Always and Forever Ours: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

2011 in Pictures

I love looking back over the past year and seeing how the boys have grown and changed!

January 2011:

February 2011:

March 2011:

April 2011:

May 2011:

June 2011:

July 2011:

August 2011:

September 2011:

Beca, our friend/summer nanny was here!

October 2011:

November 2011:

December 2011:

So thankful for a great year in our family!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Dude Can Wield a Lightsaber!

Christmas Day was a fun celebration, and I have a ton of photos, but this series is by far my favorite! Jeremy has never seen Star Wars, but the way he handled his new "flashlight sword" makes me think he might be training with Obi Wan Kenobi on the sly.

Thanks to Bucky and Elaine for giving him such a perfect gift!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Merry Christmas from our Family to Yours!

Dear Family and Friends,

2011 has been a year of truly enjoying our sons--they are wonderful, loving, full of energy and lots of fun! May God bless you and your family with a very Merry Christmas and a joyful 2012!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." ~Isaiah 9:6

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Preschool Christmas Program

Today was Jeremy's preschool Christmas program. I was proud of my boy for getting up on that stage and hamming it up! :) He really did a great job, and it was fun!

Love him!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Merry and Bright!

Our Adoption Timeline

January 2009 - We saw Slumdog Millionaire, and God really began to stir our hearts about international adoption.

February 2009 - We had serious conversations and prayer about adopting from Ethiopia.

March 2009 - We had our phone orientation with Gladney (our adoption agency), decided to adopt from Ethiopia, and sent away for our application.

April 2009 - We submitted our application to Gladney, and began the paper chase!

May 2009 - We had our doctor appointments, continued the paper chase, and had our homestudy visit.

June 2009 - We submitted our last item of required paperwork to accompany our application to Gladney. Our homestudy report was completed and submitted to Gladney. On June 30th, our second anniversary, we received word from Gladney that we were fully approved to be an adoptive family through the Gladney Center, and that they sent our homestudy to CIS.

July 2009 - We received our "invitation" from CIS to come for fingerprinting. We were fingerprinted on July 18, 2009.

September 2009 - Our CIS approval notice arrived in the mail. Dossier completed and sent off on September 8. Placed on Gladney's wait list on September 8.

May 2010 - We received our referral for two boys--brothers--on May 24. The older is 19 months old. The younger is 1 month old.

July 2010 - We passed phase one of the court process on July 19th.

August 2010 - We traveled to Addis Ababa to meet the boys, go to court, legally become their parents, sight see a bit, and return home for three weeks. We returned to Ethiopia on August 30th, when they were placed forever in our arms! We are a family of four!

October 2010 - We received the boys' Certificates of Citizenship in the Mail from CIS!

November 2010 - We completed the Recognition of Foreign Adoption Decree process here in Texas, and received the boys' original birth certificates issued by the state of Texas!