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

The next best thing....

So today is my birthday and Dave has been asking me for the past 2 weeks....what do you want, how do you want to celebrate...well unfortunately we all know what I want, but I got the next best thing-New Pictures and Updates on the kids! Funny-they came by e-mail at about 11:30 last night! I have been sick all week and not really able to sleep so I was on the computer and was so excited to see the e-mails!! It is so uplifiting and energizing to get updates and new pictures-even after waiting as long as we have-it still has the same effect on us! The picture above is of their orphanage in Ethiopia-can't post any others. We sent a package of stuff with a traveling friend and she was gracious enough (in so many ways!!!) to visit our kids and take pictures and spend some time with them! Boy-do we miss them, but they are healthy and well cared for, which gives us some peace of mind.

I know people are wondering what is going on with our case and how could it ever take this long-but we are in it for the long haul no matter what-they are our kids. They are working on our case and that's about all I can share-we are optimistic, but cautious so hopefully we will have news in the next month or so. Technically, courts are closed (except for open cases-which ours is) until October 1st and supposedly they have 1 judge staying on to hear open cases as they are resolved. We'll see...


Keep praying for us and especially the kids!