Good News!

Finally...I have alot to say about our adoption journey!

1. We have been approved for an adoption grant from Lifesong for Orphans! If you would like to make a donation you can go their website. They even take Paypal! Or you can make checks payable to Lifesong for Orphans and in the memo line write Lewis #1749.

Mail to
Lifesong for Orphans
PO Box 42/ 202 N. Ford St.
Gridley, IL 61744

Today I am busy trying to get our findraising letters ready to mail! I am sooooo thankful for what the Lord has done for us this week! What a blessing to be a part of His beautiful plans!

2. Any day now we should recieve our USCIS pre-immigration approval. That is the last piece of the ever-complex dossier mound. I'm really hoping I can get that sent off soon.

3. We had an awesome concert at church last night. If you haven't heard of Matthew Smith and Indelible Grace you really need to check them out! They were working with Compassion International which is a child sponsorship program. We picked up a packet for a 14 year old girl in Ethiopia. How appropriate!? I'm excited to sponsor this child because through Compassion she will hear the gospel, be able to attend school, and the cool thing is, We will be able to write letters back and forth. I'm really stoked. Her name is Bizuye. Don't ask me how to pronounce that.

4. Josie's 1st birthday party was awesome. I'll be putting pictures on facebook as soon as I can. She got 2 black baby dolls! How cute! We've even named them _ _ _ _ _. Have fun figuring that out:)

A Child's Very Own

Darren's parents have arrived from Nebraska and are spending the week with Josie (oh yeah and us too) lol. We have been having such a great time except that Josie gave us all colds so yeah...lots of Kleenex usage around here. I can't even begin to tell you what a blessing a good set of Godly parents/grandparents is. They have always been so supportive of us and as a daughter-in-law that means so much to me. They love Josie to pieces and they already love our daughter in Ehtiopia.

It touched my heart that they affectionately have nicknamed her "Baby Ethie". I guess that's payback for not telling them her name ahead of time. Lol It's so sweet to me that they have taken such an interest in our journey. Above is a picture of a blanket that they brought for us. It was made by an elderly lady who they know. She loves to make blankets for children and give them away. She asked Doug if he knew of a special child who would enjoy this blanket called "A Child's Very Own". The bright colors reminded him of African culture and he brought it home for her. It brought tears to my eyes to think that this is the first of many things that will be hers specifically. Even more special that her Grandpa is already thinking of her.

I got a call from Lifesong a few weeks ago. They have been processing our paperwork for our adoption grant. They said that they have been really busy so it could still be a few weeks. So...we're just waiting on that phone call.

We only have to straighten out one piece of paper and then our dossier is complete and ready to be authenticated and certified. It will be soooooo nice to have that done!

Heard some really really exciting news about JW and KC Godwin. They are friends of ours who are adopting from Ehtiopia as well and they recieved a referral for a baby girl! We all can't wait to meet Zoe Grace Godwin!!!

Well, Josie is turning one this weekend! I can't believe she is that old already! Very possibly, 1/18 of her life at home is already gone. How's that for a weight of parental responisiblity?

Hello 2011

Wow! The last month barely stopped to blink at me as it whizzed on by. Guess it's time for an update!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! It was so much fun to watch Josie at her very first Christmas ever! She is such a joy to be around and I just love her to pieces. Can you tell?

This is our wonderful Christmas dinner! We got to spend some great quality time with my sisters and family. Amber was so sweet to open her home and let us feast daily! We had a great time!

Josie wasn't crazy about opening presents. She mostly just wanted to run around, play with bows, and search for rogue balloons.

We are still waiting to hear back from Lifesong about our adoption grant. Please continue to pray that the Lord would provide for us through that and quickly if that is how it is meant to be. We are mostly done compiling the dossier and are just waiting on the funds. We went to Birmingham today and got our "biometric fingerprints" done. It sounds so high-tech, but it's just like the machine in Montgomery so...I'm not sure what the difference really is, but it feels nice to have that done. We also got two new suitcases! These will be able to handle the International travel ahead of us and keep us under any weight requirements.

So...yeah I'm pretty much itching to go. 2010 brought me my sweet daughter Josie and Lord willing, 2011 will bring our sweet daughter _____ (yep still not tellin' the name!) home to us from Ehtiopia! For that, I welcome 2011.