Today (Thursday) we had court, it went smoothly and quickly, very uneventful which was great. Berihu is now legally ours, to God be the glory! We all came back to the guest house and the older kids stayed (as they went to court with us) and I went down the street and brought back pizza for lunch. We ate, played cards, soccer, basketball, keep away…you name it. The weather was great, it was just nice to hang out and relax. Oh and we have a new name for that “chillax”, there is a restaurant here and Truitt has taken to it’s name (Chillax) and likes to use it now…too funny. Chill out + relax=chillax  J The kids left late today, it was our last day with them. We said our goodbyes, gave him a card we wrote in and left him the UNO game (which he loves), Go Fish and the soccer ball. We waved as they drove off and felt a bit sad but happy we’ll be back soon to bring him home. We packed up and went out for dinner with our friends who are still here. We have made great friendships, it’s too bad we live all over the states. Hopefully we’ll all see each other when we travel back in a few weeks. Now we wait to head to the airport…so ready to be home!

 Just relaxing today...Truitt with no shirt because well, that's how he rolls ;)

 Lots of games with Dad

Finally it's official!

Monday – our wake up call didn’t come at 5 like we asked, Kurt happened to wake up and look at his phone, it was 5:20 and we had to leave at 5:30! We did most packing the night before so we were pretty much ready but rushed downstairs only to be told that one parent would go get the child while the rest of us waited there. Really?? Anyway Kurt went so Truitt and I could have breakfast. They came back about 40 minutes later. This is Africa time :) Oh well, we’re functioning on little sleep anyway but still annoying to rush downstairs to leave an hour later. Kurt came back with Berihu and the other parents and we all left for the airport, checked in and were ready to go . Berihu was excited, on the plane they had the ‘old school’ arm rests with the numbers for the channel and volume – he couldn't stop playing with it. He paid attention to the emergency procedure video…I wondered if it was freaking him out so I put my hand on his and asked “are you ok”…big grin “yes”. As we took off and went up he just smiled and as we went through the clouds he laughed…it went very well. We played UNO, had a snack and then landed, it was a pretty quick ride. We came straight to the guest house, got settled and they took the kids for lunch and to the new orphanage in the city where they will stay for until we return to pick up on second trip. They will come to the guest house for a few hours tomorrow which will be nice.  After the kids left we went to the postal market, we bought Berihu a jersey and I bought a few other things. I need to go back (we ran out of money!) and get more jerseys for the boys....it will probably have to be on our second trip. We had a  good day :)

 He LOVED his first plane ride!

After the kids left we went to a local park

Sunday was palm Sunday, people here all make rings out of palm leaves and wear them. When we got to the orphanage Berihu had made us all a ring at church. Today was similar to the last, we hung out, played card cards, played soccer and let him have some time on the kindle. We played some learning games and it was neat to find out some of what he can do in English, he is pretty sharp  ;) He can do addition, subtraction and some multiplication, we counted by 5’s. I’m impressed, it’s nice to know we are not starting right at the beginning, he has a decent English base. I figure by end of summer he’ll be fluent, or close to it!

We left the orphanage early on this day, I guess to give the kids time with the nannies before they leave the following day, not sure I didn't understand why but it was fine. This gave us a chance to go out and do a little shopping, we bought Berihu a bible in his native language, Tirgayana. On our way to visit an old castle (which is now a hotel) we hopped out of the car and took one of the little taxis. Two things Truitt wanted to do was ride the taxi and swim….today we did both. After a little wondering around we went back to the hotel and Truitt swam for a little bit, it was pretty cold but he had fun. We went to bed early since we needed to be downstairs at 5:30.

 Truitt lost his first tooth. In Ethiopia it is tradition to throw it on the roof but he decided to keep it and put in under his pillow. I left a dollar and 1 birr on his side table, when he woke up and saw it he said "thanks mom". Made me laugh :)

 Lots of ball games were played

We played UNO a lot, Berihu and the other kids really like it.

Truitt really wanted to ride in the little taxi...since we're such awesome parents we made that happen ;)

 I thought he'd be more excited?! He had fun though. 

The castle/hotel

We finally Meet

We arrived in Mekelle around 9 or so, our flight was very short. After we unloaded everything at the hotel we headed straight for the orphanage. When we got there the school age kids were at school and they went just down the road to get them. One family met their little boy in the mean time and then they all walked through the gate. As we saw Berihu he had that great smile beaming, he came over and said hi and we all gave him little hugs :) He was particularly taken with Truitt, he put his arm around him and went to show him his room. He currently sleeps on the bottom bunk....so transitioning his his bunk and home will be no problem. I showed him a photo of his room and pointed to his bed and Braden's bed - he smiled big and seemed pleased. We looked at some other photos too and he proudly named everyone as we did. I was pleasantly surprised at his English, he understood much of what we said. Then he asked Truitt if he wanted to play a game so off they went. We played soccer much of the afternoon with everyone joining in - good bonding :) We left for lunch and a few errands and the whole time listened to Truitt say "can we go back to the little orphanage and see Berihu", "when are we leaving, I wan to go play with Berihu"...as annoying as it was it warmed my heart :) We did of course go back and the soccer match resumed. We gave hugs when we left and said we'd return tomorrow. 

