Status Update

Well impatient Adam finally broke down and called our agency for an update. It's been almost two months since there has been a referral and I wanted to see what was up.

As talked about earlier it's what they call "rainy" season in Ethiopia. I guess it rains so much and so many roads are not paved that they bascially shut down a lot of functions during rainy season. Also during this time period the government reviews adoption laws and also adoption agencies. There is always a potential for law changes during this time period so Holt has decided during this time period they are holding off on referrals until any changes are made official. The good news in this is our director told my that there are children in the center that they are waiting to refer and that as soon as they had a clarification on any rules they would make referrals. She told me today that there are 7 familes with dates ahead of us and one that submitted the same day we did. She said depending on the ages of the children waiting to be referred that there was a chance we would be in the first group of referrals when they start making them again. Hopefully that will be true!

Other than that not much going on. Getting Leah's room and the nursery ready are next on our to do list.

Adam

Checking In.....

Just thought I'd take a few minutes and check in with the blog and update the world with where we are at. As with the last few posts we don't really know much new. We are STILL #9. There has been a lack of movement the past month and a 1/2 and as patient as I've been I'll have to admit the past couple of weeks the wait has started to get to me. We are officially in our referral window which is 3-6 month. We have waited over three months so it could come anytime. It is what they call "rainy season" in Ethiopia right now. As developed as we are in the USA it's hard to imagine that rain would slow someone down but with the roads and other infrastructure less developed it basically shuts down the country of Ethiopia to the extent that they stop processing adoptions over that time period. So where does that put us? Our agency does plan on doing referrals during the rainy season but we will have to wait until the courts open back up to hear our courtcase. That is scheduled to be October 4th. There tends to be a lot of back up on court cases when the courts open back up. Thanks to the wonderful agency we are using we have pretty much been told that will not apply to us. Something else that is a trend in our agency the past few referrals is the quick turn around time between actual referral and then travel time. The last few have been at around six-seven weeks from referral to travel. That would be awesome for us! So how long of a wait for a referral do we have? Well the care center holds 20 children and all the families that have been matched should have traveled and picked up their children by the end of this month which should open up the possibility of up to 20 referrals coming sometime soon. This is VERY optimistic and not likely but best case scenario. Our agency did confirm to someone they plan on doing referrals this month. They have typically come in batches of 6-7 so we are fairly confident we won't get one the first batch but hopefully in the second batch. We are still hoping to be home by Christmas.

We did cross one thing off our list a couple of weekends ago. Thanks to Steve and Hollie we have a completed swingset for Leah in the backyard. I'll try and post a pic soon but it is so nice to have that done and we couldn't have done it without their help. Thanks guys!!!

Talk to you all later.

Adam

Chapman Family Interview

Most of you reading this probably know that back in May Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman lost his daughter in a terrible accident. In the family's first interview since the accident you see a wonderful testimony that we have in Jesus Christ. Check it out here. Some of you will need tissues!!

Where Oh Where Have We Been???

Been a while since our last post. We've been pretty busy between posts but nothing too exciting related to the adoption.

The first thing that happened was we lost my grandma, Velma Benton Schaper, known by most as Grandma Benny. At the age of 79 she had a heart attack and left this earth. I remember quite fondly in my younger years spending a week or two up there during the summer. In addition our family would head up to St. Louis 3-4 times a year to spend the weekend. I remember walking to the snow ball shack, her endless garage sales, the scary basement, and many other memories. All in all Grandma Benny had a good life. She did a lot and didn't have a long drawn out passing. We will miss her. We were in the process of planning a trip up there over Labor day weekend as it had been a long time since we had been up there or seen her. Lesson in that story is you never truly know when you'll have another day so do today what needs to be done!

We missed part 1 of parenting classes since we were in St. Louis for Grandma Benny's funeral. We did part 2 this last weekend. Sarah and I have read and researched the many issues that will face a transracial family in America. We didn't necessarily learn anything new in the classes but it affirmed our belief that racism still exists in America and we will now have to face it. Another thing we've thought about the past few months is we will forever be a mixed family now. There will be no turning back. We can truly say though that we are 100% confident this is a God led thing and those ALWAYS are the best. It's exciting to see what's in store for us.

A thought that is very difficult at times to deal with it our baby being out there right now. More than likely our child is already born. Many times we wonder is he/she cold, is he/she hungry, is he/she being loved, and many more that go through our head. We ask your prayers for our child as they are out there and hopefully in a few short months will be in our arms!

