Merry Christmas!!

I haven't posted much lately, but I wanted to post a few pics of the boys before our trip to NY!  One more day until Christmas...what an exciting year it has been for us-full of surprises and wonderful new experiences!!  The holidays are so different with kids-we thought it was a busy, crazy time before kids-we had no idea!!   The boys had no idea who Santa was so that was pretty funny explaining.  Last night we did this portable north pole experience on-line where you personalize a message from Santa to your child (ww.portablenorthpole.tv/home)-Alex loved it-Joseph kind of smirked and laughed-but itwas too cute watching them take it all in!  All night-Alex talked about Santa's majic eye- too funny!  It really has been such an amazing experience to watch this through their eyes.  We feel it is important to be careful not to let them ge too caught up in the Christmas craze (it's pretty easy o get caught up in it) so we did a few things to make sure they know what Christmas is really all about and that they never forget where they came from.

We are all vey excited about our trip to NY-we fly out Christmas day at 4:30 and then we rented a car and we are driving back home right before New Years. We plan to stop in Wash. DC where the largest Ehiopian population in USA is and do some shopping and go to a restaurant. We are almost out of berbere (their spice) so we MUST get some more. I am learning to cook Ethiopian food and te boys tell me I am pretty good-for those who know Ethiopian dishes-I made doro wat this week-took 4 hours and my house will never smell the same, but they really apreciated it! 

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Enjoy the holidays with your family and friends.  We are thankful for so many things thisholiday season, but especially that we get to be parents to Joseph & Alex! Thy have learned so much in the past 3 months it has truly been an amazing experience to be their parents!

We are blessed!

I haven't been too good about blogging lately so here is a quick update.  Thanksgiving was great!  We went to my brother and sister in laws house and they had a guest from Ethiopia.  He and his wife were so nice and they made Ethiopian food and brought it for the boys-injera and doro wat!  They were so excited it was so fun to watch them enjoy this meal!  This was a true treat for them!  They loved speaking Amharic to him and I think it was comforting being around someone from their country!  Truly a blessing for the boys!

It was so nice having some time off from work and school-we took the boys on their first camping trip!  We take our boat to an island in the intercoastal and camp there.  Besides the mosquito bites-the boys had so much fun! We went with another family-the kids played well together-they had a blast fishing, swimming, playing, etc...  Joseph finally got his cast off so he enjoyed being able to do all these things too!  I learned a lot about camping with kids (all new to us!!)-bring LOTS of clothes-you never seem to have enough!  It was pretty cold too (for Florida)!  We can't wait to do it again!!

We have some good news on Danny and Yordanos-we are waiting for a court date for Danny-should have it in a week or two and Yordanos' paperwork is just about done an then they will file for a court date for her-probably next week!  In 2 days-it will be 2 years we have been waiting-I can't believe it has been that long.  We just want to have them home with us and hopefully it won't be much longer now! 

We truly are blessed....here are a few pics!

 

2 months in the Country!!!!

Wow-I can't believe it-yesterday was 2 months that the boys have been in America-feels like much longer!!! They have done so much and learned and grown so much too!  Where does the time go??  It really makes you keep things into perspective when you think-gosh it has ONLY been 2 months-they have come so far!  Sometimes our expectations are so high that we forget these little guys (not so little anymore!!) were taken away from everything they'd ever known-food, culture, people,country, etc... and placed with a family they barely knew.  They really are doing great considering all of these factors! 

Last weekend we took them to Orlando to an Ethiopian restaurant-it was amazing!!  Great food and the nicest owners-they spent time with the boys speaking Amharic-the boys really enjoyed it!   The boys said it was GREAT injera-that is a HUGE compliment!!! We even brought some home and the owner told us we can freeze it-we did and it wasn't bad a few days later!  The boys really wanted these wrist and headbands with the Etiopian colors-I will post a  picture-it is really cute!  I love it how they are so in tune with their culture-we hope they never forget where they came from and always have a piece of Ethiopia in their heart.  After lunch, we took the miniature golfing and then we went to a gathering of families who are in the process or who have adopted from Ethiopia-that was nice to meet different people.  Most of the kids were younger, but the boys enjoyed it!  Hopefully we can find a few kids from Ethiopia who are in their age range-still searching!!!

