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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
I Thess. 5:16-18
We appreciate your prayers on our behalf! We didn't pass court (again)! This time the Ministry of Women's Affairs was having meetings and didn't send the required letters. Therefore, over 30 families from various agencies didn't pass and were rescheduled for Dec. 22. We are thankful that the boys appear to be doing well and are well cared for in the home. We're thankful that we will be quite busy in the coming month--which will help us not to dwell on the situation. And as always we praise God for knowing and doing what is BEST for us!

Church Name Tags

I can't do a lot to help out at church with an active Analia and another one coming--so I make name tags. Not too exciting, but I think they turned out really cute. I also added glitter to the clouds before laminating them!

Adoption Update

We were happy to get two new pictures of China. Behailu happened to be sleeping when this couple came to pick up their child. You only visit the home once--so there are no second chances! I find it really ironic that his name is China, but take a look at that shirt!!

In other news, our case worker said that the Ethiopian case worker said everything is arranged for the mothers to arrive in Addis on Sunday to be ready for the court hearing on Monday. Please keep praying that God enables this to be our FINAL hearing!

Play Time

One of the reasons Ana willingly goes to school (besides lots of food, hugs, and high schoolers that play with her) is the playground. She loves swinging, sliding, and going up and down the stairs. I love it because she gets all that energy out! It's the rainy season now--so it usually pours in the afternoons. I do my best to get her out there before her nap. As we enter the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the things I'm most thankful for is the nice playgrounds here.

10th Year Anniversary!

We celebrated our 10th anniversary on Wednesday by going out to the Marriott. We always get a lovely dinner there as a Christmas gift (from one of the high school parents.) We had planned on taking a trip, but with the adoption plans up in the air we decided to stay home :)

It's been a great 10 years--really it's been FAST! Matt's a great man-hard working, generous, and super with Ana. Here's to the next ten!

A New Outfit!

Matt brought home a gift for Ana yesterday. It was from one of the parents at school. (I had taught her daughter in kindergarten and now she's in 8th grade!) The princess costume is gorgeous with a lot of detailed work in it. As soon as Ana saw it in the morning she wanted to put it on. And of course, mom was snapping away. Even though she didn't sit still too long and her headgear was too big, I still got a couple of cute ones! Enjoy grandparents and aunts!!

Trying To Do Better!!

Sorry for not doing better about blogging--there's just so much to be done!!
Here's my most recent creation. It's made from a man's dress shirt. I made up the pattern myself using a dress Matt had bought in China. It was sooo much easier than many of the tutorials I've tried that I'm thinking of making another one with my own tutorial!

Since I have a lot of felt I made this cute little turkey today. I just let Ana put the feathers behind him today, but it would be a great activity for patterning, counting, placement words, etc. She loved it and played with it for quite a while!