Welcome Home

After two days of travel and insanity, we finally made it home. We came home to snow and Luke has stamped out Welcome Home in the snow in the front yard. So sweet. We were welcomed home by our boys, the Johns, Baysore and Clark families. It was wonderful. The brought tons of food, gifts and tears...yes, they were all crying when we came in!!







The girls were very shy at first. I'm sure they were wondering "what in the world is going on?" They were a little clingy at first but finally got down and explored the house. The girls did NOT like our dog Truman. He is a rat terrier, so not a big scary dog. But no matter how small he was, they were scared of him. Liza would scream bloody murder. Ava would climb up your body if she was standing on the floor. It didn't take long for Ava to warm up to Tru Tru as she calls him. Now she won't leave the poor dog alone. Loves on him, kisses him and covers him up with her dolls blanket. Liza will tolerate him, won't really touch him, but they can at least be in the same room and she won't freak out.

We have such a wonderful church family. I don't think I had to cook for about a week and a half. Everyone brought us wonderful yummy food. It was so nice. I was so tired from jet lag and just emotionally exhausted, I was so grateful for help with dinners.
The girls have been home just over 6 weeks now. What a difference 6 weeks have made. They are honestly different children.
It was tough the first few weeks. Mainly, going from 3 to 5 kids, two of those being toddlers--that don't know English. Communicating with Ava was really hard the first few weeks. But she is now understanding us most of the time and she is picking up English fast. Liza is also picking it up--she just tries to repeat what Ava says.

I was really worried about Ava at first but things are so much better. She used to cry.....she would get into a "zone" and just cry and moan. It was awful and there was nothing we could do for her. She had to just work through it. I would just hold and rock her. It just broke my heart. She hasn't had one of those episodes for some time now. I guess that was her way of mourning.....
I'm a "fixer" and it just tore me up to have to watch her go through that. Liza never really cried like that, she was just very needy and wanted me to hold her at all times. Which was hard when Ava was having a break down. Believe me, we still have our moments, but they are much more spread out.

The girls have really come out of their shells and are showing their personalities. We laugh a lot at them, yes-at them. They like to perform. They love playing with their brothers and following them everywhere. Every morning Ava and I go through the same routine.....Ava: Owen? I say- he's at school. Ava; Luke? I say..he's at school too. Hannah....she's at school. Da da, he's at work. We usually go through this 3 or times before she is satisfied. Both Daddy and Luke have been home the past couple of days with the flu and she is totally confused!!!

Leaving Ethiopia

Even typing the title brings tears to my eyes. The day we left Ethiopia was an emotional day for us. We missed home and our boys so much, but leaving was tearing me apart. I was scared, I was sad, I was homesick. But I was grateful, happy and a new momma to two beautiful little girls.

We finally took our "group" picture that we had talked about all week, we could never seem to get all of us together at the same time. Someone was either gone or napping :)



So here is the gang. It's amazing the bond you make with these people. I know some of you reading this may think...how? You only met them a few days ago and only knew them a few days....But it's strange. Ask anyone who has adopted and stayed at a guest house with other adoptive families. There is an instant bonding. I don't know how else to say it. Luckily, we had wonderful companions on this trip. The other families were all so sweet and so funny. We laughed a lot....a lot. And now Facebook and emails let us keep up with each other and find out how all the kiddos are doing. My heart is so full thinking of my friends and their beautiful children.

Darren and I packed, or should I say, I packed and Darren and Hannah tried to keep the girls out of my way. They kept "unpacking" stuff as fast as they could. They loved to "help" mommy. We left for the airport with several other families in tow. And we waited in line.....and waited. I hate to admit it but I did feel a little uncomfortable at the airport. We had a few stares and a few glares. Once we boarded the plane the craziness began. I laugh now, but believe me, I was NOT laughing then. Liza slept all through the airport, waiting in lines and boarding. Five minutes before take off, guess who is wide awake. Of course. She did not like the seat belt at all. She was a wild little monkey trying to escape. The kids are not able to stand or walk around anymore. They told me she literally had to be strapped to me while in the air. It was insane and I was slowly becoming delerious. My whole body hurt from trying to keep her sitting. Ava, Darren and Hannah had a pretty good stretch of sleep on that flight. No, I'm not bitter.....:) As we took off I began to cry....the lady next to me patted my hand. I just couldn't help it, I felt like I was leaving a part of my daughters behind. I cried for them.

