We're home!

Yes, we're home! I forgot to post before we left to say that we were leaving and then when we were in Ethiopia, I couldn't get on our blog to update at all. So now we are home finally after being delayed a day because of the snow in DC. Yesterday we had a busy day right away because Debrework has pneumonia so we had to get her into the doctor. Today I think we get to stay home all day though. They kids are all doing wonderful. P and K get along great with G and D. They are all sleeping pretty well. D wakes up maybe 2 times a night, not too bad. We're just trying to get things washed and put away and back on a schedule as much as possible. Our trip was good. Our travel group was wonderful. Mekele was well worth the extra flight. It's very different from Addis. The pollution in Addis really got to me. The poverty is unreal. I could describe it all day long, but to see it is something else. The ones that got me the most were the mothers with babies or the pregnant women. No shoes, starving, no place to sleep. Everyone there works their butts off. Very different from here. There is no government assistance, no unemployment, if you want to eat, you get out there and get it yourself. Seeing that work ethic was great, I wish they could teach America a lesson. The idea of "what can I do for my country" was very evident instead of "what can my country do for me" that we see here a lot. We met a lot of other adoptive families too. We were both very happy to have some fresh fruit, fresh veggies, and a good ole' burger when we got home. We like Ethiopian food but after smelling it constantly all day long for 10 days, an American burger sounded so great. Normally I would say subway or something like that but I was not holding back this time.
Our laptop battery died completely, I think I fried it in Ethiopia. So we have to get a new one and it won't get here until tomorrow afternoon. I won't be able to post pictures until then. Sorry. I'm using P's homeschooling computer right now and I can't download things on that. Overall, we're doing great though and everyone is adjusting very good.

Over the limit!

There is no way that we are going to make it to Ethiopia with only 4 suitcases. 1 will be full of clothes, diapers, over the counter meds to treat any type of condition that G and D might have when we get there or things we might come down with on our trip, ziploc bags, and disinfecting wipes. 1 will be full of 25-30 care packages from families who are still waiting to be able to travel to pick up their children-we just get the privilege of delivering them to their kids. 1 is full of donations of clothes of all sizes for the Mekele care center. The 4th one will be full of hand sanitizer, soap, lotions, underwear of all sizes, and little cars. A family was just there this past weekend and wrote and said that the care center was in desperate need of these items, would it possible for us to bring it over? So I posted to our adopting agency email group and asked everyone who could contribute some money so we could buy and bunch of these items and take it over to the care center. 13 families have contributed so far and it has raised $415. How wonderful! We should be able to get a lot of supplies. The nannies will be so happy, so will the kids. The 5th bag will be clothes for us, which we are packing very light and 1 change of clothes will go in our carry on. I am guessing some of the other bags will end up going over the 50 lb. limit so we might have to move things over to this 5th bag. We have so much more that we would like to donate to the care center but the fees that the airline charges for excess baggage is outrageous, $150 per bag that is 50 lb or less. They might possibly, catch that POSSIBLY, waive that fee if they see that it is for donation to a care center or orphanage but it is not guaranteed. We can't take that risk. We could easily end up with an extra $1000 in excess luggage fees if we took everything we would like to take. I am sure this prevents a lot of families from taking the donations they would like to take over. Isn't that sad? I wish the airlines wouldn't charge so much or even at all if it is a donation to an orphanage.
8 more days and we leave. At this point, I am so ready to just sleep all the way there. I haven't traveled without kids (or even been anywhere without kids for that matter) in so long, I probably will be able to sleep the entire 17 hour flight. =)Don't get me wrong, I am not looking forward to being away from my kids. I actually dread it. I LOVE MY KIDS!!

Story about about Haitian adoptions

As I logged onto the computer today, there was actually a story about how adoptions are being disrupted in Haiti right now. Isn't that what I just blogged about yesterday? I was so happy to see that yahoo is bringing this aspect of the devastation to people's attention. There are so many different angles to look at when it comes to the devastation. What's so sad is that there could be so much hope and help for so many of these children if the Haitian government would've been a little quicker with their processing. It's my understanding that it takes several visits to Haiti and several years before you get your child home? Why? Now these children cry out in hunger, some have died. So sad. Click here to read the article
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100115/ap_on_re_us/us_haiti_quake_adoptions_in_limbo
Pray for all these families!

