Our Family is Expanding.....

We're adopting again! We've waited to make the official announcement until after we told our family at Christmas. Everyone was excited. And the questions came up. And I'm sure you're wondering the same thing. "Are you adopting Billy?" Well the answer to this is "This is the plan."

For the last month or so, I have been contacting agencies to see who would help us bring him home. I finally got in touch with one who seemed very willing to help. I was excited. We talked on the phone a few times. I was sold this is who we were to use. We filled out the online application and paid the application fee. Then a few days later, they emailed us their fees etc. We were shocked. We did not know why they were so expensive. When we had our phone meeting, Bill asked them. They could not give us answers. They just kept saying "it goes to the kids". Well, after we got off of the phone, Bill did not feel comfortable with them. So, I called America World expecting to leave a message with Melissa about our situation. It was a Thursday at 4:30 PM. To my surprise, she answered and she talked with me. She told me they could help us. She told me they can not contact the CCAA about Billy, but we can have our friend Sarah check on Billy's paperwork and when the orphanage says it's on it's way to the CCAA, then AWAA will contact them and request his file. I was very happy to hear this. So, we prayed about it and the next day, we applied to America World. We were approved a week later and sent all the paperwork to get started. Bill & I are officially on the road to another child.

Sarah has been great with checking on Billy for us. She said that there might be an issue with his paperwork. So we're praying about this and waiting to see what happens. We don't know how long we'll have to wait. We're praying this is the slow down we need. We have been told it would be great if his paperwork was not ready yet, so we can have time to get ours completed.

We are going on vacation and when we get back, we hope we can get started. I'm anticipating the paperwork to take up to 6 months. We can get it all done in about 3 months. But we have to wait for background clearances etc. That takes time.

So this is our exciting news. I could have a son in 2009. I'm so excited. The girls are also very excited about having a brother. They can't wait. Bill is nervous, but excited too. He's trying not to get to attached to the idea, until we know for sure if we can adopt him.

We would appreciate your prayers during this time. Pray for Billy. Pray for his heart. We have not told him. Sarah said she has not told him. We have asked her not to until it is official. We know he has asked when can he call Bill "father". So we know he wants Bill to be his dad.

Thanks! We're excited. It's going to be a busy 2009.

Happy New Year!