The McDade Family

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Hi! Our names are Shannon, Mark and Summer McDade. We are a family of three wanting to expand our family through adoption. We were planning to adopt from Taiwan, but the wait has helped us change countries to Ethiopia. God has a purpose foreverything and we are going to stay faithful and follow Him.

Monday, March 28, 2011

My Birthday Weekend

This past weekend was my birthday. I turned 37 years old this year. I don't feel like I am 37 which is good. Mark and I have been celebrating it since last weekend. My dad cooked out for me last Sunday since my mom would be out of town during my birthday weekend. My dad cooked hamburgers, hotdogs, and some baked beans. It was so good. My mom made me my favorite cake pound cake and it was so yummy!!! Here is a picture of Summer and I at my party at my dad's house.



We had a lot of fun. I received some money so I could get me a bagger for my riding lawn mower.

Then this weekend we were celebrating it again on Saturday by getting me my favorite donuts at Tas-T-O. So great!!! Then on Saturday night we went to Mark's parents house and we had an Italian dinner. It was so good. We had fun with his side of the family. Summer played with all of her cousins and was wore out when we got home later on that night. They gave me some really cool things for the house and some money to help with the bagger. So I will get it sometime soon.

Lots of candles!!!!



Mark knew I was a little upset that I didn't get what I really wanted for my birthday- a referral!!!! I am just going to keep praying that it will happen sometime soon!!! So at church on Sunday Mark goes and buys me a cross that I have been wanting for a while and a painted picture for the house.






They both look great on our kitchen area of our house. They both give a since of motivation to always put God first in everything that I do. I have such a great husband. I love you, Mark!!!!!

I have become friends with a women that I have met through an adoption blog. She is adopting from Ethiopia too. It is like we have always known each other!! We try to email back and forth each day to keep the other motivated while we both are waiting on a referral. God brought us together before all of this stuff going on in Ethiopia. I am so glad because it would have been too hard not to have someone to talk to about what was happening in Ethiopia. Today I received a birthday card from her and a bookmark with an African Angel on it.


When I saw the bookmark I started to cry!! It was so thoughtful of her to send me my own African Angel bookmark. Every time I use it I will think of her and how our friendship started while going through the journey of adoption. I pray that we will remain friends for a life time and one day we will meet. I hope we will meet for the first time in Ethiopia when we go get our boys!!!! How cool would that be???

Even though I didn't get a referral, I had a great birthday. I was able to spend time with family and friends. I am thankful for that!!! Maybe next year for my birthday our son Connor will be with us helping Summer blow out the candles!!! I can't wait for that day to come. Please keep praying for us while we stay on this roller coaster called adoption!!



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Friday, March 18, 2011

Went To The Zoo

Today Summer and I went to the zoo for her last day of spring break. We had an awesome time together. We went all over the zoo. I could not believe all the people that were there, but it didn't stop Summer from seeing almost every animal. We had some ice cream then it was time to go. Here are some pictures of our day at the zoo.










Ice cream so cold!!!




I am so thankful to have Summer as my daughter. I am so thankful God is letting me parent her while she is here on earth. I hope I am doing the job that God wants me to do by her. I am praying everyday that I am. I want to be a good role model for her. I want her to grow up knowing the Lord and loving Him more than anything else. When you love the Lord unconditionally you will want to love others as well.
Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus replied: " Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second it like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

I have a friend at work that made Mark and I some matching rings for our 10 year anniversary. They are stainless steal with a cross engraved on the top of the rings. I wanted just one cross because that symbolizes there is only One Savior!! They really look good. I sold my engagement ring for our adoption and Mark's ring is messed up so I thought this would be nice to do for our anniversary. We were going to wait until July 21 to try to go to Florida and recite our vowels to one another, but we might have to wear them now. We are going to celebrate our everlasting love for one another and let God be in control of our marriage. It has been a happy 10 years and I can't wait to see what the next 10 may bring.



His



Hers

That has been my day!! Please keep praying for us while we wait to hear more from our adoption agency about what is happening in Ethiopia. We are in this for the long haul. I hope not too long!! We are going to keep following Him no matter where He leads us.

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Monday, March 14, 2011

Summer's First Night Away From Home

Summer went to spend the night with my mom for the first time on Sunday night. She has always been kind of scared to sleep away from home until yesterday. She decided that she wanted to go to Mimi's house and try it out. I was a little upset when she was getting ready to leave. Then when it was time for her to go with my mom I started to cry a little. I guess I am so attached to my little girl. I want her to grow up and be able to spend the night away from home, but then I don't. I would love for her to stay small forever, but I know that is not going to happen. So I am trying to let go little by little. I think this will be good for her since hopefully, we will be getting a referral soon. Mark and I will be traveling to Ethiopia for the first trip without Summer. She will be staying with her grandparents so this is good practice for that. Then when we travel to pick up Connor she will be going with us. I can't wait for that day to come!! It will happen when we least expect it too. Please pray for us while we wait on a referral of our son to be- Connor!!

