Thankful for friends

We are so thankful for friends. We could not have made it this week without the help and support of them. We had meals delivered, help with watching the kids, pizzas picked up for us, groceries brought over, and so much more. We are SOOO appreciative that it is hard to express in words. The Lord again had planned it all out for us. We are blessed beyond measure.

I always like to send cards of thanks and I have to be honest, I just do not have time. I hope those that read this, you know who you are and we are thankful for you.

Blessings

The kids update

I have not been able to post due to Dan's surgery and then our computer breaking down. ??? So, I have lots of updates.

Joshua- His foot has healed from the toothpick incident very well. He did so well with all that. What a big boy! I am losing my baby.... boo hoo. He is turning out to be a fine young man and we are so proud of him.

Kayleb- He is doing great. We have taken him off of some of his med's and changed some of the others to see how he would respond. He is SOOO into hunting this year. It is too cute. He went out with daddy before surgery to deer and squirrel hunt. You would have thought we gave him a million dollars.

J'Dyn- She is doing great and has relaxed on trying to be the mother. That is very hard for her and I am proud that she is tryiing so hard. She is loving playing dress up and dolls with her sisters. They get into their little tiffs but are working on "working it out."

Mari'An- She is a huge helper around the house. She loves to sweep and clean the table. She says she cooked at the orphanage but I do not feel comfy with her helping with hot stuff or throwing her a knife just yet. She is a joy!

Luke- He is doing better with his English but still relies on Mari'an for help with words. I see them speaking more English to each other which is great. He is shy and very quiet. He loves playing outside and riding his bike. We had a new swing set built as the last one was on its last leg. He has so much fun on the stuff.

Amelia-She has been doing so well. She is smiley. loving, friendly and just a good girl. I thought she would be my problem child as she threw fits ALL the time. She came out of that and is doing very well. She always has to have some toy in her hand.

Nadia- She continues to be our little THUNDER girl. She mimics everything we do and is as smart as a whip. We are waiting to potty train her until things calm down around here. She can do it, we just need to give her a bit of encouragement. She is sweet and so loving!! Cute as a bug.

Mommy- Tired these days.
Daddy- Wants to be well

WE are so blessed to have these precious kids in our life. We hope we can raise them in such a way that they will know Jesus and rely on Him for their life. He is our only hope in this world. It is a scary world out there.

Update on Dan

It has been 9 days since Dan's surgery. He does better and better each day. He walks very gingerly and still has lots of swelling and pain. The doctors orders are to do limited activity this week and then can start adding more starting next week. He cannot lift over 10 pounds for 4 weeks. WOW!!! I did not know that going into the surgery.

We saw the Dr on Thursday for our first follow up and got great news. The cancer was contained within the prostate and did not spread outside. So, there will be no further radiation or chemo necessary. PRAISE THE LORD!!! He has to do follow up tests every 3 months and then every 6 months for another year. If all is well, his numbers should show there is no more cancer. We are so greatful that the Lord led us to finding this early. 10 more years may have caused it to spread. This was not a fluke by any means!!

Continued prayers are asked for as Dan recovers. He has along way to go to get back to himself again. Thanks to all who have prayed.

Cookie time

The kids have been helping make Christmas cookies. Their eyes light up like never before as they frost the cutouts, put kisses on the blossoms, and eat their FIRST piece of Christmas fudge. Pure joy!!! They are great littel helpers and follow right along with their brothers and J'Dyn. They want to learn everything. Sometimes that can get overwhelming for me, but I try not to get frustrated. They are having so much fun.

Christmas is all new for them and we are so excited to share the REAL meaning with them. They know who Jesus is so now we have to teach them about the day He was born and why. This year will be more special than any other. Well, maybe not, but it will be close. :)

We have popcorn balls to make which should be very cool for them. We will see. They love popcorn.

Pneumonia

Nadia has had a cough for the last couple of weeks. Well, I decided to take her to the doctor today and guess what? She has pneumonia. A slight case but non-the-less, pneumonia. This has been quite the week!

She is on antibiotic and a cough syrup. She looks great and is as active as ever. Who would have thought?

Joshua's foot

Wednesday before Dan's surgery, Joshua was playing in the living room and stepped on a toothpick. It was stuck in his foot and broken off at the skin. After attempts to get it out, I took him to the urgent care where the doctor spent 45 minutes extracting a one inch piece of wood. Not the place I wanted to be the day before surgery, but I guess that is where the Lord wanted me. :) He is doing GREAT!!! His foot continues to get better each day and does not hurt him at all.

Surgery Update

Lots to update since our last post. Here is goes.

Thursday was a pretty rough morning with lots of tears and the unknown facing us. We were so blessed with Dan's parents being here and friends showing up at the hospital to pray for us. We were overwhelmed with everything and the prayers helped tremendously for comfort.

The doctor told us the surgery would be about 2 1/2 hours. At 10:45 they wheeled Dan away from me (that was an aweful moment) and I went to the waiting room. Norton hospital is wonderful!!! They have a board on the wall that has surgery updates throughout the time Dan was in sugery. They also gave me a beeper for additional updates. We watched the time tick away and then the board said they had made their first incision. AH!!! Dan's dad followed the minutes for us and at 12:10, we were beeped and told the surgery was complete. We were shocked as that was only 1 hour and 10 minutes vs the 2 we were told. I was taken to a room to wait for the doctor to update me.

This was a moment of complete praise to Jesus. The first thing the dr.said was the surgery went very well and it was a textbook operation. YEH!!! Because Dan did not have any problems, his prostate was very firm, young, and not enlarged. It was easy to preserve the nerves, cut the tissue away, limit blood loss, and complete the surgery quickly. Our prayers where answered for this part for sure.

Dan spent that evening coming out of the anesthetic. The doctor wanted him to get up and move around. When he tried, he got very light headed and dizzy. This was a result of his blood pressure dropping to 98'ish over 48'ish. So much for his HIGH blood pressure. Because it was so low, he was having these side effects. Dan's dr. said he needed to stay in the hospital until he could stand and walk. By Friday evening, he was better and we could leave. We made it home by 8'ish. Being home was great "medicine" for him.

He has been doing very well. He is sore from the surgery and his muscles are sore from walking gingerly. The catheter is a whole different story. It takes a lot of getting used to. He is getting better hour by hour.

We are so thankful for all the prayers. The kids have doing VERY well thru all of this. WE are trying to keep our routine going and so far things have not been too bad. We cannot wait for life to get back to some kind of "normal."

I am so thankful and blessed that we can finally put the surgery behind us and look to the future. Dan will continue to have tests and various follow up visits because he is now a "cancer survivor" and we need to make sure it stays that way. We decided during the first week we were told about his cancer that we would take it one day, one chunk at a time. The first hurdle is now over and we move on to the recovery stage. There is alot of changes in the future but with the Lord we have found a tremendous peace about it all. We hope we can be used to share how the Lord has been amazingly faithful thru it all.

Continued prayers for Dan's recovery and for future heart tests. During this process, tests revealed that there is some abnormalities that need to be addressed after he recovers. That will be another chapter of the book I am going to write someday. :) Until then.......

Post adoption report

Monday was our first post adoption report visit. As we were sharing about each child, we truly realized how blessed we are with our new 4. These kids are amazing. Even with their little quirks and cultural differences, they are great. The report is due Dec 30 to the agency and it looks like we are done on our end. YEH!!! One done two to go.

Dan's surgery is Thursday, Dec 3rd. The Lord has given us much comfort and peace at this time. We are still feeling like we are living outside ourselves on some days; this is not happening! But, it is for some reason. We pray that we can use this as part of our testimony to share how amazing Jesus is in our lives. We are still nervous...... But the blessing is the Lord helped us find it very early and it can be taken care of. Prayers please.

Sunday... a day of praise

After a great day at church with our family in the Lord, we came home to a taco dinner. The kids love beans so I made a corn and bean hot salsa and they loved it. I always like to find things that they REALLY like. This was one of them.

As I sit here watching football, the kids are playing with lincoln logs and singing:

"Lord of all, yes, I believe. Thats was God is. God of glory, God of grace. God my rock and hiding place. He is great and powerful, thats what God is . Ruler of everything. I believe, thats what God is. "

Now that absolutely warms my heart. They cannot speak much English but can sing that like never before. I am so very proud of them.

Joshua's writing essay

Joshua had to write about what makes a person great. He put the following and I am paraphrasing. He has to write in complete sentences. hee hee
- God made us all different
- The Lord gave us a mind to think
- God has a specific plan to do great things for him
- God has planned every second of your life.

then there was more....

The next part of the essay was for him to write about a person who was great. He wrote:

- The urologist is a great person because he will save my daddy of cancer in his prostate.

Thanksgiving Day

It was their first Thanksgiving and they did not understand what was going on. We made turkey hats, read books about Thanksgiving, watched Snoopy's T-Day celebration, ate turkey, made cards of thanks...... But, thru it all, Mari'An just said, "Happy Christ-giving" or " Happy Birth- giving" Just another day, I guess. They did not understand it all. I guess it is a bit confusing when the Christmas tree is up and all they see everywhere is Christmas stuff. They never had that either. So, who knows????
At dinner, we did get a "WOW- very good mommy- excellent. No in Sheshemene." (Sheshemene is the orphanage) All of them said "Good."

We could not be more thankful to the Lord for our lives. Dan's cancer has really put a lot of things into perspective. We have spent a lot of time doing things that, in the end, really do not matter to our eternity. Our views on how clean the house is, unused vacation days, our family time on Sunday's, and much more, has been brought to the forefront of our minds. Yesterday was an amazing day as we just played with the kids, finished decorating the Christmas tree, sang songs and just loved on one another. It was a great day. May each of you that has not been faced with the big "C"ancer, realize what you have and how you are wasting time on things that do not matter. Your family, your spouse, your children are precious. Enjoy every moment with them.

Update on Dan

Dan had more tests on Friday to check his heart for surgery. The results will be in this week. We are all very nervous about the surgery. We know that the Lord was watching out for us as this cancer was caught so early. We were devasted the week we found out, but we know that the Lord did not give this disease to Dan, the world did. The sins of the world have resulted in cancers, diseases, etc. It is how one deals with what they are given that makes the difference.

