Court Dates, Kentucky Basketball, and Fund Raising....

Okay, so let's just say that last week was really hard.  We have been told for more than three weeks in a row that we would be getting our court date "this week."  It's one thing when you don't have a clue when it's going to happen, but when your agency actually tells you it's going to be any day, you cling to that hope.  And then when Friday has come and gone, your hopes are crushed until Monday comes, when you can start waiting with hope all over again.  I think our agency is just as surprised as us that we haven't gotten a date yet.  But, there is sun on the horizon.  We were told that last week another change in court procedures took effect.  This could be a positive thing!  Basically, the way it has been, is there is a preliminary court date, which just involves the birth family.  Then, 3-4 weeks later, we are appointed a court date, in which the children officially become ours in the site of the government in Ethiopia and the United States.  With this latest change, they are going to try to streamline court dates.  The way they want to try to do this is by having the birth family and adoptive family court appearances on the same day.  The birth family would come in the morning, and then we would go in the afternoon.  This would mean that we could have a court date 3-4 weeks earlier!  This is the bright side.  :)  There are some risks to doing it this way (apparently they are going to give adoptive families the choice to go to the earlier one or later one).  You could show up for court, but the birth family may not show up, further delaying things.  You could show up for court, and a birth mother might say she actually wants the children back, this happening usually after you have already met and bonded with your children.  The latter is not the norm, but it is possible.  At this point, Wes and I feel like the risk is worth it.  Of course, nothing will be definite until we actually have a court date.  Oh how I long for a court date!  It's coming.  I know it's coming.  :)

So, in the midst of the waiting, Wes and I are still trying to raise funds.  We have been fund raising fiends this year.  We have done knitted hat sales, where my mom has knit so many hats!  She is Norwegian, and knitting was a requirement in school, and now she can knit beautiful sweaters, dresses (for our baby girl), scarves, and hats.

By the way, you can buy one of these in any color you want for $25, and if you happen to have a favorite team (I'm guessing your favorite team is probably the Kentucky Wildcats, though), my mom can always make a hat that may or may not have letters that kind of look like that teams logo/letters (legally, we can't sell team hats....the hats above don't really stand for University of Kentucky, but for Unusual Kumquats...heehee).  They are $25, all hand made by a 100% Norwegian!  Just drop me an email if you're interested in one!  mullinsadoption@gmail.com

We have gone on crazy adventures to obtain signatures of the entire 2009-2010 Kentucky Basketball team (that's right....the team that had 5 of the top 25 recruits last year, including John Wall, baby!)and Coach Calipari on several basketballs.  And it paid off!  We paid about $35 per ball, and last week we sold 6 basketballs for $2500 within 4 hours of posting it on facebook.  AMAZING!!!

We sold T-shirts designed by the wonderful Kari Gibson and made around $1500 for our adoption!  By the way, there is still time to hop over to her blog and win a missions trip to Ethiopia in February (or you can nominate someone else to go if you win and you can't go).  You'll see the missions trip giveaway tab on the upper right hand column of this blog.  Get on over there!

And next month we will be doing one of our final fund raisers, which will be selling our newly designed T-shirts!  The unveiling will come soon!  Keep an eye out!  I will give you a little taste of the theme, though...."Worth It."

And finally, we just found out that Wes's work gives adoption assistance in the amount of $4,000 for EACH adopted child!  Yes, you read that right!  EACH.  That means we will be getting $8,000 from the wonderful St. Joseph Health System once we have brought Alexander and Eliana home!  Can you believe it!  I almost peed my pants when I found out the other day.  Yay for a company that believes in adoption so much that they give that kind of assistance! 

Recently my mom wrote me an email, saying she just felt like we were going to be able to finalize this adoption without any debt.  I think she was right.  More and more it is looking like everything is going to be covered.  I am humbled, overwhelmed, overjoyed, amazed, in awe....

So, I end this email with joyful hope.  There is nothing that can stop God from lavishing His love on His children!  Now God, you may lavish me with a court date.  ;)