Addis!

 So... since I didn't blog about all the boring paper work and waiting, I'm skipping right to the good stuff!!  A couple weeks ago, July 8, here we are, hugging our sweet Addis!!  It was a very tearful reunion!  We got to spend lots of time with her and all the amazing kids at the Transition Home!  We also got to know some other incredible families, a couple fantastic nursing students (from the US) and the amazing America World staff!

We had a great time!!!!

And the best news is July 13, 2012 we legally became a family of 10!!  Kenzie Addis Hopkins is our little girl!!!!!

Isn't she beautiful???  She is as beautiful inside as out, I cannot wait until we get to bring her home! Average length of time between Court and Embassy is 5-8 weeks, it can take longer...we would love your prayers that we can be cleared to go get her soon!

We are planning on bringing Silas, Josh and Mahlea with us when we go, they are SO excited!!! Please pray their passports get back in time and that God provides the $15,000+ it will take to purchase 5 round-trip and 1 one-way ticket!

Adoption #2

My apologies for this is a VERY long overdue post!!  Last August (2011) there were a group of Ethiopian kids here in Bozeman for a hosting program called The Summer of Hope.  Our kids were spending time with them and Mahlea was SO excited there were two girls her age.  Mahlea spent a lot of time with them and the week before they were headed back to Ethiopia, we discovered that one of the girls Mahlea was spending lots of time with was not being "pursued" by a family.  We were at a picnic and I don't ever think I will forget it because I knew the moment I heard the words...

You see, Brian and I are HUGE fans of adoption!!!  Our three Ethiopian kids have blessed all of our lives in unimaginable ways.  Despite what most people say (and some people verbalize) THEY  "rescued" US!  They have shown us love, despite our failures; they have shown us strength and courage-coming to an unknown place where the language, food and people are very different than their own.  The things that these kids have endured in their short lives is more than any human should endure in a lifetime.  Despite the amazing children we have been blessed with, we weren't really "looking" to adopt again.

However, God had other plans for us (as He often does)!!!  Brian and I prayed about it and then sat our older three kids down and talked to them.  It was one of the most humbling conversations of my life.  Brian started by jokingly saying "Mom thinks we should adopt Addis"  Silas immediately piped up "Yah Mom!!! You are GOOD!!!"  Josh and Mahlea both agreed "YES we should!!"  There was silence for a moment and we looked at Silas, he was counting his fingers..."We have 5 seats left in the van, we should adopt 5 more kids!!!!" he said. We all busted up laughing.  Then he said "when I get older and have a wife, we are going to adopt LOTS of kids!" (this is a warning to any girls out there, I think he is serious about this!!!)  Josh said "I want to help kids who live on the streets in Ethiopia"  Mahlea added "I want to help orphans with AIDS".  My eyes welled up with tears.  I cannot believe that these incredible human beings call me "Mom"; that I get to know them and be part of their lives.

We called our younger four kids up and asked them what they thought.  They all jumped up and down and shouted "Yay!!!"

I truly don't know why Jesus chose me to be the mom of 7 these amazing human beings but I am SO incredibly thankful that He did!!!

There it is, the beginning of adoption #2.  We submitted our application to America World Adoption and began the paper chase!!