6 REMPELS!

SPRING FUN

2009-04-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

I don't think we have been this excited for spring ever before. WHAT A LONG WINTER!!
Not sure why but wow did it feel long. We just got a tent trailer and can't WAIT to do some camping.

OUR FIRST GOT YA OR GOTTCHA DAY!!

2009-02-16T15:21:00.000-08:00

First of all, how do you really spell Gottcha or got ya???? Anyway, we just had our first one. Good friends of ours have the same day as us so we had fun together. We went bowling locally and then for supper and cake at our house. What a blast. It is sooo amazing to see how far Emmy has come since we got her. What a blessing she has been to our family. We love you Emmy.

Emmy's First Christmas in CANADA!

2009-01-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

The following post may have many spelling errors. For some reason the spell check did not work and I was in a hurry typing this. Sorry.

What a wonderful Christmas!
Wow! I can't believe our first Christmas with Emmy has come and gone. What wonderful memories we were able to create. Our children were all so excited on Christmas morning. We have a tradition to do a chocolate fruit fondue on Christmas eve and it was as if Emmy had always done this with us. She knew exactly what to do. (Well, the kids had also talked to her about it for weeks ahead of time.) This year was a bit challenging as far as gifts for the older girls because they are growing up and are kinda just going past the Barbies and pollies. They of course did ask for those things again.... but they only have about fifty barbies and 100 pollies. So they ended up getting little pet shop stuff and Hanna Montanna cds/puzzles. Jonah collects Geo Trax trains and got the airplane that goes with that. He had "accidently" ripped the wrapping paper long before Christmas and said he didn't know what was in that box. He was extremily excited about that one though. Ha Ha. I remember trying that one as a kid. Memories!! Emmy got so many fun things. She LOVES anything that makes noise. So she got a tape player with a micraphone, singing books, dressup, pollies, and lots more. The family gatherings were soo much fun. Everyone commented on how well Emmy fit in. It really felt like she had always been there.

We just completed our last post placement report with our Social Worker. She was such a wonderful lady. She never, ever made us feel uncomfortable or nervous. We are actually really sad not to meet with her anymore. We do have to continue to do yearly reports, however; we are able to do those on our own. It will be really neat to look back once she is 18, and see all the reports. I don't really want to think about her being 18 yet though.

Speaking of the kids growing up. I have had soo many mixed emotions with the children lately. On one hand, I'm feeling like time is just flying and they are growing up much to fast. On the other hand, we are going through attitude struggles right now and I just kinda feel like I would rather skip this time. (not really)
I just feel like our children are so spoiled and don't seem to appreciate what they have. Alot of whinning, complaining, and think that life is ALWAYS supposed to be fun and exciting. Bill and I have struggled with routine a little lately. There is SOO many things we would like to teach the children and just feel like there is not enough time in a day. We have said so many times that we want to start doing daily family divotions and we do well for a while and then on a late night we kinda fall off the routine again. Another thing we want to start doing with the older ones is allowence and then teaching them to tith and also save some money. Again, we do it for a while and then seem to get to busy. Life just seems soooo full. How do mothers do it who work full time??? I sometimes feel like I'm a crazy lady trying to do way to many things. Birthday parties, home reading, gymnastics, clubs, girls allowd, helping my grandparents, having guests over,cleaning, shopping, laundry, and on and on. I'm not trying to complain. These are all good things. It just feels like a bit too much sometimes. Anyway, I've been trying to teach Denniel that for every negative thing she says, she has to come up with five good things in her life. Maybe I should start hey? I do love my family and am greatful that the Lord has given them to me to love and take care of. Bill works extremily hard and I love him for that.

Well, I hope to do a little more posting then I have been. We have Emmy's first Gottcha day coming up and we are planning a little party. Keep posted for pictures.

A REFERRAL!!!!!!

2008-10-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS J AND A!!!!! A referral!! NOT Ours, our very good friends! They just got a referral this morning for TWINS!!!!!!!!!! Outside of our referral, I have never been soooo excited. I'm sure the whole town heard me scream!! They got a referral for a boy and a girl!! I just can't believe it! We stayed at J and A place for night (the night we were leaving for Ethiopia. Our flight left early in the morning so J and A took us to the airport and saw us off!! What an amazing experience that was. We can't wait to take you to the airport and see you off guys! We love you!!!!

RECENT PICTURES

2008-10-06T05:41:00.000-07:00

UPDATED PICTURES

2008-10-06T05:23:00.001-07:00

EMMY LOVES CANADA!!!

