Our 1st Baby Shower

Brad's co-workers threw us an awesome shower on December 3rd. We were so overwhelmed by their generosity and kindness. We were definitely showered with love. Brad works with some very supportive and wonderful people!!!

Here is one of the games we played. We were terrible at guessing how much this stuff cost. The only good thing is that we guessed the actual price!


The yummy food!

So many goodies for our little one(s)!!!

Here are some of Brad's awesome coworkers....

THANK YOU CHURCHILL STAFF!!!

One year ago today

One year ago we finally had the courage to take a huge step of faith. Last year, right before Christmas, we applied to America World Adoption Agency and officially started our journey to our children. Our eyes have been opened and our faith has been stretched. At first we were afraid that we wouldn't be able to afford adopting. But with the gentle nudge of a friend who told us "God is faithful and He will provide" we filled out the application. God used these friends to help nudge us in the right direction. Have you been able to help or encourage someone to take a step of faith? I often tell my sister that I hope she can be an encouragement to others interested in adoption through our story. Our friend that encouraged us was a sister of an adoptive mama. I am so thankful that we were nudged (encouraged) in the direction that God wanted to lead us.

Once we filled out the application we tried to move things as fast as we had could. We filled out all the papers as soon as we got them. Brad and I like to get things done. I hate having to-do lists sitting around. But we have learned over and over that God is in control of this adoption, not us. Someone posted on our yahoo group last week "you act like you are just wanting to get any old baby instead of the child that has been prepared for you SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD." I needed that reminder!!! We aren't just waiting for a referral, we are waiting to get the call that our child, the one that God has picked out, is ready for us!!

This is hard...

All of this waiting is hard. I have been told a few times that we are taking the easy way to become parents. There hasn't been much that has been easy. No, I haven't had morning sickness nor will I be going through many hours of labor to birth my child. But I have woke up in the middle of the night sick to my stomach with worry for my children and felt such an urgency to pray for them right away. I have no idea, nor may I ever know what my child(ren) went through before they were at the transition home. Were they fed enough, were they loved on, did anyone hold them when they cried? I have also carried my phone around with me at all times waiting for the call for "my water to break" (haha, get our referral). I heard early on from another adoptive mom that there is a reason that pregnancy only lasts 9 months, thats all a mama's heart can handle before they are so ready to hold their child. It has been over a year since we decided to adopt. On December 22nd it will be one year since we applied to AWAA. We have been DTE (on the official waiting list) since July 9th, which is about 5 1/2 months. AWAA says that the timeline for infant boys is 4-6 months, with most referrals coming at the end of that time frame. (That means our referral does have to come soon, right????)
Unfortunately 2 families with our agency have lost their referrals. Both for good reasons, but such a heartache at the same time. And a different family got a referral for a baby girl yesterday. It was such a blessing for all of us in "the wait" because it has been almost 7 weeks since anyone on our unofficial list got a referral for a baby. So we are currently tied for 3rd for an infant boy and 5th for a infant girl. We won't know if we are blessed with a 2nd child until we get "the call". I really do want 2 children and I think God has been placing this on our hearts for sometime, but when I called our family coordinator she said if we request to only accept 2 children, our wait could be years. There is just no telling how long, so again we put it back in Gods hands and He will bless us with whatever children we are supposed to have. I pretty much have to give it back to God everyday, because I find myself wanting to control how many kids and when, etc. Brad has done a good job of being more relaxed about this for the past month. I don't know why but this past month has been hard. I am ready to get on a plane and go to Ethiopia. God continues to bless us along every part of this journey, sometimes through encouragement of others and sometimes with the gifts other people have given us. Brads co-workers threw us a wonderful shower (post coming soon on that). They are so generous and loving to us! Yesterday we received an anonymous gift and Brad emailed me and reminded me that God is in control. I am so thankful that my husband can remind me of that just when I need it!
We had a conference call with AWAA the other day, they let us know that there are many babies close to being referred but due to sickness and lack of proper documentation they aren't ready to be referred out. But soon!!! Please pray for these sick babies and the Ethiopian government. Some families are waiting close to 4 months for a court date after referral, that has to be hard.
Even though this has been hard, I would do it again. Brad actually emails me often some pictures or country he would like to start the paperwork for as soon as we are done with this adoption. So I know we will do it again. God has taught us both so much through this process and we know that we are following HIS will for our lives. People say you forget all the pain from the wait once you hold your child. I sure hope so and I can't wait for that day!!!

