Dimples, watermelon and answered prayers...

We got to talk to our new friends the Slovers, last Sunday. They got back in from Ethiopia on Saturday night and were FULL of information and had TONS of new pics of our girls! Someday (hopefully soon!) I will be able to post all of the beautiful pictures they took. Here are some of the highlights of our conversation:

On their first visit they went out to the orphanage with the nurse who is handling all of the kids paperwork. She speaks fluent English and was able to translate for them.

All of the kids were "so well behaved" and adorable. Lisa said that M. was always laughing and smiling and she was funny. The pictures really show that too! She has dimples to die for!!

G. was a little more reserved and shy. It took her some time to warm up, but once she did she was fine. There are some pictures of her blowing up a big pink balloon and playing with it. She is smiling from ear to ear. There are also two pictures of her waving to us and blowing us kisses!

They "go to school" everyday, in another room and wear "uniforms".
The kids can speak very little English, know their ABC's, can count from 1-10, know some basic sight words, and some basic math. They have 2 teachers and Lisa said that out of the 3 orphanages they visited the kids at Bethel seemed to speak the most English.

The kids pray a few times a day and are very spiritual. The kids were so excited to see that the Slovers brought them all shoes,because they had been praying for shoes!

Their second trip back to the orphanage, Lisa and her husband brought fruit and snacks. She said our G. and her boy could not get enough of the watermelon. None of the kids had eaten it before and they were fascinated by it!

The best- best- best information she gave us was that the girls have our photo albums and sleep with them in their beds! They were able to point out all of us in the pictures, and talked about Grace and Jack! They also know they are being adopted.

Lisa also was able to measure them and get their height and shoe sizes. They are tiny little things- it's nice to have an idea of what size they will wear. I already picked up a few things!

All this information was a joy to receive, yet makes us even more eager to see their smiling faces in person. We long to hug them and meet all the children in the orphanage. That will be a wonderful day.

Like manna from Heaven...

This email arrived in my inbox this morning all the way from Ethiopia, Africa!

Hello ladies....
Today is our last day in ET- we stayed at the Hilton our last night (anniversary present-we celebrated our 12 year anniversary while in ET) so we have decent internet service-YAY!! We head back to US tonight and will get in to FL on Saturday evening. I have SOOO much info and pics for the three of you on your kids-I can't even put it all in an e-mail. It will be much easier for me to talk to you so please give me a call at xxx-xxx-xxxx sometime on Sunday and I will fill you all in! We should be home all day recouping-except for church until 11am.
Also, please send me your mailing addresses as I have something for all three of you from your kids-they are amazing!!!!

Talk to you soon....

The Slovers have been in Ethiopia for the past ten days and we are SO excited to talk to them! We have been waiting since February for more information on our girls, so this is a true blessing. These little bits of information, pictures and video keep us pushing through, praying and keeping the faith that our girls will be home in 2008. Thank you Lisa!

Thursday night I got the chance to talk to a woman with Nurses with a Purpose, who just got home from Ethiopia! She was at Bethel on Monday!! I couldn't believe it. Thank God for the internet, and the fact that our paths crossed. Here are some highlights of our conversation:

There are only 19 children at Bethel.

The doctor who runs the orphanage is a very Godly man. He is a workaholic- but very gentle and peaceful. All the kids call him "daddy" (in Amharic of course). He comes to visit the children every Sunday, and really loves all the kids.

The caretaker of the orphanage is also a wonderful man who really cares for the kids. He speaks English!

Everyone is very laid back and relaxed about everything. The nurse commented that it would be so hard to be an adoptive family, because the Ethiopians take their time on everything! (She has NO idea!)

The children go to school everyday and there is a separate building for it, but she wasn't sure how much time they spent there.

All the buildings are very simple, and not very sophisticated, like the old modular school buildings we have in the U.S.

Monday night the orphanage had a bonfire for the nurses and made them a meal. All the children were singing worship songs, in praise to God. One little boy even prayed specifically for the group of nurses. She says that the children know about Jesus!

Although the nurse couldn't remember our girls specifically, she did make a very deep connection with one little boy in particular. We realized throughout our conversation that I know who his adoptive parents are! She had so much information on this precious young boy, and I was so excited for his parents-to-be. Hopefully they will talk soon. The crazy part about all that is both the nurse and the adoptive parents live in the same area code, in the same state!! So this is the beginning of hopefully, a life long connection. How cool is God?

