My hope is in you

I haven't posted in forever...  Mostly nothing to say.  Nothing I wanted to say, anyway.  We are waiting, still.  But learning a lot in the wait.  Celebrating not being in control.  Working on other relationships, other tasks, keeping busy with the fall.  Wondering what God has in store.  Longing for our girls.

Lately worship music has been keeping my head in the right place.  When worries come (and believe me we've had so many) it reminds me where I need to go.  Yesterday my Bible study took me to the end of 1 Thes.  Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  Wow, I needed that.  It's been going through my head all day.  God's word never ceases to amaze me.  God's word to me!!  Amazing...

Aaron Shust's song "My Hope is in You" is my anthem right now.  When life is hard, when your kids are stuck half way across the ocean, my hope is in HIM.  Because He alone is worthy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RRZgr7wNDs

Listen and worship. 

Court Post #4 (last)

Loading up the donations

In the courtyard, with our "court clothes" on

Holt office and files

Our court day was here!  We were up and dressed early, had breakfast and were off to the Holt Ethiopia office.  It was fun to meet some more of the staff there, and hear about their side of the process.  My favorite part was seeing our daughters' file.  It was FULL of all the paperwork - theirs, ours (all translated) and some precious pictures we hadn't seen.  We also brought all of our donations to the office, to be distributed as needed to all of the different care centers.  We were so blessed by our friends through a shower given for the care center.  We brought 2, 50 pound bags full.  :)

After our orientation we were off to the High Court of Ethiopia.  Really, just another building with a sign out front.  We were frisked inside (a little more personal than I would EVER want again) and then proceeded upstairs to wait for our hearing.  We were all nervous and emotional.  The waiting room was full of birth families (not ours) and other adoptive families.  It was hard to think about the wide range of emotions in the room.  We were called in after about 90 minutes, as a group.  We were all asked to identify ourselves and then asked several questions.  The judge than reiterated that once finalized the adoption was final and irreversible!  Talk about emotional...  She then told us that none of us would pass that day due to missing letters.  I was as sad for our group as I would have been for us.

Next up, a traditional Ethiopian meal and shopping.  Change gears and keep going!  The meal was great and the conversation lively.  We loved the group.

Traditional meal

Coffee ceremony, Ethiopian style

Our precious group

Shopping was fast and intense.  Beggars, active shop keepers, bartering (which I HATE), and one hour to get it all done!  We got a few things that we wanted and know what we will get next time.  My favorite purchase was the traditional dolls for all 3 girls.

The trip home began that night.  We were at the airport about 10pm, we were shocked as we wrote on our exit paperwork: in to country 6/13/11, out of country 6/15/11.  We sure did a lot for a short time!  We went through security about 10 times before getting home, but the trip was really pretty uneventful.  It was sad to leave, but we were ready to get home and pass the days, so we could return to get our daughters!

Court Post #3

We left our beautiful daughters with tears from me.  They were happy as can be, they've seen the process happen more than a few times.  So, I tried to hide my sadness from them.  A few more precious hugs and goodbyes, and we were on our way.  Back down the muddy hill in the dark!  Luckily, I had put a small flashlight in my purse.  It was the only light we had.  I remember that I screamed quite a few times, as my slip on shoes came off my feet, and that everyone was laughing.  We made it back to the van.  From our schedule, we were to stay the night at the Lewi Hotel near Lake Awassa.  We were looking forward to this as we had heard about it from other families.  Unfortunately the "need to know" culture in Ethiopia came into play.  We arrived at a hotel just blocks from the girls' care center and were told to get out.  We were staying there!  There were several men sitting in the waiting area, and they didn't look that friendly.  After a lot of discussion between the front desk manager and our guide, we got 2 rooms.  We dropped off the other couple at their room, and got to our room.  At this point our guide tells us...  See you in the morning, have a great night.  Grab dinner if you want to, see you later.  They were staying somewhere else!

Sodo room

View from our room of Sodo

Our friendly vulture

Our room was fine.  How can we complain, when we know that our accomodations are nicer than everyone else's in town.  We kept our perspective.  I share this, just to remember it ourselves. Evidently the two rooms we got were the only 2 with running water.  It was pretty smelly, and their were mosquitos in our room.  We didn't bring nets, because the other hotel had them in the rooms.  Whoops!  We were taking medication, so we hoped we would be ok.  The beds were incredibly hard, they made the Jemimah bed feel soo soft.  We had slim jims and granola bars for dinner.  We didn't feel like going out on our own after dark was probably a great idea.  Oh, forgot to mention.  We  had NO bottled water with us.  Or other drinks for that matter.  Amazingly, God took care of us.  We were not even that thirsty.    We both were awake at 2am and watched an entire movie on the ipad.  The morning couldn't come soon enough.

