THE STUTZMAN FAMILY~ TREASURES THROUGH HIS GRACE: June 2010

Monday, June 28, 2010

ADOPTION T-SHIRT GIVE AWAY! DETAILS HERE-

As many of you know, we have been selling t-shrits that we designed as a fundraiser for our adoption. We are currently number 5 on the wait list for a baby girl referral and still are trying to raise money to come up with the cost of the now 2nd required trip to Ethiopia.

To have some fun in the process and to get the word out about our t-shirts, we are going to be having a give away! You have until July 16th-Friday 5pm when we will draw a name from all of the enteries

You can win one of these t-shirts-(winner get to choose the size) and we have men's, women's and children/toddler sizes!

If you like the shirts and would like to buy them-they are only $12 each plus $3 for shipping!

Here’s how you can enter the giveaway (one entry for each):
**Leave a comment here to let us know you want an entry and HOW MANY of the things below that you do-so that we know how many enteries to give! Without this-we can't enter you! :-)

One Entry For each:
You can get up to 5 enteries!!

*Tweet this giveaway (leave us a link here so we can count your entry)

*Add a link on your Facebook page about the giveaway (and let us know you’ve done so)

*Post about the giveaway on your blog (leave us a link)

*Become a Follower of our Blog and if you are already that counts too!

* BUY A T-SHIRT!!!
(If you already have, post a photo of you wearing it on your blog!)

Please join us in trying to tell people about our shirts and get some more t-shirt sales for these last stages of our adoption!!! Spread the word!!! Feel free to link others to this blog entry.

Thanks so much!!!
the Stutzman Family

An Inspirational Documentary that is coming out-Wanted to Share~

Promo for "3 by 3 by 3" Documentary from David Watson on Vimeo.

Another Gift From God

Some of our AGCI listserve friends are in Ethiopia right now picking up their babies-here is one of them and some awesome gotcha day pictures-they are priceless! Enjoy!

http://www.babeofmyheart.com/

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Back to Life, Back to Reality

We are home and although it is kind of nice to get back into the swing of things, I have to admit that part of me has considered moving to a Young Life Camp and living there! Here is Young Life's Main web page for info on ALL their camps http://www.younglife.org/us

Let me tell ya that we had just an awesome time. That place is like a town in itself-even has it's own school and people with families that live there year-round. It was truly a different world and one that we didn't want to leave. The views in themselves were breathtaking! Here are a few more pictures to share.I want to give a little plug for Young Life-they have such an awesome Christian ministry to kids and if any of you guys out there are either doctors, nurses or paramedics, they can use your help and let me promise that it will be worth your time! They run camps all over the country that are all similar, but each unique. You can go there for a week at a time up to weeks at a time and take your whole family for FREE! All you do is go as part of a medical team-2 doctors, 2 nurses and 2 paramedics. You all give out meds for 1/2 hour after each meal and take care of cuts, bites, any injuries, etc....you can ambulance them or life flight them if it is really bad, but that is rare. You get TONS of free time and can participate in all of the camp activities, zip line, ropes course, blob, swimming in pools, ponds, water slides, speakers each night, worship, free meals and snacks, tons of great fellowship....on and on I could go-it was really fun! Check out the links-they even have weekend camps during winter....look for a city near you! Here is the Oregon one in Antelope. We already signed up to go next year

http://sites.younglife.org/camps/washingtonfamilyranch/default.aspx

Ok, well, I came back to reality today when I got up at 5am to head to work for a 12 hour shift at the hospital....and will do this again tomorrow. I also came home to the news that we are now moving backwards on the wait list for our baby! We were 4 unofficially, but are now 5 due to the fact that a family that had taken a "break" from the referral list to deal with some "personal issues" are now back on the list at #1-so that bumped us back a spot. Although I am happy for them that they worked it all out, I am sad that we seem to be at a stand-still almost for referrals happening-it seems so rare in the last 3 months since hardly any referrals have went out. Someone asked me today if we even just think of calling it quits and pulling the plug on the whole adoption thing. My answer was easily NO, but the waiting isn't getting any easier in truth. I would go in a paddle boat to Africa and back 10 times before I would give up on our baby that is somewhere out there (even is not yet born). I know there is a little life that was made to be in our family and that God has called us to do this and placed it on our hearts, so in that we rest. Its all we can do-trust and let him lead. I don't know what the future will hold, but at least I know that God is holding it and already does know.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Lovin Life at Wildhorse Family Camp!!!

