Coffee & Milk

4 & 11...better late than never

2009-03-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can tell, I missed posting our 4 & 11 month anniversary pics last month (4 months from the day we took E. in our arms forever & E. is 11 months old ). But I have this last day to get them up before our 5 & 12 post TOMORROW!!! Yep! Tomorrow marks the day 5 months ago that we took Ezana into our arms forever. As well, it's Ezana's big day....
IT'S HIS FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! Yeah!
So, on to the 4 & 11 pics so I can post the 5 & 12 ones tomorrow...or more like next week. :)

Ezana, 11 months old

Isn't he just stinkin' adorable?! :)

The boys reading magazines.

Playing with big sissy.

The girls just love having a real baby of their own to put in their baby doll stroller! He's looking a little big for it, huh? haha He's had a haircut since this one, so he's not so poofy on the top any more. He and Mama are fuzz-balls! LOL So happy to have one with curls now. :)

Playing out front with our neighborhood friends, Charlotte & Addison, our favorite twins! :)

We should have some good ones from tomorrow...can't wait! If you're in town and around, come stop by the house between 1 -3 pm to help us celebrate Ezana's 1st birthday!

Yep! More pictures!

2009-02-25T22:13:00.000-08:00

I don't have the brain power to blog all that I'm feeling and doing, etc. I think it's getting spent on homeschooling! LOL So, I'll give you what you all want anyway...pictures! :)

All the kids have worn this cute little yellow outfit now!

This kid is a nut! He loves Christoph's nerf darts. The kids say he's smoking a cigar! :)

Oh! The silly faces of Ezana!

Perhaps someone will see these and want E. to be a poster baby for Apple!
He does love to watch Baby Einstein on my iPod Touch! hahaha

More cuteness...

2009-02-18T21:55:00.000-08:00

Annika & Ezana have such a cute relationship already...they adore each other!

Nena & Ezana...his first time putting a shoe out on Dec. 5th for Sinterklaas...the Dutch island (Bonaire) influence in our home!

Total nuts!!!

The kids made Santa Claus (Papa) his favorite cookies to leave out for him on Christmas Eve. In our home, the kids know that Santa is Papa (Dietrich) but they have this crazy idea that he has something special he wears when he puts the gifts under the tree. And they are always dying to figure out what it is or find the "secret spot" we hide the costume. I think it came from the whole tooth fairy thing. So while I'm on it, I'll explain that one too. I'm the tooth fairy in our house and they've always known it. But somewhere along the way they got the crazy notion that I wear something special when I come get their tooth and leave the money. About once a month it is the topic of conversation at our house as they try to figure out what it is I wear and where I keep it (if they only knew! hahaha). Out of the blue one of them will say something like, " Mama, I think you wear a frilly yellow tutu dress when you are the tooth fairy." And I tell them they'll find out when they have kids of their own and then they usually go to my closet and root around hoping to find it THIS time. It cracks us up! Early on, when they were young their cousins came over and the tooth fairy topic came up. Our kids immediately told their cousins that their Mama was the tooth fairy. The response was great! They ran to my sis-in-law and asked how Auntie gets to their house at night when they lose their teeth! LOL We had a good laugh over that one! Opps! That got long! LOL
Gotta get to bed!!! :)

3 & 10 months

2009-02-02T16:37:00.000-08:00

On the 28th of January, Ezana turned 10 months and it also marked the day we took him in our arms forever...3 months ago. Here's the new picture so we can see his growth, progress, cuteness and yummy-ness. :) Oh! And our first visit with the social worker when great! The report he wrote read well and we have our next visit in April when we'll start the re-adoption process as well.
Enjoy! :)

Oct. 27, 2008: 7 mon. old, first day we met you!

Nov. 29, 2008: 8 mon. old; we've had you for 1 month.

Dec. 27, 2008: 9 mon. old; we've had you for 2 months.

Jan. 28, 2009: 10 mon. old; we've had you for 3 months.

Oh! And the poor thing is trying to make up for lost time by cutting 3 teeth in the last week with 3 more hot on their heels! It's not nice to see such a happy baby not so happy...well, down right crabby is more like it! :) It'll be over soon and then we'll be on to the next thing! Gosh they change a lot in the first year, huh?!

So tired...

2009-02-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

So I'll just post pictures that have fallen by the wayside in iPhoto...don't want to forget some fun things that have happened.

According to our daughters, what's the use of having your own baby brother if you can't put him in your baby doll stuff??? No one else would let us put their real baby in there so we had to get our own. LOL

(This was in December)

* BLOG ADDRESS/NAME CHANGE *

2009-01-20T21:58:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! It's been a long time, I know, but things have been...well, busy to say the least. :) But we're all doing well and having fun. I'm working on getting a late Christmas/New Years letter and pic out with a baby announcement in it as well. I'll post the pics on here as soon as we make some changes. Which brings me to the title of this post....
We're changing the name of our blog and wanted to give you all a few days before we do it.
What was:

www.lusseadoptionjourney.blogspot.com

will now be:

www.coffiekulechi.blogspot.com

Hence the new name at the top with our picture. :)

Thanks for reading. I'll try to post some pics soon. Homeschooling seems to be keeping me from doing much posting these days. Oh! One item of interest... we have our first post-placement visit with the social worker next week! We appreciate your prayers. :) It's hard to believe we've been home almost 3 months now and Ezana is 9 mon. old now!
Anyway! It's getting late, gotta get to bed.
Don't forget to make note of the blog name change above. :) Thanks!

We've been home with E. for 2 months...

2008-12-29T21:43:00.001-08:00

Well, we've been home with Ezana for 2 months now. Things are going very well (when I'm not homeschooling! haha) and we are reminded of how amazingly blessed we are to have our son adjusting and attaching so well. I emailed a friend some pics of him from Christmas and she said, "He looks fat! And he has so much hair!" LOL You can judge for yourself...

October 27, 2008

November 29, 2008

December 27, 2008

Just one more pic real quick before I head off to bed. Some sweet friends of ours gave E. this onesie for Christmas. It's my favorite for obvious reasons! LOL

(If you can't read it completely it says,
"If you think I'm super cute you should see my mom.")

Must head off to bed! E. will be up soon for a bottle!
Good night!

Morning coffee meeting...

2008-12-25T12:20:00.000-08:00

A meeting of the minds...Dietrich, Ezana and Tessa. She's a very important part of the decision making process, of course!

These were from a couple days ago...just too cute not to post!

A very merry Chrsitmas...

2008-12-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

We have had a very fun morning opening presents and playing with the kids. It's E's first Christmas! He ate some cream o' wheat & fruit, opened some presents (OK, we did it for him really), took some pictures and then took a nap! Aaahhh! The life of a baby! :)

Not liking the family pics, but oh well...this one was funny.

Not sure why they kept putting their chins up??? Silly kids! :)

Christmas morning just before going out to see the tree and all the presents. They're thinking...could you just take the picture already and be done with it so we can go out and rip into our presents?! hahaha

E's first Christmas present.

He's thinking....Wow! I've always wanted one of those!

Cute Nena!

From our family to yours, we hope you have a wonderful day full of fun and great memories.
Merry Christmas!

Snow, day 2

2008-12-18T09:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it didn't snow any more but it's not suppose to get above 40 degrees so there's still tons to play in. Of course the kids were already out there this morning!
The day before it snowed the kids had been begging us to take them up to the snow in the mountains. Now, there's not much I like less than dragging 4 kids an hour away to play in the snow for 30 min. and then packing them back in the car, freezing and starving with no McDonald's around, and driving back home an hour. I think cleaning up throw-up comes in first but dragging kids up to the snow comes in a close second. So, last night as I stripped the kids for the 3rd time, they asked if we were still going up to the mountains on Saturday. I laughed a very wicked, yah right, laugh and said very firmly, "NO!" And then smiled in my heart at my luck....well, the goodness of God really. :)

I LOVE icicles! I don't think we've ever had them before!

