Bella Ballerinas

Isabella had her ballet rehearsal today.
We were pretty sad that her daddy couldn't be here, but other family members and friends turned out in full force.


'Uncle' David and some friends from his day training program.

Grandma in the middle

and grandpa too.

Lots of cute little ballerinas, as graceful as baby elephants, all done up in ribbons and curls.

There were chasse-ing ballerinas...

and leaping ballerinas,

listening ballerinas,

stomping ballerinas,

and grinning ballerinas.

Meanwhile, some of the captivated audience...

couldn't wait for it to end.

Che brava amore mia!

lonesome

*sigh*... I miss my guys.
3 1/2 weeks is waaay too long.


I miss him...

and him...

(o.k., just to clarify- the "him" on the right, though the one on the left might be kinda sorta cool too)

and him.

One more week...and praying I'll make it!

Tea Time

One would never guess that this seemingly sweet-looking ballerina has recently been spotted...

at a store with a sword stuck down the back of her dress,
in a fistfight with an older brother (one in which she was winning, btw...)
at the library, passing on all princess movies in favor of a Pokemon one,
and has lately been begging for a haircut as short as her brothers.
Did I mention that she has 7 of those?
Brothers. that is.

In our male-dominated household, it's not often that we have opportunity to celebrate more female inspired activities, so last week, when it happened on that oh- so -rare-occasion that all of the boys were out of the house, we decided to take advantage of it by throwing a girls-only tea party.

A phone call was made, sandwiches prepared, and cupcakes baked.

Little sisters were included.

Time to pour the tea!

Little sisters were quite content with their own version of a tea party...

...until they discovered ours, that is.

Who invited them anyway??

Took some mother-daughter pictures...

My beautiful sister, Kristin, who's husband, Chad, is far, far away (and gone way too long!) in Ethiopia with my husband at the moment

and me and my girls.

Lots of fun...
and here's hoping that some of the femininity of the day sinks deep and stays...at least until the next time a brother or two needs some beating-up!

Good Morning!!!

Wow
I woke up to find these pictures in my inbox.

Couldn't think of a happier way to start my day!

New pics of my sweeties!

A family from our agency just returned and I found a couple of new pictures of my boys.
Jerry hasn't been able to send me any and I've been almost dying here so it's pretty exciting to see these. Gets your mind off all the messiness and back on what this is all about- bringing my sons home!
What a beautiful smile!

And it looks like somebody got a haircut...I was really hoping that wasn't going to happen!
I was looking forward to messing with his beautiful curls *sigh*...hopefully it will grow fast!

Hurry home, babies...or momma's gonna be swimming the Atlantic soon!

CAUGHT!

Ethiopia: the journey, the wonder, and the screw-ups...PART 3

Read parts 1 and 2 here and here

7/14/09

6:30am

Couldn't sleep again last night. Woke up around 3am listening to the rain on the tin roof. Then the Muslim call to prayer at 5am. Got up then and went downstairs to get on the computer to check my emails to see what Jenni had to say. Caleb and Damian went with me since they couldn't sleep either. Couldn't connect. Stupid dial-up. Between having a terrible internet connection, and power going out whenever it feels like it, it sure is hard to stay in contact with the US. I hope Jenni gets that phone thing figured out on her end today.

I was thinking more about the option of staying here till the 29^th and how that might not be a very good idea. We have no guarantee whatsoever that this knuckleheaded adoption agency is gonna have it together enough by then that we will even get an appointment. Then I will be stuck here for another 15 days. The other thing is that I don't have enough cash with me to stay that much longer.

Of all the 100s of hoops and steps we had to go through for this adoption I can't think of even 2 that went as planned. Everything that (adoption agency) could possibly screw up they managed to do without effort.

I don't understand how that (agency director) can blame this completely on (agency personnel).

If she sent the itinerary, which I thought she had done, to (agency personnel), why didn't (agency personnel) figure it out that we were not supposed to be here? Maybe (agency personnel) didn't email (agency personnel)...I have no idea.

I wasn't much impressed with (an agency personnel) yesterday. Other than being pretty she sure didn't have anything else going for her. Not a warm friendly person at all.