5 Months DTE-Slow Month

Today marks our 5th month being DTE. When we got on the waiting list we wer told our wait would be 4-6 months. So we are right in the middle, a great time for some referrals to start happening.
This past month has been very slow with AWAA. There were a couple weeks where there was NO news for anyone. Finally some families have gotten the long awaited phone call that they have been cleared by the US Embassy and they can come and pick up their children. Other families have gotten court dates too. But there have been zero infant referrals (with our unofficial list) and only a few older children referrals since the end of October. Everyone that is on the DTE Waiting list is soooo ready for referrals to come in!!!
I feel like I have done a good job handling the wait (most of the time patience is very hard for me), until the past week. I feel like the dream of going to Ethiopia to meet and bring home our child(ren) is fading away. I know our time will come and we will be matched with the perfect child that God has already picked out for our family, but right now the. wait. is. hard. I think it would be easier if there were some referrals going out to someone, anyone. It's so exciting to check my email with our yahoo group and see that another family has been matched with a child and there is one less orphan in the world!!! I am ready to be excited for someone soon!!! There are many families over in Ethiopia picking up their children this week, so hopefully referrals are coming soon!! What a wonderful Christmas present that would be!!!!!!

LONG SLEEVE T-shirts now available

We still have a few t-shirts left and we will be placing another order on Wednesday, December 15th!! Please let us know if you'd like to order one so we can have the correct sizes!!

This time around we also have LONG SLEEVE t-shirts for only $18 (plus $3 shipping).

It's been so fun to see people wearing our t-shirts and the conversations that have sparked about what "Break my heart for what breaks Yours" means has been awesome!!!

You can order on the sidebar or by mailing us a check.

THANK YOU!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend and Shirts Pictures

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend spent with family and some crazy shopping on Black Friday. I think I am still tired from missing sleep that Thursday night/Friday morning. We also got to hand deliver many t-shirts to friends and family. Here are some pitures of us and others in our adoption shirts.

Brad and Tara

Our niece Kaylee and Tara

My cousin Keely and I (with my new Ethiopian cross necklace she gave me, she has been saving it for several years since her last mission trip over in Africa)

Our niece Kylie and Keely's two boys Eli and Levi

Keely, Levi, Amy, Kylie, Tara, Eli, and Chelsea

At my dad's with Tony, Brad, Cathy, Grandma pat, Dad, Pete, Chelsea, Tara, Kylie, and Amy

We still have many t-shirts available if you would like to order one! Its so fun to see so many pictures of our friends and family supporting our adoption and spreading orphan awareness!!
THANK YOU!!

Thankful

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

Colossians 3:15

This is the verse that AWAA sent out this week, so fitting for the time of our life. We wish we had a referral to be thankful for, but we are at peace knowing that God has our children picked out and has our referral day already planned out. We are patiently (smile) waiting to see our childrens precious faces!!

We are also VERY thankful for all the love, support, and encouragement we have recieved from all our friends and family. We couldn't have made it this far without all of you!!!

An Adoptive Family is raffling off an iPad

Another AWAA Adoptive Family is Raffling Off an iPad!!!

The Wade Family is raffling off an iPad on Friday! The tickets are $10 (if you buy 5 you get a 6th free). All proceeds from the raffle are going toward the expenses of their adoption. Please support them by purchasing a raffle ticket!
www.ourethiopiandaughter.weebly.com

Stampin/Scrappbooking Retreat

For all my Stampin or Scrapbooking friends around here...

Email me with any questions or if you'd like a registration form emailed to you!tara_mowen@yahoo.com

Stampin/Scrapbooking/Crafting Retreat
January 7-8, 2011

Join us for a relaxing 30 hours with no interruptions!! No kids, No husband, and No housework!

What does it cost? $25-$50 (depends on what option you choose) Package options are broken down to allow you to find an option that works for you.

What does it include? Meals and drinks, two Make-n-Take projects, and door prizes. Fri. morning to Sat. package includes a 5 minute chair massage.

What to bring? Your choice of craft projects, a snack for the snack table, bedding (plenty of floor space to claim as your own!) and toiletries, friends, DVD’s and CD’s.

Where? First Church of the Nazarene, 1501 Webster St., Galesburg, IL 61401

Extras available: Silent Auction- there will be a variety of items for you to bid on. Massages (full or chair) will be available. Yard Sale table-bring items you would like to try and sell (limit 10). A few scrapbooking or stampin items will be available for purchase.

