Official Update: Quilla's Health is Significantly Improved!

PRAISE JESUS!! We are so happy to get the official word from our agency today that Quilla is getting better. Continue to keep her in your prayers as she heals. Tomorrow, another mom will pray over her and will pray this verse: "For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." Psalm 91:11 What a great start to the weekend!!

This weekend, we're taking Zeke to a street rod event (no kidding!). We will just generally relax and enjoy being together. We'll all be off work/school Monday. Hooray!!! Enjoy your weekend and thanks for your ongoing love, support and prayers.

Some Updates...

We heard from the adoptive mom who is in Ethiopia right now. She got to love on our baby girl and ask the nanny how she's doing. The nanny told her she's doing better, though she's still on IVs (as of Tuesday). We still do not have an official update from the agency. Their staff is very busy and we're told the internet connection at the Transition Home is sketchy, at best. So, we're taking the approach that no news is good news. Certainly, if she got worse, we would hear about it.

We found out yesterday that it will be "several more weeks" until our agency has court dates for those of us with recent referrals. The court process is changing because of the requirement that adoptive families appear in court. It's our hope and prayer that this new process will improve our chances of passing court while we're there. Honestly, as long as we pass court before the courts close, I'm fine with a little later court date. Please continue to pray over this process. We will find out more during a conference call with our agency next Tuesday.

Other Moms

I love knowing that another mom is going to get to love on our baby today. This mom has waited a long time to go get her baby so we're very excited for her Forever Family Day. And it warms my heart knowing that she's going to see our baby girl and will love on her. We haven't gotten any health updates from our agency and probably won't until later in the week. We've been told that Internet access in Ethiopia is sketchy so we may or may not hear from the other mom today about how our baby is doing. Still, I'm comforted to know that someone I know will get to see our baby. So exciting! Of course, if I do hear from her, I'll post an update!

Roam, Baby!!

There's nothing like good times with the fam and some B-52s to keep us company!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A New Week

Let's hope for two things this week. First, and most importantly, let's pray for good news about our baby girl's health. We want to know that she's doing great and is on the mend. Second, this marks the first week that we're in the 2-5 week time frame to hear about our court date. Our case is a little more complicate (I think) because some things that normally all happen on your first court date are supposed to happen before we show up. This is fine because we would love to get the news from the judge while we're there that we have passed. It would be a total bummer to get on that plane to come back to the states, knowing we still hadn't passed court. Since there is (seemingly) an extra step in our process, it's entirely possible that we may not hear about court for another 4 weeks. However, we are hopeful and pray that we will hear something this week!!! We will keep you posted on both fronts!!

Sent from my iPhone

Baby Girl is Sick

Please pray for our baby girl. We got a call from our agency yesterday that she is sick. She has a high fever and is getting fed through a tube. She's on some high power antibiotics so we are hopeful that she will be better soon. Please pray for her full and quick recovery. We may not get an update until the end of next week, though we'd like to hear sooner. We are trying not to live in worry and trust that she's in good hands.

Tangential News

A family that received their referral six days before we got ours just got their court date, which is in early June. We are hopeful that we will get our court date soon, though we're fully prepared to wait the full five weeks since we will be one of the first families required to travel for court. There are at least two families traveling for court ahead of us and we are grateful for that. We hope that our agency will work out any kinks in the process before it's our turn.

We have sent Nutramigen formula to Quilla recently. We are praying that she will drink it and gain weight. We got new photos today from a family that traveled last week. Of course, we were thrilled since we only had two photos from our referral. We are so thankful to all the families that have taken care packages for us!!!

Please Pray for My Sister

As you probably know, my sister recently moved to Thailand. If you've been watching the news, you have likely heard about the turmoil and unrest in Thai society. As the unrest appears to be moving outside of Bangkok, please pray that my sister will be safe. She's doing well and will be starting her new job this week. Of course, pray that things go well with her job. But that's secondary to her personal safety, which is of our utmost concern. Please take a moment as you read this to lift Wendy/Bebe up in prayer.

A Call for Prayers

First, a word of praise! We found out today that Quilla is feeling better (she had been sick). Woot! This made my heart so happy. Second, we're sending two canisters of specialized formula to her with a family that's traveling to Ethiopia this weekend. Please pray that she'll be willing to drink this formula because it's a special kind that will help her grow!!

There are a handful of families with our agency that have passed court and are waiting for Embassy clearance so they can travel. Since we went through a similar long wait with the Embassy in Vietnam, I know how they feel. Would you just take a moment right now to ask God to move the mountains for these families so that they would get approval to travel ASAP?

One final prayer request. Pray that we will hear about our court date soon. It's hard knowing that we will be traveling in the next month or two but not knowing WHEN exactly. There will be a lot of things to arrange when we do find out and it would be nice to have as much notice as possible. Of course, once we find out our date, we'll let you know!!

What Happens Next

To help you understand the process a little better, I wanted to share with you exactly what's going on now. Our agency is working with the Ethiopian courts to get a court date for our case. Typically, it takes 2-4 weeks after a family accepts a referral to get a court date. We started counting yesterday. In talking with our agency, we expect that time frame to hold true for us.

Now, things are a little different for us because we'll be one of the very first families with our agency to be required to travel for court. While that might not sound like a big deal, it actually has some pretty big implications for how court will go in our case. There are several steps that will need to be completed in Ethiopia before we go. So, it's possible that having those things happen BEFORE we show up will mean that our court appearance will be later than normal...more like July instead of June. However, we pray continually that we can go in June for court because we're so eager to see our baby girl!! Begin praying now that God will bless us as we go before the court in Ethiopia with the right words to say and that the judge will pass us while we are there. That would be so amazing to pass court while we're in country!!

