UGH!

We just found out today that the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia thinks that our approval to adopt a foreign orphan expired in April 2008! It doesn't expire until March 2009.

Please, pray that we get this fixed soon without any additional drama.

I am thankful that we were home when we found this out rather than in Ethiopia!

20 Years Ago Today...

I had my first date with a very tall, handsome, young man named William.

We were 19.

He took me bowling, and we went to McDonald's for milkshakes and fries.

We did not kiss good-night.

My mom said, "You didn't tell me he was so TALL!" (She is 4'10''! He is 6'3"!)

I LOVE YOU, WILLIAM!!

How To Eat Spaghetti and Other Fun Stuff

Last night at dinner, we were cracking up at Annika's noodle-eating style. She frequently walks around the house holding the heavier side of her hair away from her face. So this is what you get when you give her spaghetti! She still managed to get it in her hair.


Since we had the camera out, we all decided to make fun of her!


















This is baby Benaiah made out of K'Nex! Marissa created him, and the girls played with him for the whole day! Marissa is holding a mobile that they made for him. It was so cute to hear them talking and playing with their baby brother! We all can't wait to get the real thing!!

Sad News...

Yesterday, a family from our agency asked for prayer for their baby girl in Ethiopia. They had been told that she was in the hospital with pneumonia and wasn't responding to treatment.

This morning, they received that sad news that she did not make it through the night.

This little one was 3 1/2 months-old. She had been referred to this family 22 days ago.

Please, pray for the Joner family as they deal with the loss of the little daughter that they never got to hold.

Benaiah is 7 Months-old Today

Some days are good, and some days are harder than others.

Today, Benaiah is 7 months-old. We got his referral when he was 4 1/2 months-old, and we will not hold him until he is over 9 months.

I remember this age with our other three. They were so helpless, just learning to sit, and the cutest ever!

Assuming we get through court and travel in late October/early November, we are about half-way through our 5-month wait between our referral and travel. UGH.

Kinda depressing.

Encouragement From Friends

Saturday, in the mail, I received a really cute card to encourage me from my friend Jacki. Her son Andrew who is my friend from home school co-op made me a picture to help me to feel better too.

Andrew was born in Korea and came into Jacki and her husband's lives when he was just a baby. He is so blessed with the family that he has now, but he has also suffered losses at a very young age.

Susan,

Andrew made this picture because he wants you to know he understands how sad you are about Benaiah still being in the orphanage. The picture shows Andrew being sad about our dog & cat dying and also because he lost his first mommy & then his foster mommy. Jesus is there to comfort him.

Thank-you, Andrew & Jacki! You both made my day!

Thank-you also to all of our friends and family who have shown your support and love in person, on our blog, on Facebook, e-mail, and snail mail! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Didn't Want to Hear It!

Last Tuesday was the night before our case was scheduled for court. Each night, I listen to the Daily Audio Bible. (You may remember how God has used this to speak to us from our stories here and here.)

Anyway, here are two of the verses from the reading *that day*:

"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27: 14

"Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you." Proverbs 20:22b

Know what I said when I heard this? "OH, CRAP!" (Really, I did. William was half asleep, but I told him what I thought!)

This week I am laughing about this because it is just too funny. God told me, but I didn't want to hear it. After not getting through court last week, I have no choice, but to believe He was really talking to us again! At least His words are comforting!

We have adjusted to the news and are still disappointed, but we are not letting it get us down. Our activities will all begin over the next few weeks, and we will be so busy that the time will fly!

We will be strong and take heart and He will deliver us (and Benaiah!)!!!!

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"declares the LORD.

Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)

We did not pass court

We did not pass court today. We are back to our original date of October 8. We got a very short note from our AWAA family coordinator this morning, and I am so thankful for her commitment to our family and to the children. I truly know that she and AWAA did all they could to make this date happen for us. Now we will wait out the "rainy season".

