"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled.
If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day." Habakkuk 2:3

Monday, March 29, 2010

ONE WEEK LEFT FOR THIS SHIRT ORDER


Hi all-just wanted to remind you that we will be placing our first order of shirts this next week-so if anyone still wants to order one, just get the information to be by Thurs. April 8th! Thanks for those that have responded! We are excited about these!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

PUPPY LOVE






So, WE ARE NOT ONLY ADOPTING A BABY, BUT WE ARE NOW ADOPTING PUPPIES OUT!
Beautiful Pembroke Welsh Corgi Puppies are here!
Beautiful AKC Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppies. They are all tri's. We have 5 boys, and 2lovely girls. These puppies are a smaller type of corgi. Tails and Dew claws are done by the vet. They also will have their first shot at 6 weeks, and their wormings done. Puppies were born on March 16th, and will be ready to go on May 15th. This is the mom's first litter and she is a very sweet and sociable dog. Give us a call or drop us an e-mail for our puppy contract and any questions that you may have. We will be glad to send you e-mails to update you with puppy photos as they grow until pick-up day. Our puppies are raised in the house with children and other dogs and are used to being handled and played with a lot! We can send you pictures of the parents and we have both the dams and sires pedigrees as well. Thank you for considering one of our corgi puppies. Girls are $600 and Boys are $500 each. 503-873-6934 awitha@verizon.net

Sunday, March 21, 2010

OUR T-SHIRT SALE -CHECK THEM OUT!!!





ADAM AND I DESIGNED THESE T-SHIRTS FOR OUR ADOPTION AND WE ARE GOING TO SELL THEM FOR A FUNDRAISER-HOPE YOU LIKE THEM! WE HAVE ADULT AND KIDS SIZES-LET US KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE ONE!






SIZES:
MENS (REGULAR T-SHIRT CUT): SMALL-XLG
WOMEN'S (SLIGHTLY SHORTER SLEEVES AND SLIGHTLY NARROW CUT): SMALL-XLG
KIDS: X-SMALL-XLG


ANY SIZE JUST $12 ON SALE!!!


THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!
CLICK ON THE PAYPAL ADD TO CART LINK TO GET YOURS THROUGH PAYPAL OR YOU CAN MAIL US CASH OR CHECK!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Touching Adoption Journey from another AGCI family


The mother in this video wrote this:
For us, we know the calling on our family is to bring our two little girls home, but it can't end there. The problem is to big. It's too BIG. 143 Million wait. We are just one family. What can I do, you might ask? What difference does one or two adoptions make? It is said that you can be a lot of things to a lot of people, or you can be EVERYTHING to one. It starts with one. There is a statistic that if every Christian family adopted ONE child, there would be NO MORE ORPHANS. That's just Christian families. Another statistic states that about 40% of Christian families have thought about adoption, but only 1% ever do it. There are tons of reasons why they never do-finances are at the top of the list. I assure you that if we were waiting for our finances to be ideal, we would have missed the awesome opportunity to be mom and dad to two little girls that wait tonight in a care center across the world. We'd never think it was a perfect time, but God's timing is perfect.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Our Hearts are Sad with the unknown



Hey there-so, wanted to let you know the not so good news, our hearts are burdened and we are just in a hard place-I have cried and feel plain sick-as we try and adjust to this new turn of events.
The Ethiopian government is now going to require TWO trips for families adopting from Ethiopia-one 2 or so weeks after referral-Both parents have to go on this one-we go there for a week, sign papers that YES this WAS the baby we were referred, then we have to LEAVE her there at the orphanage and come home! I just don't know how I will do that!! Our adoption agency has nothing to do with this-they are practicing ethically and can't change a government ordinance-we knew international adoption was risky-and things can change in the blink of an eye, it is just hard!
During this time, IF the birth family came back and wanted her back, they could and we would start this process all over again-at the top of the wait list.
Then about 6-8 weeks after getting home from the first trip, we fly back to get her....during the 6-8 week time frame we would have passed court-hopefully on the 1st try in Ethiopia-but it is a 50/50 chance, so if not the first time, that could delay us another couple weeks.
So, first of all -HOW can I go and see her and only visit her at Hannah's Hope for a week, only to leave her there?! Plus, how do I bond in my mind when I know that the mom could come back and get her?! It is REALLY rare-but still!
Second, if we are both going to go on both trips and still take Jacob on one of them as planned, we have to now come up with another $5,000-$5,500.....and we were getting so close to being able to say with our nice visa loan and ALL the fundraising that we were almost there-well, not now.
This also takes us both from another week of work and uses up or time off that we have-which is not much to go there and not spend a week home after we get her home.
There are just so many WHYs to this! I can't figure out what is good about it all.....oh and they say they are doing this due to the fact that there have been 40 some adoptions occur in the country, families go over to get their child and tell the government that NO this wasn't the child I was referred-either they look bigger, don't look healthy, something is wrong and the family doesn't want them-well under Ethiopian law, once a child has an accepted referral, then they can't ever be adopted out again IF that family were to change their minds-so the government is trying to prevent this from happening ever and with all the heat the press has given the country on child trafficking, they hope to eliminate it. This is hard to swallow as we are using one of the most reputable agencies around that isn't taking part in these unethical practices and yet, WE are still being punished.
Overall, I KNOW in my head that God is in control, HE has a plan and this is happening for a reason, but my heart is SO SO sad and hurt and angry at this all. We struggled with everything to get pregnant with all of our kids (except one) with surgery's, medication, IVF, etc... and now I feel-why do we also have to struggle to get her?!
On another note, at this point, Adam says he just CAN'T bear the thought of flying over TWICE-he says he is terrified (as am I) of flying in the first place, but that more important, he says he can't risk something happening to both of us-that one time is enough risk with leaving our other kids here-and that if something happened, they would all be left alone with neither one of us for a parent....he thinks we should both go and take Jake the first time-like we planned, and then I should go get her the second either by myself, or with Jake or Cassidy, or with a friend or something.....how can I get someone to spend $2,000 on a ticket?! I guess if we raise enough money, we could buy it, but that is a lot to ask someone to just fork over on their own-but on the other hand-if we paid for everything else (hotel, food, etc....), it is cheap to go to Africa for $2,000 too I guess, a once in a lifetime chance-kind of ya know? They would have to have immunizations and passport, etc.....
Adam says he needs to process this some and then maybe he will change his mind-I don't want to leave our kids here twice either-but like a mother tiger that comes out-if OUR baby girl is over there-I will do anything and everything to get her home-just like if it was one of our bio. kids! We will keep talking on it-I do see his point cause I am feeling the same way-but I also don't want to go alone and would miss him and the kids and be terrified that something would happen to me-but once again-Give it to God I know! :-)
Ok-sorry so long-thanks for listening! AGCI (our adoption agency) is having another conference call with Ethiopia families today at 3-4, I missed the one yesterday when they first announced it cause I was at work-I guess it could have been worse, they could have closed down or made families go for a month like some government in different countries do-so I am trying to look on any bright side I can find! :-)
Pray for us-for peace for decision making-we have a lot to process and decide and re-plan! Thanks guys-amber
Once AGAIN-"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD." As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55: 8-9

