Introducing...

Travel Plans!!!

Yesterday our case manager Christy was sick:( so sweet Kiersten from AGCI called to let us know our embassy appointment had been confirmed! Hooray!!! We'll be leaving for Addis Ababa on Saturday, May 16th and coming home May 22nd. So we booked our air plane tickets and now have lots of shopping, organizing and packing to do.

We Passed Court!!!

Our case worker, Christy just called and let us know Silas E. is legally our son!!! We are praising God!!! We passed court!!! And our hearts are so happy!!! Thank you for all your prayers. We will post more details later... we are on cloud 9!!!

Court Tonight!!!

Sometime tonight while we're sleeping or early tomorrow morning (we'll I'm sure we will not be sleeping) a judge in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia will review our case and declare if Silas E. will legally be our son. HA! Our Son!!! Hopefully all the paperwork is in place and the judge will approve our case. Cory and I have not been sleeping well the past few nights and I can only imagine what tonight will be like. We are so anxious and excited! Obviously we're praying we pass the first time through and go to Ethiopia soon to bring Silas home. Yes we will be heart broken if we don't pass, but we are choosing to remain hopeful and pray all goes well. I'm not sure when we will hear the results. They wait to call when they have a court decree in hand, so we are hoping to hear something really soon. It would be great to know before the weekend, but we are not counting on it. Sometimes it takes close to a week for people to find out if they passed or not. So if you could PLEASE say a prayer for us before you go to sleep tonight we would REALLY appreciate it!!! I'll post something as soon as we find out.

Your sisters (Gracie and Emma) are praying hard for you baby Silas, and we are all so thankful for serving a God who is so good. Our God is bigger than any court or judge. God wants the best for you Silas and for all of us, so we are going to pray we pass court tonight and it will be in the right timing so we can bring you home. We love you so much Silas!!!

A good friend shared this with me and it is for you tonight Silas...

Kisses in the Wind

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams. You are here each day with me, at least that's how it seems.

I know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long. But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin... Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you. I promise you, my darling. I'm doing all that I can do.

Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend. But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight. And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.

We love you Silas!!! We are praying for you and hope to bring you home really soon!!!

Happy 5 Months Baby Silas!

Happy 5 Months to our sweet Baby Silas!!! We love you so much!!! So, in the blog fashion, I'll share our 5 favorite things about our sweet baby boy!!!




1. I love his big beautiful eyes... they are so expressive and so full of life!
2. I love his cute smile... it just melts our hearts!
3. I love how Gracie and Emma walk around and call you bubby... they cannot wait to have him home.
4. I love how he has taught us to love someone so much and you have never even held them in your arms... oh, we cannot hardly wait to hold him and love on him!
5. I love his wonderful personality in all of his pictures...we are so ready for Silas to come home.

*** We pray we pass court on April 30th!!!

This morning before the girls left for school. I went in to get them and I said what are you doing? They said we are praying for Silas. We really want our bubby home with us. I started crying! It was the most precious thing and melted my heart! I am so proud of my girls!

Couple more Easter Pictures...

Gracie and Emma checking out what Mom Mom and Poppy brought over for them for Easter. They sure enjoyed eating those chocolate bunnies!

My mother and father in law (Mom Mom and Poppy to the kiddos) brought these precious gifts over for baby Silas. We cannot wait to see Silas is these sweet little clothes. Thank you!!!

Court date... One week from today! If you could please keep us in your prayers we would really appreciate it. Thank you so much! We just want to bring our baby boy home! We can hardly wait!

Spring Musical...

Our church this evening put on a Spring Musical. It was called Simon Says. The Musical was about the characters in the New Testament with a modern day twist and loads of fun! The script and songs were rich in scripture and the music "rocked"!

This is Emma holding the sign that says The Holy One. She enjoyed being in the musical. I am so proud of her. Emma loved singing and she was really into it.

Gracie had a speaking part in the musical. She did great! I am so proud of her. Here is a picture of her after she just got finished speaking. Look at that smile:)!

The children all did a wonderful job! They worked so hard and we are so proud of them all. It was a great evening! The musical was so much fun and packed with truth!

May God Bless You and Your Family!

Happy Easter!

Our Easter weekend started Saturday. We went to my parents house for lunch and had a wonderful time. The kiddo's loved playing with their cousins and eating lots of good food. Grandma Judy is a great cook! It was so nice to be with family and friends this weekend. Here are some pics from the weekend...

Gracie, Evan, Emma, Ethan and Jacob. These were all the little cousins at Grandma Judy and Grandpa Mike's house on Saturday for Easter.

My hubby and our sweet nephew Evan. Just enjoying our Easter weekend hanging out.

The cousins getting ready for the Egg Hunt to start...

Cousin Kealsey...finding some Easter Eggs. Kealsey just turned 16 last month! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!! You are growing up way to fast.

Cousin Demi...finding lots of Easter Eggs!

Cousin Matthew and little Ethan finding Easter Eggs. Matthew is going to be 17 years old this month. It doesn't seem possible. He is growing up way to fast.

Ethan and Gracie just hanging out together.

Grandma Judy loving on the grandkids. She just loves being a Grandma!

The cousins together... Emma, Gracie, Ethan and Evan. The girls were so glad to get to spend time with the boys. They live 2 hours away. We sure wish they lived closer. They are so precious. I cannot wait till next year and Silas can be in this picture with them. Silas and the boys are only two months apart. So they are going to have lots of fun together!!!

My sweet little twin nephews Ethan and Evan looking at a book we got them for Easter. They sure were checking it out. They are sooo sweet.

My mom got Silas some things for Easter. She also filled an Easter Basket of donations for us to take to the Orphanage when we travel to pick up Silas. She is a pretty proud Grandma. I know Silas is going to love you. Thanks Mom!!!

After my mom's house we headed to our neighbor's...

Emma and Gracie at our neighbor's house. They had an Easter Egg Hunt for the girls. They have been looking forward to this for days.

Emma and Gracie walking home with all of their goodies from the Easter Egg Hunt. They had such a wonderful time. Thank you ... to the Szoke Family.

Gracie enjoyed opening all of her eggs and seeing what was inside. Her favorite thing she opened was the rings. She just loves jewelry. That's my girl!

Emma opening her eggs up to see what she got inside. Lots of neat little prizes. She got so excited with each egg she opened. She was making me laugh:)!

Easter Sunday...

Gracie holding up her new High School Musical P.J's. Gracie just loves High School Musical and really anything to do with music. She is our little singer.

Emma holding up her new P.J's. As soon as we got home from Church she wanted to wear her new Sponge Bob P.J.'s. So she put them on and went outside to play.

Gracie checking out what the Easter Bunny left for Silas. The girls were so excited about putting a few new things in Silas' room today. They just can hardly wait to have a baby brother to play with. We are ready for Silas to come home. Please continue to pray we pass court on April 30th! Thank you!!!

Gracie and Emma this morning before we left for church.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. May God Bless You! Happy Easter...from the Bogard's