Hello Everyone!
We hope to find everyone well. It has been a while since we have written a blog update and I thought we were due for a new post to share with everyone what has been going on with our adoption over the past month.....and the answer is....waiting. As you may have already read in previous posts, we are currently in the waiting process of our adoption - which is by far the longest part of any adoption. Tomorrow, November 18th, we will officially be DTE (dossier to Ethiopia) for 1 month. Right now, America World Adoption Association estimates that a family can wait any where from 30-36 months from their DTE date for an infant. Lucky for us we have requested a little girl between the age of 0-4, so hopefully that will narrow down our wait a little. But just like everything else in life, this will all happen in God's timing - not ours. So in the mean time we wait patiently...or as patiently as we possibly can. But just because we are waiting doesn't mean we can't think and pray for our little Amira every day. Honestly, there is not a day that goes by where I do not think about her. I cannot tell you enough how much I long for the day when we can shower another child - our second daughter - with more love than she ever thought possible. But until that day comes, the only thing (and most important thing) we can do is pray for her. We love you princess pie and cannot wait to see your beautiful face!!
From a financial standpoint we are close to half way there. Adopting from Ethiopia can range anywhere from $28,000 to $35,000. As of today, we have raised and submitted over $15,000!!! Only God could make that possible in such a short time frame, we must give glory where glory is due...thank you Lord!!!! Currently, the only on-going fundraisers we are working on are selling Advocare products (health and wellness) and selling our Project Ethiopia Tshirts and bracelets. Next spring, with the help of one amazing woman - Karen Williams, we will be planning a walk-a-thon/chili dinner/face painting extravaganza!! For those of you who do not know Karen, she also planned and put together our Lasagna Fundraiser in September. We cannot thank her enough for all of her hard work and continued efforts towards helping us fundraise!! In addition to our walk-a-thon, we are also planning on having another fundraiser garage sale in the summer of 2014. This past summer our garage sale/bake sale was a huge success thanks to amazing family and friends who donated items and helped set up and run the event. Again I can't thank you enough for the amount of time and items that were donated.
I know this really isn't much of an update...but there really is nothing new for us to share. As the journey ventures forward we will continue to keep you updated. :) As always, thank you for your continued prayers and support.
God Bless!!
