Proud, Happy, and Anxious

Chelsea and I are pleased to announce that we now have a new addition to our extended family. The Moaks arrived home yesterday with their son Henok! We are so very excited and proud of them for their patience and endurance. They now have their precious son! We were fortunate enough to live close by to be able to greet them at the airport as they arrived. The new grandparents, great aunt and uncle, as well as cousins, and aunt's and uncle's were all in attendance! It was incredible to see Henok wheeling his luggage out in front - luggage nearly his size - and the excitement in his eyes when he saw his welcome sign (created by his aunt and cousin). For us it is terribly exciting as we await just our homestudy and referral. As for me individually, it was encouraging to see another family accomplish the same goal we have, and to know some of what they have triumphed over. By the way, if anyone wants to know what Epiphony looks like...ask the Moaks (as they were there!).

For us we have an exciting day coming Wednesday - our home study. As we stated earlier, we feel like we have pretty much put into motion everything we can. We have mailed in almost everything (our FBI fingerprint/background stuff should be sent out soon), and now just await a completed homestudy, our FBI Background clearance, and then the translation of our documents. Lot's of paperwork, and lots of mailing...but it's nearing the end in that regard. Please continue to remember us, as well as others who are in the adoption process - we need courage and strength, wisdom, and surely some other things that you parents are already aware of.

We shall post some more relatively soon!

Sew Done!

If you know me at all, I am always ready for a bargain. I don't like to buy anything regularly priced and often don't. My mom has joked with me that if it is on sale cheap enough I'll buy anything! That said, I found a crib ruffle and valance set I really liked a while back. I had to get two sets b/c the window in the nursery is really long and one valance went about 1/2 way across. The sets were a whole $3.95 each at Ross. I decided I was going to make a crib quilt with the material from the second crib ruffle. So I cut it all out and have been working on making a quilt for quite some time now. I stopped working on it for several months b/c there was no contrast in it and I couldn't find any material in my stash that was the same texture. However, I was shopping Wal-Mart's dollar fabric section and came across some orange fabric that was the same material as what the set was made out of and bought it. I was pretty excited b/c the colors work together very well and I was lucky to find that good of a match of material. Plus, I love orange. I wasn't exactly sure how to do everything, but my grandma would sew w/me as a child, so I just used what she taught me! I finished it today and was pretty happy how it turned out (being the first quilt I have ever made). Also, when I was home for Christmas I came across the bumper that matches the set. It was at one of our used clothing shops. I was excited b/c if I had intened on making the bumpter once I was done with the quilt and was NOT looking forward to that! It was practically new and my mom bought it for me (thanks again!). So now we are set! If we recieve our referral for a boy we have a blue puppy theme and if it's a girl the pink and orange flower theme!

One step, two step, red step, blue step... my how many steps there are!

It has been a really exciting week for us. For one, we want to extend our sincere congratulations to the Moak family who picked up their son Henok this week. We are very excited for all of them, as they have been waiting for this moment since the Bright Futures Camp. Fortunately their adoption process had relatively few snags.

The second instance of excitement for us has been the news that we will get to have our home study on January 30th. This seems kind of like a gateway to me. We have retrieved all types of paperwork, however the home study is not something that Chelsea and I can sit down and do on our own. We have to have it performed by an outside source, which is Gladney. Everything else we basically had control over. From this point on it’s pretty much out of our hands. We go through the home study, we submit it to the Department of Homeland Security, and then it goes oversees with our translated and authenticated dossier. It’s almost as if in some way the light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter.

Another round of excitement has been caused by the addition of an Ethiopian children’s book, “Fire on the Mountain,” as well as some more Ethiopian music. We are continually increasing our knowledge of Ethiopia and her culture. It seems the more we read, see, and hear, the more we fall in love with the country.

The last round of excitement related to our adoption that I would like to comment on is in regards to those of you who have emailed and/or posted comments. We are always amazed at the experiences of others, incite and encouragement, as well as the bonding of fellow hopeful families. For us, we consider you all treasured resources. There are several families, who like us, are in the process of adopting a child. We now share in their joys as well. Thank you for sharing! May God continue to bless all the families currently adopting and those who are now proud parents.

Pushing Forward

So Chelsea and I are starting to understand a little bit about the "paper chase." Looks like I sent the notarized copies of our passports to the Department of Homeland Security, and also needed the same thing for our dossier. Luckly we have those, as well as our financial statment on their way to KBS. So I guess it's a non-issue.

