pictures....finally!

A few of our favorite pictures of Addia!! We are waiting on some great family pictures and I'll post those when they come. Addia has been such a blessing to our family. She brings such a joy to our house.

home, love, happiness....

We are completely in love with Addia!! She has done amazingly well. I have wanted to post an update, but I have been waiting on getting our main computer fixed and it's still not done. I can't post pictures until I have it back, but I still wanted to let you all know that things are great in our home. I really didn't expect to be where we are now for 2-3 months. Our first night home was rough, but she has slept through the night every night since the second night home. Thank you Lord!! She has followed "my schedule" really well and has bonded so well with all of us. She is a joy and blessing to our family!! I keep thinking why do more families NOT do this. In the beginning, you may feel like you are helping an orphan, but let me tell you, that child will bless you more than you can imagine. You can see God's hand in the whole process and He places the children in families with intention and purpose. He knew what we needed, He knew what she needed. I think of her birth mother often and I pray that in her heart, she knows that her baby is happy and safe. Some days, I am trying to figure out how to do a good job of transitioning from baby needs to pre-teen needs. I pray that most days, I am available to all four of them, but I am sure that I fail often. Most of all each one knows how much I love them. I feel so blessed right now and I promise to post pictures as soon as I can. She's adorable in every way! If you have ever even thought of adopting, please DO IT!! 5 million beautiful orphans are waiting in Ethiopia for forever families.

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...

PASSED COURT

Really that's enough said in the title!! We are completely relieved and thankful that we passed court the first time. This is a blessing and we don't take it for granted. Looks like we'll be leaving in 20 days and meeting her, holding her in about 22 days!!! So thankful today! Thank you for your prayers!

court date is tomorrow

Please pray for our court case as you go to sleep tonight. Our court date is tomorrow and Ethiopia is 7 hours ahead of us. As we sleep tonight, a decision will be made about a baby girl's future. We have been told that court cases do not pass 50% of the time. If we don't pass, we may not be able to travel at the end of this month. Please just pray that all needed documents and people are present and that the case passes easily. I'm trusting that we will hear good news tomorrow afternoon or early Friday. Thanks for your continued prayers...

big week ahead

As I sat in church this morning, singing patriotic and worship songs, I had great difficulty holding back the tears. We have waited for this week for so long now. We have waited for a court date to know that we were one big step closer to bringing home our little girl. Our music pastor did a wonderful job of tying in scripture that related to freedom this morning. Then it hit me...our baby's Ethiopian name given to her by her birthmom means "freedom, liberty". I was overwhelmed. I have known the meaning of her name and have appreciated that her birthmom gave that name to her for a reason, but realizing that all again on July the 4th with an impending court date brought all my emotions to the surface. Just as I felt when we received our referral(s), I go into this week with mixed feelings. Of course, I want us to pass court easily. But I also grieve for a birthmom who feels she has no other choice than to give her daughter "freedom" and I honor her for the sacrificial gift she is giving her child. In a different country, she would most likely not have to make this decision. I just pray that I can always honor her. Please remember us this week...the court date is Thursday, July 8th.

update on necklaces

Some of the necklaces that are shown two posts ago have sold. Thank you to those who have been interested. I love that people will be wearing Ethiopia cross necklaces and be able to share adoption with others when asked about them!
#1, #2, and #6 are still available and more are coming soon. Let me know if you are interested. Please pray for our upcoming court date on July 8th. That's a week from tomorrow. Thank you...

court dates!!

We got the call this afternoon!! The first court date with the birth mom and our agency is July 8th. Our court date where we need to be present is scheduled for August 3rd. We will need to arrive in Ethiopia on July 31st. Right now, it all feels like a dream. Tomorrow is my birthday and I asked God to give me this for my birthday and He DID!! I'll remind you again...but please pray for us on July 7th and 8th (Ethiopia is 7 hours ahead) and that all will go well in the first court hearing. If not, then we may not be able to travel for the August date. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

necklaces for Addia

Check out our beaded Ethiopian cross necklaces. They are shown on a 12 year old so check measurements for sizing. I'm happy to take color requests too. See ordering info below....

