Dossier in Uganda!

Our dossier is officially in Uganda and now we are waiting for our lawyer to file in court and then we wait again for a court date!  I thought it was hard waiting for a referral but that is NOTHING compared to how it feels to know who your little one is and not to be able to hold him in your arms!

I know that "Drew" is in a wonderful babies home and he is being well cared for, loved on and prepared for our family but it is SO HARD not to have him here with us.  We want to be loving on him, taking care of his needs and teaching him about a God who loves him so much but that will have to wait for a few more months.

Right now, the wait for a court date is around 3-4 months.  So realistically, we probably won't hear anything about our court date until end of February or March. That seems soooooo far!!

I know with the holidays quickly approaching (and life with 3 kids is already very busy) these next few months will fly by BUT when someone from your family is missing it definitely takes a toll each and everyday!  We are doing all we can do now to be ready to leave ANYTIME!

A few weeks ago we all got our shots (Yellow fever and Typhoid) and that made it very real to the kids!  Man, that Yellow Fever vaccination stings so bad!  No one could lift their arm for the next 24 hours:)  We tried to have fun with it and of course, treated ourselves to Frozen Yogurt afterwards!

I just wanted to leave you with a AWESOME song that has meant alot to me lately as we think and pray for Drew, but we remember God is there with him and He has never and will never leave him!

3 Weeks since referral!

Well, it's has been 3 weeks since we got our referral of Drew!

The first few days Jeff and I couldn't stop looking at his sweet little picture with those adorable brown eyes staring right at us.  I have constantly been clicking on my phone just to see his face and to be reminded of WHY we started this adoption process in the first place.

Just one word.

OBEDIENCE.

We felt God asking us to step out in this HUGE step of faith and to trust Him throughout this WHOLE process.  I remember when (almost 2 years ago) that I felt this leading and was scared to death.  Adoption had NEVER occurred to me before.  I had not known anyone growing up who was adopted and no one in my family had ever adopted before so it was very foreign to me.  Over the past number of years God has brought precious friends and families across our path who have lead by example, encouraged us and have been sweet to share their private stories with us.

I also remember "telling" God that He had better show up and give me a heart for adoption and a passion for the child that He would place in our family forever!  2 years ago I was scared and nervous  and honestly didn't even want to adopt and TODAY my heart is overflowing with faith, trust, hope and love beyond what I thought was possible!  He is so faithful!

So, we have finished all the paperwork.  Waiting for our dossier so we can get it notorized and then send it off to Uganda and then wait for our court date!  We are praying our court date will be before December 15th.  The Ugandan courts close December 15th- January 15th.  We would love to squeeze in before the courts close so Drew can be home for Christmas.  If not, we should be going mid-January to pick him up and bring him home.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers, support and offers to be involved!

Keep in touch!

Erin 

Precious referral!!!

We got it!!

You got what, you ask?

The MOST PRECIOUS referral we have been waiting for the past 15 months!!

We can't share alot but... here is what we CAN tell you...there is a sweet little 2 yr old boy who lives in Uganda that needs a mommy, daddy, brother and 2 sisters in his life!

In John 14:18, Jesus says..."I will not leave you as orphans.  I will come to you."

God ordained from the beginning of time that he would choose baby Drew (nickname) to be part of our family!  We have prayed for months that God would care for and love our little guy until that time came and NOW the timing is PERFECT!

We are hoping and praying that we will travel December or January to meet him and bring him home. Jeff & I will do our best to keep you all updated as we move forward with paperwork, packing, court dates and of course...the homecoming!  

Thanks for all your love, support and prayers as you have walked this road with us!

 Erin 

Summer is coming to a close in a few short weeks.  I CAN'T believe that these months have gone by so quickly and now we are approaching fall and the new school year soon.  I say all that with such different emotions flowing through me.

First of all, I am READY for a schedule!  Hubby keeps reminding me how much better I do with an organized schedule and my calendar all filled up with what and where we need to be.  We have had a awesome, fun-filled summer but it's has also been relaxed and VERY unscheduled!  So...the time has come to organize!!  I have 3 kids going in 3 different directions so we have pulled out the calendar and it is starting to fill up.

Secondly, I have mixed emotions about school starting.  We were REALLY, REALLY hoping that we would have travelled to Uganda with the family this summer.  But it didn't happen, so now we enter the fall and school with still no word about our "little brother".

We were preparing to travel in the summer...we had the time, kids out of school and we were very excited to head to Uganda to meet our little brother! But, here we are with the school year starting with no brother and STILL no travel plans to Uganda.  (Sigh)

My girlfriend posted this on FB the other day...perfect timing for me in my moment of self-pity:)

Official waiting list...

It is shocking that I have not updated this blog since February!  Shame on me : )

Oh well, here I am!

We are well into our summer vacation from school and all our other activities (except softball, of course!)  We have had fun days of swimming, sleepovers, VERY late nights, softball tournaments, BBQ's, time with friends and family.

To top it off, we travelled to my home country to spend time with family and friends.  We packed our car full to the brim and sped way up north to Calgary, Alberta to see cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.  It was a great 10 days filled with paintballing, swimming, movies, lots of food, soccer games, wild animal park and a day trip to Banff (unbelieveable...you must go if you have never been there).  Phew!  I'm tired just thinking back to all that we accomplished!

We got home last week and we have been busy ever since.  One of my dearest friends is getting married in a few weeks and we are busy planning showers, bachelorette party and getting everything ready for the big day!

For some reason, she wants me and our other "bestie" to be bridesmaids in her wedding.  We told her that if she wants "old ladies" in her wedding party then she will just have to bear looking at us in her pictures the rest of her life!  :)  We are super honored and unbelieveably excited to marry her off to an awesome guy loves Jesus and adores her!!  Pictures to come after August 5th!

But the most exciting thing to happen since we have gotten home is . . .

sorry, no referral!  : (

But . . . our agency sent an email sharing some changes in our waiting process.  They have decided to share the once secret "waiting list" for families to help them determine MAYBE how long of a process they should be expecting.  We got our first "official" number last week and we are #4!! Yay!!!

Since we do not know who is before us nor what they have requested, we might actually be the first in line for a 2-4 year old boy, or we may be fourth. God knows.

Jeff and I have such peace about His ultimate timing and when He is ready for us to go and bring our son home. And that is when it will happen! We are excited and anxious but ultimately we have total PEACE!

A couple weeks ago we entered our 13th month on the waiting list and now it seems we are so close to meet and bring home our son! Thanks for praying with us.