Why? Uninterrupted time for avid stampers/srcrapbookers/crafters to get your projects completed. Costs associated with this weekend will cover facility, food, prizes and fun! All additional proceeds from this weekend will go towards Brad and Tara Mowen’s adoption costs. Brad and Tara will be bringing a child or two home from Ethiopia in the very near future!!

*****Sign up a friend and you will get to stamp an extra project!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registration Form
___ Friday 8am-Saturday 2pm $50 (includes 4 meals, 2 MNT’s, 5 min chair
massage)
___ Friday 8am-midnight $35 (includes 2 meals and 2 MNT’s)
___ Friday 5pm-Saturday 2pm $40 (includes 3 meals and 2 MNT’s)
___ Stamp-a-Stack only $25 (make 20 cards) Friday 6-9pm or Saturday 9am-12pm
___ add Stamp-a-Stack to another package $15 (make 20 cards)

Payment and Registration due by December 30th. Send to Tara Mowen. Email with questions tara_mowen@yahoo.com

T-Shirt and Cards WINNER!!!

Thank you so much for everyone that has purchased a shirt already!!! An extra thank you to everyone who helped spread the word about our Adoption t-shirts!!!


The Winner is.....

Maddie
http://maddieburris.blogspot.com/


Congrats Maddie!! Email me with your t-shirt size and address!


Our T-shirt Pre-order will be going on until Thursday night. We should get the t-shirts back by Thanksgiving. Thank you so much for supporting us and bringing awareness to the orphan crisis all over the world!!!!

Conversation with a First Grader

Over the past couple weeks I have began to tell my students a little more about us adopting a baby from Africa. One student in particular loves to ask questions about it and talk about it. He always tells me that he wants to have a brother from Africa, but I don't think his mom is on board with that. I love to see a 1st grader have a heart to adopt though!

This was our conversation the other day:
N: Is that Africa? (I had another families adoption shirt on)
ME: Yes, how did you know?
N: It has animals on it.
ME: Yeah, this is a shirt from another family that is adopting a baby from Africa too. I will be going to Africa soon to bring my baby home.
N: Why?
ME: They don't have a mommy or daddy, so Mr. Mowen and I will get to be their mommy and daddy.
N: You mean they are orphans?
ME: Yes, how do you know what orphans are?
N: I watch All Dogs Go to Heaven, duh. The girl and the dogs are orphans, they don't have a family or food. can we write a story about that??
ME: Absolutely! (I usually have to ask him to write something, and today he offered)
Here's what he wrote...
I can't get the picture to rotate, but you can see it was still a cute story!

T-Shirt and Cards GIVEAWAY!!!

Would you like to win a FREE T-Shirt and a pack of our Handstamped Cards??

Please help us spread the word of our fundraiser!!! Share the information by Friday, November 12th. I will draw the winner Friday at 4pm.

Each time you post a link to our blog and reference the t-shirts on either your blog or on Facebook, you get an entry for the GIVEAWAY.

Please leave a comment below so I know who to put in the drawing!! Remember you must post on your blog or FB by Friday at 4pm.

Thanks so much for helping us!!!

Adoption T-shirt Pre-order!!!

Our adoption T-shirts are finally ready!!!! From now until November 18th you can order our "Break my heart for what breaks Yours" t-shirt. T-shirts come in 2t, 3t, 4t, youth small-large and adult small-XL. They are $15 each.
The design is on the front and it says "Break my heart for what breaks Yours". The shirts are all Gildan brand 50% cotton.




If you would like to order please mail us a check or email me at tara_mowen@yahoo.com and I will send you our address(preferred method)or use paypal on the sidebar.

After a couple months of trying to decide what words we wanted on our t-shirt, Brad heard the song Hosanna (one of the songs on our blog) while driving in the car. He called me and said "that's what we should put on our shirts". We know that God's heart is broken by all the orphans in the world and He has definitely broken our hearts too. God has given us the desire to adopt children into our family and love them the way He loves us. We know that God's heart is broken by many things in this world and we hope these shirts will remind people to be compassionate and loving to all people and all circumstances.

Top of the List

Last Friday we were excited to find out we are tied at #1 for an infant boy!!!! There are four families that were all DTE on 7/9/10, so we are all sharing the #1 spot and we are all anxiously awaiting THE CALL!!! We also filled out an unrelated child application last week. So we might get a call for one baby and one child around 3 years old. We are #8 on the girls list, but we are assuming we will get a boy since we are on the top of that list. But nothing is for sure in the adoption world, so we will see!!
It's easy to worry and fret over when the call is coming, but I am constantly reminding myself that God already knows our children and He knows when is the perfect time for us to get The Call!!! And until then, we wait.