We cherish this information and will store it away to share with the girls someday. I am sure they will remember this devoted group of nurses who came to spend time, play, eat and worship with them!

In the desert

Today I choose to focus on Jesus. I will no longer focus on our circumstances with this adoption, but on God. He is my victory, not a court date! In Christ we will conquer this wait. No weapon formed against me shall remain....


Desert Song, Hillsong Live

Look what I found!

There are times when desperation kicks in as we WAIT and WAIT and WAIT some more for any news or progress of our adoption. I came across a group online called "Nurses with a Purpose". A great organization that enables nurses to volunteer in needy areas around the world. One of those areas is Ethiopia! AND at Bethel Orphanage where our girls live!!! I couldn't believe my eyes when I found a journal entry by the woman that started the organization, it gave me so many details of where our girls live, and an inside look into their lives. What a great find. Read for yourself!

***Excerpts from Pat’s Journal from her recent trip to Uganda and
Ethiopia.

...then we went to the orphanage. 21 children between the ages of 4-8. All are orphans of HIV parents who have died. First qualification to get into the orphanage
is that they must have absolutely no living relatives. Second is that they are negative for HIV(70% of the children who are positive, test negative at 18mos)Thirdly, they must be Ethiopian. The orphanage was quite interesting. They have a working farm with 50 dairy cows from which the milk is sold to support the school.
They plant to feed the cows, and use the manure to make natural gas for the kitchens.
The school has one teacher, 5 hours a day, who has no books to teach from. The
children know practically no English. They were well behaved sitting at their desks
but without the teachers or the tools – are falling behind on education. I went today
and bought pencils, books, paper, ABC toys and learn-to-read toys to last them 6-
12 months. ………my day has been so abundantly blessed. I feel so far away from home….I feel so alive here – so purposeful. I can make a difference here – I love this country and the heart of its people……

One of the families with children at Bethel is leaving for Ethiopia on Wednesday. They are in the same boat as us with a long wait, and so decided to go for a visit to meet their children. I was able to talk to her today and she is going to get our girls shoe sizes, and shirt sizes and hopefully get a small glimpse into their personalities. She will be taking a few recent pictures of us to give to the girls. We didn't have time to get a package in the mail to her, but she assures me that they have plenty of fun things for all the kids at Bethel.

We are going to be in prayer for their travel, adventure, first time meeting of their children, and the emotional goodbyes as well.

Our July so far...

I haven't posted in a while, as summer has whipped us into a frenzy of traveling, activities and fun! Here's what we've been up to...

Chris and I enjoyed an overnight date to Annapolis to see Brooke Fraser perform at Ram's Head Tavern. It was a wonderful time to reconnect and hear one of our fave musicians. We had some YUMMY Thai food at Lemongrass, walked around for a bit and then headed to the concert. We stayed at the Westin Annapolis and were spoiled by their "Heavenly Bed".... OH MY GOSH. I want one. Breakfast IN the Heavenly Bed might have been the highlight!





We celebrated the 4th of July one day early, as the kids and I left for Florida with my dad on the 4th. We grilled out, chowed on yummy corn on the cob, and blew off some little fireworks in our backyard. A simple family celebration. It doesn't take much to impress our little ones!



Way too early on July 4th, my dad, my mom, the kids and I loaded up and headed south. We spent a week down in Flagler Beach, Florida visiting my Grandma and Grandpa, uncles, aunts and cousins. It was a cherished time, and I am thankful for it. My beloved grandma is declining with age and it breaks my heart. As she suffers from dementia and Parkinson's disease, my grandpa is doing all he can to keep her home and comfortable. I pray for their peace of mind and rest in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Prayers were answered while we were there and I praise Jesus for that!

The kids and I spent lots of time enjoying God's beautiful creation, playing in the waves and sand. We sure missed Chris though, and were glad to get home to him.





The highlight of our month so far has been getting pictures of the girls!! (I wish I could post them!) Grace, from our agency was finally able to make it out to the girls orphanage and took lots of pictures. It was just the boost we needed to get through this last stretch of not knowing what will happen next. We are still waiting for any information in regards to a court date.