In the morning, Mark asked if I thought it would be ok for him to use one of the 2 towels provided (both hand towels) to clean his shoes.  They were caked with red clay mud and we had tried hitting, shaking, scraping, to no success.  We both took wet wipe showers, as the water was a trickle and COLD!  (But again, better than none.  NOT complaining.)  After much deliberation, he used the towel for his shoes.  We then left to go downstairs to meet our travel group.

After we checked out and paid for our room ($13 US), we were waiting for our driver in the lobby.  The manager came down the stairs holding a towel covered in red mud and was obviously MAD.  We sunk down into  the couches...  Then we noticed that the other couple did as well.  The manager carried on for quite some time with another staff member and we all were holding our breath.  We felt so bad...  I asked Mark if he thought we should offer to pay for it.  The manager never came back before we left, but we learned the other couple had done the exact same thing as we did!  :(  We told our guide that American's may not be welcome back there.  I still feel bad about it.

Scenic view

One of the three wheeled "taxis"

The gas station we used.  Full service!

We left for the drive home.  Same drive, enjoyed the scenery again.  The landscape is so beautiful.  Addis is at about 8,000 feet and the drive south was all downhill.  The drive back was uphill and had gorgeous views.  We were able to see better this time as it had been very hazy the day before.  One thing I haven't mentioned is that all the children, even in the south, which is so rural know the English word "candy."  When our van stopped,  they appeared from out of nowhere!  Evidentally, that's what most Americans bring to hand out.  We didn't disappoint.  :)  We finally arrived back in Addis about 2:30.  We had lunch in the hotel and then waited for the other members of our group, some of whom we hadn't met, to come back from shopping.  When they returned it was great to meet the other members and we looked at all their purchases.

They were going to grab dinner out, and we joined them.  We ended up at the Sheraton, which was again culture shock.  It was gorgeous, and similar to any 5 star hotel in the US.  There were many diplomats and flight attendants in the lobby and everyone was dressed up!  We felt very under dressed in our jeans and t-shirts.  The African United Nations is next door and Hilliary Clinton had spoken there the previous day.  We had a wonderful Italian meal and even better conversation.  We got to know the families and hear about their first meetings with their children.  We felt so connected to them all and couldn't believe we had only met all but one of them that day.  We then explored the grounds:  beautiful fountains,  pools, and a band and people dancing with popular songs from here.  Our driver was waiting for us, so we headed back out to return to the Jemimah.

We decided to use Ambien that night, and finally got our first night of sleep since leaving home.  It was Tuesday night and our next day was court.  We had to be up early and dressed up.  We knew before we left that due to a missing paper we would not pass, but were so hopeful that the others would...

Court trip post #2

Monday, June 13th is a day we will always remember.  It was a lot like the other three days I gave birth.  We began the day with breakfast at the Jemimah House.  We had fried eggs, the yolk was white!  Otherwise, everything was completely like here.  We got ready to leave for Wolayta, which was scheduled for 10:30AM.  We left at 11:30AM.  :)  We got very familiar with "Ethiopia time."  We got to know the other couple traveling south with us.  Their daughter was in the same care center as ours.  We traveled with a Holt social worker, a driver, and the four of us.  The van was very nice (a Toyota, Jessica!) and our driver VERY skilled.  The road was paved the entire way, but filled with people, animals (cows, donkeys, goat/sheep), and other vehicles.  Our driver did an amazing job navigating all the hazards at high speed.

We stopped twice, and sat down both times.  Once for Cokes, and once for lunch.  We were beyond anxious to get there, but we quickly learned this is not a drive through culture.  :)  Our social worker filled us in on all the crops (it was planting time), and what people were doing, where they were going, where we were.  We were restrained and only asked twice, "are we there yet?"

 The beautiful countryside, and tukuls (round houses).

 Our lunch stop and our first taste of Ethiopian food.  Beef tibs and Injera, delicious!

 The van and our driver and social worker.    

Sodo

The walk up the hill.

The gate of the Wolayta care center.

The courtyard, trying to get the mud off our shoes.  Our daughters are here!!

Our girls sleep in the orange bed together.

