Pray for Layla!

Layla Blakely - 6 years old

I have the link to Layla's caring bridge site on this blog. Please visit and pray for this precious child. We met Layla while were staying at the Rondald Mcdonald House during Savannah's hospital inpatient treatment. She captured our hearts with her beautiful bald head, her charming and mischievous smile, her constant laughter, and her incredibly positive outlook on life. She just amazed us! Layla is 6 years old and has had multiple surgeries to remove cancerous tumors. They have all been extremely life threatening and she has undergone numerous rounds of chemo since she was 4. After her last surgery in August when a very large tumor was removed she was hoping for good news on her follow up. Instead, two weeks ago it was found that she has many spots of cancer on her liver and now it has moved to her lungs. As a mother, my heart breaks for Nicole, Layla's mom. Please join us in praying for this family and especially precious Layla.

Every Mother Should Have a Son

Our Son!
This is kind of random but always on my heart. Many people told me for years, when I just had girls, that every mom needs a son. I thought, 'why'. Boys are hyper, dirty, bad mannered, and over all can be gross. Well, let's just say my feelings have changed immensely. My son is the most affectionate, caring, sweet, loving, funny boy I have ever met. I may sound a little bias but it is just because I am so in love with this little boy. God continues to amaze me with His desire to give us the desires of our heart even when we don't know them ourselves. The picture above prompted this post. Is it just me or is this little guy's smile intoxicating? Don't you just fall in love with him - I did!

Our Quiver is Full....or so we think!

Kambyri Senait

Thaddeus Joel

We received news today that we cleared court in Ethiopia. We have been granted custody of Thaddeus Joel and Kambyri Senait Brady. Currently Thad is 7.5 months old and Kamby is 4.5 months old. We will hear early next week about our exact travel dates. We are getting ready to go and are anticipating sometime around Thanksgiving.

My Oh My, How the Time Goes By

As I celebrate my 39th birthday today I have reflected a lot over life and particularly the last 6 months. It has been six months since Savannah's accident and six months since I finished the paperwork (dossier) to adopt two babies from Ethiopia. Today I feel blessed beyond measure. We are awaiting the outcome of our court hearing on Friday (30th). We will be represented via a power of attorney in an Ethiopian court to award us custody of our babies. If we clear court then we make travel arrangements to go pick them up. We are anticipating traveling around Thanksgiving. Lee, Alyx, and I are planning on making the trip while Savannah and the littles stay back home. We should only be in Ethiopia for less than a week, but with the long travel it will probably be a 7-10 day trip total. Last week our entire family came down with a nasty cold virus, thank God it was not the flu but it felt just as bad. It also spread just as much. But now it seems that everyone is better and except for the lingering cough we all feel well. While we were sick, for some insane reason Lee started painting and swapping the kids' rooms. So in between high fevers, coughing, and over all being miserable we completely moved everyone around. This was done in order to make room for all the kids. Savannah moved into Dax's room, since it is the smallest, Dax moved into Graci's room which he will share with Thad, and Graci moved into Savannah's room and she will share that with Kamby. Alyx is the only one that got to stay put. If you have ever seen Alyx's room you would understand why we would not want to move her. Let's just say this girl has some stuff and I don't look forward to the day that we have to pack her room. Every one's spaces look great and everyone is happy with their new rooms. On top of the illnesses, the room swapping, and receiving a court date we also had our computer down all last week. The computer guy spent 20+ hours here fixing it. Praise God for tech geniuses! He did a great job and our computers are up and running. So now that all the technical stuff is done and everyone is settled we will prepare for travel. We have to get our vaccinations, tickets, and pack. We are also doing a formula drive before we leave to take as much formula as we can to donate to the orphanage. If you would like to donate formula please contact me. Well, I mentioned it has been six months since Savannah's accident and we just stand amazed at how far she has come. She practically runs now and uses both her left and right hands over 50% of the time. Savannah has been asked by many to speak and share her testimony. Last weekend she spoke at a youth event that a local church was having. She continues on with therapy still three times a week and helps more and more at home. I especially love that she is able to grade Alyx's Algebra. It is totally awesome for me to get help in that! Praise God that Lee has had a ton of work. He has been able to work his normal days but also pick up night work at Starbucks. He has been helping a contractor that is remodeling Starbucks throughout the valley. This is just perfect timing for us to get extra work, with travel looming and all. Well that's it for now, I will post more when I have news after the hearing on Friday.

Awaiting a court hearing date

The courts in Ethiopia are closed now until the end of September. When they reopen we should receive a hearing date. It is anticipated that this date will be sometime the beginning of November. After we 'clear' court we will travel 4-6 weeks later to pick the babies up. We will spend about one week in Ethiopia bonding with them and visiting their country before we bring them home. Two things we ask prayer for at this point is: 1) God's continued provision to supply final payments and travel expenses. 2) God's provision and care for people to take care of Savannah, Graci, and Dax while we are away.

Proud to Announce our Baby Boy and Girl

Oh, how I wish I could post their pictures for all to see. They are so adorable!

Announcing:

Thaddeus Joel Brady born on 3/16/09 and
Kambyri Senait Brady born on 6/9/09 !

Both babies are healthy and thriving well. They have been moved to the transitional orphanage which is where they will live until we go pick them up. It is anticipated that we will travel by the end of the year to bring them home.

3 year old boy - Gotcha for 2

Dax getting ready to blow out his candles
Dax with his friends' Jaydon and Jackson, and with Graci and cousin Serenity

Dax and Serenity snuggling

Best 3 year old friends - Graci is so happy Dax is now 3 like her

Crazy big sissys

Dax's train cake (made by mommy) - I am quite proud because Dax said "I like it mommy, I really like it, my train cake!"

Graci teaching Dax to show "I am 3"

Daddy successfully teaching Dax to show "I am 3"

Bath time after a long party

Graci loves to hold her 'baby' brother

Graci and Dax lounging in the pool - they have quite the life!

Last week we celebrated Dax's 'Gotcha' Day and his birthday. It was two years ago August 20 that we received Dax in Guatemala and processed the paperwork to bring him home. He was three days shy of turning one year old when we came home. I did not have time for many pictures but they were two very special days. We spent Gotcha day preparing all Guatemalan food and recipes. We decorated the house with Mayan decor and Guatemalan treasures we had collected while we were there. We focused on teaching Dax about his heritage but most of all about how he came to be Phillip Daxton Brady. The week just continued with celebration as Dax turned three. He was more excited about his birthday than he was about Gotcha day. His birthday party had the house decorated in trains and he had a train cake. He likes trains more than Guatemalan decorations at this age. He also liked the food better at his birthday. He ordered hot dogs and chips, which is his absolute favorite meal (if you call it a meal). It was great week celebrating our precious boy!