I just wanted to say thank you to all of you emailing us and leaving comments on the blog. We are so excited and happy to share this with all of you. If I took the time to respond to them all I would never get finished. Thanks for all of your prayers, tears, support, and love through this journey.
Here is another droopy-eyed picture of Cooper Theo Teddy:
Oh, what a wait it has been!
This morning I was laying in bed, trying to avoid my usual school day mom duties, just enjoying the extra few minutes of sleep when my phone rang. It was Grace. I honestly assumed that she was calling to tell me that we are having more problems with the hotel we are using for the Hope Adoption Reunion. Instead she informed me that WE FINALLY PASSED COURT FOR THEO TEDDY COOPER.
I sat in silence for a couple beats and then asked her if she was kidding me. She said no. After that I couldn't figure out how to form a complete sentence. Needless to say it was the shortest conversation Grace and I have ever had.
This weekend my Uncle, who is really a second cousin, passed away and we have all been sad and needing some cheering up. What a blessing to get such wonderful news after a weekend filled with so much sad.
Jeff and I are still in a state of shock! May 20th of last year I was in Niger, West Africa waiting to hear back on our 2nd court date. This May 20th I will be in Ethiopia finally getting to bring our baby home! Wow, weird! Cannot believe this!
I haven't been able to post this yet because of so much going on with us. Jeff made it home safely and our jewelry show was good. But the great news is that Jeff said he visited Mo his last day on the Mehanna Road and when he got there Mo was up and getting around, fever gone! He was planning on going back to work. He hadn't been well enough to do this for over two weeks. Jeff and Mark got ahold of some antibiotics once they were finally able to go back into town and took them out to Mo a couple of days before they left but Jeff said that Mo was already feeling better the day after they sat and prayed with him.
What a cool thing, huh?! Who knows what would have happened if Jeff and Mark hadn't visited Mo in Niger at the just right time.
God is very cool!
Jeff has been in Niger since Friday. Today I got an update from Jeff and I wanted to share because it is something that I would like to ask for prayer for.
Jeff told me that he went to visit his friend, we'll call him Mo because I don't know if I am allowed to share his real name. Jeff met Mo on his first trip to Niger and was privileged to help disciple him for several days. Mo had been baptized by our Pastor when our church first started the Africa missions. He is one of the few converted Muslim men that has not wavered in his commitment to Christ.
Jeff said that when he got to Mo's hut that Mo was "....very, very sick with a high fever that has persisted for two full weeks." Usually Jeff is excitedly greeted by Mo at the front door of the hut but this time Mo could not get out of bed. The medical care is so poor along the Mehanna Road that often times people die of simple things that turn into terrible infections. They die of Malaria which is easily treated with the right medicines. It is very sad. I don't know yet what illness Mo is suffering and I suspect that he doesn't know himself.
Jeff said that they prayed and sang over Mo and that it was a very powerful experience, still he doesn't think his friend will live much longer.
Please pray for Mo and for Jeff and Mark (his friend who he went with). I know this trip has been wonderful for him so far but how do you say goodbye to a friend who's suffering when you know it may be the last time you"ll see them on this earth. My heart is breaking for all of them.
Today is Ben's 7th or 10th birthday depending on who you ask. According to the Ethiopian government he is 7 and the more we get to know Ben the more we agree with Ethiopia. He is very immature. Very little brother-ish if you ask Aiden. But this is good and he is handling it fine because that makes him the same age as the kids in his class.
Ben with his soccer gear and new sunglasses
Ben with his friends Matthew and Jacob
Ben told me today that he remembers having a birthday with Eyatah, his Ethiopian mom but it was not like the birthdays in America. He has had such a very good day. He is such a very good boy.
License Plate Initial Funky Junk Charms
Click here for Junky Monkie Blog
Some of you can relate to that statement. I would normally worry that they would stalk my blog and find that statement and deny my case but it seems to me that they don't even have time to do their jobs correctly. Which would mean they don't have time to "blog-stalk" like they say they do. And to be honest it's more than likely they don't know what a tanning bed is anyway, so I think it's a safe insult.
For those of you who don't know, MOWA is the Ethiopian agency in charge of processing adoptions. I am not a fan of their work.
Today they have lost my original paperwork. Everyone has copies but we really need originals to get processed. At least they haven't rescheduled us, our case has been left open and when the paperwork is located we will be heard by the judge. This is the same thing that happened with Ben's case. Not the lost paperwork just the case being left open.
I will keep you all posted. Some how, some way they will get our baby home, we just have to continue to be patient. We've had lots of practice at that by now.
