Breakthrough

First of all - wow - thank you all for the support and prayers.  This past few years of waiting have been hard, but you all have really picked us up again.  Thank you for that!

Now for some good news......we did have a breakthrough on K's case this week!  We received a phone call from our agency Friday afternoon telling us that MOWA had reviewed our case and planned to give us a POSITIVE letter.  This.Is.Huge.  This is the first time in a year that we have had positive movement.  Your prayers answered!  Now our agency does not actually have the letter with signature in hand, because the person that needs to sign the letter was not in the office, but our hope is that the letter (which they said they have drafted now) will get signed this week.  Once the letter is in hand, our agency will submit it to court and a date will be assigned for us to appear in court in Ethiopia (likely 2-4 weeks later) to finalize the adoption.  We've taken a huge step forward this week and we are praising God for that.

Changing the subject, I wanted to answer a question that a lot of you have been asking.  Do K and D know that we are adopting them?  The answer is yes -  K does know.  He had to appear in court a year ago to state he wanted to be adopted.  He was told about us at that time and we have been communicating with him through letters and videos via our agency's social worker since that time.  Below is a picture of K's wall at the orphanage.  He has posted all of our letters and pictures on the wall in his room.  :)   As for D, he does not know that we are pursuing his adoption.  Since we are still so unsure of what will happen, he has not yet been told about us.

Please continue to pray them home with us.  We have seen movement this week, but we are not done yet!

Until they are home,

Dana and Jack

It's Time!!

Alright y'all.  It's time to let you all in on what has been going on in our life the past few years.  Some of you already know what I'm about to share, others may be surprised.  But we feel the need, now more than ever, to garner your support and ask you to storm the doors of heaven on behalf of our family.

Where do we start?  Well, I won't go into all the details in this post, but to make a long story shorter.....we are in the process of adopting TWO boys from Ethiopia!  The story is very complicated and honestly at this point we are not sure that one of the adoptions will end up going through.  However, we have committed to adopting these two boys and are confident that God hears our prayers and His plan will be perfect in the end.

In February of 2014, our hearts were stirred and we started pursuing the adoption of a (then 13 year old) boy named "D".  This was a boy very special to us and to our son, Solomon.  We had met D during our previous trips to Ethiopia and he lived at the same orphanage as Solomon.  Unfortunately, his paperwork  has not been able to be completed for a number of reasons over the past 2.5 years.   This sweet boy will turn 16 in 3 months, which presents a problem.  If a visa has not been applied for by the age of 16, then children are no longer eligible for adoption to the US.  In order for us to apply for a visa, he must first receive a local approval for adoption.  We have been waiting on this approval for over a year.  It is certainly coming down to the wire on this as D approaches his 16th birthday.  IT'S TIME we ask you to pray for movement in D's case!

So where does child #2 come in you may be wondering?  Well, about a year into the paperwork chase of D we realized that there would likely be a large delay in his case.  In the meantime there was a (then 15 year old) boy named "K" on  our agency's waiting child list.  We knew that this boy did not have a great chance of being adopted simply due to his age.  We also knew that there was a fight against the clock to file for his visa before the age of 16.  After much prayer, we jumped on board and started pursuing K's adoption in addition to D's adoption.

The good news is that we have made a lot of progress with K's adoption.  He has been given pre-approval for a US visa (PAIR approval) and K appeared in federal court in Ethiopia in November of 2015 to state that he wants to be adopted.   We are at the point where we just need one signature (from federal MOWA) in order to travel to Ethiopia for our court date to make the adoption official.  Once we receive this signature we will travel to Ethiopia for court in a matter of weeks.   The bad news is that we have been waiting ONE YEAR now for this signature.  This is where we need your help!  We need your prayers friends.  Will you pray with us that we will receive this signature THIS WEEK?  Poor K knows that we are coming for him, and if the wait is this painful for us, I can't imagine how hard it is for him.   IT'S TIME for K to come home!

