Great News!!

Hope!!

Our director e-mailed us today to let us know that Cooper's TB test came back negative, praise Jesus!!!! I must admit I was a little concerned but have tried to remain hopeful that God would take care of everything. Timmy just said to me this morning how heart breaking it would be if his test did not come back negative. We are sooooo thankful, so thankful that God is taken care of our baby boy once again!!!

I have been going over the message that our pastor gave this past Sunday & have been meditating on it. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these love. 1Corinthians 13:13. He used crayons to set up his sermon last Sunday, he is so great about doing that, he can take something out of everyday life & turn it into a sermon, amazing!!! He used how God uses color, like the color of crayons. I can not put into words the way he did but it was awesome. Here are some of the things I managed to write down about hope. But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow faint. Isaiah 40:31 He reminded us that day that all wordly things are not secure, job security, money, retirement, relationships & friendships, none of them a guarantee, all of those things can change. But God never changes, he is the definition of HOPE, that HOPE will never change, how awesome is that!!!! Not only can we run to him but he will hold us, he will hold us when things of this world fail. We can trust in him, run to him and lean on him. I know that this message hit me particularly hard this past Sunday, which is kind of funny in a way because the message he gave was for the children of our church. Our adoption has caused me probably more than anytime in my life to put my trust in him, run to him and lean on him. Brother Dave is so right, God never changes, HE is HOPE, HE holds us tight, HE will not fail us, what an awesome reminder!!!!!

12 Days, Kristy & I are leaving in 12 days, aaahhhh!!

I can't believe it, 12 more days & I will be on my way to get our baby boy, wow. We have soooo many different emotions right now, excited, nervous, anxious and me emotional about so many things, can't wait to get our boy but sad about leaving, Timmy & I are rarely away from each other and we are rarely away from our kids. PLus I'm scared about flying, I HATE to fly. Kristy keeps assuring me that all will be well and that Tylenol pm is our friend, hah!!!! So thankful, that she is going with me, she has been amazing. Several people including our pastor said yesterday what a great person to travel with!! Please pray for our trip, that our Lord will keep us safe and healthy while we are away. Please pray for Timmy and the kids while I'm gone, please pray for Cooper this will be difficult for him, I spoke with our director and she said that he is really taken with his nanny. Also he has not yet had his TB test they wait and do this at the last minute, please pray that he is healthy!!!!! Please pray that God will work on his little heart to accept us & that God will knitt our hearts together.

This will be our Travel Itinerary

Depart Cincinnati @ 3:10 p.m. on Saturday July 10th

Arrive @ JFK @ 5:36 p.m. (flight 2hrs 26 min)

Depart from JFK @ 11:00 p.m.

Arrive In Dubai @ 7:45 p.m. on Sunday July 11th (flight 12hrs 45min)

Kristy & I are staying over in Dubai for the night

Depart from Depai Monday July 12 @ 8:25 a.m.

Arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia @ 11:30 a.m. (flight 4 hrs 5 min)

Monday July 12th GOTCHA DAY, will go pick up Cooper @ Transition House, wow!!!!!!

Depart Addis Ababa @7:35 p.m.( With our boy!!!) Friday July 16

Arrive in Dubai @12:45 a.m. Saturday July 17 ( flight 4 hrs 10 min)

Depart from Dubai @2:00 a.m. Saturday July 17

Arrive @JFK @ 7:45 a.m. (flight 13 hrs 45 min)

Depart from JFK @10:40 a.m.

Arrive in Cincinnat @12:50 p.m. (flight 2hrs 10 min)

Yeaaahhhhhh!!!! Home with our Boy.

WE will be arriving at Terminal 3

Some of our family, close friends & church family have asked if they could join Timmy & the kids

To Welcome us home, of course!

We will need to have bonding time, try to establish some routine & getting to know each other time

As a family of 6, once we get home!!!

Your thoughts, prayers and encouraging words have meant so much!!! God has truly blessed

Us with some amazing people in our lives.

Embassy Appointment

Yes, you read correctly we have an Embassy Appt. July 15th, yeahhhhhhh!!!!!! Praise Jesus, we are just totally on our knees, so thankful!!!!! We still need to pray for Cooper's TB test they will not do his test until a wk to 2wks before Kristy & I travel. I will post more later!!!

Love Showing Off Our Boy!!!!

What a beautiful boy!!!

What a comfort & blessing that our baby boy is getting some lovn
I'm also happy to see that he likes blondes, hah!!!
That smile, wow!!! We can't wait to bring our boy home
So we can give him some lovn

Not only did we want to show of our beautiful boy but request that you continue to pray for him. I just got an e-mail today stating that in order for him to come home he will have to pass a TB skin test, this is mandatory for all children his age. If for some reason he does not pass it could be another 8 wks before we could bring our baby home. Correction, if the x-ray shows the child is believed to have active TB the child then must have a smear culture done this is a minimum of 8 wks to confirm negative result. If the smear then shows active TB the child must receive treat ment for 6 months in country. I can not even think of this possibility it is way to painful. Please pray & then pray some more, that everything will continue go well with any tests
and that everything else that needs to happen for our boy to come home soon will happen.

Just Got These This Morning, Too Cute!!!!!!

This was a favorite, we love the look on his face & how he has his head tilted

Doesn't he have the most beautiful side profile, love those curls!!!!
Timmy said look he's holding his crayon the right way, he's such a dad

Shelby, said look mom he can wear that shirt to the beach

We are soooo anxious to bring our boy home!!!

