5 Little Monkeys
It's quite a task to try to get these 5 little monkeys to sit still long enough for them ALL to be looking at the camera with eyes open and smiles on their faces. But the smiles should tell you how much fun they were having bouncing around making it difficult for me. Hey, at least they're all clean. An hour earlier they were 5 little monkeys covered in mud. :) The boys were all happy to have their big brother, Kaleb, join us for the summer. Teddy and Endy ran out to meet him with excited hugs when he arrived.
I have to say this is probably the last post I can get away with calling him "little" though. I was met at the door by a tall young man with a deep voice. Hey, what happened to the boy who was here for Easter? ha ha. How quickly they grow up!!
My first "moment" with Indy
Last night as I tucked Indrias in to bed (Teddy had already fallen asleep) I was blessed with a very special moment. I kissed him goodnight and tucked his covers around him and started to get up, but he said "Mommy" and grabbed my arms. I sat back down and kissed his cheeks and looked at his sweet face.... he started playing with my hair, running his fingers through it and looking at me like he was trying to take it all in. I just smiled at him and let him play with my hair for a few minutes. Then his little hands grabbed my face and turned it to the side, then pulled me toward him and kissed me on the cheek. Then he rolled over and closed his eyes. What a very precious moment!
Photos of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
Just want to share a few photos to show you the city of Addis. The first photo is an overlook of a part of the city. The smoke in the distance was in the air every night. They burned the garbage at the dump at night and it lingered. We wanted to get a breeze in our guest room because it was quite warm, but when we opened the windows we would smell that smoke and our eyes would start to get itchy and red. We decided the heat was better.
Here's a typical view of what the streets looked like...
It was common to see oxen, goats, sheep, donkeys, etc, in the streets. Apparently they would be let out to roam during the day and return home at night. And you would sometimes see them being led to the market.
Another typical street... they seemed to look all alike. My husband with a terrific sense of direction said he would feel lost so easily there because every street looked the same.
I pray the Lord will recall these pictures to my mind in those moments that I begin to think... I need a bigger home or better decorations, etc., etc..... and replace those thoughts with thanksgiving. We are all so abundantly blessed here in America.
Here's a typical view of what the streets looked like...
It was common to see oxen, goats, sheep, donkeys, etc, in the streets. Apparently they would be let out to roam during the day and return home at night. And you would sometimes see them being led to the market.
Another typical street... they seemed to look all alike. My husband with a terrific sense of direction said he would feel lost so easily there because every street looked the same.
I pray the Lord will recall these pictures to my mind in those moments that I begin to think... I need a bigger home or better decorations, etc., etc..... and replace those thoughts with thanksgiving. We are all so abundantly blessed here in America.
The Continued Story
So I got some sleep and I'm ready to tell you more...here's the continued update of our trip...be sure to read the last post, So Good To Be Home, first.
We went to the Christian World Adoption office, along with several other couples/families, on Monday to pick up our children and finish the last of our paperwork. We all sat excitedly waiting for them to bring our kids in... When they arrived, the kids were all so cute! The older kids went around the room saying hello and shaking everyone's hands, then all the families found each other and there was a lot of hugging going on along with babies being "delivered". It was a special moment. Teddy and Endrias walked in carrying their photo albums of us. They kept pointing to the pictures and then to us, saying Daddy, Mommy, Nate, Nick. You could tell they were looking for Kaleb, but one of the CWA staff spoke to them in Amheric to tell them that they would meet him soon. They went back to the guest home with us from there and have been with us since. They adjusted so well!! They have been so happy and loving. They had no problem climbing into bed that first night and drifting off to sleep after we tucked them in. The next morning they woke up happy again... and it was such a blessing to see their excitement when I pulled out the bag of clothes that we brought for them. I've never seen children so excited over clothing! They were laughing and literally jumping up and down when they realized the clothes were for them. They changed outfits so many times during the week just because they were excited about their new clothes. I kept thinking about all of the toys at home that they had yet to see, and what a huge change they are going through!! That afternoon was our appointment at the U.S. Embassy, which went smoothly, except for the