So, since we are here and cannot do anything about it, we pray that we can continue to give God the glory for His amazing gifts and blessings we receive. We are here on this Earth for such a small blip in time. Our eternity and the eternity of others is the utmost importance. We cannot add one day to our lives by worrying about all of this. God breathed life into us and He will stop it when the time is right- in His time. Until then, we will take one day at a time. Preparing for surgery on Dec 3, is scary but we know we are in the Lord's hands. May each of you know the peace that only comes from our Lord and Savior.

Things we have learned about the kids....

In talking to them about differences from America and Sheshemene, Africa, here are a few of the things not in Africa:

* No jeans - Neat to have jeans and jean jackets. They love these
* No Christmas
* No birthday presents- never a gift of any kind
* They have heard the birthday song on TV
* No seatbelts to wear
* No tennis shoes
* No kleenex- Soft was toilet paper used for everything when they had it
* No liquid soap- this is cool for them
* No bikes
* Not allowed to play outside - ??
* No swings


Showed them the RV last night getting it ready for family to stay in. They just walked thru it saying, "Oh, my goodness" They kept asking- drive house. So, the RV is now the "car house." That was as close as I could get to explain it. Can't wait for their first vacation in it.
THey are just loving everything. So much for them to learn and experience. They are still doing pretty well. Prayers are still needed as they continue the adjustment.

I was disturbed by a story I heard of a family that was not able to keep an adopted child they adopted. We have a HUGE passion for adoption and hearing this makes my heart weep. When I speak with someone that is considering adoption for the first time, the first thing that comes out of my mouth is for them to PRAY about it. Adoption can be very difficult, even if you have children prior. This cannot be taken lightly or cannot be done on one's own power. If you are called to adopt and truly believe you are supposed to, then the Lord will give you the child that HE has chosen for your family. Giving that child up is a difficult place to be. Be prayer as you walk down this road. If a door closese, then it is not of God. Serve and care for orphans in another way. Seek Him with your whole heart and He will guide you in everything.

Operation Christmas Child

I am so excited to report that the Graceland family gave 621 shoeboxes. I am humbled to be part of such a giving church in the middle of this economic craziness. Thanks to all who gave to provide a child with an opportunity to learn about our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

YEH!!! Keep praying that the boxes go to the just the right kiddo.

Mari'An shares

Mari'An shared a bit of her past that brought tears to my eyes.

This is how it went. We were at the laundromat and she was looking at the magazines on the table. She saw a picture of a little black girl picking up food off the ground. She ran to me and said that was "ME." In broken English, she shared with me that she did not have food and that she and her brothers and sisters ate off the ground. She said she was very hungry but no food. She then showed me a picture of a house of stucco material and said she lived in a house like that. She then with her arms and sounds said the house fell down and she had no more home. She pointed to the sidewalk in front of this house and said that she slept there. Her mother had 2 dresses- one she wore and one she put on the ground so all her brothers and sisters could sleep on it. She said it rained and the dress was destroyed, ruined, or taken away. Then she said that her mother took her to the orphanage with her mothers friends daughter (would love to find her and get her a family close too. I will have to pray about that!) She then had food but did not go out to play.

Next story was of the birth of the baby sister, Mar. She said that her mother had a C-Section and 2 babies came out. One boy and one girl. The girl Mar was ok. The boy was not breathing and died. Of course, all of this is with charades and words and things. But, I could make this stuff out pretty clearly.

My heart goes out to the mom as she had to do something that I can not EVER imagine doing. I applaud her for not aborting her babies but giving life to them. Even if that life is one of severe poverty. I pray that other families can walk out in faith and help these moms who make the choice to keep their babies. As a Believer we talk about being pro-life but seldom are we willing to help the orphans. Should we have just aborted them? We need to do something.

The results

We got Dan's results and all is negative. The cancer has not spread. We are SOOO thankful for this huge blessing. The cancer is contained within the prostate and will be removed on Dec 3. There are still many emotions but are taking one day- one week at a time. It is too overwhelming to think about it all. So, now Dan is taking antibiotics and letting his prostate heal from the biopsy. Prayers for that.

The Lord is so very gracious and merciful. He did not give us this; a fallen world did. But, He showed His amazing love for us by catching this early. It was no accident or coincidence. Thanks for all the continued prayers. We have some amazing friends that we are so very thankful for.

THings they say and do...

Luke- After a bath one evening, he went to get his pj's on . He runs back into the bath with a HUGE smile. He says, "Mommy. Me pajama - spiderman." "I like I like I like." Then he runs over shoves his head into my armpit and gives me the biggest hug imaginable. WOW!!!! OVer hand-me-down spiderman pj's. I love that kid. He is so wonderful. Puts life into perspective.

Kayleb - While on the mower with me, I explained that Christmas this year was not going to be as BIG as other years. With daddy sick, getting the kids, and med bills with the new kids, we do not have the money we had in years past. We are fine but just do not have the over abundance of the past. Anyway, his response was, "That is fine. Christmas is not about presents. It is much better to have brothers and sisters than gifts. We will all share and it will be fine. " Gotta love that kid too! What a heart. Thank you Jesus for that. "Love is not selfish..." 1 Corinthians

The new 4 - They will eat spaghetti with their hands but a breadstick with a fork. Go figure???

Nadia- "My mommy" Melts my heart.

Joshua- He cracks me up whenever he talks with the 4. He talks in broken English, they speak back in Amharic, and then he tells us in good English what they said. We laugh! He just loves those kiddos.

J'Dyn - She is doing much better on not being a mother hen. We are so proud of her. This is a tough one but she is getting there.

Mari'an- She is doing great with her English. At the table the other evening, she said, "Zip the lip and eat. " Too funny!

Amelia - She is doing great! Her smile warms a room and her silliness makes us laugh. She puts her hands on her hips and says, "What's up girl.' It is just plain funny.

We are so blessed with all our children. I cannot believe that I am saying having 7 is not so bad, but I am . They are too cute!

What a week this has been.....

Well, I am not sure where to begin. This week has been one filled with many emotions. On Tuesday, Dan found out he has prostate cancer. The word "CANCER" scares us tremendously. I truly never thought we would be here and definitely did not foresee this on the near radar for our life. We are very thankful that it has been caught early, we have the latest technology here in Louisville, and the cure rate is very high. Our lives this year have been filled with many trials. We are not sure why we are going thru this, but we are . We pray that we can give the Lord the praise and glory that he rightly deserves. He did not give us the cancer-- this fallen sinful world did that. The Lord will get us thru it though. He provides when we do not know He is there. He will be here with us for this too.

We ask for prayers for our kids. Our new 4 still do not speak English and do not understand what is happening. They can see us crying and they know something is going on. I hope our hugs and kisses reassure them that all is good. I wish I could tell them that Jesus Loves them and will protect them and provide.
We ask for prayers for Josh, Kayleb and J'Dyn. They have been great with this. The day Dan found out, we sat down with them and told them eveything. They had a few questions, but totally said all will be ok. THey said the Lord will provide. They are right! Love the faith of a child. They have had a few questions since but they seem to be doing well. Jesus is so amazing to protect their hearts and comfort them. YEH!
We ask for prayers for the tests that Dan has taken and will take this week to all come back fine. The test are done to reveal if the cancer has spread. We do not want that!
We ask for prayers of comfort for us. This has been a huge kick in the gut for us. We still are waiting to wake from the nightmare. May we be glorifing to the Lord thru it all. May HE use us to share His faithfulness to those that do not know HIm.

The Dedication

Sunday was a great day as we dedicated the kids to the Lord. We commit ourselves to parent our new kiddos in such a way to teach them about Jesus. We want them to grow to know Him and make a decision to make Jesus Savior of their lives.

For those that do not understand what that means, we teach our children that there is a God- only one God- of the universe. That God, sent His Son Jesus to this Earth over 2000 years ago. He walked the earth to share who He was and what He could do for us. He had to die on the cross in order to save us. To some that may seem crazy but it is truth. Jesus had to shed His blood to cover our sins. The Old Testament law (books of the Bible like Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, Joshua, Proverbs....) stated that in order to be forgiven of sins, one had to kill an animal. The blood that was shed from that animal would cover them of their sins. So, they would take the best lamb, for example, and kill it to sacrifice for a sin in their life. God set this up so that everyone could see how they truly could not live up to the law. There is not one that could go there life without committing one of the Ten Commandments. We all do it. So, God sent his Son to die, shed his blood, as the last sacrifice that needed to be done. He died to cover the sins of the past, present and future. His only requirement is that one has to confess with ones mouth that Jesus is Lord of their Life. If you accept Jesus as your Savior, and confess your sins, you will be forgiven. People have a hard time with this as there is nothing concrete one can do other than words and a change of heart that gets them to heaven. No acts of service will get you there.
So, with that said, we are teaching our kids about what the Bible says, not a church, pastor, priest, our family tradition, etc. It is strictly what the Bible says. When they are able to understand what Jesus has done for them, we pray that they will accept Him into their heart. So, our committment Sunday, was to tell God and the church, that we will do all we can to show and teach our kids about Jesus.
If you do not know Jesus, I pray that you get a Bible and start with the New Testament. Pray that the Lord will reveal himself to you. Heaven is eternity and that is a long time..... You only have this life to get in. :)

Dedication this Sunday

We will be dedicating the kids this Sunday during first service. We have not done this with our other children as we felt like we did not want anything to overshadow the importance of accepting the Lord and baptism. But, this time we have decided to as a way to make a formal committment to raise these children in the Lord, ask others to assist us in the process (volunteers who help in the kids programs), and to thank all you prayed and supported us.

