Our Story

Landon and I were married in 1998 and knew from the beginning we were meant for each other.  After only dating for 6 months we were engaged and married soon after.  I guess you could say we have never looked back.  We became pregnant with our first child a year or so after being married and Lainey was born in 2000.  She was precious and beautiful, and soon after we began to talk about adoption.  It was a desire I had been given by God when I was about 10 years old.  My mom said I used to tell her I was going to adopt a "little Chinese girl".  She listened and encouraged, and thought little else of it.  Almost 15 years later, I was having this same type discussion with my husband.  It was something he had never really thought about, but through much discussion, was on board....when the time was right.  When Lainey was 19 months old, our son Luke was born.  He was equally precious and such a blessing.  We didn't plan on them being so close in age, but we see daily the blessings of their small age difference.  We now had 2 children under the age of 2...not the right time for adoption.  A couple of years passed and we continued to talk about it and I remember praying that if this wasn't a God-given desire for God to take it away.  Needless to say, it never went away.  About three years later we really began to talk about starting the process.  A few months later I found out my brother and sister-in-law were pregnant with triplets...all natural!  I KNEW she would need tons of help so....not the right time for adoption.  Another year or so passed and we began seriously discussing it again.  At this time Landon's brother and sister-in-law knew there were fertility problems and decided on the adoption route.  We wanted our family to fully appreciate every moment with them so...not the right time for adoption.  December 2009...it IS the right time for adoption.  In January we began researching every possible scenario and agency.  We chose Gladney because of their reputation.  Through prayer and research and more prayer, we chose Ethiopia...or I guess Ethiopia chose us.  It was never questioned...our son would be from Ethiopia, a country with 4.4 million orphans.  We officially began all the paperwork in April of 2010.  We are now finished with everything but the dossier (in the process) and the referral and travel.  I pray that this blog helps those in the process, guides those just beginning, or bonds those of us in the same boat.  I will update as soon as anything new occurs.  I ask that you please pray for our son, Ethiopia, and our family.

Leandra