Pray for the families adopting from Haiti

By now you have heard about all the devastation from the earthquake in Haiti. It seems that huge tragedies like this always happen in very poor places, places where they have no means to help people. I was sitting there thinking about Haiti and it led me to thoughts of all the children that are waiting to come home to their forever families, you know, the ones that are adopting them. What are the families here in the US or abroad who are adopting these children thinking right now? I can't even imagine the worry and pain these families are going through wondering if their children are alive or not. We are just 2 weeks away from traveling to Ethiopia to pick up our children and I CAN NOT imagine hearing on the news that there was some sort of devastation in my children's home country. My heart literally aches for these adoptive parents who are waiting to bring their children home. This is just a tiny part of the devastation going on in Haiti but it is probably something that a lot of people won't even think about. But for those of us in the middle of an adoption, it makes us very thankful for what we have but also mourn for those who might not be so fortunate. Please pray for everyone in Haiti and for those who have a loved one in Haiti.

2 weeks and 1 day, and counting!

We leave 2 weeks from tomorrow. Can you believe it? The care packages are rolling in. 8 have arrived so far. I think we will end up having about 30 total or so. I started writing the list of things that we need to buy at the store before we go and the list of things to pack. I'm also going to leave a list and a schedule for my mom because she is going to be watching the kids. She tends to let them go to bed when they want to and eat what they want to and that is so not our style. I am hoping for just this one time that she will listen to our wishes and not feed them so much sugar and put them to bed at a decent hour so that we're not having to adjust 4 kids all at once. Adjusting 2 kids will be just fine, thanks. Some things I have started to pack like G and D's clothes, the care packages as they come in, donations for the care center, etc but things like B and I's clothes will have to wait until the day before probably. We'll be wearing a lot of it up until that point.
I also just found out that one of the families that is adopting through our same agency that we've become good friends with is going to be traveling at the same time as us. They are from the US but live in China. They are also adopting 2 children. However, one of the kid's paperwork got messed up and so he will be delayed an extra month. The mom is going to go get the little girl at the same time we are traveling and then the dad will travel to go get the little boy when he is ready. The mom and I talk pretty much every day. B, P, and K joke every time the phone rings, is it Michelle? That's her name. Her husband does the same thing. We just say that they are all jealous. I am so excited that she is going to travel at the same time as us and I will actually get to meet her face to face. She is on the same flight back home with us too. How exciting!! If only her husband could be coming too and they could be bringing back their son all at the same time. I just can't tell you how excited I am to get to actually meet her, after all these hours of talking and sharing our ups and downs of adopting and just life in general. They live in China, us in the US, and we get to meet in Ethiopia. How awesome! Like I've always said, this whole journey is in His hands. There's no way we could have made it work out the way it did. Gotta run, the phone is ringing!!! =)

Less than 3 weeks to go!

Not even 3 weeks left and we are out of this cold and snowy mess and on a plane to headed to a warm and sunny place to get my babies. It sounds like a dream. Warmth, the sun, D, and G all in one place. What could be better? Well, I guess being able to take P and K with too. But then I think I'd never want to come back. Have I ever said how much I am ready for winter to be over with? Well I am. I am the beachy all year long type of girl. When we lived in Hawaii both times people would ask, don't you miss the seasons or the snow during the holidays and honestly, I didn't. I love waking up in the morning and being able to walk out on the lanai and sip my coffee and the kids could walk around in their jammies barefooted for a while. Ahhhhh, the memories. No can do now. Even in the house we have to be bundled. Enough of that already.
We are going to take care packages over for families adopting through our same agency who haven't been able to travel to bring home their kids yet. That is the same way that we have been able to send care packages to G and D. The first set of care packages arrived yesterday. It's so exciting. We will have a whole suitcase full of just care packages. We're also looking for wallies that are repositionable to all chipin and buy a bunch of them for the 2 care centers. Right now the walls are bare and could use a little color. So we will get to help the kids and nannies put the wallies up and decorate the care centers a little bit. How exciting, huh? Then when they are done with them or want to move them around, they can take them off without ruining the walls.
Now I'm off to homeschooling. Yes, we're back in the swing of things again. It was nice having off for 2 weeks over the Christmas break but my intentions weren't to take 2 weeks off from homeschooling. We were just so busy with family things, adoption things, etc that I never got to homeschooling as much as I wanted to. I wanted to stay ahead of the game so that we could take more time off after we get home from Ethiopia. Maybe we can fit a few extra lessons in before we go.
One last thing, yesterday was Christmas in Ethiopia. Merry Christmas G and D. They also celebrated Christmas on Dec. 25Th at the care centers.
Have a great day!