Updates:
Mari'An asked to pray last night before bed. It went something like this: " Dear Jesus. Thank you for today. Thank you for mommy, daddy, Joshua, Luke, Kayleb, J'Dyn, Amelia, Nadia, Mari'An. Thank you God for Sheshemene (the orphanage) and mommy daddy come take me to America. In Jesus name we pray, Amen."
She thanked God for us coming to get her. YEH!!! She is wonderful. What a joy.
Luke- He has really opened up this week. He says lots of English words; they do not make sense in a sentence but none the less, they are English words. We have also found out that he is an amazing builder. We give him legos, lincoln logs, tinker toys, .... and he builds amazing things. Very smart! He is still SOOOO smiley.
Amelia- She continues to do better and better each week. The "fits" are pretty much gone. She has struggled this week with a cough. ?? She is not sick at all, but then has a coughing fit. ?? She also had all her teeth fixed. We are now done at the dentist. We are so thankful for Dr. Dale and his staff. They have been so kind and loving to our children. They are a blessing.
Nadia- Can I just say CUTE! She continues to just love on everyone. She has started to "ca ca" on the potty on her own. We are still not wanting to push it as there are so many new things. So, we are letting her do it on her own. Her talking is limited. It sounds like she can speak pretty well in AmHaric, but when i try to teach her in English her sounds are different. We will see if she needs help with that.
J'Dyn is doing much better on being a sister than a mother. That is a blessing!
Joshua and Kayleb are such helpers and love these kids like I could not have imagined. They are still asking us to get more. I LOVE their heart. We will see on the additions. THe Lord will have to open the doors.

Blessings to all.
Cyndee

Cute!

Luke: He wanted to pray for lunch today. It went like this:
" Dear Jesus. Thank you for today. Thank you for this food. Thank you for my family. In Jesus name we pray, Amen!"

I loved the FAMILY part. He is so cute


Mari'An: While reading a book about Jesus, I showed a picture of the manger scene. Mari'An knew who Mary was, who Jesus was, and then paused and could not think of Joseph. She said, "Tengen." Tengen is a friend that was adopted to a family in Florida. They re-named him JOSEPH. TOO cute! She then said, 'me and Tengen." I explained that Mary's name is Mary not Mari'An.

Helpers

These kids are amazing helpers. They pitch right in and do their best to clean, pickup, and help with whatever we are doing. Mari'An saw me cleaning the kitchen and wanted to help. She ended up wiping all the tables, chairs and counters off. Then she found the broom to sweep the floor. She followed me around wanting more to do. She washed the windows and mirrors and then I called it quits for her. Luke was great at shoe duty and folding towels. Amelia wanted to play but did great at cleaning up the toys. Nadia liked to make a mess. :) Josh, Kayleb and J'Dyn did their normal chores. THey are so good at helping.
Then on Sunday, they were HUGE helpers. Operation Christmas Child started up this weekend. All of the kids except for Nadia, pitched right in to create boxes and the older ones helped hand them out to people. What a blessing it is to teach them how to serve at 4, 5,6 ,7,8,9... YEH!! They can do so much more than what we give them credit for.
Now it is Monday and the weekend is no more. WOW did it go by fast! Homeschooling is going very well. I redid the schedule so that I school all the work on Monday, catch up on Tuesday for things I missed Monday, and then Wed and Thurs are light for me while the kids work independently. Friday is test day. I can do this while watching the new 4. So far this is working out great.
There are some days I think, "WHAT AM I THINKING! Why am I doing all this?" Then the Lord reminds me thru various ways that He has called our family to this. We need to be at home so that we can teach them about Jesus first and foremost and then allow the kids to be kids. I know that I would REALLY miss my kiddos if they were gone all the time. We are able to have lots of fun together-- hiking to find the biggest leaves, searching for pine cones, planting acorns, watching their eyes light up at the first sight something new (that I showed them or taught them). These are precious moments that I do not want anyone other than ME and Dan to experience. This is not the life for everyone, but I am glad that the Lord opened our eyes and hearts to it. The positives far outweigh the negatives.
The new 4 are saying more English words everyday. We are thankful for that. Luke is still relying on his sister for help. We need to work on that.
Joshua and Kayleb are doing great with the changes. They still want more! AHH- not right now.
J'Dyn is having a hard time controlling her "mother" qualities. I try to tell her that she is not going to make friends with her new sis's if she bosses... hmm hmm... I mean tells them what to do all the time. They do not listen to her but she still tries. We are working on this too. :) It is hard to be the big sister at 40 pounds soaking wet.
This has been a good week and we are thankful for that. A friend came up to me this weekend at church and has offered to come over to love on our new kiddos for me. LOVE THAT!!! We will see if our schedules can match up. What a blessing that would be for me! The Lord will provide.
We are dedicating the kids this weekend at first service. WE are SOOO excited to give them to the Lord, promising to raise them to know HIM. This weekend Mari'An was talking about her mommy and her orphanage mommy. She said her mommy wears the head wrap as she is a Muslim and her Orphanage mommy did not wear a head wrap because she loved Jesus. We asked her if she learned about Jesus and she said YES! Another answered prayer. In the middle of a country filled with M, our kiddos end up in a Believing orphanage. Only a God thing. He is so good.
November is Adoption month. Our prayer continues to be that if there is someone out there touched by our kiddso journey, that they would step up, pray, pray some more, and walk out in faith. The Lord will give you a child that will be a blessing like you never imagined.
Sorry, we are pretty passionate about adoption. It is wonderful!
Have a great day!

Life is good so far

Mari'An- While we were eating tonight, in her broken English, she said, "Mommy, Daddy, Joshua, Kayleb, J'Dyn, Amelia, Nadia, Luke-- I love " TOOO CUTE!!!
I took all the girls dress shopping for the first time. We were semi successful and the girls were WOWED at the stores with all the clothes. Mari'An loves to be a princess and dress up in frills and necklaces. She has been truly a joy.
Luke- His comment this week was when Mari'An was speaking to him in AmHaric. He looked at her and said, "NO Amharic, speak English. " YEH!!! They are trying. He has been such a good little man. He is so smily and happy all the time. He is a bit quiet for the Gillmore home, but he will come out of that. :) He loves to snuggle and hug and tonight gave Dan a big kiss right on the lips and said, "Good night daddy. Love you." TOOO CUTE!!!!
Amelia- She is getting so much better at her whiney - ness. When she does not get what she wants, she is SOOO pouty. She is not screaming bloody murder any longer so there is progress. Her smile lights up a room and her laughter is wonderful. She is learning more words and repeats everything.
Nadia- This girl is crazy! She loves to laugh and tries to get everyone else to laugh too as well. She struts around the house like she owns the house and demands everyones attention. She loves to be held and if we don't she will find someone who will- anyone. Her ear infections took a toll on her sleeping but she is back sleeping thru the night. YEH!!
Josh- Wants to go to Africa again soon to get another sibling. We are not quite ready for that. :)
Kayleb- Loves to play with the kiddos and has been a huge help with things around the house.
J'Dyn- Loves her new sisters but cannot figure out why Nadia cries so much. She wants them to speak English and does not quite understand the 2 yr old thing.

OUr washer went out on Saturday and I went into panic mode. AH! Our friend, Jim clark, graciously came over and fixed it immediately. We are so grateful to him. The laundry piles up quickly.

Anyway, things are going better than expected. The kids are as precious as can be and have really been going with the flow of our family. We are waiting for the bomb to drop but I guess that can happen with any kid. :) Continued prayers for them as they get used to our family and become a Gillmore. YEH!!!

WoW! ONe more week gone

I cannot believe that another week has flown by. There have been so many things that have happened; where do I start.
* All of the kids went to get their teeth cleaned. Mari'An had her final dental visit with one tooth extraction. Her mouth looks fantastic and she is excited about it too. YEH! Amelia has 5 cavitites that need to be filled but the others are good. We are so thankful for our dentist!
* Mari'An and Nadia went to the doctor and got their vaccinations. OH MY!!! It was not pretty but a necessity. That evening, I got Nadia out of her high chair and she had this crazy look on her face, grabbed her legs and said "OOOOOOHHHHHHHH" No translation needed, they hurt.
* Luke is such a cute little guy. He is not learning much English- just repeats stuff. He relies on his sister to translate. He is doing great!!!
* Amelia is completely over her screaming tantrums for not getting what she wants. She has succumbed to a pouty whimper. Mommy can handle that. She is learning the right way to take things from her sib's. Much progress in her. She is as cute as ever. She walks around shakes her hips and says, "What's up girl!" Cracks us up.
* Mari'an is so precious. She is opening up and trying to share about her home city and orphanage - SHe she mane We have been able to catch on to a few things. She says Afric mommy...... I cannot wait to be able to hear about her life and share that wonderful part with her. I hope I did a good job about telling her how wonderful her mommy in Africa was to her.
* Nadia is a cuddler, lovey, and kissy. She has an amazing personality that she can turn off like a light switch. She had an ear infection and is on antibiotics. Takes the med like a pro.
* Prayers are needed for sickness to stay away from us. For what the kids have to go away. For all to get well!
* Prayers for the language. They are doing great considering they know very little English. But, they are really trying. Life will get much easier for them once they pick up on more.
* Grandma Sharon and PaPa David where down this week. They were amazing help as we had so much going on. The laundray was done, the dishes were picked up and the house was cleaned. WOW!! We are SOO thankful for their help and willingness to come down to work their butts off. :)
* Prayers for Daddy. Tests came back this week as they are trying to find a cause for his high blood pressure. There are some abnormal issues that need to be looked into. Prayers for positive results.

Blessings to all

Luke lost a tooth

2 days ago (posting is not as easy....) Luke showed me a loose tooth. He was eating an apple and I think it made it even more loose. He did not mind and continued to eat the apple. He had the tooth at bath time and one hour later it was gone. When trying to ask him, play charades with him, sign language, and every other method to ask him where his tooth was, he looked at us like we were crazy and kept saying "YES." AHH!! Long story short, we do not know where it went. I guess he does not either. Oh, well. No tooth, no fairy, he does not know the difference, so who cares. :) Life is easy!

WE took the kids to Montgomery Farms today for pumpkin picking. It was aweful. The pumpkins were very bad; mostly green, small and rotten. Do not waste your time if you are going. So, we are on the lookout for good pumpkins at a reasonable price.

Luke and Mari'An are learning their abc's and 123's. YEH! We see progress.