We finally received a book that we ordered two weeks ago. It is the Lonely Planet's Amharic Phrasebook. It is very easy looking to use, and is not nearly as scary as the Amharic/English Dictionary that I saw at the Maru grocery. I have no clue what my accent will be like, or if I'll even do the sounds correctly...but hey, it's not like my Spanish is perfect, and I've survived speaking in Mexico countless times. By the way, if you call and I answer the phone with a funny sounding word, it's just me practicing hello in Amharic (yes, i've already started trying!). Just ask my brother and mom as I used it on them lastnight!

It is amazing how much your focus shifts. First time parents! I've heard it and seen it before with others, but it's truly amazing how much you can already start focusing all of your efforts on a child. Maybe not spoiling a child is going to be harder than I thought! I guess if you saw our cats and dogs...you'd know they're pretty spoiled. On the same hand, they are disciplined.

Hold on...pets aren't people. That is true, but it's the closest we have had for the last three years or so. It's not like we can leave the dogs for more than a few hours. They have to be fed, given attention, trained, disciplined, exercised, and taken to the vet. Still hugely different - you're right, but at least I can think that I have started to develop some very basic parenting skills :)

Wasn't that a scary peak into my mind?

Those are some of the thoughts I go back and forth with. As I've said before those are some of the same fears of any parent to be right? Will I be a good parent? How will I react when...? Will I be consistent?

As far as the adoption process goes, we seem to receive encouragement almost daily. Lastnight we were reminded that not everyone has a computer to view the blog. We visited some people and they were incredibly excited to visit with us and get an "update" on the adoption process. The enthusiasm was so unexpected! It was really neat, and made me wonder if I shouldn't create a paper newsletter like our blog for others in the same situation. It is amazing how God can provide the most timely pick-me-ups. The funny thing about it, is that we were trying to do something nice for them with a quick visit and a little dessert that Chelsea had made....turns out that we were the one's who were on the receiving end! Again, we continue to thank God for His goodness to us (amazing doesn't go far enough), as well as all of you who continue to provide unknown encouragement and support. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

God provides

I came across an online magazine article today: http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=1663

I think it is interesting and very well written.

I have been reading people's blogs and decided I HAVE to add a few more to our list. Job's daughters has to be one of the most heart breaking, encouraging, and exciting (all in one) blog I have read. If you read it you might want to have a box of Kleenex beside you.

It is constantly amazing what God does for each and every one of us. I am reminded of His power, glory, and love every day. It is neat to see what He does and what He accomplishes though people. All praise and honor to God. Someone was asking me today if we were still getting our girl from Vietnam. It was funny in a since b/c I could definitely say "NO! Not right now!" God had another plan for us. This plan is so much better and beyond what I had envisioned. I have learned so much about Ethiopia and the people there that if I did have the chance to change and adopt from Vietnam I wouldn't want to. He knows what He is doing and does it in His own time. There has been a lot that led us in another direction and pointed the way to Ethiopia. I feel so confident with our decision now that it is hard to wait. I just want to go get whatever baby needs us and be a parent. As David said, all he knows is that he is going to be a dad. I feel that same way. We are going to be parents, and that's what matters! I look to God for the wisdom of what to do for my child and say to my child when that time comes. God will provide if we look to Him and keep him first. It is hard to remember that God has a time and it will all work out best if we follow His plan. So until that day I read the blogs, make things for our baby to be, do paperwork, and whatever I can to fill the time until it is our turn.

On to a different subject- we recently bought a book off of the Internet on Ethiopia. We had read several places that Ethiopia claims that Queen Sheba and King Solomon had a son together. It is interesting b/c all of the Emperors had to claim ancestry to that line. This book talked about it a bit more in detail. The Bible does talk about her visiting him and bringing gifts, etc. That she brought more spices than anyone else ever did. Solomon had a LOT of wives, concubines, etc. From what I have read I think that they did have a son together. A lot of his marriages were for political reasons.

Onsies!

I made the onsies today! I looked for pictures for a long time and found some pretty good ones. I also found a few quotes. The onsies say : "Does this shirt make me look Ethiopian?", "You know you love Ethiopians", "Ethiopian baby" (then it has a stork and a baby), "Made in Ethiopia", and I made a shirt for David and myself with the Ethiopian flag "The color of motherhood/fatherhood".

Service Makes Me Smile!

I just wanted to give a little update today. Chelsea and I requested our proof of life insurance yesterday and received a response that we had to contact their legal department in order for them to process our request. I contacted the legal department today and they were awesome in terms of customer service! They immediately were trying to get the proper documents in place for us. Lord willing, the documents will be placed in the mail tomorrow and headed our way. I love organizations that place an emphasis on customer service. I think Chelsea and I are suckers for customer service...but then again who isn’t?

