The Journey

We want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to Myrah Whittington and Teresa Fehrenz! These two ladies both approached us about doing fundraisers for our adoption. Thanks to all their hard work, we raised almost $900 this summer. Teresa held a 31 Party  for us, and she so kindly held it at her home even though she was undergoing a big home improvement project. She was a wonderful host with great snacks including my favorite Eckerts chips and salsa =) People were able to make orders online which made it nice for those who were not able to come to her house. This was her first party ever, and I think it was a great success! Baby Woodson was also able to get a diaper bag from the party which was nice even though daddy wants to use it as a camera bag. She also donated one of the 31 bags for the raffle at the Zumbathon and worked the raffle table. Teresa has gone far beyond anything we could ever ask for; we have been so blessed by her and can't wait for Baby W to meet her! Myrah ...

Today, Jeffrey and I submitted the online portion of an adoption grant. We are hoping that the letter we need from our adoption agency will be in the mail today, so we can mail out the paper portion of the grant. We know that God is going to provide for this adoption, but we also know that we must be active and do everything we can to help the cause. ShowHope is an organization that gives out grants to families who are in the middle of the adoption process. We had to wait till all our paperwork (homestudy) was finalized, and we have to apply before we are matched with a child. There are several deadlines for the grant, but we thought we would write the grant over the summer since I have a little more time. You can only apply for the grant once, so we will either be accepted or denied. They have to deny people due to the fact that there is a large number of applications and not enough funds. Please pray that our application will be selected. Every little bit of help we can get is h...

Although this is a blog dedicated to our beautiful baby, I think our marriage has a huge impact on how we have embarked on this incredible and insanely difficult journey. Though we know we don't have it all figured out, I think we have come quite a long way since we first said, "I do". Five years may not seem like a long time, but living in a society where about 1/2 of marriages end in divorce, I feel like it is something to be proud of. I know each relationship is unique and has its own set of challenges and needs, but I feel like I have learned quite a few lessons over our five years. Top Ten Lessons from Five Years of Marriage: 10.  Never quit dating. Even though one may assume you see each other enough, going on dates is different than just being in the same room together. Turn off your cell phones, get out of the house or stay in, but make time for just the two of you. It is possible to keep dating even on a very limited budget. Make it a priority! 9. Find c...

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A lot of you have recently asked me about how the process is going, and my response lately has been that they are making changes to the process so we are really unsure of what is going on. Now that I have a little more information, I will do my best to avoid adoption jargon and give the the best explanation that I can. Why are they changing the process? Is this your adoption agency who is doing this?  First of all, this process change is for anyone who is adopting from Ethiopia. They are making these changes due to the request of the US government. I believe it was in 2011 that the US informed Ethiopia that they would like to implement something called the PAIR process. Why does the US want this change?  Right now, families go to court through the Ethiopian government and that child is then claimed as theirs. The issue with the US government is that people would pass court in the Ethiopian Courts, but would then not be cleared through the US Embassy which was the next st...

Wouldn't it be great to lose some calories while helping a great cause! THIS IS YOUR CHANCE! Come for a morning of Zumba with Certified Zumba instructor, Myra Whittington! You may be a Zumba junkie or this may be your first time! No experience is required! Just come ready to move and have a great time! Cost is $10 at the door or you can buy tickets from us in advance. As you know, international adoption is extremely expensive. We currently have around $16,500 left to raise! All ticket proceeds go to The Woodson Family's Ethiopian Adoption! YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS EVENT! GREAT MUSIC, GREAT EXERCISE, GREAT CAUSE! We want to give a shout out to everyone who understands the heart of adoption and has supported us from day one in this extremely long and difficult process. We know it will be so worth it! Please invite all your friends and family! This is truly going to be a morning with lots of fun and energy!  Make sure to bring a water bottle and wear comfy c...

This is the 2nd blog post based off of Father's Day. Last Father's Day is when we told our families that we were adopting. Although they knew we were going to eventually adopt, we told them that we had started the process with a card and a picture that looked like an ultrasound of Africa. Both families were extremely supportive and excited. Even though we knew some people waited quite a while in the adoption process to tell their friends and family, we knew we wanted to tell them rather early because we needed their support and prayers. Jeffrey and I are both so thankful to have such supportive fathers in our lives. They have supported our relationship as a couple, and now they are both standing behind us as we feel this is how we are supposed to expand our family. Thank you dad and Jeff for being the people you are. We know that Baby Woodson is going to have some amazing grandpas; he/she already does! Baby Woodson will be a bike riding fishing machine! It wouldn't be...