Shopping & Embassy

We were picked up in the a.m. by a driver to take us to the CWAE compound to talk to the counselor about Addis & Mulu. She affirmed that Steve & I need to be there for the girls as Addis especially was quite attached with her father. We need to fill that hole for her as much as we can.

While we were there the counselor asked if we wanted to see the girl's compound and we said, "Yes!" She walked over there with us and as soon as we entered the gates the other girls flocked around our girls. Hugs and kisses abounded. We were taken in and shown where the girls slept. They slept in different rooms from each other because of age. Kind of sad that they weren't kept together, but that's my perspective.

When we were done touring the compound the staff came around us and prayed for the girls and for our strength as parents. They laid hands on us and they prayed. It was very powerful and emotional to hear even though we didn't understand a thing they were saying. It was from their lips to God's ears.

We walked back to the boy's compound and told our driver we were ready to go. He took us to Churchhill Rd. to buy some dresses and then to the Kaffa House to buy some coffee. Steve loves the strong Ethiopian coffee and says it's "high octane."

We went back to the hotel when we were done so we could rest and get ready for the embassy appt. Our embassy was successful. We were questioned as to a death certficate for the mother. We don't know how, when, where or what she died from, so there was no way we could have produced a death certificate.

We found out that the passports/visas would be delivered on Thursday morning so we headed to the Hilton where the Ethiopian Airlines ticket office was able to chang our flight from Friday to Thursday with a $100 fee each for me & Steve. We just had a longer layover in D.C., but at least we would be back in the states.

When we got back to the Sheraton we went to dinner at Breezes. We had pizza, of which I scraped off the cheese because it was gross. I didn't realize I had such a picky palate, but I've figured out my mouth doesn't like international travel. It's American born and raised.

Lights were out at 8pm. We would wake up about 3am and stay quiet so the girls could sleep.

Tomorrow: Swimming & visiting the KVI orphanage

Pictures of our Meeting!

Here we are!

Waiting for the girls to walk through the gate.

Mommy, Addis & Mulu

Mulu, Addis & Daddy

Sporting their Americanized look.

CWAE staff at the girl's compound. Most passionate prayer warriors I've ever come across.

Pictures from Friday/Saturday

Our family except Jesse who was working
Sarah in her new Ethiopian dress
Family & friends in Ethiopian dress
Jake pushing the girls in the backyard
Mulu
Addis

Meeting Our Girls

We were picked up by Kassahun about 2pm. There were two other couples in the van going to meet their children too! I was most surprised by what we traveled in: a NEW Sprinter van. I couldn't believe it! In August we rode around the city in a jeep which meant children HAD to sit on an adult lap. This time everyone just about had their own seat.

We arrived at the boy's compound and waited for Addis & Mulu to arrive from the girl's compound which was down the street and up an alley. The nurse was talking to me about their shot records so I didn't see them come in. Darn it! I looked down and Mulu was in front of me with a HUGE smile. I instantly turned the video camera on to try and catch Addis & Steve meeting. We all hugged and kissed. They were so beautiful!

(I'll have pictures later, Steve has his camera in his car.)

After the other couples met their children we drove across town to the CWAE office to complete our embassy paperwork and pay any owed fees. Steve took the girls into another room while I was going over the paperwork with Sheka. They emptied their backpacks and had fun playing with their Barbies and their cameras.

We rode back to the Sheraton and headed back to our room. The girls were a little scared when the elevator took off, but it soon turned into fun.

They are amazed with things we take for granted; the different ways that toilets flush, the different ways that a faucet turns on, drinking fountains, the pool, straws, elevators & escalators. They giggle with excitement when they experience something for the first time.

We went to dinner at the Italian restaurant at the Sheraton. It was disgusting to me and I couldn't eat. Between the tiredness and my tummy not feeling right, Ethiopian Italian food was not appetizing to me. Steve loved his and the girls ate theirs so it must have just been me.

When it was time to go to bed the girls and I slept in a king bed and Steve slept on the roll-a-way. Addis kicked Mulu out of the spot next to me so she could sleep there. The next night I made sure Mulu got the coveted spot.

Travel to Ethiopia

Jesse drove us to the airport and came in with us. We had an extra bag and wanted to be able to send it home with him if it was going to be too expensive to take. It was. The airlines wanted $180 to take a 50 lb. bag of used clothing. We were allowed four bags total, two for each, with no extra charge. We each had our own suitcase plus two duffel bags for Kingdom Vision International's orphanages. We decided we would rather give Eyob (KVI) the $200 rather than the airlines.

