More of Day 3 (Meetcha Day)

So that you can see her smile....a little more for your viewing pleasure.....

 

 

 

 

So we had limited resources in our little room for the day.....

so we are well aware that she has "food" on her face.  :) 

Ethiopia: Day 3 of 9. August 2nd.

MEETCHA DAY!

 

 We arrived a bit late at 8 am or so.  We made it through customs & immigration.  All of our luggage was there (praise!) and headed outside to meet our driver.  It was rainy.  (Rainy season in full swing). 

 

By the time we make it to our guest house, the adrenaline is rushing and we think we are going to meet Miss Chloe any minute.  We meet another CHI family right off the bat (actually had met online and communicated and were able to bring some motion sickness medicine for their sweet 10 year old).  Then our driver told us we would be picked up by our agency at 3:30-4:00.  What?  We had to wait 6+ hours???  We were a bit frustrated, but didn't want to rock any boat and start off our trip with complaints.  So we settled into our room and laid down to take a nap.  About the time we fell asleep (maybe 30 minutes later), we get a call from the front desk that our driver was waiting on us!  Apparently, Addis has it's own time!  So 3:30 meant 9:30 and we were on our way, albeit very tired now after a tease of a nap.  What we had waited for.........................................................

 

  

 



Daddy's little girl!

Little Miss Serious

  


As you can see she cried for about 20 seconds.  Then we cuddled, she fell asleep on us, we slept a little ourselves, we fed her, we changed her, we played, we may have dozed off again (remember the 24 hour like flight)  all in all the day was perfect. 

 

 

 

 



Ethiopia: Day 2 of 9. August 1st.

Well this is kind of our "lost" day.  We flew from DC (Dulles International Airport) directly to Ethiopia on Ethiopian Airlines.  The flight itself was (only) 14 hours.  But add the 8 hours we lost to the time change and you have almost a full day.  We arrived in Ethiopia on the 2nd.  So this was a lot of movie watching, music listening, should have been reading time. 



Our gate was right below the Ethiopian flag!  How convenient!

          

Ready to board in 10 minutes.  Ethiopia or bust!

Our airline.

Just getting started!

 So by far our favorite movie was 42. We had not seen it yet and watched it for the first time.  Here we were headed to Africa.  I couldn't help but be grateful for how far we've come.  And I sincerely THANK courageous people like Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey who paved the way. And that was 15 some years before Martin Luther King's famous freedom speech. I am so grateful for MLK and his dream:

 

 

"I have a dream that one day....little black boys and black girls will be able

 to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

MLK 8.28.63

 

This sister and these brothers are ready to join hands, Miss Chloe.  We are coming!

 

Ethiopia: Day 1 of 9. July 31st

OK, well on day 1 we actually were not yet in Ethiopia.  But as I am wanting to share details of our trip I feel like I can't leave out day 1.

Day 1 is when we left Missouri.  Sure we only made it to DC, but we were starting on our adventure.  Is this really happening?  We've been waiting for 2.5 years and now we are on our way !!!  Pinch me.  Lots of emotions running through me.  Will we like our guest house?  Will they have electricity?  Does our luggage weigh too much?  What did I forget to pack? 

Also we left Missouri and our 3 big kids were still there.  So blessed to have the Gerdel family (truly our family) take care of my babies.  I wouldn't have it any other way---well except for maybe their doting grandparents :)  (which plan to on trip 2).  I knew we were going to be away from them for what seemed like a long while and that was going to be hard.

Day 1: Sitting at STL airport ready to board for DC!

This post (as we headed to DC) is to simply say THANK YOU.  Thank you to those that have gotten us here.  These past 2 years, you've encouraged, supported, financed, helped, baked, ran,  bought, donated, prayed, and encouraged some more.  The time had finally come.    We do have one adoptive friend who at one point said we should have called our 5K, C.H.L.O.E's run (or fund)....CHLOE standing for  the Church Helping Love Others for Eternity!!!  What a great reminder of when we give, tell, offer hope, encourage we are making an eternal difference.  Not only is Chloe receiving her forever family....she has the opportunity to receive Jesus as Lord & Savior and to have a new family for all eternity (and that does mean most of YOU will be her family)!

So to all of you thankyou....But on the 31st special thanks to Missy and Andrew who love my kids like their own, Jessica and Ryan who sacrificially kept our dog (huge sacrifice of yard and perhaps of non-scratched legs), Tyann Marcink and Amy Lanemann for watching our kids when Missy couldn't, Mark and Becky Baxa, Dr. Turner, and everyone else sending up prayers on our behalf as we headed off to meet our daughter!!!

