I know, I know...time for an update...

I know it has been awhile since I updated the blog...between general busyness and my dinosaur Sony Viao dying a slow death and replacing it with a MacBook that I haven't learned how to use yet, I'm a little behind on my blogging.

I do have good news on the adoption front: Gladney plans to start giving out referrals again this week! We do not believe that we will be a part of this group, but we are SO excited to watch others who have been waiting for so long and through so much adversity finally get to see their children for the first time and move forward with their adoptions. I plan to do some serious blog-stalking this week, and I'll keep everyone posted as the referrals go out so that you all can share in the joy!

Isaac started his career with Edward Jones last Monday and has had a great first week of studying for his Series 7 Exam. His study guide slides includes a lady literally speaking aloud and teaching the study slides...sounds like a foreign language to me! However, I think Isaac is enjoying learning this foreign financial language and is so excited to be in his career.

Now that I've figured out a way to post some pictures on this crazy new computer, here are some pictures from the LifeCare Ladies' Tea on March 26th. My mom and dad were in town that weekend, and my mom helped me make my table look pretty...it wasn't looking so hot before she got here and added some crafty elements. The tea was so touching...it always is and Ms. Karen always makes me cry...they shared an adoption story that really got my waterworks going and truly helped me better pray for our boys' birth mother in a deeper way. Thanks, Ms. Karen and LifeCare for ministering to me when I was supposed to be helping you!

Me and Mom

Sam and Katie

Mrs. Jane Nichols (Stacey's Mother-in-Law) and Mrs. Stacey Nichols

Kendall, Kendall's Mama, and Kendall's Mother-in-Law

My table...and no, I didn't sew anything this year! Sorry to disappoint!

I tried to make this year's table easier to set up and clean up...pretty paper plates and napkins from Target and "crystal" Chinet cups were tossed at the end of the tea, my guests cleaned off the goodies bags, and Sam graciously took home the UT Vol orange planter~even though it is orange, I did love it, it just didn't blend with the decor in my home but totally belongs in her kitchen!

I sponsored my table with my professional name and offered some cosmetic specials to attendees...I enjoyed seeing some patients at the tea and seeing those pretty special cards made by April coming into the office this past week.

Good News and an Answered Prayer!

We received official news from Gladney today that MOWA has increased the number of adoptions they are processing daily back up to 40 per day! Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, Ethiopian orphans waiting for families, and families waiting on their children to come home! We so appreciate all of the calls, emails, cards, text messages, and personal words of encouragement these last two weeks. We really coveted your prayers as while all of the adoption unknowns were happening, Isaac prepared to leave SuperMedia last Friday to start his career at Edward Jones as a Financial Advisor on April 4th (which we are SO excited about!), and I got bad news at my job that my hours will be cut down to part-time due to the loss of a major insurance contract as of May 1st-talk about stress-city at our house!!! It was so uplifting to know that we have such a large adoption support team and so many prayer partners in adoption and life in general. Isaac and I both ran into people we admire in our Christian community and haven't seen or spoken to in a while who both told us that they had been praying for us and who didn't even know what was going on with our adoption or Ethiopia or our careers...that really blew me away, to know that God had brought us to these prayer warriors' minds, and they were faithfully praying for us and our children and were anxious to know when we were going to have our babies home! But, don't stop praying!!!...we aren't there yet!...keep praying for a referral by July 11th (that's our unofficial due-date)!!!

Isaac's 30 Birthday and CATS win the SEC!!!

Isaac celebrated his 30th birthday on March 9th! We left town that day to head up to CATlanta to cheer on the UK Wildcats to an SEC victory. We met up with my parents and Perry, and basically, ate lots of great food, watched some awesome UK basketball, and slept like babes those four days-just what we needed.

Here's Isaac on his big day after driving 6 1/2 hours from Tampa to Atlanta...

Perry aka Yoder Gatortail ("Yoder" for his Amish-looking beard and "Gatortail" for his odd haircut that looks like a really fat rat-tail in the back) and Isaac goofing off at dinner...what else would you expect with these two?

Perry, Isaac, Me, Mom and Dad at dinner at Stats for dinner after the Cats beat Ole Miss. Stats was the Kentucky Sports Radio headquarters and, surprisingly for a sports bar, had a great menu.

The Cats beat Alabama in their next game to make it to the Championship game...

After the UK fans cleared out each day, we got to move out of our cheap seats towards the floor.