We landed in Frankfort to ice and snow. Yeah fun. We finally took off about 3-4 hours after our scheduled time....all of that sitting on the plane on the runway. Holy Cow. Now it was Ava's turn to freak and I continued to try to stay awake and calm her. To say the least I failed miserably. We have been up for over 24 hours now and I got no sleep on the first leg of the flight. We settled in for another long flight and we did get in a nap or two over the course of 9 hours or so.....there were alot of kids on the flight so it wasn't just my two being loud...thank goodness. But it was still hard. The girls were scared, hungry and tired. I could only feed them so many cheerios before the "fun" and "newness" wore off. The food on the plane was not great and there was no way the girls were eating it--nor did we. So the ride continues to get worse and worse. We had a row of huge German men behind us...HUGE, they were not happy with the crying and they let us know by kneeing the back of our seats just a bit too hard to be an accident. The last half hour of the plane ride I was sobbing.....Ava was crying, Liza was squirming, Hannah had her Ipod on full blast trying to drown all of us out and poor Darren was pretty much trying to calm all of us. Unfortunately, the flight crew didn't really help..they tried a couple of times but eventually they just let us wallow in our pain.

When we finally landed in Chicago we were a mess. Everyone passing us getting off the plane just looked at us...with pity, I think. One lady did touch Darren on the shoulder and tell him "he had a beautiful family". At that point, Darren about cried....that was the first nice thing anyone had said to us in over 24 hours. We just wanted off that plane. We walked into the airport and a ton of weight lifted off our shoulders, we were finally home. Well, almost. We had a 2 1/2 hour drive ahead of us. We got our luggage, went through immigration with no trouble at all. I have heard horror stories about waiting in line at immigration. We handed the man our packet and walked to the bench to sit down.....I didn't even get my back pack off and he called our name and said we were done. Woo Hoo. The guy scanning luggage took one look at us and told us to go on through. I guess crying for an hour and looking a mess does have it's perks. :)

Hannah, the girls and I waited for Darren to get the truck. I really think he parked in Indiana. It was snowing like crazy and the girls were wound up. They were running back and forth in a little hallway. Of course, I had dolled them up with huge flowers in their hair and everyone was commenting on how cute they were. Man, it was nice to be home!!! We dug out winter coats for the girls and piled them in the truck. They really didn't know what to think of the snow. They were great on the way home and we were very anxious to see our boys.

I will continue the homecoming on another post. It has taken me all day to write this. I had to stop for lunch, to pick up the older kids from after school meetings, dinner, Luke's basket ball practice etc.......you get the point. And I am now finishing this after putting the girls to bed. I usually get Eliza to bed and Darren gets Ava to bed. Well, I had double duty tonight, Darren is out of town. I put Ava to bed and laid down with her. She tossed and turned for awhile and I wasn't sure if she was asleep. At one point, she reached over and felt my face. She let out a long sigh and rolled over. At that moment it hit me that she was making sure I was there.......I think she knows I am her mamma. I think she is realizing this is for real and this is her family now. I always tell her I love her and she will repeat it back to me. I'm pretty sure she doesn't really know what she is saying...just repeating. But I think her reaching out touching my face might have been the first time she said she loves me. I am bursting with happiness..and of course crying. I seem to do that a lot.......

The Gorge

The Gorge was beautiful. We hiked down to the waterfall and that is where the baboons were. I was so excited!!! I am a huge animal lover..even if they are wild and would most likely rip my face off if I got too close. But it was so cute to see the mommies carrying the babies on their backs.
Ryan and Darren went down to the Portuguese Bridge, but us girls stayed behind and watched. It was quite a haul and a rocky one at that. The guys got super close to the waterfall and the baboons.
I hope to one day be able to take the girls back to see their beautiful country.

