Happy 4th Birthday To My Big Boy!!!!

I still remember the day they placed my son J.R. into my arms for the very first time. He was 10 months old and all of 12 lbs, shaved head, big ears wearing a "South Beach" tshirt, blue pants and sneakers two sizes too small (basically newborn shoes). I remember thinking "oh my gosh" this baby looks nothing like the pictures I was given, but he looked at me the very first time, studied my face and just smiled. I knew then we would have a very special bond and I was so right. I posted our first picture together and one taken today!

My son is now four years old has been home three and a half years and weighs 34 lbs. He's happy, healthy, tender, caring, smart and well I can go on forever. He is one special little boy with a really big heart. I can't describe how much I love him, there are just no words to explain how I feel. I can just thank the Lord above that He chose us to be his parents. Thank you my dear God for giving me this very special gift.

He wanted Alexis (our 10 year old) to bake his cake and so she did! LOL... When he blew out his candle he wished for "snow"??? Yeah, in Florida no less... LOL... Well, maybe he'll get his wish when we take him back to North Carolina for a visit in the winter!

Anyhow here are some pictures of my beautiful child...

We Have Travel Dates!

We received our Embassy appointment date today, it's set for August 26th. This means I will be leaving on Saturday, August 22nd and will arrive in Ethiopia at 7pm the next day! I don't know how I'm going to survive so many hours in the air. I HATE flying and this is just one of those darn fears I've never been able to overcome very well.

The one thing that makes me ok with the entire flying situation is knowing that I will be able to finally meet our daughter and be done with the process!

I will be staying at our agency's guesthouse called Ritmo. They will be picking me up on Monday morning and taking me to the orphanage. Letarik will be able to stay with me from Tuesday on. They have had better experiences with kids spending the day with their new parents on the first day and going to the guest house on the second day.

I'll be taking some donations for the orphanage. They are requesting jeans and sneakers for kids ranging from 5 years to 14 years of age.

I'm excited and nervous!!!!

Celebrating Our Daugther

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We Passed She's Our Daughter!

Yes, miracles do happen, we PASSED court on our first try! Letarik is officially our daughter! All the prayers were heard and He delivered His devine blessing to our family.

We are extremely blessed to have passed court on oujr first try. All her documents had to be in perfect order, her birth mother had to be present, the MOWA letter had to be signed and approved and there had to be electrical power in order to have her case heard. God provided His blessing and all these important steps were accomplished. Our agency had many families pass court on Monday and Tuesday, so we must rejoice and thank Him for allowing this to happen.


She will now need to take a TB test, an Embassy appointment must be made, a new birth certificate assigned and I'll be able to travel to pick up my beautiful daughter! The agency seems to think we should be able to travel sometime in August.

We also received two more letters from Letarik today. She wrote one to me and another to her dad. She keeps asking for us to go to Ethiopia soon, that she loves us and loves her family. I can't wait to hold her and give her a huge hug!

Both my husband and I are home with the flu but this news makes everything else seem so unimportant!

Thank you for all your prayers and support!