What is the word on Sami?

I received word from our agency Tuesday this week that things are moving quickly with the gathering of documents that will allow us to be submitted to Embassy for Sami!  All that is now needed is his medical report.  If they receive this by next Wednesday, we will be submitted to embassy next week!  {Praying for this!  Join us?!?}  If this medical report is not received by April 11th, we will be submitted the following Wednesday, as Wednesday is the only day for our agency to submit to embassy.  

PRAYING it is NEXT WEDNESDAY, April 11th!  That would be just 21 days after passing court!  But.....we will still praise God if it is the following Wednesday, April 18th, too!  This means that we should be submitted in at least 12 days!  Wahoo!!!

We are enjoying a surprising number of notes, emails, and FB comments from various AWAA peeps who have met our sweet Sami while they were over in Ethiopia.  It is such a blessing to receive these!  They usually comment on how "amazing" he is, "what a blast they had with him", how "handsome" he is, what a "stellar soccer player he is", "what a great big brother he will be", and what an "incredible boy" he is.

Can you imagine what these words do to my momma heart!?!?!?  How it blesses me to know that other people ~ including those who aren't even delivering him a care package ~ are taking time to get to know him and love on him in our absence!  And what a JOY to know that others also see what his kind and sweet spirit he has!

Sami has such a heart for Jesus that it overflows from him and others can't help but notice what a special soul he is!  What a treat to receive such raving emails about OUR SON!!!!!  An incredibly special boy he is, indeed!!!!

THANK YOU to all who are sending me the emails and notes!  You are blessing our days and helping us feel a bit closer to him with each word you send! {BIG mama grin inserted here}

Below are a couple pics we have received since our time together with Sami in Ethiopia.....

 So sweet to see Sami with Angela & Darrin, our great AWAA 

friends who live in Oregon and will be going camping 

(and more!) with us and their 3 kiddos!  

That is there sweet Josie in Daddy's arms!

Listening to the necklace we sent with our voices 

telling him we love him!

AWESOME to see him smiling so BIG!

 Playing.

 David is our dear friend (and driver) in ET.

Becoming the best of friends!

 Hangin' out of David's van.

Playing with a confetti gun we sent in one of his packages.

Loving life and letting his silly side show!

Another AWAA friend sent me this pic of 

what Sami had written with chalk.  So sweet.

At Bittercreek restaurant celebrating PASSING COURT for Sami!

Waling to the car afterwards

WE ALL HAD GLOWING SMILES THAT DAY!  

And have every day since!!!!

HE IS OUR SON!!!

WE AWOKE TO THE FABULOUS NEWS TODAY THAT...

 SAMI MARQUEZ 

IS LEGALLY OUR SON!!!!

WE PASSED COURT!!!!!  WE PASSED COURT!!!!  WE PASSED COURT!!!!

Yes, the Ethiopian Courts recognize Sami (pronounced Sah-mee) as OUR SON!!!  We are so OVERJOYED this morning that I cannot even sit still!!!  My heart is beating so fast and all the heaviness it has been feeling due to the court delays have been lifted!  My heart is light and DOUBLY FULL!!!

We feel SO BLESSED by the beautiful boys (on the inside and out) that God has gifted to us!!!!

"The Lord has done great things for us, 

and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:3

Lord, your handprints can be seen all over our adoption story, and we cannot even begin to THANK YOU for this long, challenging, but on-so REWARDING and BLESSED path that You placed us on!  You have been with us every.single.step.of.the.way!  And you placed in our lives such amazing friends and family to walk alongside us!  We are humbled.  Awed.  Over the moon HAPPY.  And blessed beyond our wildest imagination!!!!!  Thank You, Lord!!!!

Though we knew that once the MOWCYA letter arrived, the judge said she would pass us, but we had NO IDEA WHEN that letter would be written or how long the judge would let our case sit on her desk.  We were floored, PLEASANTLY surprised and EXSTATIC to receive this news!

Oh, how I wish we could BE THERE when Sami learns that "YES!  YOU FINALLY PASSED COURT!!!  YOU ARE OFFICIALLY A MARQUEZ!!!!"  He should learn of this tonight as we sleep!

 He has written his name on the walls by his bed!

Sweet!

SAMI means "on high; exalted one."   Beautiful.  Just like him.  Just like his God-loving, genuine, caring, peaceful, joyful soul.  We are so IN LOVE with our son!  Our time together in Ethiopia was ever so amazing and it was fun to learn more of who he is with each new day!  

SAMI is the reason I had that dream near the start of our adoption process two years ago ~ HE is the precious second child God placed in my dreams to prompt us to be approved for two children!  SAMI is one of our children whom God planned for US from the very beginning!  