Chelsea's Take- We have been given the run around several times and when we were told we had to contact the legal department we figured it would still take weeks to process the information. David calls them and they HAVE to have information from me. So instead of making us call back, etc. they put David on hold and call me at work. She verifies the information she needs, doesn't take up a lot of my time while I am at work, and is extremely nice and willing to help in whatever way she can to get us what we need. Not only that, she says she will get the rest of the information from David and get our letter out that day! So if anyone needs insurance we know an all around GREAT company! Davids right, we are suckers for customer service b/c it seems like it's hard to find. But, another company I have been extremely impressed with during our adoption is KBS. I have loved working with Kate so far. When we were told our homestudy woudn't be for two weeks we wanted to start our dossier (typically you do your homestudy and THEN move on to the dossier). Gladney gave us the go ahead so we called Kate that day (around 5:30pm) and told her that we wanted to start our dossier. She actually called us back about 30min. later and discussed the whole process (even though it was outside of her work hours)! The next day when I went to work she had already e-mailed the information we would need to fill out. Since then her service has not changed one bit! When I send her something and she lets me know when when it arrives so I never have to worry if she has received something that I have sent. She also updates us on where we are with our dossier and answers any questions we have right away. I am sure she is extremely busy with other peoples dossiers but she never has been too busy to help. She always takes the time out to help us in whatever way we need for our dossier. She has really good customer service and I would recommend her services too http://www.kbsdossiers.com/ .

Back to Davids thoughts- We have been very excited throughout the process, even if the paperwork seems annoying at times. We know the reward is a relatively short distance from us and that with God’s continued blessing all things will work out. I must say that it’s not always easy to understand His time frame, nor easy to always see the big picture. However we remain confident knowing all things work out for those who diligently seek after Him.

On that note, I find it interesting that with Kenya now in chaos, every country surrounding Ethiopia now seems to have a travel advisory according to the U.S. State Department. That is interesting because at least two airlines make a stop in two separate countries: Sudan and Kenya. Africa is still very fragile in many ways…keep the people in your thoughts and prayers as they desperately need it.

As for us we are eagerly awaiting the time and date for our home study as well as our I600 to be approved after our home study. That will be a tremendous amount of relief for me, but I’m sure will be quickly replaced with anxiety as we wait for everything to be authenticated here in the States and then translated into Amharic. I am clueless when I think about what kind of emotions or other feelings I’ll have when we receive our referral. All I know is that I’m going to be a dad :)

We ask that you continue to remember Chelsea and I in your prayers: that the process will continue to move forward, that we’ll be great parents, as well as general prayers on behalf of our child, as there is a good chance that they are being carried in pregnancy at this time, and if not, that their stay in an orphanage, or whatever situation they’re in may go as well as possible. Help is on the way! We continue to thank you all and God for the support we’ve received as we couldn’t press on without the love and kindness of our family, friends, church family, and our God - may He always be the receiver of praise for His awesome works.

I want to add that- Also, we ask for prayers on behalf of the families having to give up their child. David and I can't imagine having to give up a child. It breaks my heart to think about the decisions that have to be made. It would be so hard to know that you won't/can't be there for all of those precious milestones in life. I pray special blessings for the family/mom. I know in many situations the family has died, or is dying, poverty, abuse/rape, etc. have occurred and that is why these families have to give their babys up. I know the families/moms have such big and great hearts to make such a sacrifice. I am sure that their hopes are even stronger that this child will be cared for in a way that they cannot provide. I am glad that they can hope and know that someone is out there loving and caring for their child. Our prayer is that God blesses their lives in ways we cannot even imagine.

Keep your heads up, and your eyes above, soon enough, you’ll see His love.

Ethiopian Day

For our anniversary we spent our day "Ethiopian" themed. We started out going to an Ethiopian market, called the Maru. We bought a CD, David got a shirt, and I got a card that I framed. Then we went and ate lunch at a place called Addis Abba. The food was really good. We took pictures that I will post later. The lady that served us showed us how to eat the food since we had never had Ethiopian food before. She also helped us decide what to order. I loved the potatoes and cabbage, David loved the lamb and beef. It was all really good and we decided we could eat the food on a regular basis. Next we went downtown to see Lucy at the Museum of Natural Science. They had a bunch of Ethiopian things and a couple of video's. We of course saw Lucy but the best thing for us was just getting to see the culture more. We went to the gift shop and had fun looking at all of the Ethiopian merchandise. We bought six Ethiopian stamps. I have framed three of them and am looking for a good frame for the other three. They are really old and really neat.

