This morning while doing laundry I was busy sorting and I turn around and Eli has on "brothers" football jersey! He was so delighted to be like "brother." He has quickly learned the word "football" and loves to watch his big brother play. It has been so wonderful watching him with Lauren and Trey. He loves them so much and wants to do what they are doing. :)
We had many people help us financially while in the process to adopt Eli. One of God's blessings to our family came from a local nonprofit called Seeds for the Fatherless. They were able to help us two times with travel exspenses to and from Ethiopia. This week they will celebrate their 5 year anniversary since their founding. To raise support they are doing a $5.00 donation (or more!!!!) to celebrate 5 years. What a great and easy idea, if you would consider giving up one trip to Starbucks or grabbing a quick lunch and send that money to Seeds for the Fatherless they would be able to help more families just like us. To see more about them check them out at.... www.seedsforthefatherless.com . You can mail your donations to Seeds for the Fatherless PO Box 57 Waverly, Iowa 50677. Thanks for considering helping a local foundation.
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I can't believe we have been home 3 weeks already. Eli is doing great!! It is going even better than we could've imagined or planned for. The weeks have been very busy adjusting to being a family and our new dynamics. Eli is learning a lot of new words everyday and amazes us with his understanding. Eli has had a lot of firsts....an ER visit to glue his forehead back together, trip to the park, ice cream, vomiting, church with so many smiling faces, lots of sporting events for his siblings, UNI football game, and many other fun visits by family and friends.There have been multiple times when Jim and I just look at each other and marvel at how God has picked the perfect child for our family. We find ourselves smiling all of the time at each other and enjoying how well he fits. Lauren and Trey are adjusting well also, they look forward to spending time with Eli everyday. Each morning everyone runs to get our first kisses and smiles for the day.
Thanks for being patient with me on my posting....I have realized that it has been awhile since I have had such a busy little one to care for. With Trey being 9, we feel like we are relearning so much about toddlers. :) I am hoping to continue to blog for awhile sharing more of our new life as a family. Thanks for all of the support we have received. God has blessed us so very much.
It is hard to believe that the end of the adoption process is here and the beginning of life as a family of five now starts. Today I have spent a lot of time thinking over how our life will be changing. I spent time looking at both of my kids today, studying their faces and thanking God for them. Life as we know it now is changing. We have been four for 9 years now and in two short weeks we will begin being five. I am excited but also a little nervous. Change has never been easy for me but I look forward to this change.
So are bags are packed, weighed, and ready to go. Our kids are excited this time for us to leave because they know this is the final step in getting their little brother home. One more day of work for both of us and we head out early Tuesday morning. We will be coming home on Sept 4th. In less than two weeks we will be home.
Please pray for safety for us traveling and in Africa but also our kids and their grandparents back here.
Pray for Eli- this little boy will have huge adjustments to make.
Pray for good health for all of us. My stomach had a difficult time last time, please pray this time will be different.
Pray as we pick up where we left off with Eli, pray that he will feel love from us.
Pray for the nannies as they will again say goodbye to another group of children they have cared for and loved.
Pray for our Embassy appointment on Monday, August 30th that everything will go smoothly.
Pray for wisdom for Jim and I with Eli.
Pray for Lauren and Trey as they stay home and have school. Pray that God will prepare them for the changes to come.
Pray for our parents as they will be taking care of Lauren and Trey.
Thank you for walking this journey with us. We have been blessed over and over again by so many wonderful people. This is God's story and we are thankful that we get to be a part of it. We will try to update while we are away, if not we will update as soon as we can get back on Iowa time again. :)
So are bags are packed, weighed, and ready to go. Our kids are excited this time for us to leave because they know this is the final step in getting their little brother home. One more day of work for both of us and we head out early Tuesday morning. We will be coming home on Sept 4th. In less than two weeks we will be home.
Please pray for safety for us traveling and in Africa but also our kids and their grandparents back here.
Pray for Eli- this little boy will have huge adjustments to make.
Pray for good health for all of us. My stomach had a difficult time last time, please pray this time will be different.
Pray as we pick up where we left off with Eli, pray that he will feel love from us.
Pray for the nannies as they will again say goodbye to another group of children they have cared for and loved.
Pray for our Embassy appointment on Monday, August 30th that everything will go smoothly.
Pray for wisdom for Jim and I with Eli.
Pray for Lauren and Trey as they stay home and have school. Pray that God will prepare them for the changes to come.
Pray for our parents as they will be taking care of Lauren and Trey.
