my Ethiopia favorites

I wanted to share my favorite pictures from Ethiopia. It's not necessarily the picture quality (I'm not much of a photographer) but more what they represent....the feelings I remember when I see them....

This picture means SO much to me! My sister & I have shared almost everything for 38 years.....gum stuck to the sidewalk, salt in the dish, x country, basketball, the birth of Macy, the birth of Gabriel, 2 cross country road trips, hours swimming at the river, camping, sailing, coffee, countless hours on the phone...but this experience topped them all! I am soooo very grateful that God allowed my sister & I to be best friends!! and to have her on this trip! Well, I'm still pinching myself over that one!!!!

I love this one because it's the street our daughter was found near. I can't even imagine what the person who left her was feeling. I pray her family somehow knows that she is being loved & cared for.

This picture is so deceiving! It was taken the morning before we met Ellie the first time. Both our hearts were completely beating out of our chests!!!!

The sign in front of the Transition Home. I'd seen that in SO MANY other families pictures....I stopped breathing when I actually saw it for myself!

I call this one "The Joy of Adoption!" Right before they started bringing the children out we prayed....and Shannon & I bawled through the whole thing - obviously! I can't even describe how I was feeling - 14 months of anticipation for this moment...purely incredible.

The next best thing to being united with our baby - was seeing everyone else meet their children for the first time!!! I feel such an amazing connection with these families....it was like being at the birth of their children! Orphans no longer....I still get teary looking at these pictures. To think that they would've grown up with out a mom to practice their spelling with, or a dad to toss a ball too, or family to tell them how important & special & loved they are....heart wrenching.....

This picture was taken on Metcha day as Ellie was sleeping on Daddy's lap. It captures everything I was feeling!!! I remember feeling like this after the birth of each of the boys - I just look a wee bit better in this pic having not been in labor for 14 hours! and for the record it killed me not to wear a necklace - but it just wasn't snuggly enough ;) but aren't the earrings fabulous?!?!?

One of my biggest prayers through this whole process was that Ellie would be especially loved & cared for by the nannies. This picture is so precious to me. This was the nanny that swooped her up to change her for the last time right before we took her with us. She took an extra long time tickling & smooching & playing with Ellie. These women have an incredibly hard job - yet they don't hold back & for that I am grateful.

This is just one of the many faces of our "Miss Potato Head!" She is so incredibly animated....she is such a perfect fit for our family....like Someone planned it that way ;)

This is my favorite of the favorites! Julie has such an amazing way of making people feel special. She was asking the children at the orphanage what their names were & having them write it on a paper for her. Then she would write a note to them about how beautiful & special they were & how much God loved them in their little notebooks. I love that you can see the joy on Julie's face & how intently the girls are working to get their names down right!

Every time I look at the pictures from the trip I am struck at how we almost missed this.....it was a GIANT step of faith we took. Any rational person would have looked at us & told us it was ok not to adopt. We had 4 kids already. We live only on commissions - in this economy. Our hands are full. We have a lot on our plate. We have a small house. The boys need us. A mountain of excuses. Any one of them would've been enough and we would've missed out on the single greatest blessing in our lives.

Please, please, please. Don't let a mountain of excuses, or even one, keep you from exploring this amazing world of adoption. I challenge you to just see. Just see what it's about. See if you can hear God speaking to you. Our agency - America World - has a great introductory packet they will send you. It even has a DVD with testimonies of other families that have adopted. www.awaa.org

Even if you're absolutely sure God would never call you to adopt. Get the packet. Then you can pass it on to someone else! or decide to support another family that's adopting.

Our very dear friends, Craig & Caylene Knox are in the beginning stages to adopt 2 kids from Ethiopia!!!! They have taken a HUGE HUGE HUGE step of faith. The money is not there & they have no idea where it will come from. They have been scrimping & saving & going with out since November. They are still $1300 short from being able to start their homestudy. Would you be able to help them? email me directly for more info: jewelryjill@pionnetwb (dot) com

Tubby Time!!!

