Hello! Happy (late) Valentines Day! Dale and Patrick (along with Jeff and Grandpa Jiggs)
have been working their tails off on our addition. They are making HUGE progress! We had our electrical and framing inspection this past week, and passed with flying colors! This past weekend, the guys finished all the insulation and got a lot done on the plumbing. I am getting EXCITED, and the drywall is next, and I love to drywall! It is really beginning to look like a house, instead of just a bunch of boards. It will be SO nice when it is done. For those of you who don't know, we are building an addition onto our home. A much needed addition, as currently the 8 (going on 9) of us share a three bedroom, one bath house. We are putting on another 1000 square feet. It is like heaven!
Critters are all doing well! We have 2 litters of Mini Rex rabbits due Thursday or Friday. I spent some time today getting them acclimated to their nesting boxes and making sure they have plenty of bedding in case the weather gets cold again.
We have no news from China. This wait is SO hard. We have had lots of communication with Brogan lately, however. She is doing great, although is having some issues with people trying to swipe her backpack at the market. PLEASE be careful, little Brogan!
We cannot wait for fresh milk! We have been drinking "store" milk all winter, as I have not had much extra time to drive to Arthur. It is so bad. When that first goat kid arrives, I will be SO happy, because that means fresh milk is not too far behind! I have had lots of calls about goat milk this last few weeks, and lots of people are disappointed we don't have any yet. Trust me, I am just as disappointed! But it's coming soon!
Thanks for checking in! Please pray for us as we wait on 2 important things this week, 1) Our tax return....we have figured out exactly what we need to break free of some medical debt, and to help Patrick get to Japan this summer.........now we just hope the accountant comes up with that amount for us! 2) This week, we should get a YES or a NO from Shaohannah's Hope, an adoption grant agency. We applied for some financial help with Emily MengYan's adoption expenses. We pray for favor.........and wait anxiously!
Blessings!
ann

This is a small collection of Brogan's photos from Ethiopia. Patrick put them together in a slide show, and added Brogan's favorite song. He did a great job, and the photos are amazing! Hope you enjoy them!

Well, most of you have probably heard by now, but we got a call from Brogan Wednesday night! It was SO good to hear from her, she sounds GREAT! For more details on the call, check out my blog on her journal at www.thrubroganseyes.com She is loving Africa, I knew she would! I just hope she doesn;t love it so much that she doesn't want to come home! LOL
No new news on MengYan, but we actually do not expect to hear anything until March-ish. Our dossier is in review, and as soon as it is translated and reviewed, we will receive a Letter of Acceptance. It takes 1-4 months, we are praying for the 1 month! LOL
The farm is VERY muddy and sloppy right now! I am glad for warmer weather, but not glad for the mud. I don't think any mom of 4 boys enjoys the mud. Especially when it ends up tracked ALL through the house!
Think that is all the news for now. One, one more thought, please pray for my dear friend, Kimberly. Her oldest is leaving for the NAVY next week, and she is really having a hard time letting him go! There is a going awawy party for him tonight. We will miss you Alex! But...........we are proud of you!!!!!!!!
Have a GREAT weekend!!!!!!!! Blessings!
ann

Hi everyone, thanks for checking in! Probably the thing that is weighing heaviest on my mind right now, is Brogan. We have not heard a peep from her in 9 days. She had been emailing every day, or every couple of days. Now....nothing. I know in my heart she is OK.
But, the mom in me needs to hear from her! Please help me pray that she will email SOON! Thanks so much!

News on Emily MengYan is good.....we received an updated health certificate and several new pictures. She is cuter than ever, and she looks so much better than she did in the last pics we received. Her health certificates states that she continues to be transfused every 2 weeks, and continues to be somewhat jaundiced from her anemia, but these are things we already new. We did get some sad news today. One of her roomies died yesterday. Little Patti died from a bowel obstruction in Beijing. Even more upsetting, is that she had already been chosen by a family, who is waiting on paperwork just like we are. Please pray for them. I cannot imagine the grief.

