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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!!
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