If Life is a Highway Don't forget to Prepare for the 10 Car Pileup in a One Lane Construction Zone

I don't mean it won't all be worth it.  Many road trips to Wisconsin and Georgia have taught me that the destination is always worth the traffic.

So the latest news is that now while the Ethiopian Courts have decided that parents must travel the Ethiopian Gov. has decided to "postpone that decision."  Meaning that as of today parents don't have to travel for court.  (Are you dizzy yet?!?!  I am!) 

AWAA is advising us that this change may not be permanent and to plan on two trips.

In other words:  Make sure your seatbelts are buckled, the air bags work and you have plenty of snacks packed, oh and don't forget to use the bathroom!

Praise the Lord!

Amidst all the Healthcare Reform controversy has been a little known (to non adopting families) portion of the law which will extend the Adoption Tax credit for one more year.  The text credit was increased from $5000 to $10,000 + inflation by President Bush in 2001 but set to sunset on Dec. 31 2010.  Since we won't have our adoption finalized by then we would only be able to get a credit for $5000.  Now, praise the Lord, the credit has been extended for one year and raised to about $13,000!  So as long as our adoption is finalized by Dec. 31, 2011  (Pray for that!) we will be eligible for a $13000 refund (to repay all the loans we will take;)

God is Good! 
 To read more click on the link below.
Adoption Tax Credit Extended and Increased

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I don't want my kids to be happy.

Check out this great post by a fellow Ethiopia adopter!

Coffee: Do Stupid Things Faster and With More Energy. . . and win a PRIZE!

As I'm sure you've noticed adoption is expensive!  To help us pay for our adoption we are planning on doing several fundraisers as well as applying for grants.  The grants have to wait until our home-study is finished and can take quite a long time to come in.  However, the fund-raising can start right now.  Wohoo!  We know some people are not comfortable with the idea of fund-raising for adoption.  If this is you we just simply ask you to pray and we greatly appreciate those prayers! 

If you are up for a little competition during our fund-raising then you came to the right place!  Our first fundraiser is a really neat one.  We will be selling Ethiopian free trade coffee.  $5 of every bag of coffee will go to us to help pay for all our expenses.  The company we are selling through is called Just Love Coffee.  They are a great organization that uses their extensive knowledge of coffee and their passion for people and especially children to help couples raise the funds necessary to adopt. 

Now for the competition.  If you are interested in having a little friendly competition to see who can sell the most coffee in the next month send me an email at shandevol@msn.com and I will send you a form to take coffee orders as well as a menu.  You will take that form to everyone you know who likes coffee or knows people who like coffee or has ever thought about coffee and convince them to buy coffee from you for a great cause!  You'll collect the money and then  will mail that form  to me by April 15th.  The person who has sold the most will be declared the winner and will win one of my cakes for up to twenty people.  Don't live nearby?  Have no fear!  You will win some delicious homemade cookies of your choice.

If you aren't interested in the competition but would like to purchase some coffee just click on the link to the right.  Thank you for your support!!!

Please feel free to email me with questions!

Love,

Shannon

We're Adopting!!!!!

Scroll down to read the first post and then the update!

Expect the Unexpected

We've been told that international adoption is never predictable.  Countries can change policies overnight without the adoption agencies knowing what's coming.  We are already experiencing one these huge changes! Prior to today Ethiopia required one trip:  to pick up your child.  Now they have switched to two.  One trip for your court date and the next 2-3 months later to pick up your baby.  So on the plus side we will get to meet our son sooner.  On the negative then we have to leave him:(  Also, it means our travel expenses will double.  Yikes!

One thing that hasn't changed is that God is still in control and this is still the plan He has for us.  However unpredictable it may seem to us it's never unpredictable to God!

When I know more I'll post it!

 Love,

Shannon

Announcements, Announcements, Annouuuncements!

We're adopting!

I've always wanted to adopt.  When I was a little girl I dreamed about not only having biological children but also adopting.  I've never been able to listen to "When Love Takes You In" by Stephen Curtis Chapman without feeling my heart tighten and my eyes well up.  Two of my cousins are adopted through the foster care system and we ADORE them and the fun they bring to our family.

George didn't dream of adopting like I did but he has a special place in his heart for adoption.  George has often equated adopting children to the way God adopts us as his children.  When you adopt you tell a child, "You are mine.  I don't just love you like a child of mine, I just love you.  No matter what."

So how did we decide to adopt?  We talked about it a long time ago between Christin and Lindsey, even started the process, but then Lindsey came along and we had to pull our application.  Then I got pregnant with Jack.  During my pregnancy with Jack George and I came to the conclusion that we don't really care for pregnancy.  Something about all the vomit, exhaustion, moodiness, and with my increasingly complicated pregnancies which resulted in more and more doctors visits.  Anyway, at that point we said, "Maybe God wants us to adopt next time." 

After Jack died we asked our doctors what our fate would be should we choose to get pregnant again.  They assured us that it was reasonable for us to assume we could have another healthy baby:  as long as they monitored my pregnancy to extreme measures.  We weren't sure with two small children at home that I should be spending extending amounts of time in the hospital but we put it on the back-burner.

In the fall we started talking about whether we wanted to have another baby or adopt.  Our conclusion was, "there are so many babies out there waiting,  we've always wanted to adopt, lets pray about it!"  Okay, my conclusion was, "let's go!"  George's was, "let's pray about it and analyze it from every angle and then make an informed decision"  (He won)

Sooooo, after lots of prayer and information gathering we have decided adopt a baby boy (3-6months) from Ethiopia.  We applied with America World Adoption Agency www.awaa.org and have been accepted.  Now we are just starting the paperwork and soon will start our home-study.

There is so much more to tell , but I'll save that for another day!