Ethiopia

I can't even say enough now much I loved staying at the Addis Flower guest house! Great service, great location, wonderful people...loved it!




We stayed in the big room with a private bath..even a bathtub!




They had a good sized yard with a basketball hoop even.







Livestock roam all over!



Yes, that is exhaust from the car in front of us.





The courtyard at the orphanage with cloth diapers I brought last time on the line.




It rained that hard almost every day!





The kitchen, they let me use the fridge, the microwave and a hot plate. The kids didn't like their water cold!




The front of the guest house.

There was 4 good restaurants very close by, a supermarket, photo printers, pharmacy, Internet cafe, and a bank. There just wasn't a reliable ATM. It worked one time and then was out of service the rest of the time!

The guest house had great breakfasts! I'm going to miss Chili's eggs! They would cook lunch and dinner on request too, spaghetti, burgers, tibs and injera for a very reasonable price...like 35 birr...or $2 per meal. I had brought easy Mac, ramen, and zaterans red beans and rice. The kids did NOT like the easy Mac or the ramen. They loved the red beans and rice though....and the dum dum suckers, snickers, cheerios, and granola bars!


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On my way home....

I'm on my way home with a heavy heart but at the same time i am excited to be back!

I prayed through my tears the whole way back to the orphanage. Prayed that God would give me peace and make it an easy transition back for the kids. I was able to mostly keep it together and the kids did great! They both waved goodbye to me....i don't think I could've handled a goodbye like last time!

I'm sitting in the addis ababa airport with free wifi!!!! So thought I'd share a few more faceless pics!




They loved putting on their rain stuff and stomping in the puddles.




Sweet Zoe took one for the team and let Zena do her hair!



I had hoped to take the kids to the Sheraton swimming one more time...but it wouldn't stop raining....so we went to bongo bobs! A smaller version of chuck e cheese! The kids had a blast...duh!!!













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Sunday....

I love Sunday. I think it's my favorite day of the week. Mostly because it means Iget to go to church. I'm a very forgetful person & I need a nearly constant reminder of what I'm here for.

I'm so glad I've had the chance to attend church while in Ethiopia. There's a great church here - the IEC - International Evangelical Church. It's truly international. Today there were German's sitting in front of me :) Along with lots of Ethiopians and Americans. The pastor is from North Carolina.

I walked into church today so heavy. My heart felt like it was suffocating. I can barely say good bye to my kids for a long weekend...and now I'm faced with at least 2 months...The overwhelming thought in my head was how do I fit 2 months of loving into 2 days?

Buzena has become so snuggly. She is constantly holding my hand, climbing in my lap, or putting my arm around her. Bona and I are communicating better every day. He said his first sentence today - Bona cheerios NO, Buzena cheerios YES! He wanted a granola bar instead :)

So I walked into church with all of THAT weighing on me....then....

We sang The Stand by Hillsong United.

"So I'll stand
with arms high & heart abandoned
in awe of the one who gave it all

I'll stand
My soul Lord to you surrendered
all I am is yours"

The pastor challenged us to ask ourselves -

What is different in my life because of Jesus?

Ha! Where do I start?!?!?! I'm in AFRICA, adopting #6 and #7! Doing the hardest thing I've EVER done in my life - being nearly consumed & overwhelmed by it!

Why?

Because of Jesus.

All I am is yours

All I HAVE is yours

Nearly consumed, overwhelmed....heart on 2 continents....full of more love than I knew was possible! Filled with a nearly overwhelming sense of purpose & commitment to something that is SO much bigger than myself.

Why do I keep writing on this blog?

I NEVER want to forget how God has worked in my life. I never want to forget how hard it was....how consuming and emotional and HARD it's been....how stretched and challenged I have felt....

and how God ALWAYS shows up! Often in crazy generous ways!

So I left church yet again with a renewed sense of purpose :)

I was a bit frustrated with our driver - he didn't seem to know where any of the places I wanted to eat were...so I told him to just drop us off at Lime Tree - a 10 minute walk from our guest house.

But the closer we got to Lime Tree the deeper & darker the clouds looked. It would be best to go back to the GH & get on rain gear and THEN go to Lime Tree.....it's almost comical now that I think back to how this timeline evolved.