We even got to meet a newly adopted baby from Ethiopia and her family-it is amazing who God just drops into your life! She was so sweet!

Dress up western night at camp

Logan and his friend Gabby-note the hand around her neck-he had to "hold her on the golf cart so she wouldn't fall off!"

Logan and the others played SO hard that he would fall asleep in random places!

MAKING BRACELETS

the ropes course-why I am sore!! Even the kids did this-

The Zip line-kids and us loved it!

The swing-and boy was it a rush!

Climbing the rock wall

Younglife club

The bullfrog kids found

Dining Hall

Our medical cart

Pool party

Logan and his Lizzard

Ridge runners

THE BLOB- CRAZY!!!

ROPES COURSE

SKATE PARK

VIEW OF CAMP FROM COMMUNICATION HILL-WHAT A HIKE! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL

I am a camp nurse this week and so our whole family got to spend a free week at Young Life's Washington Family camp in Antelope OR. It is SO relaxing and fun and we are having a great time-it has been so nice to get away, not think and just enjoy!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

We all loved the first Gotcha Day of Lucy Lane-Now here is the Sequel!!! Enjoy

Lucy Lane Gotcha Day - One Year Later from kristi johnson on Vimeo.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Ethiopia's Fistula Hospital

We are really hoping to visit this hospital during one of our trips to Ethiopai! They are helping to repair something that we just don't see a whole lot of in the US-and if someone has them, they get them repaired, not very easy in Africa! Obstetric Fistulas.....

http://www.fistulafoundation.org/index.html

This movie came out through NOVA-here is the website about the movie

http://www.engelentertainment.com/walktobeautiful/

A Walk to Beautiful has been hailed by critics as “upbeat and life-affirming” (Variety) and a “pure, unabashed humanitarian call to action” (Time Out New York). Deep in the remotest regions of Ethiopia, five women have survived an experience that is often fatal in developing nations: giving birth. They find themselves incontinent due to the absence of medical care, having suffered a traumatic injury –- they are stricken with obstetric fistula. A Walk to Beautiful tells the riveting stories of these women as we follow their journeys toward a new life. Stigmatized by their tragic condition, they are just a few of the millions who suffer from this condition. They struggle every day to regain their sense of dignity. One woman has been reduced to hiding in a makeshift shack behind her mother’s house, while another leaves the only home she has had to live alone in a village where nobody knows her.But there is hope. The Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa offers refuge and treatment to the thousands of women who travel there every year. Each woman undergoes a pilgrimage to the hospital hoping for a cure and an opportunity to reclaim their lives. The cure is a simple surgery for some, but frustratingly complicated for others. The women find a haven in The Fistula Hospital where they hope to take the first steps toward restoring their humanity.A Walk to Beautiful finds each woman possesses the exceptional courage it takes to seek a new beginning for herself and by doing so, creates a new path for future generations of women. “A Walk to Beautiful will leave you speechless two times over – first with despair, then with joy.” --Kenneth Turan of The Los Angeles Times

Friday, June 11, 2010

This is an awesome item to have for any home! TV Guardian-blocks foul language from TV & movies!!

We have been waiting a LONG time for this opportunity to come along. You may have heard us talk about our TV Guardian (foul language blocker) before and how much we love it. It is a device that blocks out bad and questionable language on both tv shows and movies that you rent. It silences the bad word, then uses the closed caption feature in the TV to rewrite the words across the bottom of the screen for you at the same time the word is being silenced-like it will write across the bottom "That darn cat" instead of profanity. It is awesome and we have had ours for years!
We were fortunate enough to get one as a gift from Amber's grandma years ago. Best gift ever! We are a true advocate for the TV and wanted to make sure you had the chance to purchase one as well while they are back in production. Please follow the link below to where you can read more about it. They also give an example of how the unit works with movies AND also TV watching.

They had stopped making the units a good 10 years ago or so. It was do to some sort of patent issue, funding and/or demand for the units. With that they stopped offering them. You could still purchase them but only from EBay and places like that and if you found one, you would be paying a good $350 for the unit unlike the original $90. They attempted to keep them in DVD units so you can still watch movies with the TVG but it was a joint effort with the DVD company. Many of those companies declined to put the TVG into their DVD units. So if you did get one, you could only filter movies and couldn't watch and filter TV and we all know how much TV has gone down hill with language.