Monday, March 8, 2010

March Number Is Here~


Yes, we are 15-not much movement, but some!
There is one family that will officially be accepting their baby girl referral this week-so when they do, it will at least bump us down 1 spot. But officially, we are number 15 (14 after they accept their baby girl this week).
OK-so since we are officially number 15th this month-this is what I am gonna go by-since I don't want to get my hopes up anymore for movement-ACGI says that an average month moving 3 spots on the baby girl list is a "good and normal month"-so realistically (moving 3 a month) here is a time frame that I am setting to be realistic! :-). Lets pray it goes faster! It should-but again-don't want to get our hopes up....also, Ethiopia has a court closure around Aug./Sept....so IF we pass court by then we can travel, but we HAVE to pass court before that time-or we have to sit and wait, doing nothing until October.....so this is a little bit of pressure to get through!
Here is the timeline I set up-
March number=15
April number (anticipated)=12
May=9
June=6
July=3
Aug=referral
Court=Oct
Travel=November/December

Usually the stage is: accept referral of baby, 1-2 months later pass count in Ethiopia(baby is now officially/legally yours), 1-2 months later-travel to get her.
One thing I do know is that a order just came down from the State Department that the baby's visa paperwork has to be done BEFORE travel-what this means is that it could now delay the time between passing court in Ethiopia(which happens about 1-2months after you accept your referral of the baby) until travel time by up to a few weeks! We were sad about this-but there is nothing to do but ride the wave and stay on. :-) AGCI is holding a conference call on Wed. this week to answer questions about this and also to address some concerns that the media has been having about Ethiopian adoptions in general (bad press)-NOT about our adoption agency, but regardless, anytime there is negative press, the country gets pressure put on it....of course I am nervous about what this conference call will be about-but I don't think it will be bad. Keep praying-this waiting is really starting to get to us! It is hard!
So, since I picked Shamrocks to do our number in this month, on a boring or maybe interesting note-in celebration of St. Patrick's Day-which I learned recently is actually a Christian holiday, here are some facts about the Shamrock- :)
When Ireland was a land of the Druids, a Christian bishop known to us now as St. Patrick, came to teach the word of God. Although the origins of the shamrock are lost in antiquity, legend suggest that St. Patrick plucked a shamrock from Irish soil to demonstrate the meaning of the Trinity- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The plant was reputed to have mystic powers in that its petals will stand upright to warn of a approaching storm. The shamrock remains Ireland's most famous symbol. The shamrock is also commonly associated with the symbol of luck. In studying Celtic history, scholars have discovered that the shamrock was a charm to ward away evil.

Our Airport Homecoming for our 2nd Adoption~

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Our Journey up to our Referral

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Seble's Referral Video

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"Although it may not always be obvious to us, there seems to be one distinct moment when God begins a new story in each of our lives. He writes words on our hearts that long to be spoken and strain to be lived out. Then with His own great hand, He begins to write the script. Experience by experience through seemingly ordinary days, He supernaturally orders our lives. Only when we look back and reflect on what appeared to have been the ordinary events of life does it become clear what a miracle the Lord has performed." Jan Beazely

Amazing Adoption Story!

LUCY LANE-AGCI-ADOPTION VIDEO! This inspired us to follow our dream!

WHY WOULDN'T I....WHY WOULDN'T YOU?

What Adoption is About! What a Testimony! Lundy's Adoption

We Love this family and this video is inspiring!

HANNAH'S HOPE ETHIOPIA

FATHER, BREAK OUR HEARTS FOR WHAT BREAKS YOURS~

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