So, we pull up to the guest house & we're right behind another van that is unloading white people! I hear one of them gasp as we get out of the car. I assume it's because of how cute my kids are!!!! But NO - it's because one of the gals reads my blog!!!! Gretchen Almquist - you have NO idea how God ministered to me through you today! I'm so glad we didn't go out to lunch and got to have lunch with YOU instead!!!

She is here with a non-profit she started after adopting her Ethiopian daughter in Feb 2010 (just a month after we got back with Ellie). They brought a huge amount of donations for the orphanages here.

Gretchen thank you for reminding me of the amazing plans that God has for us - WAY out of our comfort zone - WAY beyond ANYTHING we'd have chosen by ourselves - and the incredible amount of purpose we feel as a result!

So....I love Sunday's even more :)

we're settling in!

It's amazing to see the difference a week makes!

We went swimming again at the Sheraton yesterday. The kids about did back flips when I pulled out their swim suits. We had such a good time. The weather was perfect! The kids must have gone down the slide 50 times. Buzena even went head first :)

I got a little more insight into what they must be going through.

There was a German family there with their newly adopted Ethiopian son. He must have been 4 years old. Of course they're speaking to him in German. It was like a light bulb went on for me! I know I understand in my head that Bona & Buzena don't understand what I'm saying....but it would be like someone was only speaking German to me....and I have 2 years of German! It reminded me how lonely & frustrating it much be to live with me....while I do feel LOVE is a universal language....it doesn't really translate NO you can't have chocolate for breakfast :)

I have been praying all day that God would help us communicate better & "get" each other - it's really helping!

We walked to Kaldi's for lunch. I found out the kids LOVE ketchup & I love sambusa! No, sambusa isn't some yummy big person drink :) it's essentially ethiopian eggrolls - except they're super spicy! Bona heard me say sambusa while I was looking at the menu. He started bouncing up & down & saying sambusa YES! So we got two orders of those with fries. That, a mango juice, carmel macciato & a giant piece of cake was less than $8...oh how I will miss Kaldi's!

Then to avoid walking home in the down pouring rain we went & got some pictures printed. I wanted to add some from this visit to the picture book we sent them in December and to print out the pictures from our visit with our One Changed Life kids. I plan to have the orphanage director pass them on for me.

Next stop - the grocery store. We needed water & lotion....and just like at home I ended up with way more than that! Bona talked me into mango juice & apples...which I nearly reconsidered when I found out how much they were. $5 for 5 apples! yikes! But we hadn't had any fruit since I've been here and I was craving them too.

Thankfully, by then all that was left of the rain was giant puddles!

Buzena & i did our nails while Bona watched Toy Story 3 for probably the 20th time! it is in english...so we watch it a couple times a day...I'm hoping he'll think Andy is a pretty cool name for himself....Andrew Bona Ross - i love it!

Tomorrow it's church...Monday we'll try & hit the pool again & Tuesday it's back to real life....I'm trying not to dread it already. We still have TWO WHOLE days left!

Pictures!

Working on wooden models at the guest house table.

The median on a busy street - full of sheep grazing!

Nothing like a little "war" to pass the time....for the record mom came back & won BIG TIME!

Buzena counting the russian nesting dolls on Gabe's No Longer Orphans shirt.

We're doing great! The kids still have at least one "moment" every day - but they seem to be shorter duration & over less trivial things. They're going through a ridiculous amount of changes - and all with a mom who doesn't speak their language! I keep asking God to give me eyes to see them as HE sees them & for a HUGE amount of grace for each other!!! It seems to be working!

Matt & Gabe headed back to Washington today. I tried not to cry a bucket...but I'm 9 months pregant - I cry over a good dinner! I have another week with the kids. I think it will really be good for their english :) they're understanding more and more every day. and for our level of trust. When mom says NO it doesn't mean she's an ogre (although their other siblings might even disagree!) Buzena mimics almost everything I say. Apparently I've said "say yes" at some point when she asks for a drink. So now she'll point at the water bottle & say "say yes!" very emphatically. It's quite hilarious!