2008-09-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

So the first 8 months with Emmy at home have been soo amazing! We have made so many memories and also had some challenges.
The pictures above, are Emmy's first day home. She was fasinated with the TV. My neices came over to meet her. They just fell in love with her!
Our first week at home was very, very exciting but also hard. Bill and I missed Ethiopia so very much that one day, I fell apart and was determined to move there. (Anyone else go through this?) I can't describe exactly what it was we missed. Just the wonderful people, the smells, the slow pace of life. I loved being able to feel like we made a small difference in someones day. I can't describe my longing the first 3-5months to go back.

Overall, things have gone fairly smooth with Emmy a part of our family. The one thing we noticed almost instantly, was how quickly we could spoil her. She "Americanized extremily fast!" We were so amazed in Addis at how long she could sit and play with a few bottle caps. That certanly is not the case now. She is always on the move!

COMING HOME!!!!

2008-08-23T23:14:00.000-07:00

The flight home went so much better than we had antisipated. Emmy fell asleep almost as soon as our flight left Addis. She slept all the way to Frankfurt. What a blessing. The only problem we ran into was... because she was 2 years old, she was required to buckle in her own seat. She was terrified. She had pretty much been attatched to my hip since the second day. She screamed so loud the whole plane could hear her.

When we arrived in Toronto, I felt mixed emotions. I could hardly believe that a short time ago we were half way around the world. I had missed Denniel, Breahnna, and Jonah so VERY much that I could hardly WAIT to see them. I also felt a sadness to have left Ethiopia. If Bill and I had had our children with, it would have been tempting just to stay there. (Not really) But we did love it there.

There was a huge snow storm in Toronto so needless to say, we had a delay. We didn't know how long the delay would be. We were so nervous that we would miss seeing all our friends at the airport. So we were an hour late in leaving, but the flight was fine. I knew I should sleep but just could'nt. All I wanted was to see my kids back home.

When we landed and walked past the doors to see our children, all I heard was my Breahnna screaming MOMMY!!!! Oh how precious!! I had tears welling up but fought them back not to scare Emmy. I had never left our children for more than one night so this was huge!!

The Rest of Our Trip

2008-08-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well, just as I had thought.... It would take me sooo long to finish my trip that I would forget the details. I do want to say that we had an amazing experience and would not trade it for anything in the world. What an incredable journey to our precious daughter. Emmy, We love you so much more than I can ever tell you.

I do want to share about the moment we went to the airport to come home. We were filled with emotions. I will never, ever forget the feelings all jumbled inside of me. Were we doing the right thing for this beautiful little girl? We prayed that we were. We were taking her away from everything she knew... was this really best?? As we walked into the airport, I took one last deep breath of the smell that to me will always be "The smell of Ethiopia." When we arrived.... it was the first thing I remember and when we got onto the plane to go home... it was the last thing I will remember.

The people in Ethiopia will always be in my heart. There is not a day that goes by where I don't look at my precious little girl and think of how incredibly awesome God is!!!! The hearts of most of these people are soo big. So many of them had nothing but would help us in any way they could. Thank you to all the wonderful people we met and loved in Addis. You won't be forgotten.

Day 6

2008-05-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

I know it's terrible how long it has taken me to finish about our trip. Four children and renovations is all I can handle these days. We are finishing our basement and I can't wait. All that extra space.

So going on about our trip..... I think it was day 6 that we were able to arrange a visit with our sponsor child. His name is Kirubel and he is the same age as my girls who are six. I still well up with tears when I remember that long awaited meeting with him. He is SOO precious. He lives with his mother, older brother, and baby sister right in Addis Ababa. He had stayed home from school the day we came so he could meet us. He greeted us with a handshake and a big smile. He understood who we were. We sat in there home the size of our bathroom and talked with him about school and sunday school and things he liked to do. I will never forget this experience. Oh, how I wish it was easier for us to visit him. Compassion Canada found Kerubel and I am so glad we are able to bring a little light into his life. I soo wish we could do more. We only spent about 20 minutes with him but it is on my list of most amazing experiences. We had brought him some gifts of school supplies and a soccer ball and needless to say, he absolutely loved his soccer ball. The smile on his face when he saw the ball was priceless. It was hard for me to leave him knowing that I would probably never see him again but just love him soo much.

