Thursday, February 23, 2012

Garage Sale and Travel Date Update

The first day of our garage sale is done and we had a pretty good turnout. It started out really slow and we actually thought we might not have much traffic, but it started to pick up throughout the day. The weather was nice with a strong breeze and quite sunny toward the end. When we were getting ready to pack everything up, there was still so much left that we thought not much had sold. After moving it back into the garage, we realized there was a lot more space in the garage than before the sale. So, I guess we did sell a good amount!

We're doing it all over again tomorrow with the help of some WONDERFUL friends and my mother-in-law, who so kindly, without complaint, has helped in any way needed throughout this entire process! We're so blessed to have family and friends walking with us as we work to bring our Elizabeth Joy home. She is already so loved by these precious people who so willingly sacrifice their time and money to help us! They get it - they understand why it is worth our time, effort, and money to work toward this awesome thing called adoption!

Now the moment you've all been waiting for...we didn't get our travel date today: ( But, we were informed on when we should be getting our date and should expect to be in country. I was disappointed when I found out, but thankful for the update from the team in country so we wouldn't be waiting each day, hoping for a phone call. It looks like we should be getting that wonderful call next Thursday and expect to be in country sometime around or just after March 15th. It's only a few days later than we originally expected and this gives us a little more time to get things done. I want to see and hold our baby girl more than I can tell you!! PLEASE pray for us as we wait and for E that she's doing well and being loved on while we wait!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Weekly Update #3

Time for another weekly update and what a busy week this has been already!

1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!! What a joy and blessing our oldest child is to our family. He had a rough beginning coming into this world almost 2 months early and requiring lots of medical care, but now is a healthy, strong, and energetic 7 YEAR OLD boy! We praise God for the gift he is to our family and pray he will grow into a man of integrity, honoring God in all things! We love you, son!


2. Today I have some dear friends coming over to help me sort through the mountain of stuff for our garage sale that starts tomorrow morning. Our garage is literally bursting at the seams, I don't think we can fit much more in there so it's a good thing the sale starts tomorrow! We seriously couldn't do this without them as well as everyone who has contributed things to sell! THANK YOU to everyone who has donated, spread the word, and are helping with the sale!! This will be our last fundraiser before we leave so we are hoping for a large turnout with everything (or at least most of it) being sold over the next couple of days.


3. I went shopping for a lot of the items on my packing list yesterday. I bought some over-the-counter meds, travel accessories, and a few food items. Trying to get as much done before we get our travel date as my brain will be mush from excitement!


4. Speaking of a travel date, we are HOPING for a phone call early in the morning with news of our date!! I've already started a pile in my closet of some things we need to pack. There is still much that needs to be done, so I'm thankful we've been able to get some things checked off our list! Please be praying for us as we wait to hear when we can go meet our daughter and hold her for the first time!


There's much to be done so I must go now, but will hopefully have exciting news tomorrow morning to report: )

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Sick...again

I had to go to the emergency clinic last night as I just couldn't shake this sore throat after completing a 10 day round of antibiotics Wednesday for strep throat. After another strep test, it looks like that dose wasn't strong enough to completely kill it. So...this doctor gave me a shot and another 10 day antibiotic. Hopefully this will do it and I'll be rid of strep and all the not-so-great stuff that goes with it.

All that to say, PLEASE pray for our family! We will hopefully be getting our travel dates in the next week or two and would be traveling just a couple weeks after that, so we need to be in good health. There is so much to do still to prepare for our trip and our big garage sale is this coming Thursday-Saturday as well. I need energy and stamina to get through these next few weeks and would greatly appreciate the prayers of fellow believers!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Submitted!!

I received a phone call from our stateside helper at 7:07am Thursday morning to let me know that our dossier was submitted!! Hopefully, we will be receiving a travel date in 2-3 weeks for 2 weeks after that. Lots of changes have been occurring so we're unsure of the time frame, but are hopeful it will be sooner rather than later!

For now, we are getting a list together of all we'll need to take with us and have started a stack of those things that is growing by the day. It seems very overwhelming at this point how we're going to get everything done and be ready to travel in just a few short weeks! We're trying to take it one day at a time and tackle it little by little. Some friends of ours who adopted from this country a little over a year ago have graciously let us borrow some much needed items for which we are very thankful!

We are also preparing for our garage sale that is planned for the end of the month. We have had some very generous donations of various items so we're hoping to raise the remaining funds needed for our trip. We have some pretty wonderful friends who have graciously volunteered to help us with sorting, pricing, and the actual day of the sale! We are thankful for each of you that have offered your time and help!

It's going to be a very busy next few weeks as we prepare for our trip. Will you please pray for peace while we wait for our travel date and for favor with the govt officials we'll be dealing with while in country? As a dear friend recently stated, we see God's amazing providence and intense spiritual warfare in adoption! How true this is! This is why we so covet your prayers as we get closer to traveling, meeting our daughter, and coming face to face with people who will decide if we "are fit to parent" Elizabeth! We have witnessed God's outpouring of provision for these precious children and the families working so hard to adopt them first hand and it has been absolutely amazing! We've also seen the attack of the enemy who hates to see these children adopted into families who will love and raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. So, I ask my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to pray earnestly for our family and Elizabeth that God would go before us, that we would represent Him rightly in all we say and do!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Prayers for the Reeves Family and baby Whitney!



I'd like to introduce you to the Reeves family. They are in the process of adopting a beautiful baby girl named Whitney from our baby girl's birth country. They are fellow Texans and I've enjoyed getting to know and walk along this bumpy road of adoption with Tiffany. They just sent off their USCIS application and are praying for an expedited approval as Whitney has multiple heart conditions and has already had one surgery for one of her heart defects. The faster they get this approval, the quicker their baby girl can get home and get the medical care she needs!

Will you please join me in praying for this sweet family's USCIS expedited approval and for their precious Whitney's health while they wait?

Please click on over to their blog and pray for them as they work as quickly as they can to bring Whitney home!