Some pics of our adventures

Here are some pics of our adventures. More posts coming. Adjustment has been a little rough - this is why posts haven't been happening. We're definitely on the upside and you can expects some posts soon! Hoorah!

Rahel

Ethiopia's famous coffee ceremony-so beautiful

Drying spices

At the airport

Rahel loved this music box we brought for her

Street kiosk. This is where the shopping happens.

Boredom!

Our little cutie!

(This is an email sent to Lisa - Melanie's mom - who is posting for Melanie!)

We finally made it and the internet finally works! While flying over Egypt, the clouds parted and we got to see the waves of sand - beautiful! We also got a glimpse of the Nile while flying over Egypt. Wow! We got stuck in line in customs for over 2 hours at the Addis Ababa airport. Elsa's brothers met us at the airport with flowers and treated us to drinks before we started our journey to Ritmo guest house. Wow. It's all so surreal. I can't believe I'm in Africa! It's like another world over here. The roads are all torn up with piles of rocks and bumps and ditches everywhere. The Chinese built a really nice overpass-bridge. (the only nice road!) All of the shoping is in kiosks (aka-courrogated tin shacks) lining the roads. People sleep in tarps on the road and beg for money. We have to walk through the slaughtering district to get to messaret's apartment - wow. (bog of eternal stentch?) It is so peaceful here and BEAUTIFUL! When we arrived at the guest house, there is a sign above the toilets stating that toilet paper goes in the garbage, not the toilet. The pipes can't handle it because they just empty into the nearest body of water. While walking for miles yesterday, we passed a beautiful (from a distance) river surrounded by flowering trees. I went to enjoy it, and found that it looked and smelled like sewer with garbage everywhere - yuck! Everywhere we go, you can always get a whiff of raw sewage. Infact, we are constantly walking in it on the sidewalks and road. Nasty. Messaret's wife cooked injera for us and dorawat. Heaven! The best injera I have ever had. We also were obligated to eat raw salad - still waiting for the bugs to take effect. So far no sign of bad luck (= He then took us shoping and to AHOPE to pick up Rahel. We met Rahel first thing in the morning on Monday. What a doll! She ran over to me saying Mommy, Babbi! She gave me hugs and kisses. She was very ready to go with us, saying ciao to everybody! She loves her Babbi (= I think she's a good mommy's girl though - nice since Faith is such a daddy's girl. Unfortunately, they shaved her head right before we got here )= She's still a doll though! Your pink swizzle turned out to be a heavensend not for diaper cream, but for an antifungal for her scalp. She has fungal issues with her scalp which is why they shaved her. She's the little mother figure at the nursery in AHOPE. She is always giving the baby's their bottles and making faces to cheer up the other kids when they're sad. She puts the clothes away and picks up after everybody. What a cutie! She cleaned our room when we brought her home to Ritmo (= She is very attatched to us, but is weary of her new surroundings. New families came last night and will be bringing 2 of Rahel's buddies home today (they're adopting). This is a huge adoption week for AHOPE! All the local kids think we're pretty cool because we're foreigners (= they always wave and say hello in english. They also follow us around. So cute! Sorry, no pics. dialup is too slow. Love you love you love you! Call Melannie Haskell for info on our calling card so you can call us for free. Ciao!

We're on our way!

One last post before we take off! Happy Thanksgiving everybody (= We certainly have a lot to be thankful for!

Sweet Rahel,
Sleep sweet tonight. In a few days you will be safe in our arms. Father sent you straight to us. We've been praying and waiting for you to join our little family. You have a big sister who can't wait to show you everything she knows! She prays for you every day and loves you very much. Your mommy and daddy can't wait to bring you home. We love you!

We will be leaving Friday night and flying out Saturday morning. Hunker on down for a 30 hour flight - oiy!
We'll keep you posted along the way. I hope the computer at the guest house will let me upload pictures to my blog. Thank you all so much for your support financially, mentally, physically etc... We are so glad that we are finally at this point in our journey!

We haven't died....yet!

Wow! What a week! The last couple actually! Here's the rundown.

• Our computer died...which is why we haven't blogged for such a long time (=
• I have become the official shuttle for a bunch of Ethiopian friends and I'm not sure I or my car can handle much more (= A friend is having marriage troubles and now has nothing. I packed her up with a bunch of dishes, tooth brush, shampoo table, couch, TV, bed etc... so she has something to function with. All the while planning a huge Ethiopian dinner for family and friends before we leave to get Rahel.
• The dinner was WONDERFUL! My friend is on an Ethiopian dance team and they came to perform for us as well as put on a traditional dress fashion show! Wednesday was highly emotional and very late with shopping for the dinner. Thursday was spent cooking, chopping, peeling etc. until about 1 a.m. and my friend got up at 4 a.m. to start the injera! She spent all day cooking kutfo (sp?) and injera while I spent all day throwing up and having tummy issues - yay! No sleep and stress tend to do this to me. After shuttling the dancers and friends, I made it to my own dinner about 20 minutes late (= We got several comments on the injera that it was the best they've had in the U.S.! Great job friend! We had an awesome turn out of about 110 people. Thanks to everybody who came to support us! We really had a great time!
• My friend spent the night at my house Friday and Saturday so we could cook and clean without too many trips to town! Upon waking up and getting all of the kids ready, Thomas brought me a tray with cinnamon rolls, eggs, chocolates, a goblet of orange juice and some flowers! What a great surprise! When I asked what this was for, Thomas replied Happy Anniversary! What?! I totally forgot my anniversary! 6 years! What a sweetheart (= He took me out to dinner, ran me a wonderful hot bath and pampered me with chocolates. How romantic!
• Also, the best news ever! We were recently informed that we have a new embassy date of December 2! We now can get Rahel home before Christmas! We were so worried about applying for her visa over the holidays and the delays that might come with that. Also, our finances will work out perfectly this year because we get her home before the end of the year! The Lord is looking out for us after testing us so much! Thank you Father.

