A Glimpse Into the "Pie-Making Business"

As many of you know, Jonathan and I began a homemade pie fundraiser at my work (and a few other random places) just a week after we formally began the adoption process. It was an idea we had had when we first felt called to adopt in 2009, so we had been thinking about this for more than a year. My grandma shared her pie crust recipe with me when I was in college and we felt this would be a good way to raise funds, while also allowing the giver to enjoy something in return.

It has turned out to be quite a success. As of today, we have made and delivered 168 pies and raised more than $1,500! This announcement comes with a huge thank you to all of you that have participated thus far. Your kindness and generosity cannot be adequately expressed in writing. Jonathan and I feel so blessed to be able to call you all friends.

That being said, we have never baked so much in all our lives : ) Although orders have slowed down a bit here in the past few weeks, we have had some pretty hectic nights in our kitchen. So, Jonathan put together a little video to share with you. Hope it puts a smile on your face : )

USCIS Update

Sorry for the lapse in updates, but there has not been much to report. We are continuing to wait for our approval letter from USCIS and received notification of our fingerprinting appointment for that today! Unfortunately, our appointment is not until September 12^th, which feels very far away, but it is still a step forward : )

One More Step Forward

We received our DCFS approval letter for our home study yesterday afternoon (with our name spelled correctly)! First thing this morning, Jonathan stopped by the post office to mail our application to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)! From what we understand, it can take anywhere from 4 – 12 weeks to receive the approval letter from them, but it is one of the last major steps before we are able to submit our dossier to AWAA and then to Ethiopia! We are very excited at taking this next step in our journey.

Thank you all, again, for your continued support and prayers during this process. Sometimes we still cannot believe that we are doing this, but are thrilled beyond description to be able to : )