 

We were getting ready to go and I found Truitt telling Berihu a story as he ate his lunch. I'm not sure what all he understood but it sure was cute.

Lots of soccer...I even showed off some of my skills - ha!

Finally

The day has finally come! Our flight was an hour late but we got to eat a good meal and relax before getting on the plane. As I type I am on the airplane heading to Ethiopia with Truitt and Kurt by my side. Truitt is very excited...I think I may fall asleep first out of our crew :)
 We arrive in Addis at 12:15am on Friday, we'll take a short trip to the guest house and have about 5 hours there to sleep, shower and just hang out. At 745am (Friday) we will travel up to Mekelle and go to Family Umbrella Orphanage. There are 4 other families traveling to meet their kids. CAN.NOT.WAIT. On Monday we return to Addis with Berihu and he an the other kids will get settled into the transition home. I'm thankful we'll be there for those first few days as he adjusts. We have court on Thursday and then fly out at lam on Friday.
 Praying for Berihu's heart as he prepares to meet us...and ours too. God is good!

January Birthdays

We actually have 3 January birthdays now - Blake on the 6th, Berihu on the 13th and Reese on the 28th. We sandwich Christmas :) Blake had a little party at Chucky Cheese...not my favorite place but he had his last party at home and really wanted CEC so we agreed.

 Blake's quieter side :)

Reese turned 4. We had planned to have a small affair at Chickfila then a cupcake shop with 2 friends. This turned out to be the day we had "ice" and school was cancelled. We had a lazy morning with our friend Lilly (this "ice day" was perfect since our friend was only with us for a day!!) then we all went out for a birthday lunch and dessert.  It was cold but a great day!

Catching up

 I have been MIA...but probably no one has noticed ;) I have no adoption news right now, we continue to wait for one piece of paper to be signed so we can get our court date and travel to meet our son. This is a hard wait, it is mainly political (so I'm told) and not child serving....which makes me frustrated and sad. That said, we are praying this paper gets signed and that we get to travel in March.
 We had 2 November Birthdays...both boys had parties here at home and had fun. Braden had a sleep over and they all went to the park with Kurt to play Nerf battle and capture the flag. Reese and I went and got pizza and a movie :)

Truitt had friends over to play, paint and eat pizza. Looks like he had fun huh?

Christmas was good, Kurt and I didn't buy as many gifts as in the past. We're trying to focus on what Christmas is really about, Him, not us. I love this photo....warms my heart.

We went to see Santa and he was MIA because of a few sprinkles?! So no group photo with the big man but I got this one. Obviously, it wasn't cold! 

 Kept our cookie decorating tradition with one of the Bassett girls :)

 So happy to see our sweet friend Zoe - she tagged along with her mom who was here on business. We had so much fun. This was her first time to meet Reese, of course Reese just adored her (like we all do).

Home sweet home

I am so happy to be home. I am an emotional wreck, will this happen every time I go to Kenya? I don't know. While I live my comfortable life there are images I have seen first hand that will never go away.

I pray that I don't become desensitized to the poverty in this world, here or abroad. Although I am far from perfect I pray that my life reflects my love for Christ and for others. I love being part of this home www.mercyhousekenya.org that brings hope to the hopeless and life when there otherwise would have been none. 

"...let your light so shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."        Matthew 5:16

Mercy House - Part 2

This is my second trip to Kenya this year....and it's crazy to think I'll have 2 trips to Africa by next summer! I have been up since 4am...slept well just not long enough! It is SO good to see the girls again. Since our last trip we have added one new girl and 4 babies have been born. As I interact with the girls I am amazed, they have hope and a future....to God be the glory. Today is a BIG day, four of our girls graduate....we are very excited and will head to the church hall this morning for a ceremony and to celebrate these girls and what God has done in their lives. I miss my family but am thankful to be here and be a par of it all.

Th is is Precious and her mom is one of the graduates today...she's spunky!