Hubers and Harvest Homecoming

We were brave today and took the kids to Hubers to pick apples. They absolutely loved the tractor ride and even more the apples all over the trees. Don't tell the store, but I think they ate a few. OOPS!:)

Then it was off to Harvest Homecoming. We tried to get some things to eat but it was just too busy. The kids were good and stayed by us but people would cut in front of us and we would get seperated. Too much so we just walked and talked to friends. Lots of fun! The kids did great again. I thought they might have a break down because of the crowds but they did not. They are just good! God is so good to us. We are thankful for everything they are just taking in stride. I pray that this is a testimony to someone thinking about adoption. Getting older children is not that bad.... they seem very thankful! Watch those adoption books....they can scare the dickens right out of you. And, alot of the methods in them to "bond" can actually push a child further away. Read them with the eyes of Jesus and pray for how HE and only HE wants you to care for your child. The books say not to bring your child into crowds and stay home with them to get acclimated. Again, follow your heart. Our kids had tons of fun today and the oldest thanked us for a good day.
Off my soapbox now. The Lord has a plan, I pray for us to follow it. He is watching over each of his children.

Dinner- Delicious!

Our dear friend, Terry Vessels, brought us dinner this evening. She said she was bringing baked spaghetti, which we all like. YEH!! Well, she brought more than that. It was a delicious feast. A huge pan of baked spaghetti, a salad with all the fixings (just like Cyndee likes it- she spoiled me), homemade, ground wheat, organic bread , fruit (which was for the salad but the kids wanted it minus the lettuce), and pumpkin dessert. We were spoiled! Thank you SOOO much T for all you did to prepare a VERY special meal for us. I remember a sermon once that stuck with me about giving. One should always give equal or more to what one would do for themselves. If one gives less than what they would want for themselves, then it is worthless. You definitely over did yourself and we are blessed tremendously. We are so thankful that the Lord brought your family into our lives. Can't wait to be bringing you a meal! (soon!!)
Blessings to all the Vessels.
Cyndee G

Update for the day:
Neima was back at the dentist today. They fixed her upper right side. She was very sore tonight and just wanted to sit in our lap and be loved. :) Luke is coming out of his shell and starting to push the boundaries a bit. He pretends not to know the language, I think. He is still VERY good! Nadia has been doing great. She is so animated and loving. Oh, my! Too cute! Amelia is doing better and better each day with her tantrums. She has realized her pouty, ugly faces only get her timeout. Yeh, she is learning
Nadia is also learning sign language for more, thankyou, and help. She is very smart.
They have taught us their dinner prayer. One person says and the others echo back. We love this and will bring this in as a tradition.

Things are still going fairly well. We put in 5 days of school (praise the Lord) which was beyond my expectation. Mari'An and Luke want to learn which is very exciting. WE will continue to work on the language until they get that, then start school .

Are we a daycare?

Too funny! We told the Josh, Kayleb and J'Dyn that we wanted to take the them out for dinner because they have been SOOOOO good at helping, accepting, and caring for their new sib's. Well, tonight was the night and we went to El Nopal. We sat in the backroom at the table for 9. A waitress came over and asked if we were a daycare. TOO FUNNY! We said, "no, just a large crazy family. " We had to explain since there faces were like, "those kids have different skin than you......?????" They thought it was cool that they were adopted.

We were blessed- only had to order one additional fajita meal and all were fed. YEH!!! Not too bad and mommy did not cook- daddy did not have to clean up.

We went to Jan W visitation tonight too. We will miss her bright and sunny face runny around church at EVERY event. Prayers continue for her family esp her boys. This is hard for many as the memories are numerous and precious.

Luke at the doctor

Luke went to the doctor today and did GREAT!! He got 4 shots and took it VERY well. He had blood drawn and did great again. What a special little man he is! I think the nurses cried more than he did. Bless their hearts. He is doing very well. But, the dr thinks he might have asthma. Too funny! We think he reminds us of Kayleb and Kayleb has asthma. God has such a great sense of humor.

Mari'An did pretty well at her first dentist visit. The left side of her mouth is done and off to the right side on Friday. She has lots of work to do but it will help when all is done.

Nadia and Amelia are quite funny. They put on cinderellla slippers and prance around the house with their hands on their hips. We crack up! They are so much fun.... J'dyn and Mari'An are deep into purses, necklaces and LIPSTICK. Oh, my!

Mari'An's teeth

We took Mari'An to the dentist today. At age 7, she has tons of issues. She will have 3 visits within the next week to repair many cavities, broken teeth, and ..... Poor thing. We feel so bad for her. She did great today. I hope she does just as well tomorrow. I am very thankful for our Dr. Dale and staff. They are so loving and kind to our new kiddos. She needs alot of help and prayer. I know she will feel so much better when it is all over.

New...New....New....

Just thought I would post a quick update and share some of the new things in the kids life. These are things we take for granted and it truly humbles us and makes us realize how abundantly blessed we are:

* Toilet paper goes in the toilet
* Endless supply of water in which they drink 50 glasses of at least a day
* McDonalds french fries look weird but taste great
* Escalators are cool
* Bikes are difficult to ride but are a lot of fun trying to learn
* Using a swing takes a bit of coordination
* Sleeping in a clean bed after a bath in clean pajamas
* So many bracelets, necklaces, and shoes they do not know what to do
* Mommy's food is pretty good most of the time. Mari"An does not like ham or chicken enchiladas
* I am mommy and Mari'An can be a kid
* Amy'lia is learning temper tantrums do not get her anywhere but sitting in the corner alone
* Pickles are gross
* Food is always there
* Luke has found baseball caps and loves them
* Soap dispensers are very cool
* Mommy or Daddy speaking in Amharic is very silly
* Hair on daddy's legs and spiky on his head are very strange
* Cold water is "birr" good
* Can't do a thing with their new families hair
* throwing food on the floor when we are done with it is not acceptable.

But most of all, they have taught us how amazing it is when the Lord calls you to do something, the burden it places on you is far less than the blessing you receive. God is an amazing God. When we stand back and look at our life, we get a bit nervous. Never in a million did I ever think I would be a parent to 7 kids. The Lord has called us to this "mission field" for a reason. I pray that we can raise these children to serve Him with their whole heart, mind, hands, and bodies. He has a purpose for them that is far beyond my wildest dreams. May they grow to know Him, love Him and serve Him. I pray that we can be Godly parents that can lead them where they need to be. We need lots of prayer and guidance. One day at a time.......

Home for 2 days

It is Sunday evening and we have been home for 2 days. Just wanted to write an update on the kids.

* Neima - Mar'An She is doing very well. We have come to find that she knows more English than what we thought. Randomly, she spews out the ABC's, or the days of the week, praise songs in English, her numbers, animal names, etc. She seems very smart and eager to learn. We will see! She has been a huge help in communicating with the others during the rough moments of non-understanding. She is a blessing.

* Luke - This child is just as cute as can be. He is loving all the new toys, his bed, and is learning to ride a bike. They did not know what to do with a bike???? He is very smiley but still quiet. He is very obedient. He has tired and eaten almost everything we have given him. He also knows some English and seems to want to know what things are called in English. The boys just adore him and want to show him everything.

* Am'lia - This is our little princess. She was a bit spoiled in the orphanage we think. She whines and pouts when she does not get her way. She will sit and repeat, "moose" about 100 times in a very soft tone as she whines. Moose is a banana and she would eat 100 of them if she could. When we say no, she does this. It is getting better though. In Ethiopia, she would through herself down on the bed and scream. WE have not had any of that yet. PTL!

* Nat'ia- This one has a smile that will melt your heart. She is a typical 2 year old and into everything. She too has to be taught how to share and not take things away from others. She is cute, loving, and smiley. We are thankful for her.

The kids reaction at first was just running around the house touching everything. When I showed Mar'an her closet, she said, "Oh my God." Too funny!

All the kids slept thru the night- 2 nights in a row. This is a huge step in the right direction. We pray that this continues. They just go right to their beds and fall asleep. The naps are a little different and they need a little help getting to sleep. But, that is ok! We are so proud of them.

We went to church this morning and they did very well again. YEH! It was great to see all of our church family- those that prayed for us. This miracle coul dnot have happened without your amazing prayers. It was fun to be able to share our children with you. May the Lord bless each of you richly.

Good night! I will post every couple of days on their progress. Thanks for the prayers.
C

Humbled by the Lord's amazing timing

It is so wonderful to be home and on a computer that works, not on dial-up, and electricity that stays on . AHH!! The things we take for granted.

We have not been able to read all the entries and will do so this week. We thank each and everyone that lifted our children in prayer. Our trip to Africa was full of some stressful moments but the Lord pulled everything together. I wish He would have been a bit sooner-- but all in His timing! Our prayer is that our experience will encourage others to walk out in faith and know that if the Lord has called YOU to adoption, that He will provide everything you need at exactly the right moment.

I have more time to write so I will explain the whole Nadia situation a little more in detail. Nadia is the baby and has a different father than the other 3. On the final court paper, they wrote her last name the same as the others. Even though this was the only place that it was wrong, the US embassy would not give her a visa. Our agency worked on this starting on Monday and was unsuccessful. We were told that we needed the paperwork by 10 or 11 AM on Thursday to complete the process. At around 10:30, our agency representative showed up at the guest house and told us that we would not get the VISA today, asked if Dan could stay until Monday, and told us that the extra days would help in possibly getting the VISA> Cyn was shopping and returned around 12:30. C was not happy with going back home alone and leaving Dan behind. Within a 1/2 hour we recvd a call from our agency stating that a judge had been found and that they were working on getting the document corrected. She said we needed to be at the Embassy at 3PM and this just never happens.
S, our coordinator thru our agency, told us that the head of the judicial system was found and told of the error. Due to the court shut down, a judge was not able to be found. But, the head person, called a judge, office clerk, the registar, and secretary to come in to the courts to redo the paperwork that they messed up. We could not believe all this was being coordinated for Nadia. The Lord loves her so much!
At 4:45 the Embassy staff had asked when the document would arrive. They closed at 5 PM. Well, at 2 minutes to 5, the document arrived and the staff graciously and quickly prepared all the documents needed for us to get the VISA for Nadia.
We raced out of the Embassy, back to the guest house, packed everything, said goodbye to new friends, and quickly took off for the airport. We could not believe the miracle that God had performed. The US Embassy staff could not believe that we got the paper. They said, "this never happens." We have heard that way too much this year. hee hee hee
So, we are humbled by the Lord! We are so thankful that He did not seperate our family and allowed us all to return together. YEH!

