3/16/09 - Samantha's Excitement!

Since last November, when we first told our niece Samantha we were adopting from Ethiopia, she has been SO EXCITED! Almost every time we see her she wants to talk about the "new cousins" and how they will feel when they get here. Samantha is in second grade and will be 8 next month. Her sister and our other niece Maddy Jo is 5 years old and in kindergarten. They both know the cousins won't be here until they are in third and first grade but that doesn't stop the excitement!




















This is a picture of Samantha loving up on her doll Ester. Ester was a Christmas gift Samantha asked for. Ester talks, moves her head, and drinks water, and Amy was pretty excited about playing with the doll too! Whenever Samantha is going to see us, Ester always comes with. FYI - You can just see Maddy Jo's face in the picture frame on the table behind Samantha's arm!



















Samantha has also been very eager to learn about Ethiopia and the continent of Africa. This is a book she checked out of the library at her school and read to us one weekend.

In her excitement, Samantha even asked a little African American boy in her class, "Where are you from? Are you from Ethiopia?" to which the boy replied, "I don't know!" We explained that not every African American is from Ethiopia!!

But it has been so wonderful to see her interest and love for these children she hasn't even met. And Maddy Jo is excited too! As we do things as an extended family - our Galena Weekend, zoo trips, birthday parties - we talk about what it will be like to have the new cousins there some day too!!

3/05/09 - Children's Room - Part Two

After attending a special training last fall and completing an exercise, we realized our children would look at the wonderful murals on the bedroom wall but not see anyone that looked like them. Mike made some changes in what he had already painted as well as these additions:

Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz (Amy's favorite story in the Old Testament)



Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Ruth 1:16




David and Goliath

You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty. I Samuel 17:45

Daniel and the Lion's Den

And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. Daniel 6:23

Overview of Wall 3

Mike will soon start sketching Jesus and two children, the last of the murals!

3/02/09 - Children's Room - Part One

We first brainstormed all the murals we wanted Mike to paint on the walls of our second bedroom on the drive home from our honeymoon! Mike began sketches soon after and in the fall of 2004 began drawing and painting the walls in his "free time!" We are very excited to present 6 of the 10 paintings, complete with the Bible verse that is written next to them!

Adam and Eve
(Amy's idea for the tree to be in the corner of the room.)

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27

Noah's Ark

close up of Mike's favorite animal - gorillas, Amy's favorite animal - giraffes, the dogs Mike likes best - beagles, the two cats Amy has owned Charlotte (black one in Mrs. Noah's arms) and Scout (grey one on the ground)

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 6:13

Abraham

I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. Genesis 26:4a

Joseph

(who looks like Donny Osmond - who performed in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in Chicago - at Amy's request!)

Now Jacob loved Joseph . . . and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. Genesis 37:3

Moses

(the brilliant closet door opening idea was Mike's.)

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. Exodus 14:21-22

Rahab and the Spies

By faith Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. Hebrews 11:31

Overview of Wall 1:

Overview of Wall 2:

Mike has the next three pictures painted - Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz; David and Goliath; and Daniel in the Lion's Den (wall 3). Amy just needs to write those verses on the wall and take pictures before adding them here. The last picture will be of Jesus playing with 2 children (wall 4). Mike will draw and paint Jesus and the outline of the two children but will leave the details blank - until we get our referral!

2/21/09 - Children's Books

One of the things we started doing last fall was researching children's books about adoption and stories containing African American characters. We want to add to our library of books at home, but wanted to read through them first and decide which ones we liked best. See Below!!



Peter's Chair and Whistle for Wilie by Ezra Jack Keats - We still need to get The Snowy Day by Keats, the first story book published with an African American main character and an adorable story! All the Colors of the Wind emphasizes many different wonderful shades of skin colors. And One Hen is a wonderfully encouraging story about an African village. All the members put money into a village savings and one family at a time takes money out to help with their business.



Over the Moon by Karen Kurtz - a beautiful story of international adoption and one of our favorites.



This one we found while shopping for Christmas presents at Walmart - the pictures of the children on the cover caught me (Amy) right away and then we noticed the title! It is such a cute book Mike agreed to buy it right away.



Two books with a white father and two African American sons - foreshadowing of what is to come, maybe?! Mike loves the dot point style pictures.




This one, Quickie Makes the Team by Donald Driver, way a Christmas gift from friends - and it's written by a Green Bay Packers player, what a bonus!!




Some of the second round of library books we looked through.

2/20/09 - No More Paperwork Updates!

I am no longer going to give paperwork updates as it seems as soon as we think we are done, we have to do something again! And God has laid on my heart to focus on what I can do for our Ethiopian children now, while waiting, not what are we still waiting for!