Thank you for walking this journey with us. We have been blessed over and over again by so many wonderful people. This is God's story and we are thankful that we get to be a part of it. We will try to update while we are away, if not we will update as soon as we can get back on Iowa time again. :)
We finished painting Eli's room this weekend. Bought a toothbrush, an Iowa sweatshirt, and some snacks for the plane so we are feeling ready!! Called the insurance company, scheduled his first Dr.s appt when we get back, and picked up some children's Ibuprofen. We are working steadily through our lists of things to get done and ready for Eli's homecoming. It is fun to be in the home stretch and know that it won't be long now.
Last week we received an email from Bethany saying that they are hopeful we will get the August 31st Embassy appt. That means we could be to Africa and back in just 3 short weeks. That is so crazy to think about. We have been planning, praying, anticipating, fundraising, and now the time is actually coming! Please pray that we get our official invitation to travel early this week. Each day that passes costs more money in plane tickets!!! God knows all of this and has gotten us this far so we are resting in Him while we wait to hear the actual details.
Many of you are asking where we are financially, we are still a little short. If we get tickets early this week we are around $900 short, if it goes longer we will be paying more for our tickets. I have heard that the invitation could come soon or could be as late as Friday even. We still have 13 necklaces for sale at $20 a piece. Also some tshirts left at $15 a piece. Sizes will be posted below. Thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far, we are so full of gratitude to all of you. We will keep you posted as the week continues.
Tshirts sizes available are.... 1- 2xl adult
5- XL adult
6- medium youth
4- small youth
3-XS youth
Email me at bringhomeeli@gmail.com if you're interested!
Last week we received an email from Bethany saying that they are hopeful we will get the August 31st Embassy appt. That means we could be to Africa and back in just 3 short weeks. That is so crazy to think about. We have been planning, praying, anticipating, fundraising, and now the time is actually coming! Please pray that we get our official invitation to travel early this week. Each day that passes costs more money in plane tickets!!! God knows all of this and has gotten us this far so we are resting in Him while we wait to hear the actual details.
Many of you are asking where we are financially, we are still a little short. If we get tickets early this week we are around $900 short, if it goes longer we will be paying more for our tickets. I have heard that the invitation could come soon or could be as late as Friday even. We still have 13 necklaces for sale at $20 a piece. Also some tshirts left at $15 a piece. Sizes will be posted below. Thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far, we are so full of gratitude to all of you. We will keep you posted as the week continues.
Tshirts sizes available are.... 1- 2xl adult
5- XL adult
6- medium youth
4- small youth
3-XS youth
Email me at bringhomeeli@gmail.com if you're interested!
(For legal reasons, we cannot post pictures that show Eli's face until he's home with us)
We are home from Africa and adjusted back to Iowa time. However our hearts are still in Africa with a cute little African boy!!! Our time with Eli went even better than we could've imagined. From the first time we held him our relationship grew. You could tell that the nannies had prepared him for our visit. He was so laid back and interested in every little thing we showed him. Some of the things we loved about him are his smile with sweet little white teeth, his giggle, his huge dark eyes that lit up, and his playful personality!! The time with him flew by that we got to spend with him. He loved to carry around the "photo" book that we gave him and we said Lauren and Trey over and over again! He never did say there names though. He did say Dada, Mama, photo, yucky, and what. We are well on our way to him speaking english. :) Actually the communication went well, he seems to understand by our actions what we are trying to say. I think he will pick up english very quickly. His home where he is staying is so nice. The nannies love him and give him lots of hugs and kisses. It was so awful to leave him but good to know that he is well cared for while we wait.
The court date went well. At the end of our time with the judge she said, "Congratulation, he is yours!!" Those words were wonderful to hear. So he is officially a WEIMER!! It is so wierd to be his parents and yet not have him with us.
So now everyones question is.... When do you go back? We don't know forsure but we are now waiting on the US side of things. We are waiting to get his birth certificate, passport, and then be assigned an embassy appointment. They said it could be as soon as the end of this month or as late as October. Of course we are praying for the soonest possible date. Please pray with us that the paperwork goes quickly and we get him home!!!
Some cool God stories... the day we got home from our trip 3 little neighbor boys who had a lemonade stand while we were gone brought over a bag of money for Eli. How sweet is that! Then we sold Lauren's bedroom set for even more money then we listed it for in the swap sheet. God continues to provide! Thank you for following our story and praying along with us.
Me and Eli saying goodbye (for now).
PS - Our computer has a virus, so we haven't been able to check emails regularly. Hopefully it will be up and running soon.