We're staying at the Addis Flower guest house. I REALLY like the staff here. They're very kind & accomidating. They have no other guests now so they're even letting us stay in the big room for the small room price! Double YEAH! It's nice b/c we have our own bathroom with a tub - the kids LOVE taking a bath! Bona gets one at night & Buzena one in the morning b/c there's not enough hot water for two tubbies :) Although they prefer is barely warm. Buzena freaked out the first time I put her in & it was the temperature I liked it....I wonder if she thought I was trying to cook her!!!

I'm planning to take them swimming a couple more times while I'm here. If it wasn't so expensive we'd go every day!

I'm also planning on taking the staff up on their babysitting offer - it's 20 birr/hour - less than $1.50! I think I'll walk up to the internet cafe & splurge on some "real" internet - it's 25 birr for 100 minutes - less than $2....add that to the $1 carmel macciato & you have an hour of sheer heaven!!! all for less than $5 bucks!

Please continue to pray for a miracle!!!! I can't go into the details - but a miracle would do it!!!

One Changed Life

We had planned to meet the two children we sponsor through One Changed Life. For $30 they get a good amount of flour, oil & other essentials. When they're first brought into the program they're given a new pair of shoes. I recognized the shoes they had on as the ones they were first given. In the picture above I'm with Kalab's mother (Kalab is the small one in the middle) and his older brother Yonas. Kalab is the youngest of 7.

It was a very bitter sweet day. We got hugged so hard!!! They were so very grateful!

Below is Hamid. He is 11 and the oldest of 3 boys. His mother was there as well & hugged us until we were all crying. She is a widow & HIV+. Hamid is her only child in the sponsorship program. With the food they're given each month she uses 1/2 of it to bake & sell things to pay her rent which is 200 birr - $12 us. We told her if she can get her other 2 children into the sponsorship program that we would sponsor them too. She fell down & kissed our feet. It was incredibly humbling.

Day THREE!

Bona thinks his dad is a super hero....well, I think that too :) This morning Matt was trying to show Bona how to do pushups - Bona just climbed up on his back! Nothing like a little extra to help strengthen those muscles. Then Matt did curls using Bo as the barbell! and squats...and crunches! It was quite hysterical!

Then we showed the kids their swimsuits & told them to put them on. I thought Bo was going to jump off the balcony! I had taken them swimming when we were here 6 weeks ago so he KNEW what those swim trunks meant.

We had to stop and get water & I was able to find a pair of flip flops for Gabe....apparently girls are the only ones who were flip flops in ET....cuz it was either palm trees with sparkles or oranges :) I figured the oranges were a wee less girly!

We almost didn't make it to the pool though :( We had stopped at a stop sign & when the driver hit to gas to go the door Bo was leaning on slid WIDE OPEN!!!! It was supposed to be LOCKEd!!!! i screamed and grabbed Bo, Bo screamed probably b/c I'd grabbed him so hard & we quickly changed seats!!!

The pool was/is INCREDIBLE!!! I think one of the hardest things to get used to in ET is that we're quite an anomaly...white white white....the Sheraton pool was filled with people from all over - lots of americans, even some swedes and germans....white white white! We met 3 fabulous couples & we're even going to church tomorrow with one of them. They are Melissa & Rich Lester from Drawn From Water!!! Matt came up to me & said - Jill you have to meet these people, they're with drinking from water! I paused for a second and said - DRAWN from water? yeah! I've heard of them! We could have talked for hours - so we're meeting them for church & going out to lunch together.

Zena CRASHED on the way home - in my lap :) I hate/love that there are no seatbelts in the cars here....it does make for some good snuggle time cuz you have to hold your little ones tight or they bounce all over - or even OUT OF the car! Anyways - Zena was sleeping so hard she peed all over me!!! I haven't had THAT happen in a long time. Sweet baby.

Dinner was some yummy spaghetti at the guest house. I'm not sure what they put in their sauce...I should find out though! Gabe went to bed right after - and we stayed outside and played some more. Bona is quite the basketball player...which is a lot considering our GH has the first basketball hoop I've seen in ET. LOTS of soccer...no basketball or baseball.

