GREAT NEWS!!!

No we did not get our referral but close, just wanted to update everyone that the courts WILL NOT close this year for the rainy season!!!!! This is just about as good as a referral, because we are currently 13 on the wait list and if we get our referral in the next month or so we were going to have to wait until the courts reopened and then wait for court. Not now, once we get our referral:) we are assigned a court date, once we pass court we will travel in a few weeks.

Also today my cousin Angela and her husband Andy found out they are having a baby girl!!

Good day, good day!--Staci

Ban Lifted and Referrals.....FINALLY!!!

We just received some of the best news the past couple of days regarding the Ethiopia program. First off, let me back up to update all of you readers not currently adopting from Ethiopia. A while back, all adoptions and referrals from the capital city of Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) regarding abandoned children were halted so the government could investigate some problems that had popped up. This left many families who had already accepted abandoned-children referrals in dissaray not knowing if they would ever be able to bring their children home. Well, long story short, the weeks passed and passed and finally, just yesterday, the Ethiopian government lifted the ban on abandoned children. Today, we found out that those families have finally received their court dates and will hopefully be traveling soon once they complete court. Congrats to those families!!!

Good news for us today. We moved up 2 more spots today. That puts us at #12 on the overall list , therefore, this post is dedicated to the 2nd best QB in the history of the Dallas Cowboys, #12, Roger Staubach (hence the picture). The agency actually handed out 3 referrals but only 2 of the families had been waiting longer than us. The 3rd referral was that of a sibling group ages 3 and 5. Who would have guessed when we started this journey a couple of years ago that we would still be waiting? Last May, when we made the decision to officially leave the Vietnam program and persue an Ethiopian adoption, the wait time was estimated at 6-10 months. Well, we eclipsed that mark last month and now it is estimated at the 1 year mark. Oh well, what's a few more months when you've been waiting over 7 years already?

Before she left CHI, our case worker, Toni, suggested that Staci & I take a vacation this year. Well, we kind of took that suggestion and ran with it. Last week we bit the bullet and booked a trip to Cancun with some good friends of ours, Steve & Wendy Preston! We will be going the last week of August which will be when we hit the 12 month waiting mark. Who knows, maybe we'll get the good news while in Cancun! How awesome would that be?!?!

A big CONGRATS to those lucky families today and all those families who waited for the ban to be lifted!--Kris

Update: I am a complete moron! Once again I've miscalculated our number. Must be those complex equations like 15-2=x. We are actually number 13 on the list but I'm still dedicating this post to Roger Staubach because, well......he's Roger Staubach!

10 months Down!

This update is long over due but today we have officially waited 10 months and we are currently #15 on the overall wait list. Normally the courts close for two months starting the first of August but there is a rumor going around that they may not close at all this year. At this time it is only a rumor and hopefully we will hear something very soon!

We have remained busy the last two months. One of my very good friends, Robyn, is getting married in August:) so I hosted a couples shower here at my house with our other friend Kim. We had it in our back yard so Kris and I worked very hard for several weeks so it would be nice and perfect. Of course this was when we had rain daily, it was even raining an hour before the guest arrived but it all worked out and everyone had a great time! My friend Kim and her family are the most creative people I know! Her mom carved a watermelon for the food table. Kim also had a great idea to use watermelon vases for the centerpiece of the tables. They turned out great! I will post pics because you have to see them. Congrats Tim and Robyn!!

some of the decorations

the beautiful vase, great job Kim!

the amazing watermelon!

Kris spent last weekend at Beaver lake with the guys so I had the house all to myself for 4 whole days. I got to spend lots of quality time with my sister and her children, Jenna who is 3 going on 16 and Jarrett who is almost 5 months old and a butterball. I love every ounce of him! We went to the pool on Saturday and had fun, then had dinner together and ice cream!

We managed to take in a Royals game a couple of weeks ago. We had some great seats but unfortunately it was too HOT. Needless to say, we watched 3 innings from our seats and walked to the new outfield experience at Kauffman Stadium, got some ice cream and proceeded to watch the rest of the game from underneath the score board. A big thanx to Steve & Wendy for the free tix!

Our little cousin, Miss Abby turned the big"1" in May. She is such a great little girl and Brent and Tory are so lucky to have her! Tory, made the cake and cookies, she has only made a few cakes and is already doing an amazing job. They're so tasty!

Abby checking out her cake

the amazing cake and cookies Tory made

Abby with her mommy and daddy

Abby so excited to open her gifts!!

Well, that just about sums up the last couple of months. We've got several things planned for the 4th of July weekend. We are also trying to decide if we are going to take a vacation this summer, Colorado is in the lead but I really, really wish I knew when we will be going to Africa!!! Enjoy the pics!--Staci

Referrals & Royals...

What can I say? Since our last post (May 8th) the referrals have been ROLLING in at CHI! 9-COUNT 'EM, 9 REFERRALS!!! We are now #20 on the overall list and in honor of being #20, I'm dedicating our new adoption # picture to one of the greatest K.C. Royals of all time: #20, Frank White! I'm certain that our "actual" number is actually much, much lower but our agency won't give us that info. It's really amazing, we spent what seemed like months in the 30's and now, within a matter of days, we have blown through the 20's like they were nothing. Things are starting to get really exciting on the adoption home-front. Maybe it's time to start looking for new closet doors for the nursery, finish painting the house and stain the deck, since I'm sure the few months between our referral and travel will be filled with shots, packing lists, travel bookings, dotting our i's and crossing our t's.

In other Hansel-news: last week my brother and I treated our dad to a Kansas City Royals game for his birthday. It has been years and years since our annual outings to the K so I thought this would be a great b-day gift for dad. We had a blast! Not only did we get some quality family time in but the Royals won, 8-1. It was great just hanging out with Dad and Ryan like the good ole days.

Until next time, have a great & safe holiday weekend and congrats to the lucky 9 who received referrals this past week!--Kris

Marriage!

Today Kris and I celebrate 7 years of marriage! I love spring and this time of year always reminds me of our wedding, because everything was in bloom, especially the spirea bushes. I had two very good friends do all the flowers, and since the spirea bushes were in full bloom they used some in the candelabras in the church with the other flowers, they were so beautiful.

This reminds me of our wedding each spring, the spirea bush!

my parents gave us this bush for our anniversary the first year we were in our home.

I will leave you with a few wedding pics! Enjoy!--Staci

this is my favorite and I loved my bouquet!

New number...

For all you number watchers out there, I was informed yesterday by Toni, that we are number 28 on the overall wait list. I am hoping there are still several families in front of us waiting on boys.

These last several months have been so discouraging with referrals so hopefully these next several months will be much better! So anyone who reads our blog please pray for Kris and I, it is so hard to be so close but feel so far away.--Staci

CHI waiting list and JBJ play list...

Just found out that we've moved up 1 more spot on the wait list. A couple that was #11 overall and #7 in line for an infant girl, just requested a child on CHI's waiting childs list. This should move us fairly close to the 20's overall. We have absolutely no idea what our "actual" number is for an infant girl 0-12 months, however. At this point it's all one big waiting and guessing game. Here's to more referrals this week. Let's keep them rolling in!

Blog Design Update: Just added a music player to our blog. Enjoy our kickin' J.B.J. play list found at the bottom our page!--Kris

8 months and referrals in the air...

Today marks 8 months on the list and already this week there have been 3 referrals!!! We received an update from our agency informing us of 2 referrals on Monday. Yesterday we received notice from a family that they had received a referral yesterday morning. We never received an official update from CHI so I'm hoping they had so many more referrals that they didn't have the time to post an update. Fingers crossed for many more.--Staci