It's a Poppy Dip!

 I won this dress for Hayley, on a blog giveaway. They are called Poppy Dips! They are custom made dresses and the funds raised goes toward their Ethiopia adoption costs. If you know of a special little girl in your life, be sure to order one for this great cause and because they are absolutely adorable! Here is the one for little Hayley. I chose this fabric becasue it has purple in it and Sam thinks purple will be Hayley's color, I guess it is a fathers instinct.

Faith

Last week Sam and I had a discussion around religion and adoption. I will spare you the details of our conversation, but what we concluded was that through this process, you need to have faith and believe in something that is far bigger than ourselves. This concept is nothing new, but what is new or different (for us) is how much we need to rely on this, practice it, live it, and believe it through this adoption process. I read this today on this blog, from another adoptive parent to be, and it is just what I needed. It was just another reminder…


"God says, never ignore your struggle with how I do things. Ask every question that rises in your heart as you live in this world. But prepare yourself to struggle even more with My response. You must stumble in confusion before you dance with joy.

Know this: those who live by faith will struggle in ways that those who live to make their lives work will never know. It is that struggle, to believe despite desperate pain and confusion that a good plan is unfolding, that will open your eyes to see Me more clearly. Is that what you want? Will you pay the price?

The price is this: you will tremble in agony as you live in a sinful, self-prioritizing world. You will learn to wait in emptiness and frustrated desire for My plan of love to reveal itself. With confidence in Me and hope in My plan, you will not only feel the pain of living in the valley but also see My glory from the mountaintop of faith.

Only those who struggle in confusion and wait in hope will be strengthened to struggle well and to wait with confidence.

Struggle well! Wait in hope!"

[from 66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God that Invites You into His Story by Dr. Larry Crabb, copyright 2009]

Bittersweet

This post is bittersweet. I am bitter because we have not received our referral yet. Average wait time is 4-6 months. Today we have reached the end of the average and will be one of the families who need to wait longer than the average for their forever family. However, I say it is bittersweet because I know that when we do have our referral, it will have been well worth the wait and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I know that when we have our referrals the feeling of impatience, anxiety, and hopelessness will immediately go away. Good things come to those who wait and I will wait as long as I need to if that means that we are waiting to have the perfect match for our family. And really, who am I kidding, my wait isn't nearly as bad for me as it is for Jack and Hayley. Some days I really need to practice having more perspective. Please pray for Jack and Hayley to have a safe journey to us.

Their First Gift...

This is the first gift that I bought for Hayley and Jack. I bought it on our annual girls ice fishing trip. That trip was also significant becuase Sam had called me to let me know that we received our Immigration Approval! This was a big step in moving forward with the adoption process. I plan to hang it in their room. It doesn't really go with the turtle theme I have in mind, but I still love it.

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step." There are so many parallels that can be drawn from that phrase and adoption. In literal terms, Jack and Hayley are on a journey of a thousand miles! There first step being strength; the strength to survive, their strength to trust, their strength to love.  They have a journey ahead of them like no other. In thinking of this phrase, it also resonates with adoptive parents, or parenthood in general. Adoption is a journey that starts with the first step of saying yes. You are trusting in process to grow your family in a way in which you have little control.

I will continue to trust in the fact that we will receive a referral, as hard as it may be some days. Whether it comes sooner or later, I trust that when we have our referrals, it will have been well worth the wait.

Thanks for all the support!

I'd like to make a formal in-formal thank you to everyone who has inquired about our adoption updates. Christina and I appreciate the support, encouragement and "ear" to listen to our comments. Quality friends and family make life more enjoyable and simplify it. We look forward to being able to supporty all of you in our futures together. - Sam

Another Week -

So we are at the start of another week. All I can seem to think about these days is, will this be the day? I try not to think about it because I don't want to be disappointed each day, but it is extremely hard not think about it...every second of every minute.

