Write On!

Chelsea spends a decent amount of time in the blogosphere. I can understand to a degree as we’re trying to patiently wait for our fingerprints to be processed so that we can move on. Hopefully they’ll get back to us next week or even better-as we are hoping- sooner. It's hard to have to wait and it can feel like a roller coaster ride. It wouldn't be so bad if you had a time frame that you could pin down and say x month is when we will get our child. Instead you're left waiting day by day as things happen, or for us right now- don't happen. To help pass the time we read about other families out there doing the same thing we are: some already have their children, some have referrals, and others are in waiting just like us hoping, praying, and doing whatever can be done to pass the time until the next step falls into place. It is somewhat amazing to me that you can connect with so many others out there. It’s not like you can just discuss some of the issues you face w/anyone- unless you're doing it or going through it- it's very hard to relate. I love reading about families going to get their child from an orphanage. The trip in general, advice, and other information is great. Some of those families are able to spend time with a child at an orphanage that they know a family is waiting for and next thing you know the family that was still waiting has some great pictures of their child, and another thread to hold on to. So to all you bloggers out there– whether you have a referral, or you're waiting- thanks for sharing and supporting! It means a lot to us!

By the way, Chelsea and I now try to quiz each other on the Amharic words we know. Although I must admit she is much better at it than I am. That’s kind of funny to me because when it comes to Spanish, I say it better, but she knows more words than I. As long as one of us has a shot at saying something decent while we’re in Ethiopia, I’ll be happy. I think most places appreciate it when you try to learn their language instead of just assuming everyone must speak English. Not to mention, we’d like to try and pass some Amharic down to our child. It is a fascinating language.

We call upon the Lord, who is our rock, hope, and strength. We know that he has a time for everything and His time is better than our own desires. I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for you to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart. Jeremiah 29: 11, 12, & 13.

You have made known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in Your presence with eternal pleasures at Your right hand. Psalm 16:11

Good news!

We came home from our vacation this weekend to find our answering machine blinking. When I played the message it was the Amy who did our homestudy and it has been completed! I can't tell you how excited I am!!!! I have to wait until Monday to read it b/c our internet is slow and it wouldn't come through. But, we are so happy to have it! Now if we can only get our FBI fingerprints. We are trying to be as patinent as we can be but it's very hard! So we continue to pray that our fingerprints will show up in the mail soon and that CIS moves fast!

More Ethiopian Fun!

Yesterday we spent time visiting our local (Houston) Ethiopian places! Once again we ate at AdisAbaba Ethiopian Restaurant, which we have come to love in only two visits. The food was excellent once again! We had fun practicing some of the words Chelsea has been learning via a Eurotalk Learn Amharic computer program. It is very basic Amharic, but lays a foundation for the completely different language of Ethiopia. We’ve had fun with it though! This time at the restaurant, we were the skilled veterans eating…and we watched as a new couple came in to eat. It’s pretty obvious when it’s your first time in ;) It was fun to see some other newbies there. We hope that more and more people come b/c there never is that many people. We were fortunate enough to have some more people from Ethiopia in this time around. We decided to ask about the language, did they know of anyone who taught Amharic, if what we were learning would really work, about the weather, pretty much anything they were willing to share. They were a little hesitant at first, but then Chelsea started trying to count in Amharic, said water, house, ship, and milk in Amharic, and all the other words she was just learning. This seemed to be the key, as from then on we covered a lot of information. We were told about two resorts, about the rainy season, and shown a picture of downtown Adis that was hung on the opposite side of the restaurant, as well as even more of the language. We were also told that if we brought our new nephew down sometime, that they would love to talk to him in Amharic. All of our encounters at the restaurant, and the grocery have been terrific. One comment Chelsea made is that you don’t have to prove anything to the Ethiopians we’ve met. They just accept you and embrace you. That has been our experience locally. Even at the Maru Grocery (we went there too!) our experience was similar. There were two ladies who saw Chelsea picking up some Teff (used to make injera) and asked if she was going to make injera. They were excited about it and asked if we had been to Ethiopia before. We told them we were looking forward to going, but had yet to travel. They then tried to help us find some books to learn about their culture and history. We used our newly refined (from the restaurant) language skills to say thank-you – which they also welcomed. At the Maru we were able to buy a few injera (4 or 5) already made for $5 and about 2lbs of teff. We should be receiving our Ethiopia cookbook soon, so we’ll see how we do. Anyway, that’s a lot of rambling, but it is due to the excitement I still have from our time at each place. Check this website for a few Ethiopian places near you: http://www.ethionetworks.com/Restaurants.html
If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you’ll notice a list for each state.