Embassy date

We have an embassy date! We're scheduled to meet at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa on December 16. We are hoping we will be able to get home before the end of the year, but it's not looking like we will. Anyway, still good news (= We're looking forward to holding our daughter soon!

Houston, we have a baby!!!!!

We have officially passed court and Rahel is now a Lemon! We are beside ourselves with happiness and gratitude this morning! Faith was jumping for joy when she heard the news (o: She finally has a sister! She said a special prayer this morning for Rahel to thank Heavenly Father that she is now her sister! How sweet. We're also grateful for all of your friendships and your support through this process. It has helped so much knowing that we're not alone in this. Thanks for sharing our sorrows and now our joys!

I'm voting for round 5

We're out of quarantine! Hooray! Faith and Melanie took a round with H1N1 this weekend. Our fevers have broken and we're on the mend.

About court. After sending out 3 emails to try and find out any news of our hearing, I called the information number at our agency. - I was desperate okay? Anyway, I was able to talk to one of the directors (I think) and she informed me that our case was in fact heard in court and viewed favorably BUT our MOWA letter was not attached properly so court was forced to not pass our case. Now that our MOWA letter is attached "properly" - whatever that means- we only need to wait "a few" days -whatever that means- for court to pass our case. At least we don't have to wait for another court date (o: We've decided to give them until Thursday until we pester them about a result. They are working hard to get Rahel home to us. It was MOWA's fault this time and I've been told that they usually mess things up for court hearings, so our case is not special in that way. I'm just glad that the waiting is almost at an end.

Court mishaps AGAIN

Maybe the 4th time around will be our magic one. Again, we were told the wrong date for court. Our new court date is on Monday. One day we won't even remember the pain of waiting and delays, all we will know is Rahel home and sharing life with us. I'm just trying to keep my mind off of it and not give into the corner that's calling my name - I really need a good cry!

Request for your prayers and faith

Tomorrow is our day! Please pray for our case tonight. I will post as soon as I know if we passed or when we passed I should say - faith is a good thing. We appreciate all of your support and love through this process. It's nice to have family and friends to share our experience with. Thank you!

Autumn party

Saturday we had our friends over for some fall fun :o) We carved pumpkins, enjoyed caramel apples, rode a pony and ate lots of chili and corn bread! Fun for all! The kids especially enjoyed jumping on the trampoline - a very new experience for some them! How nice to enjoy the fall and not have to work on the house!

More good news!

Temesgen, our legal representative in Ethiopia just let us know that he got us a sooner date for court! It is Oct. 22 - one week from tomorrow! How exciting (:
I just received a phone call from an Ethiopian friend also letting us know that she has 3 brothers in Addis Ababa and that they would love to take us around - be our guides, translators etc. She said they would be waiting for us at the air port in Addis Ababa with pink flowers! We feel so blessed and taken care of. This definitely puts a damper on my worries - I feel so much safer now! Our Ethiopian friends are like family to us. We are together every day and it is so comfortable and warm. I know that the Lord led us to each other at this time. They came here and received their green cards within 2 weeks of their arrival - unheard of! We've been fast friends from the very start. We love each other so much! We've been supplying them with winter gear since they have none and aren't used to such cold winters and they take care of us in every other way. It will be much easier keeping Rahel's culture alive for her now!
I am so grateful that we will have a connection in Ethiopia. Thank you!

New court date!

Turns out we already have a court date! Who knew?! We're scheduled for October 26 with a possibility of Oct. 22. We'll not get our hopes up for the 22nd though (; Maybe 3rd times a charm.
Rahel - we still love you and we promise we'll get there soon!

Court has finally opened!

Court officially opened yesterday, October 12, 2009! Hooray! This sure has been a bumpy ride for us. October 6 was our 3rd court date that was missed. Hopefully we'll hit a winner this time. After some research online, I found out that other agencies already have issued new court dates for their families who "missed" court opening. I contacted our agency and was told that nothing was known. I'm ready to jump agencies. This is just silly. Thomas called a lady in Washington at our agency and found out that tomorrow is our agency's court date to acquire court dates for families. Come to find out, our name wasn't even on the list of families to get a court date for. We are breaking the bank and our hearts for this adoption and it seems that we are slipping through the cracks. - How gloomy. Happy thoughts are welcome ( : Prayers are also welcome.

Ethiopian festival

We had such a good time at the festival in S.L.C.! We took our refugee friend and showed him the sights of Salt Lake and He taught us how to dance! We had LOTS of injera and so many delicious meats and veg. for dinner and enjoyed the dance shows. Afterward, a professional ehiopian singer entertained while we danced for the rest of the night.

More bad news

Ethiopian court didn't open quite on time this year, omiting our court date. Thank you to all who joined us in fasting and praying to bring Rahel home. We'll post when we get a new date for court.
p.s. Good luck to our friends who have their homestudy visit today! You know who you are (; We love you guys!