WE GOT THE VISA

Literally at 2 minutes to 5 PM, the court document was recvd at the Embassy and they issued the VISA. I have no time we are late for the plane. See you all Friday at 3:30. Pray for the kids and their flights. AHHH

L0ve you@ God gave us a miracle. Praise to HIM! THank you lOrd Jesus.

Cyndee and Dan

Its gonna take a miracle......

The verses in our head right now are:

"Pray without ceasing."
"Do not be anxious about anything." (This is hard)
"I will not leave you...."
"Fear not ..."
"For I know the plans I have for you.... not harm you. "

We as well as many have been praying for a miracle. We were called about 20 minutes ago (well past the 10:00 time frame) and told that a judge has been found. We will go to the embassy and there is a HIGH probability that we will get the VISA for Nadia. We are overwhelmed, excited, humbled, and truly giving the Lord all the praise for this amazing (yet crazy) journey. This one has been much more drama than I think we like to have.

So, it looks like we will be bringing Nadia home. There is still a chance that something will go awry but, it looks VERY good. Praise the Lord for his timing! (My human side really wants to ask why he waited until the last minute. hee hee) Thank you -- ALL of you-- For the prayers. See some of you tomorrow at the airport. YEH!!

I will post when I return from the Embassy. WE need prayers in one hour! We need it to be quick so we can get to the airport in 4 hours. AHH!

Love to all. We are blessed and can't wait to see our Kayleb and J'Dyn. We miss you and love you soo much! Thanks to those who we kept awake. Your prayers have made the difference. We love you!!!!!!
Cyndee

We come home today and still need Prayer

Quick update:
Power went out yesterday
Internet down
No communication
Crazy day and could not do the things we wanted to do. We are resting in knowing that the Lord is in control and we are waiting on Him through this process.
We recvd 3 visas
Should find out in an hour about Nadias. We need lots of prayer for the Lord to work a miracle in getting the "one" page corrected by a local judge here in Ethiopia. We can not imagine leaving Niada and putting her back into the forster home!
To bed with the dogs up with the roosters
Top priority / habit that needs to be changed, toilet paper being put into the garbage and not in the toilet. Nasty!
3AM - We are awaken by the orthodox prayer thru the town on the loud speaker.

The kids are very excited to go to America. They saw a plane this morning and put their arms out and said "we go home on plane to America?" We can not wait to get home to America!

Need prayers today

Good evening everyone!

We went to the embassy today and the news was not great. They would not give us VISA's for any of the children and asked us to return in the morning at 8:30AM. We should get visa's for the 3 but more than likely not for the baby. Our agency's lawyer is fervently working to contact a judge by tomorrow. If he can find someone to redo the court paper, we will be able to bring home Nadia too. If the court papers are not corrected, Nadia will have to return to the foster home until all is worked out. The courts resume in 2 weeks and then the paperwork will be redone. Then an embassy date will be set for just Nadia, she will get her VISA and then be able to come home. Details beyond that are unknown right now.

There is a very slight chance that the embassy will allow us to get a visa for her but it is very slim. We need LOTS of prayers for the Lord to give us a miracle. I do not know what I will do when I have to give her back. Oh, my! She is such a smily, silly, totally terrible 2 baby and we want her HOME. Please pray....we need it!

One amazing thing was after the embassy today, Dan and I were very upset. We get in the car and drove off. Neima and Karima started singing. The driver translated for us and they were singing a praise song to the Lord. Then they started singing in English, "This is the day the Lord has made. I will be glad and rejoice in it. " We totally needed to hear that. This is all in His timing so if our baby needs to stay for some reason, then that is what we will have to live with. As nasty as that result will be there must be a reason. We are so blessed with these kids. It is amazing.
Also pray for Joshua. He is very emotional over the thought of leaving Nadia here. He has an amazing heart and is such an amazing child. Please do not share this with Kayleb and J'Dyn. I will tell them when I return. Hopefully I will not have to. :)

Other stuff:
My mother in law asked for living conditions and a food report. The guest house is nice. We are on the 4th floor and Amy is on the 2nd floor. We have a "kitchen" that has a big table to play games and cards on. That has come in handy. The beds are fine and the staff is incredible.
I have not tried the food but it looks ok. Amy and Dan have and they are not dead yet, so all is good. hee hee hee I packed the perfect food and snacks for Josh and I. The cook here laughs at me when I bring my Ramen noodles and Rice pkts. He wanted to try them though -- he liked it.
Amy has been such a huge help. She is the extra arm we need. Thank you for sharing her Steve, Claire and Ben.
The people in Ethiopia are amazing. They are friendly and very family oriented. Everyone is SO loving WOW! Amazing culture. Love it!
Off to make popcorn. Love to all.
Cyndee

Lots of things.....

Thanks to everyone for the comments. You make life here go by faster. I have lots of stuff to tell so here it goes:
* Kayleb and J'Dyn- Mommy loved to talk with you last night. Daddy and Mommy miss you so much and cannot wait for our hugs and kisses at the airport. I am glad you are keeping grandpa - PETE and Grandma busy. :) Sounds like you are having a great time. Only a few more days and we can be together. YEH!
* Our flights have been reinstated. The travel agent has no idea why they were cancelled. Thanks for the prayers- it is a mystery. But, not for the Lord.
* I cannot upload pictures. SORRY! They have dial up and I barely have service to blog. So you will have to wait for the airport or until we get home. :) They are as cute as can be.
* The kids are doing very well. They like to play with Playdo and all their toys in the bags we brought. They are trying to speak English and it is funny to hear them.
* Abdurhman's name is officially Luke. Yes, we have changed it again. The boys wanted it Luke and we were waiting to surprise them. When Ab looked in the mirror today, I said,"Who is that?" He said, Mommy and Luke. CUTE!!!!!!!
* Abdur sleeps with his head covered up. Just like KAYLEB! He reminds me of K so much. Kayleb, you have to teach him all about the Deere. :) Love you
* J'Dyn - Karima loves her picture and says, "My sista, Jdyn." and then kisses it.
* Nadia can pee on the potty. YEH! I told her to go pee pee and she looked at me funny. Come to find out pee pee means car. I guess that would be confusing as she is sitting on the pot. :)
* Dan and I are doing fine. There is a lot of just sitting around waiting. Playing with the kids has been great.
* Neima was sad today because I took the camera from her. She is such a good girl. She is very lovable.
* Prayers needed for Nadia. Just found out they spelled her name wrong in a court document. the courts are closed for 2 weeks. We hope the Embassy finds favor and approves. Prayers please.

Thanks for all the updates, comments, and prayers. This is an amazing trip! We are very blessed.
Cyndee

We have them.

What an amazing day today has been!

We went to the foster home and upon arrival all the kids were waiting for us. They ran out to give us a kiss and hug. THEY WERE BEAUTIFUL!!! We spent about half an hour outside getting to know one another and taking pictures. Neima - Mari'An loved the camera and took a good 100 or so herself, making sure everyone saw themselves in the screen. I sat with Karima - Amy'lia and showed her the picture book. All the other kids came to see but Karima loved the pictures - kissing MaMa and Dada. Abdurhman - Luke was a bit shy but took to Joshua immediately. By the time we left the foster home, Josh had taught him his numbers to 10. Nadia is Ms. Independent. She said hello and went on her merry way visiting with everyone.

Abd reminds me of Kayleb (Amy said this too). He is shy, reserved, and waits to see what is going on. Very obedient!
Neima- She has been a huge help. She is VERY smart and tries to help us communicate with the other kids. We had the counselors ask her if she could help us know if the kids had to use the bathroom while on the plane. She graciously agreed to help.
Karima likes to tease. She wants to see what everyone else has but takes it versus looks. She is a smiling beauty.
Nadia- She wants her way and screams to get it. She has met her match withmama. WE need a few rules. hee hee She is 2. :)

Things are going well thus far. Tomorrow is our embassy date.

Just found out some how or another, are flights home have been cancelled. Please pray this all works out and all is the same. :)

We are here

Andrea- I can post so you do not have to.

We made it! All went well on the flights and getting to our guest house. Thanks for all the prayers. We get the kiddos on Monday at 10AM - 3 AM louisville and 2 A Kenosha. Ahh. WE are tired and ready for bed.

I will post tomorrow. YEH!! IT is here

C

And were off......

Well, the time is now! YEH!! We are so excited to be on our way to the airport. We sent Kayleb and J'Dyn off about an hour ago and all went well. J'Dyn is doing GREAT! Thanks for the prayers for her. We have been talking to her and I think she gets it now. Kayleb just wanted to go to thefarm to play with grandpa. Too cute! We sure do love them.... Thanks Ron and Jude for helping out with EVERYTHING. We are blessed to have parents like you. :)

Our prayer as we leave is one for safety and for strength as we have this whirlwind trip. We need prayer to cover our new little ones as they do not even realize the adventure they are about to embark on. May we see Ethiopia from the eyes of the Lord and may our hearts be open to what He wants us to do there. May our precious son Joshua confirm his calling to be a missionary there someday if it is the Lords will. And may we praise HIM through it all. We hope that someone reading this will have their heart opened to adoption and walk out in faith to see what the Lord has in store for them.

Well that is my soapbox-- always have to have a plug in there for adoption. :) I am addicted! Thanks for your prayers. We will try to update as often as we can. They say the electric goes out often so you never know. Blessings to each of you and see some of you Friday. YEH!!!!

One day left! YEH!

Emotions are running high today. We went to the airport last night to see a friend return from China with their precious daughter. Emma is absolutely precious. She was shy when they got in but by the time we were leaving she was on the floor playing with her cousins. TOOO CUTE!!!! Congrats Kim and Mike.

The time has now come for us to go. Being at the airport made it all "real." We thought next week, we will be walking thru the gate with our 4. Only a week. We all know how fast a week goes. AHHH!!! The trip will be such a whirlwind..... Anyway, it is here.

