Well…it’s Sunday, November 30th.  That means our bowling fundraising event is over!  It was a big success.  We had about 66 tickets pre-sold and sold about 86 more the day of!   The silent auction even turned out much better than we had hoped.  We started a raffle for a quilt ...

Last week, I sent off our dossier to be authenticated in Washington D.C.  I also sent CHI our certified copies of the dossier that same day.  CHI received them on Monday.  Caring Hands in D.C. received the dossier Friday.  On Tuesday, I got a call from Caring Hands saying that ...

Today was the day!   The dossier is in the mail to be authenticated in D.C. and then it will go back to CHI and finally on to Ethiopia.  We are wondering how long it will be before the dossier is in Ethiopia and how long it will take until we hear when the ...

Wow!  Today we got our offical referral via mail, which will be a nice keepsake for our boys someday.  We also got our I-171H approval from USCIS!!!!  This means we can send our dossier off on Monday or Tuesday to be authenticated in Washington.  That won’t take long and then ...

So today during recess, I checked my school voicemail.  It was one of the Ethiopian program coordinators from CHI telling us our referral papers were ready!  I called her back and she was excited to hear from me and told me I’d have an email with the referral paperwork in ...

Our next big fundraising event will be on Saturday, November 29th (two days after Thanksgiving Day) at Delavan Lanes bowling alley from noon-9 p.m.  Tickets will be $10 per person ($7 of which goes to the adoption; $3 to the bowling alley).  This will get each person 3 games and ...

We got word today that the children (14 babies and 28 children total it seems) arrived in Addis to have their PCR blood tests taken and have been checked by a pediatrician.  We should hear about the results sometime next week and maybe even have an official referral in two ...

More good news to report!   I called AWOP today and got a hold of Michelle, finally.  She said that babies can’t be tested in the orphanage for HIV like older children because they carry their mother’s antibodies (I think that was the word) until they are 18 months.  So, all ...

Good news to report!  Our home study was officially approved yesterday, September 16th!  This means that it has been sent to the USCIS office in Milwaukee and we will be on the waiting list to get our clearance (I-171H) from them (immigration/customs).  This is one of the MANY documents needed ...

Well the weather was awful all weekend, but we still managed to have a big success and did well!  Saturday was great, Sunday was slow and cold, but in the end it was all worth it!  We couldn’t have pulled this off without the support of family and friends!  So ...

wish it was us, but at least it was my friend, Diane from Elkhorn!  She went to the Hosanna house today (Thursday, Sept. 4th) to drop off supplies.  She took pictures of the boys and gave us the following report.  It’s nice to know that they are real and that ...

This will be a day to remember for us.  Rick and I had both had not good days at all.  We were venting to each other and the phone rings.  Backing up a bit…a few weeks-a month or so ago we called Michelle from AWOP to ask about some of the waiting ...

The rummage sale will officially be on Saturday, September 13th and Sunday, September 14th at our home (note change in location) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. We are getting many donations from family, co-workers, and church families.  Keep them coming!  I hope I am borrowing enough tables from church! ...

Hi all! So it is looking like Saturday, September 13th and Sunday, September 14th will work best for us for a BIG rummage sale/fundraiser to help bring home two beautiful and hopefully “soon to be known” Ethiopian children into our family…how exciting is that!?!  So, if you are open to ...

Hi all! So it is looking like Saturday, September 13th and Sunday, September 14th will work best for us for a BIG rummage sale/fundraiser to help bring home two beautiful and hopefully “soon to be known” Ethiopian children into our family…how exciting is that!?!  So, if you are open to ...

You might also know I am one of the biggest Packer fans.  I cry when they lose, I swear at the tv when watching games (bad habit I know…it’s one of the few times), and I have always loved Brett Favre.  I considered him a hero.  I ...

One more thing….going with this new agency means a much greater expense.  In fact, one we can’t really afford.  We don’t really want to take out any loans or refinance our house, as some people do in order to adopt.  We know God will make it happen.  We have been ...

we sure didn’t!  It’s hard to know where to begin on this post.  A lot has happened since I last posted and a LOT has changed!  Some of you may know a little bit about this, some may know most of it, and some of you may know nothing.  So ...

One more thing….going with this new agency means a much greater expense.  In fact, one we can’t really afford.  We don’t really want to take out any loans or refinance our house, as some people do in order to adopt.  We know God will make it happen.  We have been ...

we sure didn’t!  It’s hard to know where to begin on this post.  A lot has happened since I last posted and a LOT has changed!  Some of you may know a little bit about this, some may know most of it, and some of you may know nothing.  So ...