You will not be disappointed. They just came back out with the original one! We love ours SO much that we had to share-we are not selling these or getting any profit! Click the link below and they will show you an example of how it works on a movie, they play it regular (with foul language) and then they play it again with TVG working and blocking it out. Tell me you can't watch a movie without hearing that language. It's just not needed in a lot of the movies! Give it a chance. It will be the best $100 you can spend for your family.

http://customersale.tvguardian.com/

Only a few days left to save $20! Please don't forget to forward this email to your friends and family. They're eligible for this discount, too! They will be sure they'll thank you for it.The arrival of our first shipment is only weeks away and many of them are already pre-sold. Our customers have been waiting a long time for the release of these new models; especially, the new TVGuardian HD... and they're excited!A special website has been setup for this $20 off offer at http://customersale.tvguardian.com.

You'll love all of the great features it has, like two HDMI inputs for HD TV and 1080p Upconversion DVD Playback. Order yours today!Only have TVGuardian on one TV now? This is a great time to order a new TVGuardian for a 2nd and 3rd TV in your home. You want TVGuardian's protection in every room . . . you don't want to miss out on this special! Save $40 when you order two!Thank you for being a loyal TVGuardian user. We will continue to provide you with helpful tidbits on TVG as well as weekly TV viewing ideas to watch with TVGuardian. A special announcement is upcoming for satellite TV, too.Please don't forget to forward this special offer to your friends and family members, too!Sincerely,--The Team at TVGuardian

Noah Graduates from Kindergarten

We also celebrated Noah's Kindergarten Graduation this week-here are some pictures-he did a great job and I can't believe he is a first grader!

"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

OUR FAVORITE VERSES

"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

Ecclesiastes 11:4-5 "If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. God’s ways are as hard to discern as the pathways of the wind, and as mysterious as a tiny baby being formed in a mother’s womb."

"He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me." Psalm 18:19

"Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." Psalm 40:5

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." Psalm 27:13

"But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish." Psalm 9:18

"Look at the nations and watch--and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." Habakkuk 1:5

"I can't stand your religious meetings. I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals.I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making.I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me?Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it.I want fairness—rivers of it. That's what I want. That's all I want. " Amos 5:21-24

"I was a father to the poor and needy; the cause of him I did not know I searched out." Job 29:16

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

"...Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve." Proverbs 24:12

"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

ETHIOPIA FACTS

*Ethiopia is one of the four poorest countries in the world
*Annual per capita income is less than $160
*47% of the population lives below the poverty rate
*Population: 74.2 million
*Average Ethiopian woman gives birth to 5.9 children
*1 in 10 children die before their first birthday
*1 in 6 children die before age 5
*Malnutrition is the cause of more than 1/2 of all child deaths
*Average life expectancy is 48 for men, 50 for women
*1 physician for every 34,988 people
*One hospital bed per 4,141 people
*1 in 4 women dies in childbirth
*Only 50% of children attend primary school (K-3)*Average class size in government schools – 85-100 children
*Overall literacy rate is 42%
*Estimated number of street children:100,000 nationwide
*More than half of girls ages 15-19 have been
circumcised.
*Rape-15% among girls ages 10-24 in Addis Ababa
*It is estimated that approximately 4.4% of the population in Ethiopia is infected with AIDS and that there are approximately 1 million AIDS orphans

IDEAS TO LIVE BY

“Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it. But I’m afraid He would ask me the same question.” -Anonymous

“I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn’t be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for Him to come through. That if He doesn’t come through, I am screwed.”-Francis Chan

"God will never give you more than you can handle is a quote–NOT a verse in scripture. It actually never appears once in His Word. Because–when you follow Jesus…I think most of the time–He will give you God-sized portions on your plate…because they are not yours to carry. They are not yours to bear. They are not yours to heal. They are not yours to fix. They are not yours to encourage. They are not yours to get praise for". -Andrea Young

"If you have to tell people how good you are...how good really are you"?-
Colin Kaepernick's Father

“Adoption is not just about couples who want children – or who want more children. Adoption is about an entire culture within our churches, a culture that sees adoption as part of our Great Commission mandate and as a sign of the gospel itself.” – Russell D. Moore, Adopted for Life.