ride home when Endrias got car sick. The caregivers at the foster home had warned us that he gets motion sickness. Luckily he was able to tell me by covering his mouth and pointing to his tummy. One of the ladies with us fotunately had a large ziploc and was quick to get it out, just in time. We later went to the pharmacy to pick up Dramamine which we gave him for the car and plane ride home. Unfortunately he wasn't the only one to get sick during the rest of the week. I don't know if it was a virus being passed around, or if our stomachs just had a hard time with the food, but several of the people staying at the guest home got sick over the next few days, including Adam and Nicholas. And the rest of us, though we didn't get throw up sick, we still experienced some queezyness. Between that and the power outages and a couple days of no running water and toilets that weren't flushing.... we were all feeling a bit homesick. Apparently, because we arrived at the end of their dry season, just before the rain, that is why we experienced the power outages, etc. They depend on the rain, which usually arrives around June and lasts a few months, because thier power is hydro-(water) generated. Which also explained why there are no traffic signals... they need power to run... and in a country where there is a drought and water is needed to generate electricity.. well...it makes sense. But in the midst of our minor discomforts we did have the blessing of getting to know some wonderful people as we spent the week just hanging out at the guest home and playing soccer, volleyball, and jump rope out in the yard with the kids, the other families, and the staff. Teddy, Endrias, and the other kids had so much fun discovering new things and it was so great to see Nate and Nick interact so well with them. You could see Nick's excitement to finally be a big brother and he was helping them and showing them everything. The other families staying there were all so nice. We really enjoyed their company and hope to stay in touch with them. The staff was also wonderful! They were out there on the lawn playing soccer and other games with us and the kids. Two of the families headed home on Thursday evening after recieving their kids visas, and we spent Friday with one of the remaining families and our new friends Gecho and Aki (the driver and guide) who took us all out shopping for the day. That family received their kids visas and headed home that evening. So Friday night and Saturday were really quiet with only one other family there. Saturday was a relaxing day at the guest home as we packed and got ready to come home ourselves. We were picked up by CWA staff around 6pm and taken to the airport. That began our LONG trip home. Even longer than our trip there since we had to be at the airport 3 hours early, then the flight from Ethiopia to Washington D.C. took longer because of the weather. They had to fly a slightly longer path and our stop in Rome was longer as well. So when we arrived in D.C. and finished going through customs, we headed to our connecting flight only to find it had been delayed due to our flights late arrival, which meant we would not make our next connecting flight in Denver. So we had the choice of going to Denver and hoping to make a later flight from there to Sacramento, but probably not until the next day... or staying in D.C. for an additional 8 hours and flying non-stop from there to Sacramento. We chose the non-stop, which meant that we spent 10 hours in the Dulles airport. It was a long wait and since we didn't have car seats for the younger two, we couldn't go anywhere. (Not an issue in Ethiopia since they have no car-seat or seatbelt laws. In fact they usually sat on our laps when we drove around there.) We later found out that there were several tornadoes in Denver at that time and we had a lot of family concerned and praying for us. God was watching out for us and kept us out of tornadoe land. We ended up arriving home just after midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning. So we left Ethiopia Saturday around 8am California time and 40 hours later walked into the comfort of home sweet home. We are so glad to be here! And thankful that all of the kids were so good on the long travel home. Teddy and Endy were really excited about going in the "awroplan". We could see the plane through the window as we waited to get on in Ethiopia and they had the biggest smiles as they spoke to each other in their Wolita language and laughed and pointed at the plane. They slept for a good portion of the trip, which probably made it seem a little quicker for them... I wish I could say the same for Adam and I. But Adam, Nate, and Nick all napped in the Dulles Airport, and Adam is napping agian now. I'm next!! It's early to bed for me. So that is our trip in a nutshell. We are feeling truly blessed by the Lord!! and praying for the wisdom and patience to raise and train these precious children God has blessed us with. We know there is still a huge transition ahead of us as we attempt to get back into the groove of daily life. We would truly appreciate continued prayer as we work through the little adjustments of family life.