This week we baked cookies-that was a riot!  We ate more of the batter than we had for cookies-just kidding-but they really enjoyed it!  Alex couldn't believe how the cookies got so BIG in the oven!  It is so much fun watching all of thee "FIRSTS" through their eyes!  They really want to see snow so we are contemplating going up to NY after Christmas.  Then we could also see our family and they can all spent time with them!  We'll see-hopefully it will all work out.  I get tired just thinking about a trip like that-but I know it will be totally worth it when we are there! 

Tonight I took Alex to "Movies in the Park"-a huge screen outside where all the kids and parents watched Monsters and Aliens!  The weather was perfect-just needed a little blanket (yes-even in Florida!!)!  It was the first time our town did it-huge success and a lot of fun for the kid!  Joseph didn't want to go so he went with dad to baseball!    Sometimes it is good for the kids to get quality time alone with each parent-we are learning that quickly!  Life is good.....

Hoping to hear good news on Danny and Yordanos soon-Danny's paperwork is all done and Yordanos is close if not already done.  Just waiting for them to be filed for a new court date-it is 2 years this month we have been witing for them to come home.  Makes me sad...but we will wait as long as it takes-they are our kids. 

Here are a few pics of the boys-more later!  Take a look at th last picture of Alex on his "man-made contraption"!! 

Quick Update

I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I posted!  Everyone has been asking "How was Halloween for the boys?"  We did a lot of prepping ahead about Haloween-books, pics, internet, etc... so they were pretty prepared!  Joseph dressed up as a vampire-he is going through this vampire stage right now-wants to watch vampire movies and find out abut them so the costume was very fitting.  Alex was a storm trooper-we started out with the costume and that didn't last very long-I think he trick or treated in is clothes, face make-up and of course all of the guns and swords!! We went trick or treating in a friends neighborhood and there were TONS of kids and and stuff going on so they got a good taste of Haloween!  Alex loved going to the houses, Joseph got a little bored-but he's 14-not too surprising!  Alex sorted out his candy in catgories-right up his alley as a kid who likes everything to have a spot/place.  Joseph wanted to send his candy to Ethioia to his friend in the Faith/Hope orphanage-so sweet!   The boys are very motivated by money so we decided ahead of time that we would participate in our dentist's program where they pay you $1.00 for every pound of candy and then tey send it to the soldiers.  We went on Sunday and turned in candy-The boys really ejoyed this and didn't complain at all.  They also enjoyed carving jack-o-lanterns-didn't like the pumpkin seeds too much or the pumpkin smell! 

Overall, things are going very well.  School is great-they are learning so much. Joseph gets his cast off in2 weeks-YAY!!  They can swim again and ride bikes-Woo Hoo!!!  Alex is doing a lot better with following directions and boundaries-but he is definitely a give him an inch and he wants a foot kid!! 

We are heading to Orlando today to go to an Ethiopian restaurant and to a gathering of families who adopted children from Ethiopia!  Should be a blast-we are all looking forward to it!!  Can't wait to see them interact with ther children from Ethiopia!!  They both stll speak Amharic all the time so we are so happy about that-we want them to keep their langauge!  Will post about it this eek-at least try to!

Eoy the pics!!  More later....

Finding Time....

My blogging is getting worse...it's been over a week-Ugh.  So here goes a quick update and some pics!  

Joseph "Yoseph" had to get another cast on Monday-he was trying to itch his arm last weekend and pulled his cast over his hand and well let's just say that his fingers were turing blue b/c there was no circulation.  Freaked out a little (me-not him), but he is fine and definitely won't do that again!  The Dr. shared that next time he'll have to get a cast up to his shouder if this happened again-he got the picture and just asks for itch medicine now!  We also celebrated his birthday last weekend with a few friends and he really enjoyed his first birthday in America!  He loved his camera and is taking pics all the time!  He is doing well in school and his English is really expanding!  This week at dinner-he asked for "damaged" potatoes....AKA "mashed" potatoes-pretty smart connection!! 

Alex "Fitamlak" is almost too smart for his own good! He picks up things so fast and has taken up "taking things apart"!!  He was trying to make a remote control boat and took apart 3 different toys to take the engine out and yes his middle name is still "EASY"!  Like a bull in a china shop!  He loves school-this week he came home and told me all about solids, liquids and gases-full English explanation with examples-I was so impressed!  He's trying lots of new foods and loves to buy lunch at school!  His laugh is so contagious-makes me smile everytime I hear it!