Asking for prayers for J'Dyn. We had our family devotional time in the morning and took time to tell J'Dyn and Kayleb the details with everything. Kayleb was very cool with everything and is excited to go spend time with his buddy, Grandpa Ron. He said he has plans to farm, feed the animals, do a little "gatoring", ride on the tractor, shoot guns, shoot the bow, and visit other farms. I guess grandpa will be a bit busy next week. :)
J'Dyn asked tons of questions about medicines in Africa. She saw our first aid kit and wanted to know if we would use it. Then she asked, "what if the medicine does not work for you over there?" We explained we would not be gone that long and that we would be back to get medicine if we needed it. She started to cry and said she just wanted to us not to get sick. ??? Last night when we were putting the boys to bed, they said that J'Dyn told them she is afraid we are going to die and does not want us to get sick. Poor baby! We will talk to her today. I think she is going to have a really hard time tomorrow. May the Lord give us the right words to say to her. Please pray for her.
Well, busy day today. Off tomorrow. YEH!!!

Join us at the airport - Friday, Oct 2 at 3:30

If you would like to be at the airport when we return, we would love to see you and show off our new precious kiddos. The following is our flight info. We ask for you to pray over our flights please. WE need to be on-time, no delays, smooth rides, and for the new children to be at peace on their first ever airplane. YEH!!! See you at 3:30 Friday at the Louisville airport. Praise the Lord for His amazing blessings.
Cyndee

Our flight times are:
United flight Louisville to Chicago - flight 6760 on Sept 26 at 1:33 PM- 1:55
United flight Chicago to Washing DC - Dulles - flight 722 at 3:53 PM- 6:56
Ethiopia Air Washington DC to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia- Flight 501 at 8:30 PM- 7 PM Sunday

RETURN: Ethiopia Air Ethiopia to Washington DC - Oct 1 Flight 500 at 10:15 PM - 7:55 AM United Wash DC to Chicago - Oct 2 Flight 115 at 9:55 AM - 10:56 AM
United Chicago to Louisville - Flight 6123 at 1:14 PM - 3:31 PM

A whirlwind of a day

WOW! It has been crazy. Yesterday Dan left for a meeting in Denver and will return tonight. In the mean time, Jill McNeil and I put up about 15 more meals, my parents came to visit, homeschooled, got hair cut, and mowed the lawn. I am now tired and have a stuffy nose. I pray it is not a cold and just a run down - I need rest feeling.

We are so ready to go. With that said, I feel like I have a million things to do. We are packed and have most of the ducks in a row. Now it is cleaning and preparing the last minute stuff for the kids to go to WI and for us when we return.

Kids update: Neima is getting treated for swelling in her mouth related to a toothache. Nadia is still in diapers. (I think I said that already??) I have doctor and dentist appts for all of them the week we return. YEH!!! We need prayers that they stay healthy and safe. Prayers also for the plane ride home. I have heard of some nightmares trips. Pray for their comfort, peace and for them to understand us.

I cannot believe we are now at the end of this amazing journey. It is so different than J'Dyn's but the joy and the presence of our Lord is the same. The Lord has been gracious to us and has gotten us thru so much since the beginning of this. We are thankful that He knows the plans He has for us 'cause we could not do it without Him. 15 years ago, Dan and I could have never imagined saying we would have 7 children. Now, the Lord has changed our hearts and our perspectives. We cannot imagine a life without these 4 more coming. It is amazing what can happen with the Lord in your life. If you are reading this and do not know about Jesus, I pray that you find your way to a Bible believing church and / or friend that can tell you about Him. Go to biblegateway.com and look up and read Luke and Romans. There is incredible wisdom and peace in having Jesus in your life. He has transformed my life.

Anyway, 3 days and counting. I cannot believe it! I will continue to blog while we are gone so that you can keep up with what is going on. YEH!!!! IT is almost here.

Blessings to each of you.

Another way

I changed the settings so now you should be able to write a comment without going thru the gmail set up process. You have to do it as "anonymous." Hope that works.

Thanks
Cynde

Commenting on this blog

I am not a computer "guru" by any means. Many have asked how to comment on this blog so I am writing the only way that I know of. Sorry for the difficulties. I should have looked into that before I started this blog.

* Go to google.com and set up a gmail email account
* It will take you to a page that allows you to set up your own blog- just exit out of that
* Go back to google.com and sign out
* Then go to our blog at www.gillmorejourneytoafrica.blogspot.com
* Hit the comment button and write your comment
* It will prompt you to sign in- use your gmail info you registered for in step one
* Follow the steps it prompts you to
* That should do it-- your comment should be submitted.

Hope this helps. I really want to hear from you all while we are there. That helps tremendously!
If anyone knows a different way, please post. I am not that good at this stuff.

11 Days left

The final lists are made, now to complete them. It is so exciting to think we are on the home stretch of this adoption. We cannot wait to see those faces-- our childrens faces -- for the first time.
We found out this week that Nadia is still in diapers. We will have to work on that RIGHT away. hee hee hee
We also recvd info on 2 other families that will be traveling the same time as we are. This was one of the biggest blessings when we went to get J'Dyn. The support and friendship is huge while we are in another country. We have emailed each other but have not talked on the phone yet.
Dan and I were talking about shopping when we are there. His response is, "Why do we need to shop?" I looked at him like he was crazy! Amy and I will shop-- for sure. I need to get authentic Eth outfits, gifts for them when they turn 16, 18, and get married, gifts for family, and SOO much more. :) Guys do not understand this.
We are so blessed by the family and friends we have. The Lord has given us a peace like no other on this adoption. 11 days out and we are ready.. That just does not seem right. Thank you Lord Jesus!

Only 13 days left

Wow! When I write "only 13 days left" I have to swallow REALLY hard. We are getting away for a couple of days with Dan's job. We really want to spend these last few days lovin' on J, K, and J. We cannot believe it is almost here. The Lord has been so good to us and given us so much peace about this whole thing. It is SO crazy that we will be getting 4 more kids but God has everything covered and we are thankful for that.

We are also very thankful for our friends at church. Their prayers and support have been appreciated more than any of them would know. The banquet evening was so emotional ,we were not able to remember everyone who attended. Please know that we are SO appreciative of all you have done to support us.

Today in Sunday School, K and R mentioned prayers for their kiddos - our childrens sib's. We are so thankful for this family that it is hard to even describe. They are a blessing!

Getting things done.....

Whew! What a great couple of days it has been! We got a ton of stuff accomplished. The Lord has been very gracious in granting us a clear mind to focus and peace in our heart to not get overwhelmed. It is wonderful! We actually went Christmas shopping yesterday and got over half of that done too. YEH!!

One thing we did was to book our kiddos doctors and dentist appt's for our return. I wanted to write about our dentist, Dr. Dale and staff. They are wonderful! When I called they were VERY accomodating, changed appts of others to get us in, and are just excited for us. She said that they check the blog so "DR. DALE'S Staff" this entry is for you. Thank you for your prayers and concern. This journey could not happen without the prayers of many. We love you and the job you do to make our teeth bright and shiny. :)

18 days and counting.....AHHHHH I get nervous when I say it like that.

Lots of news

We confirmed Friday that we will be leaving on Sept 26 (someone's Anniversary???) with an Embassy date of Sept 29. YEH!!! We booked our flights and got our guest house reservations. PRAISE: We were wanting to get on the Ethiopian airline flight direct from Addis to Wash DC. but the prices 3 months ago were VERY expensive- $2200-2800 range. God is wonderful and opened seats on the flight and gave it to us for $1600. Yippee!!!!! That is a huge blessing that cuts our travel time down considerably.
The guest house is also a huge blessing. (I never thought I would be saying that) The "suite" is available. This is a large room with private bathroom, living room and FULL kitchen. YEH!!!! It has an additional smaller bedroom as well which is where Amy will be sleeping.
Our flight back leaves Ethiopia on Thursday, Oct 1 at 10 PM (Lousiville time 3 PM). It arrives back in Louisville on Friday, Oct 2 at 3:30 PM. Another Praise: 24 hours vs 36 hours. YEH!!!
We also recvd another email that said Neima (The oldest girl) had a toothache and they took her to a dentist. We are very excited that she is being that well taken care of. YEH! Thank you Lord Jesus!
We are doing a bit of homeschooling "RV touring" of kY this weekend as our last hurrah for awhile. WE are making a list of all the last minute things to do before we leave. Thought we were ready--- well NOT. Have quite a few things to put together yet. I always do more than I should though. May have to rethink the list.
Outside of our adoption, we are so excited to hear other families that are thinking about adoption. We have recvd calls, emails, or just ran into families that are considering adoption. Our hearts are overwhelmed with families obedience to care for orphans. May the Lord continue to point each of these families in the right direction as they seek another child to join their family. You will be a blessing to each of those children who come home. YEH!
Well, off to see Daniel Boone's grave. :)

Update... not much news

This week was here and gone and no medical information to be had. We continue to wait for the final medical reports. When we get them, we can confirm / book our travel dates.

Prayer requests:
* Medicals come back quickly and they are healthy
* They learn some English before we get there
* Ka and J'D will be ok while we are gone
* Continued peace at the Lord's leading of this adoption

Praises for all of our friends. We are blessed beyond measure by the generosity, kindness, and support of all of them. Thanks to each of you for helping us thru this HUGE adventure. May the Lord bless you richly!

Where to begin...

It has been an emotional week. I am not sure where to start, but here it goes!