We had fun playing my UTalk English on the iPad. Until Bo was sure Zena had has more turns than him. It was quite the crying fit. I of course can't understand what he's so upset about b/c it's all in Amharic. I ran down and grabbed one of the ladies to come ask him what was wrong. I'm thinking he hates it here, he hates us, etc etc....amazing how Satan NEVER gives up trying to harm them.....Anyway - she said he was mad b/c Zena wasn't sharing...whew! I can deal with temper tantrums! LOTS of experience with THAT kind of thing! Even though on paper he is 6 1/2...orphanage kids have some emotional catching up to do. I love that we really have nothing else to do here except bond with our kids. Matt picked him up & snuggled him in bed. In 5 minutes he was giggling and happy. double whew!

PLEASE continue to pray for our court situation!!! The words of this song keep running through my head -

And if our God is for us, then who can ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?

Nothing and NO ONE can stand against our God!!! PRAY the court will see the need to get us in NOW!

Tomorrow - off to church & lunch with the Lesters! I can't WAIT!

Why not throw in a few more?!?!?

Playing a little baseball in the addis flower courtyard!




Sharing her cookies with mommy!




How many ethiopians does it take to load a ton...almost literally....of baggage?!?!



So a few pics from home too! Hanging out with the Katkes!




Good thing jack has long enough hair to hang on to!




Loving the train at Spokane riverside park.




Is it sad that you can have 5 kids and still feel like some ones missing????

More!!!!

Oh i am in pig heaven!!!!




The dolly was a BIG hit!




Helping daddy work out got rav reviews too!




One VERY happy mommy!




Yep! That's the Hyundai accent with 5 bags on top :)

We love wifi!!!!

Sitting at the Sheraton enjoying the pool, the sun, the sound of less than half of my kids playing, and the wifi!!!! Thought I'd take the opportunity to post some pics!

Day Two!

It's so much fun getting the kids dressed every day. Bona is VERY opinionated over whate he will wear and Buzena does the happy dance with every outfit I pull out! The rain boots were a GIANT hit & I was a little scared they would wear them all day...in the 80 degree heat & crystal blue skies. Until Bona saw the new tennis shoes & Buzena the polka dot flip flops :)

We hung out all day hoping we'd hear good news & be able to go to court.....it was not to be. We did sneak out for lunch at Kaldi's. It's a Starbucks knock off - nearly the same logo & color sceam....with not NEARLY the same prices. We had 2 hamburgers with fries, 1 chicken sandwich with fries, 1 order of fries, 1 mango juice, 1 sparkling water, and one macciato - for $15 - oh & 5 scoops of ice cream!!! Dinner tonight was 2 large pizzas, 2 sodas, and 1 beer - you'll never guess who THAT was for - for $9....contrast that with this! The manager of the guest house was telling us he has his law degree - but lawyers don't make any money. The money is in the tourism industry. He said he just bought a 9 year old van with 200,000 km on it - for $23,000!!! Crazy! and the rent they pay on the guest house is $2300/month. It has one big room and 5 smaller rooms. The big room rents for $80/night - the smaller rooms are $50/night. He said the average person makes about $150/month....

That would explain why we've been surrounded by people begging for money every time we step out of the gates. It's super super super sad. They follow you all the way to wherever you're going - repeating - please mother, father, need food, need help. So far I've given away a bunch of granola bars, fruit snacks, crackers, fruit cups & the left over applesauce that Tara gave me! The poverty is nearly overwhelming....but my prayer has been to break my heart for what breaks yours....I guess it's not an accident this is where we are...

On a lighter note. Bona & Buzena took their first baths today! I thought Bona's face was going to crack off! He was giddy! I can't wait to see his face when we pull up in front of the swimming pool tomorrow!!!! YEAH!

I brought one of Ellie's dolly's for Buzena to play with - Zoe actually :) She's carted her nearly everywhere! She has over a dozen hair clips in & has had nearly as many outfit changes. She even slept next to her! So sweet! She repeats every word we say in her high pitched sing song voice.

A van came to the guest house with 10 little ones in it headed to one of the orphanage. They'd come from out in the country. The poor things looked shell shocked. They took them out back & bathed them & then sat under a tree and played for awhile. I thought Matt was going to break down right in front of them.....it's so hard to see. These little lives....each one so important to God.....yet thrown into a faceless sea of others just like them. Heart wrenching.