Oh! The sad Southern California palm tree!

Snow...Round 3

2008-12-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

Yep! You read that right! LOL I threw all our stuff in the drier and shoes in the oven and by the time Dietrich made it home early from work we were ready to go out for round 3! :)

A very sad little palm tree next door...thought it looked funny. :)

Snow...Round 2

2008-12-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

All the stuff is dry now and the kids are out for a second round of snow fun!

Postpartum thoughts, turning "food corners" & snow!

2008-12-12T21:49:00.000-08:00

hahahaha! Just the title makes me laugh!!!
I have to write about something that happened 2 weeks after we had been home with E.
I was doing pretty good because I was not sleep deprived yet. Dietrich had been home from work and his parents had stayed a few days after we got back and his mom totally hooked me up (as our kids would say) by doing all our laundry, helping me unpack, cooking, cleaning, and so much more. Well, they left and we decided to have our great friends over for dinner...the ones that took such awesome care of our kids while we were in ET. So, I'm running around the house getting things ready--you know, tidy up a bit, prep some food, etc-- and as I walked briskly into the family room to pick up some things the thought crossed my mind... "I have to be careful, I have a new baby, my body hasn't fully recovered yet (it's only been 2 weeks you know!), I better not over do it." It was so weird.... it came so unconsciously and so automatically!!! This, of course, was in a split second and then next second my brain quickly said, "No! My body is fine--a little tired, but fine and not recovering from just pushing a baby out! Yipee!" It was hilarious to me! I gave a little leap with a smile on my face and went on tidying up! Even now as I recall it I find it quite funny! Adopting can be the same as pushing one out...in some ways! hahaha

So, Ezana finally turned the "food corner!" YAY!!! For the first month home I had been trying him on baby food...this cereal, that cereal, veggies, fruit, baby crackers and he would have none of it. Then he started showing an interest in what I was eating....hhhmmm. So I tried him on some things and yep! wouldn't you guess it! He wants our food! Silly boy! But he knows what he wants! So, I made cream o' wheat (with a bit o' butter and brown sugar of course!) and he LOVES it! No, I mean he REALLY LOVES it! LOL I can't shovel it in fast enough now! Too funny. And he loves mashed potatoes and carrots and fruit...whatever I'm eating that he can gum and swallow down without gagging on! It's so great! And now in the last 3 days he has actually eaten 3 meals and only 4 bottles (yep! that means not every 3 hours thank you!) and wouldn't you guess it...one night he went 6 hours before the first bottle, the next night 4 hours and then last night 7 hours!!! I AM SO THANKFUL!!!!!! Any one that knows me and what I'm like with little or no sleep knows how things have been around here. hahaha Poor hubby! LOL He's been so good though...having me sleep in the other room some nights to get a little bit of sleep so I feel a bit more sane. It's helped. But it's not just the baby, but the kids got the stomach flu last week so they were tag teaming me all night long (Yes! ALL night long! hahaha) and then I got a cold and we're still trying to homeschool. hhhmmm..... yah! LOL
Well, anyway! Enough rambling for now.
I have to tag on a few pics. We just had our first snow in a few years!!! So fun! We went out for an hour or so and are now inside drying all our stuff so we can go back out! :)
Oh! Happy snow day!

One month...

2008-12-02T15:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, December 1, marked one month that we have been home with Ezana...united as one family! Wow! Hard to believe!
November 27, Thanksgiving Day, marked one month since we met E. for the very first time!
And the 28th marked his 8 month birthdate as well as one month since we took him to be with us forever.
And as I type, I can hear him waking up from a snuggy afternoon nap. So, I guess I'll be cutting this post short but will leave you with a before & after picture...

October 27, 2008

November 29, 2008

Just as cute and yummy as ever!!!
I gotta go snuggy with my boy and give him some "sugars!"

Time keeps marching on

2008-11-30T20:57:00.001-08:00

Yep! Almost a month since my last post! Where has the time gone?! This much I know to be true...if you weren't a "good bloggie blogger" before the baby came, you most likely won't be after the baby comes!" My poor disillusioned brain.
Well, if I keep going on the last post and go to the next day that I left off with when we were in ET I will gloss over Wednesday, October 29, that rainy Embassy day, and move onto Thursday...the day we visited Kids Care and Gelgela...orphanages our kids came from (E. came from Kids Care). Oh! And Metro Pizza...the BEST pizza place in the world (at least we think so!).
Here are some pictures from this day...

Driving up to Kids Care

Inside the gatesAster, the founder of Kids CareI love this shot...a picture can be worth a thousand words...

We really liked our driver, Samuel

The room E. first came to

I've just found out that this sister remembers E. and she told us that he was so dehydrated that he had an IV in his head like the one baby in the picture above...a very hard moment for us...

Just so cute I had to include it...Robel, E. and DietrichToo cute! These kids threw out one toy from the window, which Dietrich promptly ran over and picked up...well, threw back in. Do you think it stopped there? If you did, then you don't know children! Next thing we knew, quite a few toys were being flung out of the window! It was hilarious!And last, but surely not least...Metro Pizza! We couldn't get enough of this pizza! Amazing how many slices you can eat with one hand (while the other clutches a sleeping baby) if you really want to!
We even went back there for lunch the next day while we were out running around doing last minute things before leaving. We had been out all morning and were so hungry. We (families) said how about Metro Pizza? Robel promptly said, "No! Tex-Mex!" We said no way! He tried to fight us all, but in the end went to Metro because we were "persuasive." (meaning--you pay if we go to Tex-Mex or we pay if we go to Metro...it worked! LOL)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed the pictures....brings back some very good memories...some hard as well though...but good. I'll have to put up a few recent pics soon...or add a couple at the end here. Oh! OK! Here are some from yesterday...
We decorated the tree ! E's first time, of course.

Yep! Look who's sitting up...not Annika and Nena! The baby of course! Now, if we could just get him to sleep through the night...any helpful suggestions out there from the people in "Bloggerville"? For a mom that had her other 3 sleeping through the night some where around 6 or 9 weeks, this is just about killing me! LOL Maybe I should just count how many weeks we've had him and let that put thing into perspective...4 weeks ain't long...guess I just need to keep plugging away...and literally plugging his mouth with a bottle every 3 hours for a bit longer. :)
P.S. Thanks again, Jori, for the cute onesie! Our little guy would make a very cute girl... I just had to put him on the pink rosette blanket for these pics!!! Too funny!

Picking up where we left off...

2008-11-04T21:03:00.000-08:00

So, I thought I'd try to just pick up where we left off on Tuesday, Oct. 28 once we had gotten E. from the TH.
We did paper work in the morning with the group, then lunch and then to the TH to get E. We were able to pass out care packages and take pictures for the families back at home and give out gift bags to the nannies and others. The parting with Tigist, E's special nanny, and Zenash, the cook, was tearful. We have some precious parting words from them on video though for when he is older. What a blessing! They SO love him!
The first few days of our trip were kind of like a little mini vacation, but then the really part began this night! Let's just say that the 4th-time-around-parents got re-initiated that night! LOL
That boy can poop!!! Let me tell you! We had it all over all three of us!!! LOLOL We had a pretty good laugh! I guess what's good about it being the 4th time around is that we didn't freak out, but laughed and went with the flow praising God that it didn't get on the bed sheets! :) hahaha Too funny! So E. got a bath at 3:00am after I had decided earlier that he was fine and didn't need one! hahaha
Something else that the 4th-time-around did was make us OK with having him sleep with us. In fact, a few nights later when we found he slept better in the small crib we were a bit disappointed! LOL What a change from the first 3 rounds!
Wow! We have a baby!!!!!! :) Haven't had one of those in 6 years!!! LOL
Pic in front of the "green gate" for the TH as we left...

