Gojo

Well, Thursday was a very eventful night for our family. We met with about 15 other families at an Ethiopian restaurant in Eastown. It was the first time Gavin was able to meet or see other Ethiopian children. It was the first time Brandon and Gavin were asked to eat the food.... Gavin turned out to be incredibly shy, he was surveying the situation all night and kind of watching the other children but not interacting!!!! Both Brandon and Gavin bravely tried the food, but neither liked it and had a bowl of cereal when we got home! The evening of fellowship was great though, I was able to put some names with faces and look forward to the next time we will be able to meet other families.
Each experience is new and exciting:)

In the mail!!!

Wow, we finally have sent our paperwork to USCIS! Yeah for us! Now we are officially waiting for our government. I am thankful to have made it this far and this is only the beginning....

Innocent Minds

Just a funny little story to share. Ever since we have decided to adopt from Ethiopia we have been showing our son pictures of children, orphanages etc... What my husband and I have noticed is that now he purposely will look for children who are from "Ethiopia" to play with! We were at a play area and he waited and watched until other children with brown skin came in to play and then joined with them. I asked later, "Did you have fun playing with the kids?" His reply, "Yes, but I forgot to ask what country they were from!" It was soooo cute that I didn't have the heart to tell him that we have kids with brown skin in the United States too!

Moving forward ... FINALLY!

Many have been asking "what is going on!" Well, Brandon was told about two weeks ago that it would be at least another week before they moved forward on making any job decisions. At that point, we talked and decided not to wait any longer on finishing the home study. Soooo we contacted the agency and were told it would be done by the end of the week!!! I have the paperwork ready and actually am exited about waiting for the US government! I know others at this stage are not so happy about waiting, but at least the first stack is out of my house and I figure that must be a good sign. Thank you to everyone who has been asking and keeping our family in your prayers.

Small pause

I haven't had anything to post lately because we are at a small pause in the process. During our home visit Brandon received a phone call and was asked to apply for a different job. The coordinator suggested she not complete the home study until we find out what happens with his job. It costs money to change the home study information and get new employer paperwork. Although I want to save some money, this is really hard to sit and wait! In the mean time I have enjoyed looking at other blog sites and laugh each day at Gavin. His new thing is that only Ethiopians are allowed to put him to bed!!! He stands at his bedroom door and says "stop you are not allowed to enter because you are not Ethiopian." I asked him why he was playing this game (after I went downstairs and became Ethiopian)! He replied, it was because he is so excited for his baby brother. We are so blessed!

Home Visit

Well, we had our home visit today and everything went really well. The social worker spent some time talking with Brandon and I again about the books we have read (Yes, Brandon has completed all of them)! She also had a few questions. As we were talking Andrew, my cousin, showed up with his gun and shovel to shoot the oppossum that we had caught the night before in the trap!!! What great timing was that, she laughed of course! Gavin couldn't wait to show her around the house and explain everything for his baby brother. "this is the stairs he will walk down, this is the toys he can play with" he continued, "this is the toilet he can use, but we will get him a little one too like when I was a baby!!!" It was so precious and so totally Gavin to be sure that everything is taken care of in his new brothers life. We will finish some of our paperwork while we wait for the homestudy to be written and then it will be time for USCIS and immigration documents. Time flies when you are having fun!!!

Check it out!

Just a few quick updates. We will be having our final home study visit on Wednesday. The social worker will be coming to the house to meet Gavin and all the other little critters running around! Hopefully once this visit is done we will be able to send our documents to the USCIS for approval.
The second thing I wanted to let you know is to click on the blog spot Journey2number4 on this page. This couple is in Ethiopia picking up their daughter. They have done a great job providing stories and pictures of the adventure. It is a great way to get some more information. I have been checking it faithfully everyday!