As the last post stated, the mom had dropped off 2 more of her children. We had prayed that the Lord would give us names of families to call. We called 6 and shared our hearts and asked them to pray about it. Some thought we were crazy, some never even called back, and some fervently prayed about it. (Interesting mix, huh? Lots of evangelistic opportunities-- another story) We continued to pray about it with them. Again, if we are the family for these 2, we will be obedient and adopt them.
On Saturday, we met with Pastor Leo from Rwanda. We believe the Lord has called us to Uganda (potentially Rwanda) . We had an amazing visit sharing our hearts for the people there and hearing his heart for educating and caring for his fellow Rwandans. Long story short, we are hoping that the Lord will open doors to bring adoption opportunities to that area and we can help.
On Sunday, K had an asthma attack and C stayed home from church. Dan took the kids and found the Lord totally orchestrating the day. The sermon (which was scheduled 3 months ago) was on adoption, the Sunday school class curriculm (scheduled months ago) was about orphans, and then our banquet was that evening.
After church, C recvd a call from a fellow Sunday School class friend. The husband said that Dan had shared about the 2 children and him and his wife were willing to step out and adopt them. After I got up off the floor, I started to cry and rejoice in what the Lord was doing. They are so excited about adopting these kiddos and that is awesome! Our prayer to find a family has been answered. We told them to pray about it to make sure this is what the Lord has called them to. Our agency does not have paperwork on these 2 so we need to wait to make sure all is well with them. There are no words to describe how thankful we are for this family. Lots of prayers are needed for this family.
The evening came and we both were very emotional about all the details. We really felt that the Lord had big plans for this day. We had a wonderful turnout and those that put it together did a great job. We shared what we thought the Lord had laid on our heart and we pray that the families will step up and walk out in faith. One had sponsored a child thru Project Lucas, so that is a huge success in itself. YEH! We ended up being blessed with enough money to cover the majority of airline tickets! Praise be to the Lord.

All in all-- it was emotional. But, an incredibly wonderful week in the Lord. Thanks to all who support us thru your words and your prayers.
Still waiting on a travel date.

There are more....

We were called this morning about two more children that the mom has dropped off at the orphanage. I cannot imagine how the mom is handling all of this. There is a 12'ish boy and a baby. We need the Lord to intervene and either help us find a family that is close to us or make it clear that we need to take them into our family. I know that the LOrd will call whomever it is suppose to be. I pray that the family he calls will walk out in faith and follow the Lord's command to care for orphans.

I am amazed at the Lord's path that HE has set before us. Help us not to miss your leading and your prompting as we make decisions. May we constantly be focused on your ways, Lord.

Travel information seminar

Today was the travel Webinar. Talk about getting excited about going to Africa. Here are the highlights:
* Donations of formula, antibiotic creams, gloves are needed
* There will be men with machine guns at the airport and around the airport. DO not be alarmed!
* The power outages have subsided as the rainy season is in full force. YEH!
* Do not eat anything that cannot be boiled, or peeled- Do not drink the water.
* Do not help the beggars - safety risk
* Bring med's just in case
* The food in Addis is wonderful! The info lady says to try as many things as we can. Their spices are great and different.
* We will arrive in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia on a Sunday, take custody of our children on Monday, go to an Embassy appt on Tuesday, hang out on Wed, and leave Thursday evening late for the USA. YEH!

That was about it in a nutshell. The kids will be going thru their final medicals this week and next. Pray for them to pass TB and be ok on everything else. Prayers also needed for their birth cert's to come in. They still have us slotted to be in Ethiopia the first week of Sept. AHHH! WE need to know very soon.
All in the Lord's time!

Gotcha Day

Today we celebrate and rejoice the homecoming of one little China princess. 4 years ago today, I walked into the community welfare center and left with Chun Mei Guan AKA J'Dyn Hope Gillmore. I remember that day like it was yesterday. It amazes me to think that the Lord creates a child half way around the world and knows she is a GILLMORE! He is so good. :) We cannot imagine life without her around. Her laughter and silliness brighten up any day. We are blessed to be called her parents.

Also, I want to remember the families that went with us. We continue to stay connected with the Glor's who adopted a precious child one year younger than J'Dyn. We try to get together as often as we can, but it is not enough. When they talk they call each other by their Chinese names. TOO CUTE! The Williams also went with us. We do not talk as frequently but seem to be old friends when we do. Their daughter is BEAUTIFUL!!! There were other families that were there too. May the Lord bless them and guide them as they care for these babies. Adoption is an amazing journey, a walk in faith, and a blessing far more than expected. YEH for adopted families. We love you!

If anyone is looking for a place to pray for orphaned children, please join us the third Thursday of the month at Graceland. This is adoptive families, in the process of adopting, those on missions to serve orphans, those who pray for orphans, and those that have a passion to care for orphans. Join us please! You will be blessed.

A beautiful weekend in the "SON."

It has been a great week. We are coming to the end of a very long few months of organizing and re-arranging. We have decided to take the month of August and focus on spending it as a family of 5 preparing for the changes ahead. It is very refreshing!
Our 16th anniversary was yesterday and we received new pix of the kids. They look great- except for Nadia. She looks sick to me. We pray that the Lord will heal her and/or get her medical treatment if necessary. This is all in the Lord's hands!
We recvd many great gifts yesterday. The kids decorated our house with balloons and gave us homemade cards. TOO CUTE! Dan and I had gifts for each other. I got t-shirts that said "I love my husband" and "I love my wife". We are so corny! We wore them to dinner and out for the evening. Dan got our triple crock pot that I think we will be needing. :)
We went out for dinner and then to an Ethiopian Art fair. The art was not that great but the people there were amazing. We mingled with other families who have adopted from Ethiopia. THeir kids were there and looked amazing. We both held back the tears as we spoke to a family that has been home for 10 days now with their 3. Each of the kids was as cute as ever and already saying "mama and papa." YEH for adoption.
We are now away for the weekend in our camper. We went wading in the river, took a nap, and played cards. Now time for a walk. It is beautiful--85 degrees. I miss the warmth.
If the Lord calls you, He will uphold you, guide you and get you were He needs you.

Joy for a friend

We found out last night that friends of ours, Mike and Kim Kramer, received a referral for a beautiful Chinese princess. We are excited beyond words for them.

We met the Kramers at a Ukraine adoption meeting in 2004. We had started the adoption journey for J'Dyn in Ukraine. Processes in the country had changed and we decided to drop out of the program. About 3 weeks after that decision, we received travel papers to go to Ukraine. We still decided against it. The Kramers as well as 2 or 3 other families traveled to U. Due to many challenges in the country, the K's were unsuccessful at adopting a child. They then sent their paperwork to China. Now, almost 4 years later ,they received a referral. If the Lord brings this family to your mind, please send a prayer on their behalf.

We are SOOOO excited for them. THey may be traveling the same time as we do. YEH!!!! May the Lord be with them as they get their baby girl. She is a very lucky little princess. :)

Crazy week!

The air went out, the Rv repairs are MORE than expected, we bought a van, tired from a very BUSY week, and are getting ready to go to Lexington for a weekend away. Whew!

Oh, and we found out that there is a probablity that we will be going to Africa at the beginning of Sept not the end. That one made us REALLY nervous. We are VERY excited that we will be going sooner and our babies will be home with us but now we are in a time crunch. Praise the Lord He is with us thru it all and is our strength to get us thru. We have had many frustrating moments. We try very hard to bring it back to Jesus, but I have to be honest - it is hard.

We continue to pray Psalm 91 over our home asking for protection.

Please pray for our babies as the time is near. YEH!!!

It is Official!

Today is Dan's birthday and we found out that we are officially the parents of 3 new daughters and 1 son. We are SOOOO excited! The next step is to wait for birth certificates and then an embassy appt can be made. We will travel to Africa to be at the embassy appt. It looks like we will go sometime toward the end of Sept.

We are SOOOOO excited! Have I already said that?

Also, just a tidbit of info. Dan and I found out that I was pregnant with Joshua on Dan's birthday, J'Dyn's birthday was given as the 16th (could have been the 15th), and now we found out 4 more are ours on his birthday. Dan says he does not want any more birthday's. hee hee hee

Praises are being given to the Lord for His perfect timing.

Painting... Painting

Oh, my! I had to take a break to check email. We have been painting the classroom and bathroom ALL DAY!! It has been quite the chore. We have a huge list of "TO DO'S" before the kids get here. And, today was classroom. We will be starting school next week so we can get ahead before the kids come as well. I am so thankful that the stress of today- painting- is the only stress on my plate. We watched a video of children who have not eaten in days in Africa. It is a really crisis and one we all need to address.

We have not heard anything on our case so we are assuming the mother did not get there this week. All in God's time!

May each of you know how blessed beyond measure you are.

We passed....but

All of our paperwork made it to court today. Praise #1

The judge reviewed our case and passed us. Praise #2

We were not approved because the mother was not able to attend court. Her sister died and she was not able to make it today. Our agency is going to bring her to court when all is settled on her end. My heart goes out to the mother as she has had SO much loss in her life - husbands, children, and now a sister. I cannot imagine. Please pray for her if you think of it.

After the mother gets to court and signs her paperwork, our agency will request birth certificates. As soon as those arrive, our agency will get an embassy date and we will travel. Looking at Sept time frame to bring our babies home! Praise the Lord.

"With God, all things are possible." Only thru His grace has this worked out today. So many others have had their cases delayed and postponed. We give the Lord all the praise and glory for this. Thank you Lord for all you do for your children. If you do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you need it. The hope and peace you will have is unimaginable. He is awesome! Even thru the tough times, and there will be many, to know that the Lord is there for you gives you the peace that supercedes all understanding.

2 more days to court

Oh my, it is almost here! Wednesday will be the day we find out if we made it to court, passed court, and all the other stuff that goes along with it. We are so excited and nervous about it all. Please pray that we get into court and that all the paperwork is correct. Continue to pray for our babies safety.

May each of you find the peace that can only come from Jesus. There is nothing to fear or worry about when we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Sometimes it is easier to say than to do but it is truth. Jesus knows the path we are on. Stay focused on Him and serve Him today.

Kenya

A group of people from our church are in Kenya right now serving orphaned children. Each evening we all gather around the computer to catch up on their daily activities. It is so awesome to see God working and being glorified thru the people He sent. Their "main" mission was to deliver back packs to children who were not able to attend school because they did not have supplies. I believe they have over 500 to pass out to children. Today's entry said they passed out the backpacks, fed 600 children, and shared the gospel. 70 people accepted Christ. WOW!!!
My heart is heavily burdened for the people of Africa. Dan and I pray for the Lord to use us to do His will there. We feel there is so much more in addition to adoption that is waiting for us. We need to help esp when we hear the stories that are shared on the blog from Kenya. It is incredible. Lord, please, if it is your will, open doors and lead us in Your direction. Whatever you want us to do to help the orphans in Africa, we will do. Please open the hearts of others to help these precious babies-- your children. There is a need, use Believers to step out of their comfort zone and walk in faith. Help us to seek You daily and GO!

