And our new number is..........

Are you SERIOUS? We are number 12 on the waiting list for our son? GET OUT! We got a call this evening from our case manager and she said that there has been a lot of movement on the boy list from our orphanage and we have moved from number 21 last month to number 12 this month! (It has actually been less than a month!) "A lot of movement" means that there have been many referrals of boys in the last month. I don't think that it normally moves this fast, but we are thankful that it has! We just pray that it keeps up! To think that our son is almost ready to be born, may have already been born or could possibly be there in the orphanage is amazing! I promised myself that I wouldn't get caught up in the waiting list numbers, but it is exciting! We will wait and rest in the truth that God has a plan, His plan is good and this journey will continue to unfold in His perfect timing!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Ready for the week so we can rest!

It has been a busy weekend here at the Harper Hullabaloo! It all started on Thursday night as we celebrated Beckett's birthday. He requested chili for dinner with brownie sundaes for dessert! Here is a picture of our seven year old with his brownie "cake"!
Then on Friday after we picked up the van, we headed to the Winter Jam concert in Knoxville. This was Beckett's birthday present and he had a blast. We all had a good time! He took a friend and we also met some friends there. Here is a picture of Helen wearing her Toby Mac toboggan and acting silly before the concert. They boys were having fun giving her rabbit ears!

Will, Beckett and Tristan. They "got their dance on" when Toby rocked the house!

Beckett's friend Will spent the night and we all went to Home Depot on Saturday morning to make race tracks. Beckett had been looking forward to this since last month when they made the trinket boxes. He was really wanting to make something that was more "manly"! It was fun! After that, we went to Beckett's basketball game and then played outside all afternoon!

Beckett had his first baseball practice on Sunday after church. I loved how dirty he got, so I had to take his picture. (I put it at the top because I forgot to put it here in the correct sequence of the weekend!) He wore his new Old Navy shirt from his cousins Ty and Marley to practice. It is very cool. He is playing in the machine pitch league this year and of course, Sean will be his coach. He had fun at practice, and then came home for Growth Group! I hung out with the kiddos this week and we were all glad to be outside since the time changed and the weather has been warmer! Here are a few sweet and silly faces of some of the kids in our group!

*I'm hopeful to hear from our case manager within the next day or so to give us an update on our adoption waiting list number! I've been prowling around on the Yahoo list serve for our agency, and it looks like we might have moved down the list a few numbers. We are anxious to hear about our official number! I'll update as soon as I hear! Have a great week!

Welcome Home!

Just under two months ago, (well, 7 weeks and one day to be exact) we took our Nissan Quest to the Tennessee Collision Center to be repaired. Our rental car was a Buick Lucerne and we fondly have referred to her as "The Lucerne". (pronounced with a special accent) We were beginning to wonder if we would ever get our van back. But today was the day! The van was finally finished! I won't reveal exactly how much money it cost to have the van repaired, but let's just say that we are thankful that the man who hit us from behind had excellent insurance! We are all so glad to have our van back, but I guess we will miss "The Lucerne"! We drove her hard! :) Welcome home Quest!

Beckett really wanted to get the van back yesterday so he could sing the song from the insurance commercial with the "Mini Me" guy from the Austin Powers movie.....It's my birthday, got my car fixed!" But it was a day late!

Seven Years Have Flown By!

My baby boy turned 7 years old today! I just can't believe how quickly time flies by these days! Beckett has brought such happiness and joy to our lives and I am so blessed to be his mom. He is such a fun boy, a super son and a wonderful big brother! We love you Beckett and we look forward to all that God has planned for your life!

Here is a picture of Beckett on his first birthday!

Here is a picture this morning......his seventh birthday!
I'm always looking for a bargain! I found out that Chic-fil-A was offering free chicken biscuits this morning if you brought in a "box tops for education" box top. Well, I save those and give them to our umbrella school, CAK. But today, I took a zip-loc bag full and got us each a free biscuit to celebrate Beckett's birthday! I "donated" the rest of the box tops, and they let the next few people in line behind me get free biscuits with all of my extra box tops! They were happy! We enjoyed our biscuits and then Beckett and Helen played for a few minutes on the playground before we left!

