A day in Ethiopia...

A day in Ethiopia is filled with so many emotions, thoughts, and feelings!

To be on such a long journey filled with prayer and decisions and paperwork and waiting...THEN...you get "the call!"  It is so exciting and unbelievable to see the picture of your child halfway across the world. The child that you have been praying for and didn't know what she was doing, if she was born, if she was going through something difficult, or even how old she was...you finally get to see her!  And then there are hoops to get through to bring her home.  You get to meet her and it is amazing and then you have to leave her, and that is heart-wrenching.  Then you jump through some more hoops until you are cleared to bring her home!  OH THE JOY!  THE RELIEF!  THE EXCITEMENT!  Then, you pack up and jump on a plane a few days later...

The wait for her is over, but really everything is just beginning.  I have read and researched and prayed and sought wisdom and counsel from those who have gone before me.  And, it is so different to actually walk through it.

There are unbelievable moments of deep deep joy that she is with us.  She is fun and mischievous and brilliant!  She watches everything we do!  She loves playing with water bottles, play-dough, stickers, and coloring books.  She is a typical toddler in those ways...yet...she has such deep pain.

Every day gets better, and we are asking God to heal that pain.  As a mom, it is HARD to not want that healing instantaneously...to want her to run to us and trust us and be comfortable and so excited just because she has a family now! But, when I think about it, I know that that wouldn't be right...and I wouldnt' even want it, because in the end, I know she will be healthier to really walk through these hard moments.  If we skipped over them, she would be missing a huge piece of healing that God is bringing to her heart.

Today that hard moment came after a meltdown and Naomi kept saying "Asa! Asa! Asa!" We have wondered all week what that meant, as she always says it through tears. We have asked people and no one understood.  But today, a lady said, "Oh, she is saying, 'There! There!  I want to go there!'"  Break. my. heart.  Even as I type this, my stomach is in my throat.  This whole time, when she is sad, she is telling us she wants to go "There!" ...back to Hannah's Hope.  Where she knows people.  Where people know her.  Where people talk like she does.  Where they know what food she likes.  Where they know how she likes to sleep. Where they understand her.

In those hard moments, I am reminded that this is one reason why God never intended to grow our families in this way.  It is because of a fallen, broken world that adoption is even needed or possible. So, in this fallen, broken world, there is deep pain.  So, in the painful times, I will seek and trust God.  He has led us on this journey, and he is not leaving us now.  He is Emmanuel.  God WITH us.  He is all-knowing and sovereign.  So, I will trust him even when my love is rejected.  I am learning that there is hurt behind all of that. And, it is making me cling to God's Word in a new, different way.  I hunger for more.  I am dependent on Him in all of the moments, and thankful that He is strength in my weakness.

Let me tell you...I LOVE that little girl.  It is amazing.  I eat up every minute that she playfully cuts her eyes at me and grins the biggest grin.  And...she is SUCH a Daddy's girl!  He gets big hugs out of the blue. I love seeing her learn and play.  I love that she likes things JUST the way she likes them.  I love that she likes to sing songs.  I LOVE her little sweet voice.  It is SO CUTE!  I love that God led us to her and is now bringing her to her forever home.  There is so much deep joy in her, and I can't wait to see more of it.  I can't wait to learn everything about her.  She is SUCH a gift to me!

Here are some pictures of our little sweetie...


Here she is playing with play-dough...

She is such a little "mama!"  This morning she took the water bottles and pretended they were babies...covering them up with the napkin for a "blanket!"  So cute...

Here is my little Daddy's girl...

(sorry for the eyes closed, but I want you to see that joy!...precious!)

And, a priceless moment napping with Mommy...

THE BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!!!!!!!

Yep...the best birthday present ever....

Meet our daughter, Naomi Renee Crenshaw!

We have cleared Embassy, so we can finally show you who you have been praying for!! :)  And, wouldn't you know that God would line it up to have our Embassy appointment on my birthday!!!

She is amazing, fun, beautiful, funny, scared, grieving, and delightful!  There are so many emotions wrapped up in the last two days!

That picture above was from yesterday, but I will add some other ones from our first trip below!

More updates later....I am off to bed!!!!!!!

Thank you, Lord, for this precious girl. 

A Letter from us to you...

