Not yet you say??

That's right... unfortunately our case was not passed this week. Looks as though we are needing yet another document. Sooo ... our next court date is March 5th and with God's help we'll be going to get Ana by the end of March.

Yesterday was not a good day for either Kyle or I. I probably took it the worst as Kyle has his work to occupy his mind. Me, however, I ONLY have kid stuff to occupy my mind!! So I had a pity party for myself and told myself to enjoy it while it lasts because tomorrow is a new day! So I did - I cried like there was no tomorrow - filled the garbage with tissues - ate absolutely nothing (hard to believe I know) - and went to bed early (well I was already lying in bed, but I mean I went to sleep early). When I woke up this morning I thanked God for what he has given me - three beautiful children - a wonderful husband - a Mom who comes to my house to watch my pity party - and a Mother-in-law who takes care of my children so that I can have a pity party without being disturbed by "Mom, can you get me a drink?.

I appreciate all the calls, texts, & emails I've gotten sharing your concern and well wishes. I am so blessed to have so many friends and family that are just as excited to meet Ana as I am!
I will let you know of any other glitches, but I am praying that this is it and we'll be given the green light come March. We would really appreciate it if you would continue to pray, not only for us to be able to go in March, but for Ana and her caregivers as well.
Thanks and love to all,
Kathy

No News is Good News

Hi All!
Sorry I haven't written since before Christmas, but we really don't have anything new to relay to you. Our court date remains January 19th and we should find out that day whether the judges have passed our case or not. I have a good feeling that we will pass this time, as they just need to see the document we were missing last time. However, the Ethiopian judges have been a bit cranky as of late (so I hear through our agency) and you just never know what they are thinking. So we wait for the 19th! And we PRAY! Please, please pray that we pass court!! This is our last hurdle per say. Once we pass, the various agencies will produce Ana's birth certificate, passport, and visa. Dereje will pick up those documents once they are complete and then we will get a phone call saying we can book our flight. Now, just how long the agencies will take on producing that paperwork - you never can tell. Could be 1-2 weeks. If we are getting on a plane the first week in February, I will be very happy! If it happens earlier, I will be very, very happy!!
So your prayers are needed!! We appreciate all your inquiries and the excitement you share with us!!
Kathy

A Wonderful Christmas Gift

Today in the mail we received a DVD from our adoption agency with video of Ana!! She says her name and is sitting on the floor putting the different shapes in the appropriate slots. It was so good to see her in action and hearing her voice!! She is just precious!! Our travel date can't come soon enough!!

The other cases that weren't passed the first time are now passing the 2nd time. That is encouraging!! So I have no reason to expect anything different for our case on January 19th!! I pray we hear within a week or two after that, that they have all of our documents prepared for Ana and that we can travel soon after that.

I have been able to keep in touch with an American gal who is working as a nanny at the transition house via email. She gives me wonderful updates as to what Ana is doing and about her time there in Ethiopia. I now know that Ana is wearing size 3T shirts and 2T pants, so I suppose I can start shopping now - yah like I haven't done any shopping yet!!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and pray that your time with your loved ones is special!!

Three of our Blessings

The Freier Family will not be sending out our usual Christmas letter and picture this year. We are waiting for our new arrival - little Miss Ana! Instead, we will be sending you a Valentine's Day Freier Family Update!

But to document Christmas 2008, here are our 3 adorable kiddos sitting in front of the fire - complaining about how many pictures Mom is making them sit for! Actually, it wasn't that bad this year - as you can see, no one is crying or scowling or hitting their sibling!! Praise God!

From left to right: Andy (6 yrs), Matt (9 yrs) and Tina (5 yrs)

Welcome! We've decided to start a blog (I have no idea what that means, but it sounds very cool!) to keep our family and friends up-to-date with our adoption of a beautiful 3 year old girl from Ethiopia, named Ana. Kyle and I feel very blessed that we are able to experience this very wonderful, but very exhausting process. It will be a year in February since we first started our adoption process and we hope to have Ana home with us by the early part of February 2009. We aren't able to post pictures of Ana on this blog until we have Ana home. The Ethiopian government is very particular about their children being displayed on public websites and as much as we want to share her with all of you, we are going to follow their wishes.

We have been assigned a January 19th court date in Ethiopia. Our in-country representative will go to court for us and present all of our paperwork. As many of you know, we did not pass our first court date which was on December 3rd. The Ethiopian government is requiring a new document from the region in which the child is from stating that they are a true orphan and we didn't have that document by the time of our court date. We are told that our rep does have that document now and we should pass on the 19th. We hope to travel to Ethiopia 2-3 weeks after that! Your continued prayers for us to pass are so very much appreciated!

Kyle and I are so ready to bring Ana home. Matt, Andy, and Tina are as well - they can't wait to meet this little girl that we have been talking about and looking at her picture every day since September 18th, when we got her referral! Tina is especially looking forward to having a little sister - a girl to play dolls and dress-up with!

I want to thank all of my family and friends for praying for us - for almost an entire year!! We appreciate your love and support more than words can explain! And most of all we thank God for placing adoption on our hearts and for helping us see this through! A verse from the Bible that we have held near to our hearts is James 1:27 - Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. We are very thankful for and so undeserving of this gift that God has given us!

We hope you can follow our travels and Ana's homecoming!

God Bless You,
Kathy