Jenni is gonna be mad that I said she is pretty. Oh well....Kidus and Biruk's caregiver was pretty too...actually much prettier than (agency personnel).... and much nicer.

I hope to speak to (agency personnel) today when we go to drop off the other bin and I am going to try to get some answers about when they expect to have the results of boys' medicals. I wonder if they did them immediately after passing court or if they waited till last week?

I am gonna shower and wash some clothes now.

8:38pm

Before I get started on the events of the day I have to recount something about last evening. I was down on the computer in the lobby late last evening trying to get on my email again without success. I came back up to our room and tried to open the door but it was locked, so I beat on it because I knew Chad was in there. We never lock the door while we are in it so I thought it a little strange that it was locked. I could see through the textured glass the someone was coming to open it and when it swung open there stood a woman with another woman standing behind her across the room. I stood their staring at her...totally shocked. I must have looked like a schmuck because I was trying to look past them to see where Chad was. What was kind of partying was he doing while I was out? Then it hit me. I was on the wrong floor. I apologized for bothering them. They laughed and I did the disappearing act.

OK..moving on...Elias picked us up at 9:30 this morning and we went to the infant house to deliver the bin of donations that was theirs. While there I spoke with (agency caregiver))...I saw (agency personnel) but didn't speak to her. I told (agency caregiver) that I need to know more information about the medicals and the chances of the kids not being ready for the July 29^th Embassy date before I can make and informed decision about whether to stay another 14 days or to go home on the 17^th. He assured me as best as he could that there were not going to be any problems with the medicals.

I want to believe him, and do somewhat, but am not 100% satisfied. We have got too much misinformation in the past for me to be suckered very easily.

I also asked him if (agency personnel) would want to go over our paperwork right away to make sure that everything is there. He said to wait. I don't know why.

I walked out of his office and saw Caleb and Damian sitting in front of the infant house. They said Chad was inside so I went in and there he was in the back bedroom holding different babies and talking/playing with them. I dragged, yes dragged, him out kicking and screaming. I think Kristin (Chad's wife) may open his suitcase and find several small Ethiopian babies tucked under the clothes.

From there we went to find some shops to buy some things. I bought 15 half kilos of the best smelling coffee ever for 615birr ($51.25). We then walked across the street to find some dresses for my girls. I got Jenni, Bella, and Mia dresses for 500birr after Elias bartered back and forth with the shop owner for quite a while.

I like Elias. I like Elias very much. Elias is a good guy. I like Elias.

I almost bought a coffee pot today too but passed it up...will have to get that later.

After that he, my friend Elias, took us again to a great Ethiopian restaurant and we ate some great food and some food that wasn't so great. One that I didn't like was some kind of beef with onions and peppers...the beef was terrible. Tough and full of sinew and cut up bones. I wanted to spit the whole mouthful back out. But managed to calmly take the bones piece by piece out of my in an indiscreet manner. Another was called Black Cabbage. It tasted like the green stuff we get at Cafe Lalibela but had big chunks of very tough beef in it. The lamb was great. Just as good as the Doro Wat or Sega Wat.

We made total pigs out of ourselves all for 160birr ($13.33). That was at 2pm and we haven't eaten since.

Elias likes to tease Caleb about his fear of Ethiopian food....due to him throwing it up one time after getting sick at home.

After lunch we went by the Emirates office to find out how much it would cost to change our flight home. They told me it would be $200 per ticket. For some reason I thought it was going to be $300.

After that we then decided to come back to the Yeka and figure out what to write (agency director). I put together the email on my laptop and had Chad look it over. We made a few changes on some of the wording and I then went looking for (another adoptive family) to get their input. I wanted them to give input...whether or not I was asking too much, too harsh, not being clear enough. (They) thought it was great and after talking for awhile about all the frustrations with (agency) I went in to get on the computer in the lobby to get on the internet.

Wasn't happening.

The stupid phone line has been dead all day. I asked the receptionist to call me a taxi to take me to an internet cafe so I could send the email.

He got here at 6:30, I got in and he started driving. I asked him if he speaks any English.

Yes.

But not intelligible to my ears.

He drives like crazy...not as good as my friend Elias though. That guy is good. He got on his phone and is talking loudly, holding the phone to his ear, because that's where you are supposed to hold your phone, but its on speaker phone with the volume turned all the way up.