The first morning with Ezana...there was a baby in our bed! Isn't that just so darn cute!!!

We're home....sorry it's been a few days...

2008-11-02T21:32:00.000-08:00

Hi there! So sorry it's been a few days since we were able to post! Things got busy! hahaha
After we got to take Ezana back to the hotel, Wednesday was a busy day with the Embassy and all and then Dietrich got to go to a national soccer game unexpectedly that night. So I didn't get to leave the baby and go down to the lobby to post. :) Then Thursday and Friday were busy and then it was time to leave! Wow! What a week! We made it safely home, though I must say that E. doesn't like to be confined to a car seat...pretty funny! :) And we were totally wiped out when we got home saturday evening. So we've spent the day resting and resting and....yep, resting! :)
Dietrich did get all the video off the camera and now we'll start to transfer all the pics off the laptop to the mac. Dietrich is home all this week so we'll hopefully get those pics out to you all soon....I know you're dying! :)
Thank you for all the emails & comments....I haven't gotten to read them all yet, but will in the next few days and start responding. Thank you for all your prayers! God has been amazingly and wonderfully good to us in so many ways! I'll try to write more about it all soon.
Good night!

Guess who's in our room?

2008-10-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

That’s right…in our humble opinion, the absolutely cutest and most beautiful 7 month old boy on the face of the earth J We thank you all so much for all your kind posts and prayers. We have definitely felt it! Today started with a “paper work session” where we got all the necessary embassy/immigration paperwork completed with the help of Rachel. After that, we did some souvenir shopping, had lunch at the Hilton and then went to the Transition Home to pick up our bundles of joy. It was once again a surreal experience seeing our gifts from God and getting to interact with many of your wonderful children as well. We were able to hand out all the packages to the respective children. They are all adorable and it was so fun to watch the joy and happiness on their faces as they received and opened the items from their parents. We took lots of pictures, though not as many as yesterday J After a few hours at the Transition Home, we said some tearful and difficult goodbye’s to those nannies who have mothered our children for the last months…it was amazing to see their genuine love for these little ones…we came back to the hotel and got settled in a bit – basically, we laid on the bed staring at our son who seemed quite pleased with himself and his new toys. He got a bottle and made it quite clear that the temperature was sub-par…once that was remedied, he did what we thought he’d do…he sucked that baby dry! As we got ready to head upstairs (restaurant) for dinner, Ezana decided to empty his bottle right back onto “papa”. After a quick wardrobe change we headed upstairs only to be greeted with some more displays of Ethiopian’s love of children. As we prepared to order, our waitress came by and promptly took our son and “mama’d” all over him during our entire dinner, ensuring that we were able to eat in peace…it was the sweetest thing!

Well, we will keep this post short and without pictures as we’re “pooped’ (no pun intended) and need to get some rest for our embassy appointment tomorrow. We covet your continued prayers.

With all our love,

Dietrich, Amy & Ezana

P.S. Kari, Helen sends her love to you all and Zoie - she loves you all to death!

Thoughts at 6am in Addis.... :)

2008-10-27T23:02:00.001-07:00

It’s 6am here in Addis and I don’t think I’m going to get back to sleep any more this morning, so I thought I’d type out some thoughts and feelings from yesterday.

First, to Annika, Christoph, & Nena…. You guys are just gonna die when you get Ezana in a few days! You guys! You know how we would always love a new picture we got of him when we were all at home and we would look at it all the time and ooooo & aaaaaa over it? To actually see and hold that total cuteness in person is a million times better with so many more ooooo’s & aaaaaaa’s!!!! You’ll see what I mean when I see you on Saturday at the airport, I promise! J We love you guys! Oh! And while Papa was videotaping me holding Ezana yesterday, I gave him a huge kiss from each one of you and told him how much you all love him and can’t wait to see him! J

OK! To all of you that have done this already….Wow! What an intense day….like no other day in my entire life!!! To those of you waiting to come here….you are going to have the time of your life! I wish all our family and close friends could be here to experience this with us! It’s so cool! Now, get this! Guess how many pictures Dietrich and I took between the two of us with only one camera……………. 796!!!!!!!!!!! NO I AM NOT KIDDING!!!!!!!!! And that’s not counting video!!! I’m not guaranteeing that all almost 8 hundred are the absolute best pics in the world, but they are pics nonetheless and I know all you with kids there will love them!!!! And to all our family and friends at home…..OOOHHHHH!!!!! We can hardly wait to share them with you….but you’ll have the real deal right in front of you so that will be a bit better than pictures…just a bit! LOL

Yesterday was so intense. We had been very calm ever since we got here. Even yesterday, the hours leading up to going to the Transition Home for the first time. I didn’t know what to expect, it all seems so surreal, so I just went with the flow. I knew we would be so happy when Rachel brought E. out to us, but I was in no way ready for my reaction when it actually happened!!! Oh my goodness!!! J Driving up to “the green gate”, the entrance to the TH, was so weird (in a good way! J). And then standing in the courtyard where so many have stood before us and waited for their child to be brought out is even crazier! I was totally into the VanWettens seeing Etsegenet first, taking pictures and all that. And then Rachel caught my eye from across the courtyard, smiled a knowing smile, and announced we were next. The next few seconds saw all my calmness and distraction completely disappear! I was so over come with intense emotion I don’t even know how to describe it! It was like in a movie where you see a person standing there and all the events, hard times, tears, prayers, phone calls, arguments, loves, hopes, dreams, everything, just come flying in together into that one moment and take you over. Do you all know what I mean? If not, go rent some mushy movie and it’ll probably have something like that in there…HAHAHA. “Intense emotion” doesn’t even do justice to the moment. It really was a culmination of everything that has happened in our lives beginning with that day 12 years ago when we first found that God had put the desire to adopt one day in both of our hearts up to that very moment we stood in the courtyard. Amazing!! It seriously gave us a whole new dimension of our own adoption by God through Christ. Want the most amazing and intense charge in your life? Adopt a child! You’ll be sanctified beyond belief (which means you grow in Jesus) through the process and when you finally get your child, you’ll experience the love of God for your soul in a way you’ve never felt. It will re-charge your life completely.

I have to tell you all reading this…Ezana is so absolutely yummy beyond belief!!!! We are head over heels in love (which we thought we already were). hahaha

Let me tell some of you about your children that stood out to me on that totally intense day yesterday. I can recall each and every one I saw but wasn’t able to find out who went with which family so I may not say something specifically about your child. Please don’t be hurt or offended if I don’t. You’ll understand one day soon…there’s just a lot going on. All of them were so cute, fun, and loving.

OK:

Jason & Jessica: Your baby girl with that bow on her head is just so sweet and beautiful. She was sitting in a bumbo seat just looking around contentedly. To hold her! Oh! She’s so heavy and so healthy and drooling up a storm J I held her for a long time and gave her lots of love and told her about her mom and dad and brothers.

Karen Wistrom & Family: I already could tell that your oldest boy was very sweet and kind, but Rachel then confirmed it and said he was the sweetest boy there. He came and hugged me and looked at pictures of himself on my camera before I even knew he was your son. When I found out, I couldn’t stop touching his face, smiling and hugging him, and telling him how much his family loves him. Your little guy is so cute too and it seems like the both love each other a lot. The little guy is quite busy though and always running around. I spoke to Fortuna and today I will give them their packages and read the letter to them.

