Monthly Update

Referrals have been super slow lately and we have been feeling really discouraged. But, just as we were losing faith and had resigned ourselves to move *maybe* one space this month we moved 3!!!

We are officially

I know that this seems like we are still so far away but seeing movement AND dropping into the 50's after being in the 60's for so long feels great!

How to specifically pray for us:

1) That next month there will be 9 (or more) referrals. I could use another emotional win of dropping into the 40's

2) We are trying to plan some additional fundraisers, pray that we will be directed toward ones that will help to raise needed funds AND raise awareness to the needs of orphans around the world

3) That we don't become so engrossed in the details of the adoption that we forget to make our marriage the top priority

Holidays

So we've been trying to keep up with the happenings, holidays and whatnot's going on in Ethiopia. Since a noticeable percentage of the country identify as Christian, a lot of the holidays are the same. The problem is that they don't observe them on the same day as the U.S.

Ethiopia is on a 13 month calendar rather than a 12. When you are only thinking about events one year at a time it's not too difficult to just think a month out of sync. When you think of history and even recent years, it's gets a little more complicated. But, that's a story for another day. :)

The next upcoming holiday in Ethiopia is Good Friday which will be observed there Friday, May 3, 2013. Wouldn't it be fun to celebrate Easter again this year?

Here's a link to the public holidays celebrated in Ethiopia
Public Holidays

Manager Special

Ok, so anyone who has been around me for more than about 2 minutes knows I've gone completely baby crazy!!!!

Every time I make a trip to any store that has a baby section I just have to go look...and usually buy a small something ;) So for example over the last few months I have bought things like pacifiers, bibs, a couple cloth diapers, cute blanket, crib sheet. All just small things on their own but really add up when bought all at once.

We have been researching carriers for a few weeks now as it was highly advised by our case worker, other adoptive parents, and adoption resources that we should not use a stroller for our baby for a while when they get home and that using a carrier helps them feel more secure and therefore attach//bond better.

Tonight Warren and I made a quick run to Kroger for a few groceries and in the front of the store they had a rack of Manager Special items. They had carriers on sale for $10!!! This is a carrier we had looked at online, in Wal-Mart and even a baby store while shopping for a friend and it was priced between $25-30. So we figured that for $10 it wouldn't hurt anything to go ahead and get it.

We also bought one extra....with all the baby showers happening someone is getting a carrier ;)

License Renewal, #63

It's been a busy month in Ethiopia in the adoption world, so busy in fact that we only moved one spot on the wait list. I'm a little bummed about the lack of movement, but I do at least understand why there were fewer referrals this month. Let me try to explain.....

We are working with several different agencies who are working with several orphanages in Ethiopia and they all have to work together with their government and ours.  Because we had not decided on which country we were adopting from when we started, we had to have our home study completed by an agency licensed in the state of KY, and for various reasons we chose Adopt!inc. They are licensed to complete Hague home studies for international adoption but they do not have an international program so unless we chose domestic adoption we were going to have to work with at least one other agency.
Adopt!inc

After we prayed...A LOT, we decided to adopt from Ethiopia. Since we already had a home study completed by a licensed agency in our state, it didn't matter if the international agency we chose was licensed in our state as long as they were Hague Accredited.

As it turns out Lifeline is licensed in our state, Hague Accredited, AND with Ethiopian adoptions!!

Ethiopia only allows so many agencies on the ground and it's extremely difficult to obtain a license there. So we had to add..sort of, yet another agency. For the Ethiopia program, Lifeline partners with West Sands adoptions. Now you may ask why we didn't just choose to use West Sands directly rather than go through another agency to work with them. Well, we interviewed both and they would both would be fine to work with but, Lifeline has an office in Louisville and West Sands is based in Utah! 

Since West Sands in the agency on the ground in Ethiopia, they are the one who must be licensed there. Ethiopian law requires that license's be renewed every two years. The catch is, the license must expire BEFORE it can be renewed. Well, during this time, those agencies can not submit cases to court for adoptions to be finalized, cases that have been to court can not be cleared at the US Embassy and so on. 

There was very little danger that West Sands license would not be renewed, but working with a government in a third world country is always tricky. 