Our Adoption

We are currently waiting on paperwork (surprise surprise), our dossier is complete and will be in Ethiopia soon (great news).  I thought I'd share the answers to some questions that seem have been asked of us by quite a few people :) Maybe you're curious, maybe you don't care but here they are:

1. Why a boy? Well we think we're pretty good with boys ;) no seriously...we weren't particularly looking for another child it just happened and it so happened to be a boy that caught our eye.  I regularly look at the WACAP waiting children page and each time I looked he was still there. I showed Kurt his photo and asked if I could inquire about him and he said "sure". That was the beginning, through much prayer and talks we proceeded with the adoption of Berihu. We feel like his age (8 years, he'll be 9 in Jan) and where he fits in with our kiddos is a good fit for our family. It's hard to explain but we know our children and it just is.

2. Are you moving? No - adoption is expensive, first things first - we want him home! We'll be doubling up for a while, Braden/Berihu and Truitt/Blake will share rooms. We do hope to build on our property one day.

3. Why Ethiopia? We looked into domestic foster adoption (during that time I continued to see Berihu on the waiting website) and we decided this was best for our family. One of the things that caught our attention was that older children in orphanages "age out" often with no where to go (this happens in many countries). They are let go to fend for themselves, no family, little money, basic education, no job, no vocational training, no idea how to cook, manage money etc. Many end up living in khat houses or worse. Khat houses are places in Addis where young men can smoke marijuana, drink, and chew khat. These establishments often offer a place to sleep and some food for a low price because they make money on the addictive substances they sell. In order to get a job in Ethiopia, you need an ID card and for that you have to have a permanent residence and someone to vouch for you, to provide a “guarantee.” The person who provides the guarantee must also have an ID card and be willing to have some sort of legal connection to you. Because these young men don’t have either, they cannot get an ID card. Without an ID card, they cannot enroll in educational/vocational programs or apply for the majority of jobs. Girls are susceptible to that same issues and particularly vulnerable to trafficking and prostitution. The age at which children age out can vary from country to country and even vary from orphanage to orphanage within the same country but we have read as early as 14 years old. Can you imagine? No one to care for you, to love you, protect you...it's heart breaking.

 Here are a few facts about Ethiopia:

-The population is close to 70 million
-One third of the population survive on less than 1 USD a day
-Amharic is the national language (our son speaks Tigrinya)
-Children are orphaned as a result of extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS, and child abandonment
-There are approximately 5 million orphans in Ethiopia
-Malnutrition affects a large portion of the population
-Access to clean water and sanitation facilities are inadequate

4. Who are you adopting? Our son's name is Berihu and he lives in the Tigray region of Ethiopia (northernmost region). He was born on January 13, 2005, we think this is probably pretty accurate as he was raised much of his life by his family. He is a total orphan, meaning that both of his parents are deceased and has been living in the orphanage since June of 2012. We don't  have much information on his family, we hope to be able to meet and talk with his uncle when we travel. We are told this is where we will get his family information, if at all. I want to learn as much as we can for his sake, as one day these will all be distant memories for our sweet boy.

5. How much does it cost? Adoption is expensive. Costs vary but this adoption is estimated to cost between $35,000 and $40,000. Fortunately is isn't due all at once. We have been given a matching grant through our church using an organization called LifeSong for Orphans. If you would like to contribute to bringing our son home this is a tax deductible donation, information is below:
1.  Checks should be payable to “Lifesong for Orphans. In the memo, note “family account number” and “familyname” (Box #3940) to assure it goes to the correct account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40,Gridley, IL 61744. 100% of this donation goes to our adoption.
2. To pay online go to www.lifesongfororphans.org/give/donate. Select “Give to an Adoptive Family” . Complete the online form and fill in “Family Account Number” and “Family Name” fields  (Box #3940)

LifeSong takes the all money donated in our name and uses it to pay the invoices we have sitting on our kitchen counter ;) 

6. Can I see his photo? If I run into you in person - you bet!! I can't share it online. He's precious...he really is and I'll show him off after we have our court date and he is officially ours!

We would love your prayers, specifically:
- Pray for the paperwork to get pushed through quickly so we can be assigned a court date.
- Pray for the Lord to prepare Berihu's heart as he will have big changes ahead - his home, his family, his friends, his country, his language, his food etc.
- Pray for our home - that we too would be prepared to bring him into our home. For a smooth transition for our family, especially our kiddos.
- Pray for Berihu and the Lord's protection over him in his orphanage. Pray for transition as well, as when we visit we will take him to the WACAP orphanage in Addis. He will stay here until we return to get him (5-7 weeks after court).

We are HUGE supporters of Compassion International and what they do to help families stay together. We believe keeping families together is the best option but unfortunately it isn't always possible for everyone. We live in a fallen world and as such there will always be orphans and needy people among us. Adoption isn't for every family but God has called us to care for the least of these - what does that look like for your family?

Proverbs 19:17 - "He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for what he has done"