Exciting week

This past week has been so exciting!! Last Sunday Brad started talking about the possibility of me staying in Ethiopia by myself between the two trips. I obviously said, "I'd love to"!! I just didn't think we could work it out. I thought I only got 6 weeks for maternity leave if i have the sick days built up (which I do). We have both talked about how hard it will be to leave our child/ren after court and come back to IL for 4-5 weeks before we have US Embassy clearance to bring them home. So as the week started out we were trying to toss out as many possibilities as we could figure out. On Thursday we met with HR and she said we could use as many sick days as we have as long as the trip is adoption/parental related. She also said that Brad could come and stay with me too!! So we have decided that we will both be staying between trips and 'living' in Ethiopia for up to 12 weeks, but hoping for closer to 6weeks. Now we need to find a house/pet sitter...

On Friday we moved from number 7 for an infant boy to number 3!!!!! Ahhhhh!! It's getting so close!!! Then today we received our ON DECK email. This email gives us more information about what's to come when we get a referral and tells us that our referral is coming soon!!! We can't wait!!! It just gets more exciting everyday!!

Along this process I have been asked many time if I have a feeling our kids have been born yet or anything like that. I have also heard several adoptive mamas talk about a feeling when their child was born, etc. I keep saying no, and I feel bad that I don't, but you can't make a feeling happen. Then on Wednesday morning I woke up really early in the morning with this feeling of urgency to pray for our baby. I surely did pray and try to understand what the feeling was, but I have no idea what it means. I have continued to wake up each morning since then earlier than normal (like 1 1/2 hours earlier) with my first thought to hurry and pray for our child/ren. So these have been my first motherly feelings and it's weird that theres nothing else I can do except continue to pray and rest assured in that I do know that God has His protective arms around our child/ren until we can hold them ourselves!!

Adoption= an incredible faith journey

Our greatest fear in starting the adoption process was the finances. $30,000-$35,000 is a scary number. We finally decided to say YES to the stirring in our hearts to start the adoption process and clung to this verse, Ephesians 3:20-21.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

And boy has God done immeasurably more than we ever imagined!!!

As we are getting closer and closer to our referral, I started getting worried about how we are going to pay for the rest of the expenses. One night as I was trying to figure it out, I realized there has not been one bill we haven't been able to pay yet. God has provided our every need, He has been with us every step of the way. Oh how I love knowing that!!! The next day after I realized there isn't anything that we need right now and God has been providing all along, I got a text from a dear friend asking how the fundraising was going. I told her "we have had everything we have needed when we needed it and that we receive different gifts or fundraising orders about each week". She said "Good, I have been praying specifically for the financial part of your adoption recently". How awesome is it that friends are specifically covering parts of our adoption in prayers??? I just thought how lucky we are that we have friends that choose to pray specifically for us, our needs, and our child/ren. Isn't also amazing how I became at peace with the finance portion while she was praying for us. God is awesome and I am glad that we can notice Him in these situations!!!

So many people have been willing to let God use them to bless us and help bring us one step closer to bringing our child/ren home. We had NO IDEA how many people would be willing to help us out. Some by praying for us and encouraging us, some helping with fundraisers, others have sacrificially given monetary gifts that have humbled us beyond words. It's been just amazing to see all the people that care about us and our adoption. God has allowed so many people to have a hand in helping our child come home. We will never be able to thank you enough for investing in our family and this child (or 2) that will be coming home to be part of our forever family soon!

I have mentioned several times before that our faith has been stretched in new ways too. There have been many times that the only option we have is to rely on God and watch Him move the mountains in our way. We have continually prayed for God to break our hearts for what breaks His and our eyes have been opened up to all the needs of orphans and the sacrifices their birthmothers make. We want to make sure this journey is about what God wants and not about what we want.

Another awesome part of this journey is all the new adoptive friends we have made. There are many families in our area that have adopted from Ethiopia and other places. We have also gotten to know other families with AWAA through emailing and blogging. The bond that adoptive families have is a fabulous reason to keep in contact! We can share our experiences and encourage each other each step of the way!! I can't wait to travel to Ethiopia with other families and get to know even more people through this journey!

