Special Photos!

The new CD is finally finished and will be available on our site (www.billyfoote.com) or on www.independentbands.com in a couple of days. In a couple of weeks it should also be available on iTunes and other digi-music stores!


Libby gives daddy a big thumbs up for being the best daddy in the world! Aria, you are gonna love this man! This pic was taken on Father's Day! Billy, you rock!


Libby has a special baby doll that represents baby Aria. Libby usually has baby Aria and baby Ling together. So cute!


Libby is comin' in for a kiss! Aria - be prepared, Libby's gonna LOVE you!



This is a pic of Billy and I just before we left for a date to celebrate our dossier being shipped to Ethiopia. The grimace on Billy's face is from Libby hitting him in the "you know where" (of course, she didn't know that's what she was doing) bc she was made that he was touching me. Just a little bit a jealousy going on! Anyway - Billy was in serious pain!


Trying to forget what happened, we pressed on for the family photo!


Libby says Aria has some big shoes to fill, but we think she can do it!


Libby loves to pose with baby Aria!


MY FAVORITE PICTURE OF ALL TIME! Can the look on Libby's face be anymore cute!


The new house! Can't wait to walk Aria through that door!

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YABADABADOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OUR DOSSIER IS IN ETHIOPIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YIPPEE!!! Here's what FedEx posted:

Jun 19, 2008

5:00 PM

Delivery exception

ADDIS ABABA ET

Future Delivery Requested

5:00 PM

At local FedEx facility

ADDIS ABABA ET

7:30 AM

Int'l shipment release

ADDIS ABABA ET

12:45 AM

In transit

ADDIS ABABA ET

I'm not sure what "future delivery requested" means - but I do request the future delivery of Aria!! And pronto!

Celebrating today!

The Foote Fabulous Four!

Dossier Landed in Frankfurt, GERMANY!!

Many thanks for all the comments and answers to my question. It's a unanimous opinion - our dossier landed in Frankfurt, Germany. The FedEx site also says our dossier is in transit. When I read one of the comments to my last post Janet said that after her dossier went to Frankfurt it was in Ethiopia the next day. When I read the words "Ethiopia the next day" in her comment my heart did a leap!! I'll be ready to track our dossier first thing in the morning. YEAH!

By the way - it's a bit crazy 'round here as we are packing up the last items in our house. We move to a new home on Saturday. I have moved many times in my life, but this is the first time with a toddler by my side. I am seriously pooped! Libby wants to help with everything - which is so incredibly cute for the first few minutes and then I look around the house and think "this is never gonna get done". But here we are - almost done - with packing that is. Just a closing, a move and lots of unpacking left to do. But at least the unpacking can be done at my own pace - no deadlines or anything.

I am not complaining. We are so very blessed!
Cindy

Tracking FedEx Package - Question?

I've been tracking our dossier via the FedEx website. Our dossier was delivered to FedEx on Friday the 13th. of June and stayed in that FedEx office until Monday, apparently, until it was delivered to Mephis, TN. Then I checked it today and it says the package was delivered to Frankfurt DE. Now - here's my question....

Is that Frankfurt, Delaware? or Frankfurt, Germany? I know most dossiers leave TN and head straight for Germany and Delaware would seem to be the wrong direction. Also - there was no comma between Frankfurt and DE but there were commas between Memphis, TN and McClean, VA. So that's the other reason I'm thinking it's not the state of Delaware.

Anybody have an answer? Just hoping the dossier is in Germany and not in Delaware. But either way - I'm sure it's going to get to ET just fine.

Cindy

Bop Bop.... Chikachikahhhhhhh...Do Bop Bop.....Chikachikah!

The title comes from the sounds in a song from "Ferris Bueler's Day Off" (okay, so I'm spelling that wrong).... anyway - the song always make me smile and there is definitely reason to smile today................... drum roll...............................



WE ARE DTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen - our paperwork has been authenticated and it is on the FedEx bus, train, plane, boat... whatever - it's headed ETHIOPIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Duni Zenaye (director of AWAA's Ethiopia program) sent an email this afternoon stating,

"Your authenticated dossier has been mailed to Ethiopia today!....As you track your dossier, please keep a couple of things in mind. First of all, do not be worried if the package makes stops in European or other countries for long periods of time. This is normal, and I've seen this happen often..."

Hoping our dossier doesn't stop for too long during it's travels.

Billy and I are headed out for a date night of celebration. 6 months of paperwork are headed over the ocean to determine who our little Aria is! I think that justifies some fattening cheesecake!

At this time - the wait for an infant girl (from DTE to referral) is 7-9 months. It is possible that this wait will increase because so many people turned in their dossiers in the months of February, March and April... but hopefully it will not lengthen. Once we have a referral (the pic of our baby girl and her health info) we will travel 8-12 weeks later to received her in ET!

Time of possible referral (subject to change): Jan - March.
Time of possible travel (also subject to change): March - May

We could be less than a year away from embracing our sweet little girl!

