It's a Boy!

Today Kenneth and I prayerfully decided to accept the referral for Abeti. So, here's the story. Warning!!! It might sound corny! Kenneth saw Abeti's shirt, and it said, "Discount Tire". So, Kenneth says that God is telling him that this is his son. (My husband is a major car fanatic!)
He's a four-year-old boy on paper, but I think that he looks 5-6. He's the exact same size as my six-year-old nephew, and 10 pounds less! He's from Shashemene in Ethiopia which is about 3 hours south of the capital, Addis Ababa. He was relinquished, so I don't have to wait the 3 month waiting period before a court date can be filed. That's about all I know about him. Kenneth and I want to visit Sheshemene to find out as much as we can about Abeti and his family. Sorry I can't post photos of him per Ethiopian law until we've made it through court. We are still waiting on a referral for a girl too. Hopefully that will be soon. We really can't afford to take two trips, but God will provide.

VYBL Pinto Sweetheart

Sheridan won the title of "Vidor Youth Baseball League Pinto Sweetheart" at the Family Day Tournament. They wanted to crown her during the playoff game which was after 9pm... What were they thinking? She's two!

My son also had two RBIs in his first game of coach pitch baseball.

Curran also played in her last soccer game before she starts the President's Cup tournament.

The Easter Bunny didn't leave me a referral, but I got the next best thing...Dove chocolate! Not to mention a great sermon in church and 864 people!



Remember that because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, there is hope!

Easter Picnic

My new church, Turning Point Church, had an Easter picnic today at Claiborne Park. It was so much fun! The kids hunted Easter eggs and played softball with the adults. I bet there were 400 people there! I also bet the Julie Rogers Theater will wreak of Ben Gay tomorrow.

Coppelia

If yesterday wasn't long enough, today was another ballet. Today was excerpts from Coppelia. Coppelia is an adaptation of "The Sandman," a story written by the German Romanticist, E.T.A. Hoffman, almost 200 years ago. This humorous story takes place in the storybook village of Olympia in Southern Poland. It's about a clever young girl named Swanilda, her silly boyfriend (Franz), a beautiful mechanical doll (Coppelia), and a funny old toymaker (Dr. Coppelius), who dreams of making a doll who would come to life.
But don't feel sorry for me being kooked up in a theater all day while the weather outside is fabulous because I received my golden ticket....my I171-H in the mail!

Peter and the Wolf

So, my daughter has to perform in Peter and the Wolf today for area schools, but her own school disctrict doesn't ever support the arts which is sad because there are big companies that will pay these poor schools to attend these events. I'll revise this post later and add pics from the performance after I've gone throught the 500+ pics I took. Just incase anyone was wondering, my dossier is in Frankfurt...

USCIS Call

I received the strangest call today. The phone number on call id came up with some long distance number, and I have decided that I need to answer those calls in case Grace calls me for a referral. Usually it's someone wanting to sell me something or wanting money-like I will have any left after the adoption!-, but it turned out to be a lady from the USCIS office that asked me if I had received the letter in the mail requesting mine and Kenneth's driver's licenses. I said that I had and had sent them out. She said that was good because she has been waiting on that to send out the I171H approval letter! I need that letter to travel to Ethiopia and bring our adopted children into the U.S.! ...Also, I'm tracking my dossier, and it is in Belgium!

Dossier is on it's way!

I just got word a few minutes ago from Laura at Assistant Stork that my Dossier is on it's way to Ethiopia! That's another step forward!

The Four Food Groups

I thought there were only four food groups: Fast, Frozen, Instant, and Chocolate! Well I learned a little about Ethiopian food today. Kenneth and I went to a sub-station of the USCIS for fingerprinting. It took all of 10 minutes! We already drove 2 hours, so we decided to try an Ethiopian restaurant. We went to Addisaba, and here was my first thought...


So, my husband says, "I thought you were trying to stay in shape, and spicy food revs up your metabolism." I told him that I was trying to get in shape, but my shape was a triangle!

USCIS Letter

I opened the mail today and had a letter from USCIS. At first I'm jumping up and down because I could tell by the size that my documents weren't sent back again, but upon opening it, I found a letter saying that my application wasn't complete because I had not included a copy of our driver's licenses. The crazy thing is that it is not in the list of needed items per the directions? I think they are just testing my patience. No, as adoptive parents will soon learn, each state is different, as well as the sub-offices in each state.

What a day!

First this...



Then as I'm cleaning up "Laughing Cow" cheese, she finds a red marker...