Praise God!!!!!!!!

Our son is....

OFFICIALLY

our son.

We passed court.

**Christy ( our case manager) called at 11:07 this morning. I missed the call despite my sprinting to the phone, up the stairs. I did a little stomp, fit type action as I dialed her back. She answered right away to give us the news!!! This is comical considering the phone has been attached to me in one way or another since Monday. Go figure...it wasn't attached at that moment.

**We still cannot post a full image of our boy for safety reasons. Once home though...watch out, we'll post a million.

Hangn' Out

Here is Ava and her little friend. They had a fun playdate and share the same personality!!

Eli's basketball practice. He loves it!

Eli had fun at his alphabet parade. Kindergarten has given him confidence. He wore a Jack-O-Lantern, and in front of 4 classes and their parents he told us his name and his costume using a microphone. We are very proud of him!

Halloween Fun Already!

We had fun carving pumpkins! Grace has always loved dipping her hands in the pumpkin slime. Ava wasn't timid either! Eli, on the otherhand, isn't a huge fan. Each year, we have the kids draw their designs and we cut them out for them. Eli picked a complicated design to trace and drew Silas' pumpkin since he isn't home yet. The girls each drew their own! It was fun.

Last weekend we had fun at church riding a hayrack, making crafts, and playing games. This year, Eli is a wolverine, Grace is a wizard, and Ava is Cinderella.

Once Upon a Time...

...there was a cute little girl named Ava. Ava was a very happy girl, but always dreamed to change one thing. Although she enjoyed being a little sister, more than anything in the world she wanted to be a BIG sister. So...one day. She prayed and she prayed to have a little brother and for the Ethiopian Courts to open so she could be closer to her dream. She knew that once the courts opened, her family would be even closer to having her little brother, which meant she would be a BIG.
One day, Ava's mommy told her that the courts were OPEN. It was official and she could celebrate. So, Ava cheered and screamed and clapped her hands. She knew now that her next prayer should be getting a court date and getting it soon! Her dream was coming true!

To be continued....(sooner than later we hope.)

Prarieland Open House

Nana, Papa "C", Gaga, and Papa Drew all came up for Eli and Grace's Open House. Ms. Ava picked her own gear. It was a fun night visiting the classrooms and eating cookies.

Fall Fun!

We experimented using spaghetti to paint.

Shaving cream fun...again.

This weekend we had a great time at a local farm and pumpkin patch.

The kids had fun decorating their pumpkins which are now proudly displayed on our mantle.

Ava was the only brave sole to milk the cow. (Ummmm, where is the antibacterial lotion? Gross!)

I dared my mom to get close to the cow.

Brian bought me this wonderful necklace. I can't quit thinking about Silas. We are waiting to hear when our court date is. Once we hear, it will be nice to have a specific date to pray for. Once we pass court, we will travel to pick him up about 3 weeks later. Pray for a baby by Thanksgiving...Please!