Ready, Set, Gomez

Video of us meeting Moshe.

2009-11-18T07:50:00.001-08:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

48 hours...

2009-08-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

...and we will be on our way! This just blows my mind! I feel nervous, excited, anxious, calm, emotional, and so many other things!! We are pretty close to being done with our packing, and our to-do lists are dwindling! Although, I keep thinking of things we should bring! I just need to zip that suitcase and let it be!!!! So, we are flying from Columbus to D.C. on Wednesday afternoon. And then D.C. to Ethiopia Wednesday night. A looooooooong flight!! Hopefully we will be able to rest and enjoy the flight! Please be praying for us as we are traveling! We are not sure yet if we are going to bring our laptop along. I guess it depends on how much room we have left! :):):):) Just think, one week from today I will have hugged and kissed my son! One week......

A Miracle has happened!!!

2009-08-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!! We got a call from our agency this morning around 11 am. Anna said the judge decided to bump up our case, so she saw it last night and..........WE PASSED!!! Hallelujah!!! This is NO DOUBT a miracle from God! He has heard our prayers, and he has answered us IN AN INCREDIBLE WAY!!!! So I invite you all to sit back and enjoy the video.......

Moshe Eyuel

A long 2 months.

2009-08-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

It has been almost 2 months since my last post. There has been some progress made in our case, but we have not passed court yet. Moshe's birthmother was found, made it to court, testified.... and we still did not pass! Now all we are waiting on is a letter of recommendation from MOWA( the ministry of womens affairs). We need this letter to pass court. We actually already have a letter from them, but it was written for our 1st court date, and too much time has passed since it was written. SO...we have a new court date this month. Just wanted to put a little update on here, in case anyone is following this blog! :) Hopefully soon, we can post more!

Still....

2009-06-15T18:14:00.001-07:00

Waiting.

Try, try again....

2009-05-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

We did not pass again. We don't have another date set yet. God willing, we will know next week. Our agencey said to plan for mid- to end of June. So we wait on.

2 more days!

2009-05-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

Only 2 more days until our 2nd try at court! I'm asking everyone I know to pray for us!!! I know that God has this all under control. I don't know why it's happening like this, but I know that "...everything works together for the good of those who love Him." God has a reason for this!! So, that said, we wait on. Praying and looking expectantly to what God has for us!

We did not pass

2009-05-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

We did not pass court. The Ethiopia government as taking great caution to ensure that no child is trafficked, which I think is great. Except that they are now being very strict when it comes to passing court. They are asking for an investigation into our sons background. We are not the only ones this is happening too. 4 families went to court last night, and no one passed. This is so hard for me, because I so badly wanted to be with Moshe for his 1st birthday. We have a new court date scheduled for May 29. I really don't know if we will be able to travel June 6 still. I really don't remember too much of my conversation with Anna. As soon as she said "I wanted to touch base with you about your court date...." I knew we didn't pass, and went kind of numb. Please continue to pray for us! And more importantly, all the leaders in Ethiopia!! I know they take very seriously their role in protecting these children!!! Pray for guidance and wisdom for them! And pray for this investigation. I don't know what it will all entail. Josue and I are CHOOSING to trust God. I know that Moshe will not be in Africa one second longer than God has planned since before he was formed. But it is still very hard for us. May God get the glory for all that He is going to do!

Tonight is our Court Date

2009-05-11T14:47:00.001-07:00

Tonight. I can't believe it. Our court date is tonight!! I'm so nervous about it! I know that God is in control and HE will determine the outcome of tonights decision. Please pray that all the necessary paperwork is there and that the judge will sign everything to FINALIZE our adoption!! I will post tomorrow as soon as I hear anything!

Tentative Travel Dates!

2009-05-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

We got 'em! :) Our TENTATIVE travel dates! I emphasize this because it is all depending on whether we pass court or not if we can travel on these days! But, our dates are.......June 6-13! :):) Ohhhh, we can be with our son for his FIRST birthday! And to be in Ethiopia for this occassion is going to be an incredible memory! :) Now our dates are not set in stone, so we have a little leeway on when we will actually leave, but we will hopefully be home on the 13! Thank God!! That is only 4 weeks from today that we could be leaving! So great!!!!!!! But for now, PLEASE pray for our court appointment! Sometime during the night on Monday-Tuesday a judge in Ethiopia will be hearing our case! Thats only FOUR days!! WOW!! We should hear from our agency on Tuesday if we passed. Please, please pray that our adoption will be finalized! Thank you all for the support you have given us! We are blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who are so supportive of this adoption! Praise God!