Precious Friends and Family,

We wanted to write you a letter to tell you how much we appreciate you and the impact you have had on our lives (especially the last few years!).  We also wanted to share some struggles that we will likely incur when we bring our daughter home in the next few weeks to months.  Lastly, we wanted to ask for your support in a couple of areas in this transition for our family.

You guys have blessed us beyond anything we could ever imagine in this journey of bringing our daughter home!!!  It has been almost 3 years since we started taking steps towards bringing her home, and you guys have been there every single step of the way.  You have prayed for us, encouraged us, given of your own finances, served us, loved us, written sweet notes, and held us up when times were hard!  THANK YOU!!!  SO MUCH!  I have said this before, but our daughter has no idea how loved she is.  She has and will continue to experience the love of Christ through you and I am sure one day she will look back amazed at what God did in her life using people that didn’t even know her yet!

We are SO CLOSE to bringing her HOME..FOREVER!  We are so thankful to the Lord for His faithfulness in our lives through all of this.  As we get closer and closer to our final trip to Ethiopia, we are thinking more and more (and praying more and more!) for her little heart.  She has gone through so much in her not-even-three years of life.  She has lost family members. She has seen the effects of sickness and poverty in a way that most of us never will. She left her home where she was born and her community that knew her and loved her and helped care for her. She went to an orphanage where she didn’t know anyone, and didn’t really have anyone care for her.  Shortly after, she again was moved to a place where she didn’t know anyone.  She came to our transition home (Hannah’s Hope), where we learned about her. In this amazing place, though, she is very loved with the most incredibly loving staff through our agency!!!  She has a place of belonging. She is played with, sang to, provided for, fed, clothed, and bathed.  She LOVES it!  She loves all of her “special mothers,” she loves her friends, she loves the babies that she helps “take care of,” and she loves the people that she sees all the time.  She feels comfortable and secure.

And now we enter in to another difficult part of this journey…she will have to leave all that she knows and loves.  Even though we know that God has beautiful things in store for her life, she does not know and understand this right now.  She will feel hurt, abandoned by the people she loves, and insecure in who we are to her.  And this time, she will not know the language we are speaking, not many people will look like her, the food does not taste the same, the culture looks completely different, and there will be nothing in her world that is safe and secure to her.

The process of learning to trust us, to trust that we will always be there to care for her is called attachment.  Normally, attachment between a parent and biological child happens as a baby has a need, communicates that need, and then mommy or daddy meets the need.  This repeats over and over to create trust within the child for that parent. Children who come home through adoption have experienced interruptions in this typical attachment process. The loss of a biological mother at an early age is a major trauma on their little hearts.   The many changes of caregivers also damages and confuses their hearts.

This is where we need your help again. We want that attachment to us to be as strong and healthy as possible for her overall emotional, physical, and spiritual health in the future.  Because of this, she needs to learn how to be a part of a family and how to trust us as her parents for her needs.  As our amazing community that loves our family, we want to tell you that we will spend a period of time (probably 2-3 months or so) where we will pretty much stay close to home and focus on this emotional need of our daughter, without extra visitors in our home.  We know you want to meet her and love on her, and we really want that too, but we want her to have a healthy attachment to us first.

We need to be the only ones who meet her needs for food, basic physical needs, as well as emotional needs (cuddling, hugging, holding, etc). It would be a huge help to us when we start venturing out if you point her to us when she needs something. Waving, blowing kisses or high fives are perfectly appropriate and welcomed!  Please understand that we want nothing more than to have our little girl hugged, cuddled and cherished by ALL of you (she's totally irresistible and huggable). But until she has a firm understanding of family and primary attachments, we would be so grateful if you direct her to us when she is seeking out food, affection, or comfort.  Over time, as she learns that we are her parents, it will become okay to treat her just like our other children.

You could also help our family by getting the other three kiddos out of the house!  They will be going stir crazy and would love a special time at the park/library/etc. with their loved ones!  I am sure Mama will be going stir-crazy, too, so any texts, emails, or phone calls to encourage her is greatly appreciated!  She will need some adult conversation!  J We covet your prayers for wisdom in every moment with every need, healing for our sweet daughter’s heart, abounding love and compassion, and more patience than we knew we had for each of us!  We are asking and trusting God for these things!