"You can't comfort the afflicted without
afflicting the comfortable." Princess Diana of Wales

"Therein lies the key to why God would allow us to walk through something that is beyond our ability to endure, and also the key to how to endure it! TWO keys sustain us: a faith that trusts that the same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that will deliver you; AND, the prayers of fellow believers in Christ". -Heidi Weimer

"God alone knows the definition of terms. I cannot precisely define who all the nations are, but I do not need to know. I know only one thing: Christ has not yet returned; therefore, the task is not yet done. When it is done, Christ will come. Our responsibility is not to insist on defining the terms; our responsibility is to complete the task. So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get busy and complete our mission." - George Ladd

"All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men todo nothing. " Edmund Burke

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop"--Mother Teresa

"Help your brother's boat across, and your own will reach the shore"--Hindu proverb

“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.” ― Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

"In adoption, God is enough for us all. He can overcome our children’s grief. He can overshadow our own inadequacies. He can sweep up our families in a beautiful story of redemption and hope and healing. If you are afraid of adoption, trying to stiff-arm the call, God is the courage you don’t have... If you are in the early days of chaos, God is the peace you and your child hunger for. If your family feels lost, He is the stability everyone is looking for. If you are working hard on healing, digging deep with your child, God is every ounce of the hope and restoration and safety and grace. In Him, you can do this. He is enough for us all." - Jen Hatmaker! ♥

"Live as if Christ died yesterday, rose this morning and is coming back tomorrow." Martin Luther

"If you can't feed a hundred people,
then feed just one"--Mother Teresa

"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a long time" Unknown

"I'm only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do".-- Helen Keller

"To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice." Confucius

"I’d rather regret the things that I have done, than the things that I have not done" - Lucille Ball

"The one who says it can't be done should get out of the way of the one who is doing it." Chinese Proverb

"Took the road less traveled by, and
that has made all the difference"--Robert Frost

"We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.But those who make their journey home across time & miles,growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them,are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among usby God's very own hands" Kristi Larson

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take,but by the moments that take your breath away"--Unknown

"Stop telling God how big your storm is - Instead tell your storm how big your GOD is"--unknown

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."... GANDHI

"If we say we love God but do nothing on the behalf of the world’s vulnerable children, we’re kidding ourselves; we’re ignorant and misinformed. You cannot love God without developing a passion for orphans".- Kay Warren

"I cannot play it safe and please God."- Keith Seabourn

"Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero; better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth; better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it". -Erwin Lutzer"

"Grace is a catalyst. You haven’t discovered fire until you’ve discovered grace. When grace touches you, it combusts you and you become one unstoppable flame".-Ann Voskamp

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people." MLK Jr.

"Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car." Billy Sunday

"Today there are more than 365 million orphans, while the Church is busy building coffee shops. O Lord, awaken the church with revival - not caffeine"! ~ Heather Elyse

"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of Hell..". C.T. Studd

TIME LINE ON OUR 2ND ADOPTION -BROTHER & SISTER FROM ETHIOPIA

2012
January
9th -First saw kids on website –after Pre-Application
10th-received full assessments of kids
16th, Adam spoke with Bethany
19th- First e-mail contact with our awesome caseworker Carrie Cocharn!
20th-Wonderful first conversation with Carrie our caseworker over the phone
23rd-we officially apply with Bethany Christians Services Adoption Agency
25th- Local Fingerprints Done at Silverton PD
29th- Our FIRST homestudy

February
7th-thanks for Carrie’s letter requesting expedited fingerprints, we got them back today!
11th- 2nd Homestudy
13th-our formal application and all the references /paperwork is officially accepted with Bethany. I sent a letter asking that they would reconsider their policy and “hold” the children for us-they said no L
16th- Bethany gives us some things to consider and make sure of before we adopt older kids, out of birth order and with some trauma in their past with losing their parents. We get lots of advice from others and research more and choose to move forward.
22rd- Another homestudy visit meeting
23th-LAST Homestuday visitFeb 27th – Homestudy is DONE and Approved!
29th-We get a new update with a ton of new pictures of the kids

