Birth Certificates issued - DONE
Passports issued
Medical exams by Embassy Doctor
Submit Case to Embassy
Wait and Pray for appointment before end of year.
Appointment Assigned
Go back to Ethiopia (Dan, Shelly and Madeline)
Go to Embassy Appointment with Ephraim and Sisay (Silas)
All go home to U.S. together. :o)
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Birth Certificates
Moving along ! We received Birth Certificates this week for both boys in our names.... with Dan and I listed as their adoptive parents. Both boys were assigned a birth date, which does not mean it is there actual birth date but one someone decided to give them.
Wow... I wish we knew their real birthday. There is just something special about the day the Lord said - TODAY is the DAY that I ordained for YOU to come into this world and be apart of My Kingdom... and the lives of others to be blessed and be a blessing.
Wow... I wish we knew their real birthday. There is just something special about the day the Lord said - TODAY is the DAY that I ordained for YOU to come into this world and be apart of My Kingdom... and the lives of others to be blessed and be a blessing.
HOWEVER....I understand that this process is also a SPECIAL one of the Lord. He knew every event of my boys lives and made provision for them and us to come together at just the right time to say TODAY is the DAY...for a divine appointment that I have ordained, knowing it would reveal My heart for adoption, family, the orphan....to show that I Redeem and Restore that which was lost or stolen. God Redeems and Restores for the orphan and we were all orphans until we knew Him as Father ...He redeems and restores the things that were lost or stolen. Relationships, Peace, Health, Authority.... most of all HOPE!!!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Photos
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| Our room at the Addis Flower Guest House |
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| 2 beds and 1 bathroom |
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| 1st Moment with Ephraim at the Transition House |
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| Dan and Ephraim age 7 |
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| Picking up Sisay from his room. Was standing in crib when we got there. |
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| Leaving Transition home for some time together. |
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| Breakfast or lunch? Sisay LIKES to eat. :o) |
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| Ephraim and Dan work on a transformer together. |
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| Streets of Addis |
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| Out for Lunch after passing court at a nice restaurant. By the way, I got pay back for laughing at Dan with his diaper doosey. Sisay left this place without a shirt because it was not salvageable. |
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| On patio of guest house. Kids playing outside. |
9:14 pm Ethiopia - Tuesday
First, I want to say Madeline, Toby and Mae... Dad and I love you so much and miss you. I'm homesick for you! It is difficult that my heart is now two continents. I can hardly wait to get home to see you and at the same time tomorrow is going to be a very difficult day to say goodbye to Ephraim and Sisay (Silas).
Thanks for your prayers. Sisay's congestion is much better than when we first arrived.
Sisay is a character. He is very ticklish, jabbers and laughs. He is also a QUICK - his hands are fast to grab what he wants or he can flip/ turn during a diaper change like a flash. Whoo. Keeping us on our toes and Dan and I are ready to make a plan of action. BUT he is also a charmer with his big eyes and 2 teeth grin.
Ephraim seems pretty serious and really watches to take things in...but when we have him alone in our room some silly playing begins to happen. He likes playing outside with a ball and he is pretty good at jump rope. One of the favorites has been balloons! He is repeating what we say ... like "Say Thank you." putting "say" in front of whatever we try to teach him to say. Dan and I can see a bit of each of our kids in Ephraim. Madeline - Ephraim likes to organize his toys. Toby - the beach ball got a hole in it and he took it to our room and on his own pulled the hole together and patched it with the stickers we had given him. And Mae....we hear him singing to himself on and off. Each one of these things reminded us of you kids.
Going to close this post. Dan has some photos ready so I'll do that next.
Thanks for your prayers. Sisay's congestion is much better than when we first arrived.
Sisay is a character. He is very ticklish, jabbers and laughs. He is also a QUICK - his hands are fast to grab what he wants or he can flip/ turn during a diaper change like a flash. Whoo. Keeping us on our toes and Dan and I are ready to make a plan of action. BUT he is also a charmer with his big eyes and 2 teeth grin.
Ephraim seems pretty serious and really watches to take things in...but when we have him alone in our room some silly playing begins to happen. He likes playing outside with a ball and he is pretty good at jump rope. One of the favorites has been balloons! He is repeating what we say ... like "Say Thank you." putting "say" in front of whatever we try to teach him to say. Dan and I can see a bit of each of our kids in Ephraim. Madeline - Ephraim likes to organize his toys. Toby - the beach ball got a hole in it and he took it to our room and on his own pulled the hole together and patched it with the stickers we had given him. And Mae....we hear him singing to himself on and off. Each one of these things reminded us of you kids.