Thanks for sharing in our excitement and joining us in prayer.  In addition to praying for movement in our cases, will you please keep D and K in your prayers - that God would protect their hearts during this long process.  We will update you all with more information as we receive it.  

Exciting news!

It's been pretty boring around this blog lately.  Not that our lives have been the least bit boring, but my blog has fallen by the wayside.  So for those of you who want a little excitement I am going to send you over to my sister's blog:

http://creatingthehanksfamily.blogspot.com/

Angie has had a heart for adoption for as long as I can remember.  We are so excited for her to begin this journey!

Halloween 2014

Another Halloween in the books!  The Ninja, Thor, and Snow White had a wonderful night.  Hope your night was as sugar-filled as ours.  :)

 

Oh and did I mention Anchorman showed up at the party?

 



 

Back to School

It's that time of year for the obligatory back to school pictures!  Joseph was so excited to be starting Kindergarten and to be in the same school as his brother.  We are blessed that they will attend a great school with amazing teachers.

And just for fun - here's the princess!

So good!

It is amazing how time flies with 3 kids.  So often, we find ourselves hopping from one event to the next.  Today, I thought it was time to slow down for a second and document some big moments over the past 6 months.  We continue to be reminded just how much we have been blessed.  Sure, we have had some ups and downs as a family, but God is so much bigger than any low that we have had.  Let me show you the ways:

Joseph celebrated three years home with his choice of breakfast and a gift from Ethiopia.

And Solomon celebrated two years home with his favorite breakfast and a hat from Ethiopia.  What a difference two years makes!

Joseph celebrated 5 years old with a reptile party with friends.

And then he said farewell to preschool!  Off to Kindergarten in the fall!

Both boys had a fun season playing Upward Basketball.

Followed by a great baseball season for both boys.

And the Princess turned one and is thriving!

I'm not sure we can say it enough - God is so good!

Adoption Day

Today, in the eyes of the law, we officially became a family of five.  We ventured through the snow this morning to the Family Court, where Sophia's adoption was finalized.

This is certainly a big milestone and we are overjoyed that were were chosen to parent this sweet baby.  We would be remiss, though, if we didn't also share that we struggle to reconcile the feelings of gratitude and joy with the deep loss that has been experienced to lead to this adoption.  While we feel like we have gained so much today, we know firsthand the loss that has also taken place.  As another adoptive mother has so eloquently put this, "A child born to another woman calls me 'Mom.'  The magnitude of that tragedy and the depth of that privilege are not lost upon us."   So today we remember, but we also celebrate.

Welcome to the family Sophia! We love you more than you will ever know.

Snowed in and catching up

Well it's -7 outside with 12 inches of snow on the ground. School, daycare, and work are closed - so I figured this was a good time to catch up on the blog!

So here is a recap since the last post:

October was an exciting month, not just because of our Superhero Halloween, but because Aunt Angie got married!

December was a busy month.  In addition to celebrating Christmas, we travelled to Texas for a wedding.  The boys had a chance to visit the state capital and took a road trip to the Alamo.  So fun to be with family that we don't get to see often enough.

Probably the most exciting event of the last few months, though, was Solomon's baptism!  He decided, on his own free will, that he wanted to be baptized and we couldn't be prouder.  

We were blessed in so many ways in 2013 and look forward to what the new year will bring for us!

Two real brothers and a sister

"So, are they real brothers?" - random lady at the grocery store

"Yes, they are." - me

"No, I mean, are they real brothers?" - random lady again

These are questions we get asked All. The. Time.  We get it everywhere -  strangers, friends,  family, our patients at the office.  We certainly try to have grace when asked these questions, as we know most people have good intentions.  We know that our family sticks out a bit.  We know we don't look like the typical American family.  We know that people are curious about how our family was put together.  And we understand that when you say "real" you are meaning "biological."

 While I  had been wanting to blog about this topic for quite some time, another blogger beat me to it!  She summed it up nicely so instead of rambling on, I will just let you read it HERE.