Court Date

2009-04-30T13:16:00.000-07:00

I have very exciting news!! Yesterday we received an email from AWAA telling us that our court date is May 12!!! Now, I was not expecting to have a court date until the end of May AT THE VERY EARLIEST!!! I am shocked and amazed that God has graciously given us this date! There are many other families that have been waiting longer than us, who have court dates at the end of May. I feel a little guilty that we got one so soon! But, God has perfect timing. And there is also no guarantee that we will pass court the first time. There are many factors going on here! Please be praying for us! There have been alot of power outages in Ethiopia right now. There have been times judges have not made it to work, or have not had time to see cases. There's just too many variables to say it's a slam dunk done deal!!! We have not been given our Tentative travel dates yet, but I expect them soon! Our email said to expect travel anywhere from 2-4 weeks after our court date!!! THAT IS SOON!!! We are going to be VERY busy in the next few weeks! :):):) PRAISE GOD!! I will post more as soon as I know anything!

Today is the Day.....

2009-04-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

WOW. I can't believe this day finally came. We got our referral!!!! Praise God! At 11:34 am today we got our referral call! I screamed when I saw the caller id! Just last night my friend, Kristy, told me to set a different ringer specifically for our agency's number! And it was a great idea!!! As soon as I heard that ring it was aaallllll over for me! Although I didn't cry as much as I thought! I screamed. ALOT. Little crying. Alot of screaming. :):):) We conferenced Josue in and Terra told us the info she had on him. He is 10 months old, healthy, beautiful!! I had to wait until Josue got home from work to look at his picture. Luckily he got to leave early! :) We opened that email & looked at our baby's face!!! WOOOOWWW!!!!!!!! He is gorgeous! He's healthy, big beautiful brown eyes, bottom teeth, curly hair, chubby cheeks!!! I'm in love. Head over Heels!! I don't even know what to say!!! Awesome. Just awesome. I can't post pictures or any info on him until everything is finalized in court. Sorry!!! You will have to see his cuteness at a later time! We have an appointment tomorrow in Columbus with an International Doctor to go over his medical report. But everything looks healthy & Terra said he has the healthiest report she's ever seen! I'm just so happy! I don't even know what else to say! :):):):)

Still waiting.......

2009-04-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

A whole week and a half still at #3!!!! This is the longest in about 5 weeks that we have stayed at one number! *sigh* I'm really feeling the wait. More importantly I am thinking about our baby! I'm wondering if he's healthy? How did he get to the orphanage? How is he handling all these different & new things in his life? Moving from orphanage to the Transition Home, getting medical tests, adjusting to nannies? This child is on my mind 24/7!! I feel so distracted while I'm at work! :) But, everytime I think of him I pray for him! And I pray that God will direct my thoughts & prayers to pray specifically for what he needs. So please keep praying, friends!!! Pray for this child as he experiences loss and transitions! Pray for peace in his little heart & health for his body! And then pray that we will see his face soon! :)

We are sooooo close!!

2009-04-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

We are getting so close to our referral! We are now # 3!!! And yesterday we got our "on deck" email from our agency! Which basically means we are "officially" close to getting our referral! :) We could get our call anytime now! WOW. I can't believe it. Josue and I finished our Hague training last night. Nothing like cutting it close! It had to be done before we could get a referral! Haaha! The month of March absolutely FLEW by & all of a sudden....we're #3! So we hustled and watched a bajillion hours of training ! Okay, it was more like 10 hours, but close enough!!! :) After each video we had to take a quiz. It was informative, but a little boring. But we are finished.......so bring on the referral!!!!!!! :) Now I need to keep calm everytime the phone rings!!!

Congratulations to the Low Family!!

2009-03-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

We are now # 6!!! Awesome!! And as great as this is, it's even better because it was my friends Matt & Kristy who got their referral! They are also fellow Ohioans. I have been praying that they would get their referral before our other Ohio friends travel to Ethiopia next week! Well, this morning I was like "ya know, I'm gonna pray it is TODAY that they get their referral!" Then at lunch Kristy and I were texting back and forth, and I thought "this is NOT a coincidence that we are talking to each other today." Well, low and behold I had a missed call from Kristy after work and I was like there is only ONE reason she would call me today!!!! So I called her back and yelled "Kristy why are you calling me?" And she yelled back "Cuz you're number 6!!!!" I said "Did you get your referral?" She said yes and I just started crying!!! Right there in the Walmart parking lot!! I wonder if anyone saw me! :) Oh well, I seriously DID NOT care!! I was just soooo overwhelmed at how God showed me how in control he is! And how he moved me to pray this morning & then WHAM answered that prayer within hours! Amazing. So I am over the moon with happiness for this wonderful family! And how God is continually showing that even when we wonder why & struggle with this wait, He is NOT held by our timelines & His plan is so much better than we can even imagine!!! Praise God for His faithfulness and loving plans for His children!

