Summer Playdays

I love when our kids really enjoy the simple things in life!!! This was Tate's first real introduction to playing in the hose and he LOVED it!! It is also crazy to think that people are dying all of the world because they don't have access to clean water. We are so blessed!!!

 Tate is obsessed with letters...no joke. He learned almost all of them at about 15 months old. Everywhere we go he is pointing to letters and today he became fascinated with the storm drain.

Our baby girl

We received new pictures of our baby girl today. So exciting to see her growing and yet so sad to see how much we are missing!! She is six months old and she will probably be a year before we get to bring her home. Everyone tells me the time will go by fast but it seems like forever! We will be leaving for Ethiopia on November 1st to meet her and go to court. Please pray all documents will be submitted and approved for us to pass court on November 4th.

Tee 'em high and let 'em fly

The golf marathon was last weekend and I am so happy, grateful and thankful to say that we raised several thousand dollars!!! The guys played over 100 holes...yes 100 holes of golf and the heat index was over 100 degrees. Here are some pictures of the guys. They all sacrificed a lot to help us raise money for BB and we are so thankful for each of them. Thanks Ben, Bryan, Ryan, Dustin, Chris, Will, Scott (thanks to their sweet wives too!!) and my dad who drove from Tennessee to help support us. God has shown up in a big way and we feel so blessed that he has given us the opportunity to be parents to this precious girl!!

Bringing BB Home One Hole at a Time

We are having a golf fundraiser this weekend to help us bring baby BB home from Ethiopia. Now that we have a court date in November we get to make plans to meet her...can't express how exciting this is in words!!!
Several of our dear friends, Clay's brother and my dad will be playing "Marathon Golf" (100 holes in one day) on Saturday, August 20th. You can help us by sponsoring Clay for $1 per hole (or any amount you would like to donate). It is a short par 3 course so hopefully they will not seriously injure themselves trying to accomplish this task.  Any contribution will be greatly appreciated and will go to an account strictly for the adoption process. The money raised will help us with plane tickets and the costs of the adoption which will exceed $30,000.
Donations can be made by clicking on the button at the top right corner of our blog.

Thanks to those of you who have already sponsored Clay!!!! We are amazed everyday by your generosity and support for our family!!

We have a COURT DATE...yippee

So happy to say that our official court date is November 4th. We are so excited that we are scheduled before the courts close for the rainy season. Praising the Lord today to be another step closer to having BB in our arms!!!

It takes a village

It has been miraculous to watch God bring so many people together for His glory. This weekend we had an adoption fundraiser garage sale to help raise money for our plane tickets to Ethiopia (we will travel twice). Several of our friends and family donated items for us to sell (Thank you, Thank you, Thank you). We were able to raise $1600...can you believe it??? I don't know why I am surprised when God moves in a big way. The kids also had a lemonade stand and our sweet 10 year old neighbor Jasmine baked cupcakes and helped us all weekend. My sweet friend Mindy volunteered her entire Friday to help me with the sale. Our babysitter volunteered to watch Tate on Friday and my best friend Heidi took Tate to her house on Saturday (hard to focus with a 20 month old trying to run into the street). It was awesome to be able to share our story with so many people that I would have never had the opportunity to meet. Complete strangers were praying with us and so excited for us! It was great to show people pictures of BB and talk about her for 2 days...it really makes me want to hold her and love on her more than ever!!!
We are still waiting to hear from our agency about our scheduled court date. If we don't hear anything this week then it will be the first of October before we will know (the courts close for 6 weeks due to the rainy season). We know all of this is in God's perfect timing but selfishly I want to know soon!!!

 My mom made us shirts to wear for the sale (The shape of Africa with a heart on Ethiopia).

    Our mail woman was our first customer on Saturday...the kids were so excited!! Lyla Grace walked around showing people the pictures of baby BB and telling them "This is my baby sister in Africa". She was so proud!!

Forgot to take pictures of Friday so this is Saturday morning and we sold most of the stuff already (people were so generous with their donations).

Adoption Fundraiser Garage Sale

We are having a garage sale this Friday, Aug 5th & Sat., Aug 6th from 7am to 1pm to help raise money for our plane tickets to pick up BB. Just wanted to post a list of some of the things we will be selling. Thanks to all of my sweet friends who donated items to help us!!!! Please pass it on to your friends!!

Video Camera
Laptop
Fax machine
Couch & loveseat
Queen mattress
Desk
Dresser
Nightstand
Coffee tables
End tables
Pottery Barn bar
Chair
Lamps
Men's shirts (XXL, XL, L, M) Pants & Shorts
Women's Clothes all sizes
Kids clothes & shoes
Wood ladder
Mirrors/Wall Decor
Sheet sets
Rugs
Baby Items (Bumbo with tray, bathtub, crib bedding, car seats, snap & go stroller, baby gate, backpack carrier, Diaper champ, cart covers, changing table, potty and lots more)
Kids toys (puzzles, games, kitchen, Dora scooter and lots more)