One of the best days of my life

Exactly one year ago, at this same hour of the day, we got "the call". A simple yet miraculous phone call that changed our lives forever. Sue, my caseworker said, I have a little girl for you. Words that God knew before time would be spoken to me, mother of four boys. I was shaking, my heart was pounding, and I was beyond excited. I got all the information and then ran to the computer to "meet" our new daughter. Wow, she was beautiful! I cried tears of joy and thankfullness.

Here are the first pictures we received. About one month old.

This one stole my heart for sure. A smile! And look at those big round gorgeous eyes. I was so in love. About two months old.

We decided on Jada and her given Ethiopian name, Eyerusalem, would be kept as a middle name.

I didn't want to be anywhere but Africa! My heart was in Ethiopia.

Many, many prayers went to the throne on her behalf. We prayed that God would keep her healthy and that she would be well taken care of and we prayed that she could come home soon! Our family wasn't complete without her.

What a difference a year makes. She is no longer Eyerusalem unknown, but Jada Eyerusalem Rinkenberger. She has a family and a home. She has an inheritance, a daughter with "full rights". She has blessed us and God has shown me more of His love than I knew before.

I can tell!!

Well, the news is out now so I can officially say....the other couple adopting is.....my brother and sister in law!!!!! They will be adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. We are so excited here at the Rink house. Last night Quinn was praying for Michael and Mindy's new little girl. We love you guys so much and are so thankful you said YES!!

Family of four, soon to be 5!

Levi loves Jada. Here he is smothering her, I mean loving her. :) Every brown little baby is Jada to him. He's going to be a great big brother.
Aunt Mindy with Jada.

And the boys. Noah and Levi.

Catching up

Nothing in particular has been keeping me from blogging. Just life. But it keeps me very busy. I was informed that I don't update my blog often enough. At least that's what my sister says. So, here's a long post with lots of pics. At least my family will appreciate it. :)

Can't believe I missed this. Cole's 3rd birthday.

Happy Birthday Cole! We love you. You bring us so much joy and a little frustration too. :) I love your three year old words. Lately, I love it when we lay in bed at night and you say "S-tickle my back, all the way up to my neck." Four little monkeys. When Jada wakes up from her nap, she cries and everyone runs up to see her before mom and dad get her out of bed. This particular day all 3 boys jumped in bed with her. I love how they love her.

Playing games. One of Kade's favorite things to do with Dad or anyone who will say "yes". Just some cute shots of my cute kids. :)

Jada doesn't miss a thing. The boys were playing with these binoculars one afternoon. As soon as they put them down, she picked them up and tried looking through them.

And here's a couple shots of what she does when she's whining and wants her mommy.

I want to say, "look at these last three pictures. The boys love Jada so much. They love playing with her. Doesn't it look like fun?" But, notice she's not smiling in any of these pictures. Hmmm.... :)

And finally, I just found out yesterday that two families I know are adopting little girls from Ethiopia! One is a family that went through the process with us. They got a little boy. This time they are getting a 3 yr. old girl. I have to say when I heard this news I was so excited and somewhat jealous. My heart is so there. Two less orphans! Praise God!! Anyone else??? :)