Dossier to D.C.

We are back from our Canada vacation. Here are a few pictures of us in the Bay in front of the cottage and at the Sand River in Provencial Park north of the cottage. Isaac was able to play with all his cousins during the week. In fact, there were five kids there 3 and under! He had a lot of fun.
Our dossier was sent out the last week in August. We believe it was the 25th. We are not sure how long it will take to get back to Bethany headquarters here in GR but hopefully it sees its way to Ethiopia in September!
Isaac started Kindermusik today. He had to go in by himself part of the time with the kids and teacher. Afterwards he said, "I missed you and didn't have fun." I bet he will have fun next week:)
Sissy is here with us this week. She is my little sister who has seizures. She is 26. We are enjoying our time with her!

Welcome New Friends

We have been waiting and waiting to hear how our Bethany friends are doing in Ethiopia and we heard lots of news today. So touching and wonderful. We can't wait to meet our new friends someday. Welcome home Levi and Bereket!

Our family enjoyed a wonderful night with friends from Northern Michigan. Great to be around supportive and Christlike people. We had awesome discussions on family, schools, politics and Christianity. This verse reminds me of our time together. "Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you." I Timothy 6: 20-22

This picture of Isaac reminds me of how we are in the waiting process right now. Hmmmmm......can't wait for our referral!

All Turned In

Though we would like to sleep like little Isaac now that our paperwork is gone we won't! I keep reminding myself all that what will happen now is a phone call saying we have a referral. God sure surprised us with a quick immigration turn around so who knows what He can do next. We know for sure He has good plans for us and will do exceedingly and abundantly above all we should ever ask or think.
Matt is biking today with friends at the trail. He loves it! Isaac and I will have a good morning together.
Prayers for the three families who left on Wednesday to pick up there children in Ethiopia.

Getting things tied up

We should have our entire dossier to our adoption worker on Thursday. The Sec. of States office is closed until then. I didn't know they closed and I need one piece of paper state sealed!! So after that our dossier goes to Washington D.C. back to Grand Rapids and then off to Ethiopia. After it is there it should be around a month until it is through their process. Very exciting!
Isaac is so much fun. The other night he was in his room with a flashlight singing, "Here Come the Sun." He started praying and asking Jesus what plans he had for him. So wonderful to know God's spirit works in the little ones minds and lives.

I went to a women's meeting at church last night. The topic was Being not Doing. I know we can get caught up in Doing a lot and not Being with God. It was a great message by Cheryl Salem. She is a former Miss America. So challenging and deep.
Looking forward to a great day.

A Paperwork Miracle

So here is a picture of my bridesmaids. Aren't they beautiful? They look even better today than seven years ago.
On another note...We received our paperwork from immigration today approving us to adopted an orphan. This really is a miracle because Matt was just fingerprinted July 25th. Our adoption worker said it would be 8-12 weeks from then!! And here we are August 9th.
Also, My dad won the election up north and is county commissioner again. He is doing a great job!
Now we get our I-171h notarized, state sealed and give our check to Bethany for the Ethiopian country fee. Bethany already has our dossier with everything ready to go. Hopefully our dossier is in the country within a few weeks!

Wedding Memories

A couple of weeks ago we were given the option to buy our wedding negatives. This last week I had them put on a CD and downloaded them to my computer. I will be posting a few of them. It is fun to have a look back at 7 years ago. I think we look younger, although I don't feel older.
Matt recently got a job promotion at work. It is great and he is enjoying the change.
Congratulations to our Bethany friends who are traveling next week!!! I don't think I could sleep or eat because of excitement!

Lots of Vacation

It really has been a great summer. Last week we spent part of the week in Northern Michigan and attended the Venetian festival in Charlevoix. We had tons of fun at my parents house riding their gator, visiting the deer blind, going on the boat, etc...
Too many things to mention. We got to see my sister Julie, her husband Steve and my niece and nephew Luke and Eva. We always get to spend time with friends and family while we are there.
My dad is running for County Commissiner so vote August 5th if you live up there. He has been in 2 years and is doing a great job. I will be glad when the votes are in!

If you live in my area this Saturday at my church we are having a walk-a-thon to raise money for the A21 campaign. This campaign was developed to raise awareness and money to stop the selling of children, as young as four into the sex slave trade industry. Let me know if you are interested in attending. I have more information on my facebook page.
Also, some great news on Matt's job front. He got a promotion to finance director. Of course he got a raise too. This offsets my working a couple of days a week. We are so thankful for God provision for our family.
On the "new" baby front there isn't much to report. When we talk about the new baby coming from Ethiopia Isaac usually asks, "where is the old one?" The minds of little ones are so sweet. We did get to take him to the Ethiopian restaurant on Friday night. It is so good and we are always up for going if anyone is interested!