I can tell he is asking someone where to find an internet cafe. We park somewhere on the edge of the street and he gets out and starts walking...fast. I follow, weaving in and out of the people. I try not to make too much eye contact so as not to get bombarded with people begging for money. It is dark there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of people in the several hundred yards that we walked. My driver kept asking stall owners and pedestrians where to find the internet cafe. Everyone keeps pointing the same direction down the street and around a corner. We keep walking that way until people start pointing back the way we came.

We turned around and I finally spotted it...a little hole in the wall place that is about 8x10 with 8 computers along the walls. I waited my turn and finally someone got up and I took his spot. Typed in www.gmail.com and waited. And waited. And waited some more. It took at least 5 minutes to even load the first page where I can log in. I stuck in my thumb drive that had the letter to (agency director) and copied and pasted my letter into Gmail and poof! It disappeared. I had to start all over. 3 times. It took me 45 minutes to send an email that would have taken all of 15 seconds at home. Hey, its Ethiopia.

I sent it to (agency director) and Ccd (agency personnel)and Jenni. I really hope that (agency director) finds it in his heart to do the right thing. That being, of course, to pay for all our expenses during our extended stay.

While I was looking at my inbox I saw an email from Jenni but didn't even bother to try to open it on the terribly slow connection. Tomorrow I am gonna go to the Hilton for internet. I've been told they have a high-speed wireless connection. WOOHOO!

Oh yeah, after telling Elias about our new situation of staying here and extra 15 days and having to look for cheaper lodging, he made a phone call and took us to his friends mother's house who rents out rooms. We drove through a very nice neighborhood and up to the house. A young girl (14) let us into a very nice upper-middle class (for the USA) house. She would be willing to give us 2 bedrooms, private bath, living room w/tv, and kitchen for $75 a day.

No can do. That is gonna eat up our money too fast. We are trying to find something for around $45-50. We are paying $75 where we are right now...I am trying to negotiate a better deal with them so we can just stay here. I hope to speak to the person who has the authority to do that tomorrow.

Another Oh yeah,... we tried to go see Kidus and Biruk today but were told to come tomorrow. Will probably do that in the morning.

BTW....we have been pronouncing Biruk's name wrong. Very wrong. Don't think it will work in the USA. br-OOK.... with a rolled r.

Its 9:53 and I am hittin' the hay. Hope I can sleep better tonight

grateful

It's been a crazy busy day.

I discovered that my van was broken into last night and the window smashed. Of course the GPS was gone, but it looked like they must have been in a hurry since they didn't bother even digging through any compartments. Not that they would have found much anyway... diapers, gum wrappers and lollipop sticks, an odd sock or two probably aren't anyone's idea of a treasure.

So today was spent doing a police report, calling insurance, window- fixer company and digging through files to find the needed documents. And somewhere in between all that, there was Bella's ballet class, a shopping trip to Costco and Target with 5 less than thrilled kids, laundry, dishes, etc... trying to figure out our pool's maintenance issue's (like how much shock do you put in after your bro-in-law so kindly dumps the decomposed bird out that you found in the filter) and dealing with a stomach that has either finally caught the kid's flu or is just reacting to way more stress than it's used to.

I confess to several moments of self-pity and plenty of doubt. Did my van really have to get broken into? Now?? While my husband is 1/2 way around the world, far, far away? Did the pool pump really have to quit on top of it? And why in the world did I not pay more attention during the many times my patient husband has tried to show me where all the important documents and files are located on our computer?

It all worked out though. I am so grateful for those I can call who help so willingly.
My bro-in-law took care of the bird and the shock, my mom and dad were able to help me with the van, I have a brother who's great with computers, and my rockin' sister, Kristin, figured out the pool pump- you are the man, Kris!

At the end of the day my children and I are safe, fed, sheltered, and blessed.
As difficult as this feels to be separated from my husband for this extended time and all the additional duties and responsibilities I have as a result, I still have so much to be grateful for!

