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

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

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!

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.....

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

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!

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