MARCH
5th- Our I-600a Application get’s mailed
14th-Get an email that USCIS has received our application
15th-I send off several specific questions about the kids to the Ethiopian team to see if we can get more information
19th-Bethany get’s our Dossier to review for errors and we get the awesome update on the kids with our questions answered
23rd-we get a surprise phone call from Catherine at Michigan Bethany saying that they have had a meeting and have decided to “hold” the kids for OUR family!! They are taking them off the waiting children’s list and we will get our official referral as soon as we have our USCIS ingerprint clearance. We also receive our USCIS fingerprint apt. today set for April 9th
26th-Drive up to Portlad to see if immigration will fingerprint us early. THEY DO IT! :-) Now we wait for the USCIS clearance so that we can get our final referral.

APRIL
1st-April Fool's Day-we announce our adoption on Facebook and launch $10 for 10 campaign. In the first 24 hours, we bring in over $2,000!
8th-The day BEFORE our original appointment was scheduled to have our USCIS fingerprinting done, we get an Easter miracle- our Favorable Determination Letter in the mail! We are cleared through USCIS to bring home two kids! Amazing is too little of word to describe this! What, on average, takes 6-8 weeks to get back, took just 12 days for us!!!
9th-USCIS fingerprinting appointment-original date, but they have already been done! INSTEAD ON THIS DAY, WE RECEIVE AND ACCEPT THE REFERRAL OF OUR 12 YEAR OLD BOY AND HIS SISTER WHO IS 6!!! HAPPY REFERRAL DAY! 3 MONTHS EXACTLY FROM THE DAY WE REQUESTED INFORMATION ON THE KIDS! GOD IS GOOD!
Also today, we are gifted with an $8,000 gift toward our adoption! Awesome!
11th- We are told by our agency that the State of Oregon put the wrong seal on all of the documents for our Dossier. The entire thing has to be re-done. We work like crazy for 24 hours and get every single document (about 25) completely re-done and re-notarized! That must be a record for dossier completion.
12th- We go down to the State of Oregon again to have the CORRECTLY re-seal our dossier and learn that no, the first one wasn't wrong-it was actually correct! Bethay, our agency, didn't realize that Oregon changed their State Seal a couple months ago and so now it looks different-it was right the whole time! We are sick, but Bethany refunds $400 because of this hassle, so in the end, after paying all of the fees, we come out only $50 ahead-but better than nothing. UGH. Because of this, Bethany overnights our entire dossier to Washington DC to get sealed by Hillary Clinton-Secretary of State and will overnight it back to Bethany when done-this will save a couple weeks off of our time frame.
14th-Washington DC receives our Dossier.
19th - Dossier is back from Washington, D.C. and has been authenticated by the Department of State and the Ethiopian Embassy
25th- Our dossier was authenticated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ethiopia and registered with the Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs (MOWYCA) in Addis Ababa.

MAY
7th-Our case is submitted to the Ethiopian Court System-now we wait for a court date so we can go meet our kids!!!
15th - We find out we receive a grant of $10,000 for our adoption-God is SO awesome!!!
17th- We receive our court date just TEN days after our case was submitted into the Ethiopian court system! We will appear in court JUNE 5th and our kids birthfamily court appointment is May 29th! Once again, God defeats all time constraints as he has His own timeline!
25th-27th HUGE Yard Sale Fundraiser at our house!
29th- Our kid's birthfamily court date. Their teenage step-sister will appear before the judge to permanetely relinquish them-hard day!!!
31st - We leave Portland to head to DC and then onto Addis Ababa to meet our kids and appear in court! We are about to become parents again Xs TWO!!!

JUNE
4th-We meet our kids for the first time!! Precious! They come up and give us big hugs! They call us "Mom & Dad" when we leave this first day!
5th- Our Court date in Addis. We don't pass due to not having Birthfather's Death Certificate. Bethany gets right on this and find it by the day we leave.
7th- We say Goodbye to our kids and fly home to wait for our court clearance and an embassy date.
12th-We officially pass court and have two more children in our family!
20th-We receive word that the kids both have their new birth certificates
28th-We get pictures of the kids and their new passports with the last name of "Stutzman"!