Right now, my husband is over in Ethiopia, homeland of my beloved new sons. Thinking of and comparing my life to the lives of millions of widows and single mothers there who have no hope of a husband returning soon, no food with which to feed her starving children. No one to call in her time of need, none to step forward and ease her suffering. Sometimes sick herself, maybe even dying, she has to choose between watching her children starve to death or giving them up to be raised by others.
Either way she looses them.
How can I ever complain about my own inconveniences knowing this?

It's been really difficult, the last several days, to feel the joy that I should be feeling in knowing that my sons are soon coming home. The stress of dealing with an agency that has proven to care more about their bottom line than in making reparations has been painful at times.
Some where I have let my circumstances rob me of God's peace and the trust that He is still working, even though it may not be visible to my eyes at the moment.

Yet, I am in awe when I look back and see all that God has done to bring us to this threshold of welcoming my boys home.

In awe of the way, that, after praying for so many years, God moved my husband's heart to finally start the adoption process. In awe of how God provided house and income. In awe of how, despite many set-backs and road blocks, God has made Kidus and Biruk ours.
Miraculous!

So I will end this day, not in discouragement and despair, but in thankfulness and praise to Him!




*this post was started yesterday, but due to consistent interruptions, not completed until today!

Ethiopia: the journey, the wonder, and the screw-ups...PART 2

And now, more from my husband...

Read Part 1 here

7/13/09 8:36pm

Slept like crap last night. Woke up around 2am and lay there awake till about 5:30. Alarm went off a 6:40. We made plans with our driver to be here at 8am to take us to the orphanage to see the kids and drop off our donations. We ate breakfast here at Yeka...eggs with mushrooms and onions, toast, fruit, pancakes, and good, black coffee.

Our driver got here and we loaded all 6 bins on the top of his little van and headed out on the crazy streets for the orphanage. I wish I could describe the driving experience. I can't, so I won't.

We got there and the guard opened the gate so we could drive in....he was a thin old man who didn't look like my idea of a guard. Somebody named Ashenafi, who appeared to be running the place, met us and along with Getachew, another driver, and we all stood around talking with another couple who was there to also meet with Rahel about their paperwork.
Rahel and Ashenafi called me into the office and Ashenafi started to explain something to me in English that I couldn't understand very well. While he was talking Rahel got on the phone and then handed it across the desk to me and said that S******* (agency director) wants to speak with me.
He began to tell me what I thought Ashenafi was trying to say...that we were not supposed to be in Ethiopia, our embassy date was not set for July 15th but for July the 29th. He said that somehow G****( agency personnel) had “screwed it up.”
He kept apologizing for what happened while saying he didn't know anything about our travel plans. He offered to cover our hotel costs for the extra 2 weeks we would be required to stay and to pay the cost of changing the tickets, or to fly two of us back for the 29th if we chose to go home on the 17th as originally planned.
He said they had emailed told G**** (agency personnel) who had Embassy appointments on the 15th and that we were not on that list.
Needless to say, I AM TICKED!
I don't know what to do. Do I really feel like fly 32+ hours home only to turn around in about 10 days and do it all again? Do I really want to risk staying here and risking them not getting an Embassy appointment on the 29th? (the kids aren't embassy ready because they are still waiting for the results of their medical tests).

Moving on....After that bit of disappointing news we went into the house to see the Kidus and Birkut. It was the infant house. We hung out for more than an hour holding the babies, taking pictures and talking to staff. We left one bin of donations with them and then got in the van to drive over to the toddler house, which was located somewhere our driver didn't know.