Finally in Sodo!!  The town where are girls are!!  It had been raining all day and was really muddy.  Our driver and social worker were talking for some time.  We finally discovered they were concerned because the van couldn't drive all the way to the care center because of the mud.  We all pretty much screamed, we will walk, we don't care how far!!  Thankfully, it wasn't far in the mud.  We all made it up the hill, laughing.  The children were also laughing at all the funny white people.  :)  We made it to the gate, and were let in.  At this point, I'm in the last stages of labor, and so much adrenaline, I hardly remember walking in.  :)  I know that we changed shoes, saw E through the window, she was so excited.  Mark went in first, E ran to him and kissed him.  We didn't recognize F without braids in her hair.  I felt so bad.  E is so outgoing, funny, and reminds us a lot of Callie at her age.  F was very reserved at first, but warmed up at the end.  She let us both hold her and snuggled in.  It was so wonderful to spend time with them.  We gave them gifts.  They LOVED the family books I made with their pictures on the front cover.  The punching balls and stretchy bands were also big hits.  The barbies, not so much.  We traced their feet and hands, loved them, held them, played with them...  And all too soon, our time was up.  It felt like 5 minutes, even though it was 2 hours.  We both felt so good about their health, their caregivers, everything about them was perfect.  We officially felt like the parents of 5.

Court trip post #1

I know, I know...  We've been home for weeks.  I've been slacking!

Here goes...

We left June 11th on the 6pm flight out of Des Moines.  We weren't able to check in online for some reason and when we arrived at the airport they had no seats for us.  Ummm, we're going to Africa?!  The flight was oversold.  We literally got the last two seats 5 minutes before boarding.  Sigh of relief!  Mark made me laugh by telling the lady, "we don't care if the seats aren't together.  We'll be together for over 24 hours on a plane anyway!"  We made it to Chicago and to the international terminal.  Through security again after a stop for some pizza.  Then we met the first of the families going to court with us.  They were so sweet and we swapped stories for a bit before loading up on the all turquoise flight for Istanbul.  Most of my memories of that flight were of how they feed you constantly and how they kept turning all the lights on!  It was the middle of the night for us, but daytime in Turkey.  Mark spent his time watching movies (mostly Harry Potter) and I mostly slept.  :)

We arrived in Turkey just in time to walk to our next gate, take a bathroom break, and go through security yet again.  Our next flight was a mere 5 1/2 hours, which seemed short after the 11 hour previous.  We got to Addis around 1AM local time.  We were wired, and not at all tired.  We went through the crazy visa process.  (Here's your $20 US, thanks for the sticker).  And then headed through customs.  We collected all of our luggage and met the driver for the Jemimah House.  The first memory of Ethiopia was "I can't believe we are here, and it was cold!"  The ride to the hotel was about 5 minutes, we checked in and went straight to our room.  It was quite nice.  It was now 2AM and we were not tired!  I read until my Kindle had no battery and then closed my eyes for a few minutes.  The next day was our trip south and meeting our girls!  You all know how well excitement and sleep mix?!

Our room in Jemimah House

The Jemimah House

Happy Birthday E!

Meeting E!

Our precious daughter, E, turned 6 on July 4th.  Sadly, we had to celebrate without her.  I can't wait for her to be here next year.  We love you, E.  And we can't wait to celebrate your birthday when we get you home!

Fear and our God

We had a great long weekend together.  Our son, Carson, broke down some major fear barriers.  It was so fun to watch him blossom.  He's our worrier.  He worries about swimming, when he hasn't done it for awhile.  He worries about tubing behind the boat.  He worries about jumping off the dock.  We had tried all summer to convince him to do these things.  We've tried bribery, friends have tried peer pressure, as has his sister...  To no avail.  Until, I had a duh moment this weekend.  He again had said he would tube and when the time came around...  He was crying, worried, scared.  He wanted to back out.  I asked him to pray with me.  I prayed that God would give him a spirit of courage.  That he would not be anxious but through prayer he could ask God to answer his prayers.  We agreed together in prayer.  And guess what?!  Our BIG God, who cares so much for our little requests, came through BIG TIME!!  I've never seen such a transformation in our Carson.  He went from a worrier, crying, scared, to tubing multiple times, once alone!!  He jumped off the dock!!  He went down the slide at the pool by himself and swam to the side.  And then jumped off the diving board by himself and got to the side.  Praise God!  So amazing for our little 6 year old to see God work in his life in one weekend in such a big way.