Saturday night, we all went to the Buckhead Diner for dinner. The Buckhead Diner is very upscale for a diner, but looks like a classic diner from the outside...except for the valet parking. The crabcakes are incredible as well as the chocolate chip creme brulee. Perry was enthralled with the old-school cigarette vending machine-not sure what we are going to do with that boy!

Championship game: UK Wildcats vs. UF Gators

UK fans far out-numbered the UF fans...Rupp South was loud as ever!

We enjoyed all of the usual fanfare, cheers, and music-just like when we were in college.

The CATS won the SEC championship-Happy Birthday to Isaac!-that birthday gift worked out great!!!

Now we are all ready to watch the CATS play in Tampa this week in the NCAA tournament!

Ethiopia Adoption Alert Update

We waited all day today for an update from Gladney, the Joint Council on International Child Services, and/or the U.S. Department of State concerning the situation with Ethiopian adoptions. Late this afternoon we received news that there were discussions between the U.S. Department of State Office of Children's Issues, the Joint Council, USCIS, and many adoption agencies (including Gladney) regarding Ethiopian intercountry adoptions and the latest proposed changes. From what we have gathered, there was no true progress made towards reversing or bettering the adoption process in Ethiopia, but we did find out that on Monday there are talks planned with the Ethiopian courts and MOWA. Hopefully, there will be some resolution soon. We also learned that the head of MOWA has been terminated for unknown reasons...we don't know if this is good or bad, but time will tell. Unfortunately and frustratingly, we further were informed that those Ethiopian orphans who have been referred to international families can expect to wait in institutions/orphanages for up to another year before they will be united with their forever families due to the current changes that are being implemented. We really need to pray for these children and their families to feel peace in a devastating time and to not give up hope for their future as a family.

If you'd like to stay updated on the Ethiopian Adoption Alert:

http://www.jointcouncil.org/

http://www.adoptions.state.gov/

A few of our friends and family have asked if we are going to continue in our Ethiopian adoption...the answer is YES! We still truly believe that God has two of our children in Ethiopia, and we will not give up on them or God's calling on our family to Ethiopia. Is the waiting hard? Absolutely! Did we know going into the adoption process that it would require sacrifice of our timing, plans, money, emotions, and more? Of course. Is is worth it? We have to believe that it will be!

Thank you to all who have called and emailed us to tell us that you are praying for our family and all other children and families involved in Ethiopian adoptions. Your prayers and words of encouragement have meant so much to us...we feel so loved...and so reminded of God's goodness and faithfulness. Please add our family along with Ethiopian adoptions in general to your prayer requests lists on Sunday-we covet your prayers and believe that the Lord hears our cries to Him!

Please Pray and Petition for Ethiopian Orphans!

Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart...We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck-down, but not destroyed. 2 Cor. 4:1, 8-9

We have received news that the Women's Ministry of Affairs in Ethiopia is planning to reduce their intercountry adoptions by as much as 90% beginning March 10, 2011. According to some sources, around 4,000 children were adopted from Ethiopia last year through intercountry adoption with 2,513 of those children joining U.S. families. Gladney families adopted 168 of those children. The proposed change would decrease intercountry adoption in Ethiopia to approximately 500 per year. MOWA cites concerns of corruption and unethical adoptions and wants to focus more on children who are not eligible for intercountry adoption. While we completely respect these concerns, we are even more concerned about the millions of orphans in Ethiopia who may now never be placed with forever families due to this change. We are praying that the change in the number of cases that MOWA will issue opinions for will not be permanent, for intercountry adoptions in Ethiopia to continue, and for this current situation to bring more awareness of the orphan crisis in Africa and spur more families to adopt! Please pray for all of the orphans in Ethiopia who are waiting for forever families and the families (including us!) who desperately want to adopt these precious children.

Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:17

We ask that all of our family and friends would sign a petition to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi asking for a reconsideration of the proposed change for MOWA procedures: http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43714/sign.html.

Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me...If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it...I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. John 14: 1, 14, 18

Please pray for us as we wait for more information. I would love to say that the adoption process is helping me to become a more patient person, but that is simply not the case! We haven't seen a referral go out to a Gladney family since late December and this additional change in MOWA/court procedures is even more discouraging.

The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

We truly believe that our children are in Ethiopia, but God's timing is so different than what we had planned! When we started the adoption process in January 2010, we thought that we would have a referral by March 2011 (now!) and be making plans to appear in court and bring our children home by May or June 2011...well, we've only been on the waiting list for almost 5 months with no sign of a referral in sight and our dreams of becoming parents in 2011 are quickly fading. In some ways, I feel that God was sparing us from the heartache that these families who have referrals but adoptions are delayed are experiencing...my heart goes out to them and I'm praying with all I have in me that they will be united with their children soon. Please pray with us for these issues to be resolved so that more orphans will be placed with forever families!!! Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement!