As for us, we're not really sure what the best way is to reply to these questions. We are typically nice, but then that brings on a long line of more probing questions.  I think most family and friends are just curious and we don't mind sharing more about how our family was put together with them.  But the person behind us at the grocery store???  That is a bit harder.  Especially when people start asking these questions in front of the boys.

Not too long ago, we overheard a conversation between the boys that went something like this:

"Well, we are not real brothers."  - Joseph says to Solomon

"What do you mean?  You ARE real brothers." - me chiming in

"You know what we mean mom, we aren't real brothers."  - Solomon replies

Ughhh.  And so a long discussion about our real  family ensued.

I love the last line from the post linked above which I think says it all. "Adoption is messy, complicated, bittersweet. But it’s also beautiful, life-altering, and oh, so very real."

Firsts

We couldn't miss documenting these big moments this week!!

First Day of Third Grade

First Day of Pre-School

And First Smiles!!

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."    Jeremiah 29:11

God is at it again!

We are a family of FIVE.  Wow - I can't believe I am actually writing that.  God has blessed us with another child - for the third time in three years!  That's right - we have adopted a baby girl.  Praise Him for this most precious gift.

Now, wait a minute you must be thinking.  You weren't in the process of adopting again.  How did this happen?  Well - while adopting again was not in our immediate plans, it was in God's!   Here's how it happened:

On the morning of April 30 during a quiet time that I was having with God, I boldly told Him that I wanted a baby.  We had been exploring the idea of adoption again, but weren't sure what we wanted to do - domestic vs international, infant vs older child?  I told God that I wanted to be open to His will for my life, but also told Him the desires of my heart - I wanted a baby!

Later that afternoon, very unexpectedly and out of the blue I received a phone call from the adoption agency that we had used for both boys.  They told me that they had a unique situation  -  a mother in St Louis had come to them to make an adoption plan for her baby.  They wanted to know if we would be open to considering meeting the mother and adopting this baby.  You guys!  I am not making this up.  I have never had a prayer been so directly answered.  Of course - we said YES!

So over the next several months, we frantically prepared for a baby.  This meant not only preparing a room and all the appropriate supplies required for a baby, but also getting a homestudy and associated paperwork done for the legal side of things.  On June 24th, we were honored to be invited to be at the hospital when our sweet Sophia was born.  We sat nervously in the Labor and Delivery waiting room and within an hour of birth we were invited to be with her!  Here are some of those first shots:

Over the next month, we spent every moment that we could with her at the hospital.  She required an extended stay to learn how to eat and to make sure she gained weight.  Her brothers visited often and are smitten over their little sister.

On July 23rd, we went to court to make things official, and then on July 29th we brought our baby girl home!

We are overjoyed with this most precious gift and are certainly loving life right now!


I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.  1 Samuel 1:27

Happy Gotcha Day Solomon!

It just so happens that Solomon's first Gotcha Day occurred this year while on our family vacation in Gulf Shores, Alabama.   Keeping with tradition, the day started with breakfast of Solomon's choice and a small gift that we purchased for him while in Ethiopia.

Does it get any better than Krispy Kreme's on the beach??!!

He loved the Ethiopia bracelet.

After essentially dragging both boys off the beach at the end of the day, we went on a Dolphin Cruise in the Gulf Coast to continue the celebration.  And then headed to Grandma's for cake!

Can you tell we were just a little excited to celebrate Solomon being a part of our family?  We reflected before bed on those first days home last year.  Solomon admitted he was a little scared those first days home, mainly because he couldn't understand what we were saying.  Wow - so much has changed. Over the past year his English has grown tremendously, he has learned to really like American food, he successfully completed the 2nd grade (and loved school), played on a  "real" soccer team, learned how to play basketball and baseball, and has formed a healthy attachment to our family. 

Praise God for how he has grown our family! Happy Adoption Day Solomon!!!