We are still #9. I'm starting to get impatient. I've been good so far but we're getting antsy. I broke down and emailed the agency and they confirmed we are #9 and said it was still a 3-6 month wait. We submitted May 5th so we are nearing our 3 months. Hopefully we'll be home by Christmas!

Thanks for all your prayers and checking up on us!

Adam

Slowing Down

Well those of you who have read the blog regularly have heard me whine the past few months about how busy Sarah and I have been. With as much as we are involved in I don't know that we'll every "slow" down but I do think we see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I had a great time on the youth float trip this weekend. It was truly a blast. I jumped in some 42 degree water that came from a spring. It was extremely cold. All in all though it turned out great. (I had secretly been dreading it for months!)

We have parenting classes the next two weekends. There are 2 other couples in the class we know so that should make it interesting and fun. Knowing our social worker I also think she will make it intresting.

Leah is better. Back to the doctor today for a check up and the pnemonia is all gone. We are grateful for that. She had blood drawn today for an allergy test so we'llf ind out soon if she's allergic to our cats or to anything else.

We had what I think was one of the most awesome Baptism services at church this weekend. While every baptism is special this one was just different. For one thing it was outside in the river which I think is the best and second you could definitely sense the spirit in the couple who were getting baptized. I got to work with him on the mission trip and it was a blessing to get to know him and his son better.

No movement on the waiting list but that is ok. We got Leah a new toy box tonight so we are getting ready to move her into her new room and get the nursery set up. Hopefully we'll have plenty of time.

We'll give an update after parenting classes to let you know if we are fit to be parents!

Adam

Horton Update

We are now #9. Slowly moving up. Sarah's starting to work on the nursery and we're getting more and more excited.

Leah is down with a bout of pnemonia so keep her in your prayers. She's doing home breathing treatments this week and goes back next Monday to evaluate and see where she is. It's amazing because she acts totally normal and it very energetic and playful but you can hear the wheezing when she breathes. Hopefully we'll get it cleared up at home this week. She will have about 10 days in a row with her Grandmas watching her so she will be a mess when reality hits next week if she's better. She is now more spoiled than ever!

Big youth float trip this weekend. Due to numerous reasons we have wound up on a long float that will take all day Saturday. At first I was dreading it a little but the closer we get the more and more excited I get. Pray for us because we have a LOT of inexperienced floaters going!

Adam

Where Are We

Lots of people have been asking where we are at on the adoption front lately so I thought I'd give and update. As of yesterday we were #11 on the wait list. We were thinking we were somewhere there so that was no surprise. Our dossier has been submitted to Ethiopia so the US government is done with everything and it is now being translated. The courts close in Ethiopia coming up in the middle of July and are closed until early September. That doesn't mean we won't get a referral during that time period it just means it could be a little longer than average between referral and travel. Other than that nothing new from our agency.

We have parents in process class July 19th and 26th. It's basically two Saturdays of teaching us how to parent and deal with adoption issues. Obviously Sarah and I already have a kid so some of it will be review but we're anxious to learn about dealing with the adoption issues. We know 2 of the 3 other couples in the class so that will make it easier.

We had a garage sale last weekend to get rid of junk and apply some money towards our adoption. We raised a grand total of $268.10. Not bad considering Saturday was a total washout. It's not much in the grand scheme of things but it will help out with the costs. Thanks to everyone who helped and gave us stuff to sale. I still have an XM radio to sell on Ebay so hopefully we'll add to our total. Getting rid of the garage sale knocked out two of the big stress items for the summer. The last one is our youth float trip on July 12th. Once that's done it should slow down some as far as being in charge of stuff and having to plan.

We're working on names. We have a boys name picked out but are still working on a girls name. Maybe we'll announce sometime soon.

Several Holt familes just got back from Ethiopia and some are getting ready to travel. It's been exciting to see pictures and get reports back from over there. Sounds like things are going great over there. Hopefully they can get some of our SW Missouri rain and end their drought.

The company I work for currently doesn't offer adoption benefits. Since there are three people from work adopting currently we asked them to consider it. It's amazing what some companies give to their employees in way of adoption benefits. It's far from being finalized but from the early reports our company will be above average. Keep it in your prayers. Any help is a huge blessing and we know God will provide whatever we need.

Until next time!

Adam