We're on our way, Chloe!

Keepin' It Real....

May has been a long month. I guess I did skip right over our 22 months and we are a week out from 23 months.  Today was the first referral in over a month and it was also the first referral for a family that was behind us on the list. (It was a boy referral and the  family had waited 22 months.)  I sure am hoping that there aren't too many referrals behind us....cause that is kind of a poopy feeling.  (Hence the title "Keepin' It Real").  So we remain at #10.

Here is some good news:  the process after referral seems to be moving along quicker.  Of course this can be one of the major variables.  The normal process is birth parent interview, then usually court date would be scheduled 4 weeks after (if everything was in place and the birth parent interview went well).......but I know of 3 families who had a birth parent interview and then were needing to be in Ethiopia within 5-10 days!!!!  {That is NOT much notice, people!}  But that is also so exciting because if we "hypothetically" get a referral at the beginning of June and have our birth parent interview 4-5 weeks later, that means if things move as quickly as they have been we could be in Africa at the end of July!!  THIS IS OUR PRAYER!  Please continue to pray on Chloe's behalf.

We have A LOT going on with our family. Baseball, baseball rain outs, rescheduled baseball and throw in some dance recitals, bible bowl trips, church camp, prepping for VBS (oh yeah, I am interim elementary children't minister for the summer!), swim lessons coming up, etc. So the business of summer will surely be a good distraction and keep me focused instead of a blubbering mess for whatever stage I'm in.  I now have a 5th grader, 2nd grader, and a Kindergartner.  Say WHAT???!!!

                    

We had a wonderful 3rd Annual Love 2 Run 4 Love on Mother's Day weekend.   Due to some amazing sponsors (especially jacobyco---who donated the tshirts), we made about $4200.  Three different families will benefit from this and 5 different orphans (The Kramel's, The Douglas', and us).  My friend, Dianna Kramel celebrated her first official Mother's Day (although in her heart she's been a mama for a long time).   God provided a gorgeous day with wonderful weather and amazing friends and supporters.  So grateful to each and everyone of you! 

 



I have been reminded in May to take nothing for granted, to hug your loved ones often, to say "I love you!" when telling your kiddos good bye, and that we must continue to pray.  I've attended 3 funerals in May (well one is this weekend--but he went to Jesus in May).  One was after a long battle of illness, one was a shock even in the midst of a continued storm (thinking things were turning around for the better) and one was so tragic there was no way you could even imagine it coming, ranging from a 77 year old to a 2 year old.  {Sidenote:  I was blessed to see the 2 year old's celebration of life memorial service via a live stream---which was just so moving.  Blessed by this family's testimony and faithfulness in the midst of brokenness and I haven't even met them in 'real' life. If possible, please watch this small segment where the pastor shares some thoughts on adoption, both literally and our adoption into Christ's family.  It is worth the watch!}  The entire service is long as you might expect so you can just skip to 1:19:20 or so and find it. His entire message starts around 1:10:10.  Click HERE to watch.

Ethiopian princess.

 

My jr high and high school BFF, Christy got to meet up at Nick's wedding.  :)





My best friend and I on a much needed R&R in downtown
 New Haven, MO on the river.  I highly recommend it!
Thanks Missy for loving on our kiddos!

But I have also had a few praises this month after praying for years for some of them.  We were able to witness 2 weddings (one renewal).  Chris got to be a groomsmen for a dear, dear friend who now works with some of our closest, bestest friends (a bit jealous, but trying to get over it and yes I know 'bestest' is not a word).  The three funerals were all people who loved Christ and are with the angels in heaven.  One family is on their way to Ghana right now to meet their 3 children and stand in court to say "yes" to being their forever family after 1 1/2 years of waiting.  Already mentioned my friend Dianna, who the day after Mother's Day learned about the day she would meet her son and has already been to Ethiopia and back, passed court and is waiting to go back to get her sweet son {seriously, people the lashes on this boy are breathtaking!}, one of my best friends that I have been praying for the last 5-6 years recieved a good prognosis on her reoccuring brain tumor.  It is so good for the heart when you see prayers answered, even after such long waits.  It reminds me of 1 Peter 4: 12-13 from the Message: "Friends, when life gets really difficult don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job---instead be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced.  This is a spiritual refining process with glory just around the corner."  It is good to see God's answers.  It is good to see growth during the refining process (even though we don't like it) and I KNOW that God is on the job.  He always has been.  I'm just waiting to turn the corner!