #4

We are so lucky to be able to connect with our kids through traveling families!!! The Jay family will be hand delivering the next one!!! October is still far away but we will get through it one carepackage at a time!!!! And of course by staring at all the great pictures they send back to us!!!!!!!!!

Carepackage #3

So in a few days our 3rd package for our kids will be on its way to Ethiopia Thanks to the Faust family!!! We are so blessed to have such a great adoption family! I just had to buy this doll for my little girl even though it will take up more space than I should be utilizing Reagan agreed to make it fit!!! And for my little man some more good stuff!!! This time flash cards, punch ballons a ball and an imaginetix toy and bubbles!!

We know it will be sometime in October when we meet or kids but we won't find out when until courts reopen Sept. 27th so for now we pray for them and thank all the families that are able to show them some love and give them our presents. I can't wait till all the traveling families get home so I can get some more pics of the kids! Internet is spotty in Ethiopia so I have only got a few but once they get home they will be able to upload all the great photos they took! Thank you Field, Barram and Faust families!!!!

With God ALL things are possible!

A while back I entered another adoptive families blog giveaway..and I won!! It was the movie "Facing the Giants" If you haven't seen it do so! Thanks Michele!! These last few weeks have been rather difficult on the adoption front... Truthfully it has felt like we have come up against a huge wall at every stage of this adoption, family support, finances, delays in paperwork etc.. The latest is getting our referral right before court closings! Most families wait about 4-8 wks at most for their court dates we will be waiting 3 months!! It is heartbreaking to be able to see their faces but know we will not be able to hold them for so long. I know that as a mom I want everything in my time but it will all be in God's time. After watching the movie tonight I realized (again!) I need to stop with my expectations and let God take control. With God ALL things are possible!!!

So as the day comes to a close we now have 2 days to find out our court date for October....If we get scheduled before court closes on Friday it will save us thousands..yes thousands of dollars in travel fees. If we don't get scheduled by Friday then we will not hear of our court date until after courts reopen Sept. 27th. At that point once we get scheduled we will probably have about 2 weeks to make our travel arrangements making flights a lot more expensive. So... tonight I put it all in God's hands! If we get a court date, I WILL Praise Him..If we don't get a court date I WILL Praise Him!!! He is good ALL the time!

Updates..

So yesterday we got the best present ever!!! Video of our kids opening up the care packages we sent them!!!! I have watched it over..and over!!!! Thank you so much Field family! Our second care package will hopefully reach thier sweet hands tommorrow thanks to the Barram family!!!

We are still waiting and praying for news of a court date..in the mean time I sent out my first set of update questions! Once a month until they come home we are allowed to ask 5 questions each that we would like the Nanny's who are caring for our kids to answer. At the end of each month we will recieve the answers and a new photo!!! Here are this months questions:

Does he sleep in the same room with his sister at the TH or are they in seperate rooms?
yes they sleep in the same room


What does he know or understand about getting a new family?
He knows his new family is going to be his caretakers and supporters and he is very happy with it

Does he have any fears or concerns?
Not really; he is hoping his new parents and country will be good for him

What language are they speaking/learning?
He speaks the language od Sidama and is learning english letters and numbers through amharic(he also understands amharic)

He seems very shy..Does he interact with other children, a special friend?
He is a bit shy to new faces but he interacts well with other children but he has No special friend at the TH


Are they both toilet trained?
Yes; but T****** wears a diaper in nightimes

What are Thier measurements? (height/weight)
She weighs 27lbs and is 33.1in. tall  He is 34.8 lb and 39.4 in tall

How is her personality/behavior?
She is sociable,plays well with others,humble and respects someone's order and discipline

Does she have a special friend and toys?
She has a special friend at the TH that she like very much

Is she afraid of anything?
Nothing special

( they also said he really likes to eat Injera, can solve puzzles and likes to play Soccer!) (she eats all kinds of food,can paint and trace numbers and alphabets,likes to play with toys) They are both in good medical condition!

Pictures and a court date..

So my days are now consumed with hopes of getting an October court date and waiting for another glimpse of my children's faces. We know there is no hope of a court date before closures so our prayer is this week we recieve or date for October after the courts reopen. Most of the time families only have a couple weeks to prepare to travel for court making it stressful and expensive. The further in advance you can book your flights the more affordable they are..current families were looking at flights around $4,000 a person! If we can book for october flights are around $1200 a person!! BIG difference!!!!! So join us in prayer that we get a date for early october! Pictures.... the way it works is when traveling families are given permission they can take pictures of your children..I currently have 3 people with consent forms that they can take pics of our kids! The Fields delivered or childrens first presents(carepackages) and this week The Barrams will deliver thier 2nd!!!!! I am so excited that they will get our family photo book this week so they can see thier whole new family!!! The wait till October will be a long one but new pictures and updates help:)