#1: 17" red, light blue, brown wooden and brown beads

#2: 18" mint, brown wooden, green, red and mint beads
#3: 18" mint, brown wooden, camel beads -SOLD
#4: 16" teal, pink and purple beads
#5: 19" mint green, dark mauve, red and natural beads

#6: 18" brown, light orange and amber orange beads

#7: 18" blue, cream, yellow/tan beads

We are selling necklaces to raise money for our two trips to Ethiopia. These are made with different colored beads and Ethiopian nickel crosses. They turned out great and the colors are even better in person. Each necklace has a toggle clasp. They are $40 each and shipping will be $3 for those of you who are out of town. You can pay using the "Donate" button on the right and in the message box, tell me which necklace you want and send me your address and I'll send it to you as soon as possible. Thank you for helping to support our adoption!! More necklaces coming soon! We think we are getting close to bringing her home...

update...correction

We are still waiting to hear about a court date. Our agency is notified of court dates on Wednesdays so we are hoping to hear tomorrow. It does look like we will travel twice. The first trip will be to meet the baby and appear in court to tell the judge in person that we do want to adopt her. Then we will come home without her and travel approximately 7 weeks later to bring her home. We think each trip will be about a week long. There are many unknowns right now, because we are in the first group of families from our agency that are having to travel twice. Before we travel, there will be a court date in which our case will be presented by our agency. The biggest question is how soon we will travel for our court date once that first date is completed. We are hoping that we will travel before the recess which is believed to start on August 6th. If we don't get to appear in court before the recess, we will have to wait until October for our second court date. If both court dates occur before the recess, we can travel during the recess to bring her home. Our prayer is that we pass court quickly and then travel before the recess. We want our sweet little girl home before her first birthday which is October 24th. Please continue to pray with us that it will be God's will for our case to start to move quickly. We sent in our first application on September 15, 2008. I never dreamed the process would take 2 years. I have learned a lot during the wait, but I am so ready to have her in our arms. Traveling twice does make me anxious for several reasons. Our kids are already worried about us being gone so I know two trips will be harder on them. Also, I am sad that we will meet and love on our little girl and then have to leave her for 7-8 weeks. I think waiting is difficult now...I can't imagine how difficult it will be once we have held her. Lastly, the financial burden is also a stress, but we have seen God provide over and over in this process. I am working on a little fundraiser. I am making some Ethiopian cross necklaces with pretty beads. I'll post pictures soon. Thank you for your continued prayers....

papers submitted to court!!

Just wanted to let you know that our papers were submitted to court today. We are one step closer and I am SOOOOO happy! I'll let you know when we have a date so you can pray that we pass the first time. Courts will close the beginning of August so we hope and pray that we pass court before the recess and then it looks like we will only travel once. Right now, CWA families are traveling about 7 weeks after they pass court. Could she be in our arms by the end of August?

our friends met her!!

I was so excited to hear Sunday morning that our friends met our baby. :) They were able to hold her and love on her and tell her "mommy and daddy are coming soon". This family goes to school and church with us and they are adopting an eight year old girl and bringing her home Friday. Amazingly she and our baby ended up in the same room at the foster home. Usually babies are in one area and the older girls are somewhere else. But our friend said that our little one was sleeping in the big girl room in a toddler bed. I hope she will like her crib for a while once she is home. I think being with the older girls will help prepare her to be a little sister once she is home. Our friends said she was beautiful and she laughed when they talked to her. Love it!! I can't imagine how I will feel when I see our friends at the airport with their daughter who we have prayed home since last summer. What a wonderful sight that will be!! Hoping to hear about a court date soon....

hoping for fast timelines

Our baby was moved to Addis to the CWA foster home. This will be her last destination until we bring her home. We are hoping that this may mean that we will get a court date soon. There is still a possibility that we will only travel once. There has been some talk about allowing families to travel only once until after the recess in August and September. Oh, how I hope that we make the deadline!! Two great things about her being moved to Addis...we get pictures and updates more frequently and our friends who leave tomorrow to go get their precious daughter will get to meet our little girl. I cannot tell you how much it means to me to have my friend go and hold her and see her and be able to describe her to me. We have walked this journey together and to have her love on her before we do is just awesome!! For now I am falling in love with her sweet eyes and anticipating the day we get to travel. Thanks for your continued prayers....

peace and love

Just wanted you all to know that we are finding peace in this change in our adoption process. God has chosen a special little girl to be our daughter and she has an easy face to fall in love with quickly. :) Her 2nd medicals have been completed and she appears to be healthy. Developmentally she is doing all the things that a 6 month old should be doing...making sounds, sitting up, grasping for toys, recognizing her nannies. We also have heard that she is sweet, snuggly and interactive. All of these descriptions just make us want to get to her even quicker. I'm thinking we will end up traveling twice, but there are still two more days to get our papers submitted to court. I can deal with the two trips...I'm just hoping things move quickly for us. We just don't have a lot more WAIT in us. I can't wait for all of you to see her...for now, trust me, she's a cutie. Our good friends, the Garretts, are in Ethiopia now and I have thought about them constantly. You can see their journey by looking at my list of favorites (the garrett journey). Our baby will be best friends with their little girl! Thanks for your continued prayers. Hoping to give you a court date soon....