We are so happy and thankful that we choose to say YES to God when He was tugging on our hearts to start our family through adoption. Just think, we could have missed this incredible journey if we wouldn't have been willing to take the step of faith needed to begin this process without knowing how every detail of how it would play out. But luckily we know that God knew BEFORE it began just how perfect and awesome it would be!!

Matthew West's new song, One Less

Here is Matthew West telling the story about his new song, One Less.

I saw this on a few other peoples blogs and posted on Facebook, but I didn't watch it until a friend emailed me because she saw it and thought of me. I just love to hear the way that different people are affected by adoption and how they react to adopting.

One Less by Matthew West (The Story Behind The Song) from emicmg on Vimeo.

Three Months Waiting

Today marks 3 months of being DTE!!!! We are thankful that time continues to fly by and we are now another month closer to meeting our child/ren. Since the Ethiopian courts have reopened a few families have been scheduled their court dates, but there are many families still awaiting their dates and there haven't been many referrals given out recently. Our unofficial numbers are still 11 for a boy, 14 for a girl, and 7 for siblings. Please continue to pray for the Ethiopian courts to get things moving so all these children can get home with their forever families!!!

One thing I have been squeezing into my already busy schedule is trying to get some sewing done. Now, let me say that I am not really a sewer. My mom taught me and my sister the basics when we were younger, but that was a long time ago. So I've just thought it would be fun to start again. I figured moms need to know how to sew, right? I got a sewing machine for Christmas 2008. This summer (2010) I had to ask my wonderful mother-in-law to come over and help me figure out how to thread it. Then it took me about 2 months to go by some fabric. Now I have made a few baby blankets and a couple shirts for my nieces 1st birthday. I am by no means a professional, but I don't think they look too bad. A baby surely won't complain about them at least.

Kylie in her Africa shirt. She is ready to meet her cousins!!

Here is Kylie eating her cake on her 1st Birthday!! She had a blast until mean Aunt Tara and Mommy took it away.

Ethiopian Courts Reopen today!

The Ethiopian courts will reopen today after being closed for 7 weeks (for rainy season). There are over 45 children that have been referred out to forever families and they are waiting for court dates. We are praying all these families pass court on their 1st try!!! We are thinking that once these children all pass court and then US embassy clearance, there will be many new children in the Transition Home and hopefully one or two of those children will be ours!! We are currently 11 for a boy, 14 for a girl, and 8 for siblings.

Premier Designs Jewelry Fundraiser

A friend is Premier Designs Consultant and has offered to have a jewelry show and give us all the proceeds. WOW!!!! We are so appreciative of the way that everyone has offered to help in their own way. So now we get to have a jewelry party and some fun girl time!!!

We would love for you to come and say hi and check out the new jewelry that Premier Designs has to offer!!!

Sunday, September 19th at 2pm
at our house

Now would be a great time to start your Christmas shopping and help bring our child home at the same time!!! Let me know if you have any questions!!

Two Months DTE!!

Today marks 2 months since we were DTE!!!! We are two months closer to our child(ren)!!!

I can't believe its our midterm for 1st quarter at school already. We have both been so busy with school and coaching. But the referral world hasn't been that busy. The courts have been closed in Ethiopia since the beginning of August and won't reopen until the end of this month. This means there are several AWAA families that have received a referral but are waiting for the courts to reopen so they can receive their court date. We heard that there won't be too many referrals for the next month or so because the Transition House is full of children waiting for their forever families to be able to come and bring them home. But there were 2 referrals for baby girls this week. Our unofficial updated numbers are 15 for a boy and 14 for a girl and 6 for siblings. Hopefully after the courts reopen the referrals will pour out and we will move up on the list!!!

Update- Numbers and Chads Wedding

Brad and I were sitting on the couch the other night and we were like, Oh shoot we forgot to celebrate one month waiting on the waiting list, haha! Luckily this month has flown by and we have been busy, it makes it go quicker! Our unofficial list was updated the other day. Some families have joined our Yahoo Group since we were DTE, so our number haven't changed much. We are #16 for a boy, #17 for a girl, and #7 for siblings. Some of the sibling requests are for 2 of the same sex, so who knows what will happen!! We rest assured God already has it all figured out, so we don't need to!! (I have to type that for a reminder for me too!)

