THIS IS IT!

Dear friends and family,

We are so excited to announce to the WORLD that we are adopting a child from Ethiopia! We started seriously considering adopting in September 07. We had our homestudy in February (We passed!) and completed our dossier just last week (compiling the paperwork was difficult while living abroad). I have it in my suitcase ready to mail today!

As I blogged day in and day out, I have wanted to share all the details with you, but I wanted to tell my Mom first and I wanted to talk with her face to face about it. As most of you know, we live in the Middle East and I had to wait until our summer break and our visit home to talk with her. I was nervous about telling her, but she reacted very well. She wasn't overly excited about the news, but she accepted it well and has asked some good questions.

Our plans are to adopt a little boy or girl, 3-6 years old. Our children at home are 7, 10, and 12. Our family is so excited, a little nervous, humbled, and happy to be adding another little one. Since we are finished with most of our paperwork, we will now be waiting for a referral and it could take many months. I will keep you posted with any news, but I think this part is mostly just WAITING!

SO, that is our BIG NEWS......you are invited to join with us on our adoption "ride" by praying for and anticipating the arrival of the new Collins kid!