Thank you so much for really walking this journey with us.  You have loved our family so well.  We know that you will help us make the healthiest transition for our little girl!  Please let us know if you have any questions or want to talk about any of this!  We love y’all SO VERY MUCH!!!

Love,

Brian and Erin

Counting Down!

Just wanted to update the process from here on until we bring home our little girl...FOREVER! :)  Cannot wait!!!

After we got submitted at the end of January, we heard from the Embassy about what they still needed to clear our file.  We will give them that last little piece (which is an interview) on February 27.  We are hoping that on that day, they will clear us to get her visa and bring her home.  When that happens, they will give us a date to go back to Ethiopia.  That can be anywhere from 2 days later to 2 weeks later.

We are SO excited to be one week away from hearing from the Embassy again...hopefully to tell us that the wait for our little girl is over.  We are so ready to hear her laughter in our house (in her house!) and have her little feet running around with the other kiddos.  Her siblings long to have her home.

We made a paper chain to countdown the days until we hear from the Embassy.  On each link, we have something that each of us wanted to pray for her as she comes home.  Every night when we tear off another one, we pray for the thing that is on that chain.

Here is a picture from tonight with our countdown chain!

 
Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that we are cleared next week and get to go THAT WEEK to get our little girl!!  

YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am INCREDIBLY thankful to post that we were SUBMITTED TO THE EMBASSY!!!!!!! One step closer to our little girl, and this is the LAST part of the wait!!!  We are so thankful to the Lord.  It was a long road!

Our precious case worker called and I was very guarded when I saw her name...I thought it could be another "medical update..." they always notify us if she is on any kind of medicine, even if it is just for a cold or ear infection, etc.  Anyway, she said she had good news and it was a good thing that I was pulling into my driveway b/c I wouldn't have been able to see the road through my thankful tears!

She said that this part of the wait would be the hardest...I am not too sure about that!  I could be VERY wrong and I will let you know, but waiting 7 weeks to get submitted has been pretty tough.  I am sure that a lot of it was based off of assuming it would look like other files and we would be submitted after 2-3 weeks.  Those last 4 weeks of thinking "it could be the week" made for an emotional roller coaster.

Anyway...what does this mean??

Well, every child has to be cleared by the Embassy to get a VISA to come to the US.  They have our file and will be reviewing it soon.  This used to be a quicker process, but they are really digging deep into each case to ensure that there is not anything unethical going on.  So, they will ask for different interviews and then compare that information to the information that is on our file.  If it all matches up and they don't question anything, they will clear us to come and get her.  They do have the right to send our file to Nairobi for more investigation.  I pray that does not happen.

Many are asking about the timeline from here:
-our file was submitted yesterday...Jan. 23.
-The Embassy usually notifies us that they have received it about 2 weeks later and soon after says what interviews they will request.
-The interviews have been taking place about 2 weeks after the request.
-If all goes well, they will clear our case a few days after the interview (after they review it again)
-Usually at this point, families are hopping on a plane a few days after they are cleared!

So, this could still be a long process...anywhere from 3-7 weeks, I am guessing??  Maybe longer if the file is sent to Nairobi. I am praying that it is closer to the 3 week mark!

I am VERY thankful to be in this last step!!!!!  Praising God for His love and peace in the wait, and asking Him to bring her home quickly!

We went out for Mexican to celebrate, of course!!!

Speaking of celebrating with Mexican food, we did that last week, too...when our precious son and sweet niece got baptized!! It was very, very special!!!!  Such an incredible night!  The two of them were so excited to "show everyone that they were Christians!"  My amazing husband baptized Austin and it was so very special.  He read a letter from us that encouraged him and challenged him in his faith, asked him some questions about his faith, and baptized him.  My brother also got to talk about Emily and encourage/challenge her and baptize her!  Oh my goodness, it was a memorable night, and I am so thankful for how they have learned and grown and made a commitment to Jesus.  I can't wait to see what God does in their  lives.

Here is a picture!

Ups and Downs

This has been a really sweet week.

It started off pretty rough.  I started this "crazy cycle" where I would get progressively more excited towards the end of the weekend because I knew that Monday was coming.  Monday is the day that AGCI (our adoption agency) can submit files to the Embassy.  It has been six weeks, and our file hasn't been submitted.  Most are submitted after 2-3 weeks, so I thought for sure it was coming...every week.  Then, Monday would come.  And I wouldn't get the phone call that I wanted to get, and I was completely discouraged and defeated.  I just wanted our little girl home.