One of the main reasons we have had such a busy month is that my little brother Chad married a wonderful girl Emily. We are so excited to have her in our family. Emily is always so sweet, kind, and positive. Emily's maid of honor described her as a person who is a great example of a person who loves people just like Jesus loves us. What a compliment and so true at the same time! Chad is a lucky guy to have a great wife! She is from the Philly area so they had a Philly wedding and a reception in IL for our friends and family. Both were beautiful and fun weekends! Here are a few pictures:

Bride and Groom eating and dancing

My sister Amy, brother Chad, and me

Brad and I

Amy and Kylie
Amy, Emily, and me

Chad and Em in IL

Aunt Tara with Kylie

Africa Cards

As most of you know, our largest fundraiser has been making and selling hand-stamped cards. So far we have sold over $3,000 of cards. This AMAZES me!!!!! When we started this, I thought I'd be thrilled to sell a couple hundred dollars worth of cards. So many people have offered to sell cards to their friends and family. Thank you to everyone who has helped!! God hasn't stopped amazing us throughout this whole process, I just didn't know how big to dream. Brad and I assumed we'd be taking out a loan for a big part of the adoption expenses, but so far God has provided just what we needed just when we needed it. Don't ever doubt how BIG our God is!!!



I wanted to share a new set of cards I have for sale. I just got a new Africa stamp, so I've begun to stamp some new cards with it. For now, I am making a simple card:

Since this card is simple, using only white cardstock, I will be selling a pack of 16 cards for $15. I have been using these thank you cards as thank you to people that have helped us in some way and the blank ones I have sent to other Africa adopting families.

If you would like to order any, please email me at tara_mowen@yahoo.com. We can work out all the details then!!

Thank you again to everyone that has helped us in any way along this process. God has used you to help bring our children home!!!

Like Dandelion Dust

This week our church showed a screening of the movie Like Dandelion Dust (based on Karen Kingsbury's book). This book/movie tells the story of a domestic adoption and the sacrificial love the birth mother had to give her son a better life. It really made my heart ache for these birth mothers who love their child enough to give them up so they may have a better life. Another adoptive family told me that if times were tough they would live in a cardboard box with their kids before giving them up. Which is so true, I would do the same thing. The decision to give a child up would be so hard and something most of us are fortunate enough that we don't even have to consider.

When I started thinking about adopting a child I assumed that these birth parents didn't want their children or the birth parents had died. I wondered how this would effect the children in the future. But as I have talked to more and more adoptive families, almost all their children's birth parents sacrificially gave their children up so they could have a better life. WOW! What love! God did the same thing for us, He gave His Son so we ALL could have a better life. There aren't many people in the world that have had to sacrifice something so special, but boy are we glad that God was willing to sacrifice His Son so we have the chance to be forgiven and live our eternal life in heaven!!!!! Believe it and embrace HIS wonderful gift!!

DTE!!!

Today our paperwork got sent by FedEx over to Ethiopia!!! Praise God!!! WOOO HOOO!!! So today is our DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia) date!!! Our yahoo group keeps an unofficial waiting list, so I think we are something like number 17 for a boy, 19 for a girl, and 5 for siblings. The average wait time is 4-6 months. We are obviously hoping for the shorter end of that. So if all goes well we will have a referral by the middle of November and maybe meeting our child(ren) by Christmas!!!! I feel like we have been talking about one day it will happen and now there is an end in sight!!! AHHHH!!!
Our official request is either gender for all- one 0-6months, twins 0-12months, or siblings 0-12months and 0-4 years!!
Let the real wait begin......

Our I-171H has arrived....finally

Today we received our I-171H in the mail!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH!! So excited!!! When I opened the envelope my eyes were seraching it all to make sure it was the real thing. On June 5th we received a letter from them saying they needed the orginial letter from DCFS, not the copy that was sent to them in May. I thought it would say I-171H real big across the top, no- its teeny tiny down in the corner. After I realized that this was the paper we have been waiting for since we applied for it back in February, I started to cry. I felt like we were never going to get to this point in the process, so that we finally had all the papers we needed and we are able to send our Dossier in made it all real to me. I don't even know how to describe all the emotions I was feeling this afternoon. I was so overwhelmed with a wonderful feeling and felt like we were moving in the right direction-forward!!!! Something of ours will be in Ethiopia soon!!!!!

So I sat down to make sure all the papers were in order and ready to be mailed off. I realized that we needed a copy of the orginial notarized, so I rushed off to our church to get it notarized- thank you Wilda!! I was crying all the way there and thought I needed to get it together before I get to church, ha!

Here are all the papers we needed to submit our Dossier. We have been collecting these and waiting for different pieces to be approved and come in since the begining of January. We are happy to let them leave our house!!