Rory had a great doc visit yesterday. Dr. B has decided to discontinue Rory's therapy, since his last eval was so good! He does not go back for another visit for 6 months, unless we need something unexpected arises.

We are enjoying the snow here, and we are very thankful we DON"T have the ice some parts of the country have. This is the first year we have had the tractor with snow blade, and Dale was out right away to plow. It was NICE not having to speed down the drive to get through the snow. Dale did a great job! The kids have all been great, school is fun, and we are counting down the days til spring and all the baby critters! Bunnies are due in 3 weeks. goats are due in 8 weeks, sheep in 9. And, I was finally able to find a bull to breed Nutmeg to, so she will be bred in June, for a March calf next year. All is well here!

I will post again, as soon as I hear from Brogan, which I pray is very soon. Thanks for checking in!!!!!!!
Blessings, Ann

Hi again! Surprise....another email from B this morning! Here it is
Hey Mom and Dad,
I am very lucky to be able to email you 2 days in a row!
Africa is not what I expected at all! There are no animals except farm animals. The food is very strange! The land is beautiful!! The mountains (yes there are a lot of mountains!) are amazing. we are goingm on a mountain climb on Saturday. I am SO excited. Efrim said that even if we don't go as a whole group, he promised to take me and Kate and Jeff. Don't worry mom, Efrim is very sweet, but he is 48 y/o lol! He is our driver and translator, and goes everywhere with us!
Last night i talked in my sleep and freaked all the girls in my room out. My room is about the same size as my room as home. but there are 4 girls living in it. Me and Anna share a bunk, i top, she bottom. And Angela and Lena share a bunk. Lena is from Australia and Angela is from Canada. They both have very funny accents. lol
Here is a few things i have learned while being here just 2 days, Flashdrives are worthless. The minute you plug them into the cafe's computer, a virus is downloaded, and it becomes worthless.
But there are 4 internet cafes right beside each other, so when one or 2 are down, there is always one that is still up.
And here, 1 US dollar is 10 birr. So like my meal yesterday was 28.90 but in America it would have cost only $2.89!!
Kara, another girl here, from Texas, ordered the fasting firifr, not knowing what it was, and it was raw goat meat!
I thought she was gonna get sick!!
I WOULD HAVE.
And you can't eat with your left hand, only your right, when u are in public. It is very hard for me!!
Well I must go, hopefully i can email again soon, but i trully have no idea. 
I love you all, and thanks for the letters!
~Brogan~
Also got some news on little MengYan. Her fever has finally broke, so she can now have that desperately needed blood trasnfusion. She is better. But I have a feeling she is more ill than we thought. We need to get her home, so she can have the treatments she is in need of! Please help us pray for a lightening fast Travel Invitation fron China!

Other news: The animals are handling the cold ok. With one exception. This morning I found little Fidget dead. :( Fidget was one of my spring baby Nubie goats. She has been small and frail from day one, but I thought we finally had her through the worst. I guess not. No matter how long I live on this farm, I will never get used to losing an animal. And why is it always my favorites??? Losing my Mini Jersey bull, Peanut, was incredibly hard, but I reassured myself that everyone else was healthy and well. I never dreamed I would lose Fidget. :( I will miss you little Fidget!

Thanks for checking in!
ann

Hello again! I know Brogan would love to receive some mail from home! She cannot have packages (duty tax on packages is too high), but to send her a card or letter first class only costs 93 cents! Here is her address:
To: Brogan McKinney
P.O. Box 1465
Debre Zeit
East Shoa
Ethiopia
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Blessings,
ann

After waiting up almost all night, I finally got an email from Brogan this morning! Here it is