We followed the D*****'s, who were riding with their friend Sherry, who also didn't quite know where the house was. We drove for 30 minutes or more through the craziest streets and wildest traffic I have ever seen. After stopping and asking directions about 3 times we finally pulled up at the gate that was opened by one of the workers. We drove in and parked and went into the house. We were met by a very nice lady who appeared to be running the place and spoke decent English.
She set out some chairs and then proceeded to bring out the D*****'s two kids.
We all stood around and watched them hug and give some small gifts and suckers to them.
Then she asked who my kids where and she brought out Kidus and Biruk.
I took them both up on my lap and held them....they were completely emotionless and just sat there looking around. Caleb and Damian each gave one of them a sucker and they sat there sucking away and looking around. I couldn't remember, nor could Caleb and Damian, which one was which.
I asked the caregiver and she told us....I still don't remember who is who though. I felt the bumps on Kidus, or whichever one it is, neck. They appear to be smaller than they looked in the pictures we saw. We then went upstairs to their room to meet all their friends and passed out suckers up there too. We hung out with them for awhile then checked out all the other rooms and kids.
Oh yeah, I got to meet the little Down Syndrome girl that Jenni mistakenly believes is destined by God to be her 3rd daughter. She hated me. Cried when I got close to her. Cried when I held her. And cried when, after letting her settle down for 30 minutes, I gave her her gift from Jenni. Its a sign from God. See, I can use that phrase too.
We passed out some of the gifts there to the kids and left the rest of them for the staff to pass out. From there our driver took us to an Ethiopian restaurant for some incredibly good food. His name is Elijah...a nice guy even though he charged us too much money for the day. $90 for 9 hours. Didn't think they make that much money over here.

After eating we drove over to Fekadu's office at the Drop Center where he takes in street kids. We toured his small place and met all of the 15 kids living there and dropped off 3 of the bins of donations there. We even got to meet Marion (sp?), a girl that Jenni had told me about, she wanted to pose with Caleb and Damian for a picture.
From there we drove out to the land that Fekadu bought where 32 kids live. It was a great drive out there...way out of Addis in the county. It is beautiful out there...farming county with lots of livestock and some crops. We got back to Yeka at 5pm. When I came in the receptionist gave me the cell phone that I had requested yesterday. I am hoping that with that Jenni will be able to call so we can work out the details of this new dilemma that we are facing. The internet here at Yeka is extremely slow and the power goes off at inconvenient times. Tonight I was sending Jenni an email and the connection timed out three times while I was waiting to hit the send button. Maddening. I guess tomorrow our driver is picking us up at 9:30 to take us back to the orphanage to deliver another tub that we forgot today. Maybe do some shopping or sightseeing too. Its 9:30 now and I am ready for bed.

Disappointed

I have learned not to judge people by their mistakes.
They happen and God knows I have made my fair share.
I'm not referring to sin, I'm talking about oversights, about miscommunication, or just plain old messing-up.

Everyone has done it.
Everyone will do it.
I get that and I feel that is where God's grace so beautifully covers us and that it is our duty as believers to extend that grace.

At the same time, I do feel that we should be judged by how we remedy those mistakes.
If we feel badly about our mistakes we will accept responsibility, we will seek restitution, and we will hopefully not repeat them again.

I am very disappointed that our adoption agency has yet to learn this.

Stuck

Well, we just couldn't end this adoption journey without a bang, could we?
Two+ years, agency changes, lost referrals, countless court dates and now this.

Jerry found out yesterday that our Embassy appointment was moved from the 15th to the 29th.
Unfortunately for us, we didn't receive the memo .

So now the question is: Do they travel all the way home and 6 days later, travel all the back for another week's stay,

or
do they stay the 21/2 weeks there?

Our agency is offering to compensate some of the costs and we are trying to figure out which option is the cheapest and wisest.
At this point we think staying is probably best.
Jerry will have time to really get to know Kidus and Biruk and hopefully that will make them a little less fearful and stressed on the flight home, and he will really get to experience Ethiopia.
We had been kicking ourselves that we hadn't planned on making his trip a little longer -although we didn't exactly have 3 weeks in mind!-who knows what God has planned for their time there?
I am amazed really at how God has been right here, working out all the details in spite of seemingly human error.
It was a tough decision to decide not to go, but once I made that choice, I had a great sense of peace about it. Now I know why!
No way could I have left my baby for that long!

So we commit this "mess" into God's hands, trusting that He is here and praying that His will be done!
It's going to be difficult, emotionally and physically, to have Jerry gone so long and I can barely stand to think how much I am going to miss him and my sons!
Yet, God's grace covers me, and I know just as he gave the children of Israel their daily manna, so He will give me just enough peace, joy, and strength to get through each day.

Ethiopia : the journey, the wonder, the screw-ups...

I am going to be sharing some of my husband's journal entries.

