Sorry about the pictures

Sorry about the pictures boxes with no pictures. Most of the time Blogger makes me use Picasa for pictures, but then they don't always load.

I'll try something else in a bit....

Just one more piece of paper....

and our dossier will be complete!!!!

We just got an email from our adoption agency that our home study, notarized and certified, and the other form needed have arrived at the agency and are just waiting on the rest of the papers to join them.

What a great day this has been!

Now, the ONLY thing we have left to receive before we can proceed is our I171-H from Immigration (USCIS).

Please pray that it will come quickly and we can move on. I'm ready to sit back and wait.

Nesting

Yep, I'm nesting. My mom ordered us the bedding we picked our for Noah and it came this week. (thanks Mom & Dad!) It is really the cutest bedding I've ever seen....seriously.

So now we are still on the search for a crib. It's harder than it sounds. Not many, if any, stores will ship cribs overseas. And German cribs are a different size. And let's just say the selection at the PX leaves a lot to be desired. Anybody have a cherry wood crib that their babes are finished with? Let us know. :)

Today we got Noah a pac n play that we'll use as a bassinet. We looked at it several times and decided today was the day it needed to come home with us.

And we got a "home study in the mail" update. The certified home study and certified agency agreement have been mailed to our adoption agency. They were supposed to come back to us so we could mail our entire dossier together, but hopefully that will be ok. Also, a copy has been sent to us and most importantly a copy has been sent to USCIS (immigration...homeland security) at the Frankfurt Consulate for that last piece of paper we need to be complete.

Visiting Orphans

We are about one month out from the mission trip to Ethiopia. I am so excited that I can hardly sleep. The group had a conference call last night. I’m always even more excited and encouraged after a conference call. What a great group of people the Lord has brought together for this.

Let me tell you a little about the trip and why I’m going. Well, there are 4.6 MILLION reasons to go to Ethiopia. That’s right. There are an estimated 4.6 million ORPHANS in Ethiopia. And that is just in Ethiopia, which is about twice the size of Texas.

What an awesome opportunity…..I will get to love on children, draw pictures with them, sing songs, kick a soccer ball, giggle and love on them some more and show them the love of Jesus, just by being there. Jesus said in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” That’s what I want to do for every orphan that is put in my path. We certainly can’t adopt them all, but we can love them. This is also a way for me to connect with and give back to the country that our Noah will come from.

People have asked how they can help. Well, there are many ways. Most importantly please pray for me as I prepare physically, mentally, and spiritually. Because my heart, Noah, is in Ethiopia, I’m afraid I’m not going to want to come home when the trip is over. :)

We are also still gathering the funds needed for the trip, as well as donations for the orphanages we’ll be visiting. Because I am only allowed 44 pounds of luggage total, I have thought a lot about what kind of donations I should take with me. One orphanage we will visit has babies that just don’t get a lot of stimulation. I’d like to collect good developmental toys like these below. They are light for packing purposes and will do a lot of good to keep those little minds stimulated. I found these pictures at http://www.target.com/gp/browse.html/ref=sc_fe_l_3_1041628_3/602-2998572-5682229?ie=UTF8&node=13706901

I am also collecting monetary donations to take and support the local economy there. I will be able to see what is needed and buy it there….double support.

So, if you would like to help in any way, please let me know.

Check out www.visitingorphans.org for more information on the trip. Donations can be given directly on the site; please put my name in the Memo box.

Above all, please pray for me, the entire team and the precious little people we get to visit.

The Pyramid

Is this not the cutest thing you have EVER seen? We call it the "Waterskiing Pyramid" hairstyle. Available only in selected living rooms.

I think she likes it....she seemed to be showing off when she met a new cocker spaniel on our walk.

I know. I'm out of control. But it's fun!

Happy Mother's Day Ya'll!

I feel different this Mother's Day. Maybe because in my heart I'm already a mom.

We rode our bikes to our favorite Greek restaurant for dinner tonight.

Adoption Symposium

Yesterday we went to an adoption symposium. It was good. Really good. There were people at the symposium who have adopted, were adopted, are adopting, gave up a child for adoption, have family members that are adopted, are thinking about adoption....and on and on. How cool to be there with so many like-hearted people. The Lord is faithful and had us right where we needed to be yesterday. We heard a panel of adoptees....two grown ups who have since adopted children of their own or are in the process and one teenager. We really enjoyed the honest questions and answers. In that room we met another couple adopting from Ethiopia that live not too far away from us. They shared some really important information with us about the type of visa we'll want to get for Noah.

There are two types of visas. The IR3 and IR4. The IR3 sounds like the way we want to go. It gives the child automatic citizenship and we would be mailed a certificate of citizenship. We could take Noah's stamped Ethiopian passport and adoption decree to the consulate or passport office and apply for his US passport. We would also be given 3 years to get back to the States to re-adopt him in our home state since we are overseas with the military. The requirement for the IR3 visa is that both parents see, in person, the child before the adoption is complete. So, after we get our referral, Marshall and I may be traveling to Ethiopia to meet Noah. This just seems to be the easiest option. We will not be there when the adoption is finalized in the Ethiopian court....an in country representative of the agency does that for us. It would be no big deal if we lived in the States, but since we are in Germany this looks like the best way to go. We are not sure about it yet, but will keep you posted.

If you are reading this and are interested in the adoption community here, check out this website: www.usadopteurope.com.

Shots, shots and more shots!

On Friday I got most of my immunizations for my mission trip to Ethiopia. I got three in one arm and 2 in the other. I'll have to go back to finish up the Hepatitis A/B series in a month and then 5 months after that. It's on my calendar.

I got Garfield and Snoopy band aids all over my arms, but no sucker! I was a little disappointed since I felt that I deserved at least a sucker, but that's ok. My only side effects are sore arms, but it has not kept me from anything. Since I got so many shots at once I was concerned about feeling ill, but I did not.

Thank you Lord for keeping me well and the provision of these shots to keep me healthy. I pray that our ministry to the orphans in Ethiopia will be mighty and will bring you glory!

Home Study Complete!

We just heard that our home study is indeed complete and on its way to the States for notarization and then state certification. Please pray that it gets where it needs to go and doesn't take any side trips. :)

Wow! We really can't believe we're already to this place in the process.

Thank you Lord. We know you are fully in control of this journey.

Waiting....

Well, here we are. It's out of our hands for now. (We do realize that none of this is really in our control.) Our homestudy is being finished up. It will be sent to the home study agency in the States. They will notarize it and then send it to the state to be certified along with an agency agreement form that our adoption agency requires. Those two items will be sent back to us and we'll send the whole dossier to America World. We are SO close and it's SO exciting.

The Lord is awesome and He really spoke to us today. This weekend I attended a conference for PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel). There was a bookstore set up and I was thrilled....that is one thing I miss about the States. Just sitting in the floor of a Christian bookstore, touching, smelling and reading all of the books! Anyhoo, I just had to buy Noah a book. I came across the children's version of My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers called Jesus Wants All of Me.

Well, just a little while ago, Marshall and I were talking about our time line, wondering when everything would come together. I saw the book on the coffee table and opened it up to today's devotion. The title is Patience and it says, "I can wait. God is faithful. He will do what He says He will do!" Though it tarries, wait for it. Habakkuk 2:3

We hear You Lord! Patience is hard, but we hear You! :) Only You will get us through this. And Mr. Noah Coen will be worth the wait.