Our tickets are booked!

We booked our tickets today. We are going to Ethiopia in LESS than a month (barely). We will leave on January 28th and return on Feb. 6th with our kids. I can hardly contain myself. We are going to spend 2 days in Mekele, the region the kids are from. We won't actually get to meet G and D until Feb. 2nd though so it will be hard knowing we are so close to them without actually getting to see them right away. This is the first time that Brad and I are actually getting a chance to travel together without kids. We never had a honeymoon, he deployed 12 days after we got married. Then Preston was born a year later and we've been devoted parents ever since and the only time we travel is to visit either his family or mine. We rarely have time or money left over to take an actual vacation. It will be a once in a lifetime oppportunity. I am already getting sad about leaving P and K for the first time. I've ever only been away from them for a night. My mom on the other hand is SUPER excited to watch the kids while we are gone. Lots to do before we go. D and G, here we come!

Paperwork, phonecalls, and packing... Oh my!

The past 2 days have been filled with lots of paperwork. There are several forms that need to be filled out for our agency, ones that need to filled out before we get to Ethiopia so we can hand them in to the director there, and endless phone calls are being made to travel agencies getting price quotes on our flights. I think I know which ones we are going to book so stay tuned for the update on that. We are also applying for a last minute grant that helps out at the very end stage of an adoption. We are praying and praying and praying for that. I really should get out the suitcases and start packing things up too. We are taking donations for the care center, clothes for G and D, and I am sure we will have plenty of care packages from other families adopting through our same agency for us to take to their kids at the same care center who are waiting to come home. All of that I could start getting packed already. This is all becoming so real. I can't believe that 1 month from today we will be on a flight to see our kids. I could just scream, ok I do a lot of times. I just want to leave you with a quote that I came across:


God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.
~A. W. Tozer

There is NO WAY that we could have done this by ourselves. He has had His hand in this entire process. When we started our adoption journey, this seemed like the impossible to many, but we knew that because of Him and His plan and calling, everything is possible. And look where following His calling has gotten us, 2 more beautiful children. Oh I can't wait to show them off to you!

~Travel Dates~

We got news on the 26Th that we are confirmed for the Feb. 3rd Embassy Date. That means we will leave late Jan. approximately. I tried calling right away to book our flights but of course the travel agencies were closed for the weekend. I will call first thing Monday morning. I am so excited. I just can't wait to get there already. We also got a few updated pictures of the kids from a lady who was just at the care center picking up her son. We've also heard updates on how the kids are doing from another couple that is in Addis Ababa right now picking up their 2 children. The emailed from Ethiopia a couple of times to let us know how they are doing. The kids were moved from Mekele to Addis Ababa on the 24Th as part of the normal procedure of us getting closer to coming to pick them up. I guess little miss D had a hard time with the transition. She cried a lot. It is very understandable, none of the nannies are the same, a bunch of families from America were there visiting that day at the care center, and I am sure everyone was speaking a different language. I hope she is adjusting better now. Only one more month baby girl. G on the other hand was very excited to see his buddy that had been moved to the care center a couple of weeks prior so he was doing great and was very excited. They looked very good in the pictures. Their hair is beautiful, I can't wait to get my hands on their curls. I love it! So now that we have confirmed travel dates the paperwork starts back up again. I got a few pages filled out yesterday and I am going to keep plugging away at it today while we don't have plans. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The Christmas tree is up! Bowling with our homeschooling group, and peanut butter pie!

It's been a few days since I updated so I have several things to write about. I don't like taking the time to download pictures because the computer that I have to use to do that on is extremely slow, and I mean EXTREMELY slow. So I always procrastinate downloading pictures. But I had said I would post pictures of our Christmas tree when it was all done. So here it is:

It did tip over once because it is so tall and not very wide at the base but that is the type of tree we need. We don't have a whole lot of space but yet we love having a tall tree with our vaulted ceilings. Luckily nothing broke, so we just stood the tree back up and vacuumed up the needles and we're good to go.
Last week we had an outing with our homeschooling group. We went bowling. Surprisingly only 1 other family showed up. I was shocked. I would think a lot more people would take every opportunity to get together with other families and socialize their kids. It was a cold/snowy day but still. We were looking forward to that day for about a week. Luckily for my kids we stay busy and they are very well socialized but it is always fun to meet new people. We still had a lot of fun and that family was so nice and they live within 20 minutes or so of us so we will be seeing more of them hopefully. Here's a picture of the kids and I sporting our cute bowling shoes:

