Leaving on a jet plane!!

We are off tomorrow morning for Ethiopia! We are so excited and yet sad to leave our girls. Please pray for them as they won't see us for about 12 days. Lila is on steroids for croup (which makes her silly!!) and I am on antibiotics for a bad cold/sinus junk. Pray that I am not in the bathroom during the whole flight :( Thanks so much and we'll try and update you all, but internet connection is s l o w and power outages are regular. WOW! I can't believe it is actually here!!! Love you all!

What's Happening in Ethiopia?

So things are going, slowly, but going.


Adoptions of Abandoned Children Halted by Ethiopian Court:
The Ethiopian First Instance Court has temporarily stopped accepting cases involving abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa, citing concern over a recent increase in the number of abandoned children being brought for adoption. The number of abandoned children from orphanages in Addis Ababa has grown dramatically in recent months and Ethiopian authorities have become aware of possible cases of unethical practices associated with some of them.

Currently neither MOWA nor the First Instance Court are accepting any abandonment case from any orphanages in Addis Ababa pending an inquiry.

Our son was not abandoned, but relinquished. This should not affect us, but it has slowed things down. Pray that we get a court date soon, that it passes and that we would become a family soon! Pray for the families who have precious kiddos over there who have been abandoned. I know this is affecting our friends and this is very hard, but Praise God that they trust God's plan! Pray that Ethiopia would get this corrected and that the children would be taken care of. Thanks for walking beside us on our journey. We can't wait to get our hands on him!

Great Gift!

Be a Saint this Christmas

Saints Coffee is a Great Christmas Gift!
It's that time of year when our minds turn toward giving gifts to those we love.

This year Saint's Coffee is offering several special coffee blends and Christmas packages for the holiday season. This reasonably priced, fair trade and organic coffee is among the top 3 percent of all coffee in the world. And when you drink it...you are helping more than yourself. Saints Coffee has faithfully donated 1/3 of it's net profits back to Children's HopeChest to help feed children in Swaziland.

Order a bag or box today for the coffee lover(s) in your life!

Saint's Coffee Makes a Great Christmas Gift! Click on the website to the right or type in www.saintscoffee.com.

This coffee is the best we've ever had! It ROCKS!

Titus Update

Our friend and agency director just got back from Ethiopia last Saturday. She visited the new HIV orphanage, the original orphanage, and our son! We got beautiful pictures (and I mean BEAUTIFUL!!!) and wonderful video! It was such a blessing to get it and to see how much he has changed in just under 2 months! Our friend also bought him a hat at market and had him wear it and then she brought it home to us. I was lying in bed with it and I thought "wouldn't it be cool if there was a hair in it?" I looked and looked and then I saw it. A very tiny, very curly black hair. It almost looked like an eyelash, just a little longer and curlier! I was ecstatic and have it in a tupperware! I put my hand in the hat and slept with it (I wasn't feeling too good that day) and just thought "my son's head was in here last week!" Gosh, I want him home sooooo badly! Just pray that we get a court date soon. We are hoping a court date before Christmas and pick-up mid January, if all goes well. Just thought I'd share!

Swaziland

Check out www.sethbarnes.com. It is a great blog, covering so many different subjects.