We are here safe and sound, the flights went well. We were reminded of how long they are. Can't get to excited to turn around and do this again soon. I have not adjusted to the food well, been sick since we got here but the owner of the guesthouse is a real sweety. She keeps bringing me bland bread and sprite. She is sensitive to everyones needs and is wonderful at hospitality. The guesthouse is full of families. Two families picked up their children this week. The days have some ups and downs. Birtukan is a huge asset to these families.
Now onto the news everyone is waiting on...... Eli is WONDERFUL!!!!!! We met him today and the meeting went even better than we could've asked or imagined. He came right to me and hugged me right away. They had already prepared him that we are his mom and dad. He warmed up to us so well. His first american word was DaDa. Jim was thrilled. He then said MaMa, uh-oh, and boom. He LOVES bubbles!!! We played with bubbles for over one hour. He gave us lots of kisses and hugs and they were all wonderful. It is going to be so hard to leave him. Pray the time goes quickly. When we went to leave him today he kept putting his arms up to me wanting me to take him with us. The manager of the orphanage said this is so good, he loves you already. :) We can't wait to see him again tomorrow.
Our schedule is this.... tomorrow go to Bethany in the morning. Lunch at Guesthouse, then on to see Eli. Which by the way his orphanage is so nice, he is well cared for and loved. Tomorrow morning they will go over what to expect at court. Then tomorrow night we will go to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. I am looking forward to the experience but dreading the food. Friday we have court at 9:00. We are 8 hours ahead of you so please pray. We must pass court!!!! Then off to a restaurant and then to the orphanage. Saturday and Sunday we can't see him but have a full schedule of sight seeing planned. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday more time with Eli.
Please pray for my stomach. I would love to feel well so I can fully enjoy this experience. Otherwise things are so good. Love Eli sooooo much. Tell Trey and Lauren that their brother is going to be so much fun. He is going to love them. We did get a lot of video and pictures of him today. We even got him giggling on video and him kissing us.
We love you all so much and can't wait to share our precious Eli with you!!!! Will try to email after court if possible. Internet connection is difficult to get. Thanks!
Love you all,
Erin
Now onto the news everyone is waiting on...... Eli is WONDERFUL!!!!!! We met him today and the meeting went even better than we could've asked or imagined. He came right to me and hugged me right away. They had already prepared him that we are his mom and dad. He warmed up to us so well. His first american word was DaDa. Jim was thrilled. He then said MaMa, uh-oh, and boom. He LOVES bubbles!!! We played with bubbles for over one hour. He gave us lots of kisses and hugs and they were all wonderful. It is going to be so hard to leave him. Pray the time goes quickly. When we went to leave him today he kept putting his arms up to me wanting me to take him with us. The manager of the orphanage said this is so good, he loves you already. :) We can't wait to see him again tomorrow.
Our schedule is this.... tomorrow go to Bethany in the morning. Lunch at Guesthouse, then on to see Eli. Which by the way his orphanage is so nice, he is well cared for and loved. Tomorrow morning they will go over what to expect at court. Then tomorrow night we will go to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. I am looking forward to the experience but dreading the food. Friday we have court at 9:00. We are 8 hours ahead of you so please pray. We must pass court!!!! Then off to a restaurant and then to the orphanage. Saturday and Sunday we can't see him but have a full schedule of sight seeing planned. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday more time with Eli.
Please pray for my stomach. I would love to feel well so I can fully enjoy this experience. Otherwise things are so good. Love Eli sooooo much. Tell Trey and Lauren that their brother is going to be so much fun. He is going to love them. We did get a lot of video and pictures of him today. We even got him giggling on video and him kissing us.
We love you all so much and can't wait to share our precious Eli with you!!!! Will try to email after court if possible. Internet connection is difficult to get. Thanks!
Love you all,
Erin
Many of you are wondering how the pool party or should I really say bake sale turned out on Friday night? : ) The grand total from everything was $2,573!!!!!! We are humbled by the generosity of so many despite the weather. Thanks for all the words of encouragement. Jim and I feel so loved and encouraged as we head off to meet Eli tomorrow. We have a great support system of many wonderful people. Praising God this morning for all of his blessings!
So as we leave tomorrow, we do have a list of prayer requests....
1. For our kids as we leave them home with grandparents, for their safety and that they can really enjoy spending time with both sets of grandparents. We are so thankful to have both families so willing to love on our kids why we are gone. Both of you are the best!
2. For our flights especially on Monday, July 19th. We have a VERY narrow window to make our connection in Chicago, please pray we make it! And also that all of our luggage and donations for the orphanage make it.
3. To prepare our hearts and Eli's heart. It is overwhelming to think we will be meeting our son on Tuesday. What does he know about us? Will he be ready to receive love from us? Pray that we can begin to form a bond, that he will feel a connection with us and be drawn to us.