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7

Created for Care Conference

Last Friday I flew up to Atlanta to attend the Created for Care Conference with my BFF Kelly, who is also adopting from Ethiopia. Andrea Young, another adoptive mommy who used ACGI (Kelly's adoption agency) for the adoption of her son from Ethiopia, felt God's call to organize a retreat for adoptive moms. She originally prayed for 25 women to attend...which within a couple of days turned into a conference for 250 women! Her blog Babe of My Heart is very popular in the adoption world. Andrea's blog posts are so encouraging for adoptive families in every stage of the adoption process as she shares her real life with Jesus, her hubby, 3 biological kids, and her little Isaac from Ethiopia. Her post on Christmas Eve about missing your future child(ren) made me cry because she was able to put into words what I was feeling in my heart. Kelly signed us up for the conference and I am so glad that she did!

Here is Andrea introducing Kara Portilla of Into the Streets of Ethiopia who shared an amazing story about her adopted daughter. She encouraged all of the waiting on referral mommas, including Kelly and I, that although we don't know where our children are, God does and He is taking care of them until He gives them to us to love and care for. She said that her adopted daughter told her that Jesus told her that her mom was coming to get her from Ethiopia before they had ever met...that Jesus reassured this little orphan girl that He had a mommy just for her and she is coming to take you home! Wow.

Kelly and I before we cried off all of our makeup...we laughed alot and cried even more over the weekend. The Lord knew how much I needed this weekend to get away with my dearest friend, be encouraged, and hear from Him. I received some personal bad news a couple of days before I left for the conference and God reminded me over and over last weekend that the timing of the conference was no surprise to Him, and He knew how much I needed it well before I did. I arrived at the conference physically drained, mentally fatigued, and emotionally spent. The worship at the conference was *amazing* and I was so glad for the opportunity to worship with other adoptive moms and praise God even though life wasn't feeling so great at the moment.

Here's the best pic I could get of Andrea with her Isaac...isn't he cute?!? Another awesome surprise at the conference was getting to meet several other Gladney moms...some had their babies home already, many were waiting for referrals with me, and a few had just started the paperwork. I sat down at my assigned table the first night for dessert and immediately recognized a few faces from my blog-stalking of other Gladney families and then we all put the pieces together and realized that our agency and country were in common. So cool!

A highlight of the weekend was the African-American haircare workshop. Kristi Johnson, otherwise known as Lucy Lane's mom, shared with us her tips for managing LL's hair. She cracked me up. She basically said that if you want to use all-natural products on your child's hair, you might not want to listen to her lecture....that just made me laugh, I'm not an all-natural woman either, Kristi! And, LL's hair is awful cute-love the hair accessories!

Next, Miss Nisia gave us the facts on caring for our children's hair and told us all of the "country" things not to do to our child's hair-she cracked me up too...as you can she, Miss Nisia was preaching it! Miss Nisia also taught me something I didn't know about swimming pools...she said that chlorine can turn an African-American person's hair red, so salt-water swimming pools are best for our babies...I felt like God whispered in my ear, "See, Kyle, I knew you needed a salt-water system for your pool years before I moved you to Fl and called you to adopt...I've got it all under control and I have a plan for you!" Wow, again.

We heard from several talented speakers over the weekend. I particularly enjoyed Dr. Susan Hillis. One of the first things out of her mouth was "I love math"...I'm a math nerd, too, and I knew that she and I would get along great! Her math challenge to the attendees was to mulitply our families x 100...to motivate enough families to adopt that 100 additional orphans will be placed with forever familes. I'm going to work on that since my husband says that we can't bring them all home;) She also challenged us to "Laugh, Let it Go, and Look Up" as "we take what we have and put it in Jesus' hands to multiply as we go". She spoke on Jesus' feeding of the 5,000 and pointed out that sometimes the Lord takes away or leaves out what we need so that He can provide it for us...and, Wow, again...just what I needed to hear from Him.

Amy Monroe gave her family's testimony of adoption in a general session and shared how to talk with your children about adoption during a breakout session. I took away so much wisdom from her and A Christian's Guide to The Connected Child that she cowrote with her husband, Michael Monroe, and Dr. Karyn Purvis. So kind of them to bless us with such a useful gift!

