Busy like a bee

I apologize b/c I haven't had time to catch up on all of the buzz on every ones blogs lately. It seems like we haven't had time to slow down. I just got a little time today and read some blogs. I found one blog that said "How do you spell relief?" -"W E E K E N D!" No joke, how about L O N G W E E K E N D. I have Monday off and am excited for a break! David unfortunately, has to work. He just had a few days off though so he had SOME time to relax in between doing errands ;).

The first picture is one of an Ethiopian donkey game I got. I think it could be easily made. It just has cardboard in the legs, stuffing, thread, a small piece of leather, and fabric. The thing you put the wood on is a button. And of course you need little pieces of wood. The game is a skill game where you try to get as many pieces of wood on the donkeys back without it falling off. It's pretty fun!

About a week ago we had my brother-in-laws graduation party. He graduated from optometry school! My parents were down for the graduation and I got to celebrate mothers day with my mom-which hasn't happened for 4 maybe 5 years. My grandpa also came down for the graduation and spent some time with us. It was a blast having him. I truly have been blessed with the worlds greatest grandparents. The pictures above are of my parents and David with my grandpa at my bro-in-laws graduation party!

We also found out last week that our 3rd grade nephew won first in an art contest for 3rd-5th graders. There were fifteen counties that entered and he won! We are so proud of him. He is a really great kid. When he gets famous we still have some of his art work that he sent us from when he was small of "good Jonah" and "bad Jonah". I am glad that he sent that to us. We put it on the fridge and laughed about every time we saw it, it was so cute! I haven't got to see his new art work yet, but it'll take a lot to compete with Jonah!

I am very excited for the summer. School is about out and we have had several "end of the year" activities for the kids. Most recently an awards ceremony. It's amazing how busy everything gets. I think we have 8 more days to go, but who is counting?

I can't believe we are on the wait lsit!!! I know that unless a miracle happens we won't get our baby until Nov. or later so I am trying to pace myself and not get too excited until it gets closer to that date. I was told the average time to receive a referral is 3-5 months. That puts our referral in about Aug-October. Just in time for court to open up again! Even if they are backlogged, it's nice to be at this point. I am really excited to think that in a few months we will get the first pictures of our baby and information! Then not long after that we'll have our baby! I looked at a blog that chronicles every ones journey once they receive a referral. It looks like everyone who has put "either" and has wanted an infant has got a boy. I really think it would be easier knowing if we were getting a boy or girl so that we could start getting things together. Either way we are excited. I have a feeling we'll get a boy but I had a dream the other day that we got a girl. I also had a friend come over and said that she dreamed we got a little girl and brought her by their house to see her. Only time will tell. If we ever get another opportunity we would like to adopt again. Next time maybe an older child. We'll let the baby break us in some first! We both have always talked of adopting a couple of kids. We were so sad to hear that there wasn't enough interest in the bright futures camp this year so they had to cancel it. I hope all/most of those kids end up getting adopted anyway.

I read the blog "Jobs Daughters". I always love reading that blog and hearing about whats going on. There is a boy that was too old to adopt that they keep in touch with. The things he writes are very touching and its amazing to see his love for God and his "mom" who ended up not being able to adopt him but is working to find a way for him to come to the US. They just stared another adoption and the little girl that they were referred ran away and doesn't know that there is someone who wants her. She has seen all the other kids go to a family and didn't know that it is her turn. They have asked for prayers as there are TONS of orphans and it will be very hard to find her.

Lastly, we found some LITTLE doll sets the other day that were really cheap that we thought the girls in Ethiopia would like. After reading the story I mentioned earlier we wanted the kids to know that there are people out there that think of them often and care greatly for them. We hope to put a letter (in Ahmaric) with each one that lets the kids know that there are several people out there caring, praying, and hoping that they are doing well. Also that they are loved. If anyone is traveling and would have room in their bags to take anything let us know. They would easily fit into sandwich baggies and don't weigh very much. We'd be happy if you could fit one or two (we have about 15 total) We're not picky which orphanage they go to. We just want the girls to have them! If there are any boys that would want a doll they could have one too ;).