Day 3 and 4 in Addis Ababa

2008-04-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

I'm soo sorry about my extreme lack of posts. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to remember the days after a while. I just thought I would share bits and peices about the rest of the trip.

Day three was a huge day for us. Alot happened! We went to Entoto.(The top of the mountain that overlooks Addis Ababa. What an amazing sight. I've done very little traveling so all these new sights were so exciting to me. On the way down from the mountain, I noticed that Emmy had what looked like a fainting spell. We now believe that it was a possible silent seizure. (We have her EEG soon to check it out) Anyway, with me being already emotionally drained, I took it really hard. I was worried and really wanted to take her to a doctor. We did later see a doctor who also thought it could be seizures(mild ones)

Anyway, we went to the most awsome restaurant for lunch that day. I had fries and wow were they good.

After lunch we spent a little time shopping on Church Hill Road. I loved shopping. I found so many great things for our children. Dressess and jewelry. A drum for Jonah.

Later in the day was more emotional again. We met with Emmy's bio father. He was wonderful and clearly loved Emmy. I am so glad I can share that with her one day. What a huge blessing for us to be able to visit with him.

DAY FOUR!!!!
Day four was spent going to the pottery. This was sooo exciting for me. I just loved seeing the talents of these woman. I spent $100.00 american. LOTS!! It's all over my house now and I love it. We also went to the Laga school. WOW! The wonderful man who runs the school does a great job. The children seemed so happy to be at school. The children just soo longed for touch. They were so excited to shake our hands and especially getting their pictures taken. They then wanted to see the pictures on our digital. They were such wonderful children. Emmy had a toy cd player and the children tried their hardest to press the buttons for her. One girl especially caught my attention. She looked so very shy and kinda stayed to the side more. When I held her hand, she grasped it as hard as she could and cried when we left. I felt soo bad for her. I had stuck a little pony in my pocket and gave it to her hoping to make her feel better. She put it in her pocket and smiled. When I retell stories like this, I still cry.... Is this normal? Am I losing it????

DAY 2 IN ADDIS

2008-03-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

Our second day was filled with an eager antisipation to go pick up our daughter. It was the BIG GOTTCHA day!! We once again woke up at 4am and waited for the sun to rise and the beautiful smells to fill the air.

We went down to have our breakfest and relaxed until Mesfin came to pick us up.

To our surprise, Emmy came right up to me and hugged me and seemed ready for a new day. We had brought her a balloon again and she loved it. Oh how it melted my heart to have her willingly give me a hug and sit with us. Many thoughts filled my head and I would have to admit I was a little nervous.

The only thing that got Emmy nervous for a few minutes was the car ride. Clearly this was not something she had done alot.

We spent our first day with Emmy doing different things like going to a few shops and getting some food at the market. We decided to go back to the guest house earlier since it had been an emotionally draining day.

Our First Day!

2008-02-27T08:36:00.000-08:00

We were beyond excited to start our first day in Addis. We went down to have our first breakfast at the guest house. I have to admit, I was a little unsure. We loved it. (I think we had the omelet) Mesfin came to the guest house to pick us up and take us to the foster home. All these months we had dreamed of this day meeting our daughter and here it was. Wow! I thought I would be so nervous but I was just Extremely excited. When we arrived at the foster home and Haregewain welcomed us in and joked around with us asking us jokingly what it was we wanted there? We really did like her a lot.

The moment came when Emmy walked into the room and all I can say is that she was FAR more beautiful than I had ever imagined. WHAT A DOLL!! That memory of my first glimpse of her is etched in my mind. I won't go into detail about our first visit but it did go much better than I had anticipated. We spent about an hour with her and then went on with our day. Many people have asked if we found it really hard to leave her that first day and I can say honestly that because we could see that she needed time to process this all, it was fine.

We went for lunch to a really nice place. I do have to admit that the food was a little different for me. It took some getting used to. Mostly the meat. We spent some time in the afternoon just going to little shops at church hill road. That was quite overwhelming. SO MANY PEOPLE! There is just people everywhere! I loved it!! I love being in big cities with lots of people so this was for me. The people are so kind. I know everyone has been telling us that so it was cool to see for our self.

We went to bed fairly early the first night since we were mixed up with the time change and Bill and I had been awake for a long time. We fell asleep instantly.

Our Journey To Emmy

2008-02-23T11:26:00.000-08:00

Here is a slide show of our complete adoption journey- Enjoy!!

WELCOME HOME EMMY!!!