We Passed Court, aaahhhhhh!!!!

Yes, I got the call this morning and it could not have come any sooner. Grayson Faye and I got up this morning at 7:30 & I got the call at 9:30, the longest 2 hours of my life. I was in making French Toast for the girls when I heard my cell vibrating and looked at the number, a very long number I thought that has to be Sue, our director. Answered the phone and she kept cutting out, I get little or no service on my phone in our house so I burst out the front door and ran up our driveway. She begins to tell me that she received the e-mail that I sent this a.m asking would we find out today if we passed but she could not respond due to her e-mail, my heart was in my throat, I just wanted to say well, did we pass but waited. She then began to tell me that we did have our court date this morning and we passed. I said really, really, Praise Jesus, so many prayers answered, do you know when or how long before we find out when our Embassy appt. will be, that's what I said but in my mind I was thinking when can I leave to get my baby!!!!!! Sue said that it will be within the next 6 wks, yeaaaaahhhhh!!!!!! We are all hoping and praying that it will be more like 5. She also stated several times how sweet he is, that he's shy but just has a quiet sweet nature about him, & mentioned that he has the most gorgeous smile, we all agree he does have the most gorgeous smile. I ran down the drive way the kids were like did we pass and I said yes, we all began screaming and jumping up and down, then I remembered the French Toast. I ran over to the pan where I had left them cooking flipped them over expecting them to be completely burnt and they were perfect, I was just like wow!!!!!Thus began the phone calls of people that I had promised that I would call as soon as we got the call, the call that will forever change our lives!!!!!! We love you Cooper and can't wait to bring you home!!!!Please enjoy the pictures of our beautiful baby boy. Also, thanks to all of our family, friends and church family for your love, support & prayers!!!!!!!

Newest Pictures Of Cooper

Love how she's rubbing the soft blanket on his face & seeing his reaction
This picture brought me to tears, he's looking right at Grayson Faye


This is everyone's favorite, that beautiful smile lights up our world

He's looking at pictures of us, love how he's holding onto that Tiger
Sue said that he loves it

What a sweet, happy boy

Our Little Blessing

The top picture was the 1st picture we saw of Cooper. Those big brown eyes called out to us!

The Big Day

Tomorrow is the big day, actually I guess if I go by ET time today is the big day, it's almost 4 a.m. in ET. I have no idea what time our case will be heard in court but this day has seemed to last forever. The kids and I did try and make it go faster by hanging out at the pool today and then we went Krogering. I'm a bundle of nerves, so many emotions, worried, anxoius, excited. I'm sure I will get little or no sleept tonight, it's a good thing I'm not working tomorrow, The Stanleys suggest tylenol pm (they've been there done that & in the process again, what an inspiration) out of that but do have some benadryl that I may have to take.We just want to get our baby home ASAP!!

Kristy Northcutt and I just met up yesterday, she wanted to see Cooper's new pics and we are too excited of the thought of traveling sometime (hopefully) in July to bring Cooper home. Please pray, pray that all will go well tomorrow, that all the i's will be dotted and the t's crossed etc. Everyone's thoughts, prayers and comments mean so much. Hopefully this time tomorrow I will have the most amazing news and will be able to show off our beautiful boy, can't wait for everyone to see his gorgeous smile, it light's up our world & it will yours too.

Fun Packed Memorial Day

All I can say is wow, we had a great Memorial Day weekend. My brother, his wife, my nephew and niece were in from Indiana and we had a great time. It was awesome all the kids have a great time when they are together & the weather was awesome so we all got to hang out at the pool a lot. My other nieces and nephews were there as well we did miss our family that lives in Lexington. It was also Pops birthday, what a blessing to celebrate another birthday. My brother and his family went to church with us, awesome! There were cookouts, and just hanging out as a family, so much to be thankful for!! I hope to post some pictures when I have a little more time.

News about our baby boy!
We got new pics of our baby boy opening the care packages that we sent with our director. All I can say is that we are all totally in love!!! The pics she took of him looking at the photo album we sent of us was soooo unbelievable, he has the sweetest smile on his face. I have to agree with our director he does have a gorgeous smile, I would love to show him off and post his pics but can't yet, but as soon as we can we will. He seems to be doing much better than her last visit, thank God, what an answered prayer. Our director also told us that he loved the soft Tiger that we sent, Collin thought that was awesome, he as so excited that his little brother really likes animals, everyone that knows Collin knows that he does too. We are just counting down the days until we can bring him home. COURT DATE, can't believe I am actually typing in the number 3, 3 more days is our court date, aahhhhhhh!!!!!! So nervous, so anxious, please pray that all will go well. Every day the kids ask me is today the day that Cooper comes home and I say the day when you guys take mommy to the airport you know that he will be home soon. Child like faith, too sweet.

Please Pray
Prayer request for 2 great family's that our adopting. One is another family that is adopting from Ethiopia as well, they are the Lewis family and are far as I can gather from her blog they are closing in on the end of their paperwork, please pray for them. The other is the Stanley family that have accepted a referral for the sweetest little china doll. This is such an answered prayer already, we have all been praying for her for the past 3 years, please pray for them and their little china doll, not sure but I think they still have a few months ahead of them before she will be home. Every one's prayers, thoughts and comments mean more than you can imagine. The journey can be so long, so hard at times, very emotional but soooooo worth it in the end. Blessings!!