David has already said a lot of what I was going to say, but here is what I thought...

I was surprised this weekend because I really didn't think that I had been learning that much Amharic. I had spent quite a few hours working on learning some words off of our new cd. I was starting to feel like I might be wasting my time. But, after talking to some people from Ethiopia I realized that I really did pick up a lot more than I realized. I was so excited to try out my newly learned words. It was so nice to talk to someone who actually spoke the language. I was able to ask if what I was saying was right. I was pretty worried that I would be saying something offensive somehow :)! I did that a couple of times when I was learning Spanish- I would be close but the word I was using meant something totally different. OOPS! With the Amharic I was pretty close on most of it. If you are thinking about buying the CD it's not too bad. The only thing is that the people on it talk so fast that it's hard to hear all of the sounds.- which was especially bad for me since the language is so different than English. It would be better if you could slow down the speed but there is not a way to do that. It's funny too b/c their mouths don't move with what they are saying. The cd is very limited as far as how much you can learn. There are key phrases, body parts, colors, numbers, etc. It's great for someone just staring out though!

When we were at the restaurant it was pretty funny, David went up and asked one guy if he knew anyone that taught Amharic. He said no and to just buy a dictionary. David said we had one and the guy was very nice but didn't have a whole lot to say. So I started talking to him and saying some of the words I knew and asking if I was pronouncing them right. He jumped right in and started correcting what I was saying wrong. He spoke very fast also so I had to ask him to say the words very slowly. He taught us quite a few words. He was really patient with us on several words that had hard sounds to hear in them. Unfortunately there are many words he taught us that I no longer remember. After a while the other two guys that were there chimed in and told us about all these neat sounding places in Ethiopia. They seemed to like that we were so interested in their culture.

David wore the "color of fatherhood w/the Ethiopian flag" t-shirt I made for him this weekend. When we went to the Maru grocery the guy that rang up the stuff we were buying liked the shirt that I had made for David. He was really cute in that he seemed excited to see it. He asked where David got it and when he told him I had made it he was very impressed. We also met a couple of ladies that were so sweet. They showed us all sorts of books on Ethiopia. One of the books is one I ordered so I thought that was neat. They talked to us for quite some time. One lady was surprised that I wanted to learn Amharic. She said that she liked "my" language and hated hers. I told her that I thought her language was pretty and that I am excited to learn it. We ended up leaving about the same time and they honked at us several times and waved as we were leaving. I thought it was neat how much time they spent talking to us and how nice they were. They acted like we were long lost friends. I have heard several people say that they are the friendliest people you'll meet. I can agree with this now and love that about them!

I have to say that my husband is really sweet and very sneaky. He brought along a brithday cake for our trip. We had just got back from Half Priced Books and I was sitting in our room reading one of the books when he brings in this cake with a lot of candles! Then he starts blowing them out really fast before I get a good chance to blow them out. I was kind of surprised by this and he tells me to look up and points to the smoke alarm right above where I was sitting. I was really glad he had noiced it, I can just see that going off- might have added an interesting twist to our weekend. He had been working all week but still made time to make a cake and kept it secret from me. He also brought sparkling grape juice and got me some really cool scrapbooking stuff.

