Countdown to Ethiopia!

OUR DAY-first "family photo"as a family of five (notice Helen's picture!)

Baby Girl's pink paradise

Hope Helen likes pink!!

Happy Birthday, Nana!!

Picture from a sweet family who went to pick up their tiny baby boy!! Helen has a photo album we sent her in her hands!! We LOVE YOU SO MUCH, Helen!!

This week has been a blur. We have finished Helen's bedroom and made travel and lodging arrangements. Now, we have to pack...!!! Tomorrow we are going to shop for supplies for Helen's orphanage...thanks to many great friends and family, we are going to be able to take more than we originally thought! Thanks to everyone who donated baby supplies or gift cards or money (thank you notes will come...)

We are so honored to take pictures and/or packages to sweet children in Ethiopia waiting for their families. I have attempted to contact everyone who has left us a message. If for some reason, you have not heard from me, PLEASE try to contact me again!! I don't want to leave anyone out!!

Please pray for our safe travels-Two more weeks until we leave for Ethiopia!!!

Here she is.....Helen Gonder Britt!!!

Our little messy Marvin-she fits right in with our family!!

Love her beautiful smile!!

Look at those beautiful eyes-my dad says she has his eyes!!

Our referral picture-what a beautiful little lady!! This one makes me smile every day!!!!

It is a miracle-we have a daughter (and a sister!) Meet Helen Gonder Britt-The minute we saw her picture, heard her name and her birthday (April 16th-Will's is April 19th and Wesley's is April 11th-what about that for a sign!!) we knew she was our daughter!! We are so honored to be her parents. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers-We travel to Ethiopia on December 6th-please pray again for safe travels and an easy transition for Helen.

If anyone would like for us to take a package or take pictures of your little ones, (or big ones) we would be glad to.

Thank you again. This has been an amazing journey...and it is just getting started!!

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow...you are only a day away!!

Telling the boys about our court date!!

Baby B's digs.

Our preacher calls her the chandelier baby-What? Doesn't every girl need a chandelier?

W1's "basketball court"

W1's cool loft bedroom courtesy of my husband and dad!!

Well, by this time tomorrow, we should know whether we passed our court date. Thanks for all of the well wishes and prayers. We are so hopeful that good news is coming our way.

I have been in serious nesting mode. W1's room is almost complete-it is so cool-He loves it. (Thanks Pawpaw and Dad B!!) We are currently finishing Baby B's room-it needs some accessories and curtains but it is a pink paradise!!

Some wonderful friends gave us a surprise baby shower over the weekend and we received a ton of supplies for Baby B's orphanage as well as some really great gear for her!! I will post those pics. as soon as I receive them.

Thank you for joining us on our journey to our daughter. She truly is our dream come true!

COME ON COURT DATE!! UPDATED****

W1's unfinished room. See the red in the corner? That has been there for a month!

W1's cool loft bed, just waiting to be finished...

Does this look like a little girl's room to you? Hopefully it will soon!

W2 at awards day. He racked up!

W1 and the crew at awards day!

Two Gladney families passed court this week and will be traveling to Ethiopia in November to pick up their children!! Yeah! One family has graciously agreed to take a package to Baby B. The wait for a court date is getting really difficult...I keep thinking that she HAS to be home by Christmas. It will be so hard without her.

Well, we have such a mess, here. We have been working on W1's new room for 2 1/2 months now. I am getting really frustrated waiting on people who never show up (or answer their phone!) My Dad is ready to finish W1's cool loft bed and we have some neat surprises in store...I just want Baby B to have her own room, not just a pile of stuff in a corner.

Maybe good news is right around the corner. Praying for all waiting for court dates and referrals!! Still stalking your blogs and LOVE to see good news!!

WE HAVE JUST RECEIVED A COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS NOVEMBER 13, 2009!!!! PLEASE PRAY THAT IT GOES SMOOTHLY AND WE ARE ABLE TO TRAVEL BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

A Great Success!

Chillin at the yard sale (notice W2's bookmarks-)

Some of our yard sale contributions!

W2 cleaning up a toy!

Our yard sale for Baby B's orphanage this past Saturday was a great success!! We had 20+ friends and family donate items and we made $800.00 for Baby B's foster care center in Ethiopia. It was so much fun and we had such wonderful responses from strangers who came to the yard sale. Thanks to all who supported us!! We can feel all of the prayers lifting us up!

Courts in Ethiopia reopened on Monday, Oct. 12th. At least one family from our agency has received a court date in a couple of weeks. I keep hoping that the next phone call we get, is Natalie with our court date!!

Have a great week!!

Still here!

Run W2, RUN!!

My little nascar driver

Dad B trying to pass W1!

W2 and his pal since birth, E. She is a sweetheart.

We are staying so busy at the Britt household. Soccer, scouts, tennis, choir, SCHOOL, remodeling and now a yard sale. W1 has decided to do his school project on the orphans of Ethiopia. In conjunction with his project, he is having a yard sale and all of the proceeds will go towards buying supplies for Baby B's orphanage. We have been cleaning out the house and hopefully friends will come through with some donations for the sale. Every little bit helps. We are so proud of the boys for wanting to donate their time (and toys) for such a wonderful cause.

A wonderful family, sent us 14 pictures of our daughter this past weekend (while I was at the beach scrapbooking her life book). They took a care package to Ethiopia for us and it is so neat to see her holding items that we picked out just for her. Our case worker has also sent several updates this week and we feel so blessed to see how happy she is and how much she is growing. She has a head full of beautiful black curls!!!

On a sad note, the courts in Ethiopia are not reopening on schedule so several families have lost their court dates. Please pray for quick, new court dates for them and that we receive a court date soon as well. Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers-you don't know how much they help!!

Happy 17 months, Baby B!! WE LOVE YOU!!

SEVEN SHOTS!!! (each)

Dad B's grandmothers 90th birthday celebration.

Our new hobby-the men all caught a catfish at the same time!!

Well, it has been awhile since I have updated our blog. Everything is going well-we are definately staying busy with school, sports, scouts and church. We still have a lot of remodeling to do but hopefully we will be finished by the middle of October. We finally got (some) of our shots today. Oh, it hurt, but Dad B was proud of me-I did not pass out. We have so much else to do-packing alone could take weeks. No, we don't have a court date but we are VERY hopeful we will get an October date and have her home by Thanksgiving. Wishful thinking...maybe...but I just need her in my arms. Everyday she is growing bigger and bigger and we are MISSING IT!! I am just so thankful for our agency and the caregivers in Ethiopia. The children all look so loved and happy.
Today, Baby B. turned 17 months old. I thought about her all day-especially during the shots-and wondered if she knows how loved she is. Everyone is so excited about her-the number of people who ask about her, send notes to us, and of course pray for us is staggering. We have been so blessed. I am saving everything to create a Lifebook for her to have when she gets older. It makes me sad that we don't know what her first 12 months were like, but we are going to have so many memories together!!
Have a wonderful week. It is wonderful to see the referral list on the FBI getting longer!