Going to close this post. Dan has some photos ready so I'll do that next.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Court Day
Pancakes for breakfast... a great way to start a day that has changed our lives forever. We left Ephraim and Sisay this morning with the ladies at our guest house while Dan and I and 2 other couples were taken to court to meet with the judge.
These were the first tears of the day... and they were Ephraim's. It was a hard moment for us but also a good one. He was so sad we were leaving and he was not going with us. (We have taken 2 or 3 little walks / trips out to dinner or to look around and the boys have gone with us each time.) Our helpers explained to him in Amahric that we would be back, yet tears silently came.
Don't know the verb to use for how we maneuvered through traffic. There are no rules as far as we can figure.
We entered a building that was said to be court. Waited. Then we were all called into the judge together and asked several questions as a group. Then she said... all your paper work is in. They are yours.
Ephraim and Sisay are officially our children now according to Ethiopia! Dan and I now have 5 children!
We came back to BIG hugs from Ephraim greeting us as we got out of the van.
Yeah!
we've had trouble getting internet....if I can't get a photo on today we'll see if we can get on tomorrow.
Madeline, Toby and Mae... We love you so much!!! xoxo
These were the first tears of the day... and they were Ephraim's. It was a hard moment for us but also a good one. He was so sad we were leaving and he was not going with us. (We have taken 2 or 3 little walks / trips out to dinner or to look around and the boys have gone with us each time.) Our helpers explained to him in Amahric that we would be back, yet tears silently came.
Don't know the verb to use for how we maneuvered through traffic. There are no rules as far as we can figure.
We entered a building that was said to be court. Waited. Then we were all called into the judge together and asked several questions as a group. Then she said... all your paper work is in. They are yours.
Ephraim and Sisay are officially our children now according to Ethiopia! Dan and I now have 5 children!
We came back to BIG hugs from Ephraim greeting us as we got out of the van.
Yeah!
we've had trouble getting internet....if I can't get a photo on today we'll see if we can get on tomorrow.
Madeline, Toby and Mae... We love you so much!!! xoxo
We are in Ethiopia!!!
We arrived LATE on Fri / Sat morning. Got a night of sleep and went to the Transition House on Sat. afternoon to see our boys. Can not begin to tell you the swelling of my heart and the tears that came when we pulled in and saw E. walking down the stairs towards us. :o) Amazing.
E has been really quiet but is really opening up... today is Sunday and we have volleyed a beach ball, made up our own game of bags, played with transformer cars and today during some down time, E just spontaneously started singing to himself and using his imagination and playing!!! it was sweet to see. We went for a walk today to a lunch spot and while the group was waiting for me to catch up ( I had S in the baby wrap, E. held out his hand to me for me to hold his had when we walked. After lunch, the resturant took a while to get our bill and he layed down in his seat and put his head in my lap. I love that he is begining to reach out to us. yea. This morning while Dan and baby were still snoozing, E and I sat in his bed and filled out a sticker book together. He is BRIGHT.
S is doing great too. He is a happy baby. He laughs and giggles and is so bright eyed....and BUSY. He is very fun. Dan got a crash course in diaper changing again. His first one was a doosey! I laughed so hard ...and still chuckle when I think about it. The DRAMA over changing a diaper. LOL.
You could pray for us for S. He has quite a bit of congestion. He got up at 2:30 a.m. and had a hard time getting back to sleep do to being stuffy. I put him in the carrier and he fell asleep on my chest, up right and that seemed to work well.
We have court first thing in the morning! We met with our in-country representative for us and the other families. He went over the questions the judge may ask us tomorrow and when the judge is done...he/she will say "They are yours." WOW.
well... this has been a quick note. not sure how it all sounds. just trying to put down some quick info for you. we are in a hotel lobby in order to get internet. The kids are getting restless. :o) dinner time.
Oh... skyped with Madeline Toby and Mae just a few min. ago. LOVE THEM!!!!
Bless you all.
will try to get back to you later. :o)
Having a wonderful time with the boys.