letting go and finding hope all in one week

This has been a very difficult week...and it is only Wednesday. On Monday, we started the week off again with much hope that this may be the week that our case moves forward (it's been almost 6 months since our referral). Instead our referral has fallen through...we were heartbroken. We have prayed for this little girl for months and in our hearts, we already loved her as our daughter. As we tried to trust God, He immediately gave us a new referral. Those of you who have walked this journey know that can only happen when God does it!!! Referrals do not come quickly and this one came within one hour of us accepting a new path. Unbelievable! So now we are processing this change in our journey. We are grieving one and celebrating another who needs us to be her family now. I'm sure it will take us a while. The bottom line is that both girls belong to God first and we have to trust Him as He leads us. Hopefully, things will move quickly for us. Our new little girl is in a region that seems to get things done much quicker. We will let you know when we have a court date. If our papers are filed before May 7th we will only travel once. Our caseworker says that will probably not happen, but after seeing God work yesterday, we will just wait and see. Please continue to pray for us.

waiting is hard to do!!!

Still waiting for some good news. The hold is still in place and our little girl turned 7 months yesterday. :( She has gained 3 pounds in a month and a half so we were happy to hear that. She is still only in the 5th percentile. We are starting off another week with great hope. We have been told that the letter should arrive any day telling our orphanage that they can resume work. If we are able to get our papers submitted to court by May 9th, then we will only travel once. If our papers are submitted after May 9th, we will have to make two trips. This would be very difficult emotionally and financially, but we are trusting God's plan for this adoption. All we can do right now is HOPE. We hope you had a special Easter with your family. We promise to update once we hear anything....

good news??

There may be good news coming soon about the hold. We've heard this many times before, but this information is more specific and may actually happen. Please pray for the hold to be lifted over the next few days. There are many children being affected by this hold and they deserve to come home to their forever families as soon as possible. I promise I'll update when we hear something. :)

still no news...

Just wanted to let you all know that we haven't heard any news about the hold in the baby's region of Ethiopia. Each week, we hope for good news. We did receive pictures of her in early March and she continues to look good. She is small, but she appears to be healthy and happy. We are starting to see some "personality" in her pictures...so cute. There was a recent announcement that families will have to start travelling twice to Ethiopia...once for court and once for the embassy appointment. We are waiting to hear if that will affect us. It would be another emotional and financial hurdle in this process. It means we would pay for another trip, but the hardest part would be meeting our baby and then having to leave her in Ethiopia for a few more months. We have learned to just "wait and see" what the final decision will be before we react. This adoption process has stretched us more than we ever thought was possible. I feel like I have to choose to trust God minute by minute in this process. The waiting can be so difficult some days. We know once we have her in our arms, it will be worth the wait!! Thank you for your continued prayers....

celebrating with others...

No news for us yet, but I feel like it is coming soon. One reason I can say that is because friends of ours' whose little girl is in the same region just got great news this week. Their daughter was moved to the transition home and soon they will travel to bring her home. I am so happy for them and feel like our good news is coming. It is amazing to see their daughter who is about 8 in pictures looking at pictures of her forever family. It brought tears to my eyes and made my heart so full. I can't imagine what it feels like to feel all alone and then to see a family who is waiting to bring you home and love you unconditionally. It's like God's love for us. He gave up His son for us. If you have ever considered adoption, I urge you to look into it. Don't let busyness, finances or your own control keep you from taking this step of faith. It is life-changing and if God is calling you to do it, He won't let it die. He needs us to care for the needy. I know our baby will change our lives more than we will ever change her's. As I walk through this process, it becomes such a desire of my heart for others to embrace adoption. We'll keep you posted on any news.

the wait continues

I wish I had a wonderful update, but I don't. The region that our baby is in is still "on hold" so please take time this week to pray for that situation. We have seen recent pictures of her and a video. She appears to be developing normally and looks very happy. Most importantly, it is obvious that her nannies love her and are taking great care of her until she can come home to us. We appreciate your continued prayers. The next step for us will be a court date. Once we know that date, I'll do a post so that you can think of us and her on that particular day.

no news...

Still no announcement or news from the area about the orphanges. Keep praying...
Hoping to get some video of our little one soon which will be wonderful.