Brad has come home everyday for the last month checking the mailbox for an envelope from USCIS, but today Brad was coaching volleyball this afternoon, so I checked the mail. I sent him a text message that said , "Hurry home...I have an important job for you to do." He thought I wanted him to clean up a mess from our cat or dog or something...lol. He said once he pulled into the driveway he thought it might be about our I-171H. He came in was so excited that it was here and that he didn't have a mess from an animal to clean up!!! He made the last copies we needed then took the box to UPS while I had to go coach tennis. We sent the Dossier to AWAA overnight for $48.84...wasn't expecting that. Oh well its been submitted and it feels great!!

Finally tonight we celebrated with pizza and a walk and we keep talking about how excited we are to finally get our Dossier all turned in and that we are that much closer to our child!!!

So now we wait to hear from AWAA if it was all approved and then it will be translated and sent to Ethiopia within 1-3 weeks. Then we will get our DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia) date and be on the waiting list to be matched with our child(ren). Our request is an infant 0-6 months either gender, or siblings-one an infant 0-6 months and one under 4years old, or infant twins 0-6 months. We will just wait to see who God has planned to be a part of our family!!

Happy 4th Anniversary Babe!

Ok, this is operation surprise Tara! If you don't know, Tara is someone who can find out anything and it is VERY hard to surprise her. So as you are sleeping tonight Tara, I have logged into our blog to surprise you with an anniversary blog. We are not doing anything "big" for our anniversary because we are trying to save money for our adoption, so this is my gift to you this year.
I can't believe it has already been 4 years since we have been married! It seems like yesterday we were getting on the plane for our honeymoon. What a great time we have had together. I could not ask for anything better than the last four years we have spent together as a family. I am excited to see what God has planned for the next 50....if it were up to you, I know that it would include a huge house packed full of at least 10 kids...I say we see what God has planned for us :).
The last 4 years, God has spent building a foundation for our marriage that is unbreakable. He has been preparing us so that we can be the most incredible parents that our children could possibly dream of. Babe, if you are only half the mother than you are a wife, our children are going to be the luckiest kids in the world. I am excited to see you be a mother (even if it is to 10) because I know how good of a wife you have been to me! Thanks for all you do and even yet to do for our family. I thank God for you everyday!
God,
Thank you for putting Tara in my life. Thank you for watching over her and keeping her safe. Thank you for making her beautiful, caring, thoughtful, loving, intelligent, and confident. God, continue to bless her life. Continue to have her grow closer to you and be a woman of Faith. Continue to bless our marriage and family. God you tell us this in 1st John 4:18-19 "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us." God I give you thanks because your love endures forever!

If you are reading this, will you say a quick prayer for continued blessings over our marriage? We know that a solid marriage is the foundation for the rest of our lives and are always thankful for people praying for us.

-Brad

Waiting with a Purpose

I knew starting this process that we were going to eventually become parents and bring a precious baby into our family. I had no idea that this would be such a faith building, heart changing, and eye opening experience. I read on someone elses blog (sorry I don't remember who) that they said, the greatest treasure in this journey is drawing closer to our God. How true!!

I am so glad that God chose us to experience the adoption process. There is this whole other world of support and friendships connected through adoption. God has designed each of our families in the way that HE sees fit. I'm so thankful that HE saw it fit for Brad and I to experience this. Now don't get me wrong, the waiting is driving us CRAZY, but we know it will be worth it in the end!

Here are a few verses that I like for this time in our lives!!

"He told them, 'You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business.'" Acts 1:7 The Message

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21 NIV

I also like the same verse from The Message- "We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God's purpose prevails." Proverbs 19:21

"Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you." Deuteronomy 31:8 NLV

Just Love Coffee

Did you know that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee? We have started another fundraisier to help us pay for our adoption expenses. If you like coffee, check out: http://www.justlovecoffee.com/mowen
I have heard that these are some of the most popular flavors: Ethiopian Harrar, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, and Goodnight Moon.
From this wesbsite you can purchase coffee and we will recieve a portion of each purchase.
A family started Just Love Coffee to help other famlies with their adoption expenses, help Ethiopian coffee farmers, and help Ethiopian orphanages.
Thank you to everyone that has helped us along the way! We apprecaite it more than you know!