Jori & Tracey: Your oldest daughter is so full of love!!! She would leave me for a few minutes and the come right back with more hugs and I gave her lots of kisses for you. At the end when we were leaving, she and I kept kissing and hugging right up to the green gate with promises of seeing each other tomorrow. I told her how much her family loves here and how wonderful they are. The little one is a busy body too and hard to catch on film. I did get a few, but couldn’t find them last night J

Lori Laughner & family: Oh! My goodness! You are going to have some serious “girl problems” when your little guy gets older!! LOL He’s just toooooo good looking and so fun to boot. He was always around and always happy.

Sherry Semlow & family---Oh man! Your little guy is intense! So full of fun and mischief! He loves to play and he’s so cute with that big smile!

Ana & Sam---Guess what! Des. Sleeps in the same room as Ezana, in a crib right next to his!!! Yipee! They’ve been roommates all this time!!! He’s just too cute for words! Everyone just loves on him and those lips….you won’t be able to stop kissing them!!!

Rebecca & Zack--- Oh my goodness! I can’t wait to give your little guy his care package tomorrow…I’m hoping you will have some amazing pics! J You are going to die when you see him! He’s amazing! Hold on…you’ll be here SOON Lord willing!

Jen Sloniger & family---I could figure out which one was Jonas yet (sometimes it’s hard to understand the names the nannies say for the baby they are holding and Rachel was busy…she knows ALL of them and who goes to which family! Did I mention yet that Rachel is amazing?! Hahaha) Anyway! Never fear! I will find him today and love on him and try to get just as many pics as we did yesterday! J

Heather Sparr & family---I’m pretty sure I know which little girl is yours, but I couldn’t ask anyone that could tell me for sure. But don’t worry! I will have it nailed down today! And if she’s the one I think she is, she IS SOOO CUTE!!!

Kimberly & Chad Kulp: We got some great pics of your little guy. Dietrich held him for a long time and got him to smile quite a bit. He is so sweet and cute. He has a very intense face and is so yummy to hold J

Stricklands: Don’t know if I spelled that right or if this family even reads our blogs, but if someone knows them, please direct them here. I have to tell you that your daughter is so loving and sweet. She hung around Dietrich and I for most of the time we were there. So many hugs and kisses were exchanged – we just totally fell in love with her and gave her lots of love. She sat with Dietrich in a chair with his arm around her just stroking his arm for a long time. I think I got some great pictures.

You guys! All your kids are just beautiful! And so happy and loving!!! It’s so neat!

To all families that have children at the TH or will, please don’t give in to your fears that your child(ren) aren’t being loved and taken care of! Please try not to give into feeling like you should be getting more updates or communication about your child. Please talk to yourself when these natural feelings arise and tell yourself that there are those that have been there and seen with their own eyes what goes on there and how much love and care is taken of each and every child in that home. The nannies are so full of love and attentive care for all the children. And not just that, but Rachel and Barrett LOVE each of your children! And that is an understatement! They have such an amazing connection it seems with each and everyone one of those kids! It’s like a rock star has entered the TH when they arrive! I’m serious! So please, please don’t give into your fears and negative feelings but trust that God has provided excellently for your babies while you are apart from them.

We send our love to each one of you, our family and friends!!! Talk to you again soon! J

Absolutely amazing!!! Words fail us so we'll just let pictures do the talking...

2008-10-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

And even they, do no justice J

Sunday...

2008-10-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

First off, thank you to everyone that sent emails and comments! It was so sweet and encouraging to know we are being thought of and more importantly, prayed for. We have felt it and praise God for you all!

We slept really good last night! For all future travelers, please listen to what everyone has been saying…we have found it to be very true and helpful. This is what I mean…

Sleeping aid + white noise + earplugs = good sleep in foreign country!!!! LOL

Our good travel buddies, the VanWettens and Redferns, displayed godly behavior by getting up early and going to a 2 ½ hour church service in Amharic. We had every intention of doing that as well. However, we somehow missed the alarm we didn’t set and slept in!!! LOL We had a leisurely breakfast upstairs at the hotel and then wandered down the road to watch a soccer game!!! Some highlights of the game were a field with virtually no “out of bounds” and playing through patches of rocks, trash and a herd of cows(I can’t believe I forgot the camera!!!). The true highlight was meeting a 12 year old boy named Joel (pronounced Noel but with a J at the beginning)… he epitomized how Ethiopians are determined to succeed despite difficult circumstances. Despite having no father (he was a soldier, killed during the Sudanese conflict) he walks 2 hours to school where he has worked hard to learn English and develop a love for Biology and Chemistry. He told us he dreams of being a pilot as well as making gasoline out of plants some day. We thought this was a brilliant idea! As we were walking back to the hotel, he joined up with us and invited us to have coffee with his family some time. Never once did he ask us for money. He was more concerned with teaching us different words and being concerned for our welfare. We feel blessed to have crossed paths with this special boy and hope to see him again before we leave.

We went to lunch with Rachel and Barrett at the Lime Tree where we met up with our holy comrades, the VanWettens and Redferns. J There were some unexpected rain showers off and on during the afternoon which makes for some very slippery tile. You’ll have to ask my derriere about that experience! Suffice it to say that a very large bruise and wet jeans were the extent of my injuries! That’s what I get for not going to church. Our holy comrades fared better…LOLOL

We can’t believe that we finally get to meet and hold Ezana tomorrow!!! Wow! Can’t even imagine what it will be like.

I spoke to the kids last night and they are doing really well and sounded very happy. Thank you Crawford family for taking such excellent care of them. Glad to hear you love the nutella, Danielle! LOL Please give the kids big hugs and kisses for us when you read this.

Sorry, no pictures today! Promise to make up for it tomorrow! Hehe

Love to you!

Dietrich & Amy

Our first post from Addis

2008-10-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

The flights over from Dulles were very good. We didn’t sleep much but felt rested when we arrived. Probably had something to do with the fact that the plane was only half full so there was plenty of room to get comfortable. All of our luggage (including that of the VanWetten’s & Redfern’s) made it so the Transition Home and Kids Care are going to have a “Formula Bash” on Monday. J

First impressions of the outside of the hotel were a bit “interesting” just because of the dirt/rock driveway, but the rooms are awesome and the staff has been very friendly and accommodating. Once we got settled in to the rooms, we had “Elias” take us to the “Merkato” which was an unforgettable experience. We bought lots of really cool things from some of the best sales people we’ve ever encountered J We also saw a lot of extreme poverty and suffering on the way to the Merkato and back. We must say that we had mixed emotions going and spending money on “souvenirs” in the midst of so much suffering. However, we were reminded what a privilege we have to welcome one of these beautiful people into our family and can’t wait to see Ezana on Monday. A highlight of our day was to meet Rachel and Barret in the later afternoon and go out to a great dinner with this wonderful couple together with the VanWetten’s and the Redfern’s. The food was awesome and the company was even better.

We're off!

2008-10-24T03:53:00.001-07:00

Oh! So sad! I typed the post below last night at the airport but then found that I couldn’t get on line to put it on the blog! Opps! J So, now we have just landed in Dulles, nothing is open and we are waiting for a few hours for the next leg of our journey. J Here’s the post from last night. Sorry blog-stalkers! J

OK! First off, I just want all you “blog-stalkers” to know that I’m doing this post for you!!! J Now that’s love! I have been in your shoes for many months over the last year and know how great it is to check a travel family’s blog and see updates! We practically lived for them during that week of travel! LOL So, as I sit here at LAX for another 2 hours I will give you a little run down of what’s been going on today. Enjoy the love….the best is yet to come (as Kari loves to say!).