Last week was no different, although, we did get a phone call.  Just not the one I wanted.  My phone showed our case worker's name and I was SO excited!!!  But, she was just calling to talk about our fingerprints.  Total let down.  Sweet her, she has been so compassionate and "with us" every step of the way!  I think she will be almost as excited as we are when we get submitted!

So, the night I talked to her I was really discouraged, wondering when we would get to bring our little girl home.  It seems like so long ago that we were there, and then the highs and lows of the week were all-comsuming.

I prayed.  I was so tired of feeling that way.   My perspective was affecting so many other people.   It is so easy in this process to focus on the hard things.  The pain of the fallen world and fallen system and fallen people.  The wait.  The emotional ups and downs and the people that you bring with you on that roller coaster.  I am so thankful... God so graciously changed my perspective.


I had conveniently forgotten all of the incredible things...God's faithfulness to provide for us.  Him allowing us to receive a beautiful little girl into our family.  A redemptive story through the pain of loss. An incredibly loving transitional home for her.  Food and clothes and everything that she needs right now.  A bath for her every night.  Sweet women who love her.  Her brother and sisters here who ask about her and pray for her every day.  An adoption agency who walks us through all of the questions.  Resources in our community.  Families who are willing to "live life" with us.  Extended family and countless friends who love our little girl and have never even met her.  God's Word.  His Holy Spirit. Even little things like an extra spot in a room to put growing "packing" piles in.  Sweet conversations with our children already at home.  A finished room waiting for a little girl to be there.

I decided I didn't need to put myself on a roller coaster anymore.  She is being loved so much where she is, and I am thankful for that.  We are SO READY for her to be home, yes.  FOR SURE!  But God has shown me so much in this journey, and it surely isn't about me and my emotions.  I know there will be hard days, but I don't want to forget why we started down this beautiful and hard path of adoption in the first place.  We felt led by the Lord.  And we continue to.  He is faithful.  As hard as it is, I give up all control and rest in His beautiful plan.

That being said, it is 8 am in Ethiopia right now.  I am guessing the Embassy is opening soon.  I am hoping our agency can submit files today since they were closed yesterday.  I am praying that "N's" paperwork is all in order and will be submitted.  And, I am really really thankful for the peace that God has given me.

Here are a couple of pictures of her room:

Last day in Ethiopia...

I haven't really had the heart to write this post, but I figured that I need to document all that I can, so here goes!

We got up and packed everything...big fat sadface :(...

We got to go see our little girl for a couple of hours in the morning.  That day she loved those little things that you scratch off the black part and there is color underneath...you know what I am talking about?  I have no idea what they are called!  She also liked blocks and coloring.  She started getting protective over the things that we brought for her (and all of the other kids!) to play with.  Even if she didn't want to play with them, she didn't want other kids having them!

We made matching bracelets which someone recommended to help make connections that she is a part of our family.  Brian and I both had one on, and we showed her that we had ones that were just alike.  We put hers on her and showed her that they were all the same.  We kept saying "Mommy's and Daddy's and ____(N)____'s," to try to make the connection.  She liked them.  I still have mine on, and the other kiddos will have one, too, when she comes home.

She had a GREAT time painting fingernails, too!  She loves the doll that we brought for her, and she even painted the doll's nails!  Ha!  Olivia keeps saying, "Mom, did "N" REALLY paint these nails in Ethiopia!?!"

We made a photo album to leave with her with all of our pictures in it.  It was really neat, because it had 5 different buttons you could push (one for each page), so we each got to leave her a "message" that corresponded to our picture.  One of the pictures I put in there had a picture of our whole family, and we were holding a big picture of her.  We wanted her to connect that she is a part of our family and that the kids in the album are her brother and sisters.

...

Then, back to the hotel for lunch and back for our final afternoon with our little girl.  It was tough.  She  had just gotten some shots, so she weren't feeling so hot, but we had a pretty good afternoon anyway!  She looked at her album some more and seemed really interested in it.  We pointed to everyone and said their name and played what they said to her.  She sat on Daddy's lap for a long time and even let me hold her for a few minutes!  That was the only time all week! :)  (it's the little things!!!!)