For years and years (well, 16 to be exact!) Jerry has led me to believe that he doesn't, can't, won't, (whatever!) write. I've always disagreed with him. He has moved me to tears many times with his sweet messages on cards or his occasional (o.k...so extremely rare) notes. Never one to be sappy, he has always written from his heart and that's what I love the most!

I was so touched and excited when Jerry told me that he plans to journal his journey to Ethiopia.
Even though I wasn't going, I would still be able to feel a part of the journey and it would be something to treasure and share with Kidus and Biruk someday.

Anyway, I've decided that it's just too good to not share...I love his masculine, fact oriented language and the frankness with which he writes.

So with a few (very few) minor detail changes, here it is, in all it's male splendor...

7-10-09, 12:46pm

We left from the house at a little after 10am. Got to the airport with all our junk....took us about an hour to get checked in and through security. Damian is feeling like crap. Hope we didn't make a mistake by taking him with us.

6:00pm

We are on Emirates Air flying over Utah right now. We left L.A. at 4:45.

Wow, I love this airline so far. Very impressed. They have got a great media center for each seat with tons of movies, music, and games that we can entertain ourselves with for the next 14 hours. They brought out hot wash cloths before we even left the terminal, gave us a little zippered bag with a tooth brush, toothpaste, and a washcloth or something of the sort for each passenger. Damian is feeling a little better....may be due to the nice amenities of the aircraft though. Our seats are at the very back, (1 row behind us) of the plane.

Don't know if I should try to sleep or stay awake. I feel quite tired but it may be due to the wine I had a few minutes ago. Chad is watching a movie, Caleb is playing with his DS, Damian has his ear plugs in and a blanket over him, and I am pecking away at this keyboard.

They are beginning to serve dinner and it smells so good, I am putting this computer away.

7-11-09

4:50am

This is a looonnnggg flight! Still have 3 ½ hours (2021 miles) to Dubai. We are flying over the Black Sea right now. My head hurts. I stupidly put the Advil in the checked luggage instead of my carry-on. Damian has been complaining every chance he gets about his stomach. Poor kid. He has asked me several times why I made him come along. He acts completely miserable, however the last several hours he has been sleeping. I think. He has a hard time getting comfortable. Right now he is sitting on the floor curled up with his head on the seat. He has eaten very little....one bit of a soda cracker, a slice of orange, bite of apple, couple bits of banana. Drank some juice and water.

I'm trying to prepare myself for the trip home...two little kids with too much energy, coped up in the flying prison, not being able to communicate much, and probably not like the food.

It just now dawned on my that we are some of the very few Caucasians riding on this flight. The older grandpa sitting across the isle from me knows half the people on this plane...must be some big family traveling together. Everyone seems to want to stop and visit with him and talk loudly, not in English, with lots of gesturing. I guess we will be in the minority for the next 7 days.

I think Chad was on some kind of a movie marathon. Seems like he must have watched about 5 movies back to back. He is sleeping now...at least he's going through the motions of it, its hard to sleep on this thing.

7-11-09

4:30pm

Its 3:30am and 7/12 here in Dubai. We got in last night around 8pm and got to our room here around 9:30ish, I think. I am supposed to be sleeping but my body won't let me. It doesn't help that at around 1am I could hear someone in the hallway knocking on doors and loudly calling out, “Housekeeping”. Who does housekeeping at that time of the morning?

We got two rooms....Damian and I are together, and next door are Chad and Caleb. I think Damian is finally feeling better. We went down to the lobby last night and he found some food on the buffet that he felt like eating. First time he has really eaten since we left.

Dubai. Wow. This place is hot and so humid I can hardly believe it. The second we walked out of the airport terminal to catch the shuttle to the hotel we were instantly soaked in sweat. So different than good ol' Phoenix. The airport is absolutely huge. We must have walked a mile to get out of there. The ceilings are about 40 feet tall with huge pillars everywhere, stone floors, everything shiny and new. Don't know what they are trying to tell the world...looks like they may be compensating for something. On the way to the hotel we passed a place that was advertising Tex-Mex food....thought that was kinda funny. They put us up in a very nice hotel a few minutes from the airport.