Day Trip to Blue Nile Gorge

We were on our way to Blue Nile and we were in the middle of nowhere. We jokingly asked Alazar if we could pull over and take pictures of a little boy playing along side the rode. Alazar pulled over, so we climbed out and were instantly swarmed by children. They came running from all over. They wanted money, but we gave them cheese crackers instead. They all loved getting their picture taken and looking at themselves in the viewfinder. The children were beautiful. Once they got close enough, we also noticed they were all very dirty and their clothes were just rags hanging on them. It was very humbling. And it solidified that feeling that we were called to adopt and we were definitely doing the right thing in bringing our girls home.


These are all pictures of the countryside on the way to the Blue Nile Gorge.

Bringing Our Girls Home

These are pictures of us going to pick up the girls from the Transition House. I would love to show more pictures of all the children but I am not sure who all has passed court, so I can't show most of them. The kids were so fun. We brought dum dum suckers, which were a huge hit. And Meggan sent stickers for us to give the kids, as you can see in the pictures....another huge hit.

This is Eliza and her nanny, Hiwot.


Hannah meeting the girls for the first time.

This little boy is Abenet, I think he is from the same region as our girls. He was the sweetest boy. On our court date trip when we had to take the girls back the the transition home I was a mess saying good bye and Alazar was trying his hardest to explain to Ava what was happening. Abenet jumped down from his bunk bed and came over and started talking to Ava--explaining that I was her Mommy and I would be back soon to get her. Of course, I cried harder. I gave him the biggest hug and kiss, and he smiled from ear to ear knowing he helped us.

This is Yonni...his father Tony, stayed with us at Addis Flower, so Ava and Yonni got to play together all week. He was so tiny but hilarious. Ava loved playing with him. She recently saw his picture on FaceBook and yelled "Hi Yonni"


This is the sister of the little girl above with Abenet.

We're back.......

So, we have been home a week and seriously, this is the first time I have been able to sit down and type. I have two leaches that are attached to me at all times. Which is great, but also a big change for me. My other kids are fine on their own. Ava and Eliza need our full attention at all times. I will try to catch up on pictures and more details later. I just wanted to let everyone know that we did make it home safe and sound.

The trip to Ethiopia was much more draining for me this time. Not sure why, it just was. We had a wonderful time. Everyone we shared the guest house with were just amazing and so fun to hang out with for the week. There were Ryan and Meggan, Doug, Ben and Teresa, and Tony. We had so much fun. Kids all over the place!!!! We all went out to eat at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant, I somehow ended up eating cow intestine.....so that was a great laugh for everyone...everyone but Meggan who almost tossed her cookies :) We took the 3 gals and Yonaton who work at the guest house out to eat with us that night. They were so wonderful to us while we were there. The girls took great care of our babies when we needed to go somewhere and Yonaton was wonderful with them also. He would play basketball and soccer with the bigger kids.

We took a trip to Blue Nile Gorge with Meggan, Ryan and Alazar. It was beyond beautiful. It was a full days trip but so worth it. We stopped in small village along the way. We just pulled over along side the road and kids ran up and swarmed us. Ryan had crackers and gave them to the kids. They were so sweet. And we also stopped along side the road and Darren bought me a Injera basket. It was very cool and the basket is amazing. The gorge had baboons running around so I was thrilled. I know they are mean and would probably rip my face off, but I still got the biggest kick out of seeing them out in the wild.

The plane ride home was ok......first 9 hour leg was about a 5 on a scale of 10. I cried taking off just because I was sad for the girls leaving Africa. Ava slept most of the time, Eliza did not...she was almost impossible to keep in a seat belt...one that is strapped to mine. My whole body hurt from trying to hold her down. The next 9 hour leg was torture. Ava was not happy. Cried pretty much the entire time. I cried about the last half hour out of pure exhaustion and frustration. Nothing could console Ava. She was hysterical. The other people on the flight were not so happy either. Once we landed in Chicago and they could get down and run around they were both fine. Came home to snow....they weren't really sure what to think about that.
We also came home to a wonderful welcome from the boys and friends. It was so nice to see familiar faces and to hug my boys. I missed them so much. And they both look like they grew a foot since we were gone!!!