The boys met Grandma and Grandpa this week (they came in from NY)-they really enjoyed it!  They definitely understood who everyone was and loved the attention!  We ate dinner last night at my parents and both ofthe boys said-"Grandma is a good cooker-like you mom!!"  We laughed-roasted chickens (already cooked) from Walmart-can't beat it!  Dad and the boys made a soccer goal today out of PVC Pipe-very cute to watch!  They are learning all about Halloween and already have their costumes-we have a  few things planned this weekend!

Getting late...enjoy the pics!!

Life with BOYS!!

I don't even know where to begin...my dreams of blogging daily didn't last too long!!  It has been over a week since I last posted-reality hit....and also back to work too!  It's late so I will post some highlights of the past week and a few pics! 

The boys had so many Dr. visits and samples last week-I think they just woke up and said-which Dr. are we going to today-but all tests have come back great-they are very healthy boys-Yoseph "Joseph" gained 10 lbs in 2.5 weeks (hence all of theSams trips!!) and Fit "Alex" (will share later) gained 5 lbs!!  Fit had some dental issues and had to have 3 teeth pulled last week (poor kid)-but he was a riot at the dentist.  He actually wanted to watch the whole thing-mirror and everything and when they got his tooth out he cheered!!  The ladies in the office (who were phenomenal with him) were cracking up and insisted that he will be in the medical field when he gows up!!  Just when we thought the Dr's visits were over.....get ready for this....Joseph broke his wrist/arm Friday night.  He was trying skateboarding and fell and attempted to brace his fa nd landed right on his wrist.  Dave took him to ER and they put him in a soft cast and then he wnt to orthopedist yesterday and they hard casted it.  He was pretty miserable this weekend and in some pain-but he is doing 100% better now!  I went through the whole-I am a horrible mom-how can I let this happen...but soon realized BOYS will be BOYS and it will probably not be our last ER visit.  We can't keep them in a  bubble and want them to live their lives so things like this will happen-I just wish it didn't happen so soon!

The boys both started school Monday.  2nd and 7th grade at Dave's school. The night before- Fit (once known as Peter) decided that he wanted to be called "Alex"-he's been watching "Madagascar".  Well-he put it on all of his school books so the name has stuck and all the kids in school call him by Alex. Kind of funny...We still call him Fit and sometimes Alex. When the time comes to change it-we will probably go with both names-Fitamlak and Alex.  They both love school and are doing very well.  Joseph was pretty nervous (I can't even imagine being in his shoes)-but he said today that the kids help him and he has made a few friends and school is now "good"!!  We are getting a pretty good routine with school, dinner, homework, play.  Not much time for anything else though!!  Huge relief that school is going welll!!!

They also met some of their cousins this weekend and had a fun time playing with them!  We were at my aunt's house and the boys were playing he piano too and having a blast! They just love learning new things! 

There so much more...but it is almost 12 and I have to work tomorrow. Here are a few pics of the boys.  Few of the first day of school in daddy's car, Fit with injera (Ethiopian bread that we ordered from internet-it was great, but the whole 20lbs of bread lasted about 4 days) and them playing the piano (yes Fit also has a harmonica in his mouth).

More later....

They are Growing and Growing and Growing....

What a day-full of Dr's, shots and bloodwork!!!  The boys did great at the Dr's-they were great with the boys too-shots and everything!  We thought the bloodwork was going to be the worst-they laughed through it-Yoseph was making fish faces as if the were sucking all of his blood out and Fit just giggled the whole time!  So I guess they are eating well-Yoseph gained 8 lbs in 2 weeks and Fit gained 4 lbs.  It was funny-we took them to breakfast afterward and Yoseph loves breakfast (eggs, bacon, potatoes) and he kept saying-now 12 lbs!  They are somewhat particular about wat they eat, but when it is something they like-they eat a lot of it!!  Yoseph asked today if they could Western Union him some Injera from Ethiopia-we cracked up.  We have Western Unioned a few tims lately and he picked it up from there-pretty clever-I wish they could-they miss injera and our local ET restaurant is almost 2 hours away (not so local).  Next best thing-we ordered it on-line and it will be here Thursday-hopefully it will satisfy them!