I'll keep you posted on our dossier's international travels!
Cindy

Some Blogs To Read This Week

Now that I'm finished with the paperwork I find myself with the "blog bug" all over again. I remember when I was waiting on Libby how many hours I spent reading blogs/sites of families adopting from China and how I stared at all the pics of their children trying to imagine what my daughter might look like.

This week there are a few sites that I want to let some of you know about. The reasons are two-fold. 1. Because if you are praying for us or interested in our journey at all - viewing these blogs will give you some insight on some specifics to be praying over our sweet Aria and give you some idea of what the trip to ET is like (so you can pray for Cristie (my travel mate) and I as well) 2. Because several of these families need prayer like you couldn't imagine. They are facing some serious spiritual warfare and/or health issues with their children that could change their lives.

You can link to each of these blogs by scrolling down and clicking on the family's name.
1. The Kidd Family - they are such a cute family and their daughter Gabrielle is stunningly gorgeous! Great pics! They are in ET right now!

2. The West Family - so adorable! Love their son's cute little self. I just want to hug his little neck! This family is having some paperwork issues in Ethiopia right now. The USCIS sent a paper saying they were approved for a female - which NONE of their paperwork has ever said. Weird! Anyway - it's got to get cleared up fast or they have to stay in ET longer. Yikes!

3. The Gardner Family - Love their very recent blog (they are in ET right now!) post with pics of their first few moments with their kids. They adopted an older sibling group - a girl and a boy - both of which are absolutely beautiful. As the Gardners went into the transitional home the older kids being adopted were waiting at the door and ran to them, hugging and kissing them and within minutes they were calling them mommy and daddy. That will rip your heart out! Just picture your first moment in heaven when you realize that you've really come from a place of nothing in comparison to what heaven has to offer and then you see Jesus who made it all possible. You run to him calling out to him and kiss and hug him over and over - oh yeah -adoption is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

4. The Cordell Family - Also in ET right now. This couple is in ministry. He is a pastor. She is a home school mom of 2 boys. They are adopting a PRECIOUS baby girl who they are naming Mercy (LOVE THAT!). Before traveling to ET they received a call saying their daughter was in the hospital having trouble breathing and she was not responding to meds. I don't know the whole story, but a diagnosis has been mentioned that the Cordells are not even saying out loud bc their asking Father for healing and hoping that the diagnosis is not right. So - after that traumatic news they packed and headed out to ET. Their flight was delayed due to weather and they missed their flight to ET. They arrived in ET a day late AND on the day they were to meet Mercy for the first time. Can you imagine the exhaustion of jet lag and then meeting your daughter for the first time on the same day. Seriously, that had to be a long, emotionally strained day. On top of all that, they discovered that USCIS sent paperwork with wrong dates making it look like their fingerprints were expired. They are, along with the Wests, trying to frantically get in touch with NC USCIS to get it fixed, but if it's not corrected fast they also will be in ET for several more days than expected and right now they are so exhausted and they miss their 2 boys so much. I know they must be feeling so tired and distraught - all the while wanting to celebrate their sweet daughter being in their arms. What an emotional juggling act. Please pray for this family. They have been on my heart heavily all week. I believe their is a specific spiritual attack on this family. Not sure why, but my heart is seriously burdened for them and their circumstances.

5. Lastly, The Harbaughs. I just caught up with their situation today via their blog. I can't even explain the daughter's plight. They've been home from ET for a month or so. You'll have to go to their blog to read what's going on, but basically she has an infection (most likely tb) on top of a vertebrae and there is no easy way to biopsy it. Most likely they will have to fully open her up - rib cage and all to do the biopsy and then she will still need some major surgeries after that. She is being measured for a back brace right now bc her condition is such that one wrong move, fall and she could be paralyzed from the neck down. I can just feel this family's strength and yet their struggle in trying to process what is happening. They are certainly in need of our prayers.

Click on these families' blogs below and read. You'll be moved, inspired and brought to your knees.

Thank you - Cindy

YEAH!!!! NO NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!

This will be short - I received no news from AWAA today so our paperwork is a go! WOOHOO!!!
Will keep you posted on our dossier's international travel starting on Friday!

SCREAMING "YES!" and "THANK YOU, LORD!" REALLY LOUD RIGHT NOW!!! - cindy

No News is Wonderful News

Last week I received the following email from Terra Bailey (our family coordinator with AWAA):

"I received your dossier today! So you can breath a sigh of relief that it is safe and sound here at America World. I will be reviewing it next Tuesday and taking it to be authenticated and approved at the U.S. Dept. of State and the Ethiopian Embassy during the week. If all goes as planed it will be mailed out to Ethiopia next Friday. If I run across any issues or see any adjustments that need to be made you will hear from me Tuesday afternoon, otherwise expect to receive a confirmation email on Friday June 13^th with a tracking number. Thanks for all of your hard work!"

