Dane's Little Brother: Isaac

Last week, an hour after we got our Friday update, we received word of a little 12 month old boy from the mountainous regions of Ethiopia named Yisak, a Jewish name for Isaac, who needs a home.  Well let's just say that little Isaac has a home in Spokane, WA, even if he's not able to come live with us today.

When I got the call, I was in shock.  In fact I was a little confused.  We had thought we would be waiting 6 months to be at this point, but God had different plans. My immediate reaction was wanting to fly there right then and hold him and let him know he is loved. I look forward to that day!

Kevin and I had planned to go to dinner at a "fancy" place that night for a date, but I convinced him to go to the place where we have talked over all of our adoption decisions and he didn't suspect anything...I showed him the picture and asked "Does this look like Dane's brother?" and we both rejoiced and were very excited, cried happy tears, etc.

Telling Dane, his first thought was, "I hope he likes pirates!"  Then he went to his room and made room for Isaac on the bottom bunk.  We had just made a paper chain to let Dane how long until we leave for a trip we are going on, and Dane decided he wanted to make one for when Isaac will come home. I told him that will take a while, so I'm not sure when we will make it, but it's going to be a big project that won't be 100% right!  Whenever we go places where he hasn't told them about Isaac, he runs around with a picture of Isaac saying, "This is Isaac.  He's my brother!"

What we cannot believe is how perfect Isaac fits into our family.  First, Patty's brother, Paul's middle name is Isaac.  Paul's adoption had a major (wonderful) impact on Patty's life and is one of the major reasons why we decided to adopt.  Second, Isaac means laughter, and we are definitely a joyous, joking, and laughing family.  In the Bible, Isaac was Abraham's son whom God had given him in unexpected circumstances - very much so with our little Isaac.  Also, the picture we have of  Isaac at 12 months is VERY similar to a picture we have of Dane at the same age.  Similar outfit, similar pose, similar expression, and let me tell you, Isaac has Waite ears! He's also VERY tall, so it looks like I will be towered over by all of the boys! It is so apparent to us how God knew that Isaac belongs in our family despite his birth location!

There is so much we want to tell you, but these are just the highlights!

As many of you know, we cannot post pictures of him on the internet, until the Ethiopian government says he is legally our son, so, if you want to see his photo, you will have to stop by!  But, we didn't want to leave you hanging, so a VERY proud big brother drew some pictures for you:

Dane on Left, Isaac on Right

Artist notes: Dane is pink, Isaac is brown, they both have the same size ears.
Mom's notes: I am thankful that Dane recognizes the differences between them, as this is natural to do, but I really like the time, and care he took to make Isaac's photo, compared to the quicker version of himself.  I also love that they are both smiling with BIG smiles!

So many of you will ask when little Isaac will join us in Spokane, and I wish we could tell you, but the best I can do is tell you that only God knows this.  The many changing laws, procedures and case loads in the Ethiopian Family courts will affect the time line and since this has all significantly changed in the last 30 days, we just don't know.  Our hope is to have Isaac home by Christmas.  Hopefully the USCIS meeting on April 6th will bring us a better answer on this question.

We should be receiving updated information on his health, his birth certificate and more in the coming weeks and we will let you know more as we know more!

Thank you everyone!