At the Yebsabi yesterday we ran into two boys that remembered meeting us when we were out shopping with Ellie 18 month ago! We had bought gun & tissues from them! They've been semi taken in by all the AWAA familes that stay at the Yebsabi. Letting them take showers in their room & buying them dinner. One of the boys is getting accepted into the AWAA program & a family that was there last week is going to adopt him! yeah!

Tomorrow we head to the POOL! Bona saw his swim suit in his suitcase- a GIANT smile crossed his face!!! I can't wait to tell him to put it ON tomorrow! And this time I even brought swim goggles so he won't have try and swim with my sunglasses :)

Day one

We zipped thru the visa and customs line, snagged our luggage while Matt waited in line to exchange money, and were out the door of the airport in less than 40 minutes!

It was quite hysterical watching them load our 6 giant bags, 3 carry on size bags, and 3 backpacks in a hyundai accent! 5 of the 6 giant bags were perched on top of the car and we each held a bag or two on our laps. I was a bit nervous as the way they drive here is NOT condusive to bags on top of a car! and if the crazy driving doesnt get them...the massive potholes will! but we made it safe & sound!

We had planned to stay at the Grace Guest house...but it was not the hotel we had seen on the internet. Turns out they had moved to a new house with more rooms...but a way smaller court yard and the main sitting area was on the 5th floor. We stopped by the Addis Flower after we picked up the kids and decided it was a MUCH better fit for us....whew!

I could hear Buzena yell MOMMY when we drove in! She let Matt hold her right away & within 5 seconds Bona was feeding me one of his crackers :) It was killing me, because I wanted to love all over them...but at the same time I wanted to have pictures of the first time Matt met them! Where's Kelli when you REALLY need her!?!?!?

We played at the orphanage for a while. They still have their picture blankets on their beds. Gabe was quizzing Buzena on everyone's name - and she knew them all! Quite a feat when you have 6 siblings!

We then zipped over to the Addis Flower & then on to the Yebsabi to see Caylene. She wasn't there as she was at the Hilton changing her plane tickets to leave that night! I was very excited for her...and super sad for me....Sada had come down with chicken pox that morning and she had been able to convince the embassy to give her their visas early so they could get him home before he was contagious!

I got to sit and chat with her while she finished her packing and the boys wrestled while the girls "played" with Buzena's zebra...playing in quotes because they're 2 and 3...so it was a little more like arguing! We tried to get a picture of the 4 of them together - ha! I was a lot like trying to herd cats - language barrier and all!

We had dinner together and at 7 they were off to the airport - and we were off to our hotel.

By 9 we were all sawing logs - until 6:30! I think the night in Dubai really helped our systems figure out the time zone change. It made for a VERY long travel experience - 2 and 1/2 days - but a nice transition!

More pics!

The tallest building in the world!!!!



The greatest husband in the world!


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Pics!

The mall!











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In Dubai!

******* I can't get the blog to post with all the pics....have to try loading those later!!!


We made it safe and sound to Dubai! A wee bit wrinkled and with very sore backends from the 15 hr flight from San Fran....but we still skipped off the plane.

We flew Emirates. The plane was amazing!!!! Each seat had it's own tv with 100s of movies, games, music, and tv shows. It's wonderful how fast time goes when you watch 4 movies!!!!

It was a wee bit disconcerting when every time we would land (we flew to Seattle, then San Fran, then Dubai) I could hear Gabe say under his breath....YES! We didn't crash! To think he was very excited and eager to come on the trip and at the same time is almost surprised with each flight that we made it.....

Dubai is beautiful. It's a cross between Florida with the heat and humidity and Vegas with all the giant ornate buildings.

The mall had an aquarium, ice rink, and giant waterfall! Yes...13 hrs in Dubai and I managed to find a mall! But the stores weren't even OPEN! Its just a grand sight to see :)


Caleb, it even had a bunch of sharks!!!!

The waterfall has statues of cliff divers.

Saw this in front of a restaurant in the mall. I think it's getting framed and going in my kitchen...not that my family EVER has to be reminded to eat...maybe just to sit down and enjoy it!!!