Small Town Charm

I think that our postal worker needs to work for Ikea. Each day I come home and find mail wedged in our box. In fact she has stuffed our mail in our box so tightly that the other day I actually had to remove the mail box from its stand and have my husband hold one end while I pulled on a newspaper piece that was towards the front. We removed mail piece by piece until I was able to pull a letter out. Today I came home and was a bit worried b/c she had lodged a book in there and it took me several minutes to un-lodge it. Then when I walked up to the door there was mail there too! I can't complain about getting so much mail though. When I was little all I wanted was mail with my name on it. So, it's pretty nice to get mail!

I am sad, frustrated, confused, hopeful, etc. b/c I read a blog today and hope that what I read was wrong. The family is ahead of us on things they have done. We are waiting for our home study to be typed up and CIS but this is what their blog said: :( Just spoke with Natalie from Gladney. It would be a miracle if we got there before the courts close this summer. She said once we accept a referral it takes about a month to hear from the courts and then another month for a court date (in Ethiopia), then we travel 3-4 weeks after that. It's just not going to happen this summer. :( I'm so sad right now. The courts close for about 2 months and so we wouldn't get there until probably in November. I want to cry.

I AM RIGHT THERE WITH YOU. I WANT TO CRY FOR YOU AND FOR US. Maybe we can pray for a drought to set in until we receive our children! I know, be careful what you pray for!! Wow what a deal (not a good deal either). I have been so happy w/our choice and even more happy b/c a family I know of is adopting from China and it’s been 3 years. They got their referral this month. I have been thinking that I am glad were not adopting from China... well its not 3 years but if it is November it's going to feel like an awfully long time. I would rater have a little bit older child then have to wait until November.


Besides that- I do know things are getting closer and closer each day. I wrack my brain and try to think of things I need to do, should be doing, want to do and hope that I am not missing anything. We’ve watched all of the adoption video’s now. They were so good. I think any and EVERY parent to be should watch them b/c they are so informative. I got so many good ideas and will hold on to them to view every now and then when parenting becomes tough! I have finished a travel scrapbook and a before you were here scrapbook and think that is about all I am going to do for right now. It’s hard when you don’t know if your going to be referred a boy or a girl b/c I don’t want to books too boyish or too girly. I would also like to start finalizing the room. It’s about done but there are some window treatments I would like to do and it really depends on if we are getting a boy or a girl what I’ll need to do. I have ordered a computer program that is supposed to help you learn Amharic. I sure would like to know some of the language for travel and learn as much as I can so I can talk to the baby in Amharic as much as possible- and it was one of the things that was stuck in the mail box today when I came home! It came in about 2 days- go Amazon free shipping! Now that is fast!

If we do have a baby somewhere out there I pray that the baby has someone special who is caring for him/her holding her/him and loving her/him.

Spoiled

For valentines day I received 2 dozen roses. I have to say it was quite a surprise because we've never got eachother anything besides cards . I was at my desk and one of our office aids came in and coughed. I saw the box of flowers and didn't think anything of it. Our office aids know if they can't find where to put mail they can come to me and I'll direct them as to where it goes. So when she had the box I said bring it here and I'll see where it goes. She said, "No! It's for you!" I thought she was just being silly and had her put it on my desk. Sure enough it was for me. Quite a shock! I have not had flowers delivered since when we were dating. I have a wonderful husband and he was so sweet to think of sending them!

Shots, Scrapbooking, Classes

The whole adoption process never ceases to amaze me. Each step presents differing challenges, feelings of accomplishment, and even more realizations that we'll soon be parents!

