Have you ever sat in a church service and felt like the sermon was directed right at you? This has happened to me several times and yesterday was one of those times. ( I think this is better than the times of self-righteousness when I sit there thinking "oh, if only so and so were here to hear this!" ) Just keeping it real! :)

People tend to think their circumstances determine the quality of their lives.  So they pour their energy into trying to control those situations.  They feel happy when things are going well, and sad or frustrated when things don't turn out as they hoped.  They rarely question this correlation between circumstances and feelings.  Yet it is possible to be content in any and every situation.

This was one of my favorite photos of Abe that we received while we were waiting for him! It just made me happy.

Today we were so blessed by a precious 15 year old! We have been friends with her family for years and they have been so supportive during the entire adoption process. Her mom was with me the day that we lost our referral, they rejoiced with us over the referral of Abe and they greeted us at the airport upon our return to Texas.

Her little brothers are in science with my kids and she brought us the most amazing gift today after class. I wept at the labor of love and absolute beauty! This was her first portrait........Moody told her we may sell it for millions when she is uber-famous. Can you believe how talented she is? What a treasure.  
She signed the bottom left corner with her name and God.

Here are the final two slideshows!  Kristin is so amazing and has such a gift.  We were so blessed to have her with us each step of the way.  

I am so thankful for all of Melissa's help while we were gone!  Go read her current post and let her know how fabulous she looks! :)  She cracks me up!!

I finally feel like I am coming out of the fog.......I am still tired and it doesn't help that little man still has his days and nights a little confused!  We are working on it and enjoying him so much.  The kids are such great helpers, often competing for his attention.

We are back.  We are tired.  We are in love.

They did amazing, better than the adults for sure. :)

Check out the steam around the headlights, its only like 112 degrees here!


We are here in Dubai, well at least all 10 people, 15 carry-ons and 13 bags!  Yes, you can do the math -- we are missing 7 of our bags.  Kristin has no clothes, Abe has nothing and we are missing several of our humanitarian aid bags.  Please pray that the airlines would find them and get them to us tomorrow. :)  

Did I mention that organization is NOT my thing? We are making progress over here at Team Alexander though. Only a few more days baby Abe..........

I simply can not wait to walk through that door and have my boy placed in my arms!  Sweet Abe, we are coming soon.  :)

Our church family and friends are amazing!! We spent much of the weekend going through donations and trying to figure out the best way to pack and get them to Ethiopia!!

We love the Hausam family!  Look what we got in the mail today-- thank you for the thoughtful gift.  We will wear them with pride. :)

The blog union was amazing!  It was incredible to look around and see many little Ethiopian beauties everywhere.  I loved meeting new people and hanging out with friends.  What a joy.  The weekend went by really quickly and now we are back home and have about 2 weeks to pull everything together!!





Pam, thank you for being an amazingly gracious hostess to our crew!! It felt like home in many ways being with your crew. :)

Remember the chain game? Well, that one didn't turn out as planned........but Avery had the best idea today. She made a new chain to countdown the days until we head out the door for Ethiopia. We leave on August 21st. Apparently with all of the cases being pushed through before the courts close has created a little backlog at the Embassy. So instead of traveling 3 weeks after a successful court date, we leave 4 weeks post court. We will spend 2 days in Dubai and then go get Abe!! We will return on Labor Day (Sept. 1st) We can't wait!!

Our court date is tomorrow. We would appreciate your prayers. :)

One week.  In 7 days we have our court date.  In 7 days baby A could legally become an Alexander. 

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

"Do not worry about tomorrow! This is not a suggestion, but a command. I divided time into days and nights, so that you would have manageable portions of life to handle. My grace is sufficient for you, but its sufficiency is for only one day at a time. When you worry about the future, you heap day upon day of troubles onto your flimsy frame. You stagger under this heavy load, which I never intended you to carry.

Throw off this oppressive burden with one quick thrust of trust. Anxious thoughts meander about and crisscross in your brain, but trusting Me brings you directly into My Presence. As you thus affirm your faith, shakles of worry fall off instantly. Enjoy My Presence continually by trusting Me at all times." (from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young)