So the next paperwork update you will read about will be accompanied by pictures of us heading to our credit union to notarize our dossier cover sheet, driving to Chicago to certify two papers, and standing at the FedEx store ready to put ALL the COMPLETELY DONE paperwork in the mail!!

(But will still take prayers in regard to paperwork!)

2/09/09 - Home Study Sent to USCIS and Paperwork Update

We heard from our social worker Faith that our home study is on the way to the USCIS office in Chicago - this is the federal approval we need to adopt internationally. Yeah, we are on to the next stage of waiting!!

We have also started to redo some paperwork due to changes made with our international agency effective January 1st . The rundown is as follows:
Completed, Approved, and/or Notarized - Amy's Employment Letter, Power of Attorney form, 2 of our 3 References, Application Letter, Photo Pages
Waiting to be Redone, Approved, and/or Notarized - Financial Statement (one minor change needed), Amy and Mike's Physical Forms and Doctor's Letters, 1 Reference Letter

NEXT STEPS: Finish paperwork process and wait for the I171-H form to come in the mail from USCIS!

PRAISE AND PRAYER: Praise that it feels like things are moving again in the whole process! Prayer that our doctor's office would run into NO PROBLEMS in copying our information from one form to another and rewriting our letters. Prayer also that a friend of Amy's would be able to go to the doctor's office to notarize the forms as the office does not have a notary stamp.

1/27/09 - Home Study State Endorsement

We received an email from our social worker, Faith, yesterday saying that our home study has finally been endorsed by the state of Illinois (an eight week process for what should have taken four to six weeks, but who's counting - ha! ha!). We are very excited as this means on to the next and last step of approval waiting!!

NEXT STEPS: Due to changes at USCIS(United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), Mike needs to redo some paperwork, which he is doing this week. He will send it to Faith and she will forward it, with our home study, to the USCIS office. Last fall, USCIS was taking about four weeks to approve home studies and send out I171H forms - the last form we need! We're not even counting, though. It will all happen in God's timing.

PRAISE AND PRAYER: Praise for our friends and family and their encouragement that we keep going in this process. Pray that God's hand would continue to be on this process and our hearts and that He would get the glory!

1/26/09 - Double Answer to Prayer!

Discouragement has passed for the moment and we're keeping on keeping on! Two events to report:

1. Mike met with a lady last week who is interested in having him illustrate a children's book she is self publishing (which happens to be about adoption!). We're not sure if that will ever come about, but when Mike walked into her house to meet her, there are pictures all over the house of the children she has adopted from China! So most of the meeting was discussing her adoption and ours and her encouraging Mike. He was more positive than I have seen him in months and would love for me to meet this lady someday too.

2. I made a realization while sitting in church this Sunday listening to a fabulous message on prayer which challenged me to pray that God would get the glory in all our times of trouble and challenge. I realized that by choosing discouragement, putting our adoption crate in the closet, and not wanting to keep moving forward, I was not following God's plan for us. God was not getting the glory but rather the enemy was winning. So the crate is out and Mike and I are going to read through the new dossier guidelines tonight.

Watch for our next steps in the days to come!! Thank you all for your love, prayers, and encouragement!!!

1/21/09 - Five Months and Waiting . . .

Today marks the five month anniversary of the meeting with our social worker Faith to update our domestic home study to an international home study. First thoughts were that our completely updated and approved home study would be to the USCIS office by October and that our dossier would be to America World and Ethiopia by Thanksgiving or for sure by the end of 2008. However, the home study is still waiting to be approved by the state of Illinois. Needless to say between that disappointment, the other challenges in our life at present, and how long we've been waiting for a child, we are feeling a bit defeated. HOWEVER, we are having cheesecake tonight in honor of the five month and counting home study wait so that it is not a totally sad day.

PRAISE AND PRAYER: A huge praise for our family, friends, and small group who are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO supportive of us and continue to beseech the Lord on our behalf. We could not keep going without them. Please pray that we would feel hope that this is what God has called us to do. Please pray that Amy would have the desire to take the adoption crate out of the closet where she put it just for a little while. Please pray that we would have the desire to read through the new guidelines and begin to redo several pieces of paperwork.

1/02/09 - Addition to Amy's Parents' Christmas Village

Over the holiday season as Mike and I were leaving my Mom and Dad's house, we noticed one of the houses in their village. (They have ceramic like houses on a shelf in the playroom and if you've ever been at my parents' house during Christmas time, you'll know how winter wonderland it is and how we might miss noticing something right away!) We making a comment about what a coincidence it was that my parents had this certain house and how I had never noticed it, my Dad told us he had just gone and bought it that season! Pretty cool!!