Hey Mom and Dad!
OMG things have been SO crazy!!
I'll start at the beginning.
I got through the airline system just fine, but when i found my flight place, the time was pushed back from 3:45 to 5:40, so it was a long day waiting. Then when we got on the plane, they said they needed to deice the plane. Ok, I thought, this shoudln't take too long.
But we took off at 7:15
By the time we got to Frankfurt, we (me, Kate, retha, and Jeff) had 10 minutes to get on the Addis Flight. We were running through trying to find our way, and finally we found it, they help it for our flight. =)
The flights were all very long and tiring, but i slept most of the way. =)
If |I wasn't sleeping, i was talking to people i met on the flight, like a guy who works for the UN
Any way when we got to the airline, they lost all of our luggage!!!
I was freakin out!!
We won't get our bags till Thursday, thats when the next flight gets in.
Oh, If you wanna call me, heres Anna's cell number, just remember, it charges you, not me, and we are 8 hours ahead of you.
Anyway today we went and toured the city, seeing all of the churches and stuff. =)
I gotta go Angelas waiting on me. Shes really really nice. =)
I love you, and please hug and kiss all the kids for me. =)
Love,Brogan Danielle


We are SO glad to hear from her, to know she is ok. Please help us pray that her luggage is found on Thursday, and that things settle down for her. Thanks!!!! and Blessings!!!!!
ann

Ethiopia is 9 hours ahead of us, which means Brogan should be there by now!
We are just waiting for her to call and let us know she is there, safe, and things are ok.
Will post as soon as we hear from her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ann

Hello!
Well, we are home from Chicago. Brogan is gone. She is somewhere flying over the ocean, on her way to a stop in Germany and then to her destination in Ethiopia. It was much harder than I was expecting. I thought I was prepared. I was not. Keagan was the one who got to me. He cried and cried when it was time to say goodbye. He acts SO macho, but he is SO tenderhearted. He cried himself to sleep.

On a lighter note, we had a great time in Chicago. We found a great hotel, a great restaurant for supper last night, and we all had a great time swimming. Brogan was very quiet this morning, but very confident and determined. I know she had to be nervous, but she didn't show it. When we got to O'Hare, it was the usual, chaos. We were told the wrong thing so many times it was not funny. We waited in 4 incorrect lines. People were so rude, and I was about to totally cry, thinking that I was turning my baby over to these wolves. But the Lord is faithful. Just when I was ready to say "I cannot do this", we found the right line, and we had "THE NICEST" lady in the entire airport wait on us. She was wonderful. When we told her we needed to check 4 bags instead of 3, and we understood there would be an additional charge, she excused herself to check on this idea. When she returned, she told us she would not charge us for Brogan's 4th bag! She told Brogan to use the money she should have spent shipping the bag, on the children in Africa! IT was great....just what I needed!

We are ok. It is gonna be weird without Brogan here, but she is in God's hands, and he is much better at protecting, guiding, and loving her than we are. We cannot thank you all enough for your support. Friday night was amazing, and so have all your cards, calls, and emails. God has certainly blessed us with amazing friends and family!

One more note......Please keep Emily MengYan in your prayers. We are in the process of adopting her from the Peoples Republic of China. She is ill, and is currently in the hospital, receiving a blood transfusion. We need to get her home, so she can get the care she needs!! Please pray that she would gain strength and good health, and that our paperchase would pick up speed! We cannot wait to love on her!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for checking in!!!!!
ann

Good morning! Well, today is the day! We are leaving shortly after noon (IF we can get the van to start - that's anopther story) for Chicago. We are finishing packing Brogan up, and we will all spend the eve in Chicago. We have plans for a nice fun evening. Brogan gets to pick her last truly American meal, and then the kids can swim and play! Tomorrow we need to have Brogan to the airport by 1pm, and her planes leaves around 3:30. She will have a 4 hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany, and then on to Addis Abba, Ethiopia!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my!!!!!!!!!!!!! Once she lands in Ethiopia, it is a 45 minute drive to the BCI compound, where she will be staying.

Thank you all for an absolutely amazing party last night! I cannot believe how many of you came out to see Brogan off, and your gifts and donations were completely overwhelming!
Thank you and Bless you all, for your love and support. It is just so wonderful! :)

Well, please keep us in prayers, as this is exciting, but also sad at the same time. We will miss Brogan SO much! But we are SO proud of her!!!!!!! It will be quite an adjustment to not have her here for 8 months!

Thanks again, we love you, and will keep you up-to-date as best as possible! :-)

Blessings,
Ann and family!