JULY
3rd-All of our documents are ready to be submitted to the US Embassy-and the kids medicals and TB tests were all good. The submission should happen tomorrow! However, we later hear that it happened today! We are submitted to the embassy!
6th-We get word that Bete is sick with diarrhea along with several other children in the orphanage.
11th-We are told that Bete is doing much better and is well.
12th-We are e-mailed that the consular section has completed screening for our Form I-600 petition. They will now begin the review of orphan
status for the I-604, Determination on Child for Adoption. So we now wait to hear when the birth family interview appointment will be scheduled.
16th-WE HEAR WE ARE CLEARED TO TRAVEL BY THE US EMBASSY! THEY DON'T NEED TO INTERVIEW ANY BIRTH FAMILY MEMBERS! WE CAN LEAVE THIS WEEK TO GO GET OUR KIDS FOR AN EMBASSY APPOINTMENT NEXT WEEK!
19th-We fly out to Dulles and spend a couple days in DC before heading to Addis.
22nd-We leave DC to Addis
23rd-We arrive in Addis Ababa and get to meed the children's step sister! Hard and awesome all in one! WE THEN GO AND PICK UP OUR NEW KIDS!

OUR TIMELINE TO OUR BABY GIRL~

JANUARY 2009
Filled out a
pre-application with ACGI
7th-spoke to ACGI and
received financial worksheets / Ethiopia Christmas!
9th-mailed financial
worksheets in
13th-AGCI asked us to get
a counselor and doctor's letter
27th-AGCI received Adam's
personal statement letter
February 2009
throughout
this month-spoke numerous times to Kiersten at AGCI
March 2009
19th-Attended
AGCI adoption seminar in Portland
May 2009
15th-Final
Dr. letter faxed to AGCI-we can now move forward!
19th-Approved to
officially Apply-Application was approved!
20th-Received
orientation packet
21st-Orientation Call
2pm/notarized paperwork to become AGCI client
22nd-Mailed paperwork
from orientation packet to AGCI
28th-Received Home
Study Folders and Eyes Wide Open Work Book
June 2009
1st-Dossier Call
Overview of program with Kiersten
8th-9th-Took on-line 10hr
classes from Adoption Learning Partners as a required course
11th-Visited AGCI in Portland-met
Kiersten and Becky finally! Turned in 1/2 of home study paperwork Got
fingerprinted at Silverton PD
13th-Mailed FBI
fingerprint cards
July 2009
28th-finished and
mailed the large Eyes Wide Open workbook
31st-Eyes Wide Open
workbook was approved
August 2009
7th-9th-Yard Sale for
Adoption-raised $803
11th-AGCI received Adam's
Criminal check back
14th-16th-#2 Yard Sale
for adoption-raised $472 Total of $1,200 raised!!!
20th-All homestudy documents
complete and received by AGCI!!!
27th-First Home study
with Jodi
September 2009
1st-Popcan
Drive Starts
2nd-2nd and Final Home
Study with Jodi
28th-Entire Dossier
taken to AGCI
30th-Home Study
approved by AGCI & CIS mailed
October 2009
2nd-WE
ARE ON THE OFFICIAL WAITLIST #44 for a baby girl 0-12
months
6th-already moved to
#42 on waitlist
9th-CIS received our
I-600A application
November 2009
2nd-Finally
finished pop can drive $235 raised!
5th-We are #31-moved
11 spots in one month!
9th-AGCI sends our
Dossier off to Ethiopia
18th-Started Baby
Bottle Coin Drive
20th-FINALLY received
fingerprint apt. at CIS for Dec. 9th!
28th-Started selling
Christmas trees for fundraiser!
December 2009
4th-we
are #27 on the wait list!
9th-Fingerprinting
done at Portland CIS office
12th-We all get our
Travel Immunizations-OUCH! 16th-Family
Article in "Our Town" Newspaper!
25TH-MERRY CHRISTMAS
SEBLE!
All month-cut and
sell 173 Christmas Trees and raise $2,300 for adoption!
26th-Started our
"Bye Bye Christmas Tree Recycling 28th-Hannah's Hope moves into New Orphanage!
January 2010
2nd-Finished Recycling
Christmas Trees 12 total=$60 5th-we are #23 on the wait list!
7th-Ethiopia's
Christmas-Dinner at Queen of Sheba-1st Ethiopian Dinner
13th-Begin to gather
items for silent auction
22nd-Received H-I17
Favorable Determination Letter Received grant from SHOW HOPE of
$4,000!
February 2010
5th-Official