4. Pray that we pass court the FIRST time on July 23rd. Pray that all of the paperwork is there and in order. That everyone that needs to will show up and that the judge passes us on to the next stage of our adoption.
5. Pray for good health. Erin has a very sensitive stomach, so pray that we can manage all of the food changes. Also for the adjustment to a different time zone, that our bodies will adjust quickly.
6. Pray that we will be able to absorb and learn as much as we can about Eli's home. We want to able to fondly share with him some day all of the wonderful things about Ethiopia.
7. Most importantly, pray that we will show Jesus' love to everyone we see and have contact with.
God has been so good to us every step of this adoption process and to him we give thanks! We also thank so many wonderful people who gave of their time, talents, and money to support us this last Friday night. We could've never done it without you, so thank you! And to our families who have prayed for us without ceasing, please keep it up. We are going to meet the newest addition to the Weimer/Larsen clan- can't wait to share everything with you when we get back. We will try to have some updates while we are gone if at all possible, we have been told that communication can be unpredicatable. If not when we return we will update you. Keep praying!!
Just a reminder tomorrow night at 8:45 at the Cedar Falls Aquatic Center will be a fundraiser to help us bring home Eli. We will have swimming, a bake sale, tshirts and necklaces for sale, and also the concessions. ALL proceeds will go directly into our adoption account to help with our travel costs. If you can't come but know someone that can please help us pass the word. We appreciate so many people who have helped us with this event. Thanking God for his goodness!! Hope to see you tomorrow night.
Today we received an update on our sweet Eli! New pictures, new measurements, and new information about what he is doing currently (we aren't allowed to share pictures online, but you can see them in person). It is so great to have 6 new photos of him. We thought he was adorable in the first two pics but now that we can see him smile, he is sooooooooooooo cute!! His eyes light up and are so beautiful and dark. I can't wait to look into them, only a few days now. :) Also he has gained 2 lbs. We are thankful to hear that he has been eating well, he should fit perfectly into the Weimer family.
Today we received an update on our sweet Eli! New pictures, new measurements, and new information about what he is doing currently (we aren't allowed to share pictures online, but you can see them in person). It is so great to have 6 new photos of him. We thought he was adorable in the first two pics but now that we can see him smile, he is sooooooooooooo cute!! His eyes light up and are so beautiful and dark. I can't wait to look into them, only a few days now. :) Also he has gained 2 lbs. We are thankful to hear that he has been eating well, he should fit perfectly into the Weimer family.
Details, Details, Details.
Things are quickly falling into place. It is crazy how you go from one week of waiting and wondering into another week of lots of planning and packing. We confirmed plane tickets, a place to stay, the vet, and most importantly who will have our children!!! So now it is just getting the packing done and preparing to meet our precious son.
Many have asked where we stand financially, we are still $7,000 short. We are hoping that between the pool party, sales of tshirts and necklaces, and another garage sale that we could get this covered. God has faithfully been providing and we look forward to wrapping up the fundraising so that we can prepare more for bringing Eli home.
Things are quickly falling into place. It is crazy how you go from one week of waiting and wondering into another week of lots of planning and packing. We confirmed plane tickets, a place to stay, the vet, and most importantly who will have our children!!! So now it is just getting the packing done and preparing to meet our precious son.
Many have asked where we stand financially, we are still $7,000 short. We are hoping that between the pool party, sales of tshirts and necklaces, and another garage sale that we could get this covered. God has faithfully been providing and we look forward to wrapping up the fundraising so that we can prepare more for bringing Eli home.
WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I received "the call" from Leah while shopping at Wal-Mart this afternoon. Two weeks from today- July 23rd!!! Praise the Lord we will be traveling to Ethiopia soon. I can't even believe it. God is so good!!! We are praising him for his timing and his provision. I will post more very soon. Thanks for praying! Keep praying as we make reservations and buy plane tickets that God will continue to provide.
This week has been a rollercoaster of emotions and to be honest I am not exactly sure where we are at on this ride. The week started with some discouraging news coming out of Ethiopia that made a court date not appear anytime soon. Needless to say that was a huge disappointment for all of us because we thought we would be traveling sometime in July. Then yesterday while I was home eatting lunch with the kids our Bethany worker called and needed us to send some new paperwork in and felt like things are looking more optimistic for us. You think I would learn by now that nothing is positive in the adoption process, but somehow I can't always get my heart to follow my mind. In the saddness and frustration of Tuesday I realized just how much we love Eli Solomon. The thought of not having him with us soon about broke me. The thing I have to go back to is GOD KNOWS THE TIMING AND DOES NOT MAKE MISTAKES!!