Illinois Approval

After a 9+ week wait, Illinois and DCFS approved our homestudy. That means today our approved homestudy will be sent to USCIS (US Immigration) to join the other paperwork that was sent to them on Feb 1st. They are estimating a 30 day wait from USCIS to send our I71H to us, but since we have already been fingerprinted we are hoping its shorter. As soon as we get that we will send our Dossier to Ethiopia and get on the waiting list. We are so excited!! After 2 months of almost nothing happening, we finally feel like its moving forward a little bit more!!

Lucky Illinois and fundraising

From what I have heard, IL is one of the only states that requires your homestudy to be approved by DCFS before submitting it your agency. We have been waiting for over 2 months now for the approval. We were told it would take 6 weeks at the most. It is frustrating not being able to do anything to help along the process. But again we give it to God and know that its in HIS hands!

So we continue to wait.

In the meantime we have been able to get some more fundraising done. We had our 2nd yard sale at the church last weekend. Between the sale at our house and the one at the church we made a grand total of $2,926.37. This has been AMAZING. We are so blessed with wonderful people in our lives!! Thank you to everyone who has had a part in helping us!! We are sooooo thankful! We have also sold almost $3,000 in cards. We are getting close to having all $8,000 that we need to send in our Dossier.

It's amazing that we aren't going to have to take out a loan for this portion. Going into this we thought there was no way that we could save/raise all the money up to this point. God has been doing awesome things in our lives and putting amazing people who support us along this journey. We are definitely reminded not to put limits on our God!!

Yard Sale Pictures

We had our yard sale fundraiser on Saturday. Boy were were tired when it was done!! It was a lot of work to get ready for it, and luckily we had lots of help! Both of our moms and lots of our friends were around several days last week and even for the sale. We couldn't have done it without you guys-thanks SO much!! We were able to raise over $2,300! Praise God! This was such a blessing to us!!
Several people that came by said this was one of the largest yard sales they had ever seen. Thank you again to all the generous people who donated items to help us!! Here are some pictures....

Here are pictures right before we started taking things down, and actually we sold all the furniture you still see here, some people were coming back with a truck later.

After we put all the stuff that didn't sell, this is all we had left. Remember the last pictures had boxes all over the basement and also a full garage. Now we can park in the garage, we just can't use the couch downstairs yet. We will be having part 2 of our yard sale on May 1st at our church.

Yard Sale Fundraiser

We have been collecting items for a couple of weeks now for our yard sale this weekend. All proceeds from the yard sale will help support our adoption. Family and friends have been so supportive in donating items. Some friends have been over spending HOURS with us organizing and pricing the items too! Thanks Marie, Stu, Lindsey, Larcy, and Dan-we really appreciate all the hours you have put in this week so far and will put in later this week too!!

I thought I'd share a few pictures of what our house looks like now too....

this is the two parts of our basement

and here's the garage

Thank you again to all those who have donated and helped! We really appreciate all the support!!

God's perfect timing

I know its been awhile since I've posted anything and several people have asked me why...it's simply because nothing has happened in the last several weeks. We are still waiting. Someone else from IL said it took them several months to receive their I71H back. We've been waiting for about 5 weeks now. So hopefully we should get it soon.

The other day I was reading something about adoption and adoption advice. It said we are not waiting on man's timing, we are waiting on God's timing. There is such peace in that. God already has our child picked out. If we turned our Dossier in at the wrong time, we wouldn't have our child that God has planned for us. I am glad we serve a perfect God who always has a perfect plan for us! We can rest assured everything will happen in God's perfect timing!!!

Hand Stamped Cards-Fundraiser

One of the fundraisers we have been doing is selling Hand Stamped Cards. I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and when we started thinking of ways to fundraise I first thought of making and selling cards. We have started out my putting them in our teachers lounges and a few friends and family have taken them to their work too. At this point we have sold over $1,500 worth of cards. Thank you to everyone that has either helped sell the cards or that has bought them!

I am going to try to put a link on the side too, not sure how to do this yet. We are selling a 10 pack of cards for $15, plus $2 shipping-if needed. If you are interested or have any questions please email me at tara_mowen@yahoo.com. You can pick All Ocassion (usually 4 birthdays, 3 thank yous, 1 wedding, 1 sympathy, and 1 thinking of you or baby), Birthday, Thank You, Sympathy, Baby, Anniversary, Praying for You, etc. Here is a picture of some of the cards I have been including in the packs.



If you live close by, just email or call me. If not I'll ship them to you! There is a paypal button on the side now. Just click on it and in the comments leave me your address to ship and your email if I have any questions! Thanks!!