We will be in Ethiopia for about a week during our court appearance. Our agency has not filled us in on the logistics yet but we hope and expect to spend most of our time with Quilla while we're there. What an incredible blessing!! Once we pass court, we will wait on approval from the U.S. Embassy, which usually takes 4-12 weeks. Once we get the green light from the Embassy, we're on our way back to Ethiopia to bring Quilla home!

Happy Mother's Day

I had a very happy Mother's Day and it was extra special having my baby girl's photos to stare at! Zeke got me a lovely and funny card. Zeke and Brad gave me a digital photo frame that shuffles through a gazillion pictures. Brad already uploaded photos of Zeke and Quilla. It's wonderful! I can't wait to bring it to work. (It was raining this morning so I didn't want to risk getting it wet today.) I hope you had a very special Mother's Day. I send especially warm wishes to the waiting moms!!

More Quilla Clothes

These are some outfits that are in the queue and will be sent later to Quilla. I have to say...I wish I could find a big person version of the flamingo dress for me! Please continue to pray for our baby girl to gain weight. I'm not sure when we'll get an update on her weight (maybe later this month) but I will keep you posted. These outfits are 3-6 month sizes so I may wait and take them with us when we go in June or July. So, today we begin counting down the days/weeks until we hear when our court date will be. The given time frame is 2-4 weeks for finding out our court date. Pray that we won't have to wait longer than 2 weeks...or maybe not even two weeks!!

Getting caught up: The Easter Performance

REFERRAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got the big call yesterday afternoon. We are so incredibly blessed. Our baby is nearly 5 months old. She has big beautiful eyes. It's amazing how God is in the details. We were able to take her medical info to Zeke's pediatrician yesterday afternoon because we already had an appointment scheduled because Zeke's been a little under the weather. We were able to give another family that's traveling to Ethiopia this weekend a care package for our baby. AND, the Jay family received their referral yesterday too!!! We are sooooo excited for all that God is doing! Now, we have some serious praying that needs to be done:

• For our baby's health-She's really TINY. She needs to gain weight. Pray that God will touch her little body and just add on the pounds!
• For us to pass court the first time-We expect we'll have a court date in mid to late June. We will find out when our court date is 2-4 weeks from next Monday. Pray that everything will be in order and that we will pass the first time. Fifty percent of families do NOT pass the first time around.
• For the US Embassy investigation-Our baby's birth family is far from Addis. We pray that the Embassy will move quickly in investigating our baby's case and will not put it on the back burner because of the distance involved in reaching the birth family.
• For our baby's birth mother-For those who know Zeke's story, it's the same situation with our baby in Ethiopia. Pray for the precious birth mother of our baby.

After we pass court, we'll be able to share photos of her. Until then, here are some photos of some cute clothes we bought her yesterday.

Zeke picked out this blanket for Quilla!

Cute PJs! (Yes, that's a hippo with cucumbers on her eyes!)

No caption needed!

When I got to work this morning, there was a pink bag waiting for me. One of my students who was at the station yesterday when we got the call went out and bought this darling ensemble for the baby...she said she couldn't resist!

Happy Cinco!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I thought I'd give you a fabulous recipe for fresh guacamole. We stole it from a restaurant in our area where you can order "table side" guac. They bring an empty bowl and all the ingredients. They make the guac as you watch...so, umm, it's not hard to re-create this dish at home. Here it is:

Two ripe avocados (ripe=soft, not firm)
1 small red onion
1 Roma tomato
minced garlic
garlic powder
cumin
fresh cilantro
salt
1 lime
optional: 1 jalapeno, seeds removed, (keep the seeds if you want it HOT)

Scoop out the avocado flesh and place it in a medium bowl. Add as much red onion as you think you might like (remember, a lot goes a long way!). Dice the entire tomato and add to the bowl. (If you're doing the jalapeno, dice it and add it here.) Add minced garlic, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and chopped cilantro to taste. Drizzle with juice squeezed from half a lime. Mix thoroughly. Enjoy!

Certainly, you can eat it right away but letting the guac sit in the fridge for 30 minutes makes it even better.

Vote for Another Cutie!

My dear friend has entered her beautiful daughter in the contest. (Of course she's beautiful...she's a Lang Son baby, just like Zeke!) Please vote for Katie by clicking here!!

Vote for Bekah!

Click here to vote for a super cutie who was adopted earlier this year by a family with our agency. Let's help Bekah be the winner!!

Looking Toward May

It's my guess that there won't be any more referrals in April. So, now we turn our attention to May. Is that when we'll get THE CALL? I certainly hope it's no later than May. We continue to pray about passing court before the courts close. Our agency does not yet know when the courts will close this year. Last year, they closed in August and September. We'll just have to wait and see what happens this time. At this point, I simply want our baby girl home with us for Christmas. That might sound like such a long way from now but we don't even have our referral so, that's really what I've set my heart on. For Zeke, I just wanted him home by his first birthday. God answered that prayer! God is able to accomplish this desire of my heart for Quilla!

Our China LID Anniversary Comes and Goes

Our three year LID anniversary for China passed on April 23rd. Who would've imagined in 2007 that we would complete TWO adoptions and still not be close to being matched to a baby from China. I continue to have very mixed feelings about ever completing an adoption from China. Now that China is a Hague country (a good thing!), we would have a hard time re-doing our home study. You have to have background clearances from every place you've lived since you turned 18. For Brad, that would include the time he lived in Spain. Can you even imagine trying to get a background clearance from a small town in Spain?? So, it's my belief that we'll never do China. That makes me a little sad because we thought our first adoption would be from there and we dreamed about our Lily. However, God sent us down a different path and we wouldn't trade it for the world! It brought us to our Zeke and will bring us to Quilla. We rejoice in the twists and turns of this journey. There hasn't been a dull moment!