So PLEASE be in prayer with us- this next week or two is very important in us getting to Eli soon. The Ethiopian court system shuts down in the fall for a period of time and we pray we make it in before that happens. Pray that our paperwork gets into the right hands and that MOWA has all of our paperwork together. Thanks for praying us through this ride of adoption, we are so blessed to have so many who care. We will definately keep you posted as new updates arrive.
And don't forget to save JULY 16th on your calendar for our swimming party. We are hoping to have great weather and a great turnout. Keep inviting people to come, we would love to pack out The Falls!!!!!!
So PLEASE be in prayer with us- this next week or two is very important in us getting to Eli soon. The Ethiopian court system shuts down in the fall for a period of time and we pray we make it in before that happens. Pray that our paperwork gets into the right hands and that MOWA has all of our paperwork together. Thanks for praying us through this ride of adoption, we are so blessed to have so many who care. We will definately keep you posted as new updates arrive.
And don't forget to save JULY 16th on your calendar for our swimming party. We are hoping to have great weather and a great turnout. Keep inviting people to come, we would love to pack out The Falls!!!!!!
This has been a great family weekend. We celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary, Lauren's 12th birthday, and Jim's birthday!!! It was good to have fun as a family of four. We are anxious to get Eli home but also realize that our life will be different then. I am so thankful for a great husband and father. 17 years has brought a ton of adventures and I wouldn't want anyone else by my side. It is fun to look back and see how perfectly God puts people together. I am blessed to have someone who is perfect for me. Love you Jim!! We also celebrated the joy Lauren brings to our home. She constantly amazes me with her tenderness and heart for God. I love to see her mind working and watch her develop in to a beautiful, young woman. It is sad to think our time with her is going fast but fun to see her grow in wisdom and independence.
A God story.... a few weeks ago I received an email from a gentleman who is the director of Seeds for the Fatherless. It was one of those friend of a friend emails. He was wondering if we had raised all of our support or if we were still in need of funding. Their mission is to honor Jesus by helping care for the needs of orphans. One of the ways is to help adoptive parents get to their adopted child. This was an encouragement to us because most grants you get you have to fill out lots of paperwork and get your friends and family to give references. God just brought this to us!!! Each day we wake up excited to see what God will do. He has brought so many people to help us bring Eli home. Thank you Jesus for being so generous to us.
Some current prayer requests....
That we would get our court date SOON!
That ticket prices would drop at that time.
For Eli as he will be moved to the transition house.
For our children as we will be seperated from them while we are in Addis.
For our Pool Party, that the weather would be great and lots of families will be able to attend.
We appreciate your prayers for our family and Eli. We are seeing again how big our God is and it is exciting!!! Thanks for sharing our story with others and helping us Bring Home Eli!
A God story.... a few weeks ago I received an email from a gentleman who is the director of Seeds for the Fatherless. It was one of those friend of a friend emails. He was wondering if we had raised all of our support or if we were still in need of funding. Their mission is to honor Jesus by helping care for the needs of orphans. One of the ways is to help adoptive parents get to their adopted child. This was an encouragement to us because most grants you get you have to fill out lots of paperwork and get your friends and family to give references. God just brought this to us!!! Each day we wake up excited to see what God will do. He has brought so many people to help us bring Eli home. Thank you Jesus for being so generous to us.
Some current prayer requests....
That we would get our court date SOON!
That ticket prices would drop at that time.
For Eli as he will be moved to the transition house.
For our children as we will be seperated from them while we are in Addis.
For our Pool Party, that the weather would be great and lots of families will be able to attend.
We appreciate your prayers for our family and Eli. We are seeing again how big our God is and it is exciting!!! Thanks for sharing our story with others and helping us Bring Home Eli!
We are so excited to announce our Pool Party on Friday, July 16! Anyone and everyone is invited to join us. We are celebrating how far God has brought us in this process and hope to raise enough support to take us the rest of the way.
Help us spread the word by reposting this on your blog/twitter/facebook page.
Visit the How You Can Help page to see more ways you can be a part of this.
A couple of weeks ago Jim's parents were going through some of Grandpa and Grandma Weimers' things and they came accross this little guy. One lone little figurine in the middle of Precious Moments.
After looking at him Jim's mom flipped him over and his name was Eli. A sweet little black boy dressed in cowboy clothes and named Eli. I love that Grandpa and Grandma Weimer have had him all of these years and his name is Eli.