I saw a couple that looked Ethiopian in the San Diego airport so I asked them if they were traveling to Ethiopia. They confirmed they were and told them we were too. I was able to ask questions about the ET church here in town. We continued our conversations in the Washington D.C. Dulles airport. He asked us where we were staying and he did call us to go for coffee, but because of time we weren't able to go. I'm hoping that we can connect somehow through divine intervention when they return to the San Diego area.

Our flight was long and uneventful. In the airport we paid and received our Ethiopian Visas. We then traded U.S. dollars for birr and then got in line for Immigration. While standing at the window I spotted Kassahun, our CWAE (Christian World Adoption Ethiopia) driver from last time. Once we made it through he greeted us by shaking hands with Steve and giving me a hug and saying, "Hi, Mama!"

All of our luggage made it safely and we loaded the bags in the car. He took us to the Sheraton and we were able to go to our room and shower before meeting our girls.

We're home!

We arrived home a day earlier than anticipated. The girl's passports/visas were ready to go on Thursday allowing us to leave that night. All is going well. The kids are outside playing and getting to know one another. I'll post on our daily adventures as I have time. Thank you for praying for us! We felt it!

Well......we leave tonight

All of our planning and getting ready comes to a head today. We leave tonight. Packing is overwhelming to me. I hate to make the decisions about what to take, what will I need, can I do without this?

I enjoyed my midnight snuggle with Adah last night. Knowing I won't get to snuggle on her for another week. What is this going to do to these poor girls? They've been home for eight months now and mommy is leaving for a whole week. I'm sure they'll be very whiny and want mommy when I get back. I think I might get stuck in the rocking chair for a good while. That's a good thing. :-)

Donations are packed. We were able to fill a bag with 50lbs of used clothing. We ran out of weight before we were able to use the baby clothes, but at least we can take some older clothes for KVI.

I bought the girls some shoes at Target and some hoodies. So we're all set! I made their bed so it's nice and inviting for them next week. Now I just need to pack our (mine, Addis & Mulu) bags. Uh.....the dread of it. I also need to pack three boys who are going to their cousins for the week.

I'm bringing some story books in Amharic/English so Addis can read them this week. I have the black Barbies and some Barbie clothes ready to go. Dollies need to come out of their boxes. So much to do! Only twelve hours left before we leave for the airport. Tick.Tick.Tick.

Donations

Our church family has blessed us with incredible donations. While Steve was gone I started working on packing the donations into the duffle bags. I started with one huge bag and loaded it with the donations. I couldn't lift the thing. I tried. I tried again. I stepped onto the scale trying to manipulate myself with this monstorous bad, but it wouldn't work. I now have a hitch in my get-a-long. (Is that how you say it?)

Steve got home and he tried to lift it. It was hard for him. He decided that it must have weighed 100lbs. No wonder I couldn't weigh myself and the bag! He had an idea. We would take the donations out and divvy them up between the two bags and fill the rest with clothing. We are just at 50lbs for each bag with the new donations. No room for used clothing in those bags!

Donations include handmade fleece blankets, handmade crib quilts, crib sheets, twin sheets, bath towels, washcloths, Desitin, baby pins, cloth diapers, rubber pants, socks, vaseline, lotion, hand sanitizer, Neosporin, band-aids, itch-creme, wipes, wipes, and more wipes, children's vitamins, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and more.

Thank you Mapleview family!!!

So now we have this huge tub of used clothing. We might take an extra bag and pay the $50 to take it with us and put gently used clothing in it for KVI orphanges. They need clothing ages 4-12. I was thinking I'll load the biggest clothes first and work down to the baby clothes.

After all the donations are packed I can make their bed! We've been storing some of the stuff up there so Anna & Adah can't get into it. After the bed is made then I can pack their clothes and my clothes. Can you believe we're leaving tomorrow? Yikes!

New pictures of Mulu and Addis in Ethiopia

Thoughts

Who would imagine that in just two days we'll travel to east Africa? Who would imagine that we're meeting our new daughters that are already ages six and eight with their own life history? Who would imagine that we're adding children eleven and twelve? Well, my friends, imagine it. Imagine if it were you. Imagine the feelings you'd go through.

We're in the final days of our "old" family. We went through this back in August. We've gone through it twice before that when our oldest boys moved out. In a short time we'll experience our "new" family. New family dynamics. Dynamics where there are five boys and five girls at home. New bedrooms, new roomates. We'll have six children ages nine and under.