~Stacy
We went to the Christian World Adoption office, along with several other couples/families, on Monday to pick up our children and finish the last of our paperwork. We all sat excitedly waiting for them to bring our kids in... When they arrived, the kids were all so cute! The older kids went around the room saying hello and shaking everyone's hands, then all the families found each other and there was a lot of hugging going on along with babies being "delivered". It was a special moment. Teddy and Endrias walked in carrying their photo albums of us. They kept pointing to the pictures and then to us, saying Daddy, Mommy, Nate, Nick. You could tell they were looking for Kaleb, but one of the CWA staff spoke to them in Amheric to tell them that they would meet him soon. They went back to the guest home with us from there and have been with us since. They adjusted so well!! They have been so happy and loving. They had no problem climbing into bed that first night and drifting off to sleep after we tucked them in. The next morning they woke up happy again... and it was such a blessing to see their excitement when I pulled out the bag of clothes that we brought for them. I've never seen children so excited over clothing! They were laughing and literally jumping up and down when they realized the clothes were for them. They changed outfits so many times during the week just because they were excited about their new clothes. I kept thinking about all of the toys at home that they had yet to see, and what a huge change they are going through!! That afternoon was our appointment at the U.S. Embassy, which went smoothly, except for the ride home when Endrias got car sick. The caregivers at the foster home had warned us that he gets motion sickness. Luckily he was able to tell me by covering his mouth and pointing to his tummy. One of the ladies with us fotunately had a large ziploc and was quick to get it out, just in time. We later went to the pharmacy to pick up Dramamine which we gave him for the car and plane ride home. Unfortunately he wasn't the only one to get sick during the rest of the week. I don't know if it was a virus being passed around, or if our stomachs just had a hard time with the food, but several of the people staying at the guest home got sick over the next few days, including Adam and Nicholas. And the rest of us, though we didn't get throw up sick, we still experienced some queezyness. Between that and the power outages and a couple days of no running water and toilets that weren't flushing.... we were all feeling a bit homesick. Apparently, because we arrived at the end of their dry season, just before the rain, that is why we experienced the power outages, etc. They depend on the rain, which usually arrives around June and lasts a few months, because thier power is hydro-(water) generated. Which also explained why there are no traffic signals... they need power to run... and in a country where there is a drought and water is needed to generate electricity.. well...it makes sense. But in the midst of our minor discomforts we did have the blessing of getting to know some wonderful people as we spent the week just hanging out at the guest home and playing soccer, volleyball, and jump rope out in the yard with the kids, the other families, and the staff. Teddy, Endrias, and the other kids had so much fun discovering new things and it was so great to see Nate and Nick interact so well with them. You could see Nick's excitement to finally be a big brother and he was helping them and showing them everything. The other families staying there were all so nice. We really enjoyed their company and hope to stay in touch with them. The staff was also wonderful! They were out there on the lawn playing soccer and other games with us and the kids. Two of the families headed home on Thursday evening after recieving their kids visas, and we spent Friday with one of the remaining families and our new friends Gecho and Aki (the driver and guide) who took us all out shopping for the day. That family received their kids visas and headed home that evening. So Friday night and Saturday were really quiet with only one other family there. Saturday was a relaxing day at the guest home as we packed and got ready to come home ourselves. We were picked up by CWA staff around 6pm and taken to the airport. That began our LONG trip home. Even longer than our trip there since we had to be at the airport 3 hours early, then the flight from Ethiopia to Washington D.C. took longer because of the weather. They had to fly a slightly longer path and our stop in Rome was longer as well. So when we arrived in D.C. and finished going through customs, we headed to our connecting flight only to find it had been delayed due to our flights late arrival, which meant we would not make our next connecting flight in Denver. So we had the choice of going to Denver and hoping to make a later flight from there to Sacramento, but probably not until the next day... or staying in D.C. for an additional 8 hours and flying non-stop from there to Sacramento. We chose the non-stop, which meant that we spent 10 hours in the Dulles airport. It was a long wait and since we didn't have car seats for the younger two, we couldn't go anywhere. (Not an issue in Ethiopia since they have no car-seat or seatbelt laws. In fact they usually sat on our laps when we drove around there.) We later found out that there were several tornadoes in Denver at that time and we had a lot of family concerned and praying for us. God was watching out for us and kept us out of tornadoe land. We ended up arriving home just after midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning. So we left Ethiopia Saturday around 8am California time and 40 hours later walked into the comfort of home sweet home. We are so glad to be here! And thankful that all of the kids were so good on the long travel home. Teddy and Endy were really excited about going in the "awroplan". We could see the plane through the window as we waited to get on in Ethiopia and they had the biggest smiles as they spoke to each other in their Wolita language and laughed and pointed at the plane. They slept for a good portion of the trip, which probably made it seem a little quicker for them... I wish I could say the same for Adam and I. But Adam, Nate, and Nick all napped in the Dulles Airport, and Adam is napping agian now. I'm next!! It's early to bed for me. So that is our trip in a nutshell. We are feeling truly blessed by the Lord!! and praying for the wisdom and patience to raise and train these precious children God has blessed us with. We know there is still a huge transition ahead of us as we attempt to get back into the groove of daily life. We would truly appreciate continued prayer as we work through the little adjustments of family life.
