Finally!

I cannot express in words, how badly we've wanted to post a new number for us on the wait list. It has been 4.5 months since we last posted a new number. Talk about challenging!!!

Well, today is the day folks! We are officially:

I felt this picture to be appropriate given the current speed of our adoption. LOL.

 NUMBER 11

We are hopeful that this is just the beginning and that more referrals will follow in the days and weeks ahead. 

The family that got the referral today had been waiting 19.5 months for 2 children (the wait is longer for multiple children) and had recently switched to a single child. Their referral was for a 5 month old baby girl. Congrats to the family and to all the waiting families (I know you're celebrating the news too).

Please keep us and our daughter in your prayers, 

Letting Go!

In honor of our friend Cyr's 30th birthday


The Birthday Boy (Cyr) and his girlfriend Lindsay

AND our 4 year wedding anniversary we decided to go ziplining with Red River Gorge Zipline Tours in Campton, KY (near Natural Bridge State Park).

Me and the hubs

When we agreed to go we thought we'd just be zipping from tree to tree ... and it was kind of like that for the first two zips.


My first zip:




BUT then things got a little more intense on our 4th and 5th zips:





This is not a video of us. We went ziplining at night under the stars so it was hard to take pictures or video after the sun went down BUT this is a video of the 4th zip.

Zipling under the stars was amazingly beautiful!

It helped with my fear of heights because it was difficult to see how high up we were but it was still scary because you couldn't see where you were headed when you jumped off the platform into the pitch black darkness. As you can see from the video we zipped quite a ways - 1 minute to be exact at 50-60 mph.

Throughout the 3 hour adventure I thought about our adoption journey and how similar it is to ziplining ... the fear of the uncertainty that lies ahead; the faith it takes to leap off the platform; the guiding light that leads you through the darkness; and screaming - lots and lots of screaming (Lol!).

It was a great night and therapeutic too. We enjoyed our time with great friends and it felt good to scream out loud! I definitely relieved some of my frustration about the adoption and I think Bret did too.

Reality Check!

Last week our agency had a conference call with waiting families and families compiling their dossiers.

We weren't sure what to expect from the call ... at first we were really nervous because our agency hasn't had any referrals in 4 months (it feels crazy to even type that, I can't believe it's been so long!) so we were a tad worried that it could be bad news ... like the program shutting down or our agency being investigated ...  my mind automatically goes to the worst case scenarios (thank goodness Bret's doesn't).

Turns out that it wasn't either of those but it wasn't necessarily good news either. The short of it is ... the Ethiopia Program is slowing down. The US Embassy is asking for more paperwork and clarification than ever before. Which means that agencies are now trying to collect all this information up front, to ensure the likelihood of getting an interview with a birth parent, family member, etc. on the front end as opposed to several months after the child has been relinquished, orphaned, etc. This is causing referrals to be delayed but the hope is that the process will be quicker when we get to Embassy.

We were also told on the call that our window for a referral has expanded. When we joined the Ethiopia Adoption Program in July 2010 we were told that the estimated wait time for a girl 0-12 months old would be 7-11 months. Now we are being told that a referral can be expected in the next 12-18 months. Given this new wait time we decided to expand our preference from 0-6 months to a 0-12 month old baby girl.

We would expand more if we had been approved for a higher age range but the truth is (according to our agency) they are seeing less older children being referred and instead are seeing more infants and toddlers. Our home study will have to be revised in January, if we have not received a referral by then, and our fingerprints will also need to be redone so at that point we may expand our preferred age range further, just to increase our chances of getting a referral that much sooner.

In a way, we feel like we're starting the wait all over again, knowing that it could be 7 more months (or longer before we get our referral). Today we celebrate being on the waitlist for:

 11 Months

This is my brother and sister in-law, Brandon and Lisa. They will be a great aunt and uncle! They have been so supportive of our adoption journey - thanks guys!

Here's to hoping that we see our little girl's sweet face in 1-7 months from today!

We're still here for you, baby girl!

We will not give up on you!

Mommy and Daddy, will do whatever it takes to make you an orphan no more! and bring you home to your forever family!  

God Gave Me You

Happy Anniversary to the Greatest Husband a girl could as for!   I am blessed!

Four years ago today ... we said, "I Do".

We got married at Camp Crooked Creek

My cousin Katie sang this beautiful song by Patti Griffin.

                              

It was perfect! She's so talented!

   It was a HEAVENLY DAY!

Our Ring Bearer : "Wally Wallister"

My Uncle Steve married us. Such a great honor! We love him so much.

  One of the GREATEST days of our Lives!

I would not want to walk this crazy journey with anyone else! Our daughter will be blessed to have you as a daddy!

Wishing, Hoping and Praying

Everyday I do dishes or pass through our kitchen this always catches my eye (and my heart) ...

A sweet handmade gift from a dear friend.

It's a daily reminder of where our hearts are and where they'll remain until our daughter is home with us forever.