When someone came in to tell us that it was time to go, she was not happy at the moment (from something else that happened, but I can't remember!), so she didn't get into telling us good-bye.  It was sad for me, and the bus ride home with all the other families (who had also just said good-bye to their little ones) was silent.  I wish we had more time.  But, I was glad that she wasn't torn up about saying good-bye to us. She is SO happy there and I am VERY thankful she is so connected to the special mommies and so very loved where she is.    I had envisioned it being HORRIBLE to leave her...that she would be devastated...and it just was not like that.  I am so glad because the thing that I was most torn up about is all of the pain and loss she has suffered in her little life...I didn't know how she would know that we are COMING BACK.  I just thought that she would think we were leaving her, too.  So, it was sad for me, but I am so glad that it wasn't sad for her.  We just left like we did every other day we were there.

...

The flight home...I felt like my heart was literally ripped in two and part of it was in the US with the other kids and part of it was in Ethiopia with "N."  It was terrible.  Still is.  We miss her so much.  Trusting in God's timing.  Trusting in His provision.  Trusting that He is taking care of her and us.  Begging Him to be supernaturally knitting her heart to ours in our time apart.

I can't wait to be back on a plane headed to bring her to her forever home.

Here are some pictures of some people who have been so influential in "N's" life:

This is "T."  I NEVER learned how to pronounce her name correctly, so she said I could just call her "T."  She is wonderful!  She was the expert on our little girl's file/history, and she was SO HELPFUL!!!

This is Was.  Everyone LOVES Was!  He is our driver, speaks English really well, knows a lot about everything going on, and he is all the kids FAVORITE playmate!!

And...this is the amazing and famous Almaz.  OHHH, Almaz!!!!!  I heard incredible things about her and couldn't wait to meet her and she truly is so amazing.  She loves these children and advocates for them SO well!  She is from Ethiopia, but was in the states for many years and felt the Lord leading her back to Ethiopia.  She followed Him, and He has done amazing things through her!  I am so thankful for this woman!

Day...4???

Can't keep track now of what day it is!

We had an eventful day!  We got picked up at 8:30 to head to court.  It was an adventurous ride that wasn't agreeing with Brian's stomach! Poor guy, he felt so sick!  After driving through a lot of Addis, we picked up the man who was sort of representing us...in the court room with us.  We went to the court then and walked up a bunch of stairs which is way harder than you think at this high altitude :)  and waited in the courtroom area for about an hour.

Our orphanage was called, and we went in to where the judge was.  We were asked many questions like, "Do you have other kids?  Do they know you are adopting?  Are you around others who have adopted?  Have you received training?  Have you learned about Ethiopian culture?  Have you met your child? Do you realize that this is FINAL after everything is cleared?"  Yes, yes, yes, yes...!!!!!!

She then said that our daughter's case was complete and everything was FINALIZED!  AHHH...music to my ears!  Thank you, Jesus!  We were so thrilled!!!! It was really just the sweetest feeling to hear that. There could have been a number of things that could have led us to not passing, so I was SO VERY thankful to the Lord!!

From there, we went to a market to shop a little and then to an Italian restaurant.  It was good, but what we loved was the art that was there!  Local artists who sell in a "gallery" that is the restaurant.  There were some really cool things.

We came back to the hotel for 45 minutes or so and then got to go back to Hannah's Hope!  We had a lot of fun!  We played soccer, colored, played with her baby, sang songs, and played ball.  Precious time.  She cried when we took her from her room to play outside, but she was fine after a couple of minutes.  She even gave me a kiss goodbye!!!!  :)

Tonight we are getting a GOOD night's rest and waking up to pack and spend the day with our little girl before we head back home.  Our flight leaves at 11 pm or something like that, and then we will be back home Thursday afternoon.  Pray for our goodbyes if you think about it.  I am sure our little one will be JUST FINE...Mommy might not be! :)

WE PASSED COURT!!!!!

I am so thankful to tell you that we passed court today!!!!!  Those were such sweet words to hear..."We have all of your paperwork, and your file is complete.  Everything is finalized."  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Yahoo!!!!  That means according to Ethiopia, our daughter is a Crenshaw!  Now we just have to go through the US Embassy, and we are hoping that we will be back in this amazing country in a month!  There is no guarantee for that...there could still be red tape in that process, but we are hoping!