We took them to the batting cages after the Dr. since they did so well and they had a blast.  I will post a  few pictures-they were doing pretty good hitting!  We are going to try and get them in a soccer league this week-we'll see! 

I don't think I have posted in a  few days, so here is a quick re-cap.  We started them on daily chores last week with an allowance and it is working quite well.  They are definitely motivated by earning money!  They have a daily check sheet with all of their chores and responsibilites and they earn a certain amout for each item.  Going much better than we expected-they seem to like having specific jobs-for now anyway! 

I also took them to a local school to use their Rosetta Stone-they were flying through it-it really is amazing how much they know.  Academics is definitely not an issue-just language and vocabulary and they have already made so much progress in that area. I'm sure school will still be a struggle because f the language barrier-but they will be immersed in English all day long and will pick up so much!  They will start school on Monday-Yoseph is a little nervous b/c the school is big and he is very serious when it comes to school-but he will do fine.  Fit is pretty social and will get along well.   They will both be going to school with Dave so that makes me feel so much better-huge sigh of relief!!

One more funny thing-Yoseph made a Ethiopian dish for lunch yesterday and they wanted the leftovers for dinner tonight  (I don't remember the name-but it was carrots, cabbage, onions, and potatoes and ET spices).  Dave and  have been craving shrimp so we figured it was  a good time to make a shrimp dish for us and maybe the boys would taste it.  Yoseph wouldn't even try it-almost gagged.  Fit attepted to twice-He didn't like the smell so he held his nose and tried to take a bite-I will post the picture-it was hilarious.  So no shrimp-but we did have fish last night and they loved it. Maybe next time....

The last picture I have to post is just something to laugh about- I have this posted on the top of the toilet bowl and since I am overtaken by males-I have to remind them of this!!!

Off to another dentist appt. tomorrow...poor kids and all these appoinments.  More later....

Where Does the Time Go?

I've been saying this a lot lately....Where does the time go?  I've never really been an on time person (just ask my family & girlfriends!!), but now it's real bad!!  What I thought would take an hour-more like 2 hours, etc...kind of funny-hopefully I will learn soon to get it together!  But it is all GOOD!  It seems like I just posted yesterdy, but my last post was Thursday!! 

Well-now when the boys introduce themselves to someone-they are just using the names they asked for-Joseph & Peter.  I still call them by Yoseph & Fitmakes me sad and we probably won't officially change names, but I do ee their point and understand why they want American names.  Maybe we'll do those names as their middle names-we haven't fully decided. We also found out their official birthdates-(the ones on their birth certificates are from the adoption agency) and Yoseph has a birthday coming up 11/5-he officially turns 14.  Fit will be 9 on 5/14.  We will definitely celebrate on these dates-even though birth certificates say otherwise. They are special days and we always want them to remeber where and who they came from.

Well-Yoseph has officially turned into a teenager in a matter of days!!  I hve no idea how this happened, but it just did.  We were going to a church Family Fun event on Friday evening and he was like-"Mom do I have to go-it will be no fun".  Then he asked for a mobile phone...kind of crazy, huh??  He tried to convince me that someone else adopted from Ethopia his age has a phone already. I told him-When you turn 16-we'll think about it!!  Then the IPOD craze....we have to limit his time on it.  It's so funny-I feel like I am at school with my middle school kids!  Really-he is doing well and picking up so much more English and using it so appropriately! 

Fit is doing well too!  He loves video games and we have nicknamed him"Easy, Fit"-he hears it so much from us-he is so hard on everything (maybe just the way boys are) and we are trying to teach him to be easier on things.  He is quite social and really enjoyed church family night-he went in the bounce house and played a bunch of games.  You could never tell he's only been in US for less than a month!  He jumps right into everything!  He is doing much better with sleeping too-he was having nightmares for a little while and didn't want to sleep at night. 

Both of the boys want to go to school so bad!  We are planning school for next week-Dr's visit this Tuesday and then vaccinations and blood work, etc...  We also go back to Dentist on Wednesday. I'll post some more pics this week. 