At this time we’re getting our training taken care of, as well as getting our immunizations up to date. In case anyone is scared of getting immunized…I get really nervous/anxious around the whole shot process. However, I must say these weren’t too bad. I had sweaty palms, and was real tense. Chelsea was calm, cool, and collected. Guess who got their shots first? That’s right, Chelsea did! They asked for volunteers to go first. When I didn’t volunteer to go first, she stepped up to the plate and showed me that the shots weren’t too bad. I must be a big baby when it comes to shots. My only redemption concerning the shots has to be that Chelsea was sorer than I was…or at least I hid it better! Anyway, if you’re a “fraidy cat” like me…know that they’re not too bad. Oh, and if you take the oral Typhoid Virus Vaccine, it’s good up to 5 years as opposed to the shot which is good for only 2 years. It has to be refrigerated, and is not available at all pharmacies, so make sure your pharmacy will have it. If you’re as fortunate as us, your doctor or nurse will know which pharmacy in your area actually carries it.

I mentioned earlier that we are getting our training taken care of. Since the U.S. agreed to the Hague Adoption Treaty (not the exact name of the treaty, but there’s a link on our blog to read about it), there are certain requirements parents will start needing to meet. Part of that is classroom time. Fortunately for us, Gladney is already well prepared for the new requirements. We have the material now, and will no doubt be completing the tests soon! Chelsea has already viewed some of it, and says that it is very good…so that is exciting for us!

We continue to thank all of you who continue to show your support to us! We know that we wouldn’t be where we are in this process without your encouragement, and the grace of God. Please continue to remember all those involved in the different aspects of adoption. Also, more than likely, the child we will eventually receive has already been born…please remember them and their family as they undergo their journey which will ultimately result in them being adopted by us.

Oh, and you should see the awesome job Chelsea has done on a scrapbook! Wait till you see what she's been able to put together! It's amazing what she is capable of creating. I'll try to post some pictures by Friday afternoon...

As promised....the pictures!

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day!

Thanks for checking in on us! We’ll blog more soon!

David's right, I have been very busy scrapboking. I have had a hard time b/c we don't know if we are getting a boy or girl. So I have been trying to keep the book neutral. I did go ahead and buy some very cute pink paper and then some things for a boy that I liked. I recently decided to make some pages for when we go to Ethiopia. That was much easier!

When we get there!

I found a site where you can buy amharic bibles!
http://www.ibsdirect.com/pc-414-80-amharic-leather-study-bible-burgundy-cover.aspx

If we get to meet our baby's mom I think it would be something neat to take and give to her!

Ding, Ding!

Answer to yesterday's trivia question: Senator John McCain. According to his website, he and his wife adopted in 1993 and later helped cosponsor legislation that provides similar benefits to families with adoptive children to those with birth children.

Like I said yesterday, the above is not intended to be political, but something I came across and found interesting.

As far as our adoption goes, we obviously couldn't have too much change by leaps and bounds during the evening (although our fingerprints made it to the FBI!). Let's say it was business as usual at the Sparks household. We were able to enjoy a nice dinner at home (leftover homemade enchiladas from our lunch), and a walk at Lake Livingston State Park. We were fortunate enough to catch the sunset across the lake, which was a myriad of orange colors. Absolutely beautiful, awesome, fantastic, amazing! We were a little annoyed at our own forgetfulness...as we left our trusty camera at home. Altogether though, it was the type of afternoon we truly enjoy around our small Texas town. You couldn't have asked for better weather, the pine trees gave just enough shade and color, a variety of tree leaves littered the ground, the water and wind were calm, and there were very few people at the lake. It is times like that and different days that come up (like birthdays and Valentine's Day) that I try and imagine how life may be completely different next year for us. Will eating dirt at sunset be so picturesque? How about diaper duty on the trail? Or perhaps ducking and bending around trees with our little one tucked into our baby hiker...I've heard some pretty funny stories from Chelsea's family about hiking with little tikes...I'm sure we'll add our own!

Anyway, it makes me think, dream, and imagine...hardly a time in my life when a new change could encourage me to be more disciplined myself, to implement a strategy to achieve goals, and become a little bit more narrowed-in (blinders on, helping remove distraction). More determined? Getting things in order seems like such an understatement. If I expect "x" out of my child, it would help for me to expect "x" out of myself.