Beckett's gift this year is to attend the Winter Jam concert tomorrow night which is featuring his favorite artist, Toby Mac! He has posted a little bit about it on his blog, The Slam and he will blog more about his birthday in the next few days!

Happy Birthday Beckett! We love you!

Road Trip!

We had an appointment in Atlanta at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office last Thursday morning to have more fingerprints taken. This was one of the final steps that we had to take for our international adoption. We decided to drive down on Wednesday night so we wouldn't have to leave early and be concerned about morning traffic in Atlanta. The kids were fired up to get to stay in a hotel! (We don't get out much! Ha! :) Anyway, we stayed at a great Courtyard Marriott and got a nice discount! (Thanks Windy!) On Thursday morning, we found the US CIS office and our appointment went smoothly. We were only 3 miles from IKEA, so I had to stop there and shop for a while! The kids requested The Varsity for lunch, so that was our next stop! We had been there about a year ago with Susi, so they were looking forward to the "naked" dogs and fries! After that, we shopped around a little more in Atlanta, then headed back up to Chattanooga where we stopped to visit and eat dinner with Josh, Kathy, Ty and Marley. We had a great visit with them and then headed back to LC around 8:00 that night! Here are a few pictures from our little vacation! This first one is of Beckett and Helen trying out the bed in the hotel room!

Pictures from IKEA! Helen loved trying out every bed! She loved this kid-sized bed with the netting all around it! Another pic that was taken in front of The Varsity after lunch!

This is a picture of the kids with their cousin, Ty. They had a great time playing outside on a warm afternoon!

The "gulls". Marley and Helen!

Today is Ash Wednesday

As I had been thinking about what to do this Lenten season to help me really focus on Christ, I didn't have to think long before I knew that I needed to "give up" diet coke. I LOVE my diet coke! I've never been a coffee drinker, but I must admit that I've become addicted to diet coke! I drink one with my breakfast, lunch and dinner. My most recent favorite way to enjoy a diet coke? A 32 ounce styrofoam cup from Weigels filled to the brim with my favorite beverage. My love for diet coke has become a problem. Not only is it not a great choice for my health, but it is a pretty rotten example for me to be setting for my kids! So, as I thought about what I could give up or "sacrifice" during Lent, I thought giving up diet coke would really be quite tough for me and that I could then use those "hard times" to reflect on Christ and his sacrifice for me.

I am so lame! I am so spoiled! I am so blessed! I take water for granted. I leave it running while I brush my teeth, I take long hot showers, I've been known to run the dishwasher when it isn't completely full and I definitely do not drink enough water.

As I spent some time on-line looking for ways for our family to worship during this season of Lent, I came across this challenge from Living Water International. I have decided to take the money that I would have spent on diet cokes for the next 6 weeks and use it to help provide clean drinking water for someone who will appreciate it. My prayer is that I will become more thankful for the seemingly small things such as clean, abundant water and that I will become more externally focused as I look for ways to honor my Heavenly Father. I was so excited to be challenged to make my giving up diet cokes not about me, but about others! Check out the challenge and see if it might be something you might like to commit to this Lenten season! I love how one of the girls in the video said, "Sacrifice a little of our abundance so that others can have life." This organization is not just providing clean water, but they are offering The Living Water that gives us all life!

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." John 7:38

The Countdown Begins!

We got a call yesterday afternoon that we were not expecting to receive so soon! Our case manager from AGCI called to say that our dossier paperwork was perfect and that we have been placed on the waiting list for our baby boy! We are #21! She said to expect anywhere from 4 to 6 months for our referral and then after that, another 3 to 5 months to finish up the adoption. This means that once we have accepted the referral of our son, we will have to wait for more paperwork and court dates, etc. before we can travel to Ethiopia to bring him home! We are a little overwhelmed! We are humbled that God has led us on this journey! We are overjoyed to think that we get to add another child to our family! We are also full of many other emotions that we haven't really identified yet! But we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are blessed!

We will update our waiting list numbers whenever we are notified. She said to expect a call next month with any progress down the list! Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!