If you see my boys, allow them some grace. Their whole world is turning upside down. They've gone from being the youngest in the family to being in the middle. They will have added four sisters in less than nine months. They may act out, it may not affect them outwardly at all. They're learning how to share their mommy and daddy. They're learning how to love and serve even when they don't want to. They're learning how to become more like Christ which isn't easy or comfortable.

My own mind is a mix of thoughts. We know the girls are happy to come to a family, our family. How will they react to us when they see us in person? Will it be comfortable? awkard? How will we communicate? We don't speak Amharic, they don't speak English. How will Anna & Adah react to these new sisters? How will I do Addis' hair so it looks presentable?

I can't think straight. There's too much to do. Donations have been coming in and I've been washing most of the used clothing so I know in my own mind that it is clean and pet-hair free. We need to put plastic bags around the liquids like hand-sanitizers and lotions. We need to do our everyday routine. I need to pack three boys for a week at their cousins' house. The paperwork is done. My shopping is done. Awana is done for the week. Class Day is today. We need to take Sarah shopping so she has food for next week. I have to go back to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. I had a UTI last week and although it's gone, weird things have been happening to me, and I don't want to be in Ethiopia with a UTI!

Pray for us if you think of us. Our family is going to change in some big ways. Forgive us/me if we/I seem scatterbrained or have a hazy look on our/my face/s (the kind I/we get when I've/we've been in a store too long).

Have a great day!

Monday

Yesterday was a productive day. James had to finish his SAT testing for our ISP. We were there all morning. He tested in reading comprehension, spelling, and some other language related subjects. I was his proctor and felt bad that I couldn't help answer his questions. Like what does this word mean? The word was opinion. He didn't know how to pronounce it so he couldn't tell what it meant. He did the best he could and that's all I expect.

After we finished we went to Olive Garden for lunch. We don't get very much one-on-one time so this was fun for both of us. I headed over to buy some shoes for our trip. I found some Skecher's Cali Girls in a bronze color, black sandals and white sandals. We then went to Costco to buy a new mattress for Joel.

Got home and unloaded groceries and the mattress. Or I should say the kids did. :-) After the girls woke up from their naps we tackled the upstairs bedrooms. Steve and Joe set up one of our old twin beds for Joel. John and Joel are now in a room and the four girls will be in a room. We have two cribs and full size bed for them. Transferred all the clothes from the closets. The only thing left to do is bring the dresser into the girls' room. Eventually we need to repaint the girls' room, but it will do for now. We can hang their personalized names on the wall too. We were getting ready to do that months ago, but put it off when we decided to adopt again.

I think we just need shoes and sweaters/hoodies for the girls; clothing wise. Anna & Adah have two darker skinned Cabbage Patch dolls that haven't been opened so I'm taking those to Addis & Abi. Our church gave us homemade blankets for the girls and three to donate to an orphanage.

Just trying to finalize all the stuff we have to do. I did pick up beef jerky and trail mix. Steve picked up some nuts and trail mix too. He doesn't anticipate eating much over there. I'll eat, the food at the Hilton just wasn't very tasty when we were there. We're staying at the Sheraton so maybe it will be different, but we're going prepared.

Blessings of the weekend

1. Friends

2. Husband who babysat and let me go out with friends.

3. Beth Moore

4. Sleep

5. Mexican food

6. The man who we didn't know and paid our bill at the restaurant.

7. Cars

8. Forensic Files

9. Church

10. A voice to sing with

11. The DVD of our new daughters

12. The smile on our daughter's faces when looking at our pictures

13. The note from Addis in Amharic.

14. Great hair products from Carol's Daughter

15. Reconnecting with friends from Brazil home on furlough

16. Ice cream

17. Chocolate

18. Spaghetti

19. The computer so I can do most of our immigration paperwork ahead of time.

20. My family

Paperwork

Now that we know our embassy date I've been busy filling out our immigration forms that we need to take to the embassy with us. Last time what seemed to work well for me was to put my papers in the clear report covers, labeled them, and filed them alphabetically, placing them in a zippered file holder to take on the plane with me. I'm using the same method because it was so easy.

Our grades are also due for our homeschooling. The third quarter is over and it's that time again. I have three done and three to go. It's always a pain in my neck to get those in within two weeks.

Tonight I was invited to go to a Beth Moore conference here in San Diego so I'm going with two friends and we're going to have dinner first. This is really something I don't do very often so I hope I know how to behave!