People have been asking me-if it is what we expected and how are we doing.  It's so surreal.  We have been waiting and preparing for 2 years now for kids from Ethiopia and we think we were as prepared as we could possibly have been.  But really-you never know until you are in it!  Is it hard-absolutely, but by far the most rewarding thing we have ever done!  We just love them to pieces!

Good Teeth Report!!!

The boys did so well at the dentist today it was impressive!  We were so proud of them!  For never going to a dentist-their teeth were very good!  Maybe lack of candy?  2 more visits and we should be good-a cavity or so and  few extractions-but NO braces needed-YAY!!.  They were great with the boys so that made us much more comfortable!!  We go the Dr. on Tuesday so no school next week. They will start the week after-which is fine-am enjoying being home with them!  We are doing lots of schoolwork at home so they are getting prepared!  Our house is fully labeled top to bottom with all English words and they really are picking up on and using so many new words from the labels! 

Quick funny story-yesterday we stopped at my school and two of my friends gave them each a card and a small giftbag with a giftcard to our local movie/game place in it .  When we got to the car-they opened the gift bag and Fit said "Oh, soft, huh??" with a puzzled look on his face.  Soft in Amharic is toilet paper-they thought it was a bag with toilet paper because of the tissue paper wrapped around the giftcard!!  Quite funny!! 

Off to bed.....more later! 

One More Thing....

One more thing...our boys have such big hearts!  They both expressed that they really want to "give back" to Ethiopia in some way.  We decided that we will sponsor a child to go to school in Ethiopia!  The boys picked out a lttle boy named Yohannes and we signed up yesterday to sponsor him with a monthly donation for school.  They were excited and will also be able to send letters!  If anyone is interested in sponsoring there are a more children left to help-this is through Ethio-American Family Services-a non for profit group I just LOVE!!!  The link is http://www.ethioamericanfamily.org/sponsorship. 

Lisa

The Boys!!!

 My hope was to post daily, but I already missed a day!  Wait until I go back to work, Ugh!!!  I crashed on the couch last night and slept like a baby-all catching up to me!  So here's a quick re-cap of the past 2 days! 

We took the boys on the boat yesterday-they loved it when Dave went FAST!!! "Speed" they yelled! I guess it is a guy thing-I prefer a nice, quiet boat ride, but obviously I am outnumbered!  They loved fishing and swimming and were in awe over everything!  It was a fun day! 

This morning we were talking at breakfast and the boys shared that they really want to change their names-moe American.  I am torn-I am really against it-we both want them to keep their Ethiopian given names.  But we had to laugh-Fit explained to us "WHY" he wants an new American name. In perfect English and some good visusals/gestures-he said-"when meet people they say what is your name"  I say "Fitamlak" and they say "Fit a who, what, etc... and they can't say it".  He also had all of the gestures to go along with it-very dramatic.  It was so funny-we nearly fell out of our chairs.  We all got a good laugh.  He said he wants a bible name so he looked through the bible and chose three names-Joshua, Jacob and Peter.  Yoseph wants to change his name to Joseph.  This is definitely something we need to think long and hard about-I just love their ET names and can't imagine them as anyone else. 

Here are few pics of "the boys"!!!   Off to the Dentist tomorrow...should be fun!!!

Funny Times...

We all had a blast at the beach/park today and the boys were so good!  A few friends came with us and the boys fished (Yoseph caught 2 fish!!), swam, played-had lots of fun!   Few funny stories to share-at least the ones I can remember-Fit was in the water playing ball with 2 other kids and the ball went far out so I swan out and got it for them.  On my way back,  I overheard a coversation between the boys.  They asked who was getting the ball and Fit said "my mom".  They said-"who is your mom" and he said-"that's my mom" pointing to me and they looked at each other and said "that's you mom" with puzzled looks on their face and Fit said- "Yeah, that's my mom" (with attitude-like how could you NOT know that was my mom) and they said-"Oh, Ok" and carried on playing".  The whole exchange was kind of funny and I just love how Fit didn't think anything of it.  Obviously we don't look the same, but that doesn't matter one bit to him!  I was tickled by it! 

