Stamp of Approval!

We received a letter from AFAA today, which to most people would look a lot like a hefty bill.  To us, it looks like an approval letter :) AFAA is requesting 1/2 of our Lesotho Angel Fee and the Orphanage Donation Fee. 

As we move forward I'm interested in hearing any fundraising ideas that anyone has done or thinks might be good! Thank you for the continued love, encouragement and donations.  One day you'll have a face to put with all that support!

My mom purchased some African goods from our website: HERE  My brother-n-law and sister-n-law brought the goodies back to the US when they went to Africa in July.  Check out the site and let me know if you are interested in ordering! Even little Abby liked the dolls :)

We also still have lots of wristbands up for grabs for a $5 if anyone is interested!! Just drop me a message!

A Movin' and a Shakin'

Jason and I put an offer in on a house late last week...i think...wow, that feels like it was weeks ago.  Anyways...they accepted!!! We were very excited and have been working on getting things done ever since.  Last week we met up with our loan officer, Monday we had a home inspection and yesterday we met with the builder and insurance guy.  Whew! We are hoping to close in 3 weeks!  Good grief, I need to get packing.  It feels like we just unloaded a big 'ol truck and tons of boxes from Texas...and here we go again.  It wouldn't be a "typical" year unless the Flora's were moving and sending out a change of address. :)  Maybe today will be the day that I pack my first box to get this ball rolling again. 

Baby news:
We haven't heard a word from the director of AFAA since we mailed in our Power of Attorney form and our home study agency submitted our completed home study to them.  I'm going to send her an email today and hope to get some kind of update back.

In-laws head to Maseru....

Jason's parents just got back from a 3 day trip to Maseru, which is the capital of Lesotho.  They visited an orphanage called Beautiful Gate Orphange, which is most likely (fingers crossed) where our baby will come from.  The children range from ages 0 to 5 here and Teresa said she held a chubby little boy and just fell in love with him.  It's incredible to think that maybe even that chubby little boy could be OUR boy!  Their trip to the orphanage sounded incredible and I would have loved to have been there.  (Some day I will!)  The information that Jimmy and Teresa received from the Operations Manager of the orphanage was very encouraging.  Click on the link and on the different header tabs to see some of these beautiful babies!

http://www.beautifulgate.org/BGLesotho/comm.html

Update on the house-searching:
Tonight Jason and I put an offer on our very first house!  It sounds like it could be a far fetch that they would accept it but we'll see what happens...we serve a BIG God! :) 

We've got Mail!

On Friday Jason and I received the Power of Attorney form in the mail from AFAA.  They are still waiting on our finalized version of our home study but getting this form from them is a step in the right direction.  We got it signed and notarized and it's ready to go in the mail tomorrow.  Our home study gal, Meryah, advised that she got the final signatures on our paperwork (home study) and that it was going out in the mail tomorrow as well.  Once AFAA receives all of this they can send our paperwork to Lesotho and then we'll wait for a match meeting.  Our matching could take longer due to us requesting a younger child. 

In the midst of all this waiting going on, we have been looking at buying a home.  It's been stressful and fun looking at houses and trying to seek out where we want to live.  We want to make a good decision financially and find a good neighborhood for our family.  Sometimes it seems we are just really gun-shy to make a decision but my brother led us to this verse:

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

 – Proverbs 21:5

I know that I can be too careful about decisions sometimes but this was a good verse for us to hear.  I want us to be responsible with the finances that God has provided us with.  We'll keep seeking!