Thank you for praying!  Just wanted to update before we head back to Hannah's Hope to see our daughter for a bit!

Day 3...

Here is a picture from last night's traditional Ethiopian dinner...

Instead of using utensils, they use a bread that you can unroll and tear off, and then you scoop up the food with it and eat it!

And here is the picture of a "coffee ceremony" that is common here.  They pop popcorn, roast the coffee beans right there with you, and then ground them and brew it.  They bring it out with incense burning.

Today we went to see our daughter first thing.  It was a great time!  She continues to warm up more and more to us.  Still clinging to her "special mommies" and all things familiar, of course!  Definitely to be expected.  Her favorite things today were listening to music, playing with her baby doll, playing ball, and "cleaning" my arm with a wipe!  She still loves peek-a-boo and gets really giggly! It is the most precious sound!  And her voice...LOVE her little voice!  It is so cute!

We also got to go to the orphanage where she was very briefly before Hannah's Hope.  We wanted to bring a gift to them, so we bought them a goat on the way there with another family that is here.  It was quite the experience!  Haggling the cost, picking the goat, and then bringing him to the orphanage.  It is quite the memory to have!  Here is a picture with one of our friends from Hannah's Hope who drives us everywhere...

Tomorrow is our court date!!!!  We leave first thing in the morning!  Please pray that we pass court!!!  We were told to expect that we won't, but there have been some other families passing, so maybe they are all caught up on paperwork!  We will see!  Praying for great news tomorrow!

Meeting Our Daughter

Oh my goodness...I don't have all the words (probably never will!) to describe today!  I REALLY wish that I could put her picture on here so you guys could see just how precious she is!  But...soon enough!  As soon as we get her on the second trip, we can!

So... We didn't know quite what to expect and really didn't want to have any expectations for how our little girl (sorry...can't post her name either) would respond to us when we saw her for the first time.  We just prayed.  Prayed for her little heart that is probably so confused.  Only God can give her a peace about what is happening in her life.  Only God can know what all is going on in her little mind.  Her eyes show a lot...she is so curious, and apprehensive, too.

She was very unsure of us at the beginning.  I praise God that she is VERY loved and attached to her special mommies...one in particular.  It was precious to see their bond.  I longed for her to trust us...to know that we will always love her.  But as a child of God, I respond the same way she did.  Trusting the things that I KNOW and that are tangible.  God is so trustworthy, but I had to learn that.  I had to learn that He really is who He says He is.  He really will do what He says He will do. And, I am still learning those things! So, today, I am drawn to the Lord more...to TRUST Him more.  As I try to put myself in my little girls shoes and imagine what it is like to go through the things that she has gone through and the loss that she has experienced, I long for her to rest in our arms...I long to be Christ to her.  I want her to know that our God is a Redeemer.  And, I am so glad that she didn't trust us right away...that she doesn't give it away freely.

This trip has also left me amazed at the beauty of God's creation.  Watching people in the airport  from so many different places, all looking so different...so beautiful!  God is so creative!

It has also left me amazed at God's presence in all of our lives.  We are all doing different things, going different places.  Some suffering, some worrying, some thankful, some angry, some unjust, some fighting on behalf of injustice, some sick, some healed, some joyful, and some with deep pain.  He is there.  Through it all.  He knows it all, and He is with us.  That has been amazing for me to ponder.

So we got to hang out with our little girl for a good while this morning, and towards the end, she interacted with us more and more. We got to go back in the afternoon, and God gave us some sweet moments of smiles and even laughter and fun times playing together.  We got to see her little personality some while we just watched her interact.  She is just so precious.  So helpful and loving to the other kiddos.

This evening we got to go to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant and it was so much fun!  Singing, dancing, and I even liked some of the food!  :)

Tomorrow we get to spend most of the day with our little girl!  I can't wait to get to know her some more!

YAHOO!!!!!

Hello from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!!!!!  We are SO THANKFUL to be here and in our hotel room!!  God was so good to give us smooth flights...only one time we had an hour delay, but it all worked out GREAT!

Here we are about to head out of town!  The car all packed with 3 tubs of donations and a checked bag for us, too!  Thank you to all who donated to our transitional home!  They will be so blessed by everything!