The joys and changes of parenthood seem to approach me each new day...just as my understanding of those of you with children steadily increases.

Adoption Affects/Effects

Effect – result; consequence:

Affect – produce an effect or change in

A little trivia to begin with: Which current US Senator has an adoptive child, and helped cosponsor legislation giving similar benefits to families with adoptive children enjoyed by families with birth children? *This is not designed with any political intentions, but something I found very interesting*

It is amazing how adoption shapes people, as well as some of the changes it causes. Last night Chelsea and I went to a bookstore after receiving our Yellow Fever vaccinations. While searching for some books on Ethiopia and adoption (you should see the list Chelsea has made) I requested the assistance of a store employee. Guess who happened to be adopted? That's right, that employee. I wonder how many others we come into contact with that have been blessed through adoption. There are countless families in and around us that have seen adoption firsthand one way or another. The other side of that to me is that you would never know this person, or that person has been adopted. It’s not like an introduction, “Hi, I’m David I’m not adopted.” Or “Hello, my name is Joe, and I’m adopted.” The person who performed our home study shared a story with us that still has me thinking. It was basically that some people have funny attitudes when they know a child is adopted – that their behavior is just because they’re adopted, when another child could do the same thing and it be just “normal.” I guess this has stuck with me, because it makes me wonder, “How many other attitudes do we have because we have labeled a person one way or the other?” What happens when a “labeled” person doesn’t fit the mold we have created for them? I guess that can just be food for thought.

Going in a complete different direction, I want to ask you, what does adoption mean to you? How does it relate to you? Does it relate to you? Has it affected you? Has it affected your family or extended family? Are friends of yours adopting, or have they adopted?

For those adopting it is a very real series of questions that may have started long before ever getting information on adoption. For others, it may have been something you were confronted with by a presentation, or information meeting, maybe something you had never thought about before. Yet somehow it shaped your thought process and caused you to act. We cannot but help relate adoption to Biblical principles, because we believe the very spirit of Christianity encourages adoption.

Take a moment and think about why children are available for adoption. What happened to those children, their families, their parents, that they are now in an orphanage? How could something as precious as children, find themselves where they are? Adoption is a precious gift in so many ways, and all who are involved have experienced much to be where they are today. Thanks for continuing with us in one aspect of our adoption experience. May God continue to bless all the families and children who experience the effects of adoption and have been affected by adoption, and may He be glorified by them.

Backlogged Vaccine

Since we posted last we have worked really hard to get our immunizations up to date. By that I mean - there are some things that we just aren’t immunized for in the states any more. One of those shots is Yellow Fever. If you plan on traveling to an area that recommends this vaccination, and you’re planning on getting it, you might consider scheduling it. The reason being is that the only manufacturer the United States uses has them on backorder. This is because a company that supplies a piece of equipment to them went bankrupt and they have to certify that another company can supply the same piece of equipment. Supposedly in March, we’ll be back to a normal supply. However, until then your certified Yellow Fever shot-giver has to schedule five people to take the vaccination. That’s right the CDC has asked them to schedule five people at a time to make sure that none of the vaccine will go to waste. Anyway, our advice to anyone out there who made need it, is to go ahead and get yours scheduled ahead of time, just in case. Also, if you’re wondering, the shot itself isn’t bad at all, and I’d say it’s much more tolerable than any other shot I’ve received for an infection. Just a real simple prick on the left arm is all it takes, and then you get a nice WHO yellow card declaring you have been immunized. By the way, if they ask you to wait around awhile after you’re given the shot, it’s just to make sure you’re not likely to experience any of the potential side effects (the side effects can show up in minutes!).

As for us, we’re inoculated; so if for some reason we ever have a widespread outbreak, which hasn’t happened in at least 100 years, we’ll be good to go for 10 years!

