Now, let's see....

If we can get a good picture of these five.

Umm, nope. Not yet.
Hey guys, just stand there and fold your hands together.
Okay, try giving each other a big hug then.
Yeah, right.
Well at least these two boys in the trees are awfully cute.
Before the weekend, I'll clarify.

I can't show a picture of Meadow (Yes! That will be her name : ) yet. Not until Eth. courts have determined her "ours." You can take my word for it though, she is a real cutie pie.
Her last name will become her middle name, (which I can't share either) then Deutsch, of course.
People seem to have varying ideas about the name change. We thought we would leave it up to the child(ren) if they are old enough. She's still pretty young, and after considering all sides of the Name Issue, talking with various people who have a clue about this, we have decided it would probably be simpler for her throughout her life to have a name that is English, one that people aren't constantly misunderstanding, misspelling, mispronouncing.
Meadow is a name we liked a lot and oddly enough, it is quite similar to her Ehtiopian name.

There is a story behind choosing our girl. We are still interested in 2 kids. However, after things played out with her she was there, waiting.

None of the orphanages our agency works with had a sibling pair. So, after our paperwork was submitted, we would wait for children who "met" our "criteria." That was fine with us. We would do that. Except for, there was this girl, Meadow, popping up on the waiting children's list, Again. (Insert: Long Story I can not tell). To say the least, she was tugging, pulling at our heart strings.

Our agency does not ever allow the adoption of 2 unrelated children at the same time. So adopting her and another child simultaneously was out of the question.

We spoke to the agency people asking if we wanted to go back and adopt a second time how much it would cost. To adopt 2 children in 2 separate adoptions is MUCH more expensive than 2 at one time. Plus there's all the paperwork, travel, etc that must take place again. However, by the time they got back with us about details for adoption no. 2, we had already decided. Even if it costs exactly the same again and we have to pay double what we would have for 2 kids, we would like to adopt Meadow. This little girl had won us over. We were putty in her hands by this point ;-) They had to review our case, and determine if we would be a good fit for her. They did, and we were!

So, this is the plan. If all goes well....
We will adopt her, enjoy bonding as a family of 8. Get acquainted with the HIV specialists, treatments, etc.

Start adoption no. 2 after a year, if we have enough money saved by that time.

These are our best ideas, of course. We will look to God to guide and direct our steps. Obviously, we will have to rely on Him to provide the funds!

We could not resist her. She was waiting for a family. We have a family to offer.
The End.

It's Friday! Hope the garage sale tomorrow produces. We've got a second adoption to finance ;-)
Have a good one!