Sam leaves tomorrow and is traveling near the Canada border. He won't return until Thurs. Sam is sure that we will get the call tomorrow. Tomorrow would be the worst possible time being we will be so far apart from each other. It is not realistic for him to turn around and drive all the way home, should we get the call. So, that means we are faced with a few options: 1) We will open the information over the phone together on our separate computers 2) We wait to open it together until Sam gets home on Thurs. 3) I don't even tell Sam we got the call until he is able to come home, which would be wed. night or Thurs. morning. When Sam and I discussed our options, 3 seemed like the best option until I realized that I would not be able to not tell him. I could not hold the excitement in, even it was for only 24-48 hours. If we went with option 2, Sam would not be able to contain himself and wait for us to be together to open the information. He is like a kid on Christmas when it comes to things like this. He can never patiently wait to open his birthday or Christmas gifts. So that leaves us with option, 1. There are so many what ifs in this situation that I know I am worrying way too much about something that I can't control.

Sam and I have also been talking about what information regarding our children's past that we feel comfortable sharing with others. For instance, how they became an orphan. I am sure depending on what the story is, will somewhat dictate what we feel comfortable sharing with others. It is likely that we will keep parts of it private as this is their story and we would not want others to know before they are old enough to understand and comprehend it for themselves.

Send us good thoughts and prayers for a referral this week!

Today or Tommorow? Please?

Tomorrow we will have been waiting 5 months and two weeks!  It is seriously getting quite frustrating. I think every morning I ask Sam if today will be the day. And it never seems to be the day, but I know it has to be coming...soon!  I told Sam a few weeks ago that I thought that TODAY would be the day that we got our referral. I am still hopeful that we will get it this week. Sam said he thinks we will get it tomorrow. Next week Sam will be traveling near the Canada border for work. So if we do get the referral next week, we will have to figure out what to do being we won't be together. We decided not to worry about it now and we will just figure it out when the time comes (if that is in fact when we get a referral).

The frustrating part is the waiting and not knowing. It will be such a life changing moment and we have NO idea when that moment will come. I literally jump now when my phone rings! We have heard of another family who did receive their referral this week of a little girl and they had been waiting just 5 months. So this is encouraging that people are getting referrals!

Some good news, our friends just passed court in Ethiopia. You can see their new baby boy here and read their story!

My work also started a baby pool and they are all guessing on when we will get our referrals! If you have a guess on when we will get the referral, leave a comment on my blog and put in your guess!

Last night Sam and I went on a run and here is a recap over our conversation. I think it is kinda funny, if you read my blog and you don't actually know us, this is normal humour between Sam and I.

Sam: I heard you put a new picture on the blog?
Me: There are a few, what are you talking about?
Sam: Is there one on a deck? Dave asked where the picture was taken on the deck?
Me: Well if you actually read our blog you would know.
Sam: It would be nice if I could get our blog email updates instead of my friends.
Me: It think he probably referring to my last post and the picture was taken last year when we were in Hawaii. Plus this is your blog too, you don't need automatic updates.
Sam: Where are we adopting from again?
Me: China
Sam: Oh yeah, that is right.

Here are some pics, in honor of my dear husband. Some of his fine, and not so finest moments.  Love you babe!

No News Yet...

Hi All -

We have not received any news of a referral yet. We are hoping that it will be very soon so keep your fingers crossed for us!

Here is the last update we received from our agency:

Dear Sam and Christina,

 We are emailing to check in and see how you and your family are doing; we know you are hoping to hear information about who your children are. Please be assured that SOS EE in Ethiopia are doing their part in finding the perfect match for your family. The current average wait times are still the same time frame of 4-6 months, although each adoption is different. Some families will wait outside the average time frame while others will not, as Ethiopia matches the child to whom they feel will be the best family for them.


We do hope to deliver the exciting news soon. Please contact us with any questions or concerns you may have. We always welcome the opportunity to support you in every way we can.


We also want to remind families that the courts are scheduled to close on August 9th with the official opening date to still be announced, however, courts dates have been scheduled for October 2010.

Warm regards,

So we wait...and wait...and wait...
Here is us waiting....only the view isn't this nice in MN...and it is humid with lots of mosquito's!

On a positive note, tonight is the finale of the Bachelorette! Who will Ali choose?

Chris L?

OR

 Roberto?

I am hoping she is going to pick Chris! Ooooooooooohhhhhhh, I can't wait to find out! My friend Kathie is having a little shindig at her place for the finale, should be a great time!