Destin

Kim found a good one. Any man that can vacation, get married and spend his honeymoon...all while sharing a 3 bedroom condo with his new in-laws, is a keeper!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Summertime

Wyatt's last day of school was last Wednesday. His first year wrapped up with a performance titled "On the Road Again". I never thought I'd hear my 3 year old sing Willy Nelson. Just like the last one, it was great. We cannot be happier with our experience with Immanuel Baptist this year. It's hard to believe his first year of school is done...but to think we have 14 more to go, I think I can handle it!

On another note, this Friday is our scheduled court date for Gabe. However, the abandonment cases are still be investigated, therefore, we're still on hold. It would take a miracle for the investigation to be complete before Friday. I've become a blog stalker looking for any small detail about the investigation. I found one site where people post what their agency shares with them. Then, that blog links to a venting and rumor blog. I love that one! I think there are a lot of people out there with the same feeling as me...hearing anything at all about the investigation is better than nothing. And even it if is just hearing somebody vent, it helps. I can't help but wonder how much Gabe has changed since the one picture we have of him was taken. I know it will all happen when the time is right...I just hope that is soon!!

Speed Bump

Many of you may have heard that the Ethiopian Justice System has determined it to be in the best interest of its children to temporarily stop hearing the cases of abandoned children. There is no effect of which we are aware on the cases of children whose parents have relinquished their parental rights. Evidently, the number of cases of abandoned children is rising rapidly and the Ethiopian Government has found several cases of fraud. According to many other blogs we've read, the Ethiopian government is investigating each agency before hearing any of these children's cases. Although our agency and Gabe's case have been cleared, we must wait until all agencies have been investigated prior to our case being heard in court.

A couple of things that we are comfortable are true:

-Ethiopian people and their government care about and love their children and are acting in what they have determined to be in the best interest of those children.

-Our agency (Little Miracles) has always been and will continue to be a true ally for us and for orphans

-Despite being aware of these truths, this is an incredibly difficult setback with which to deal.

Please take a moment to view the video below for a moving look at the positive work some good people to help children. Thanks for reading.

Drawn from Water from Drawn From Water on Vimeo.

At The Car Wash...

My Mother's Day Present

Good News All Around!

It's been a great 24 hours! It began yesterday when my sister Kim got engaged! Congrats Kim, and welcome to the family, Kevin and Sawyer. We are so excited for all of them and Wyatt will be thrilled that Saywer will be at Kim's all of the time now.

Then today's big news...We got a court date...June 5! What does this mean?? It means on June 5th our paperwork and Gabe's paperwork go in front of a judge in Ethiopia to determine if we can legally become his parents. The likelihood of passing court on the June 5th...pretty slim. It seems to be the trend for families to fail court the first time. The courts may want more paperwork from us or Gabe. If we do fail, most court cases are reassigned approximately one month later. But, having an initial date is a step in the right direction. We know he'll legally be ours soon, we just have to be patient. Then, a couple of weeks to a month after passing court we head to Ethiopia to bring him home!

Family Day

Once again, I'm late. We celebrated on time, but I'm late getting pictures posted from that weekend. Our family day with Wyatt was March 20. We decided to spend the weekend in Cincinnati to spend the night in a hotel and go to the aquarium. Instead of writing a boring old post, I've decided to write a poem.

Its so hard to believe
How fast three years flies.
It doesn't seem that long ago
We couldn't sooth those intense cries.

Now here you are.
Three quick years later
You cheer for the CATS
And despise the Gator.

You've developed such charm
And quite a bit of spunk.
We call it personality.
Sometimes a punk :)

Regardless, you're sweet as sugar
Most of everyday
You're quick to make friends
Your smiles brighten our day.

You like to push buttons
Mostly of Mom and Dad.
You make up for it with kisses
When you see us sad.

You'll do anything you can
To get a giggle.
Anytime time you hear music
You can't help but wiggle.

You are 100% boy
No lack of testosterone here
Airplane, helicoptors, trains
You hold all of them dear.

You're a miracle of God
We know this to be true.
Everyday we thank him.
For the amazing gift of you.

Referral!!!

I'm a little late in posting this,but, we got our referral for Baby Gabe last Wednesday!! And when I say baby, I mean baby. He's only 2 months old!! LMI called us with the big news last Wednesday. We obviously accepted the referral and now paperwork is being processed to apply for a court date.

Sorry, the rules say that we aren't allowed to post his picture or other identifying information until we clear through the Ethiopian court system.


Wyatt had quite a spring break last week. First, he took a road trip with the University of Kentucky Band and Cheerleaders on a trip to South Bend, Indiana for the Wildcat Basketball game versus Notre Dame. Unfortunately, Wyatt's loyalty swung easily and he chanted at the game "Let's Go Irish!". He then spent the remainder of the week with his Grandparents in South Bend. Mom and Dad headed to Atlanta where Mom ran the ING Georgia Half Marathon. On Tuesday, Mom met Grandma in Indianapolis where Wyatt spent a 1/2 day in heaven (Indianapolis Children's Museum).

Next step in the process to bring Gabe home is for us to obtain a court date...we'll keep you posted.