~Stacy
More photos
Nate and Nick with our new friends Gecho (Our driver) and Aki (Our guide) who I spoke about in my last post. They were so good with our boys!!
The employees at the guest home blessed us with a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony.
Waiting at the airport
Brothers
Daddy and four of his boys at the building site for the new Acacia VillageMeet more of our new friends, who we spent the week with...
The Wolters, from Illinois
They also have 3 kids at home.
The Gilchrists, from Colorado
They also have 2 kids at home.
The Peyton's, from Arizona
They also have 2 kids at home.
Thank you to those who were praying for the Peytons and their missing paperwork. God is so good! Their paperwork arrived and they ended up only having to stay one extra day.
The Raimondo's, from New York
Can't wait till next week when Kaleb arrives, so I can add some photos of the whole family!
The Wolters, from IllinoisThey also have 3 kids at home.
The Gilchrists, from ColoradoThey also have 2 kids at home.
The Peyton's, from Arizona
They also have 2 kids at home.
Thank you to those who were praying for the Peytons and their missing paperwork. God is so good! Their paperwork arrived and they ended up only having to stay one extra day.
The Raimondo's, from New York
Can't wait till next week when Kaleb arrives, so I can add some photos of the whole family!
So Good To Be Home!!
Wow! What an experience the last week+ has been!! We are safely home with our new boys and feeling incredibly grateful! Tired, but grateful!! We had a wonderful trip, welcomed two wonderful new boys into our family, and met some wonderful new friends. I had hoped to keep you all updated during the week, but the internet decided not to work for us while we were there. We were able to get access a couple of times, briefly. It was very slow, and just about the time I would get to my blog, I lost connection again. In addition to the spotty internet service, we also spent a few days without any power at all... And then there was the water issue... stomache issues,... etc, etc. It's been a long, full week. In fact, it's 8:15pm and I have a husband and 3 kids fast asleep already. My oldest is in bed reading, and I'm using the chance to share with all of you how our trip went, before heading off to sleep myself. Since I wasn't able to add updates through the week, I kept a bit of a journal... so here it is....