So the guy I was referring to yesterday who was sitting by me that new everyone on the place is a Syrian. We talked some and he is an Orthodox christian and is so excited that we are adopting kids from ET. He is traveling with a large number of his family...so that's why he knows so many people on the plane. I also met an Ethiopian, Daniel, and his son who are traveling with us all the way from L.A. Seems like a nice guy. His wife and daughter have already been in ET for a month and they are meeting to visit family. Our plane leaves at 8:25 am (local time) this morning. The shuttle leaves the hotel at 6....hope that leaves us enough time to get through airport security and walk the 2 miles back to the gate. Crazy big airport. They should supply us all with Segways...then I would be impressed.

We arrive in Addis Ababa around noon today. YAY! Not sure what we are gonna do first besides haul all our crap to the hotel and try to get a cell phone so I can make contact with my woman on the other side of the globe....and to call (agency personnel) and Feduka(sp?).

Oh...so we are trying to get out of the airport last night and they make go through security to leave.?? We had to show our passports and I got Damian's and mine out of my bag and tell Caleb to get his. He said he doesn't have it. I went through all my bags and pockets all the while telling him he was the last one to have it and he saying that no, he had given it back to me. Finally Chad says, “Caleb, look in all your pants pockets”. There it was. I am carrying them all from now on. Hope he doesn't lose the $1100 he has tied around his waist.

When Caleb and I ate down in the lobby restaurant last night there were several different groups of Americans eating there. Was looking around to see if any of them are the family from Mo that we are going to be staying at the Yeka Guest House in ET with. It shouldn't be that hard to spot a Missourian in Dubai.....but it was. Unless they weren't there.

The food down there was fit for a king. Chad really missed out....except that he said he almost ate himself into a stupor on the plane yesterday.

The airline fed us so much food.....and all of it was really good. I don't like lamb. I don't eat lamb. Not usually anyways. Yesterday was not usual. I ate lamb. The best lamb that I have ever tasted. Not saying it was the best food I ever ate but it was definitely the best lamb...and I would gladly eat it again if given the chance.

Wonder if Kidus and Biruk have any idea what is happening this week? Wonder if I do? I think I love them....but, am I going to like them? I have no idea. What if they are brats? Will they even like us?

I guess time will tell.

9:25am (local)

We just got off the ground from Dubai. Delayed one hour due to....I don't know what. First they had us all sitting at the wrong gate. Then 20 minutes before loading time they told us we had to move from gate 214 down to gate 139....another ½ mile walk. Started boarding on time only to find out we were being herded down a long winding corridor the the ground lever and onto a bus. Yes, a standing room only bus. Took about a 7 minute ride out on the tarmac to the waiting plane....and up the stairway onto the plane. Off to a late start....then they said a tire was low and they were waiting for an “engineer” to come fill it. They should have just let me go do it. Stupid engineers.

While waiting to board at the gate we met Lisa D. and her husband, who has no name because I don't remember it, who are also adopting from ET....same agency as us. They are from MO.

The flight crew just handed out the little yellow cards for us to fill out to get a visa when we get to the airport in Addis Ababa.

Serving good food again...gotta eat.

1:15 (local time)

I am sitting in our room at the Yeka Guest House. We had a nice short flight into Addis Ababa after our late departure in Dubai. Got into the terminal and it was pretty empty...no lines anywhere compared to PHX, LAX, and DBX. We got our visas, exchanged $900 for 11,199.60 birr (didn't get the .60 cents though), claimed our luggage (all 8 pieces showed up), and went through security, all without a hitch. Went outside to meet our ride...looked for someone holding a sign that might say “Jerome G******”. Might as well looked for Napoleon Bonaparte. I did find two different people in two different locations holding signs that said, “Lisa and Kevin D*****”. I talked to the first one and she was not from Yeka, the other one was. So the group of us: the D*****'s, their missionary friend Sherry, Sherry's son, the driver from Yeka, the other driver, and I, stood around trying to figure out what had happened and what we were gonna do. Nobody had any information about a G******* party of 4. Wish I would have had a phone to call (agency personnel) at the moment. We finally agreed to all go to Yeka and see if they had room for all of us. So the D*****'s get in the car with their friend and Chad, Caleb, Damian, and I go with the driver, Jeremiah. We got out to the parking lot, pushing 3 cart heaped with containers and immediately got surrounded by a bunch of guys wanting to help us. Jeremiah successfully got rid of all of them except one which he chose to help. We got out to the car and it was a little 4 door. It could only fit 2 tubs in the trunk. We had 8. The car the helper had was identical to Jeremiah's car, except for a little rack on top. They piled stuff on top, in the trunks, on the seats. Chad got in one car and Damian, Caleb, and I got in the other. What a drive. I can't even begin to describe what it was like....tore up roads, people walking everywhere, junk and trash, little shacks made out of plastic and card board. The guest house is quite nice, totally surrounded by tin roofs that that leak like sieves.