We also had our fingerprints taken (again). Let’s just say, we recommend that anyone needing F.B.I. background check fingerprints - go to a larger county that has a lot of experience taking fingerprints. We had a little problem getting ours done correctly the first time, so we headed to a much larger area to our South. We’re confident that these prints will do wonders!

We feel like we are super close, but at the same time, incredibly far away. I must say though, that everything we cross off our list now, seems more and more important. Hopefully we’ll prevent any delays on our part!

We want to continue to thank all of you who routinely check in on our blog, by phone, and email! We are grateful for your support! It would be difficult to let so many of you know as much information as we provide here.

Naming in Ethiopia

An Ethiopian child takes her/his father's name as her/his surname (i.e. second or family name) but is always known primarily by her/his own first name. Traditionally, parents and children do not share a last name. Most kids take their father's first name as their last name. An Ethiopian is living abroad has to first write his/her name, then his/her father’s name and his/her grandfather’s name if need be. First names, surnames, middle names, family names and all that are rather baffling to an Ethiopian. However, much family affinities are tight in Ethiopia people’s names stand by themselves the first one denotes the subject while the second denotes the father. Some names give a clue of ethnic identity. This of course does not mean that names are strictly ethnic. The contemporary generation be it any ethnic group that identifies himself more as Ethiopians, prefers to name his or her child in any way he or she likes as long as the name contains the desired meaning. There are rural names and urban names so to speak. Ethiopians are also known to give their children Christian names or Biblical names.
The equivalent of Mr. is Ato, Mrs. is Woizero (Wzo.), and Miss is Woizerit (Wzt.). Therefore, a man called Abebe Bekele would be referred to and introduced as Ato/Mr. Abebe. Women do not change their names when they get married, but simply take the title Woizero. For example, if Ato Abebe marries a woman by the name of Lia Abera, she will be referred to as Woizero/Mrs. Lia or Mrs. Abera but not as Mrs. Abebe or Mrs. Bekele.

Have You Heard?

I suppose email might do just as well, but I have yet to send them out. Anyway, Chelsea and I moved a huge step forward on Wednesday as we had our official homestudy! I was far more nervous than Chelsea...not sure why, but I was. Regardless of my nerves, we were told that we had a successful homestudy! All we do now is wait for it to be typed up officially and sent to all of the different groups - us, KBS, CIS. I guess now we just wait patiently. We might be parents in 3-6 months time, assuming there are no real hiccups. It is a tremendous feeling...

We still feel like progress is made everyday. I don't know if it is because there is light beaming down on us, getting closer and brighter each day, or if it is a sense of we see the larger picture and it's becoming more complete. Either way, we are filled with great joy knowing we may soon have a little boy or girl to hold tightly in our arms, to share our home with, as well as our love. Along with this we continue to add to our understanding of Ethiopia. Currently we have bolstered our library to include children stories, history books, a phrasebook, stamps, as well as guidebooks. We know that some of the greatest learning, in regards to Ethiopia, will likely be during our stay there. However, we still would like to be aware of what has shaped this country and culture, as well as how we can give slices of our understanding to our child in due time.

It is a tremendous thought...knowing that life seems altogether different, in some ways clearer, and in other ways less complex. By that I mean it narrows things down to what's most important. Every time I think about the hope we have in Ethiopia, I cannot help but think of the hope we have in our Lord...the fact of Him giving life to all things...the reality that He made provisions for us to join Him...and the design of a God-fearing home...with a husband and wife who fear and honor the Lord, and children who are taught His ways...it brings great peace to my soul as I think of trying to wait patiently for this process, or I grow concerned of the world around us and what it may look like as our child ages. God gives us confidence in this endeavor, just as He has throughout each of our lives.

We continue to ask you to remember the families involved in adoption (those adopting, those who are orphaned, and those who choose to give their children up for a variety of reasons), as all involved have need.