Today went very well. It started off with our travel conference call at 7:30am (wanted to sleep in, but oh well! LOL). We then worked on all the various last minute things that needed to be done that couldn’t be done ahead of time…it all went smoothly. We got to hang out with the kids at various stages of all that stuff and then Dietrich’s parents arrive around 12:45pm . We are so thankful they came down from the Fresno area to look after the house and our dog! What a relief not to have to worry about closing up the house for nine days…locks, lights, plants, dog….you know, all that stuff. It was also an encouragement and blessing to have a few friends and neighbors call or came by to let us know they were think of and praying for us and our family! We then packed up the kids and all their stuff to take them over the our friends’ house. What a huge blessing that they were so excited to go there and were practically jumping out of the car at the curb when we got there!! They hardly had time to give us hugs and kisses before they ran off to play in the back yard! LOL No crying, no clinging, no nothing! I’m sure this was a result of all your prayers, so thank you! Another blessing (Yes! God has given us many today!!!), God was so good to give us a friend in the fire department! He had his wife called to warn us that we needed to leave a bit earlier for the airport than we planned. He had been fighting a fire that was right next to the freeway we had to take to get to the airport! Amazing! Dietrich’s best friend took us and our 10!!! bags down to the airport and we made great time. For those of you that have driven on the LA freeways you’ll know what a miracle that is!!! LOL And I have to tell you about a man named Winston at the United counter! What a blessing! We walked up to the counters and in big red letters it says no baggage over 50 lbs. I thought, OK! I need to start praying for a miracle here. So we get up to Winston and as Dietrich hands him our stuff God brought this thought to mind that I should ask if he minded being in a picture. So I whip out the camera and ask and as he laughs and says yes Dietrich tells him why. We then explain why we have so much luggage. He was so happy for us and kept telling us how cool it was! J Then he says that the extra we were suppose to pay for the 2 extra bags and the extra weight was on him!!!! Dietrich then showed him a pic of Ezana and he told us to make sure we give E. a hug from him! J He shook our hands and sent us on our merry way to gate 74!! Wow!!! So amazing! God is just so good! Our friends had given us money as a gift for the orphanages to pay for the extra bags and weight, so Dietrich got to call and tell him that Winston beat him out! LOL Wow! We have people fighting over who’s going to help! Just kidding! But really…that is exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask is it not?! And so now, here we sit trying to drink lots of water, wondering if we’ll be able to sleep much on this leg of the journey and looking forward to meeting up with the VanWettens at Dulles for breakfast before we hop on the plane for ET.

How can we recount all the kindnesses and love we have been shown by our family, friends, neighbors and even strangers?! God has been so good to bless us through them….meals, money, encouragement, help, errand runs, support and oh! So many prayers! Thank you to each one of you for “letting” God use you in our lives…we are so thankful and encouraged and hope you will be as well.

Oh! And by the way…for those of you that have been praying that the kids and Dietrich didn’t get my cold I would like you to know that God has answered!!!! You all know how colds pass around in a family! And Annika and I had just been sharing a water bottle a few hours before it hit me! Yep! Miracle! God is so, so good!

Danielle and Mike, if you read this, will you show it to the kids? Give them an extra kiss and hug for us tonight! Thank you for taking such good care of them!

And good night to all of you, especially the blog stalkers! We’ll post next from Dulles or ET…guess you’ll have to wait and see! LOL

Thank you....

2008-10-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

to all of you that contributed to the "formula fund" we were collecting for the Kids Care Orphanage!!! :) There were a hand full from the YG and then a couple from our church. All in all we received $650. for formula and extra suitcases!!!!!! Isn't that great?!
So, last Friday night we went to Costco and bought 24, 2 packs of Kirkland Formula and last night
my daughter and I packed it all! What a chore! But it's all finished. Guess how many suitcases we are taking though....
6!!!!! eeekkk! LOL At least we won't have that many on the way home...unless I go a bit crazy with the shopping that is....which I kind of hope to do....hhhmmm...hope Dietrich doesn't read this post! LOL

So, we leave in 3 days...or 2 depending how you count!!!!!!! We are getting excited! But I came down with a cold last night...kind of expected it since I'm feeling a bit run down. Please pray the kids don't get it...I really don't want the Crawfords to have to take care of them when they are sick.
Thanks for all the prayers...we feel them tremedously!
I may post again but if not, we'll "see" you in ET! :)

Oh! forgot to put in a few pictures of the earrings my sis-in-law helped me make (well, I helped her...not much though! haha) as gifts for the nannies at the TH...here are some....

Project Impact Fundraiser last weekend...

2008-10-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

I only have a minute or two, but had to update about the fundraiser in Oregon last weekend that the VanWettens put on. All I can say is WOW!!! AMAZING!!! Ok, I'll say more... LOL
Really, it was an incredible weekend all around. We couldn't contribute much in the way of moola, but we tried to help out by doing work and being there to support it & them. :) We were so excited to finally meet our friends, the VanWettens, in person...we love Theresa, Ray and all their kids!! And meeting so many other adopting families was really incredible and a highlight to the weekend. Also meeting Duni & her family, our program director, was really pretty cool to say the least! It was so fun to sit around with all the "girls" that I have grown to love on the internet and get to laugh our heads off and actually be able to hear it instead of only reading "LOLOLOL"
and seeing " :) " Know what I mean? hahaha The infamous Kari Gibson flew out for the event...she had us rolling, we were laughing so hard!! :) And we got to meet her Zoie as well as the Wests and their cutie, Nathaniel! Anna Stager was so fun to talk to! And she and her husband gave us a check to buy more formula!!! Yeah! The Gamble family is fun and I loved Justine's cute slippers!!! LOL Justine! I am just so happy I'm not the only one that does that sort of thing! I definitely relieves my mind! LOL Oh! And though Ana & Sam Nunez aren't in any of our pics, they were so fun to meet...we loved seeing their pictures and hearing their story...what a cutie Josiah is!!! :) Getting to meet the Joners was special and seeing their tribute to baby Julia Alem was special...I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. And I can't forget Jori Armstrong!! That girl is a roit! So many laughs! And she brought us a very special gift...a onesie she had made for Ezana!!! Isn't it just too funny!!!!!! We soooo love it!!!!!!!

Theresa...the "ham mouse pad" pic is for you girl!!! LOLOLOL Love you!!

The night brought in $40,000. and 100% of it is going to Ethiopia!!! Isn't that incredible?!!!!

As well, we have learned that there is a formula shortage in ET right now...the orphanages are actually running out of it! So during the last conference call we had with our agency, when other families wanted to send formula I volunteered (for us! haha) to take any that people wanted to send. It has now escalated into people sending money to buy more formula and to pay for extra suitcases to take it all as well as cans of formula showing up in the mail!!!! It has been amazing!!! Other families traveling at the same time as we are are doing the same thing...it's so neat to see God working for the orphans of ET!

Well, it is late and the clock just keeps on ticking! Oh! Wait! There's something else! As some of you know we needed a bigger car to fit our growing family. So, we sold one car in June and have been looking for a used Honda Odyssey ever since. (No, we are not "mini van" people, but gas is just to expensive for a Land Cruiser!!! LOL Gotta be practical here!) Well, let me tell you! We...well, really Dietrich! has been looking hard for one and I am happy to report that our trip down to San Diego today (3 hours away!!) was successful!!! Yes! We have a car that will fit all 6 of us and just in the nick of time since we leave in a week to go get Ezana! LOL Yep! That's right! I am now a "mini van Mama"!!!!! LOLOLOL
Better get to bed! Good night! :)

WE PASSED COURT!!!

