As of May 1st, we are lucky number 13 on the wait list! The good news is that we moved three spots in a month. The even better news, hopefully, is that our agency seems to have been assigned a significant number of orphans, so we are hopeful we will see even more movement in the coming weeks!
We've been pretty busy since our last post. First, I wanted to share with you a very sweet gift from my Aunt, Tia, as I have always called her. She said it's my maternity shirt:
.JPG)
We spent a large part of the past several weeks filling out paperwork to apply for a grant through Show Hope. It's a non-profit organization founded by Steven Curtis Chapman that mobilizes individuals and communities to meet the most pressing needs of orphans in distress by providing homes for waiting children through adoption aid grants, and life-saving medical care for orphans with special needs. As of April 30th, our application was in their hands. Now we are just waiting, and hoping for some good news on a grant!
In the meantime, we took a trip to the health department to get several of the vaccines recommended for travel to Ethiopia. We've now been vaccinated for Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Tetanus/Diphtheria/Pertussis, and a booster on Polio. Our doctor needs to give us two more: Meningitis and Hepatitis A. Mike thinks he'll be invincible when we're done. I don't know about that, but I am hopeful we don't have any complications from any of these!
On the last Saturday in April, we finally joined several local families for their monthly tradition of eating at Tana restaurant. Each of the local families have at least one child adopted from Ethiopia, and they meet once a month at Tana to have great Ethiopian food, let the children play, and of course share experiences. This was our first time attending, and it was so great to see all of the kids! We knew some of the parents from our classes at the Children's Home, but it was also great to meet new families as well. We actually discovered that one of the families lives just a five minute drive from our house! The owner of Tana is Ethiopian, and he loves getting to see all of the children. He spent some time playing with them and took them on a "tour" of the kitchen. There really seems to be a great sense of community! We look forward to many more gatherings with these families, and of course, the great food at Tana!
As for an update on the nursery, not much has changed. We still haven't found enough motivation to put that crib together. We'd better find some soon though! And finally, before saying so long for now, I need to share with you a gift from my very dear friend Sarah. She says she just "had" to buy this for Baby Pillitteri:
.JPG)
