A Response to a Request

This is Grant posting.  I haven’t written anything on the blog in a while.  Vanessa has been posting for the past month.  After our last court date fell through I haven’t had a very positive attitude.  I’ve been very frustrated with all the waiting and Vanessa likes me to keep things positive.  So I’ve been going with the mind set if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all.  This is mostly just a response to a comment from our last post.  There was a request for any new updates.  Sorry Teresa we have none.  We shouldn’t hear anything new until April 14^th which is our next and hopefully last court date.

I will talk about patience some.  For those that know me, I’m not a patient person.  This process has definitely taught me a lot about patience.  The main thing I’ve learned about patience is remembering it’s not my plan, it is God’s plan.  My plan was after we were married a couple of years we would have biological children.  It wasn’t God’s plan.  My plan when we decided on international adoption was to adopt from a country we were familiar with (Vanessa has cousins from China, Vietnam and Nepal).  It wasn’t God’s plan.  We finally decided we were going to adopt from The Gambia and this was my new plan.  It wasn’t God’s plan.  When The Gambia fell through our new plan was to adopt from Ethiopia.  Finally we had a solid plan.  It would only take a year, we would only have to make one small trip and finally we’d have our family.  It wasn’t God’s plan.  It took much longer.  When we finally got our referral we got to see what God’s plan was and it was far better than anything we could have planned.  I don’t know why we have to wait longer to bring Denver home, but I can trust in God and know that He knows best.   

Lastly I’d like to say thank you to Teresa for the motivation behind this post and Vanessa says XOXO.  (Vanessa made me put the xoxo part)

Blog Updates

Hello everyone!  I wanted you to know that I finally figured out how to change it to where anyone can comment on our blog.  I have had a few people, including my mom, tell me that they have tried to comment and it would not let them.  Now that I am becoming more blog savvy I found out how to make it where you can click "anonymous" if you want to comment but you don't have any of the other accounts.  I know this is not very exciting news but it's the little things that excite me.  
We received our monthly update on Denver last week and he is doing well.  Looks like he is slowly growing and gaining weight which is good.  We also think that he has been moved from the infant room to the toddler room which is exciting.  We don't know this for sure but he was in the toddler room in a picture we received.  Maybe he'll be potty trained by the time we get to bring him home...haha.  I have to show you this outfit that I bought at Baby Gap with a gift card that some of my very sweet friends got Denver for Christmas.  That's all I have for now, sorry it was a little boring.  Have a blessed day!

Court Date Postponed Until April 14th

Well I got a call from Grant a little while ago and he told me that our agency had just called to tell us our court date has been postponed until April 14th.  At first I thought he was kidding but after the 3rd "Is this a joke?"  I finally realized he was serious.  Why was it postponed you might ask...well the Ministry of Women's Affairs used to do 40 cases a day before the judge and now they are only doing 5.  This is the only reason we know of why our case was postponed.  So please keep praying that our case will actually be final on April 14th and we can get our little boy over here where he belongs.  I am going to try and be positive about this and look at it as just another little bump in the road.  One thing about adoption is that it is totally unpredictable and you have to be very patient.  Thank you for all your support and God bless you!!!

Please say a little prayer for our court date tomorrow!

Tomorrow is our court date in which the MOWA (Ministry of Woman’s Affairs) in Ethiopia presents the paperwork for Denver before the judge.  Hopefully everything will go smooth and we will be able to post some full face pictures of our baby on here.  If everything goes like it should they will begin working on getting us an embassy date.  We are not sure how long it will take to get our embassy date but we are hoping it will be in April.  We have heard that it can be anywhere from 4-8 weeks.  Please say a little prayer for our court date tomorrow.  We will keep you posted on what happens as soon as we know. 

Thanks for reading and God bless you all!!! 

Yeah for Baby showers!!!

 We had our “Family/Lifelong Friends Baby Shower” this last Saturday and it was more than I could have ever imagined.  I am constantly reminded of how blessed we are by our wonderful family and friends.  One of my best friends Kerri, my mother-in-law Joy, and my two sister-in-laws Jen and Kelli did a great job making Denver’s shower the BEST ever.  I cannot wait for him to experience the love from everyone himself.  He got a ton of wonderful baby goodies!!!  I was super surprised when my family from Kentucky and Houston made a special trip to Oklahoma just for the shower.  It was one of the best gifts ever.   Thanks to everyone for everything that you have done for Denver and us, you are all such blessings.   Here are just a few pictures from the shower.

The AWESOME diaper cake that Jen made...yes I am trying to talk her into making these for a living!

My wonderful friend Kerri, she is such a blessing to me!

We didn't even have to pay them to fold the tissue paper.  My grandma would be so happy to see this.

My amazing friends Vangie & Rhianon.  These 2 know me better than I know myself and they still love me! 

Em and I, she is my little buddy!

The best hostesses ever!  Jen, Kerri, Kelli and Joy

My friend Christa, she was my saving grace in nursing school.

My mom and mother-in-law, they can't wait to get their hands on Denver!

My family that flew in for baby Denver's shower.  Cousins Becky, Alex, Mia and my Aunt Dixie...my Aunt Teresa is missing in this picture but she also made the trek to OK.  I was going to try and photoshop her in but I'm not that good.

  

Final Court Date

We got news from our agency today.  Our final court date is set for March 4^th.  What does this mean?  This means that on March 4^th Denver will officially be ours!  We do not have to be at the final court date.  It basically is the day that our court case comes back up for review and will get the final approval.  After our final court date we will then wait to get our embassy date.  They did require one more additional document to be submitted before our court date.  That is not a problem.  We are now good at getting paper work done.  Good news, it’s getting closer.  Happy Valentines Day to us!!!    

God is Awesome!!!

We made it home safe last night and it was so wonderful to actually get some good sleep in our own bed.  I am feeling much better, just trying to get my strength back.  Thanks to everyone for the prayers, comments, texts, calls and everything else that you have done on our behalf.  I saw God at work first hand throughout our experience and he is truly an AWESOME God.  We are so blessed and thankful to have such wonderful friends and family.  I don’t know what I would have done without my amazing husband, I am so grateful to him for making sure that I was safe along the way.  He took care of everything for both of us and worked like the energizer bunny to make sure he could get me to safety. 

Denver “Waqo” is doing great, he has gained weight and seems so happy.  He is so loved by the nannies and children in the orphanage and I know he is getting great care.  I hope to be able to bring him home soon but it is a blessing to see first hand that he is truly loved where he is.  We met some amazing people through this journey that we otherwise probably never would have met.  Please continue to pray for the families and children that are in Ethiopia, either waiting to come home or, waiting to be able to take care of their children.  That’s all I have for now, I just wanted everyone to hear from me that I am doing much better and am almost fully recovered.  God bless you all!!!   

Vanessa