E has been really quiet but is really opening up... today is Sunday and we have volleyed a beach ball, made up our own game of bags, played with transformer cars and today during some down time, E just spontaneously started singing to himself and using his imagination and playing!!! it was sweet to see. We went for a walk today to a lunch spot and while the group was waiting for me to catch up ( I had S in the baby wrap, E. held out his hand to me for me to hold his had when we walked. After lunch, the resturant took a while to get our bill and he layed down in his seat and put his head in my lap. I love that he is begining to reach out to us. yea. This morning while Dan and baby were still snoozing, E and I sat in his bed and filled out a sticker book together. He is BRIGHT.
S is doing great too. He is a happy baby. He laughs and giggles and is so bright eyed....and BUSY. He is very fun. Dan got a crash course in diaper changing again. His first one was a doosey! I laughed so hard ...and still chuckle when I think about it. The DRAMA over changing a diaper. LOL.
You could pray for us for S. He has quite a bit of congestion. He got up at 2:30 a.m. and had a hard time getting back to sleep do to being stuffy. I put him in the carrier and he fell asleep on my chest, up right and that seemed to work well.
We have court first thing in the morning! We met with our in-country representative for us and the other families. He went over the questions the judge may ask us tomorrow and when the judge is done...he/she will say "They are yours." WOW.
well... this has been a quick note. not sure how it all sounds. just trying to put down some quick info for you. we are in a hotel lobby in order to get internet. The kids are getting restless. :o) dinner time.
Oh... skyped with Madeline Toby and Mae just a few min. ago. LOVE THEM!!!!
Bless you all.
will try to get back to you later. :o)
Having a wonderful time with the boys.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Puzzle Time
Looking forward to framing the puzzle and hanging it E and S's room. Here is our progress. The tip of Africa has been put together... We have the Cape of Good Hope !!! :o) If you want to help out, go to the fundraiser page and follow the directions there. Every bit helps! THANKS for your part in caring for orphans... making them orphans no more!
In case you are wondering what the funds go towards. Here are a few. Several Documents have fees, VISAs, Immigration, Adoption Agency Fees and Air fare are a few of the biggies.
The Boys' Room
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| Green and Blue. |
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| Dresser from IKEA, Crib from Dan's co-worker, Crib set from Aunt Cathy & Uncle Shane |
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| E's bed is a trendle and a swing to the right |
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| Just imagine S snuggled here for naps or bouncing along the side rails :o) |
Oct. Update
1. We got new photos and videos of both boys. What a great agency we have to give us so much feedback on how the boys are growing and doing. It was wonderful to see them on our screen, and we long to see them in person.
2. Madeline received a significant donation from a girlfriend towards her plane ticket to go with us on our Embassy trip (2nd trip). It is a "God" story. This young lady is only 15 yrs. old, and the Lord put it on her heart to give. Like the young boy in scriptures who offered his 5 loaves and 2 fishes, the Lord multiplied her gift in a matter of hours and turned it into well over $1000. Thank you, Jesus! Thanks for the faithfulness of a young girl! :o)
3. The boys' room is finished! It is wonderful to walk into and see a place prepared for them. The Lord has prepared a place for each one of us in His kingdom if we will but come to Him! Yeah! Thanks Father. I also realize this will probably be the CLEANEST their room will ever be. Ha Ha.
4. Dan and I leave soon. Woo Hoo and woa-oa. My mother's heart is so excited to embrace E and S and at the same time struggling to be so far away from my children here. ON THE FLIP, my kids are very excited for the time to spend with friends and Grandparents coming to stay with them.
Bless you.
2. Madeline received a significant donation from a girlfriend towards her plane ticket to go with us on our Embassy trip (2nd trip). It is a "God" story. This young lady is only 15 yrs. old, and the Lord put it on her heart to give. Like the young boy in scriptures who offered his 5 loaves and 2 fishes, the Lord multiplied her gift in a matter of hours and turned it into well over $1000. Thank you, Jesus! Thanks for the faithfulness of a young girl! :o)
3. The boys' room is finished! It is wonderful to walk into and see a place prepared for them. The Lord has prepared a place for each one of us in His kingdom if we will but come to Him! Yeah! Thanks Father. I also realize this will probably be the CLEANEST their room will ever be. Ha Ha.
4. Dan and I leave soon. Woo Hoo and woa-oa. My mother's heart is so excited to embrace E and S and at the same time struggling to be so far away from my children here. ON THE FLIP, my kids are very excited for the time to spend with friends and Grandparents coming to stay with them.
Bless you.
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