It said "one of the nicest things about life is that we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention entirely to eating!"
One of my fav pics I've EVER taken!!! Thanks matt for my new camera!!! And Ben and Kendra for replacing my broken lens



The airport is gorgeous. They have free strollers for u to use in the airport.

Matt and Gabe with the camel statue at the airport.

All of the signs are in English....some even have Arabic on them!

Gabe got to see the cockpit on the Seattle plane.

Gabe was just a tiny bit excited about his pokemon dsi...... think he hugged me about every hour and told me thank you again!

Next stop......addis ababa!!!!!!!!

We land at 11:30am. The plan is to meet caylene and her kids at our guest house and then head over to get Bo and Zena!!!!!!

Our court date was supposed to be on Friday. As of right now it's been cancelled. Do to circumstances WAY out of our control....but way WITHIN Gods control. PLEASE pray with us that God will miraculously provide a way for us to pass court while we are here...I leave May 31. I can't even begin to imagine leaving Zena again. Bo seems to understand....but she was a disaster last time...as was I. Please please don't make me leave her!!!!! Please provide a way for us to pass court!!!! We've been told that all the paperwork we need it there.....but we are on an indefinite hold until the us embassy clears our case to be heard by the Ethiopian courts....we've been told to anticipate it taking a month to clear things up. While I absolutely trust that Gods timing is perfect, I also know that Satan has set out to destroy these children's lives and will stop at nothing to see that happen.

I was reminded of Isaiah 10:1 & 2

"woe to those who make unjust laws
To those who issue oppressive decrees
To deprive the poor of their rights
And withhold justice from the oppressed of my people
Making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless."


And right now my fatherless children are the ones being robbed!!!! Being robbed of precious time spent outside the love of a caring family!!!!!

woe to those....I've read the bible. I've heard what God can do....I've seen in my own life what God can do....please God clear this mess UP!!!!!! An if you decide to bring some woe on those that insist on making it hard....I promise not to rejoice over the suffering of others......


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Our bags are packed.....we're ready to go!

Only 5 more sleeps and we'll be on our way!!!!!

It's been a mad dash scramble around here to get everything done.....and I still have a good 5 days worth of stuff to accomplish in the 4 days we have left :) I've started to separate the to-do list into the must get done - i.e. more forms notarized - and the nice to get done - i.e. the dishes! Although I'm not sure who I'm kidding - Matt does most of the dishes around here!!!

This adoption stuff is SOOOOO similar to being actually pregnant it creeps me out! I've spent most of every day trying not to cry through the whole thing! Don't ask me how I'm doing - it's all over then!!! All I REALLY want to do is take a nap and snuggle with my babies. I'm hungry, but nothing sounds good. I'm excited and scared to death at the same time. I lay awake most of the night imagining what our life is going to be like with the new additions. I've tried to establish a few new systems so life will go smoother when the new ones come home - i.e. assigned seats at dinner & in the car! I've checked & re-checked the "hospital" bag. The bedroom is decorated & new clothes are washed, folded, and put away. Honestly, the only difference is that I won't have 50 pounds to lose when this is all over...more like just 10 from all the chocolate I've been inhaling!!!!

We're all so excited. The kids talk about them non-stop. They've already decided where they're going to sit at the dinner table...we haven't decided yet on the car as we'll need to be getting a BIGGER one before we bring them home!!! ahahahahah!!! The last thing on my list of things I would NEVER do - drive a big A** VAN!!!! I have scaring in that area from my childhood. We had a giant van - but only one bench seat in the back. There were 4 of us kids so whoever was last in the van had to sit on a hump in the back....oh it gets better...on long trips we'd load the love seat in the back!!! Now our kids are in 15 point harnesses until they're 15....crazy! Anyway, I had to take my drivers test in that giant van. Have you ever tried to parallel park a giant van next to a volkswagen bug??? When you were 16??? Needless to say I have BAGGAGE from all those experiences. I swore I'd never have a van! We went straight from the Explorer to the Suburban....and while they DO make Suburban's that will seat 9...I envision is being VERY snuggly.

So God has crossed out the last thing on my list of things I would never do! Other things on my list that got crossed out a LONG time ago - only having 2 kids, never homeschooling and never being a stay-home mom....not that I'm really a STAY HOME mom....but you know what I mean!