The winner of the tshirt contest is.......... Jenn Rogers!!!! She was randomly picked via Random.org. I will get you out your tshirt on Monday. Thanks for posting about Eli!
The tshirts have arrived! Thank you to all those who preordered theirs.
And it gets better - we're giving one away!
HOW TO ENTER
-Comment on this post (not on facebook) telling what size tshirt you want and who it's for
EARN ADDITIONAL ENTRIES
-Post this on your blog/twitter/facebook page and leave a comment letting us know that you did
-Add our new button to your blog (on the right side of the page) and leave a comment letting us know that you did
HOW TO WIN
-The winner will be chosen via random.org on Friday, June 18th
They look even better than I expected, and I made sure to reserve one of the smallest for Eli :)
If you want to get yours right now, click here.
$15
Adults - XXL, XL, L, M, S
Children - L, M, S, XS (the extra small is about equal to 3T)
Many of you have been calling and wondering about totals from the garage sale this past weekend.....Drum roll please...$1045.11
rom our garage sale at my parents and Jim's parents!!!!!
Praise the Lord!!! Thanks for so many great donations and time setting things up. Again we are so thankful.
And the Pizza Hut numbers are still not in, we will post that as soon as we know something.
I have been putting off writing this post because it is filled with mixed emotions. Last Thursday, Jim's Grandpa Weimer went home to heaven. He has been in hospice, and we knew his time on earth was short. The last few weeks he has been in a lot of pain and more confused. So on Thursday morning God healed him by taking him home. He is no longer in pain; he is dancing and singing hymns in heaven. I can see him scouting out fishing spots and finding all sorts of wonderful things to eat. He is happy and we are happy for him. BUT, we also miss him.
He has been the most amazing grandpa and great-grandpa. We have sat around our table talking and laughing about all the things he did. One thing I especially appreciated about him was how much he loved us. He LOVED us. He was so proud of his family and grandchildren. He loved spoiling us and taking care of us. But other things we appreciated about him, is how much he loved Grandma Weimer. He loved her so very much and was always serving her and caring for her. He set a great example of what love is. I also love that he loved Jesus, just in the last weeks he would sing hymns and songs of praise. This Friday and Saturday we will celebrate him and all that he has meant to us as a family.
Due to this, we have decided to postpone the parents night out. We had many great volunteers we were willing to do it for us, but we just want to focus on celebrating Grandpa Weimer this week.
I'm gonna end with a verse that I have been thinking about constantly since we have gotten Eli's referral... Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in him!
He has been the most amazing grandpa and great-grandpa. We have sat around our table talking and laughing about all the things he did. One thing I especially appreciated about him was how much he loved us. He LOVED us. He was so proud of his family and grandchildren. He loved spoiling us and taking care of us. But other things we appreciated about him, is how much he loved Grandma Weimer. He loved her so very much and was always serving her and caring for her. He set a great example of what love is. I also love that he loved Jesus, just in the last weeks he would sing hymns and songs of praise. This Friday and Saturday we will celebrate him and all that he has meant to us as a family.
Due to this, we have decided to postpone the parents night out. We had many great volunteers we were willing to do it for us, but we just want to focus on celebrating Grandpa Weimer this week.
I'm gonna end with a verse that I have been thinking about constantly since we have gotten Eli's referral... Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in him!
Today we are unveiling our new tshirts, custom designed by Sara Fitzgerald! They feature John 14:18 which says,
"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you."
John 14:18 is a special verse to our family. I love the simple statement. God's heart is for adoption; we are his adopted children. He did not leave us as orphans, but he sent his son to die for us so that we could be his children.
When we felt God leading us to adoption we had no idea of how hard the process was or just how draining it would be emotionally. We just felt like it was his design and that we needed to walk in faith to see what he had planned for our family. This journey has been a total walk of trusting God. We don't have a large bank account or any knowledge of Africa, but we do have are hearts that want to be obedient and trust Jesus. In the verse God says he will come to us and we long for the day when we will get to come to Eli. Just like God's adopted children bear the name of Jesus, Eli will be our adopted son bearing the name of Weimer. He is our son and we will come to him!!! Waiting on God's perfect timing to bring him home.
100% of the proceeds goes directly to our adoption fund.
$15 each
Adult Sizes - XL, L, M, S
Child Sizes - L, M, S
To pre-order your tshirt, click here.
Enjoy a night off and drop your kids off with us! Friday, June 11th, we are going to have a great time with some of the PLC Children's Worship team singing songs and playing games. Dinner will be provided.
To sign up, email bringhomeeli@gmail.com.