And last but not least little miss K and I made our favorite peanut butter pie the other night. It's very easy to make, requires no baking, and is just absolutely yummy. She loves to help. Here's my beautiful miss K:





5 more days until the biggest birthday party of the year. I can't wait. Several families adopting from our same agency are over in Ethiopia right now and they might be meeting our children so I keep checking to see if I have an email from any of them. We aren't sure if our kids have been moved to the care center in the capital city or not yet. I am also anxious to hear when our embassy date is so we can get travel plans made and move forward with this all. Right now we are just sort of waiting. I can't wait to hold my kids in my arms!!!!
Merry Christmas!

We are a family of 6!

We officially have 4 children. Oh my goodness. We passed court on friday with D and had a few delays with G but today the needed document was delivered to our file and the judge passed us through. G is officially our son also. So now we just have to wait for our embassy date so we can book our plane tickets to travel and pick them up. We are hoping for a late January date.
We picked up D's first pack of diapers last night. That was a pretty exciting event in our household. Then today we went and looked at a high chair that I found listed online. It looked like it was in great shape for only $15. I don't really want to spend a ton of money on a high chair since she is almost 2 but yet we are out of chair space so using a booster isn't really an option. I figured pushing a high chair up to the table will be perfect. And the $15 price tag was even better. So we picked that up. I think we pretty much have everything for the kids. I am in the process of ordering their satin lined winter hats (it helps prevent breakage). I am sure I will think of about 25 more things though.
Off to Christmas program singing practice. What a great day!!!

Cutting down the Christmas Tree!

Today we went to go cut down our Christmas tree. We were going to go the weekend after Thanksgiving, but there wasn't any snow on the ground at all. The place that we go to is awesome. They have horse drawn wagon rides that take us out to the trees, we choose our tree, cut it and then the horses come back around and give us a ride back to our van. It is also the only place in the area that gives LOCAL active duty military families a free tree. A lot of tree farms donate trees to military families that live on bases around the United States, but this place also donates trees to active duty military members locally. The kids and I went there 2 years ago when we had just moved back from Hawaii and Brad wasn't here. The owner is probably in his 70's and just the sweetest man ever. He even had his workers load the tree on the van for me and everything, even though I tried to tell him I could get it on my own. So now we just insist on going back there every year to see him. This was the first year that he got to see Brad. It was neat to be able to take Brad there too.
So we bundle up and take the horse/wagon ride to the trees.




Then we walked endlessly trying to pick out the perfect tree. I tried to convince the gang to go with this one. It would just match our family, the one that sticks out in the bunch. Doesn't quite do what the others do.



This little one walked around being a "little penguin" today. She didn't complain one bit and surprisingly didn't ask for hot chocolate when we were done either. That's the only thing she likes about winter, the hot chocolate she just might get when we are done playing in the snow.




And this big man just ran around wild trying to make as many snow angels as possible. He wanted the hugest trees possible. You know, the ones that we would have to remove our roof to be able to get into our living room. He had a blast.




So then we headed home and brought it in the house and it fit perfectly, with about 6 inches to spare. So now I am just watching the kids put all the ornaments on while I type this. You'll have to wait for a picture of the finishing product. We used only red and green lights this year. Normally we use white lights. Daddy wanted to go with something different and we had red and green lights from decorating outside in Hawaii. We really didn't want to buy more lights so we used those. It looks neat. It's so exciting to see the kids use their imagination about every ornament. Preston remembers a lot of them, especially the ones he made. Kalayna is getting the age now where she will start to remember. It's so fun. All of this for His birthday. What an awesome birthday celebration. If only everyone remembered what all this hoopla was all about. Keep Christ in Christmas this season. He is the reason for the season. Merry Christmas!!

And the verdict is......

