Timeline of our numbers

April 24 #24 boy and #32 girl
May 13 #23 boy and #32 girl
June 4 #19 boy and #24 girl
July 7 #12 boy and #14 girl
Aug. 6 #10 boy and #14 girl
Sep. 4 #8 boy and #9 girl

It is amazing when you look at your numbers this way just how fast time has gone, even though it feels like we have been on the waiting list forever!!! Can't wait until next month!!! I hope I move down one on the boys list because that would mean that Brian and Autumn got there referral!!! I am so anxious for them to get their call!!

We got our monthly call today and we are so excited!!! We are #8 for a boy and #9 for a girl. I can't believe how close we are on the girls list. When we first started we were 32 for a girl and 24 for a boy that was on April 24, 2008. We are being very patient and waiting on God's perfect timing. I have found that reading as many books as I can helps pass the time!!!
We will keep you all posted with any news we may recieve!!!!

WE ARE BLESSED

I just got home after a very long day at work, proceeded by 2 hours of grocery shopping. After standing in line for like 10 minutes I then found out that I had gone over my food budget, I still had the money but I've been trying to watch every penny I spend. I was so frustrated and just down about my whole entire day. Then like always I get on the computer and found this news story about Ethiopia(http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-08-17-ethiopia_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip) and I realized that my worst day multiplied by 100 still will never equal to one good day of theirs. We are so blessed to be able to live in this country of such wealth and abundance. We are so blessed to be able to have AT LEAST three meals a day. Followed by a good nights sleep in nice comfy bed in our nice big houses.
Not much is new in the adoption process. We will be getting our bi-weekly update this Friday and our monthly call next week. I can't wait to see what our numbers will be!!!! Please continue to keep us in your prayers because we have some decisions that we need to make for after our adoption is complete.

Not much movement

We got our call today with our new numbers, unfortunately though I was not home. I am sort of glad that I was not home because I think that Kate would have heard the disappointment in my voice. I don't want to be disappointed but can't help feeling a little down. Our new numbers are 10 for a boy and 14 for a girl. It is so hard knowing that courts are closed for August and September and that there most likely will not be much movement until they reopen. When we started this journey in January I was hoping to have received my referral by September 8th. That will be the 11th year anniversary of my grandmother's death. It sure doesn't look like that dream will happen. God's ways are not our ways and I trust that His ways are better than mine, so with that said I WILL TRUST that sooner than later God will reveal to us the child that HE has CHOSEN FOR US TO LOVE AND CARE FOR!!!
A little update on what's been happening around here.... This past weekend we had a yard sale at Matt's parents house and raised $560 towards the adoption. We had so many people give us stuff to sale and we are so very grateful to them. It was awesome. We started setting up at 6 am and had our first sale at about 6:30 and it wasn't supposed to start until 8am. I kept thinking of the movie "Field of Dreams" when he kept hearing in his dream the voice that said "If you build it they will come". We have been very blessed with all the support from our families also!!! We thank you all for your prayers,support and love. We couldn't this without your help. Also this month we applied for a grant through Shaohannah's Hope. We will likely not hear anything from them until November.
This past month has been a very big reading and learning month for me. I normally always read just christian fiction but am stepping out of my normalcy and reading some non-fiction christian books. I just finished "Red Letters" by Tom Davis. Great book!!! Really inspires you to do more with your time and money. Having said that I have joined the 5 for 50 campaign. You can read more about it at www.fivefor50.com Another great book that I read was The Same Kind of Different as ME by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This was an awesome book with alot of life lessons.
This Saturday is our 6 year anniversary so we have decided to go on an overnight trip a couple hours from here. We are so excited. We have not done this in over 5 years and we feel this is probably our last chance for another 5 years. I will try to post some pics of our weekend.
All in all I am praying that these two months go quickly and that I stay busy to help pass the time. On the other hand it makes me sad to wish my life away. These are two months of Katelyn's life that I don't get back.

Unofficial number

I can't believe that we could possibly be in the single digits on the boys list. Our unofficial number on the boys list could be #9!!! A couple that is three slots behind us got their numbers today and were told that they are #12 on the boy list. That would then put us at 9!!!

NEW NUMBERS!!!!

We got our monthly call today and it was well worth the wait. We are #12 on the boy list and #14 on the girl list. We are so close yet so far away. Matt and I are getting very excited.

No new numbers yet

Sorry that I have not posted anything in a long time. I have been so crazy busy. I am still trying to get into a new routine since starting to take Tuesday's off.

Today, I spent my day at work though because the doctor that normally does surgeries on Tuesday is on vacation and so I could take Katelyn with me. I am also taking a half day tomorrow and then off the rest of the week. I figured that sometime this week I needed to make some money!! My entire 11 hour day was spent setting up and programing new computers, printers and moving furniture. How exciting! It was a good challenge for me. I love challenges. I was so excited when I checked my email to see that Karen and Sharon made it through court!!! I literally screamed with excitement. Than I got to see the referrals that were given out today. Talk about an awesome day for AGCI!! I still do not have my new numbers to update you with though.
I am sure that I will hear from Kate tomorrow or Thursday. I will update you all as soon as I get them.

June has been wedding month for us. First, my cousin got married on the 14th. She had an adult only reception which meant that Katelyn stayed the night at Matt's parents. She had so much fun that she told Matt on the phone Sunday that we didn't have to come pick her up. We had a great time at the wedding with my family. Below is a picture of the "kid table" or aka "the loud table". We all had so much spending time catching up with my cousin Gina (who we only get to see maybe once or twice a year) and enjoying our time together.
Dave, Krista, me, Matt, Jenn, Timmy and Gina.

Next, I have included some pictures of June 21. This is the day that we went shopping for my sister's wedding dress. She is getting married July 24, 2009. We wanted to start looking to see what was out there, but low and behold she tried on her "dress". When she walked out of the dressing we all teared up. She looks so beautiful in it!!! We also found Katelyn's flower girl dress which almost looks like a wedding dress. It was the first one she tried on and then continued to wear it for the next hour. She felt like a princess.





The next day we had my sister-in-laws sister's wedding shower. She is getting married on the 23 of August. I have known Andrea since like 4th or 5th grade. It is so sad sometimes how fast life goes. Yet exciting to start new chapters in our lives.

Hope I haven't bored you all with my update. I will try to not go so long this month without posting.