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Today is our Pizza Hut day, if anyone is in the Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Waverly, or Grundy Center areas we would love to have you get pizza today!!!!!!!!!!!! You have to have our flyer for us to get the 20%. Please eat pizza today and help us bring Eli home!! Our family is planning to eat at the College Square Pizza Hut around 5:30 if you want to join us.Three weeks post referral. We can't believe how time has flown. Once we got our referral it got us moving in the direction of planning for bringing home Eli. Since our dossier had said any child age 0-5 years boy or girl, we hadn't done any planning. It is amazing to me how things are coming together. So many of my wonderful friends have brought over clothing that their children have outgrown, Eli has some very cute things to wear. It is nice to see his closet growing since our budget doesn't allow for shopping. :) Thanks!!
So if we are three weeks post referral we think in the next couple of weeks we should get our court date. It is crazy to think that in 4 weeks or so we could meet our precious boy!!! We just read last night that we should be able to spend some quality time with Eli on our first trip to Ethiopia. Sweet to bond, but hard to say good-bye!! So far I feel like time is flying by and that the wait to meet him hasn't been as bad as the wait for referral. Granted it has only been a few weeks. It is nice to have his face to look at and know we are working toward bringing him home. A picture that I have fallen in love with. He has the sweetest, biggest brown eyes I have ever seen. Can't wait to post his picture for all of you to see.
Thanks to everyone for your support. This has been a group effort and we are so thankful. Please continue to pray that God provides. He has been so faithful. Also pray for Eli, that God would begin to prepare him for his new family. For good health, to be safe, and to feel love from his current caregivers.
This weekend the weather has been perfect, hopefully, a sign of what is to come. The hotter, the better for me, although Jim prefers around 70. So one of us is always happy during the summer. :) Last weekend we had a lot of fun as a family. Our first trip to the pool, first barbeque with friends, annual family pictures with the Weimer clan and finished a few odd jobs around the house.
Jim accomplished a big project at our house, getting our large tree out of the front yard. We transplanted it when we moved into our house and the first year a large storm came through and it fell over. Every storm since it seems like we lose another limb or two. So Saturday Jim decided to put it out of its misery. It looks so bare now when you drive by our house. He is hoping to plant a new tree that in about 30 years will provide some shade. :)
A cool God story to end you with. Just this week my parents had a neighbor stop by their house and asked if they were collecting pop cans for our adoption. They said sure. He brought over enough cans to fill my mom's jeep and Jim's truck. The grand total was.....$130.60. All in pop cans!! Crazy. What is cool is how God is using people who don't know us to help us bring Eli home. Last week brought so many encouraging things, each day someone else bought a necklace, passed out a Pizza Hut flyer, or gave a donation. We are so encouraged that God has this. He didn't bring us this far to not get us to Ethiopia and back. Thank you Jesus for loving us so much that you care about this sweet little boy in Africa. We love you Jesus!!
These necklaces are made from recycled materials by women in Uganda. Each one is beautifully unique. The cost is $20, plus $3 for shipping. Each one purchased sends $12 back to the women, and $8 goes toward our adoption fund.
Click here to order yours.
I can't believe it has been one week already since we saw our son's face for the first time after months of waiting. It seems like we are all talking about Eli all the time. Jim and I even woke up in the middle of the night and talked about him. :) All four of us are so excited for him to come home! Trey had fun introducing his class at school to him. What a great learning experience for all of them to hear about another country so far away.
So many things are on our minds, so much to do, so much to prepare for. Last weekend we had a profitable garage sale. We asked God to multiply our earnings and that He did! Big thanks to a family who generously donated things for us to sell; we appreciate it!
Keep following our blog as we will keep you up to date on what is happening. Our agency predicts that we will be traveling late June or early July for our court date. We will get to meet Eli but have to return home without him. In August or September, we will make a second trip to bring him home. We are so happy to have a finish line in sight!
All week I have constantly found myself thanking God for this great gift. We are so thankful that we can rest in the fact that His timing is perfect! Thank you Jesus for blessing us with Eli!
So many things are on our minds, so much to do, so much to prepare for. Last weekend we had a profitable garage sale. We asked God to multiply our earnings and that He did! Big thanks to a family who generously donated things for us to sell; we appreciate it!
Keep following our blog as we will keep you up to date on what is happening. Our agency predicts that we will be traveling late June or early July for our court date. We will get to meet Eli but have to return home without him. In August or September, we will make a second trip to bring him home. We are so happy to have a finish line in sight!
All week I have constantly found myself thanking God for this great gift. We are so thankful that we can rest in the fact that His timing is perfect! Thank you Jesus for blessing us with Eli!
