January 2012 Update

Since it has been over a year since we started this journey we have to update various things such as; backround checks, home study, fingerprints, etc.

Ethiopian adoptions have slowed down as the country sets new ethical guidelines. There has been some recent progress with that process. Heidi and I are accepting that as a long-term benefit to the health of the orphans. We are trusting God's timing and not our own. We know that God has a plan, however I keep telling him that I'm not getting any younger. Ultimately it is not about us so we will wait on the Lord.

Please keep our family in your prayers. We also ask prayers for the health of our child(ren) in Ethiopia. More than likely they are already born and are faced with challenges that may be beyond our comprehension. I.E. shelter, clean water, medical care, nurturing environment.

Ray

DTE

Well, after a few fixes to our dossier and the final approval from the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, DC, we have our DTE (Dossier To Ethiopia) date of July 27th. We are glad to have the paperwork in the hands of the Ethiopian government. The next step is to wait. As our adoption agency receives referrals from the orphanages they work with in Ethiopia, they will match children with families that are the best fit. Their best guess is that we will wait 4-8 months for our referral. We have asked for a boy ages 0-4 yrs. and said we would be open to sibilings.
Our little guy (or two) is out there waiting for a family and we can't wait to welcome him home!!

Dossier On It's Way

Our Dossier (adoption paperwork) is complete and will be on its way to Ethiopia this week. We are thrilled to have completed this step and now we must just wait and trust in God's timing. The expected wait time for the referral of a child/siblings in our age range is 4-8 months. Please pray for our child/children as they will experience major life changes as we excitedly await welcoming them into our family.

2-16-11 Twins?

Well, maybe not twins but we are open to adopting siblings.

1-26-11

Ray is in El Salvador this week on a mission trip. It is exciting to have him go, but this has put a hold on the adoption process for this week. When he returns, we will have two more interviews to complete for our home study. Last week the kids and I got our physicals. Faith and Quinn weren't very happy about it when they found out that they each needed a shot, but we made it through.
We have started to brainstorm our favorite boy names. No one has been in agreement yet so this may be the hardest part of the whole process. Any suggestions???

1-16-11

It has been a mad dash to collect paperwork and get things signed and notarized. Next we will embark on the interviews necessary for our homestudy. Things are moving along at a steady pace and we hope to have our homestudy completed by March. Then it will be on to more paperwork as we prepare our dossier which will be submitted to Ethiopia. When it's all said and done they should know everything there is to know about the Powers' family.

Ethiopia Adoption

Our journey begins with paperwork.