We LOVE our tubby time!!! She is quite a ham - even dancing in the tub while big brother Caleb "plays" the drums :)





Happy Thursday to you ALL!!!

What a month!

WOW! I can't believe we've almost been home a month!!! Ellie is doing PHENOMENAL! Especially when I think that she's lived in at LEAST 4 different places in the last year. Thank you Lord for protecting her - physically but even more emotionally. She is such a joy to be around. "Chatting" up a storm - we can understand "more, mama, and dada". She loves her babies & is constantly having me re-wrap them in a blankie! oh I LOVE IT!!!

We celebrated her 1 month home with getting her ears pierced!! I was hoping she'd want to wait a bit longer - but she talked her softy mama into it :) She did so well & they look soooo pretty on her! Even the boys commented on how cute she looked with her earrings! I promise to post pictures soon!!!

I will admit I've been feeling a bit heavy hearted since we've been back. The eyes of all the kids that were left behind have not left me. I routinely visit the blogs of our travel buddies & see how well their older kids are doing....and I pinch myself! They've only been home one month too! and they jump for joy when daddy-yah walks through the door (check out shawfamilyexpansion.blogspot.com) .....they are talking up a STORM (check out www.crazyrootsethiopia.blogspot.com/)...they have TONS of family (check out godsgiftfromethiopia.blogspot.com) ....they have someone to cheer for them when they try to take that first step.....here is an excerpt from one a family that traveled right before us and came home their 2 year old daughter.....

On Wednesday I took S** to see a pediatric orthopedic doctor to have him look at her feet and legs. In Ethiopia she was diagnosed with a functioning deformity of the feet. She has been seen by several people here who thought she was fine but just really delayed in her development of her feet, legs, muscles, balance, etc..

Anyway the doctor on Wednesday said the same thing. Everything she is doing right now looks "normal." He stated that she is just 12 to 14 months behind in her development but that everything looks normal. He thinks she will be walking in a month or so, and wants to see her back in 4 months just to make sure no arch supports or braces are needed.

We were very encouraged by this news. S** just needs additional time to continue to grow and develop. We will love to see her walking soon.

After hearing this news on Wednesday, I was encouraged that nothing is really wrong with S** feet, but then as I drove home I was saddened by that same fact. Nothing was wrong with her feet, she just was not given proper nutrition and enough opportunities to learn how to walk.

It made me think how many more "S**"are there that aren't learning how to walk because of orphanage life. I don't blame the orphanage for her delays, but the nature of orphanage life. Those nannies loved her and did the best they could with the resources they had. They simply had no room for the children to be on the floor and too many children under their care. The rooms had 10 plus babies in them and the room was the size of a bedroom. There would be no way they could all be on the floor at the same time. So life for them was their crib.

I feel like shouting from a mountain top about adoption and orphan care. I can't imagine my children without a family. I am so glad God led us to them, but I also think and consider those that are left behind. We hope that God will use our experience to encourage others to strongly consider expanding their family by adoption.

And that is my prayer too Sydney.....God use our experience to encourage others to consider adopting!!!!

More Pictures!

More pictures of our Pretty Princess!!!

She's been FULL of giggles & smiles...until I pull out the camera! I got a few good ones in the last couple days though!

She fell asleep on Ben this morning!!! He thought that was so cool!

Caleb took this one - I LOVE IT!

Alright already!!!

I know, I know, it's pictures that you want!!!! So here she is :)

BEFORE she's had her hair "done"!

She's figured out the how to go UP the stairs & we send our "caleb" retreiver to bring her back! Notice how he has to put his knee into it! She's 22 lbs - that 1/2 of what he weighs....I'd be huffin' if I was movin' 1/2 my weight too!

During a break in the mid-morning drum lesson from big brother - which she LOVED by the way!