Well we found out that Debrework is legally our daughter. Praise the Lord!!! But we did not pass with G yet. There is an issue there yet, that we were completely unaware of but they are trying to get that cleared up this next week hopefully so that we can travel to get both children at the same time. So please keep praying. I couldn't possibly go get Debrework and not bring G home but yet to leave Debrework there even 1 day longer than she needs to be would absolutely tear me apart. I want to go get her and hug and kiss her beautiful face like yesterday. So we still need a lot of prayers. And if you could also please please please pray pass our website on, we are needing to raise money for travel and the expenses once we get there. Even more so now if we have to travel more than once to pick them up separately. We have 3 different option on the side, a chipIn button, t-shirts, and coffee. Please pass the word. Together we serve and AWESOME AWESOME GOD!!!!!

Only 2 more days, LOTS of snow, and updated pictures!

We have been in a blizzard warning since last night and it goes until tonight at midnight I believe. So as you can imagine, mommy's not in the best mood. My college days in Hawaii keep flashing through my head, and oh how I wish I could go back to those. I just wish I could take my kids with. Have I ever said how much I dislike the snow, and cold? Well in case you didn't know, I really really do not enjoy the snow and cold weather. I like to down hill ski but how practical is it to spend that kind of money when you are trying to adopt 2 children from Ethiopia? Not too smart. Plus we are a family of 4 right now. Add that up and it would be a pricey day of fun. Sledding is fun but after a couple of times walking back up the big hill, pulling the kids or carrying a child or 2, I'd prefer to just find the nearest place for hot chocolate. That's just my 2 scents on the cold and snowy weather. Give me a beach and some sand and I am a happy camper for weeks.
I logged on the computer today after snow blowing and shoveling the enormous amount of snow we got and I had an email from our adoption agency. There were updated pictures of the kids. That's enough to turn my frown upside down. Of course I started screaming. They look so different. We haven't seen new pictures since October. D's used be pretty much bald even though she's a girl and now she has curls. I couldn't even hardly recognize her but it must be her. She was in a group of other babies and there were only 2 other toddlers. I know for sure the other 2 were not her. The 3rd picture confirmed it was her, I could tell by the smile. What a difference hair makes. She is so stinkin' cute. G's hair is a little bit longer too. He is so handsome. Daddy just happened to call as we were looking at the pictures so I forwarded them to him and he hopped on his computer at work. It's so funny how he gets so animated. For those of you who know B, he is not the most animated person. But he loves his kids, all 4 of them. He just couldn't believe D's hair and his handsome little man. It's so cute to see daddy get so excited too.
So only 2 more days until our court date. I can't wait to get the phone call or email saying they are legally ours. In our hearts they are already ours and have been since day 1 of seeing their pictures. We just want to hurry up and pass court so we can go get them and bring them home.
There are several adoption blogs that I check regularly to get advice, see updates, and because most of them are very faithful women of God and it keeps me reminded why we are here. One of the blogs had a fabulous post today and I want you to go check it out. www.nogreaterjoymom.com/2009/12/unexpected-blessings I can't wait to read this book and it gives me hope for the upcoming years. Maybe there is still hope and maybe we really can see change, a real change, not just a financial change. You'll know what I am talking about after you check out that blog posting.
Check back on Friday!!

What is it like for the kids right now?

The past couple of days I have been thinking a lot about what G and D might be going through right now. Do they have any clue what the next month or 2 is going to be like? Do they know yet that they will be moving to a different care center? That they will be having to say good-bye to their friends and the nannies that have been caring for them for almost a year now, in G's case anyways? As we get closer and closer to traveling, this all gets so much more exciting for us but I am trying to also think about what is going on in their little lives also. I hope they are handling things well, that they aren't too sad. G is 7 and might understand a little bit what is going on because he has seen so many of his friends leave before him already, now it is his turn. D is only about 21 months old though and probably doesn't have a clue what is going on. She has been there just long enough to grow close to those nannies and get into a bit of a routine. That is all about to change, for about a month. That is when we will get there, they get to meet mommy and daddy. Have they ever had both a mommy and daddy to love them at the same time? We don't know. Do they know the love of a family? I find comfort in knowing that this next month might be very confusing and sad for them, but soon they will be in loving arms of a mommy and daddy who have been waiting for them for a long time. A brother and sister await them at home and are going to smother them with hugs and kisses. We will be able to say to them the most comforting words of all, "We love you, and Jesus loves you, too." So even though I want time to go fast and I am very excited, I also don't want to forget to take the time to pray for little G and D, that God would comfort them and protect them and their little friends during their good-byes and travels in the next couple of months. We'll be there as soon as we can sweet G and D!