They obviously were not expecting us here at the Yeka. I called (agency personnel) to make and appointment to meet with here Monday morning at 8:30am. She said she would have a driver come pick us up at 8. Shortly after i talked to her someone else from Hope called (a man) to tell me that we had rooms somewhere at another guest house. I told him we are fine here at the Yeka and will just stay here.

3:00pm (local)

I also called Fekadu and agreed to meet tomorrow afternoon sometime. He sounds really nice and speaks good English....which is nice after some of my communication today. Can't wait to meet him and see his ministry and give him the 3 tubs of donations.

I am supposed to be getting a cell phone tomorrow. When I do get it I will be able to give the number to Jenni so she can call if she needs to and it won't cost anything on this end.

We just got done ordering food that will be brought back here to eat. Not Ethiopian. Italian. She gave us two menus; 1 Italian pastas and 1 pizza place. I didn't fly 32+ hours to eat spaghetti. The receptionist was shocked that I wanted Ethiopian food. I hope we get some tomorrow.

Oh, the water in the guest house doesn't taste good. Bad aftertaste. I guess we'll see if the $100 I spent on the Steripen was money well spent.

*To be continued....

Ethiopia bound

And they're off!

Jerry, Caleb, Damian, and Chad are FINALLY Ethiopia bound!

I am happy, sad, excited, and scared...and I wouldn't change it for the world!
The guys flew out around noon today and will be flying Emirates out of L.A. They will get to Dubai tomorrow and arrive in Addis Sun. noon.
It's been pretty crazy trying to get everything ready to go and I panicked after they left thinking I really should have gone over the paperwork one more time. Oh, well, I guess the half-a-dozen times I already did will have to suffice!

They were able to take 6 bins full of donated items since they managed to stuff all their personal items into carry-on. Lots of stuff, and hopefully the guys will be able to find the time to deliver it all!

Thanks to all who so generously donated!

So far the plan is to visit Kechene (the boy's former orphanage), visit Hope for the Hopeless, visit Hope's place, shop, Embassy appointment, and maybe site see around Addis a bit, if they can find the time.

And, oh, yeah...get our new sons!!!!!

They BETTER NOT forget that part! Not unless they want to face a raving mad, lunatic, monster- of- a- former- woman upon their return, that is!

The boys tried to get some last minutes of love in on Mikayla...they are going to miss her!
The last time they took a trip without her they were gone for 4 days and were looking at her picture the whole way home, so this is going to be tough on them. I'm betting that having two new brothers to hold will help ease that though!

The kids started with a stomach flu 2 weeks ago and it's been working it's way around to all of them. As of 2 days ago, Damian still hadn't come down with it and I was beginning to think he was going to luck out.
Unfortunately, he didn't.
Poor guy was up most of last night with stomach cramps and we were really considering canceling his trip. In the end we decided that he could either stay home and feel miserable, or be on a plane and feel miserable...at least in the plane scenario he will be in Ethiopia when he recovers.
Jerry got him a hot pad to travel with (since heat seems to be the only thing that relieves the cramping), I doused him with my repertoire of herbal remedies for stomach viruses,we surrounded him with prayer, and he is on his way!

I had a tough to saying good bye...I know it's good for me to let them go like this, it's my dream that my children will go far and wide, seeing and experiencing and developing a heart for God's creation and people, but it sure does pull hard on my mommy-strings!
I guess that's what I love most about home-schooling- the fact that they are always with me!

We snapped a quick family picture before the guys left.

I can't wait to take another one when they get back, this time with our 2 new beautiful sons included!

God speed, my loves!