I know… it has been a while!! I have been procrastinating posting in hopes of some good news to share, but finally decided today to sit down and update everyone on what is going on with our adoption and also about my trip to Ethiopia in May. I’ll start with the “nothing major to report” and end with the amazing-seeing the kids again! Just a warning-this is a LONG post-I’m making up for the past 2 months!
We have officially decided to change “Our Journey” to “Our Crusade” because that is sure what it feels like! After 20 months of waiting, we are still waiting on specific paperwork on guardianship for our children-crazy, huh?. When I went to Ethiopia at the end of May and spoke with the lawyer for our agency she shared that we would get through court this summer and we should be getting another court date within a week-we have been an open case on the court docket since our last court date in April due to some paperwork that was needed. We waited and waited and didn’t hear anything. After many calls and e-mails, we received an e-mail from our agency director a few weeks ago stating that we weren’t going to get through court this summer due to some changed court rules and they will have an update for us in September. We spoke on the phone and he explained the challenges and what is still needed (too long to go into) and he said he is hopeful they will get what is needed for court approval, but can‘t give us a time line. Needless to say, this was devastating news to us. We felt so sure it was going to be this summer and we would finally bring our kids home. We are sad, mad, angry, frustrated, hurt…the list of emotions goes on, but there isn’t much we can do at this point, but wait, pray and hope for a miracle. Our hearts break for our kids who are waiting and hoping we will come for them soon. We feel in our hearts we will bring our kids home sooner or later and we will wait however long it takes and do whatever we have to do to bring them home.
We definitely have been through the ringer with this adoption-nothing like we thought it would be, but what really is? We laugh-we chose Ethiopia for many reasons-love the culture, always had a deep interest in Africa, etc…but also because of the short time frame to adopt and the fact that you only have to travel once when you pick up your kids. Ha-Ha….I have already traveled there twice to visit and we have waited twice as long as originally thought-never as we think it will be! BUT…we have learned so much along the way, met lots of great people and have really grown in our faith and as a couple. There definitely are some positives along the way that we are grateful for! I will blog soon about a non-for -profit charity that I am getting involved in through someone I met along the way! We believe things happen for a reason and sometimes it takes a while to get to the big picture.
I saw this funny shirt on someone’s blog and it really sums things up, but I can’t remember whose blog it was so I can‘t post a picture. Anyway, it says something like:
WARNING: I am in the process of adopting and yes I am still waiting. I am subject to cry and be cranky at any moment so bear with me until I am on the plane to Ethiopia! How true…so bear with us if we are cranky or not wanting to talk about it. We know everyone cares and is truly supportive of our adoption, and we so appreciate this, it is just not easy for us to talk about it when we have little news to share. As soon as we have some good news, believe me you will hear us screaming-even in NY!
I settled for this shirt, but it is pretty neat too!
Now for the fun stuff….my trip was absolutely amazing-better than I could have ever imagined! I traveled with another adoptive parent who got to meet her children for the same time-what a touching experience! I flew Emirates this time and went through Dubai-interesting experience and a much nicer plane! It was great to have some in-flight entertainment on my 16+ hour flight-I probably watched about 10 movies! I used the same driver-Ayele that we used on our last trip! I just love him-he is an awesome guy-funny and really takes care of you! He drove us every day and stayed with us for shopping, dining, etc… My first visit to Bethel (where the kids are) was amazing. Yordanos came running up to me saying Mommy as soon as she saw me-it was so sweet. She had the biggest smile on her face and all of the other kids were saying-Yordanos and Danny’s Mommy is here! I loved hearing that-I wish I could post the pictures, but not allowed until we pass court! Danny came up soon after and gave me a huge hug and kiss and said I love you Mommy. We spent some time together and I gave them special gifts from Mommy and Daddy-a necklace for Yordanos that says a saying about family on it and a watch for Danny. Dave made a video for them before I left and I showed the video-they were so excited to see Daddy-they wanted to see it over and over! One of my favorite pictures is the kids watching the video of Dave with huge smiles on their face-it is so cute! I also spent some alone time with the other kids who are being adopted and spoke to them about their families in America and told them how much they loved them and are waiting for them.
We gave out lots of donations to all of the kids. We had so many donations from various people so everyone got tons of stuff! Thank you to all who gave donations-it means the world to the kids. We brought a bunch of great school supplies for them too. Books, flash cards, markers, etc… I even brought a pennant from President Obama’s inauguration that one of my teacher’s gave me. They knew who president Obama was and were so excited to hang it in their school. We spent some time in the school house and the kids showed me how they could write in English. It is wonderful how much English they know-speaking, understanding and writing. My kids wrote on the black board-I am so happy-I love you Mommy and Daddy. Danny was so funny-he was intently writing on the board all of the words he knew in English (days of week, etc…) and spelling them pretty good. They are all so smart and gracious kids-it is amazing that they have so little and want for nothing. It was also great to see Mame-the caretaker at Bethel. She is such a kind and caring woman and just loves the kids. We stayed for a few hours and played with the kids, didn’t want to leave but we had to get back to Addis.