David's Take:

I guess it’s time for me to update some of my thoughts and feelings in regards to our adoption…since Chelsea has been doing the majority of postings lately. First, we had an awesome “Ethiopia Day!” We did this in conjunction with celebrating our 4th anniversary. For this we had to head out of our little town of Shepherd and drive a whopping 1.5 hours to Houston’s SW side. We had a little trouble finding the Maru grocery/market a) we thought it would be bigger, b) there were tons of shops around it, and c) it was closed on New Year’s Day. Go figure! That’s okay because it gave us time to scope out an area that is not exactly familiar to us. We decided to call it a night and enjoy our mini-vacation (compliments of Marriott Rewards!) – which was swimming, scrabble, Vietnamese food, and Marble Slab.

The next day we left with an air of excitement – we were going to eat Ethiopian food, shop in an Ethiopian market, and go to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see Lucy on loan from Ethiopia for the first time ever! Needless to say we were very excited. Turns out that the Ethiopian restaurant did not open at exactly 11am (so maybe we were overly excited!), but that did give us time to hit the Ethiopian market/store/grocery called Maru. We’ll just say it was small. We could have cared less though, because we were so excited to see all things Ethiopia. I was super excited to find t-shirts and books about Ethiopia. Chelsea was excited to see the cards and cd’s available. While we were there about three customers came in – speaking Amharic. That’s right the lady (whom I’ll assume owns the store) and the customers we’re talking in Amharic. They sold books, cd’s, dvd’s, magazines, and t-shirts all in Amharic. I decided that I would try to decipher some of the language in an English/Amharic dictionary. I’ve got two words after that experience: hard language! So we made our purchase of a t-shirt for me, a card to frame, and a cd that the lady recommended. Not sure what the singer’s name is or the album name, or what any of the songs say, but the music sounds good and the voice is good as well. Ethiopian music sounds very free to me. Needless to say, if you hear something strange in our car, it’s probably our new favorite cd!

After spending way to much time in the shop (if you new how small it really is, you’d understand), we headed back to the restaurant Addisaba Ethiopian Food. The outside isn’t very exciting, and once you get inside it’s not very exciting. They had a few paintings, light and airy paint on the walls, tables everywhere, and wait, what’s that – a little nook with Ethiopian tables, stools, pictures, and crafts. There was a younger man (younger than us I’d guess), and a middle aged woman. The young man was obviously Ethiopian and we assume the lady was as well. We had no clue what to order and needed assistance immediately – to which the woman was quick to do. She suggested a plate of food that was a sampler that allowed three meats, two vegetables, and injera. Once the food arrived the woman said she figured if we didn’t know what to order, then we probably didn’t know how to eat either. She left quickly and returned with two extra plates, silver ware, and a plate of food with injera. She said that they just pull off some injera, wrap up some food in it, and eat – then demonstrated. Alright! We were excited to eat what was brought out – chicken, lamb, beef, collard greens, potato, and cabbage. If you look above you can see what it all looked like. The colors were spectacular, and the aroma tantalizing! It makes American food seem soooo incredibly boring. The best thing was that the food not only looked and smelled great, but it was fantastic to eat as well. Chelsea soon figured out she liked the cabbage and potatoes best, and she loved that you didn’t have to use silverware to eat food with. She was surprised by how elastic feeling the injera was (it’s super spongy and was served cool), while I enjoyed the collard greens, lamb and beef. We ordered only one plate and were stuffed completely. The plate of food cost about $9.15 with tax. Not bad at all! The pictures and our little write up do not do the food justice.

From here we proceeded to the Museum to see Lucy and all of the exciting artifacts from Ethiopia. Perhaps the coolest thing about the exhibit to us was not so much the bones linking us to primates (as the videos imply), but all of the pieces sent with Lucy. We got to learn about the different regions of Ethiopia, famous places, famous people, the supposed resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, and some culture. For a place we never hear about beyond famine – Ethiopia has a lot to offer. They are some of the strongest people I have ever heard of, and they were never colonized like many of their counterparts. Truly this is a magnificent place. We look forward to learning more, and the continuing process to Our Land of Hope!

Gifts!

I was given two baby blankets while I was in Wyoming! One was from my aunt, Glenda, she had a bunch of blankets that she had made and I got to pick one out. It was a hard decision b/c they were all very pretty, but I picked a light yellow one b/c I thought it would look pretty w/the baby. She also gave me a baby outfit. It has really cute ducks on it!
My grandma also gave me a blanket. She had been making them for all the grandchildren for when they had/adopted kids. I got to choose what border color I wanted. She had two that she had been able to make so far. They were identical except for the borders. I chose the yellow color again b/c the the other one was pink on the outside and I am not sure if we'll have a boy or girl. I figured yellow is good either way. THANK YOU BOTH AGAIN! We love them & really appreciate you thinking of us!