New Sarah Pictures!

We received new pictures of Sarah this morning.... isn't she cute! Looks like she is standing and crawling and her smile will melt your heart. Can't wait to bring that girl home!!

As many of your know, all of our original paperwork (called our "dossier") was lost in the process this summer. The entity within the Ethiopian government that lost it was willing to write our opinion based on a copy of the dossier and therefore our case was able to be closed before the court closed for the 10 week rainy season. But they are requiring us to create a whole new dossier. Originally, the new dossier had to be completed in time for us to bring it with us when we travel.

Last week, however, things changed a little and now the government there is no longer willing to move forward with processing our case until we fedex them the new dossier. So we are scrambling to collect all the necessary pieces we need. We are almost done gathering up our documents and hope to begin the authentication process tomorrow or weds. Our dossier has to be sent several places to be authenticated. I don't know a whole lot about this because it is all handled by a woman that we hired who specializes in preparing and authenticating dossiers. She helped us the first time we did this (2 years ago) and she is helping us again as we do our "dossier do-over."

Anyway, after we get things to her this week she estimated about 2 weeks until our new dossier is in Ethiopia. Please pray that things go smoothly and that it gets there as quickly as possible. Within a few weeks of the dossier being received in Ethiopia, Sarah's papers can be released to Gladney and submitted to the embassy. Then we wait for the embassy to approve us and give us our travel dates.

Sled Hockey

Owen tried sled hockey for the first time tonite. If you have never seen sled hockey before, it is basically ice hockey played in narrow sleds on skates. The players sit in the sled and use short sticks to propel themselves across the ice. It is ALOT of work. Owen did so well and really seemed to enjoy it. There were several older players there who helped him along all evening and gave him lots of encouragement. I was just so proud of him for trying something new. It was very fun and we are hoping to do it again soon. Enjoy the pictures.

O_skates from Eric Lakey on Vimeo.

Gulf Shores: Sarah!

Next year, can I come too? Here she is, our sweet baby girl who is patiently waiting for us in Ethiopia. The news of our finalization came while we are in Gulf Shores. I suppose since she is officially part of the family now that we owe her a return trip. :)

Gulf Shores: Part 3

Even more pictures!

Gulf Shores: Part 2

More pictures!

Gulf Shores: Part 1

We enjoyed a week away on the gulf coast in early August. The average temperature was about 10 degrees cooler than here so that was a nice change. We had so much fun as a family for a couple of days and then the extended family arrived and the week just got funner by the minute. We enjoyed playing in the sand, riding the waves, playing in the pools, taking a boat ride in search of dolphins, eating in some new restaurants and spending time together.

In the pictures you will see Owen's "beach wheels" which we rented for the week. This made getting on, off and around the beach so easy. The wheelchair was basically a power chair with huge wheels. He had so much fun driving that thing around..... it was a real highlight for him.

Also note in the pictures that we "dug a hole to China" right there on the beach. We also created other sand animals.

We had alot of fun playing with Uncle Chris, Mimi and Papa, Bret, Brooke and our sweet 1 1/2 year old cousin Elizabeth. When asked about the best part of the trip Henry said "all the time that we spend with family"..... and boy, was he right.... it was a blast!

Of course, the week was made that much better by the fact that on Wednesday (8-10) we heard news from Gladney that our adoption was finalized and that Sarah is officially a Lakey.

Enjoy the pictures.

Lake Highlands Spray Ground

We have a spray-ground or spray park (whatever you want to call it) nearby. One morning this summer we decided to go to do something different other than just the pool. When you live in Dallas and you want to play outside during the summer, it almost has to involve water. Anyway, the kids had fun and we had the place virtually to ourselves for the first 45 minutes or so. We played for a good 1 1/2 hours and then what did we do? we went to the pool, of course!