WE HAVE A REFERRAL!!!!! After what seems like endless months of waiting, we received a referral yesterday for a sweet little boy, Eli Solomon Weimer!!! I received the call yesterday at work and couldn't believe it was finally for real. A referral for the Weimer family alone!!! He is 3 and a half years old and only 22 pounds. His eyes are beautiful and his little face just pleads with us to come. We were thrilled to complete the paperwork today and mailed it off to the national office in less than 24 hours from "the call."
So when do you get to see him and what is next???? We can't post any pictures of him until we pass court, but believe me he is adorable! :) Of course, I am his proud mama!! So we will start a new wait, the wait for a court date and then Jim and I will make the first of our two trips to Ethiopia. After we pass court, Eli will be legally ours. However, we have to return home (without Eli) and another hard wait will come. After 4-6 weeks home, they will schedule our Embassy appt and then we can bring him home. Once we hit US soil, Eli will be a US citizen and officially a WEIMER.
Thank you to so many for praying us through the last months of very emotional waiting. It was hard but Eli is worth it!!! We are praising and thanking the Lord for this most wonderful gift! He is perfect in every way.
Psalm 127:3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.
So when do you get to see him and what is next???? We can't post any pictures of him until we pass court, but believe me he is adorable! :) Of course, I am his proud mama!! So we will start a new wait, the wait for a court date and then Jim and I will make the first of our two trips to Ethiopia. After we pass court, Eli will be legally ours. However, we have to return home (without Eli) and another hard wait will come. After 4-6 weeks home, they will schedule our Embassy appt and then we can bring him home. Once we hit US soil, Eli will be a US citizen and officially a WEIMER.
Thank you to so many for praying us through the last months of very emotional waiting. It was hard but Eli is worth it!!! We are praising and thanking the Lord for this most wonderful gift! He is perfect in every way.
Psalm 127:3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.
After a month of writing, I am back. :) A lot has happened in one month. We have started a new calendar year, we have been to the Philippines and back, and we are anticipating an ice storm tomorrow. You have to love Iowa in the winter.
But the most exciting news is.... we received our letter from the fingerprinting appointment. I think I had the paper in my hands for maybe 20 minutes before mailing it to Bethany!!! The last document needed for our dossier to finally take the long journey to Ethiopia. The journey to bringing home our child.
Here is where we are now, I spoke to our adoption agency and they said they would get our state seals on our documents and have our paperwork to the national office in Grand Rapids, Michigan by Friday. There our papers get reviewed again, then off to Washington D.C. for authentication and then over to Africa.
We are continually reminded that this is God's journey. That He has us!!! Just this last weekend while at church, someone approached us about what we owe in our next step in the process. We told them and they shocked our socks off by saying they have it covered. Yes, you read right, we have our money ready for when we receive our referral. God has given us such peace about every step and now He has given us this early blessing of providing before we even need it. We know without a doubt that God has just the right child for us. We continue to pray that we will be able to bring our child home in 2010.
Some additional prayer requests are... that we would get a referral quick, that we would pass court in Ethiopia the first time, that God would continue to provide, and that God would prepare all 5 of us for the changes that are coming. We also pray that God's name would be praised! One last thing, tonight as you tuck your child into their warm bed, after eating a hot supper, and taking a hot shower- please pray for the many orphans in Haiti. Pray about your part.
But the most exciting news is.... we received our letter from the fingerprinting appointment. I think I had the paper in my hands for maybe 20 minutes before mailing it to Bethany!!! The last document needed for our dossier to finally take the long journey to Ethiopia. The journey to bringing home our child.
Here is where we are now, I spoke to our adoption agency and they said they would get our state seals on our documents and have our paperwork to the national office in Grand Rapids, Michigan by Friday. There our papers get reviewed again, then off to Washington D.C. for authentication and then over to Africa.
We are continually reminded that this is God's journey. That He has us!!! Just this last weekend while at church, someone approached us about what we owe in our next step in the process. We told them and they shocked our socks off by saying they have it covered. Yes, you read right, we have our money ready for when we receive our referral. God has given us such peace about every step and now He has given us this early blessing of providing before we even need it. We know without a doubt that God has just the right child for us. We continue to pray that we will be able to bring our child home in 2010.
Some additional prayer requests are... that we would get a referral quick, that we would pass court in Ethiopia the first time, that God would continue to provide, and that God would prepare all 5 of us for the changes that are coming. We also pray that God's name would be praised! One last thing, tonight as you tuck your child into their warm bed, after eating a hot supper, and taking a hot shower- please pray for the many orphans in Haiti. Pray about your part.
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