2008-10-08T08:17:00.000-07:00

I had the paragraph below all typed out and then found out some sad news....some of our friends did not make it through court today! We are so very, very sad about this. How can a heart feel such heightened degrees of happiness and sadness at the same time? I think it may burst...it hurts so bad.
Well, I will still post what I was going to because we are thankful to God that we have passed court.....

I can hardly actually believe it!!!!!! As I type this I am in total shock! All this time, all this wait, all the agony in July and August, all of it gone in less than 30 seconds! Crazy!
We give all the praise and glory to God who has done exceedingly, abundantly beyond all we could ask or think!!! Bless His Holy Name!
Well, the race is on! Two weeks till we fly out! AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! OK! I feel better after that scream! LOL You know, it's as if it all doesn't matter anyway.....we'll be as ready as we can, but one way or the other I'm fly out of LAX on the 23rd....one suitcase or five! I don't care! As long as I get my Baby! LOL
Thank you for all of your love, prayers and encouragement!!!!!!!

Ethiopia is 10 hours ahead of us here in Cali...

2008-10-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

Yep! It's 9pm here as I type this and 7am in Ethiopia right now! I don't think Ethiopians are early risers :-) (from what I've heard) so I image the court won't open for a couple hours still. But, while we sleep the work will be done. Lord willing, we will be put out of our misery (Oh! the agony of waiting! :D) early in the day one way or the other. And whatever happens, God is good....just as good (if not better!) as He has always been. And by His grace we will trust Him no matter what the outcome.
Thank you for all the love, prayers and encouragement.
We hope and pray that our next post will be to introduce our new son to you all!!!! :)

Flight reservations...

2008-10-04T15:53:00.000-07:00

WOOOHOOO!!!!! Our travel agent at Susan Parr travel just sent us confirmation that we have reserved tickets for the flight out on Oct. 23 and coming back on Nov. 1!!!!!!!! This all has a bit of that "un-real" feeling to it!! LOL

Our boy would make a very pretty girl! LOL

2008-10-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

We got the cutest picture of Ezana 2 day ago and have been staring at it ever since! And he's in the cutest outfit! White with pink polka-dots & a pink strawberry!!! LOL I told the kids that I was going to start buying pink clothes for him since he looks so cute in them! LOL We are so in love with our boy!!!! :) I just had to show the pics to Kari Gibson (an adoptive family that was in ET almost 2 months ago to get their baby girl, Zoie & took a care package to Ezana) and she emailed back practically screaming (I could hear it all the way from Branson! LOL)!!! The outfit Ezana is wearing is the one they sent to Zoie in a care package while she was still at the TH!!! She left it there for them to use for other babies probably hoping it would get used for other baby girls, but hey! like I said, our boy would make a very pretty girl!!! LOL
I can't wait till we pass court (Lord willing, next week!) so I can plaster our little guy's pictures all over our blog!!!

Very cool poem...

2008-09-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

...that my sis-in-law wrote for the baby shower! I completely spaced and forgot to put it in that post. So, better late than never. Here goes...

Dear Dietrich & Amy,

So you're expecting a baby, God's blessed you again
with a new one to cuddle and love.
He's opened your heart and your home to let in
a gift that He gives from above.

New into this world the baby has come
in the natural way of all men,
But into your home he'll be born once again
with paper and ink and with pen.

He'll have a new name and new rights he will hold
as a son and heir of your clan.
It's a new life for him with treasures untold
all signed with a stroke of your hand.

What a beautiful way God has shown what He's done
for those that believe on Christ's name.
Though, it's not with black ink but with the blood of His Son
He's adopted us just the same.

Rebecca Yovanovich
Eph. 1:5 & Rom. 8:15

Just gives me goose-bumps (people-bumps as the kids like to say!) every time I read it!

WE HAVE TENTATIVE TRAVEL DATES!!!!!!

2008-09-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

Yep! We're pretty excited!!!! We just look at each other and shake our heads because we can hardly believe we could be on a plane in ONE MONTH!!!!!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!!! :D Part of me wants to be able to say for sure that we will pass court on the first try and part of my wants to be a pessimist and say-- well, we'll see. :) So, we'll keep praying and see what God does. (did the little "pessimist on my shoulder" just win out? LOL)
Oh! The "tentative travel dates" are October 25-31! Can you believe it?! YIPEE!

Ezana, baby, we're almost there!!! I can almost feel you in my arms already!

All those crazy USCIS forms we need...

2008-09-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

I'm sure there are many who are way ahead of me here, but that's OK! :)
I had a few minutes in between schooling the kids this morning and so I thought I'd look up those sites for the paperwork we have to bring to ET. Well, I found it all easy-peasy, but thought it would be just plain silly to close down those browsers without copy and pasting it into an email or posting it here for all my fellow adopters, YGers and travel buddies!! So, here's what I made.... (feel free to post it on the YG if you think it's helpful and please let me know if I did anything wrong. I tried to double check it all and would never want to lead anyone astray! :D)

What I did was....
I made one copy of the instructions for "just in case" and then I made 3 copies of each form...
2 for Ethiopia that are blank and 1 to practice on here at home and have somewhat figured out before we get there (Rachel said to bring 1 blank to fill out there and 1 just in case you mess up). Remember though, this is what AWAA stresses... "Do not fill out any of these forms until you are instructed to do so by our representative in Ethiopia." I printed out the extra just to familiarize myself with them and will by no means "fill our any thing on the forms until I am instructed!" hahaha

For the I-600
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=c5695f56ff55d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
At the top of this page it will say:
Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative
scroll to the bottom of the page for the 2 links to down load the instructions and the form
For the actual website this form is found on go to: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis
and click on "Immigration Forms" at the top and then you can scroll through and find the I-600 & I-864

For the I-864
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=b70f8875d714d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
At the top of this page it will say:
Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the Act
scroll to the bottom of the page for the 1 link to down load the instructions and form... pgs 1-11 are the instructions & pgs 12-19 are the form

For the DS 230
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/81807.pdf
At the top of this page it will say:
APPLICATION FOR IMMIGRANT VISA AND ALIEN REGISTRATION
This is the actual form, part I & part II, just print out all 4 pages and you will have all the parts for the DS 230 :) Thanks to the person on YG (sorry! Can't remember who it was!) that posted this link...it was perfect!

Hope this saves you some time and headache!!! :)

Can you say, "Yipee!" ?

2008-09-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

Guess what we got in the mail (well, email that is) yesterday....
TENTATIVE TRAVEL DATES from our adoption agency!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YYYAAAHHHHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell we're excited?!! LOL
This court closure wait has been a killer and one begins to feel as though one will never actually leave, but stay in this state of limbo/waiting forever! So that email, even though the dates are only "tentative", was like a splash of cold water in the face! Wake up!! We will really be going one day soon!
I'm so glad I've been gather, buying, packing and getting things ready. Once I had my many lists compiled into just a few (one makes MANY lists when waiting 7 months for a referral!), I was able to start shopping the last two weeks or so. It has been so fun! I even called a friend, who will Lord willing be one of our travel buddies, from Target to get her opinion! LOL What fun! Dietrich and I keep picking up those soft, fuzzy, snuggy sleepers I just washed just so we can hug and smell them! LOL Yep! Smell them! Rubbing our faces in all that soft snugginess and thinking about our adorable baby boy!
That email makes it all feel so much closer and a bit more like reality if you know what I mean.

