May 29th, 2009

Howdy!
Big news...our boys have names! We can not share full names but we will all know them for now on as Taft and Ezekiel "Zeke"!
Big news #2...On my last day at school I thought we were having a big staff lunch and it ended up a surprise shower. How amazingly generous! I have at what seems like an eternities worth of diapers to get us going as well as tons of cute stuff.
Also, the boys Nene, my mother-in-law, quilted the boys blankets, the neatest part of which we found was the lining..i don't think the inside could be more snuggly!
Big News #3...we got our May 2010 update which included 4 new pictures..the boys have grown so much and their features have changed dramatically. If you would like to see our new photos email us at tylerandnikki@cox.net. Don't hesitate we love to show off our little men!
Not so "good" news...we got word from another foundation that we were not awarded their grant either..we were hopeful but know God is blessing a family in a greater need.
Prayers...that our court date is scheduled soon. We are the first with the court in which we attend and it seems the old standards and timeline might not exist anymore. We need to be in an out before August when the entire court system of all of Ethiopia shuts down completely for the holidays. Please specifically list up in prayer God's timing and the process. Now that we have children we are more anxious to have them out of the orphanage and fear the court closing and only prolonging their time there. We have faith and are forever thankful for each of you lifting up the journey of Taft and Zeke!

May 26th, 2010

Howdy!
We officially "registered" at target for little stuff. We feel adopting is different than pregnancy so we have purchased all the big ticket items, twice over wink wink. But several of you have asked if there is any little thing we need. NO! We will take care of everything, but for you hard headed giving types we did make a short list.

The past few days I have had detailed dreams of the boys and Ethiopia...even one where the boys are older and we adopt a little sister....

May 23, 2010

Howdy!
We met with the director for Dove, our national agency this past week. We were super excited to get the details, but surprisingly we got a bunch of "I don't knows?". We will be the first group of families traveling to Ethiopia twice after all the laws changed. Normally our attorney would represent us and when everything was over in court we would be notified when to meet at the US Embassy and be able to petition for adoption and take them home. Now we must appear at these court hearings. She said normally they are scheduled 2-3 weeks in advance. We are for sure not going to court in May since those spots are booked. So as soon as they can get our paperwork completed, dossiers for the boys and a court date set in stone we will be notified. Then we will have 2-3 weeks to be in Ethiopia to go to court with our attorney. We don't really like being the guinea pigs since no one has gone before us with the new laws, but fortunate to be able to. Now we are simply waiting to get court scheduled and paperwork done so we can book our first trip. Hard to plan our lives around a trip that we have no idea when will take place. They are still estimating it will be 4-6 weeks from our referral,but since we are first we just are not sure. he court system closes for annual holidays basically the whole month of August, so we are praying that we are in and out of court by August, so our boys don't hit a delay in their travel home because of business closures.
Thank you for all your well wishes and prayers.....obviously they are working and our God is great!

May 16th,2010

Howdy!
We are the proud parents of two amazing Ethiopian boys!!!
Before we have taken legal custody of them we can not share specific details or photos via public sources, like our blog. Sorry! We will share what little we can.
On May 13th we were called while I was teaching and so Tyler ended up getting the referral call. Then he called my classroom to share information. I had students in the room and normally my phone doesn't ring in from the outside. He told me we had gotten our referral and my legs were shaking so hard I had to sit on a desk. I burst into tears and can only remember little parts of what Tyler said. We are now soon to be parents of 2 young "twins". They are not biologically related, but were born on the exact same day, in the same village. They will soon be 4 months old and healthy and growing fast in the orphanage. One was relinquished at a farmers market because his mother passed away in childbirth and his father who is a farmer could not feed or care for him. The other was abandoned in a public area and found by a police officer. They are the most beautiful and amazing people I have ever seen and we are already deeply in love, even though we have not held them or looked into their face.
We have another meeting tomorrow to go over travel, etc. WE assume we will travel to Ethiopia in 4-6 weeks to attend court and then 6-8 weeks after that to go to the embassy an bring them home forever. We should know more tomorrow. Once we attend court in just over a month we can share more info, pictures, and more.
We cant bottle up our excitement and can share pictures individually with friends and family, so if you are dying to fall in love with our sons email us at tylerandnikki@cox.net and we might give you a glimpse...
Pray for our sons health, safety and growth while we prepare and rejoice in our great God!

May 13th, 2010

We will remember May 13th, 2010 as the BEST DAY IN OUR ENTIRE LIVES, afer Salvation of course!!!

May 9th, 2010

We are set on at least keeping the boys given names as their middle name, but depending might make their first name more western. We would love for their given names to stay their first name, but as adopted kiddos we don't want them to also have a hard time with names that US kiddos would tease them over. So after a long hunt we have fallen in love with these names:
Ethan
*Graham
Brice
*Taft
*Cameron
Abraham
*Eli
*Ezekiel(Zeke)
Cade
Lincoln
Parker
*Reed
Whit
Tate
Luke
*Caleb

***Our current favorites(which change weekly)

May 5th, 2010

Howdy!
I had to share a funny "MOM Story"...
First of all the kids at school always call me mom, and one kid even said yeah we do that because we see you more often then we do our real mom...sad! However, I love more than anything to be that "mom" figure for all my precious kiddos regardless if they need or want it or not. Then, last Friday I took my kids on a field trip and while we are going 70 miles per hour down the highway the kids start screaming bloody murder. I turn around and a kid has puked in the aisle and it splashed all over multiple kids and then it comes rolling down the grooved aisle as we start to slow down. I never imagined holding a throw up bag, and pouring the absorbency crystals while 50 kids go wild screaming. As I get myself together along with a broom the kids said, "I am never going to be a teacher after seeing you deal with this" while another says "You are going to be a great mom". I never planned on cleaning a mess with 50 little witnesses to prove I can handle motherhood, but it did hit home to hear my kiddos say that. They are so excited and begging us to bring them to school, help name them, pick out clothes, etc. In many ways my students are my first real "kids" and we all find excitement in seeing those worlds collide. Love ya!!!