Happy 7th Birthday Ava!!!

We celebrated Ava's birthday a little early this year since we are unsure when we will be traveling in the next couple of months. I never thought we would be having her birthday party this year without her little sister. Every milestone that has come or goes by is so hard. Even grocery shopping, looking at the expiration dates, I am thinking, I wonder - will we be home with G*** by then. Everyday I ask God to help me for just today, only today, I can't think any further than that, it is so hard. I can't look back either and think about all the stuff she is missing with us. I have to rest in the Lord's peace. I am very grateful He is guiding me, pointing out things that remind me to be grateful for what I have TODAY. and I am.

Blessings and Love,

Dawn

Update on the Wait!

I got a call today from Anna at our Adoption agency and she said they have been following up with the orphanage every day to find the family member needed to get to court. They have been unable to get into direct contact with him but found out he has been out of the region probably due to getting work. I am sure it was a hard decision as he needs to provide for his family. He has been cooperative and was even in Addis Ababa on May 20th, for our 1st court date, so this is a great hardship, I am sure, for him to make ANOTHER 2 day journey to Addis. Please pray that he will be able to be contacted and found and able to make it to the courts without his family being under hardship with him leaving for a couple of more days. It just hit me that I am so self centered thinking WHY isn't he going?here I sit in my nice home with plenty of food, air-conditioning and I am whining while this poor man is struggling to put food on the table for his AND he had to relinquish a tiny family member. My heart is going out to him. May God forgive me for my selfishness. Every time I call Mike at work he thinks I am calling with good news, poor guy, he has to listen to me carry on, he is soooo calming for me. I love him more than words can say. Who would have thought he would be telling me to be patient. lol

The Prince & Princess with the Frog

Ava & Charlie catch frogs everyday!This one was actually kinda cute!Ava lets them go in the afternoon but not before kissing it Goodbye.Hmm...

Waiting,Waiting,Waiting

How are we passing the time?Enjoying the HOT weather and swimming,swimming,swimming.

We didn't pass AGAIN!!!

Well, we sort of half passed. Our paper work was complete and fine per the judge BUT the family member didn't show up!so now what?well, our agency is going to have to track them down and get them to court. Our case remains open so as soon as the can get the family member to Addis Ababa we can potentially pass right then. Our Agency's co ordinator felt VERY POSTIVE that this will be resolved in the next week to week and half. IF it happens yet this week we could still leave by July 1st!!how am I doing?I am actually really really good this time around. very calm. I can totally feel all the prayers and well wishes from everyone. THANK YOU!!! I have a tremendous amount of hope. GOD is GOOD!!!! I am praising Him today for our adoption journey, I wouldn't trade any of it.Thank you again for all the calls and emails. Hopefully my next post will be telling you all we passed!

God Bless,
Dawn

Lots to be done today in Ethiopia~

Tonight as I am writing it is Monday morning in Ethiopia and A LOT has to be done for our case. MOWA(Ministry of Women's and Childrens Affairs)needs to write a letter of recommendation to the courts for us to adopt G*** unless they have already done so. Remember last time our Power of Attorney form needed to be redone.Also, a family member may need to be found today and may need to be present at court tomorrow. So how can you pray for us?



1) pray that ALL paperwork is done and to the courts and the judge is satisified with everything.

2)pray that if a family member needs to be at court they are found, able to travel, and the judge is satisfied with their testimony.

3)pray for all our hearts and G*** that we will be open and ready to LOVE each other even more than we already do.

4)pray that we are ready and willing to accept whatever God has in store for us and for us NOT to get discouraged.



This process has had soo many ups and downs but I am so glad to be on it. We are praising God for even letting us be part of this amazing journey for every part of it. the good the bad and the ugly!



A little excerpt from Ava's prayers last night:



Dear Jesus, please, pleeeeeese let the judge say YES that G*** can be my sister and we can go to Ethiopia and bring her home.



AMEN to That!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ONE!!!Week until our 2nd Court Date!!

YEAH!We are down to one week again,we have been trying to keep busy, we got our May update on G*** she has gained a pound since April, she likes female toys and will bite if one of the other kids takes her toys away.YIKES!!I told Mike and he said "thata girl". Well it's nice to see she has some spunk she is going to need it to be a Gagnon!The pics we got of her were so cute she had on some girly clothes.FINALLY!!and a little headband.in one pic she is by some flowers, they are just awesome pics.We also got our new Tenative travel dates for July 4-July11th, I put our tickets on hold with Emirates.We are bringing Ava with us since we are HOPEFULLY going to be traveling over her Birthday, Which is July 5th, What a birthday, we told her we will still have a party when we get home but how many kids get to go to Dubai and Africa for their B-days!We are checking into a safari dune buggy type excursion to do in Dubai where we will get to ride camels and see real belly dancers!All this is tenative of course on us passing court next Tuesday(Monday night). Stay tuned and PLEASE KEEP PRAYING FOR US!!!

2 Weeks Until 2nd Court Date!

Well we are down to two weeks again, remember it will actually be on Monday night the 15th of June as Ethiopia is 10-11 hours ahead of us. So as we sleep our case will be heard. Please pray that all our paperwork is done to the judge's satisfaction and that if any family members need to be present that they are there and the judge is happy with their testimony.We could possibly be traveling July 1st IF we pass court June 16th. On a praise note, the Addis Ababa Embassy FINALLY received our updated approval with the correct info.YEAH!!!!That has been a real headache dealing with the National Visa Center/Immigration. Also our 2nd Power of Attorney form was FED EXed to Ethiopia last Friday. Praise God!We are trying to keep busy until court. Mike got a bigger pool this year and the kids(Ava and my nephews) are sooo excited to get it up. That project took on a life of it's own; we needed to cut down a HUGE tree and pour a concrete slab for it. Projects always seem to get bigger than you plan.lol