Thursday, July 31, 2008

PRAYERS NEEDED

Well...tomorrow is our appt to go back to immigration and get refingerprinted and to turn in our form for change of country status. We are praying that this will be an easy, smooth, and quick transition. When we went the first time to file our I-600 we were there a little over an hour. We are praying for the same this time but we will see. The first time we were told to expect to be there ALL DAY!! So...we were very pleasantly surprised when we were sitting having breakfast a few hours after arriving for the appointment. This time is different as we have a few questions and have to file a new form to change our status from Vietnam to Ethiopia. We also have to have our daughter fingerprinted this time as she is now 18. I am sure she will be a happy camper having to get up early and spend time with her parents!! :)

SO...please pray that tomorrow goes smoothly and that our I-171H will arrive quickly. While we are waiting on this we will be finishing up our paperwork for the dossier so that we can get all in as soon as it arrives!

Thanks for your support and your prayers!!

Until later~
Tina

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

AHOPE

As you can see I have added a new link next to my posts. I found this on one of the blogs that I have followed. They already have their little guy and he is adorable!! Since they have already traveled to Ethiopia it is nice to be able to read and learn from them. You can read about AHOPE on their site just by clicking on the link. We are going to order the shirts for our family to show our support. We want to find a way to continue to support our son's birth country after we get him home so this may be a way to do it! We have been researching many different organizations as well. It is important to us that our little guy learn about his birth country and we are anxious to learn as well.

Last night we began looking up what they cook and eat. We found a few Ethiopian restaraunts in our area that we will have to try out before we travel. I am very nervous since I am such a picky eater!! I certainly do not want to offend anyone but I also know how I am when I see something that is not appetizing to me! I get that sick feeling and start feeling really gaggy!! Don and Randy(our son) were laughing at me last night when I was getting so nervous as I read some of their dishes that they make. I guess I will just pray that I can get it in my mouth and swallow it before I realize what it is!!! :)

Anyway... We are having a lazy week at home. No football practice this week so I don't have to get up so early to take Randy. I have started making the kids do their own laundry. FUN!! They think I am mean! But I feel like it is time they start helping more. Don laughs at me because I am a bit of a nut about the laundry so we will see if I can let them do it on their own.

ADOPTION NEWS: We go to USCIS on Fri to file our I-824 (change of country) and get our fingerprints redone. We have to take Tifanie along this time because she is now 18. We are praying that our new I 171H comes back quickly and that it doesn't require a large amount of money! Please pray with us!! This is the last step to receive before we can get all of our stuff together for our dossier to Ethiopia. Once we get this sent off then we can be added to the list and will start our official wait for the referral of our little guy.

We are having another garage sale fundraiser for our adoption on Aug 9th. We are praying for a much better turn out this time and that we will be able raise a few more funds for the adoption. We could use your prayers for this as well.

Thanks for your support!!

Until later~
Tina

Thursday, July 24, 2008

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY EMILIE JEAN!!! (A LITTLE LATE)




Yesterday was Em's Birthday. I am having a hard time believing that my baby girl is 10. UUGH double digits! Emilie is one of our greatest joys and one of our biggest challenges as well. We had no problem getting pregnant with our first two children but for some reason as soon as we began wanting a third things did not go as well. After a few years of trying and sadness and A LOT of prayer we started a medication and were very blessed that it worked on the very first month we took it!!

Emilie was our first baby to be carried full term. She was born 1 day before her due date. She weighed 6lbs 14oz and was 18 inches long. She has been our little miracle baby from the beginning and for years would tell everyone that her Daddy called her his little miracle baby! It was cute.

The funny thing we like to say is we prayed so hard for her that God laughed and said ok but she will also be your challenge. I have spoken with many that say this about their third child. Emilie speaks her mind to EVERYONE!! Sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes I want to crawl in a hole and hide!