I haven't heard any news from our agency yet. So I hope to hear something by Wensday. I have heard from some adoption blogs that MOWA is doing 20 letters a day instead of the 5 that they said they were going to only do. So we will see. It might not be that bad after all. I hope not. All we can do is keep praying that God will not close the Ethiopian program down and that we will get our son home soon!!! All we can do is PRAY!!! Please if you are a praying person please pray for the Ethiopian program!! And pray for the children of Ethiopia that they will not suffer from this and they will find forever families soon!!!!

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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

What to say?

Mark and I have been reading post and blogs talking about adopting from Ethiopia that it might take longer with the current situation over in Ethiopia. Here is an article about what the MOWA are trying to do in Ethiopia. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/-Ethiopia-to-Cut-Foreign-Adoptions-by-Up-to-90-Percent-117411843.html

I just started crying when I read this article over the weekend. Not a good weekend!!! All I want is for a referral of our little boy and make him part of our family. How much more can one person take while going through the adoption process? We have already waited for a year for a referral from Taiwan and needed to switch to Ethiopia because it was going to take over 4 years. I knew we might have to wait for a while, but when you hear things are about to happen in the country you are trying to adopt from it makes you crazy!!!! I never thought it would be like this adopting!! I sometimes ask what is wrong with us or me? Are we not doing a good job with Summer that we might not deserve another child? Are we not blessed to have more kids? I want more kids, but this is making it hard for them to get here. Why is this happening again?? They are saying that the wait now could be over a year or two!! So we are waiting again.. Sigh!! I have been looking on the "waiting child list" not any kids there from our agency. I guess they are finding them homes. I am happy about that though I wish they would call us for a child. What happens if they close down the Ethiopian program? I guess that will be our answer to not keep going with the adoption. Mark and I will not switch countries again and would lose money if it shuts down. I pray that it doesn't and it gets better over in Ethiopia! I really want for our little Connor to become part of our family and soon!!

I also found out that Mark and I have to have 30 hours of training before we travel. Fun!!! More reading, watching online courses. I think we have half or most of the training already done, but not totally sure. Our social worker is going to tell me later on this week how much more we need. Never thought you would have to have all of this training to adopt a child. Where was the training when we had our bio. daughter Summer? We never had to have tons of training before leaving the hospital with a three day old baby. Why not?

I hope and pray that everything will get resolved in Ethiopia. I pray that the adoption process will not slow down too much to back everyone up to waiting even longer. I pray that God has a plan for all of this happening and He will get us through this journey with His help.

Please pray for Ethiopia and the families who are adopting from there. Thanks!! Keep praying!!



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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Some Good News

Mark and I received some good news tonight from our social worker. Our social worker got an email from the Bethany International in Ethiopia that our Dossier has been translated, authenticated, and registered with MOWA!! Yea!!! Our Dossier has been over in Ethiopia for a month and it is finally done. Now we continue to wait... Sigh...

It was great news to hear tonight. I want to thank the Lord for this to be possible. I want to thank Him for being with me during this time and giving me some sort of patience while we were waiting to hear about our Dossier. There is NO way I could go through this without the Lord helping me. I am excited for another milestone to finally be accomplished. However, I can only imagine how I will be once we receive our referral!! I can't wait to find out!!!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Our First Ethiopian Dinner

At the McDade house on Saturday we made our first Ethiopian dinner. We had such a great time trying new recipes and enjoyed the spicy food. Here are some pictures of our dinner.



Misr Wot ( Ethiopian Lentil Soup) with injera.



Ethiopian Chickpea Wat



African Roasted Chicken with lots of spices!!

We are going to an Ethiopian restaurant soon and I will try some more Ethiopian recipes. The dinner was good, but I could use some practice on the injera. I will master it one day. We plan to cook a new Ethiopian dinner once a month.



Summer excited about our dinner.

Summer did really good with the injera and she liked most of it. She could not believe that there are so many different foods out in the world that we have not tried. We spent the time during dinner to talk about the adoption and Connor. It was a good time and she is even more excited about going with us now!! I am so ready for a referral so we can put a face to our little Connor!! Please keep praying for our family while
we wait...

Thank you, Lord for all you have done for us during this journey of adoption. Our lives have not been the same!!!!







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