My next visit to Bethel was just with Ayele and myself-unfortunately my travel partner got sick and stayed behind. We stopped at a fruit stand and bought a ton of fruit and water and goodies to bring with us. The power goes on and off (seemed like more off than on) in Ethiopia frequently so we wanted to get them a good supply of water. The owner of the fruit stand was so kind-he invited us in for a fresh mango and pineapple fruit drink. In turn, I shared my trail mix with them-they had never had chocolate before-they loved it, but who doesn’t like chocolate! The PTO at Dave’s school donated about 50 shirts for the kids so I brought them for them and got some pictures of all of the kids with their school shirts on-it was fun! We spent some time with the kids-laughed, hugged and really got to know their personalities! Danny is hysterical-much different from our last visit. He was much more reserved last time and quiet. This time-he was climbing and running all over and wanted his picture taken -he would say-“photo Momma, photo” in his cute little accent. He was sticking out his tongue, making funny faces and giggling to be funny! He was a riot! Yordanos loves attention, but what 8 year old girl doesn’t! She loves soccer and competition-plays with the boys all the time as the goalie. She does well in school, but definitely has a preference for sports! She likes to play around and have fun! Before we left, Mame said that the Dr. wanted to meet me and to call him to set up a meeting. He is the reason why are kids are there-he created bethel for the kids so I was so excited to get the opportunity to meet him. I actually met him that day at the hospital and what a nice man he is. He really cares for the kids and wants them to be in a good home. I felt so honored to meet him and really thought about how his starting this orphanage and bringing Yordanos & Danny there has changed all of our lives. It was truly a wonderful experience to meet him.
My last visit to Bethel was an overnight visit. I was fortunate to be able to stay overnight with the kids and spend 2 days with them-can’t even put it into words how wonderful it was. Just spending so much quality time with the kids and getting to know them-all the kids, not just mine was a heartwarming experience. I got to eat with them and learn their habits, likes and dislikes. Danny hates macaroni, but likes pasta (long thin spaghetti). Yordanos is not picky at all-likes most everything. We spent time looking through photo albums that we sent them (we’ve sent 3 each) and they knew who everyone was! They even knew their cousins names and ages-it was so cool. They told me they can’t wait to meet them. We played games and listened to music-they loved my I-Pod! We made videos for Daddy and just hung out together. That evening the Dr. came to visit and spend some time with the kids with 2 other visiting Dr’s from Israel. They just loved the kids and the orphanage and it was nice getting to know them better. They played with the kids and showed them some funny tricks-we had fun!
Mame, the caretaker let us all sleep in her bed that night so we would all be together. This was so nice of her to do-what a blessing. We took some funny pictures in our pajamas and said a prayer thanking God for this time together. The kids fell asleep pretty fast, but I stayed awake most of the night just watching them.
I knew leaving the next day would be hard and it was even harder than I thought it would be. I am so grateful and blessed for the time with them, but it is so hard leaving them and not knowing when we will be back. I know they are well cared for at Bethel, but we just want them home. We said goodbye and they kept asking “when come back”? My only response was “soon, as soon as we pass court “. I tried to hold it together so they wouldn’t get upset, but we all teared up and hugged goodbye. I felt a pit in my stomach for about a day after our goodbyes and was so drained from all of the emotions.
My visits and time with the kids was truly amazing and I feel so blessed to have these memories to get us through the “wait”. Each time I get down and think how more can we possibly take-I look at photos, watch the videos and remember how amazing our kids are. They are worth all the time in the world and we will wait as long as it takes.
We did lots of other things on our trip, but it was really all about visiting with the kids-went to an Ethiopian Cultural restaurant-Fasika where they danced the night away and I got to try Ethiopian wine (strong!!), met lots of amazing people and learned so much more about Ethiopia. The more time I spend in Ethiopia, the more I love the country. Even the chanting at 2 or 6 am in the morning or the dogs barking at all hours of the night didn’t bother me much this trip. Maybe I was getting used to it, who knows. I am not sure how someone can go to Ethiopia and not be forever “changed” or “touched” by the people and culture. Sara Groves has an amazing song titled ‘I saw What I Saw” about her trip to Africa and it is so true (the you tube video is at the bottom of my blog). She says, “Something along the road has cut me to the soul, your pain has changed me, your dream inspires, your face a memory, your hope a fire, your courage asked me what I am made of, afraid of”. In another song, she sings, “It’s too heavy to carry, but impossible to leave”. So true-I guess that is why this trip has compelled me to do more in Ethiopia-beyond our adoption. Will blog more about that soon.
Hope you enjoyed hearing about my trip!! Thanks for being there with us on our “crusade“-we truly appreciate all of the support and encouragement and know it will happen eventually. Keep us-especially the kids in your prayers and we hope you hear us screaming good news soon!
Love,
Lisa & Dave
