Addia...here we come!!

We found out this morning that we have been approved by the US Embassy. We leave Saturday. We are so thankful that the time has come for us to welcome Addia into our family forever. God is so good!! For everyone waiting, hang in there. God will see you through the journey and be with you every step. We return on Friday, September 24th. We are beyond thrilled!!!

when will we go??

Our papers were supposed to be filed with the US Embassy in Ethiopia on Tuesday and we thought they had been. Then yesterday, our caseworker emails to say that the Embassy would only take 12 of the 19 files that CWA had to submit. There were just too many to take at one time. Our's WAS submitted!!! The other 7 families have to wait, yet again, for another two weeks to have their files submitted. My heart goes out to them. We were so thankful that our's was submitted and now we wait to hear that it's been approved. The crazy part is that there is still a chance that we may travel for a September 21st appointment. That means we would leave a week from Saturday. CRAZY!! For those that don't know me, I like to have a plan, I like to control things and be organized. Well let me just tell you, this adoption process teaches you over and over again to let go and trust God. I have no control right now. I can't make a plan. I just have to wait (again) and see what happens. After two years in this process, you would think that I would be great at this by now, but NO, my ways always try to creep in and I have to choose to let go. I have gotten better. :) We are trying to get prepared in some ways. Donations are packed. I do think having to go twice helps you not feel overwhelmed with the second trip. Mark and I feel like we know what we are doing this time. I am hoping our approval happens quickly and we are boarding a plane in 8 days to bring home our fourth child....

I know I'm biased, but...

I've been home sick today. The kids have been back in school for two weeks and they've been sick and then I got sick. Why is a fever so much harder for an adult? I did receive a little surprise though! Our caseworker sent many pictures of "Netsie" today. All of her nannies call her "Netsie" so that will be her nickname for a while. I know I'm biased, but is she not the cutest?? You can just see her personality in some of these pictures. She has two new teeth since we saw her on August 4th!! She also has some sort of rash or maybe ringworm under her nose. She needs to be home where her Daddy can make her all better!! For those that don't know, he is a family doc. She looks like she's holding herself up on furniture. Oh I want to see her do all of these things! Can I also just say that she looks like our other kids?? Her facial features remind me so much of them and even some of my baby pictures. God is in the details and I love that. Can't wait to bring her home!

update

Once again, we are waiting. You would think that we would be good at this by now. God has taught us to trust Him and the waiting is more bearable than it use to be. I never feel alone. God is there and friends who are living this same journey are always there to listen. CWA is saying that our papers should be submitted to the US Embassy on September 7th. Then we wait to hear from them. Once the Embassy has investigated our case and approved it, we will be given an Embassy appointment. These are offered once every two weeks so we are hoping to travel in October. September 21st would be the first possible time that we could travel, but it is doubtful that we would be approved by then. Addia's first birthday is October 24th so we are hoping to be with her by then. Thank you for your continued prayers....

here she is!

Introducing Addia Faith Netsanet Collins....
Netsanet was the name her birthmom gave her and it means "freedom".

we are home with one sweet girl missing

We are home! We arrived home on Thursday. I can't even describe in words what it was like to be in Ethiopia. I think our caseworker described it best when he said it is a place of contrasts. The people are unbelievably beautiful. At one point I turned to Mark and asked "do they even know how beautiful they are?". They are very loving with arms around each other and holding hands wherever they go. They take care of each other. Admist all of the love and beauty, there is poverty that you have never seen before. As we were driven places in a van, I would see shocking scenes out of the window. Things that you can't imagine...things that would take your breath away....things that make you want to scream "stop" and jump out of the van to rescue someone. Then you realize you can't "fix" the poverty in one moment. I know visiting there has changed me forever...spiritually and mentally. We were so blessed to travel there with other CWA families. We made lifelong friends and had a lot of FUN being and living these moments together. I can't imagine the trip without them. I so hope that we travel for Embassy together as well. The best part of the trip was meeting our sweet Addia. Our first meeting could not have gone any better. She responded so well to us, looked deeply in our eyes, hugged me so tightly at one point and gave her Daddy a big kiss. Once we have our computer issues resolved, I will post a picture of her. She's a cutie with chunky rolls, big eyes and lots of personality. We were told that we may travel to bring her home in 4-6 weeks so we are counting down the days. Thank you for your many prayers...every one was felt and made our trip easier for us and our children at home. Pictures coming soon...

leaving in two days

That's right! We leave on Wednesday for our FIRST trip to Ethiopia. We will be able to spend a little time with the baby and we will appear before a judge to say we do want to proceed with her adoption. Thank you for your continued prayers. After this trip, she should be legally a COLLINS and then we will wait for an Embassy appointment. At that time (maybe 6-8 weeks from now), we will travel back and bring her home. For now, we are excited to meet her, whisper in her ear that she has a forever family and see her beautiful birth country. We will update as we are able...