So - today is the day our dossier is being reviewed and if I don't hear anything this afternoon from Terra then all my paperwork is in good order and it should be headed to Ethiopia on Friday. It's 2:50pm central time right now (3:30 were AWAA offices are) and I haven't heard anything so far. Yeah! Praying that I don't hear anything from AWAA for the rest of the day! No news will be wonderful news for us today!

Dossier is at AWAA!

(Above: pictures of our dossier!....
BTW - Kristin Rogers (http://rogersadoptionstory.blogspot.com/), I sure wish I could take pics like you do. Our family photo pages can't hold a candle to yours! You're amazing! If I knew the date of our toddler's future wedding I'd already be booking you!)

So - after receiving our 171 on Tuesday, we decided to drive to Austin Wednesday to get our remaining dossier bundle state certified. When we arrived in Austin it took all of 15 minutes to get the bundle certified. Billy said, "Is that it? We drove all the way to Austin for a gold stamp?"
HAHA! It's so much more than that, baby! It is the end of 6 months of paperwork! Glory Hallelujah!!

We drove back to San Antonio and I reviewed the completed dossier and it's 2 sets of copies over and over again. When I went in to UPS to mail it I was so nervous! I just knew I was forgetting something or who knows what... It's hard to explain. Anyway - I'm standing there talking with the UPS lady about how important all this paperwork is and she's typing away getting all the info into the computer. Next thing I know, she calls out to someone else working there and says, "what kind of package do you call this?" He answered and she said, "it's not here on the screen". "Yes, it is" the other worker says as he comes over to point it out. "Oh, there it is" she says and she continues saying "I'VE NEVER SHIPPED THIS KIND OF PACKAGE BEFORE." WHAT????? - This is not what you want to hear when you're shipping 6 months of labor off to another State. She goes on to check off some boxes on the paper and asks me the questions that apply: 1. is anything breakable? no - and 2. is this item replaceable? She started to mark yes and I said "NO!" check "NO"! No UPS person out there needs to think this is replaceable. Let them feel the weight of this important delivery. You lose it, buster, you will be in BIG TROUBLE!

Well, in all honestly I didn't go into all that with her, but I did have her check "no". Okay - so it is replaceable, I guess...but I think I'd lose my mind trying to do that all over again and I'd certainly be out some major cash.... so I'm sticking with "no".

I haven't heard from AWAA that the dossier is in hand, but the tracking number says "delivered". I should hear something tomorrow. Oh - and if all the paperwork looks good and gets authenticated without any issues, our paperwork will be DTE (on it's way to Ethiopia) on Friday, June 13!

To give you an idea of how much longer USCIS took this time around - when we adopted from China we started our paperwork at the same time - first of January. With the China adoption we had to have all our paperwork authenticated with the US State Department and Chinese Embassy on our own and still I had our dossier in to AWAA and being shipped to China by June 10. This time around I don't have to do the authentication (AWAA will do that) and my paperwork is just now arriving in AWAA's hands. However - I guess none of that matters, becaues I will be "in line" for our baby girl exactly where God wants me in line. That works for me. I trust Him! He gave us beautiful Libby last time around. I can't wait to discover who Aria is and how precious a gift God designed for our family!

Thanks for keepin' up!
Cindy

Guess What Arrived Today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah! You guessed it!!!!! Our 171H arrived in the mail today - much faster than I expected after last week's fiasco. In the morning we are headed to Austin to have our dossier bundle State certified. Then we will overnight it to AWAA.

The way things should go from there is...

AWAA will receive the packet on Thursday afternoon. By next Tuesday afternoon, all dossiers that have been received by AWAA (that includes ours) will be taken for Authentication and then to the Ethiopian Embassy for further work. And if all goes well (meaning, no more hiccups and all paperwork is good to go) then our paperwork should be in the mail next Friday - headed for ETHIOPIA!!!!!!!!!!!! That Friday date will be our D.T.E. (dossier to Ethiopia date) which is the date our official wait begins until we receive that greatly anticipated referral/photo of our baby girl. Again - if all goes perfectly - we can estimate that our referral will arrive sometime between January and March of 2009. And I (Cindy) would travel to Ethiopia with my dear friend Cristie Martine (Billy is staying home with Libby - pray for them! haha!) sometimes between March and May. Again - this is an estimate that has the potential of changing a hundred times between now and then - but it's one I still want to be excited about!

Thank you for all your prayers. This has been quite a high-stress week for our family. We received our new CD (had 1500 printed for summer camps, online sales, etc) that we just recorded and it sounds great, but to our dismay, we discovered that all the digital information on the CD was wrong. Song titles, band name - it was all wrong and it has been quite stressful trying to get it fixed. On top of adoption drama and CD drama we have been working through several other high stress situations that aren't worth explaining here - but we have turned a corner this evening and God has graciously seen us through. We will rest in wonderful peace tonight. He has been so good to us!!!