Donations are coming in for us to take to a few orphanages while we're in Addis. It's awesome to see the Lord work through others.

Embassy Date & Birth Certificates

Just received word that our embassy date is April 22nd! We also received birth certificates for the girls. They are six and eight as I kind of guessed by looking at them through pictures. They are now officially Addis Stephen and Mulu Stephen. Such lovely names for girls, don't ya' think?

The travel agent doesn't open for another hour so I guess I'll carry on with my morning. :)

New pictures of Mulu and Addis in Ethiopia

Our case worker just sent these:

Testing & Mom's Taxi

Mom's taxi had to take off promptly at 7:40am the last two mornings to take Sarah to testing, and return by noon each day. She missed last week because she was sick. Each way was about twenty-five miles, plus waiting time in the car because we were early. (You've heard the saying, "Early is on time and on time is late?") Needless to say we are sick of the car!

She was forty-five minutes late getting out yesterday so that put us behind. We were late for piano. Thank you, Lord, that we have such a gracious piano teacher!

On the flip side I was able to talk to a friend that I traveled to D.C. with a few years ago. We went with the 8th graders from our ISP. I had taken Jesse & Sarah and she took her daughter.

We went back and forth to Costco for lunch afterwards. We had to go in shifts because two of my piano players hadn't eaten and needed to so they could concentrate on their lesson. We stopped long enough to get them something to eat, dropped them off at piano and came back to Costco.

After we picked them up and dropped Sarah off we went to the grocery store for organic whole milk. We pick Sarah up and then went to Costco.
Needless to say I was pooped!

BLT's were the menu for the night because they were relatively easy. Tonight it's pork chops. Yum!!!!

Still waiting on an embassy date and the girl's birth certificates. We can't reserve tickets until we know the correct spelling of Addis' name. I've seen it spelled Addis, Addisse, and Addissu. So who knows? Their rash guards came in the mail yesterday. So now they have board shorts and a rash guard so they can swim at the Hilton in Addis. I picked up some socks. I think the only thing we REALLY need for them are shoes. I have no idea what size they wear so it will be a guestimate and I've been putting it off.

Sarah has her first behind-the-wheel drivers training today. She's scared and excited all at the same time. She's scared of being in a car with someone she doesn't know for three hours, two days in a row, and excited to be behind the wheel. I fear for her coming up and down our road. I hate it when we have new drivers.......I'll go through this nine more times as long as we live where we do.

Shoe storage

Yesterday I went to Walmart and bought two shelving organizers for my shoes. I needed serious help with my closet and my shoes. The girls like to get my shoes out and wear one of this pair and one of that pair. With no organization they were just thrown haphazardly in a pile in the closet. Agh!!! The dilemma!!! Remember the two left shoes post? yeah........

Steve put them together and they work perfectly. I bought two and I can place my boots between it and the wall. Perfect! They were only $10 each, made out of plywood and stackable. I need to buy some for Sarah, her shoes are in a huge box.

I also got rid of a big bag of shoes. Yeah!

I bought a tote to put my winter clothing in. It fits right next to the shoe organizer. Couldn't ask for a better fit!

Today

It's 6:20am and little Adah has already been up for her bottle and snuggles. She's been back to bed now for over an hour. The house will slowly come alive as one by one the bodies arise from their beds. Everyone is home which isn't often the case on the weekend.

I think we're all going to make it to church today. We have been sick and unfortunately missed last week.

I'm taking Adah & Anna into the 2 year old classroom that isn't being used and start teaching them for the Sunday school hour. I bought some curriculum from Standard Publishing and am going to practice on them today. :-) Our lesson is Jesus loves families.

After the worship service our Awana club is holding it's Grand Prix race. The boys have painted their cars and are all ready! I think dad weighed them yesterday for their final preps.

I practiced the two-strand twist on Anna after her bath. I used Loc Butter to seal the ends of her hair so she didn't need any rubberbands at the ends. I didn't know how I did, but Sarah said it looked cute. If it passes the approval of a sixteen year old then it must not be that bad. I know I need to get the twist tighter to the scalp, but my eyes are bad and her head is fast (meaning she turns constantly).

Before I did her twist we put on Marguirites' Magic with their shower caps. Their hair always seems so shiny and soft after that's been on. They were slathered with unrefined shea butter all over for that healthy glow. I know I don't do it often enough with my hectic life, but it needs to get done more often.

By the way, Jesse went to work yesterday and came home sick. He didn't think his bosses were happy with him, but what is he supposed to do? If you're sick, you're sick! At least he tried! Whatever!!!