Yoseph is so sweet!  We are still learning this whole parenthood thing and aren't used to food shopping for more than 2 so I have gone to the grocery store basically every day (not to mention the boys are GREAT eaters!!) since we have been home.  Today, I decided I really needed to make a Sams trip to stock up.  I went to Sams after dinner (my first time away from the boys) and Dave took the boys bikeriding.  About 8pm I get a call from Dave and he says-Yoseph wants to know when you are coming home-he doesn't like it when you are not here when it is his bedtime.  He misses you.  How sweet from a 14 year old, right?  That is just the way Yoseph is-very true, caring and thoughtful-touches your heart!

One last story and then I must go to bed....bedtime and Fit don't always see eye to eye!  He came out of his room tonight after about an hour (we thought he was sleeping) and told Dave that he was hot.  Dave went in his room and found the DVD player hiding under his pillow!  No wonder it was so hot-the DVD player gives off tons of heat when you are watching it.  Meanwhile-we were celebrating b/c he went to bed pretty easy tonght in his own bed-little did we know why!!  Typical kids....

Here are a few more pics from today!!

Lisa & Dave

Life is GOOD!!!

It was only 2 weeks ago today tht we received a call about the boys...feels like they have been with us much longer and we can't imaine life without them!  They have mastered bike riding and swimming already along with many other things! They are like sponges constantly soaking up new information-faster than we can imagine.  Ha Ha-If anyone knows how to set up parental controls for ALL electronic devices-Please call me!!  I need to learn these things FAST!!!  I think Fit had taken apart everything he possibly can get his hands on-he is a spit fire-total boy and we love him for it!!!  For those who are familiar with the Ethiopian shrug-Fit is a master at that too-but it is short lived and we all laugh and respond by saying "Ethipian Drama"-including Yoseph!!  Yoseph has the funniest sense of humor and always comes out with something that makes us laugh-it is amazing how much English he knows and understands!  He is so mature and has experienced more than we can ever imagine, but he is finally able to be a kid and he is enjoying it.  They truly are amazing-we are blessed!

We took them to church today-they enjoyed it and were even singing the songs!  Finally got a photo of the 4 of us-not the best, but will get more soon.  I will post a  few more that I took!!  One of my favorites is Dave and Fit sleeping on the chair-it is adorable!

We decided to chage the name of our Blog to "God Bless the Broken Road"...for those Rascal Flatts fans (we love them!!!)-the song says it all.  Here are the lyrics if you are interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Nzs-r9ZUc 
We have had so many ups, downs, twists and turns in our adoption, but God had truly blessed the broken road for us and will continue to do so.  You just never know what your path will be!

We are bringing the boys to the beach/park tomorrow for fishing, soccer, and lots of playing!!  Should be fun!  We are taking another week off with them and then plan to put them in school the first week of October.

Thanks to everyone for their support!!

Lisa & Dave

Our New Additions!!!!

Well...it has been an amazing 2 weeks for us-I don't even know where to start! Dave and I are now the proud parents of 2 amazing boys-Yoseph (age 14) and Fitamlak (age 8) from Ethiopia. Circumstances came about recently that gave us this wonderful opportunity for the boys to join our family. Lisa met the boys while in Ethiopia in May and spent a lot of time with them and just fell in love with them then! We received a call almost 2 weeks ago (Thank you GRACE!!!!) that they needed a family and the rest is history!! We traveled to Chicago last week and spent the week with them in a hotel while the paperwork was being finalized and then came back to FL this past Wednesday! We didn't expect to be in Chicago that long, but it was a blessing in disguise-it was great bonding time for all of us! The boys have been in he US since September 12th and are doing so well with all of the adjustments-they are phenomenal kids!! We just love being parents to them!


We have had so many "firsts" already...here are some pics (yes-I need to dote and show them off!!) of the boys and I will do my best to keep up with blogging our funny stories(there are already so many already) and new info!! They are learning and experiencing so much each day-it is truly amazing and blessing to be a part of it with them. They are the BEST!!!
We have been waiting for our kids (Danny and Yordanos from Bethel) for almost 2 years and often asked ourselves why? God truly works in amazing ways-can't even begin to tell you-I guess this was the plan all along! To answer your next question....Yes we are still adopting Daniel and Yordanos-we've always wanted a big family!! Things seem to be moving along with our case so we hope to have more good news soon!

We look forward to you all meeting our sons!!! Sounds so good to say that!!!  I just realized I need to change the title of our blog....will think of a new one!!!

More later...
Lisa & Dave