Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy all the way from Ethiopia!

Grandpa Knobloch with the boys

Our 2 living great-grandpa's above & below (Bahler & Blume)

3 generations of Blume boys..Grandpa Blume & Great-Grandpa Blume

Dad with his boys

This is a special tribute to Brian, as I think back on 11 years of marriage, 7 years of parenting together ...I have become more amazed at the blessing he is to each of us!

He is my very, very best friend, has so much fun playing all kinds of sports with the kids in the backyard & driveway, he is the chief-tooth-puller, Mr. Fix-it around here, "gross bug killer", scholar, Sunday School teacher, the organization system of our home, always up for something fun (if we have our work done ;), he is bedtime Bible Story & prayer daddy, dishwasher unloader, bill payer, & mostly the most wonderful Godly stability that a family could want! And now as our family grows, he is so excited to be a daddy to a precious baby girl...he will do wonderful at that also!

Brian and I are both so thankful for our dad's & grandpa's and the precious legacy that they have given us! May God bless each of these father's & the amazing role they play in our family's lives!

Meet our Daughter!!!

Ellyana Chernet Blume

She is ours (officially!) Our hearts are filled with so much joy & thankfulness, words can not begin to desribe. Thank you for your prayers, and ABOVE all we thank our God that has answered so faithfully & has blest our lives with this precious, precious girl!

We should be able to travel to get her the end of July-beginning of August! As soon as we get the "green light", we will schedule the trip!

Psalm 126:3 "Yes, the Lord has done AMAZING things for us! What joy!"

Did we mention this is a Roller Coaster?

After my post about "discouragement" setting in, we got word late on Fri. evening that the one department that is running behind, was closing for "training" for this week. So all weekend we were "coming to terms" in our minds with the Court Date not being June 9.
Monday AM...surprisingly, we got an e-mail that training was over & all looked good for our Court Date today.
Tuesday AM...we get the call saying our date actually got postponed & the judge mercifully granted our Court Date to be tomorrow (or actually sometime during the night tonight & we will find out tomorrow)
So the "miracle" we have been praying for may actually be in progress! We are hopeful & thankful & VERY prayerful! Please join with us in prayer for each piece coming together! What reminders we have had of God at work!

Can We Hope?

We were rescheduled for our next Court Date, June 9 (which is coming right up). The constant reports out of Ethiopian Adoptions right now...are that 1 department is very far behind & cases continue to "not pass" or are extremely slowed down. Discouragement has set in.

Right now, it seems like it would take a "miracle" to pass court on Tuesday. So we can pray for it & even need to pray "believing", but with human eyes, it does not look promising.

Here are a few verses, that I have been trying to ingrain in my mind through these days.

Acts 2:25, 26, 28 (NLT)
I know the Lord is always with me, I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me. No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts His praises! My body rests in hope. You have shown me the way of life, and You will give me wonderful joy in Your presence.

Sad Day

We found out this morning that the Court Date in Ethiopia was postponed till June 9. Our morning was tough, processing this. But we are thankful for the peace we feel, and continue pray!

The Roller Coaster of International Adoption

We may not have our Court Date tomorrow, it is a long story, but a paper didn't come from the orphanage in the countryside to be processed by the government in time to be in the packet for court tomorrow. So best case scenerio, the judge will proceed & just have everything pending this paper that should be there soon. Or the whole date will just be rescheduled till hopefully next week (hopefully not later than that). You can still pray that the Ethiopian judge will process whatever is possible tomorrow!!!
Oh, the roller coaster ride, we have been on the "ride" before with Zach's adoption and this time I was determined not to get on again. Well, I've now concluded that a "Mommy heart" doesn't allow the choice, so back "up & down" we go. But desperately this time, I am trying to turn this ride into one of prayer...so that is all we can do, may God be the Lord of all things, especially in the tomorrow!

Court Date--Tuesday!

We are so happy to post that we have our Court Date, this Tuesday...May 19! Yes, it is sooner than we anticipated & then there has been some time confirming that this is actually the day...and yes, it is! There are a million questions, what is a court date? in very basic terms this is a time when the Ethiopian government reviews the paperwork & hopefully will say they are A-OK & then the final steps for the final paperwork & then we travel (approx. 5+ weeks later) Right now, 50% of the cases "pass" court, so we are asking for you to pray that judge will look favorably & "pass"! We feel so humbled by how things have been moving in the past few weeks & we thank the Lord & everyone that has prayed on our behalf! The actual time of "court" will probably be during our Monday night, Tuesday early morning since they are 7 hours ahead of us in Ethiopia...so we hope to find out "good" news by later on Tuesday. Check back, we'll keep you posted! Much love & so much appreciation for your prayers!!!!

We have prayed & prayed & we are thankful that we had a little getaway planned to Niagara Falls the past few days with the boys...it was so nice to pass time, but it is a crazy feeling thinking every little bit what it would be like to have Ellyana with us...we just can't wait!

Mother's Day celebration at an Ethiopian restaurant...we loved it! Zach ate the most we have ever seen him eat...we think it may have been the fun of getting to use his fingers instead of silverware...the food was very delicious too!Niagara Falls...an amazing, awesome experience!!!