Here are some other pictures from the airport and on the way! :)

Below is us going from NJ to Frankfurt, Germany.  It was so weird to be flying through time zones and totally missing a significant number of hours!  The darker part is where it was night, and then we were flying into the lighter part, which was daytime.

In Frankfurt, I needed some caffine! 

Last leg of the trip!!:

Getting so close....

And...we are HERE!  

We met up with a super sweet couple who are also adopting through our agency, so they got our picture when we got in!  

When we arrived in Addis, we were welcomed with a three hour wait to get our travel visa!  Shew!!  There is a HUGE conference in town that starts tomorrow, so it was a bit crazy at the airport!  But, we made it!  Our sweet driver said he waited 4 hours for us!  

I look exhausted in those pictures, and I am...so I am headed to get some rest before we meet our little one! :)  CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

God's is so faithful!

Just wanted to update everyone and give glory to God that He provided ALL of the rest of the funding that we needed to go get our little girl!! We received an incredible matching grant from Brittany's Hope, and the auction that I posted about was a huge success!  the people that bought items were able to have it doubled through that grant! :)  I have to be honest and say that when you first see the amount of money it takes to adopt, and then look at your bank account...and see the large discrepancies there, it can be daunting!  We asked the Lord to provide and trusted Him to do just that!  We have been so privileged to get to see first hand God provide for His children.  It has been so amazing!!!  He has used individual donors, a yard sale, a grant, and an auction to bring our daughter home! We have been so blessed by the generosity of family, friends, and complete strangers!  There are so many people who are bringing this little girl home...not just us!  And, words cannot even express how grateful we are!

I am so thankful that our kids are beginning to learn this lesson, too.  Last week at church, they were talking about God's faithfulness and I think they asked the kids to tell about how God has been faithful in their lives.  This is what Austin did...

(If you can't see it, it says, "Breaking News!!  God is faithful because He led the Israelites across the sea.  Last year I was waiting for my sister to come to my house.  But I waited some more, and now it is 12 days!)  He meant it was 12 days (now 5!!) till we traveled for court.  Sadly, we still have to wait another month or two till she gets to come home.

Oh my goodness, how this blessed me!!  Thank you, Lord, for showing your faithfulness (not only to us, but to our children as well!) through this process!

That was last week at church.  This week, I stayed home with everyone in their PJs.  The girls have been sick this week, and there is still a lingering cough that I didn't want to pass around to friends! :)

So, here we are...

Making sugar cookies!  :)

Want a preview??

Just wanted to tell you that you can go to my husband's blog to see some preview pictures of some of the art that will be featured at the auction TOMORROW NIGHT! :)

Here is the link:

briancrenshaw.blogspot.com

AUCTION!!!!!

Come one, come all!!!!  We are having an auction (featuring many paintings from my amazingly talented husband, as well as many other donated items!!!) to raise the remainder of the money that we need to travel (twice!) to go get our little girl from Ethiopia!

Some sweet friends of ours are hosting this special event, and we are so excited!  Please tell ANYone that is interested in art, auctions, orphan care, or just a date night!  It is this coming Saturday night, November 12!  See the invitation below!

If you are unable to make it, please pray for the night and that God would bring people and it would be a blessing to others, as well as our family as we prepare to leave!

Want to help me??

When we go to Ethiopia, we will bring some big tub containers of donations for the transitional home (Hannah's Hope) that our daughter is in.  It is a fabulous place with a wonderful staff who love all of the kids there really, really well.

One reason why they are able to provide for the children's needs so well is because of the donations that families bring over when they come.

We would love for anyone to be able to be involved in helping with donations!

I would love to be able to provide  for Hannah's Hope so they can continue to do what they are doing so well...caring for these sweet children!  Here is a list that our agency sent out with "urgent needs" just last week.

