Court

One week from today we should be finding out if we passed court or if we are delayed. Nothing has quite consumed me like this has! Every day I look into her eyes, of the few pictures I have, and wonder when I'm going to get to meet her. Hopefully soon! With court approaching I thought I'd give you the details so you know what exactly is going on and how specifically to pray.

Our court date is June 2nd, next Tuesday. However, Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of us so when we go to bed next Monday night, court will be opening for the day. Our case should be heard Monday night (or actually early Tuesday morning). We have a lawyer from our adoption agency who will represent our case before a judge in a court room in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

Two very important things have to happen for us to pass.

1) Our little girl's birthmother has to show up to court with proper identification and say again that she wants to give up her rights and that this little girl is hers. This is a little nerve racking because she lives out in the country 8 hours south of the capital. Someone from our orphanage will go and find her and bring her to court that day. I've heard of cases where the birhtmother can't be found, she comes on the wrong day, or brings the wrong or no ID.

2) The second thing is that the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) has to be satisfied with our paperwork. They are the ones who ultimately decide if the adoption will go through. I haven't heard of any cases where the judge overrules their decision. We have all of our paperwork that they initially asked for in order. It's been reviewed already by MOWA and they said it was fine. However, it's not uncommon to get to court and they want additional paperwork.

These are the major reasons for not passing court. However, there are several other reasons...the judge gets sick (there's only one judge who hears cases), there's a power outage and they can't hold court, the MOWA doesn't show up, etc. I keep telling people, there's about 10 things that have to go absolutely perfect for us to pass. Right now about 50% of the cases pass and 50% fail. If we don't pass, they will give us time to "fix whatever is wrong" and give us another court date. Thanks for praying!!

All this being said, I still believe God is really in control. My hope is in HIM!

Psalm 33:18-22
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love. We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

Relatively speaking

The last two days have been hot...relatively speaking. It's been a cool spring, so it really has felt like summer. And our pool is heating up. It's a whopping 78 degrees. That's warm...relatively speaking. When we opened it about a month ago it was about 50 (or less) so 78 sounds great. Put aside the fact that in the middle of summer 78 would be freezing cold and the boys wouldn't care to swim. And forget that an evening swim when it's 70 degrees outside is less than ideal. Tonight was the perfect night to swim...relatively speaking.

And all the while, I kept thinking about a beautiful little brown eyed girl in a pink swimming suit....

Birthday fun

Carson turned 9 on Sunday! As Bart keeps saying, 1/2 way to 18....scary! :) Yes, some days I get tired of hearing it, but I know the saying is true...."enjoy them why they're young b/c they grow up too fast!". Nine years old. Almost double digits, almost a teenager, almost driving a car, almost going to college! Okay, not really, but I know it's going to come so fast.

Carson's passion right now is football. He got a flag football set and is headed to the park to play.

My mom and dad came out for the weekend and my brother and his family came over. Carson got to choose supper and an activity. First was Monicals....

...then mini golf.

Look at all these boys. My brother has two boys, so along with our four, it's quite a crew. Some day eating out at Monicals is going to be really expensive! :)
Sizing up a shot.

Speaking of time going fast, Cole looks so grown up here.Poor Levi didn't do much golfing. He much preferred the rocks or... playing with his mommy. :)

A fun weekend. We missed you MTSE! Thanks Dad and Mom and M&M for making the effort to come out! Happy Birthday Carson!!

And one last pic. The coutdown! Quinn took this pic a couple days ago so now it's down to 14 days!! Please pray with us!

The last few days

My family told me it's time to update so I'm posting again. :) Just a little update from our weekend.

Carson had a school picnic and we all went. Can't wait till next year when the WHOLE fam really will be able to go. (We love you Jada and are longing for you to come home!!) I think Carson appreciated us being there, but for a kid whose favorite class is gym and recess, he was off to play football w/ his friends as soon as his lunch was gone. :)

I love this pic of the boys and I and just need to say how thankful I am to be their mom. I had a great Mother's Day and loved all their cards and gifts. So special and funny to see what they wrote. On one of Kade's cards he said "My mom does lots of dusting and other stuff I don't like to help her with". :) I think about being a mother in law someday a lot (partly b/c for so long I thought I was only having boys). I pray that my boys will marry a Godly woman who is sold out to Jesus Christ and who thinks they are the coolest guy in the whole world. :) And I pray that I can love my daugthers in law just how God made them and not get in the way too much. :) So, this has to lead to a tribute to my mother in law now. I believe I had four boys b/c I have such a great role model of a mother in law. Thanks P for all you do! You serve and serve some more and never complain. You love and care and offer help and advice but never try to take over. I'm so thankful to call you Mom! And of course, my mom. You think of everything. And then go a step further. You never tire of doing and helping. You amaze me at how much you can accomplish in a day. I love the way you love people. Wish I was more like you in this area. :) I am blessed to call you both Mom!

Okay, sorry for the tanget, didn't plan on that. Back to the weekend. We went to the land and had some fun in the country. (We own a couple acres close by.) Bart and Quinn mowing.

Kade and Cole having a snack and enjoying the sunshine.

Carson and Quinn were playing in the creek and shooting Grandpa's BB gun. What they would've given to see a fish, a mouse, a frog, a beaver, anything running around they could shoot at! :) They resorted to throwing sticks in the creek for target practice.

And Bart's Grandpa even made it out for lunch. Joe P is 93 (I think?) and still going strong. He and grandma just moved into the nursing home about a month ago but he still drives! He said, that day "you take away my keys and heat and that's about it...." He went on to tell us how the nursing home was about 68 degrees and "why, what are they thinking doing that in an old folks home? We get cold, you know." :) He drove to Bart's dad's house and then the two of them came to the land. Four generations. How blessed we are.

And just to end on a light note....warmer weather is here. Warning....immodest apparrel coming! :)

What we do for fun

Kickball is great when you have 4 boys ages 8-2. It can be as easy or as competitive as you like. And believe me, we have a broad spectrum....all 4 boys are sooo different, but herein lies some common ground. Bart does so great about spending time with them and having fun. Here's to some Sunday afternoon family fun!

We also got to see these two precious babes again today. Had to post a picture just because now I can :) and because they're just too sweet. Only 29 more days till court for us!!

Still in love

Check out this pic. Last night we were at the Mexican restaurant with our family. As we were leaving, one of Bart's friends, Don, snapped our pic. He's such a cool guy, basically the town historian. For over 30 years, he's been taking pictures of what's happening in town. So here's what was happenin' last night... :)