So not only was our agency in the process of license renewal, nearly all of the Ethiopian orphanages were as well. There are two types of orphanages West Sands partners with in Ethiopia. Those that are private and supported by US missions, like Lifeline, and government run. 

When an orphanage is going through license renewal they are not able to get the paperwork ready for children to be referred. Also, to my knowledge,  because their license also must expire before being renewed they can't even hand out referrals they have ready.

All this to say.......I think almost all the orphanages who were up for renewal are finished or nearly finished, West Sands in now re-licensed and everyone on the wait list has all sighed a huge breath of relief!!

This past month, 5 children found their forever home and we moved 1 space on the waiting list.

Please continue to pray for the child God has for us, that they will be protected, loved, and cared for until we are given clearance to go meet them. Also, for lot of movement on the list! We are currently at #63 and REALLY REALLY want this to be our last year of holidays, events, etc without our child!

Queen of Sheba

Last weekend we went to L'ville with a few friends to an Ethiopian restaurant called Queen of Sheba. I have to admit that I was so nervous. Ethiopian food is known to be full of not only onions (which I HATE) but spices (which I also really don't like).

The restaurant is run by an Ethiopian family who visit their homeland annually to bring back spices and decor and everything is served authentically.

This is a pic of Warren enjoying his appetizer of stuffed jalapeno peppers called Seneg Karia....btw, they were stuffed with more peppers and onions and it was all raw!!! Gross!

Next is a picture of our food. Everyone orders what they want but it's all served together on one plate and you use injera (kind of a sour bread tortilla) to eat with and everyone shares that platter. The food is mostly a combination of wots which are like super thick stew and tibs which are like fajita fillings. On this platter there is: Doro wot, Alicha Sega wot, gomen wot, Atakil, and Derek tips. For a drink we tried Ethiopian spiced tea which was basically chi tea without the milk.

Mostly, we just had a great time with dear friends and Warren was ecstatic that not only did I try something new and flavorful, but that I didn't completely hate it :)

For a description of what we ate check out the menu here: Queen of Sheba Dinner Menu

Tax Credit

Just got an email from our agency with the wonderful news that the tax credit was not just extended, it was signed into law! The email is below....

Lifeline Children's Services January 2013 Dear families,    We are very excited about the recent news that Congress has extended the Adoption Tax Credit.According to a media release from the National Council for Adoption, Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act which will become law once signed by President Obama. Included in this act was an extension of the adoption tax credit. Our Executive Director Herbie Newell sees the extension of the adoption tax credit as a victory for vulnerable children around the world: "While I certainly cannot speak for the entire 'Fiscal Cliff' bill that was signed into law by President Obama, the portion pertaining to the adoption tax credit was a huge victory for vulnerable children around the world and those American families called to provide them families. This piece of the legislation was organized by a truly grassroots campaign aimed at simply extending the adoption tax credit. The measure to make it permanent assures that foster children, orphans, and vulnerable children will have one barrier to a home, finances, alleviated."    Complete details of implementation of the bill are still to be seen, said the release, but the bill permanently extends the adoption tax credit currently set at $10,000. However, the amount may again be scaled for inflation, bringing it closer to the 2012 amount of $12,650. Families whose incomes fall under $150,000 will receive the full credit, and the credit will gradually phase out for families with higher incomes.   We are thrilled to share this news with you and hope you have a wonderful end to your week!

67

Our new number as of Jan.1, 2013

For those keeping track, that's a drop of 20 spaces over the last 3 months. This was not as much as we had hoped for, but it is more than we expected.

Now for the not so great news...to the best of our knowledge, the adoption tax credit was not extended. We knew this was a possibility, but are still disappointed. It doesn't change our adoption plans at all, as the credit would not have taken effect until after an adoption was final anyway. 

If extended, the credit would have been used to repay debt from the adoption. At this point, our debt is small and very manageable as we have been VERY diligent in savings and budgeting  and also because of generosity of family and friends. 

We are so excited about this new year and all that has to offer. 

Please continue to pray with us that:

1) our adoption fund will be full soon

2) lots of children will find their forever loving home

3) that we can be patient in God's timing