Two by Two and Something New

2008-09-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

What a fun, memorable day we had last Friday!
As our time for traveling gets closer we've been planning fun things to do with the kids, more so than usual, since we will be away from them for a week and then will have a new baby at home when we get back. One of things was to go down to LA (that's Los Angeles for you non-Californians! haha) to the Skirball Cultural Center for the Noah's Ark Exhibit...and boy was it worth it!!! Anyone that lives even remotely close ought to go! And we found out that Thursdays are free (after paying for tickets!). All you have to do is reserve a spot or buy tickets...they have time slots so it doesn't get too crowded at any one time since everything is interactive for you and your children. All the animals are made out of previously used items and so creatively done! Our kids had a great time trying to figure out what each animal was made of as they touched, played with or climbed on it. Here's a link to a You Tube video that shows a little bit about the place. Oh! By the way... at the end, outside, is a "misting" wall where you can see rainbows and walk through it...beware! It should be called the "drenching" wall!!!! LOL I'm sure you can imagine what happened!!!
Towards the end we were talking to one of the ladies that worked there and she was commenting on the kids (3 is really not a lot, but to some it's like we have 15!!!) and then we had to "shock" her by saying we were expecting our fourth! Of course she glanced down to look at my stomach (which is the smallest it's ever been when I'm expecting!!! LOL) with a puzzled look and then we explained that we were adopting this next one and don't I look fabulous for being 9 mon. pregnant!!! hahaha
Well, the short of it is she loves Ethiopian food and told us how to get to "Little Ethiopia" in LA where there are shops and restaurants. We are not usually very spontaneous with three small children, but I'm proud to say that this day we were! We jumped in the car, battled Friday night rush-hour traffic in LA (EEKK!) and went to Little Ethiopia for our first ET meal! So many others have said how delicious it is but we weren't too sure as we looked at pictures of the food! LOL But now I can report that we are lovers of ET food and wish there was a place closer to us!!! IT WAS SO DELICIOUS!!! What really made the whole experience though were the Ehtiopians there that were so friendly...one man even made us try some of his food! :) Oh! We can't wait to go to ET!!! They truly are a beautiful people!
Here are some pics from the Noah's exhibit and Little Ethiopia....

Yummm! It was so good! :)

A baby shower to remember

2008-08-30T22:24:00.000-07:00

Shooooot! TWO posts in ONE night!!!! I probably won't post again till we get back from ET!!! LOL Just kidding..... I hope! LOL
OK! On with the show.... wait! I need more chocolate! OK! Now onward...

The shower was planned for Saturday, August 9...the Saturday after the courts closed. Once we found we weren't going to make it through we decided to do the shower that day any way. It was actually a nice thing to have since we had the disappointment of not traveling. The time Duni (our ET program director) was in ET was a bit nerve-racking(to say the least!) as she tried to appeal the judge's decisions a few times. All in all though, it was a good time of prayer and fasting.
Anyway, the shower...as I think back there are a lot of special things that stand out....
~ The room the boys will share was finished since the shower was to be at our house so everyone could see it (I'll put in some pics)... we all LOVE it in there and the kids have taken turns being official "crib testers" on different nights, giving me full reports in the morning on how they think Ezana will sleep in there! LOL It is too cute!
~ We loved that in the invitations an insert was included for a drawing...if anyone wanted to bring a listed item to donate to Kids Care Orphanage their name would be put in a drawing. We now have a suitcase FULL of diapers, wipes, formula and medicine!!!
~ It was a neat time for me to tell about how the adoption started, how it has been going and what it will be like when we bring Ezana home. Most people that came didn't have experience with adoption so it was good to talk with them about how and why we will most likely be laying low for the first few weeks (or more! :D). We got a lot of positive feedback and understanding afterward that was really encouraging.
~ Just the people that were there made it a great time to hang out, eat and talk! :)
~ We were amazed by all the wonderful gifts people gave us...it was just so sweet!!!
~ The topper to it all was an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING cake some wonderful friends (Jason & Karla!) of ours had made especially for our family...........all I can say is ***W*O*W***!!!!!!! (I'll include a pic or two!)
We just had a really nice day and after the whole court disappointment we really needed it. :) Thank you to everyone that put it together and came for the day! What a good time it was!
Hope you enjoy the pics!

The boys' room

Can't wait to use the Pottery Barn diaper bag and
the "Baba"(see earlier post) I made!

The girls made adorable flags for the shower....
I had to "disguise" Ezana's face! :)

Annika & Karla

I use to babysit the 3 girls in the middle!!! And
those are their babies!!! aaahhh!

Mom & me

Annika & I had a little "tug-of-war" over who was
going to get to sleep with the beautiful blanket
a friend made! :)
The AMAZING cake!!! We saved the topper with the
"Welcome Home" sign in the freezer for when E. gets home :)

Thanks for coming by to read! Hope it was somewhat fulfilling! :)
Good night!

God has done what is best...

2008-08-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can tell from the date on this post and the fact that the title doesn't say something like "We leave in 7 days!!!" that we didn't make it through court before they closed. :) We prayed very specifically to make it through before the courts closed, but that God's will would be done nonetheless. Well, God always does what is best...and his best is waiting till October for our court date. We are happy that the judge did give us a date of October 8th...one day after the courts re-open. So, we are working towards just that. We have now had time to prepare for school to start (on time! :D) as well as try to get ready for traveling at the end of October (Lord willing!).
It really would have been quite crazy if we had gotten through and were traveling right now. Of course we would've made it work (cuz we want our boy!) but on this side of it it's OK. :) I'm sure you all know what I mean.
The only way we are able to make it this long with out our little guy is by God's grace...trusting that he does and always allows what is best for us. As well, we don't think about it in detail too much(like what is he eating, did he sleep well, how is he feeling, etc)...if I did I could freak and stress out just as much as the next person, but that would make me useless to my family. :) And so, as "they" say, life goes on. Friends threw us a baby shower, we started school the 2nd of September and we were able to fit in a little family get-away to the coast a week or so ago (Oxnard). I was hoping to be completely packed before school started, but it just didn't work out that way.
Something else has made the wait more bearable as well and that is the project the VanWetten family has taken on...or should I say, the project God dropped in their lap. :) We may even be able to make up to Oregon for the fundraiser at the end of September! We are really excited to see what God will do!
I will post more later about the baby shower and amazing cake. Perhaps a few pictures of our weekend get-away as well. We'll see though...I might go into hiding once school starts! haha

Christoph started soccer!

Summer fun with friends

Weekend at Oxnard

Annika...cleanest sand castle builder ever! :)

Nena

Christoph...boys will be boys!

We can never resist a yacht harbor!We can't wait for our little boy

4 1/2 weeks

2008-07-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well, the Ethiopian courts close in 4 1/2 weeks, on August 7....but who's counting?! We are! :D
You all should know now, that if all our paper work gets done and we get and pass a court date before the closure, IT WILL BE A MIRACLE!!! Humanly speaking, there's no way we will make it. But with God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!
"We have hope because He is able."

Please pray, and fast if you will, with us that the paper work gets finished, we get a court date and pass it all before the 7th of August. We fully trust in God and His ways and are confident that His will will be done no matter what the outcome. He always does what is best! For this we are thankful.

"Baba"

2008-07-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

There are 3 AWAA families in Ethiopia right now! In fact, it is Monday there already and today they will get to see, hold, touch, talk to and love on their children for the first time! Amazing!