It was about a 30 hour trip including 5 hours of layovers in San Fran. and D.C. and a refueling stop in Rome. But we made it. Nate and Nick did so well. They were really excited at first because it was their first time on a plane. We got to ride in a little 30 seater plane from Sacramento to San Francisco and we could hear the roar of the engine and feel every bit of turbulence. It was a great first flight experience for them! But by the end of the trip, we were all ready to be done with flying for a while. There were definitely some blessings on the flight though... Like reading a really good book from cover to cover (Secret Believers by Brother Andrew and Al Jansen... Excellent!!) and watching the sunrise over the Sahara Desert. Wow! What a gorgeous sight! Starting as a faint orange glow in the darkness to a huge sky filled with color and endless ripples of sand. Beautiful! We spent Saturday recovering from jetlag but all of us were awake by 4am Sunday morning, listening to the sound of the "call to prayer" playing over speakers in the distance. Sunday was a day of culture shock for me. I've never been anywhere besides the U.S. and Europe, but Ethiopia is nothing like them! We spent the day out and about with a driver and guide to show us around. They took us to some museums, a zoo, out to lunch, up to a hilltop overlooking the city, a little shopping, etc., then out to dinner with another couple staying at the guest home. It was a great, eye-opening day! I don't think I'll say anything bad about Cal-Trans, CHP's, or animal contol ever. Nor will I complain about being stopped for a red light. Driving through the city of Addis is crazy!! No traffic lights or signs, and the few roads with lanes painted on them evidently were merely suggestions. The cars just weaved in and out of each other randomly. There were people walking in the road everywhere, but I'm assuming pedestrians did NOT have the right of way, because anytime a person got in the way of a car, the car did not slow down, it just honked and the people jumped out of the way. However, the cars did have to slow down for all of the meandering goats and oxen, etc. While I must say the driving was a little frightening, we did have a wonderful time visiting the museums and learning more about the wonderful history of the Ethiopian people. We also discovered that Teddy, originally Tewedros, was named after a very famous Ethiopian king. And Endrias is the Ethiopian version of Jesus' disciple Andrew. We also truly enjoyed the company of our driver and guide. They were wonderful. They caught Adam's sense of humor right away and joined in the laughter and the jokes. We had a great time with them and they were also very informative as we showered them with questions about Ethiopia. They also took us to a retaurant for lunch where we shared a traditional meal... eating with our hands from a shared dish in the center of the table. But it was delicious. They also took us to a small zoo because they knew the boys would enjoy being less than a foot away from a lion!! We could have reached our hands through the fence and pet them... we didn't of course. Shopping was crazy. I guess our blonde hair gave us away as Americans... which meant we would have been charged a whole lot more if our driver and guide weren't with us to negotiate prices. It also meant that people kept approaching us asking for money and food. Sometimes people even approached the car if we were stopped in a traffic jam and knocked on the window asking for money. I felt guilty spending money on souvenirs. A week in Ethiopia has definitely made me more aware of how rich Americans are! Just seeing the rundown buildings everywhere made me truly appreciate the abundance of blessings in my life! Warm running water, flushing toilets, electricity, drinkable tap water, etc. etc... a few things we were periodically without during the week. BUT, the other thing we noticed about Ethiopia... the happy, friendly people. Most of them don't seem to notice that they are poor. There are smiles, hand shakes and hugs everywhere you look. Grown boys and men walking with their arms around each other or holding hands and our guide assured us that it was not a homosexual thing... just friendly, loving people. We also noticed it with the care givers, social workers, etc. when we went to pick up our boys on Monday. Our kids and all of the orphans were well loved! They all gave those kids so many hugs and kisses! and none of the kids hesitated to give out hugs and kisses to us either! Teddy and Endrias have been with us since Monday and I have so much more to share about our first week with them... But since I'm falling asleep on my keyboard (literally) I will have to tell you more and post some more photos tomorrow. Good night all!
Update from Ethiopia
This update is from Rick (Stacy's dad). I talked to Stacy and Adam about 1000 am today and they wanted me to let everyone know that all is well with them in Ethiopia. Due to numerous power outages and a very slow internet dial-up connection they have been unable to access this blog.
They have been spending their time with and enjoying their new family members. Their appointment with the U.S. Embassy this morning went well and they should receive passports on Thursday for Teddy and Endrias. The return flight home should be as planned... arriving in Sacramento about 4:30 pm Sunday June 7. They send their love to all and wanted to thank everyone for the many prayers for this successful adoption process. The conversation was short due to the cell phone connection so any further information will be posted when they return.
My thanks also for your support and prayers, Rick
They have been spending their time with and enjoying their new family members. Their appointment with the U.S. Embassy this morning went well and they should receive passports on Thursday for Teddy and Endrias. The return flight home should be as planned... arriving in Sacramento about 4:30 pm Sunday June 7. They send their love to all and wanted to thank everyone for the many prayers for this successful adoption process. The conversation was short due to the cell phone connection so any further information will be posted when they return.
My thanks also for your support and prayers, Rick
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