Really, I could go on and on about how AWESOME the conference was and how much these women ministered to my heart. I'll be there next year unless I'm in ET!

And here Kelly and I are after we cried off all of our makeup...I was even more physically drained (we stayed up late!) and emotionally spent, but spiritually filled...praise God.

Trip to LexVegas

Isaac and I flew up to Lexington, KY, to visit family and friends and the UK wildcats two weekends ago. We spent that Friday night with Isaac's family, catching up with his parents, Abby (#5 of the Treesh kids) and Jonathan, and of course, Grandma Treesh. We enjoyed spending quality time and relaxing with them. Thanksgiving was great, but so rushed and chaotic, so it was nice to just chill...and Grandma's new meds made her alot easier to be around, too...thanks, Donna (Gabe, #3 Treesh kid's soon-to-be wife) for the recommendations for Grandma's new dementia-drugs!

Saturday after realizing that the UK shirt that Isaac had packed for himself was so short that it looked like a midriff-top on him and I splattered blueberry juice all over my only UK shirt, we headed into town to stock up on new UK gear to wear that afternoon to Rupp Arena.

It was great to be back at Rupp, but kinda sad to not be sitting in the student section anymore and having to pay 15 times the cost for a ticket!!!

UK played UGA that Saturday, and we were expected for the Cats to redeem themselves...

At halftime when they announced that the jump rope girls where there to perform, I was so excited! I know, that sounds so nerdy, but these girls' talent is so amazing to watch and while we were in school I always looked forward to the halftime when they would perform. It was a nice surprise for me to get to see them perform again.

The score should have been a bigger spread, but a W is a W...we are hoping that our team plays harder in the SEC tournament since we have tickets for March in CATlanta, and I thought our UK regular season tickets were expensive!

After the game, we met up with our friends Mark and Traci, Greg and Marci and their little boy Emerson, Andy and Dana, and Jason for dinner at this great Mexican restaurant that we call Rincon even though it has been renamed in recent years. The wait for a table was long, but worth it, and it was so fun to meet up with our friends. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of all of us!

Sunday morning we hopped in the car with Mark and Traci and headed over to Louisville, KY, to see Josh and Kelly and Hallie. We ate breakfast at Wild Eggs and enjoyed the food and our company....Mark, Isaac, and Josh were happy to be back together again.

Hallie wanted a picture with her daddy...she had had surgery a couple of days before and was so sweet to flash us the big bandage across her cute little belly. Then, she pulled out her daddy's iPad, unlocked it with the stroke of her little finger, and starting clicking away to get to her game, amazing!...I love that kid! Later on Hallie gave Isaac a big kiss at breakfast and he was smiling about it the rest of the day.

Kelly, me, and Traci...it was so good for the three of us to be together even though it was only for a couple of hours. The past year, and really even now, has been really hard on the three of us and it has been even harder being apart from one another during the tough times. Thank goodness for cell phones, but it is not the same as a hug and face-to-face time spent with your best friends.

All of us went to Kelly and Josh's church that morning after breakfast, and I finally got to see the "adoption wall" that Kelly has been telling me about...and I want one at my church, too! Here's the Johnsons' picture over Africa. At church we also ran into the Melbers, a family we knew from when Isaac worked at Jonathan Creek over 2 summers in college. They have adopted three kids since we last saw them, and their newest addition to their family happens to be an "Isaac" from Ethiopia. Little Isaac said to my Isaac when introduced, "Hey, my name's Isaac too!" So sweet to reconnect with them.

The "adoption wall" was a huge map of the world with all of the adoptive families' pictures. The pictures also note where the families are in the adoption process so that other church members can pray more specifically for these families. So cool...looks like they made need to get a bigger map eventually, but that would be a good problem!

One of Isaac's main goals while in Lexington was to eat his favorite Pineapple Chicken Fried Rice at Mai Thai. Mark and Jan, and Abby and Daniel joined us on his quest. This restaurant used to be across from the PA school and hospital and at lunchtime it was packed. Since the hospital construction started, the old Mai Thai was torn down to make room for a parking garage...they really did pave over Isaac's pineapple paradise and built a parking lot! So, we had to drive to the other side of town to find the new Mai Thai, but it was worth it and alot easier to find a table.

Isaac could not wait to dig-in and he cleaned his plate...I had my usual Chicken Massuman Curry, yum.

Thanks to our family and friends for spending time with us, now it's your turn for a visit to sunny Florida where you don't need a winter coat this time of year!