All the families agreed to take care packages for those children still waiting and the Gibsons took one for our Little Guy! So, the week before last I had a fun time planning out pictures to put in a cloth photo album, picking out a fun toy and getting a "Baba" ready for him. A "Baba" is a special snuggy bit of a blanket each one of the kids is attached to...Christoph named it when he first started talking way back when. :D Well, this youngest son of ours would not be the exception! So, a couple weeks ago I bought a few items essential for "snuggy Baba-ness" (extra soft fleece and satin binding!!!) and made him his very own. (Thanks for lending your sewing machine Ahpee!) It came out sooo cute! I even stitched our last name on it so all would know who's it was! :D And then, for good measure, I made an identical second one. One to send over to him to get all those familiar scents on and one for us to bring when we pick him up. We are hoping he gets attached to it(them), making the transition that much easier and sweeter. :D We'll have to see though! In theory it all sounds good and it worked on our dog when we got her as a puppy...but boys aren't puppies...though I do seem to recall a nursery rhym about boys, snails and puppy dog tails...! LOL
I'll throw in a few pics of the album and Baba, but won't be able to put in the ones with Little Guy's picture or name on it. :D Not until he is legally ours can we post his picture and name on our blog. Lord willing, that will be soon!!!
Enjoy!

The Boys' Room

2008-07-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

I started making preparations for our Little Guy this week. Which meant clearing all the extra things out of Christoph's room to make room for the baby's crib and dresser. After the excess was cleared out, on a whim I decided to paint the room! And as you can see from the pictures, the kids wanted to help. Annika even painted "Baby" (since it was shorter than his name! :D)
on the wall before painting that section. Today we put the plug covers back on, moved the furniture around and even started to put the crib together! Christoph LOVES his room and can't wait for his brother to come share it with him!

We got our referral!!!!!

2008-07-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

Could anything have been any more insanely hectic and crazy???! :D
Let me explain....

We had an "inkling" (is that how that's spelled???!) that we would get our call in a day or two. After waiting around for one day (doing nothing, but pretending to do lots!) and hearing nothing, the next day the kids were begging to go to the pool. So, since I was technically doing nothing I decided I'd better give in or have them drive me crazy.
So, we get all ready and head over to the pool....kids, towels, sunblock, "gargles" (that's goggles for those of you without a 6 yr. old) cell phone with home phone forwarded to it, and a magazine to take my mind off it all, oh! and a mother-in-law too!!! OK ! We made it, got all the kids sun-blocked and thrown in the pool...the life guard can deal with them now! ha! I sit back in the chair, non-relaxing music (heavy metal that is...the price I have to pay to have teenage life guards keep our kids from drowning) playing loudly in the back ground and then it happens....the cell phone rings!!!! I see the number and it's a "703" number so I answer hello. But get this...I had left Duni a voice mail earlier and well, I thought she was just calling me back! OK , so I say, "Hello?" She says hi and pauses and then adds, because I am silent!, this is your call! I have your referral. I stammer something out like Oh! I just thought you were calling me back, did you get my voice mail earlier? Can anyone receive their referral call in a stupider way???!!!!AAAHHH !!! So I explain myself and then she starts telling me info about our "Little Guy." Meanwhile, I'm frantically looking for something to write with and on...does anyone recall paper and a pen being listed in the things we took with us to the pool? No! I find a fuchsia Sharpie pen (for labeling gargles!!! Thank you God!) and my MIL hands me the back of a Time magazine (I'll be saving that one!) and I start writing away trying to remember the questions I had all typed up on a cool "sticky" on my MAC computer at home... WHERE I'M NOT!!!
Looking back now, I see the sense of humor God has and his delight in showing me that even though I tried to be totally prepared, he's thwarted me yet AGAIN! LOL At the time it was only slightly amusing!
OK! Back to the narrative...
So, I hang up the phone and say something like, "I can't believe we got our referral call!" in a daze while calling Dietrich so he can hop in the car and drive 45 min. home so we can open the email together. I give him all the details I know from Duni , hang up and sit there in dazed weirdness. My MIL and I hug, she goes to jump in the pool with the kids and I sit down again and start crying (heavy metal music still "softly" blaring in the background)....not sure why...I'm just crying. I call Duni back because, Ah-ha! I remembered a question! Yes, he is eligible for court! Great! Well, I still have like 40 min. till hubby gets home so I jump in the pool for a bit, looking at my watch every 5 min. and finally get everyone out of the pool to head home.
So, you're thinking...this is kinda long! Just wait...there's more craziness!
Get home & changed because we're going to video this and I really don't want permanent proof of me in a bikini (less tan lines even if I do still have "baby" fat on me! LOL) on referral day!
Dietrich walks in the door 2 min. later. Mean while, the kids are running around, the dog is too, my MIL isn't running around but trying to figure out camera stuff. We finally decide to go into the office because the screen is bigger in there. So we all pile into the office, start up the computer in there, turn on a fan cuz it's freakin' hot in there, try to find a spot for the camera to sit while it records, the kids are jumping up and down on the trundle bed in there and asking a million and one questions and on and on and on!!!! My sanity is being severely tested at this point and I'm just almost to the fried brain, over-load breaking point. We all sit down...ok! Yes, the camera is on and we can all be seen in it where we are sitting. Dietrich almost has the email open when our dog (black lab that thinks she's a guard dog, but is just hyper-dog!) jumps up at the window and starts barking her head off! I sternly tell her to be quiet, remembering I am being video taped (don't want permanent proof of being a mean dog owner!), look up and see the neighbor passing by the window to the front door! OH MY GOSH!!! What else can happen??? We ignore the knocking on the front door (at the risk of having permanent proof of being a lousy neighbor!!) hoping he'll forgive us later when we explain! The email is almost there, the first page is coming up...the dog is still barking, I'm still telling her to be quiet though it has now change to a VERY stern NO!, the kids are arguing over something, Nena is playing with something on the desk, the video is still going and then Dietrich starts to read the cover letter! Even now, as I type, it doesn't seem as hectic and down-right crazy as it seemed then! But then, the 2 pictures of our little guy come up and our hearts melt and we are all "aaaahhhhh's!" :D Not for long though! Annika gets put out over something, Nena is getting on Christoph for something she thinks he did, Dietrich kisses me at some point and we say something like congratulations to each other and try to laugh! We then have MIL come in to see the pics, the kids are still being bugs and I have this overwhelming feeling of let down and disappointment. Disappointed in what though? All the crazy insane-ness? That the kids were acting like bugs? No, I really think it was just my inner reaction to the over-load I was feeling. Finally everyone left the office and Dietrich and I collapse on the bed, eyes closed, and let the moment sink in. I then open my eyes and say, "What in the world was all of that??!!!" And of course, Dietrich says it's just life and that's the way life is! :D Everyone then came back in and we took more pictures and laughed about how much like his big sissy our little guy is! Of course, dinner still has to be cooked (everyone still wants to eat even when mom's brain is fried! Why is that? LOL) and damage control done on the neighbor, and all the calls need to be made, but hey!.....
WE GOT OUR REFERRAL!!!!!!!!!! YEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!! WE ARE SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!
And he is so darn adorable; we are all totally in love with him and we sleep with his little photo album between us in our bed! LOL (hopefully it will actually be HIM there soon!)
And so on that note, I will close for now on what has to be the longest post in blog history! Sheeeesh! :D
If there's anything I need to do better on this blogging stuff, let me know...I am so not a blog pro! :D
Good night!

Under Contruction

2008-05-08T21:15:00.000-07:00

As you can see....we are under construction! :D
I don't really have time to keep up a blog at the moment,
but we plan on getting things rolling once our referral
comes in. Even then though, it will probably be just an itty-
bitty one that many-a-pro-blogger will laugh at! LOL
Well, we just wanted to give an explanation for those of you
that have found us. :D
When you see our name on a YG post stating something like...
LUSSE REFERRAL CAME!!!!!!!! then you may want to head
on over here again.
Until then........ thanks for coming! :D