2009-03-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I just found out we are now number 7!!!!! YAY!!! I have been praying to move up this week and God is faithful!! :) I am soooooo excited!! We are getting close and I am getting nervous! :) Well, more excited than nervous I guess! :) And some more good news, our friends Julia & Roscoe had their court date to finalize the adoption of their baby boy, Micah, last night! They passed and are going to be flying to Ethiopia SOON!!!! Check out their blog at www.richardsons2ethiopia.blogspot.com Micah is absolutely beautiful!!!!!! I can't wait to meet him! I am hoping that our children are at the Transition Home at the same time! How fun for them that they would have that connection!!!! :):) Can you tell by the exclamation points & smiley faces how excited I am????!!!!??!!!!!! :):):):)

Ocho

2009-03-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right. we are now # 8!!! We are in the single digits!!! I'm beginning to see the pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel! :) Thank God that January and February exploded with referrals! So keep on praying folks!!! We are getting sooooo close!

Number 10

2009-02-27T15:47:00.000-08:00

Well things have been going well in referral-land! :) We are now #10 for a boy! YAY!!! I am so excited to be IN the top 10! I have high hopes for the month of March! Keep praying us on! I'll keep a better update now that we are getting closer!

Hooray for 2009!

2009-01-05T19:24:00.000-08:00

There were 4 referrals given out today!! That's right.....FOUR!! 2 were for infant girls and 2 were infant boys! Still very exciting!! :) I was pouring over our list to count and re-count where we are in line.....as if it would change by counting it 3 times!! I'm pretty sure we are securely in the 18th spot now! There's a few families asking specifically for sibling groups or an older child and an infant, but I'm kinda not counting them! Maybe I should, but their wait might be longer since they are asking for 2 kids. ANYWAY, it sounds better to me to be 18 than 20! :) I was so excited when I read that there were 4 referrals!! I just started crying & crying! Thank you God for answering our prayers today! The families who were referred the infant girls have been waiting for 11 months!!! I am so happy for them! So......keep on coming referrals!!! We're ready!

4 months.....

2008-11-25T17:06:00.000-08:00

So we've just entered our 4th month of waiting. Today. I really hope we are past the halfway point, but you never really know! The good news is that 2 families received their referrals today. YAY! My friends and fellow-ohioans Roscoe and Julia are #1 in line for a boy! Their blog is http://www.richardsons2ethiopia.blogspot.com/. I've been checking and rechecking our tentative list to see where we are in "the line"!!! So far we are anywhere from #20-#25 in line for a boy. Much farther down the line for a girl, as we've been told it's VERY likely we'll get a boy. And the reason the # is kind of vague is because there are some mystery familes out there, and I don't know if they are asking for a boy or girl, older child or infant, etc. So we really need everyone to pray that the referrals will roll out hot & heavy in December!! :) I really want that line to start moving!! It already makes me feel nervous! I can't imagine what I'll be like in 2 or 3 more months.....

30.18.5. Party

2008-11-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

So on Saturday we had a Party/Fundraiser for our adoption. My sisters threw a party for Jen's 30th birthday, Katie's 18th birthday, and our 5th anniversary. Hence the name of the party....30 18 5! It was a fantastic night! We had a great time & I hope everyone else did too! Josue and I are overwhelmed at the support from our family and friends!! God has blessed us beyond what we could ever imagine! We want to thank everyone who helped get things ready, baked cookies, made food, drove from Michigan(to sleep on the floor!) and let us borrow tables and chairs. But there are no words to thank everyone who gave so generously!! Our fees for the adoption were raised as of Nov. 1 by about $5,000. This is because of the price of food and other supplies for the kids being taken care of in Ethiopia. So we need to pay an extra $3750 by January 19. We were not expecting this, so we were concerned about this extra payment. Well, God is truly amazing!!!! Our friends and family gave us $3000! What a blessing. I still get teary eyed writing about it! So thank you, everyone. Thank you for your obedience to our Father. It means more than you know. Here are some pictures from the pary....Enjoy!!