More to come when this all sinks in. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. It was a real blessing to have so many people encourage us this past week.

(Deep Breath) Here We Go Again...

OK. Here's the summary: We have to pass court tomorrow, Friday, because the Ethiopian courts are taking a two-month break from processing cases, and this is our last chance to get it done before the break!

Now people, we need to get real serious about the praying business. AND please, don't pray for patience... Everything we've done so far has taken longer than we were told it would already, and I think we've been pretty good waiters. WE JUST WANT OUR BABY!!!!

Please, watch the blog for an update on Friday. We will post the news and hopefully, photos when we get word. (I already have the photo collage ready!) You will read it here minutes after we find out! We have been hearing from our agency around 12:30 pm EST.

Thanks so much!! William & Susan

Grandparents: We will call you when we hear. :-)

Court Update

We just go this from our program coordinator:

Although the judge gave us an appointment for today she was not available. Another judge said she will look at your case on Friday. So back again on Friday. This will be the 7^th time we are appearing before the judge for the same case. If they don’t approve your adoption on Friday then it will have to be October 8^th.

It Is *Almost* Wednesday in Ethiopia!

Ethiopia is 7 hours ahead of us here in the EST. Soon, our case will be presented in court, and we hopefully, will be declared the parents of a precious, little 6 month-old boy!

Please, join us in prayer today as we anticipate this life-changing event.

Check back here tomorrow for news of whether we passed or not. We will post as soon as we find out!!

Thank-you! William & Susan

Update on Benaiah!

Every other week or so, the director of America World's transition home sends out photos, and this week with our photo, we got an update treat! I think she sent it because I had been asking about Benaiah's weight... He is so skinny!!

EATING

M***** is on Nan-1 formula which is for children under 6 months.

SLEEPING

M***** is a good sleeper, and wakes twice during the night for a bottle. He takes a couple of naps during the day.

SOCIAL

M***** is so happy, smiley, and loves interacting with people.

APPEARANCE

M*****’s skin is a beautiful shade of brown. He is petite, yet very strong! You’ll often find him doing some sort bending /stretching movement on the floormat…I have to keep him from rolling on top of the other babies! He gets around very well by inching himself along, like a worm. M*****’s hair is longer on top, a style which is often found on children coming from rural areas.

MEDICAL/SPECIAL NEEDS

M***** has been very healthy since he has been with us. He has not dealt with any sort of sickness.

MEASUREMENTS

Current weight: 13 pounds

Our apologies to the parents of the other babies who our guy is mowing over on the mats!!

Real men wear pink, by the way.

This report and the photo just make us want to bring him home more desperately!! Come on Wednesday!!

Keep praying!!

Slowest Week Ever

This week is creeping along... When will it be next Wednesday?

William and I had an evening out together -just the two of us! We hadn't been out since April, and I'm betting it we'll just have to enjoy our time alone traveling to Ethiopia for our next date!

We ate bison at Ted's Montana Grill. Of course, there is a HUGE bison head on the wall (appetizing, I know!), and when the family before us walked in, their little guy pointed and exclaimed, "Oooooh!! It's the big, bad wolf!!!" Too funny. We breathed a sigh of relief not to be seated near them since it is usually our bad luck to be seated near children (loud ones, usually) when we've made the effort to find another place for ours! (Thanks, Mema!!)

After Ted's, we got down to business and hit Target where we registered for things that we'll need for Benaiah. It has been 11 years since we have registered for a baby, and it is funny how the perspective changes when it is your 4th child. We not so naive to think that we need everything, and we also can't justify adding things that we think we won't be using for more children like we did the first time around.

Now, the whole bottle thing... We've not dealt with this much before, so we had to register for a lot of things that have made me cringe since joining The Militant Breastfeeding Cult years ago. I am going to try my best to get Benaiah to nurse, but that will have to wait until we get home and I sleep for a few days. In the mean time, he's got to eat something I suppose!