The adjustment has been hard on all of us, but honestly we are hanging in there. We all seem to have a rough day here and there. Speaking of adjustment...both girls are finally napping so I better run and get my shower in now!!!
More updates later....a shower wins out over adding pictures :)

Off to Ethiopia!!!

We leave tomorrow to start our trip to Ethiopia to bring Ava Meskerem and Eliza Tabita home. HOME!!!! HOME!!!! I can hardly believe it. I have been a mess the past week or so. It just seems like we have waited so long for this and now it is actually happening. Jennifer (the other half of Inge) and I were talking about dossier paperwork the other day...that seems like ages ago. Now in less than a week our girls will be here, in their home. Isn't that crazy? I can't imagine how strange all of this will be to them. We may even have snow when we get back. What will they think of that??? What will they think of their brothers and sister? What will they think about our dog, Truman? They are going to be in culture shock for some time, I'm sure.

Today I packed for our trip. I would pack a little, clean a little, cry a little. I pretty much spent the entire day doing those 3 things.
I am so ready to have my girls home. But with that comes a whole new batch of responsibilities. I am going to have to dig deep to use every ounce of patience I have with the girls. I have to show them everyday how special they are and how loved they are. But that also means, not neglecting my other 3 kids. It is going to be a balancing act. One huge responsibility is to stand up for my girls. For their culture, heritage and color. Yes, color. My girls will be the minority in our small little town. We still have some very racist people around and I am sure I will get looks and comments. I have to be prepared to stand up for them and be able to teach my girls to stand up for themselves and be proud of who they are. For the most part, everyone is very supportive of our decision to adopt two little girls from Africa. I have had a few questions to "why Ethiopia?" Jennifer and I keep saying we have to get a thick skin to handle all the comments and stares when we cruise through town with our babies. Isn't that sad? Knowing we have to prepare ourselves for something so awful? Hopefully, I will be pleasantly surprised. If you read Jennifer's blog, you will see that she has posted about several situations that have happened to us and one to her. You can find her blog in my blog list. Read it. Her last blog was about a "fad". Yes, many people say that adopting is the latest fad. Wow. How sad. The latest fad might be my Ugg boots or Jeggings. Something we will tire of quickly and move on to the next best thing. Ummm, a child is not a fad. That is something you invest in for the rest of your life. A child is not a $100 pair of boots. They are not something you think about for a moment and go ahead and get, knowing that 6 months down the road you will never wear again. No, a child is not a fad. It makes me sick to think people believe that. Those babies are mine. I love them as much as my children I gave birth to. They are no different. Hannah, Luke and Owen are not fads.....neither are Ava and Eliza. Blood pressure rising...need to move on........

I cannot wait to bring our girls home to our family and friends. Ava and Eliza have no idea how many people already love them.
Now if we can just get Jennifer's daughter home, this process will be complete. She has not received word of her embassy date yet...but she will. God's timing. God's plan.

Not sure if I ever posted the first referral pictures we received of our girls. My heart skipped a beat when I opened those emails. I knew right then they were ours. I've heard other adoptive parents say that....that they knew the child was meant to be theirs the minute they laid eyes on them...I never imagined that would really be true. It was. It is. Just look at them.......




I can't wait to for you all to meet them. They are so sweet and so beautiful.

Please pray for us this week. Pray for safe travels for Darren, Hannah and I. Pray for our boys, Luke and Owen, to be well taken care of while we are gone and that they know how much we love them even though we are half a world away.
Pray for Ava and Eliza. That they are happy to see us and to start their new lives with us.
To all my family and friends....thank you for your support and love through out this process. We are so lucky to have such loving people in our lives. I am so excited that now Ava and Eliza will get to feel your love and support also!!

Off to bed for my last good nights sleep for some time. Next week, barking dogs and birds that sound like monkeys......then onto nighttime feedings and diaper changes. I'm bringing my babies home!!!!!!!!!!!!!