Lucky 13...

13 months ago today, our dossier was shipped to Ethiopia. We had just spent the previous year in the Vietnam program only to have our hearts broken when news spread that adoptions to the United States were, more than likely, coming to an end. Rather than stay put and hope for the best, we felt something pulling us towards the Ethiopia program. The estimated wait time the day our dossier left our hands was 6-10 months. Fast forward 1 year and 1 month later and we are now days, if not hours away from seeing our Marley for the 1st time. This has GOT to be the most exciting time of our lives and we are soooo ready for THE call! Thanks to all of you who have prayed, donated, or just offered an encouranging word over the last few years. We appreciate and love you all. We truly have the best family and friends! Here's to 13 months!

--Kris & Staci

Our heart's in Africa...

We just got our Heart for Africa wall decal from the Sager's today and it looks great! If you've never followed the Sager's blog, they have been home from Ethiopia for a little over a month with their new daughter, Finley, who is absolutely adorable! You can read about the Sager's HERE or you can check out their etsy shop HERE. Thanks for the beautiful decal Sagers!

I must say it was a little nerve-racking hanging this because, let's face it, you screw up-it's over. Luckily it went up without a crease OR a bubble. This is the corner of the nursery our rocking chair will be (as soon as we get around to picking one out). Speaking of nursery, it's been awhile since we've touched it. We've still got quite a few things on our to-do list like finding new closet doors, decorating, night stand, etc, etc...Oh, and did I mention that our crib was recalled?!?! We've known about it for months but just recently got around to dismantling and sending off for our credit. I'm thinking it's just about time we start finishing this project once and for all.

The corner minus the rocker...

The crib that was not to be...

THE BLOG CHANGE WORKED AGAIN!!!

Just not for us though. So far, there have been at least 2 referrals today that we know of! One for a sibling group and the other for a 4 month old baby boy. Again, due to age/sex requests, both referrals went to people behind us on the overall list. Such is the game at this point of our wait. A big CONGRATULATIONS to the Hubbard & Crouch families!!!

Really, really, REEEEEEEEEally hoping for that call soon. That makes 5 referrals this month but still our number remains the same. Come on baby girls!!!

Enough already!!!

Trying this one more time...New blog look=more referrals. Bring 'em on!!!

Tesfa-Hope shirts...

Just dropping a quick line to let you all know we've got our new Tesfa-Hope shirts available in our Etsy store. They are the coolest! The best part: they are totally customizable. We both had the stone-green & yellow shirts made with "7910 miles 4 marley" across the back!

I know we've been neglecting our blog the past couple of weeks but I promise, a blog update is coming soon! Things have just been a little bit discouraging the past few weeks on the adoption front since we hit the 1 year mark so we really haven't been feeling the blog. Time to get with it. We are close!!!

We're Baaaack!!!

We just got back from our little Mexican excursion yesterday evening and man did we have a GREAT time! The family we had planned on going with had to back out last minute due to a family crisis so it was just us for one last, final hurrah before parenthood. Not a lot to tell you about the trip as we really had no real plans other than lots of good ole' relaxation, just us and a lot of sun & water. Our days pretty much consisted of breakfast, beach/drinks, lunch, pool/drinks, supper, beach/pool/drinks yada, yada, yada....you see a pattern here? :) The trip went exactly as we had hoped. And no, the cell phone never rang but we didn't let that drag us down. After a month without referrals we weren't too shocked.

Our hotel was very nice and the water was so beautiful & calm. The hotel also had a manmade reef about 50 yards out that was really great for snorkeling. We spent a few hours just exploring the water, fish, and coral around this little reef. We spent one afternoon away from the hotel on a snorkeling trip which was well worth the money. If you're ever in Cancun we would highly recommend booking a trip through Snorkeling Adventures. We went to the 2nd largest reef in the world (2nd only to the Great Barrier Reef) 3 different times, once in shallow water, once in deep water, and for the final trip in REALLY shallow water. So shallow that you had to be very mindful of your flippers not brushing against the coral. It was a BLAST and Eduardo (our guide) was terrific! They served our crew a really good lunch in between outtings also.

We stayed at the Riu Caribe which we would highly recommend. While it wasn't the fanciest hotel in Cancun, it was very nice and the staff did an incredible job making sure we were happy. Not to mention that the beach was perfect (especially if you're traveling with children) very placid, unlike a lot of the beaches in Cancun which are very choppy, rocky, and have very strong undertows. So if you're looking for a nice, little getaway: Cancun>Riu Caribe>Snorkeling Adventures. You can't go wrong with this combo!

I'll end with an email we just received from a family currently in Ethiopia regarding the recent referral drought:

"Ok, so I'm in ET now and have visited HOH (House of Hope) many times. Please, trust me, there IS hope! :)"

Hmmm, could good news be on the way?!?! Until next time, here's a few pics from our trip:

The traditional "Lounging with the feet up" pic

View from the hotelThe water was absolutely amazing

One of the two pirate ships that cruised past our hotel every eveningHaving dinner at the hotel's seaside restaurantNot quite for sure if these are coconuts or not. Anyone out there know?Neat little banana tree. The landscaping and foliage was incredibleOur last hurrah as a twosome!