I remember holding her for the first time and saying to her we have waited such a long time for you little girl! She was the easiest baby. Even in the hospital the nurses would get her out of her isolet just to hold her while she slept because she never cried. When we brought her home we had to set our alarm to wake her and feed her every 4 hours because she loved her sleep.

I am so blessed to be Emilie's Mom. She has taught me a lot and has made me a better Mom for our little guy that we will get someday!

We did the Birthday thing yesterday...we did lunch at her favorite place...Olive Garden and then to a movie...Space Chimps...then home to ride her new bike...then to Bible School...and home again for cake! She had a very busy day.

I love you baby girl!!!


Until later~

Friday, July 18, 2008

I'M LEARNING HOW TO POST PICS ON MY BLOG!!

Our kids...


Tifanie,18 and Randy,15.


Our girls...Tifanie is 18 and Emilie will be 10 in just a few days!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

BACK FROM VACATION~

Well...we are home and settled back in. We were at the lake for a week and had a good time. The kids were able to swim and fish off the boats that we rented. I think their favorite day was tubing, although they complained about being sore the next day! Dad got a little crazy with the flips! :)

Our little visitor went home yesterday. I am sure her Mommy is happy to have her back. We enjoyed having her and miss her but are glad her Mommy is well enough to take care of her. She loved being outside at the lake with us. She did not like wearing her life jacket so we only had her on the boat a few times. Her favorite thing was watching the birds fly over us.

We are gearing up for school to begin in about a month. Time to start buying supplies and clothes and shoes! It is hard to believe we will have one in college this year. I wonder if I should buy her some supplies also?? We are paying for her books so I guess that will be her supplies.

Adoption News: Our homestudy is done and needs to be reviewed by our agency and then we will head back to USCIS and turn in our change of country form and get refingerprinted. We were told once this happened and we got on the wait list it would be at least 6 months before our referral would come. I am hopeful that we will have our dossier sent in by the end of Sept. It will depend on how long it takes for our I 171H to come back again. I would love for our referral to come in mid spring but early summer would be ok also. Then the kids could just stay at Grandma's house. I just keep praying and trying to remember who is control!!

I guess that is all for now. Please keep praying for us!

Until later~
Tina

Thursday, July 3, 2008

WELL...IT'S JULY ALREADY!!

It is hard to believe that it is already July. Where did June go? Well, as of today my family is all back together safe and sound.

Randy had a great time at boy scout camp. He is now a Warrior. We are very proud of him. Hopefully, within the next few months he will get his eagle project done and will be an eagle! He is also done with the baseball season so now we begin the football practices and camps. Always on the go with our boy!!

Emilie had fun at girl scout camp but came home with a BAD black eye. I guess her eye hit another girls head and that was it. She just got home yesterday from Church camp and I think next year we will try to space her camps out a little more. It was a little tough on her. She had a great time and all but was very happy to be home. She begged for TV privileges when we got home and has been eating like a horse since arriving home!

We picked Donald up at the airport yesterday evening. We were all glad to have Dad home after 15 days!! We are very proud of him. He is at the top rank and he said that only 3% of people in the military reach this rank in their career. He is amazing!

Tifanie and I are the only ones that have not gone anywhere this summer. BUT we are leaving on Monday for a week at the lake as a family and will have other family meet us there on Thurs for a few days. I am looking forward to some time away.

Our friend, who had the kidney transplant, is doing great! We don't have the kids this week because they have a niece helping out. We will get the baby back on Sun and take her with us on vacation and then she will go back to Mom and Dad's for good. I have enjoyed having her around. Such a wonderful reminder of having a little one around. Makes me even more excited for our little guy.

We are still waiting on our home study. I finally got our medicals from the Dr office. And our reference letters were finally finished today so hopefully it will be done when we get home from the lake. We need to get to USCIS before the first of Sep to get refingerprinted and change our country status.

Anyway...That is what is going on in the Hubbard household right now!

Until later~
Tina