Here is our house before!

Josue getting things ready

.The weather outside was not what we were expecting! We wanted the party to be outside, but it was so cold & snowy!

Mom, Josue, & Beth

.Learning to play Bunco with the Wolfe's.

Jen and her Peeps playin' Speed Scrabble.

So cute!! Luke, Levi & Carter wearing their Ethiopia shirts! Our baby already has friends waiting for him (or her)!

Sarah!! Thanks for all you help! You're my friend too, not just Beth's! :)

Amy & Rachel, you guys are the best! They baked 4 dozen cookies each for people to munch on!

The best form of entertainment is toddlers!

Yes everyone, be jealous! My brother can dance like Snoopy. He's just that good.

My Fantastic Family. We still look good after a long day!

By the way, for anyone reading this.....We have T-Shirts for sale if you want to help us with our Adoption costs. We just ask for a donation. Whatever God lays on your heart. We appreciate everyone willing to help us bring our baby home! Peace!

2008-11-09T13:22:00.001-08:00

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience."

4 weeks of waiting

2008-08-22T14:14:00.000-07:00

These last 4 weeks have gone pretty fast! We were invited to our first conference call for waiting families at the beginning of the month. I cried when I got the email! I know, I'm so sappy! But it was very informative!! The best news being: The wait time has gone down!!! YAY! The wait time from being DTE(dossier to ethiopia) to getting a referral was 7-9 months. Well, for boys the wait time has gone down to 5-7 months! I think that is sooooo exciting! Also, Duni(our family coordinator) says that if you are asking for either gender it is VERY likely you will get a boy. Now, things in the adoption world change quickly, but for now this gives me HOPE. I have been looking at cribs, diapers, nursery decor! *sigh* It is really nice. I'm also considering using cloth diapers, so I've been doing some research on that. AND I found the baby carrier I want! I really like the Ergo Baby Carrier!! It's on the expensive side, so we'll see what happens! :) I want to enjoy this time of waiting and anticipating, though! I know that sometimes the days will crawl, but overall the time will pass quickly. So if it seems that I am not being content, call me on it! :) But, now I have to go. My sister just called and wants me to help her shampoo the carpets in the house she's moving into! The things we do for family! :)

Just for you, Amy...

2008-08-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

So I know I've been really lazy about blogging! I was having some problems uploading our photos, but apparently the problem was me, because today they uploaded just fine! So here goes......

This is me with our newly authenticated papers!

Josue and I with our 3 copies of our Dossier...

This is the size of our Dossier! No joke, we had to mail 3 copies of that!

The very nice lady at our Post Office! What a sweetie! It was a weird feeling to let those papers out of my hands! At least she didn't think I was crazy!

Josue and I in the car with our USPS tracking slip! I checked that website at least a couple times a day!! Seriuosly.

Me at SOS

2008-07-31T13:51:00.000-07:00

This is me after getting our papers authenticated at the Secretary of State! I had tears in my eyes when the lady gave me my papers back! *sigh* It was a great feeling! So, I celebrated by having a crazy weekend with my sisters & my good friend, Trudy! By the way, thanks Katie for going along with me to Columbus! That might bump you up to favorite aunt status! ;)

Photo Update

2008-07-31T13:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pictures of our last day with our dossier! The first one is just when I was working on our photo pages. And the second is Sara notarizing the last of our paperwork! YAY! I'm also glad to say that our dossier has arrived safely in Ethiopia, and now we're waiting for our AWAA in- country rep to pick it up! I'll be sure to post when that happens!

Great News!

2008-07-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't written anything in quite a while! BUT, that's because we've been busy finishing our dossier! And I am happy to report that we are officially done paperchasing! YAY! We are now in the "waiting" stage. It feels good to no longer be waiting for this or that paper, and then do this step or that step. No, our next step is the call telling us about our baby! *sigh* It's been a busy month, and I have pictures I want to post, but I'll have to do that later!

Finally.

2008-06-27T13:17:00.001-07:00

And here it is. One piece of paper. Months of waiting. We have our 171-H!! Praise God! Who knew one little sheet of paper could make a grown woman cry! :) Now I just have to figure out what to do next!?! I think it's a pretty simple process of notarizing, certifying & sending! It feels strange to be so close to finishing our dossier. How will it feel to actually be Waiting For a Referral?!?!!? Wonderful. So, now we take a deep breath and away we go! It's been a crazy last couple of weeks, but God is faithful.