1.      Diapers (all sizes) 2.      Soy-based Formula 3.      Shoes and Clothing for Older Children (new or like-new) 4.      Shampoos, Conditioners, and Lotions for Older Children 5.      10-20 three-ring binders (2-3 inch) 6.      Cold medications for older children and adults 7.      Amoxicillin for all ages (250mg or 400mg) 8.      Whole Organic Flaxseed 9.      Slash Pocket Folders  10.  Laptops, specifically one for the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in Mekelle, Tigray 11.  2-3 Pairs of Reading Glasses from CVS (actual prescription strength not known) Here are some things that were mentioned that are on-going needs: 1. Baby Wipes 2. Bibs 3. Hand Sanitizer 4. Kleenex 5. Infant and Children's vitamins 6. Avent Bottles 7. Desitin (diaper rash cream) 8. age appropriate development toys for infants and toddlers 9. Blow up balls/outside toys 10. Sidewalk chalk 11. Bubbles 12. Children's DVDs or CDs 13. Men's and Women's deodorant 14. Good quality electric shaver 15. rechargeable camping lanterns (for when electricity is out) 16. Twin sheets (mainly flats) in children's patterns and colors (solid or print) If you would like to help us with any of these items, please feel free to drop them off at my house at any time!   If we aren't here, you can leave it on the porch!   You can email me, too, and I can pick them up!  Thank you,  Thank you, thank you!!!

BIG WEEK!

This week was fabulous!!  WE GOT OUR COURT DATE!!!!!!  We will be heading to see our daughter in 33 days!  December 2!  We are so thankful to have gotten this news.  We got our referral on September 21, and then our court date on October 25(almost 5 weeks later).

After we return from court, it is usually 2 months until a family can travel back to pick up their child.  So, we are thinking that by Valentine's Day, we will have her home.  Of course, sometimes it is much longer than that, and we are praying it is even shorter than that!

We are so thankful that in less than five weeks, we will be able to meet our daughter!  We have many lists to check off between now and then, and it is going to be so much fun!  Packing, getting our daughter's room ready, getting shots (not so fun), gathering donations for Hannah's Hope (where our daughter lives now), and so much more!

We went out to eat to celebrate.  If you know us, you know we love Mexican, of course!  We don't love Ethiopian food (yet)!  So, our celebration night included one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.  I had to show you this picture...

Austin took a bite out a chip and then looked at it and said, "Look!  It is Africa!"  :)

We were so excited to get that phone call that we could book our flights to see our daughter!!!  When I picked Austin up from school, I told him I got a very important phone call that day.  He immediately said, "WE GOT A COURT DATE FOR ETHIOPIA!" (Actually he said his little sister's name that I wish I could post!!! :) )

Other fun stuff:

Pumpkin Carving!!  Even better...this time next year our little girl (Lord willing!) will be carving pumpkins with us! :)

(our precious, joyful Olivia!)

(Daddy and Austin working on his little pumpkin he picked out!)

 Here are the kiddos at the growth chart at the pumpkin patch:

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Next Steps!

We are so thankful for all of the love and support of everyone on our journey to bring home our little girl!  So many people are asking what comes next, so I thought I would pass along the next steps to you here.

In Ethiopia, they are translating our documents and information and combining it with the information of our little girl to make one file. It will be submitted it to the courts to get a court date.  The courts have been closed for the last two months because of rainy season.  They close every year for August and September.  They just reopened TODAY!!!  We are hoping to hear about our scheduled court date SOON! :)

After we pass court, we will be submitted to the US Embassy.  Our Embassy appointment is the final step.  We will take one trip for about a week for the court date, and then usually about 2 months later, we will return to Ethiopia for another week (Embassy).  On that trip, we can bring our little girl home.

We are hoping to travel sometime in December for our first trip (court), and then bring her home in February or March.  One thing that our social worker was very clear on was that this court/Embassy process is VERY unpredictable. You just never know what is going to happen with the court system, extra paperwork or research that they might require, etc.  We are praying for no bumps in the road!

So...prayer requests:

• Our little girl's safety, health, and adjustment in a different place.  I can't even imagine the things that she is thinking/feeling right now.  I am sure she is so confused.  There will be so much that she has to grieve:  the loss of her family, friends, culture... all things known to her.  Please just pray that God will comfort her little heart as only He can!
• Pray for our family to be prepared for this change...for wisdom for us in parenting each one of our kids and preparing their hearts for their little sister!  They are so excited!
• Pray for us to pass court quickly and without any problems.
• Finances!  We are hoping to hear back this week from a grant we applied for to help with all of the travel costs.  It is a matching grant, and we are going to have an art sale to raise money for it!  more to come on that later...

Thanks for praying for us!!!