We Are DTE!!!

I haven't written since April 4th because there hasn't been much to say. Our dossier was submitted to our agency in Kentucky on that date. Since then it has been reviewed multiple times to make sure everything is there, both in Kentucky and at our placing agency in Utah. It was sent to the capital of Utah to get the seal, whatever that's for, then to DC to the US and Ethiopia embassies to be translated and authenticated. We got an email last Monday saying it was being sent from Utah to Ethiopia, and we received a tracking number. Through FedEx tracking we watched it go from Utah to Memphis to Dubai and arrive in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Technology is so cool!!!

Thursday May 23, 2013 we were DTE, or Date To Ethiopia! It's kind of a big deal. We will talk about this date for years and years to come. Ethiopia adoptive families talk about their DTE and referral dates all the time, and it's what interested parents ask about when considering a country and agency. Those two dates give prospective families an idea of how long their wait for a child might be.

Speaking of wait times, it looks like ours will be very long. We are officially on the wait list and will receive our number the first week in June. Our number will probably be around 120. That means there are 120 families ahead of us. Each family has different specifications for what they are asking for, so only some of those will be asking for a little girl under 2 like us, but still, there are many many families in front of us. Ethiopia is a good program and has gained in popularity with other countries closing or going through changes. I'm thinking our wait will be close to two years. Peter thinks God will move and something will happen and it will be one year, but God is in the lives of all these other families too, and they are praying the same prayers we're praying, so I don't know. But anything is possible with God! When I get discouraged about the wait, I remind myself that we've been talking about adopting for two years, and those years flew by. But most importantly, we have two healthy beautiful boys. For many families on that list, their only hope of having a child is adoption. I heard someone say one time that those years are going to pass whether we're on the waiting list or not. That's so true, we feel like God has called us to do this, the time will pass either way.

So what are we doing in the meantime? We're saving and raising. One good thing about a long wait is it gives us more time to save money and raise money for the adoption costs. We had about 1/3 of it set aside before we began, but that is gone now with all the agency and home study fees and the government documents. We had to charge our last agency payment unfortunately, but have almost raised enough money to pay that off. We don't have anymore money due until we receive a referral. At that time we will have a large amount due to accept the referral, and then an even larger amount needed for travel expenses. I read the other day that airfare to Ethiopia is about $2600/ticket right now, and we will be traveling two times, and taking the boys the first trip. So thankfully we have this time to do yardsales, Facebook-A-Thons, t-shirt sales, etc.

We have a yardsale planned for June 15th and have received lots of donations of stuff to sell. People have been so generous, and it is greatly appreciated! The boys are going to do a lemonade and bake sale too, which they're very excited about. Grandma Pam started a Facebook-A-Thon which is an event where she and we invite our Facebook friends to donate just $5 and invite all their Facebook friends to do the same. It's kind of like a chain letter and ongoing because friends invite friend. People can donate anytime by going to PayPal, and giving to cnstover@hotmail.com or go to the expectingelynne.com website and click on donations and give through the 100 Good Wishes site. We can't tell you how much your donations and support mean to us. We feel so blessed to have such great friends and family. Thank You!

Current Prayer Requests:
- Please pray that we will have a good turnout at the yardsale and that through the yardsale and
   Facebook-A-Thon we will be able to pay off this last agency payment
- Pray that Ethiopia will remain a stable and open program while we're waiting.
- Pray for Woudneh, the man in Ethiopia who matches families together with children. Please pray that with
   this long waiting list, if he needs an assistant, someone will be hired to help him and keep things moving.
- As always, please pray for Elynne and her biological family.

Thank you all for your support!!!