Sami and Kaleab are the TWO CHILDREN we feel God promised us four years ago on a trip to Colorado.  On our drive to Jeff's parents' prayed together about our fertility issues and our desire to become parents........and on that trip, shortly after our prayer time......we literally saw DOUBLE RAINBOWS!  Four different double rainbows in a matter of a couple of hours!  Rainbows ~ a Promise from God.  TWO!  We so felt He was telling us He had TWO special children for us!  And He completes His promise today!  Thank You, Heavenly Father!

Our house that was so quiet and yearning for the sound of laughter and children will now be FULL of TWO boys!!!!  Two precious boys that YOU planned for us from the beginning!!!!

AWED!  HUMBLED!!!  

and 

SO ETERNALLY GRATEFUL!!!!!

I am so excited to share his beautiful face with you, now that our adoption is legal!
 

Without further ado, I introduce to you our amazing older son, Sami........

Our Sami walking out to meet us as his parents!

 The first picture of the three of us TOGETHER!!! 

Our FIRST FAMILY PHOTO!

Brotherly love.

 My three boys!

 Momma and her sons!

Brothers Forever.

Family.  Cute expression, Sami!

Handsome.

Christmas in Ethiopia!

 Together as a FAMILY for Christmas in ET (Jan 2012)!

 Heaven.....

Dad and Sami.  Love this.

Having lunch together!

 BSU's newest fan!

I couldn't ask for more!.....

As we celebrate our SON today, know that we celebrate each of YOU as well!  THANK YOU for your continued prayers, support and encouragement along this journey to our boyS!!!!

What happens now?  We pray that the documents needed for Embassy submission are gathered efficiently, though it is taking roughly 5-10 weeks to do this.  Then, US Embassy will have 10 days to respond to us their plan for clearing us and inviting us to return to Ethiopia and BRING.OUR.SON.HOME!!!!

We are hoping Sami is HOME end of May our in June!


Sleep well, my son, resting in the knowledge that God has remembered you.  God has given you the family you shared you prayed for every day.  And He has given Mom and Dad a family that far surpasses anything we could have dreamed or prayed for!


God has blessed the four of us with each other.  He is the center of our lives and our family.  He is finishing what He has started!  He is going to BRING SAMI HOME!!!


We love you, Sami, more than words can say.  Sweet dreams, as you sleep, my son!  May you awaken to this fabulous news!  YOU.ARE.OUR.SON!!!!!

THANKSGIVING EVE.....

Many of you have asked me how it was the night before passing court.  Words are hard to find that describe those exciting and nerve-wrecking emotions storming throughout my mind and body that night!  I could not get myself to go to bed until 2:30am.  I fell asleep praying and awakened every 45-60 minutes.  I swear!  And each time I awoke, I felt as though I was still praying!  I would continue with my prayers until I fell asleep again.  Only to repeat this all. night. long.  Or at least the 5 hours I spent in bed that night!  {smile}  I felt as though I prayed all night long.

And it brought me peace.  Amongst my cautious excitement.  And amidst the fear stirring within me.  The fear of hearing another "no."  Oh, the struggle of BELIEVING and not letting myself get too excited, to protect my momma heart.

I guess the best way to explain my experience is to share with you a letter I wrote on Thansgiving Eve.  To my son and to my Heavenly Father.

Wow.  It is THANKSGIVING EVE 2011.  Yes, the night before we awaken to the news.  Praying the news is that YOU, our little man, are OUR SON!!!  FOREVER!!!  Oh, my, has this road to bringing you home been a long one.  I still can’t believe it has been four months today since we held you in our arms!  Our second Court Date is November 24^th, which is starting in a matter of minutes in Ethiopia.

I can’t get myself to lie down and go to bed.  I can’t quiet my mind or calm my thoughts. I just jump from one activity to another.  Physically, and/or in my mind.  Either way, it keeps my mind going.  Fast.  In my effort to have distractions ease of the waiting.

Will you ask me to wait longer, Lord?????????????

I can’t seem to concentrate on any one thing tonight.  I stop to pray and sometimes I feel I have no words left to pray.  Other times I pray so fervently I feel my prayers alone are storming the heavens!  {That’s a good thing, dear son!  That’s a good thing!}  J 

We all are storming the Heavens with our prayers!

There are SO MANY people praying for you tonight!  Praying for that Mowcya letter to be in our file, for favor from the judge on our family case, for sweet glorious news in the morning!!!  Seriously, you would babble loudly if you knew just how MANY people are praying on our behalf, dear son!!!! 