Wait list number of #18!
23rd-Baby Bottle Coin
Drive Ends with a grand total of:$530!!!
March 2010
8th-Official
Wait List number of #15!
12th-Ehiopian
Government issued the decision that ALL families adopting from Ethiopia must
make TWO trips there
21st-Our t-shirt sale
begins
April 2010
8th-We are Officially
number 11!
22nd-Our Silent Auction
Fundraiser!! We
raise $6,200!!!
May 2010
7th-We
our officially number 8!
9th-Ethiopian
Government issues the 2 trip policy for families-we must now travel twice
15th-Start T-shirt
Special Sale-$12 any shirt!
15th-Start Collecting
Orphanage Donations from family/friends for our trip.
June 2010
9th-We are officially
number 6 / Unofficially #4 !!
July 2010
1st-Cookie Sale Starts
and t-shirt give away starts!
2nd-Our number is now
officially 5/ unofficially 4!
7th-More referrals have
gone out-we are unofficially #3
9th-we are informed that
we are unofficially most likely #1 if not #2!!!
19th- 11:15AM-WE RECEIVE THE CALL FOR OUR REFERRAL OF OUR 5-1/2
WEEK OLD BABY GIRL AND ARE HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE!
22nd-International Pediatrician
phone consultation 23rd-Turn
in acceptance packet for our baby
3oth-Cookie Sales End
total of $418 raised
31st-Car Wash benefit
done-raised $363
August 2010
6th-Cinnamon Roll Sale
raised $150
12th-Our File is OPEN in
the Ethiopian Court System 24th GOT OUR COURT DATES: Seble’s Oct 20th, Ours
(our first trip) Nov. 19th!
25th-$240 Raised from
parking cars in our yard for 2 week end festivals Late August-Courts in Ethiopia Close
for their 2 month rainy season
September 2010
1st-Purchased
Tickets for our First Trip
October 2010
1st-Ethiopian
Courts re-open and we await our court dates!
20th-First 1/2 of
court-Seble's court date is today in Ethiopia
21st-We hear the
Seble passed her portion of court.
November 2010
12th-We leave from
Portland to Washington DC to spend 2 days and onto Addis Ababa for our court
date 16th-we get to meet our baby girl for
the first time-God is SO good!!!!!!!
19th-We testify at court
in Ethiopia-SEBLE IS LEGALLY OURS-WE HAVE A NEW DAUGHTER-WE ARE A FAMILY OF 8!
20th-we say goodbye to
Ethiopia and to Seble and head home to await an Embassy date
21st-We arrive back home
to wait some more
December 2010
3rd-We get our Embassy
date for Dec. 27th!
7th-We buy our plane
tickets for our final trip-Adam, my mom and I will go this time to bring her
home
15th-Follow up article on
our families adoption runs in the Silverton Newspaper
21st-we tragically find
out that our embassy date hasn't been confirmed by the US Embassy in Addis...we
wait and pray for a Christmas miracle
22nd-we hear again the
our date still hasn't been confirmed-we are feeling so sad and continue to pray
23rd-we celebrate our
family's Christmas and get the news we were dreading-we are not confirmed with
the embassy-we will not leave tomorrow-and have to cancel our tickets
24th-Christmas Eve -and
we are staying home-we receive a video of Seble from another mom traveling and
it was a wonderful gift!
25th-Christmas isn't what
we expected but we have much to be grateful for and are home with our kids-we
are praying we get a quick 2nd embassy date
30th-We get news that we
have gotten clearance from the US Embassy that we can come for our apt. We have
24hrs to get our tickets and get ready to leave 31st-New Years Eve-and we leave
finally from PDX at 645pm to
go to Addis Ababa!
January 2011
2nd-We arrive in Addis
and are taken to pick up Seble from Hannah's Hope and take her back to our
hotel. 3rd-We
all go to the Embassy where Seble receives her Visa approval
6th-We leave Addis and
fly out of Bole International Airport-after midnight-so we actually were in
Ethiopia to ring in their Christmas
7th-Ethiopian
Christmas-we are on a plane in the tarmac at Bole Airport
8th-we arrive home at
Portland Airport to our waiting family and friends who finally get to meet
Seble-WE ARE HOME!! Let the next journey begin!