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and it will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. Habakkuk 2:3

God's timing is not mine. And I'm glad for that! He knows the real reason we've waited. Maybe someday we will too!

and the waiting goes on...and on...and on!!

2008-06-14T16:32:00.000-07:00

well, stil no 171H! but we're keeping hope alive! josue has the day off on tuesday, so I think he's going to call again then. because we can only call and talk to someone about this Monday through Friday 1 pm- 4pm! So, the waiting continues!! keep praying!

Still Waiting.....

2008-05-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

....for our 171H! We're just praying for this last paper to come quickly!

2008-05-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

Seriously, all I wanted was one nice picture to put onto my photo pages. I have to put together some pictures of our family life. Well, is it to much to ask for ONE nice pic of a couple sisters and their mom??? Apparently for the Inkrott girls, it is!

2008-05-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago Josue & I went to get our fingerprints taken for Immigration. Our appointment went fine, Thank you God! We decided to make a weekend out of it when we found out that there is an Ethiopian Restaurant there! We were so excited to try the food & get a little taste of Ethiopia! Well, the place was great! I didn't particularly care for what I ordered, it was called "Dorowat". But Josue had "Doro tibs". We both liked this! It was basically chicken with peppers & onions, but really good. All the food was eaten with a bread called injera. It is a spongy, thin bread. You scoop the food with injera & eat! No silverware needed! We met the owners, who were so sweet! They were a married couple, the wife from Ethiopia & the husband American. The place was just really neat and we had such a good time there! It made me feel so much excitement about our trip! And it's a nice connection to have when we bring the baby home. The owners even told us to call them before we go to pick up the baby & they'll help us with anything we need! It's amazing to see how God makes the world seem small! So if anyone has a craving for Ethiopian....:)

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom! Love ya Big Momma!

2008-05-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

Well, last night Katie had prom! I thought she looked so cute I had to put her picture on here! Plus I wanted Jen to see her hair. I think you'll appreciate it! Everybody now "awwwwww......"

Some Details

2008-05-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

I'm not much of a writer, so whoever reads this, please bear with me! :) i just wanted to give a little run-down on what's been going on with Josue and I lately. We decided last summer to adopt. We had been trying to get pregnant, but felt God leading us in the direction of adoption. It is something we had talked about before we got married & knew we would do some day. Well, God said "Now is the time!" So, here we are. That is definately the condensed version, and some day I will write all that happened to bring us(me) to that point, but it would take too long now! :) So, we knew we were going to adopt, but from where & through what agency? We thought about Guatemala first, because Josue is Guatemalan. But the US is pretty much stopping adoptions from Guatemala. We prayed & asked God "where" & "through what agency?" & "domestic or intenational?" We definately felt called to international though. We are already an international family, so why not?! :) Seriously though, countries usually have requirements for parents and we did not fit many of those. Ethiopia had less strict restrictions & had been at the top of our list. I think God was just nudging us. Until one day I went for a walk & realized...My child is in Ethiopia!!!! If I could have ran there, I would have! I had such an overwhelming feeling of sureness. It fits us & we are soooooooo excited about this! Already we feel so blessed that God is using this beautiful way to build our family. We're almost done with our "paperchasing"!! We've had a successful Home Study, which is exactly what it sounds like. :) A study of our home! :) And a study of us, as well. The Agency that we are using is America World Adoption Association. They have been really great! Really helpful whenever we need it. Our whole experience so far has been wonderful. So, here we are waiting for our I-171H. I'll probably talk about this alot. I really don't know how long it will take to get. And unfortunately, I have gotten the form back in the mail not once....but TWICE already! The first time I overpaid & the second I had forgotten to fill in the line that I had been married 0 times before! I almost cried when I got it the second time. So i really have no idea how long until this comes! Pray it comes quickly! I hope this catches everyone up a bit! Now, I just need to figure out how to upload pictures on here......

First blog EVER!

2008-05-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

I've finally done it. I've been wanting to start a blog for a while now, and here it is! I'm going to talk mostly about our adoption, but maybe a few more things! Wait.....yes, you read right folks! Josue and I are adopting a baby from Ethiopia! YAY! We started this wonderful journey in November. At least that's when we sent in our application. We didn't really do much until January. I'll have to fill in the details, but we are only waiting for ONE more paper. The ever elusive I-171H. Dum Dum Dum!! This is our official form from Homeland Security saying we are fit to bring an orphan into our family! So, I will write more in later posts, I really just wanted to get started tonight! :) Hope everyone enjoys this blog as much as I've enjoyed reading others!