Have a great Sunday!

On the mend

I'm finally on the mend with this flu. It has hit our family hard and harder than I remember us all being sick at the same time. It made us cold, achy, sweaty, our heads hurt, No appetite to eat anything, and a horrible cough with green stuff coming up. Jesse is the one who has it now. He tried to honor his work schedule yesterday, but after three hours he came home very pale. Steve is the only one who hasn't had it. The little girls have the cough, but they haven't had the flu which is good.

Adah had her eighteen month check-up the other day. She's twenty pounds now!!! When she came she was thirteen pounds and floppy. Now she's twenty pounds, walking, very strong, and bossy. :-) Just cuz' she's little she's not takin' anything from anyone. She'll tell you what to do and how to do it.

Anna has an appt. with dermatology for the molluscum on her face. Unfortunately it's not until May. The one next to her eye has started to bother her vision. I notice she looks sideways a little. She has also had two pop up on her eyelid where the eyelashes are. The opthamologist said that is the only way he would take them off if she had some there. Unfortuately when she went to her appt. she didn't have them there, but two weeks later, boom, there they were. Poor girl.

Her hair is getting long enough that I might venture into some kind of braiding. It scares me to death though. I had seven sons and one daughter, my poor daughter did her own hair because she said I brushed too hard. My poor girls are stuck with me. I don't even know any African-American people to get advice from. Isn't that pathetic? I really need to get them involved with the Ethiopian community soon. Probably after their older sisters come home, which might be April 26. We heard they're applying for an April 22 embassy date. So we'll see!

Can it ever be easy?

One of my rules for ebay shopping is that the person has no lower than 99% feedback and that's with a LOT of sales. I know that the more you sell the better the chance to make a mistake. I went against my policy and ordered from a fabric seller that had 98.9% feedback. One would think that 98.9 is close enough to 99%. Well.........I received the wrong fabric. Darn!

My friend Dawn has offered to make bathing suits for my girls so I'm taking her up on the offer. I ordered two different fabrics with six yards of each. I received a print I didn't order and really it's not very flattering on darker skinned girls, it's black with colorful hearts, and I'm sure I didn't receive twelve yards of fabric.

So now I'm trying to figure out how to get the right fabric, blah, blah, blah. I love it when things go the way they should, but can't STAND it when they don't. I hate incompetence and unfortunately it angers me almost quicker than anything. Work in a store and can't do the job right? Agh!!! Serve us in a restaurant and we see you once or twice. AAAAHHH!!!! Tell me you've finished your school lesson and it's NOT done. I hit the roof!!! Just do the job right the first time people. It's really not that hard!!!!

Off my soap box now..............

John's Birthday

It's our tradition to turn off the lights when we sing Happy Birthday.

John had a birthday last month. He chose to go to his girl cousins' house where they did his feet and nails. They told him he was stinky and wanted to clean him up. (chuckle)

After he got home we went to Chili's and then got a cake at Cold Stone. Happy 9th birthday, Fat Cracker! (That's his "name" that his friend and his brothers gave him. The other names are Skinny Cookie, Small Fry, and Fat Pizza.)

James goes to the Cancer Ball

James and Katie-Rose
Katie Rose lookin' beautiful!
James lookin' dapper

Goofing off
Getting into the limo

Inside and ready to go.

Katie has leukemia and invited James to the once a year Cancer Ball. http://voicesofthehannfamily.blogspot.com/

This is her family's blog. They're (Katie and James) about the same age and seem to hit it off well as friends. Unfortunately James didn't feel well so we went and picked him up early. He had the flu the rest of us have been fighting.

I hate the titles.........

Joel finished his first grade math book yesterday!! He likes the Singapore Math and started in the second grade book today. He does A Beka K5 Phonics and Reading and will finish that in a few weeks. Good job, Joel!

James went to testing yesterday and today. For some odd reason he REALLY liked it. Go figure! Joe is like most of us with tests, he could take it or leave it.

Paula, thank you for investigating the bike shorts for me! I was shopping on The Children's Place and then the page disappeared, never to come back again! I found that Walmart might have some.

I've been sick with this flu. I function during the day, but about 4:00 I'm ready for bed.

We received new measurements for the girls. They both grew in height!

I had a really weird thing happen to me. I order clothes from Coldwater Creek. Yesterday I received a package with two t-shirts that I didn't order with an invoice that didn't match what was inside the package. Weird.