We have yet to find ANYTHING she won't eat. Today it was a minimum of 2 cups of cheerios - spread out through the day. 4 - 8oz bottles. 2 bananas. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and carrots for dinner - that was 1 hour after the last banana. And we thought we'd have to take out a second on the house to feed the BOYS! ha!

But my fav pic of the day is our "hunter" with big brothers BB gun and shorts. It was 37 degrees today. But his new John Deere hat from Gramma & Grandpa kept him plenty warm!

You TOO can be a blubbering puddle.....

"...you TOO can be a blubbering puddle..." These were the words spoken about my husband by our pastor after we shared about our trip in church! It was preceded by "adopt a child & ...."!!!

I was surprisingly tear free :) Like all of my pregnancies I did a lot of crying during the pregnant stage - while Matt did his after!!! Every delivery room picture has one of me grinning from ear to ear & him with alligator tears dripping off his chin.

exhibit A - Caleb's delivery!

How appropriate that Ellie's "delivery" would be the same!!! and yet so different. When the boys were born he cried over the miracle of birth....not the heart breaking sadness for those left behind. Their sweet little faces have been forever seared into our hearts! How we longed to tell them - GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN YOU!!!!

exhibit B - sharing about our Trip at church

I often "joked" when my youngest brother was stationed in Iraq with the Marines that my prayer life increased a thousand fold....my Ben has an uncanny resemblance to Justin! Ben was a walking reminder to cover Justin in prayer. Well now my little Ellie has become that to us for all the orphans in the world! It's a very big job - but she's a very special girl :)

...and Matt & I are OFFICIALLY messed up for God! We were absolutely knocked over the head with - your goal in life should not be a turmoil free/balanced existence!!!! But one that LOVES the Lord your God with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, and ALL your mind AND loves your neighbor as yourself. No where does God ask us to do anything in our own strength! No where does he say - Good Luck, look me up when you get to heaven!!! He promises to walk with us every step of the way. Let me tell you - 2009 was a HARD year. It was painful allowing God to open our eyes and our hearts. It stirred up a lot of why questions that don't have answers. It brought us to our knees time & again. Would we do it again? In a heart beat. Will we do it again? If God asks us too - a resounding YES! Will we shout out the need from the mountain tops? EVERY DAY!!!!

And the irony in all of this.....I've seen the statement "I need Africa more than Africa needs me." I thought I got it. ha! And maybe I still don't get it completely. But I'm starting to understand that I needed Africa to open my eyes! I needed Africa to change me. I needed Africa to point me in the right direction, to change my definition of a "successful life". Yes, Ellie's life will be forever changed. But I honestly think & hope & pray that because MY life has been forever changed I'll be able to effect change in those around me.

So sorry if you're in the category of "those around me". I don't think this is just a soap box.

Of course, everyone asks us how the trip was. What do you say? Great?

So I'll just keep shouting it from the mountain tops!! Two of my dearest friends are adopting from Ethiopia as well!

Mark & Rockelle Ruiter have received a referral for a GORGEOUS 6 month old little girl. Their court date is February 11. If they pass they'll be traveling Feb 25!!!! Their newest addition will be joining 2 older sisters - 4 & 2! WOO HOOO!

Craig & Caylene Knox are in the fund-raising portion of their adoption!!! They're gathering the paperwork & $$ they need to begin their homestudy. They're hoping to bring home siblings. They have 3 children - 2 girls - 8 & 6, and 1 boy - 4. Caylene & I have been making dresses to raise money for their adoption. We call them HEART CANDY dresses! They come with ADORABLE matching hair bows too :) They're $30 & include the bow - you have to find your own cute little girl to put them on!!! We have all kinds of super cute fabric and they come in size 12 mo - 8. Shoot me an email if you want to know more! JewelryJill@pionnetwb (dot) com.

Here is my friend Kelli's 3 girls on the left & Caylene's middle daughter on the right. If only the dresses were as cute as the girls!!!