Friends

My friend Becky came over with her beautiful children, Alec and Haven. They are from the same orphanage as Nyah. Our families met when we started the adoption process together at an informational event, except that I had to sit and watch Becky endure a torturous wait for a referral that lasted 6 or 7 months longer than ours. I don't think I could have been that strong if it were me waiting that long. The two months we waited for a referral felt like an eternity. Rough times, so we are just glad her and Naing are home with their sweeties. They were definately worth the wait!

I love Becky!

Marquez was glad to take a break from homeschooling.

exploring

Nyah's future husband

Come again!

Six months ago

The social worker from our agency came out the other day to do our 6 month post adoption report required by the Ethiopian governement. It got us thinking a lot about Ethiopia and the memories that are dear to our hearts. I didn't have very time to take pictures, journaling, or video footage in Ethiopia because Nyah was only happy if she was held! But here are a few...

The babyless crib in our room at the guesthouse. We couldn't meet Nyah until after signing papers with the lawyer the next morning.

Orin unpacking onto the beautiful handmade African quilt that Nyah threw up on countless times that week!

signing paperwork for the Embassy appt.




meeting Nyah for the first time- she took our breath away she was so beautiful- the pictures didn't do her justice

Proud daddy, confused baby

Toukoul "sistas"

Dadi the driver took us to the museum. It was fascinating to me since I love studying history and other cultures. This woven table with built in cup holders was neat.

painting depicting the Queen of Sheba meeting King Solomon

ancient Yatzee

artwork from around the country- a trained eye can tell which part its from by the type of weave pattern

a more modern work of art

Off to the Embassy appointment to get the babies' passports. These slings were great since there are no carseats or even seatbelts if you brought a carseat. The mains roads weren't too bad but the dirt side roads could jostle a baby right out of your lap if you weren't careful! It was sweltering hot in the van but if we opened up the windows, black plumes of diesel fuel wafted in. The rides were an adventure to say the least. It was fun when we went into oncoming traffic to pass someone or narrowly escaped plowing over a pedestrian. And traffic lights and stop signs- who needs those? They just slow you down anyway.

The differences in our two cultures was fascinating, refreshing, interesting, thought provoking. I wish we could've stayed so much longer to take it all in. Isn't there such beauty in variety? We serve a creative God.

We Miss Ethiopia

One of our favorite parts of Ethiopia was getting to know our driver, Dadi. He was such a wealth of information and loved telling about his country as he drove us around Addis to do sightseeing. It was obvious that he loves is country and talked about the history, people and customs with such pride. We learned so much from him that we will be able to pass on to our daughter someday. It was invaluable.

students on break milling around outside their school gates

heading up to Mt. Entoto

young girl carrying eucalyptus branches down the mountain to sell in the city

It was beautiful up there!

You could see all of Addis. Dadi could pick out the Mercato, Embassy and the orphanage from here. Amazing. The smell from the eucalyptus trees was so strong it was as if we were covered in Vic's Vapor Rub.

We gave a soccer ball to this sweet family who lives in the forest. The girl was so excited to show her brother when he got home from school.

a cave in the monastery

passing out our kids' leftover Halloween candy on the way down- maybe we should have passed out toothbrushes, too :)

Back at the guesthouse after a long day. This is the frenchman who started the Toukoul Orphanage after adopting an Ethiopian orphan himself.

Aster, who helped start Toukoul as well.

A gal who worked at the guesthouse. She was so sweet but the language barrier was there so all we could do was smile, hug, and laugh with each other. Wish I had studied Amharic before we came.

Ethiopian barbeque

Giant turtle that Nyah can come back and visit when she is 50 and it will still be alive!

Orin tries on the Sleepy Wrap that doubled as our "carseat"in Ethiopia.

Nyah playing with her friend who had been in the crib next to her at Toukoul.
It was time to head to the airport. I was bawling. I did want to be home again but I didn't want to leave Ethiopia. Orin and Dadi shed tears for each other as well. So many overwhelming emotions when you are there that it is hard to process them all until much later.

Marquez telling about his awesome skateboarding trick he mastered.

We had to give Nyah her own Playstation controller so she doesn't grab Will's while he's playing.

Helping Daddy get the '66 T Bird running

My sweet friend Sheri made this hat for Nyah's baby shower and I was hoping it would fit this winter.

Nyah decided that she doesn't like to lay still while drinking her bottle- she prefers to stand and move around. Too funny!

Not a fan of teething biscuits

I'm not a fan, that is.

An Evolving Sea of Blankets

8:00 pm. It started with one blanket thrown over the slide and soon beds were being ripped apart all over the house for the blankets they could provide... I was dreading all the work this would make for me tomorrow. But the kids were so proud of their creation and I didn't want to squelch their sheer excitement.
Soon it started caving in (Nyah was the culprit) and the backup was calling in to reinforce the structure.

Nyah hanging out with "Titty" (Kitty) so she doesn't get trampled.

"Can we sleep in here tonight? Please!" Shoot, I don't think we'll ever get Will to sleep tonight.

They woke up at 6:15am to continue their wolf pack game. On a Sunday.

Lil' Miss Sunshine

"How old is he?" we were asked in Costco when Nyah was wearing this outfit. I thought blue was okay on girls if it has flowers on it. Apparantly not. I want to get her ears pierced so she stops being mistaken for a boy. Still trying to talk Orin into that one. He says she's too young.

Momma's girl

She likes to put the dishes in herself- has a mini-fit if you try to help her!




Look who's walking by herself now