Adoption is a spiritual battle.  What God designs so beautifully, satan tries to destroy.  The GOOD NEWS is that whenever the enemy battles Our Heavenly Father, he never wins!  GOD wins!!! Every. Single. Time!!!!  THANK YOU, LORD!!!!  For battling on our behalf!  For loving Kaleab so much that you have brought him  to his family.  For loving Jeff and me so much that you brought US to Kaleab!  THANK YOU, Lord, that there is POWER in our prayers!

Please, God.  PLEASE!  Let the morning greet us with song.  Oh, how I desire to hear a beautiful song ~  song that celebrates the union of our son with us, and us with him.  FOREVER!!!  We know this to be your will, Lord, and we ask you to finish this waiting.  There is still so much more ahead with embassy.  So. Much. more.  Please let us step off of this stage of Court and move FORWARD toward embassy and bringing our sweet Kaleab HOME!!!!

If the APPROVAL letter is completed, won’t you please place it in our family file and place our file on the top of the day’s pile?  If the letter is not yet written, won’t you please place our family heavy onto a mowcya staff member’s heart…..so much so…..that s/he cannot do anything until s/he writes our APPROVAL letter AND gets it to the judge before the days’ end!  And Lord, won’t you PLEASE expedite the sharing of this information to in-country staff, and then to Kristen and then to US in a swift and efficient manner!?!?!?!?

My arms ache to hold our son again.  I walk with such a void, as my heart is in Ethiopia.  Loving on BOTH of our sons.  Please help to fill part of that void with finalizing “Baby K’s” adoption.  This very night.

I CAN give this over to You.  I NEED to give this over to You.  YOU are the one to make this all happen.  YOU are the one who put this ball in motion.  You always finish what you started……and we cannot WAIT for You to finalize this step for us!

Oh, how we would LOVE to spend Christmas with our boys!  Ethiopia ~ picking up Baby Kaleab and PASSING Court for "Big Brother!"  All in one trip!  YOU can do this, Lord!  You can do this!!!!  I pray this be your will for our family!!!  Starting with Passing Court over the next few hours!!!

You have gifted us these precious boys.  And I TRUST you to bring them HOME to us!

I BELIEVE, Lord!  I BELIEVE!!!!

In Your Name I Pray……..

So eternally grateful for our Thanksgiving gift of a divine "YES!"  Thank You, Lord, for gifting us our son ~ KALEAB WILLIAM JEFFREY MARQUEZ!!!   On Thanksgiving Day, you made Kaleab more than our son in our heart and soul......you made him legally and officially OUR SON!!! 

Still pinching myself to see if THIS is REALLY my life!!!!

Life. Is. GOOD!

VIDEO ~ Our Journey to Kaleab

Wow.  What a journey this has been!  And what an amazing story it is!!!  
God's handprints are seen all over our family adoption story!


So much so, that we made this video to capture it all up to this point!  I say we, but really, I only helped pick out pictures and wording....Jeff did ALL the techy stuff!!!   THANK YOU, DADDY, for giving us such a precious way to remember our journey forever!!!!


We are so blessed to walk this road with so many loving and prayerful friends and family members!  We are excited to share this video with each one of you!!!!


Please scroll down to the bottom of the blog ~ hit pause button to shut off music ~ then come back up here and press play button on our video.  

HE IS OURS!!!!!

We are SO HAPPY to inform you that today ~ this very special THANKSGIVING DAY ~ at 8:36am, we received the call from Kristen telling us that WE PASSED COURT!!!!  {yes, you heard me right!}

He is OUR SON FOREVER!!!!!

I swear my neighbors and peeps miles away can hear my squeals ~ and down right screams ~ of JOY!!!  Tears keep strolling down my face!!!!!  Tears of gratitude, awe and PURE EXCITEMENT and JOY!!!!

PRAISING GOD for our precious little boy!!!!
And we THANK each of you for ALL of your precious prayers!!!!

May I proudly introduce to you..........

KALEAB WILLIAM JEFFREY MARQUEZ!!!!!!!!!

 Those beautiful eyes melt. my. heart!

 We find him captivating!

 Sweet, Sweet Boy!

Chompin' away on a toy we sent over.

In his crib with teddy bear we made for him

MOMMY and DADDY SOOOOOO LOVE YOU, BABY!!!!

On this beautiful day of THANKSGIVING, we are SO THANKFUL for our TWO precious blessings!  And to have us pass court for Baby Kaleab on THIS day, well......that is just icing on the cake!!!!

May each of you have a very blessed and grateful day on this THANKSGIVING DAY, as you too, reflect upon the ways in which our Heavenly Father has blessed your life in big and small ways.

The LORD has done great things for us, 
and we are filled with joy. 
Psalm 126:3