T-Shirts Are Here!

T-Shirts are here and they look Awesome! We are so excited to get them out to all our generous supporters. We had an overwhelming response and sold over 100 t-shirts! Thanks!!





Paperwork Officially Submitted To Ethiopian Court Today!

Yahoo! Great news today....now we wait for the court date. God is Good!



One Step Closer!

Today we received some awesome news - apparently the paperwork from the orphanage, that was thought to be incorrect and useless, is correct after closer examination and does meet the requirements to be sent on to the court! Our agency will submit the paperwork to the court next week and then the wait for our court date begins. This one small step and piece of news was huge for us as the uncertainty that came with the last round of news was weighing heavy on our hearts. God bless the wonderful agency folks on the ground in Ethiopia for their work on behalf of our son!



Why Ethiopia - Love This Video



Spring Break Wishes

My thoughts and feelings approaching spring break are usually those of jealousy for friends and family heading off to exotic and warm locations, but also excitement for a week off with my family. The excitement remains this year but is now sharing room in my heart with sadness. Our Elli girl turns 9 years old on April 3rd! April 3rd also marks the one-year mark for our M. in an Ethiopian orphanage. We were anticipating spring break as a tentative time of the year for our court trip to Africa. Unfortunately we continue to wait, and wait, as the paperwork process and delays continue to extend our timeline......Although we are heartbroken we remain filled with hope because this isn't our process...it is HIS. God has his hands all over this thing and just keeps pushing us to have faith; HE has a heart for orphans and for Africa, HE has a plan for us and for M; HE is a father to the fatherless and we remain hopeful that we will be soon as well.

T-Shirt Orders

Wow....Thanks to all for your generous support of our T-shirt fundraiser!! We are stoked to see over one hundred people rocking those t-shirts around this valley in the next week or so. T-shirts should be in around March 28th and we will get them sorted and delivered ASAP. With Love.....The Bertrams

Painful Bumps In The Road

Lacey called me this morning at work just about the same time that I saw an e-mail come across my computer from our adoption agency. My heart leapt with excitement until I answered the phone to hear my wife crying and her quiet voice delivered some bad news. This wasn't the news we were expecting, not the long awaited court date.....rather another setback in the process. Apparently the paperwork from M's original orphanage, before being transferred to our agency's care center, wasn't valid. That orphanage has been shut down and the government is requiring all of the kiddos to be returned to their living parent/s, if they still have living parent/s. Our agency contacted M's mom again and she reiterated her desire to have M adopted. We are now in a peculiar position where our agency seeks to obtain the appropriate paperwork for M. They are basically starting over by assigning him to an orphanage for paperwork purposes. M will get to stay in our agency care center which is comfortable for him and a real blessing. We have no idea how this set back will slow down our already slow process. We do know that we are completely committed to M and will wait as long as it is required to bring our son home. Please keep our agency, our family, and especially M in your prayers. Saw this verse today and it is such a comfort during this painful time....God's promises keep us going:

"Never will I leave you; Never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5