Getting ready for the kids

We have been so busy with getting the house ready for our new kiddos and fixing all the stuff that has broken, that we have failed to pray for the kids as much as we would like to. It has been crazy trying to keep up with all the stuff that broke. This week we have replaced a hand mixer, replaced the basement door, replaced the window, replaced the holey liner in the pond, and fixed the front door. YEH!! Progress.

I have to be completely honest. It has been a tough road over the last 4 months. We have truly felt the attack and have not liked it. In the midst of trying to save for our adoption, we have had to expend much more $ than what we ever expected. The only way we have made it thru is our faith in the Lord. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we need to adopt these precious children. Someone asked, "What if all these things that are happening, are God's way of saying no to the adoption?" We truly believe that the Lord is only good and would not inflict harm. So, if this was not of the Lord, He would show us in ways that were "closed doors." WE are praying Psalm 91 over our home!

Anyway, thru all the obstacles, it is worth it give 4 children a forever family. It may not be the easiest thing we have ever done, but we know that with the Lord, "All things are possible."

Please continue to pray for our babies.
* for their safety
* For them to know our voices
* For them to adjust to a new life in America
* For Christian nannies to continue to surround them and share the love of Jesus.
* And, as always, prayers for a healed foot! Next appt July 21

The weather

I checked the weather today in Ethiopia and was VERY encouraged. Then I realized something must be wrong. The daily forecast for the next 5 days averaged highs of 75'ish and lows of 65'ish. I thought WOW! That is awesome. Then I looked at the current temperature and it said it was 97 and hazy, feeling like 118. OH MY!!!!!! Those are the temp's I thought should be there. So, I guess their weathermen are no better than ours. hee hee

Court Date

We got a court date..... we got a court date.... we got a court date. YEEEE HAWWWWW!

Can you tell we are excited? Our court date is July 8th. What does this mean? Well, on July 8th the judge in Ethiopia will review our case to give us custody of 4 precious children. BUT, if all the paperwork is not to the judge he will postpone the case. The paperwork is a recommendation/ review from MOWA - Ministry of Womens Affairs in Ethiopia. If MOWA does not get their paperwork completed, it will delay us.

Prayers:
- MOWA paperwork to be to the judge by July 8th.
- For the judge to find the dossier and other paperwork in order and pass our case.
- Prepare the hearts of 4 precious African babies for a family in the USA
- For the kids to know our voices and to know us

Thanks for your prayers. It is getting closer and closer....
Cyndee

No court date yet

We have not heard if we have been given a court date yet. One week down....

It is all in the Lord's timing!

Court date requested

The dossier has now been finalized in Ethiopia and a court date has been requested. We will see when the Lord wants us to go??????????

Prayers for our child's safety and for their hearts to be open to their new family. We are on our way precious ones!

Gifts from Ethiopia

Habakuk 2:3
"For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. "

Our agency, CWA, sent us a package that contained this scripture verse plus some gifts. It included a scarf, necklace and a change purse that came from Ethiopia. The letter said that here were a few items from our childs country and while we waited to know that the Lord will not delay. All things are in his timing, at his appointed time.

It was comforting and just plain exciting to get this stuff in the mail. It is so real and the time is almost here. YEH!!! Can't wait to meet our children. We know the Lord is in control of it all.

Also, found out today that the foot is still broken. I have 6 more weeks of careful babying of the foot. I need to stay in the walking cast on rough surfaces and the tennis shoe around the house / smooth surfaces. I am a bit disappointed but know that the Lord must have a plan with all this.

Enjoy a marvelous day in the Son!
Cyndee

Update from Ethiopia

We talked with our coordinator yesterday and got an update.

Ben said that our dossier is in Eth and is being translated. After that it will go to various offices / admins for authentication. Then it goes to the Womens affairs office where they will review our dossier and the childrens files. They need to write a letter on our behalf for the court. Once CWA gets our dossier back, they will ask for a court date. We are hoping that we can still get a date in July. (Prayer request #1) The letter that the Womens affairs office writes needs to be in court on our date or the court day is postponed. (Prayer request #2) 50% of all cases are delayed because the letters are not recvd on time. If we make it to court, most cases are passed. (3rd prayer request) Then it is time to request passport and birth certificate information. This takes about 3-6 weeks. When the birth cert's are recvd they are checked for accuracy. (4th prayer request) If they are correct, CWA will then request an embassy appointment. This is when we book our travel, which will be about 3-5 weeks later. (5th prayer request)

So, long story short, we will travel either the end of Sept or the end of November.

Thank you all for praying. It is a longer wait than what we wanted but it is all in God's hands. He will get us there when He wants us there. Until then continue to pray that our babies are safe and are being cared for by loving, Christian men and women. I know the Lord is watching over them. We rest in the comfort knowing that He knows our path and He will make it straight in His way.

Dossier in route to Ethiopia

Our dossier is off to Ethiopia. We are so excited that we can hardly stand it. (Still a bit nervous too) Ethiopia should acknowledge receipt of it by the end of next week.

Misrach at CWA was our coordinator for dossier preparation. She has been such a sweet lady in prayer and encouragement. We now move on to another coordinator named Ben. Not sure if we like all these changes but we will see. CWA has been wonderful to work with and has been doing this for a long time. So, we trust their path that they have laid before us. (Actually we trust that the Lord led us to CWA and we will follow their routine)

We will be informed on the next steps in the process and travel info when he contacts us next week. No more paperwork and we are thankful for that.

Hope you all are having a great day. May you seek a way to care for an orphaned child. They need you in prayer and spirit.

Vaccination Day

We visited the travel clinic today. OUCH!! Dan and I got 6 vaccinations, Amy got 5, and Joshua got 1. We are now ready to go and stay healthy.

The nurse gave us some good information and prepared us for stuff that could happen.

May the Lord protect us as we travel to Africa. May His angels surround us and keep us safe.

Today is Grandma Judy's birthday. Happy Day to you! We love you.

Dossier Complete

The dossier is complete and was sent to the courier yesterday. We received an email from the courier that said it was received today. YEH!! He will take it to the state department tomorrow and then leave it at the Ethiopian embassy for approval. It should be authenticated and sealed by Tuesday, May 26. The courier will then send it to CWA. CWA will receive it, review it, and then send it to Ethiopia.

The dossier should be in Ethiopia's hands within 2 weeks.

Continuing to praise Him! Thru it all, God is still good. Pray for our precious babies in Africa. Can't wait to see that wonderful country.

Garage Sale

We are trying to find things to sell in a garage sale. We had a huge one last year(before adoption of 4) and got rid of tons of stuff. If we can come up with a sufficient amount of things to sell, we will move forward. A number of people have asked if they can donate stuff to our garage sale so I just wanted to keep you posted on where we were with that. Not sure if we can have one--- not sure how much we have. Thank you so much for all that want to help. We are humbled by the generosity of soooo many. You are doing it for 4 precious children in Africa. They need to know Jesus and the Lord has an amazing plan for their lives. We are blessed that the Lord is going to allow us to help them come to know HIM.

Thanks again to all who want to give!

I-171 Approval

We received our I-171 approval from the US government today. This means that the US approves us for 4 children based on our home study and our fingerprints. This has been sent to Ethiopia stating that the US will accept them into the country.

So, another step closer to our kiddos. YEH!!

Dossier will be sent to DC on Wednesday (maybe Tues) .

Vision Moment - Sunday

What a great day it was today! The ministry, Mission:OrphanCare, had a Vision Moment at church. We put a video together that showed the congregaton the number of orphans in this world. It asked the question, "How can you be used by God to care for orphans?" A number of GBC families were up front to show how they were caring for orphans- Adoption, prayer, support, sponsorship, foster care... I am very encouraged and am hopeful that more will step out in faith and see what the Lord has planned for them.

The Lord totally planned the whole day. A missionary from Africa was there as a guest speaker. VERY COOL!

Our prayer is that more families step up and adopt. If they cannot adopt, (and most can) it would great if they supported someone who is. PRAY!!!!

Dossier delayed

Our adoption agency caught another error in the homestudy on Thursday. When the homestudy agency reprinted the last page due to their white out error, they reprinted the rough draft version. It should have said that we are "approved and recommended" to adopt and it just said, "recommended." So, we got our new one this morning. Our dossier is now complete and correct. Praise the Lord!!!! Monday, I will be running the forms to Indianapolis to get it authenticated and then the dossier will be off to Washington DC. If all goes well, our dossier should be in Ethiopia by the end of May. We are one month delayed which is very disappointing. The Lord is in control and there must be a reason.

The spiritual attack that we are facing is very frustrating. We are staying strong and have gotten some amazing advice and wisdom from our friends and family. We are blessed to have them in our life to lean on when we need it. The prayers are felt and we are thankful for them.

Please continue to pray for the Lord to work out all the details. It is too overwhelming for us to take it over. :) It is all in his hands. "While I'm waiting, I will serve you. I will worship and praise you, while I am waiting."

Dossier complete

Our dossier is complete and was sent off to CWA for review today. We are hoping that there are no errors and we can move forward with the remaining "official" authentications of the dossier. It will then go to Washington DC for more authentication and then off to Ethiopia. We pray that it is not too late and we can still get a summer court date. If it is the Lord's will, he will make it happen.

home study

We received our final version of the homestudy on Friday. In looking over it this weekend, we found a BIG error. The notary section had a "white out" mark on it. This is a HUGE no-no in the international adoption arena. We have had to correct them a couple times now on things they should already know. That gets to be a bit frustrating as we are paying them for their expertise. It is all in GOd's time. He knows are hearts and knows we want them home quickly. We just have to leave it up to Him to catch the mistakes and get the paperwork to us.
We are now waiting on :
* Our corrected home study
* Our medical forms from the doctors (thought what we had was ok, but it was not)

Prayers for all of this to come together so we can get our paperwork together.
Praise for all the new stuff we are getting! The Lord is providing and will continue to provide. This week we fixed the light in the kitchen, the window was ordered, the stove was ordered, the new lawnmower came in, and the sewer smell is gone for the moment. YEH!! Things are looking up. :) Thank you Lord.