2008-02-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

We are home!! YEHHH! What a wonderful experience that was. It was worth all the months and months of waiting!

Our flight out to Ethiopia was long especially since we have three children(now four) and are not used to sitting for such a long period of time. We took gravol and slept quite a bit. To be honest, I had a bit of a fear of flying and it seemed to get worse instead of better as we got closer to Ethiopia and further away from our children at home. Our children stayed with friends of ours in my home town. I had such a hard time leaving the children and flying so far away.... but it was for the best possible reason. They had a wonderful time but a few tears missing us.

When we arrived in Addis late in the evening on the 28th of Janurary, I could not beleive I was so close to my baby. It was so hard to wait until the next day to see Emmy.

I will never forget the air and the beautiful smells when we stepped out of the airport in Addis. We are home one week and oh, I will miss that beautiful breeze. It was just so overwhelming to finally be there. We met Mesfin and Ketima who were so helpful in taking our luggage and helping us out. What awsome guys. They took us to our guesthouse and we were taken back by how beautiful it was. We had a nice room with an attatched bathroom and a small kitchen. The only problem we had with the room was that the bed bugs loved me way to much. I lost count at 25 bites. But wow! The service and staff were fantastic.

Bill and I both woke at 3:00am the first night and could'nt fall back asleep. The time change really affected us. We read and talked until about 7:00 and eagerly waited for the sun to come up so that we could see Addis. WOW!!! I will never forget the beautiful view as the sun came up from our guest house window. I will try to continue posting more soon....

I'M ON A JET PLANE!!!!

2008-01-25T07:09:00.000-08:00

Well the time has come where we leave our home to drop off the kids. To say I have knots in my stomach does not describe how I feel. I have never left my children for more than 1 night. This is HUGE for me.

We leave to go to my home town and then we'll spend a night at friends of ours who will be taking us to the airport.

I feel beyond excited to meet my little girl. I get shivers just thinking about holding her in a few days. WOW! I never thought the day would come.

I would really love for everyone who visits my blog while we're gone, to leave a welcome note to Emmy and then I will print it and scrapbook it for her. I am doing a big scrapbook of our experience for her.... I look forward to coming home and seeing the comments. Take Care and God bless you.

READY TO GO

2008-01-18T08:33:00.000-08:00

WE ARE GOING!!!! YEHHHH!!!! 8 SLEEPS!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!! Oh my goodness! Our phone call saying our flights were booked came yesterday and I didn't sleep a wink last night. I am farrr to excited!!

We were really concerned with the unrest in Nairobi, that things would get put on hold( and our visa comes from there.) The last several weeks has been sitting on pins and needles and just wanting this whole waiting journey to come to an end.

Last night was such a blast! We went to our Ethiopia get together which a friend of mine and I have started. A friend of mine in the group does amazing braids and was kind enough to do my hair in cornrow braids. It will allow me to forget about my hair for the trip.

We have SOO much to do before we go it's nuts. We are only going with one other couple. I am a one on one person so that is great. I don't know if I have mentioned it but Bill and I are both going. We had thought that only I would go but now we realized if I am the only person from Manitoba, it might be good to have Bill. It will really make the trip for me. We have never been anywhere together so I am thrilled! Our children are staying at friends in my home town so I know they will be well cared for.

We have always dreamed of seeing our sponsor boy who is in Addis, so we have just made arrangements with Compassion Canada to do that. They are FANTASTIC!! They have helped Bill and I soo much with the arrangements and sent us Excellent info on the country.

Now for Packing!!! Wow!! I really need to get going on that. I have been so unsure that we were actually going that I've been in low gear... now I need to move it. We are leaving our house on Friday to drop the kids and then leave on Sunday morning. My sister and mom will come on Wed. to help me with last minute things. I can't wait... I will post as soon as I get back.

PACKING PACKING AND PLANNING!!

2007-12-29T08:26:00.000-08:00

Reality has hit that our trip is getting really close and we have just started packing! What fun! We will have 4- 50 pound suitcases and 2-20 pound Carry on's, plus our "purses"! How will we ever carry all of that? Anyway, I can not believe how much donation stuff we have collected over our 2 years. Lots of toys, towels, medication, school supplies, and lots more. I am just so thrilled to be fulfilling my dream and going out there to make a difference in a few peoples lives. I remember being young and watching World Vision and just wishing so much that I could help a few of the children.

We received a list of suggested Foster Home Donations and blankets was one of them. A really sweet friend of mine was kind enough to have me over to her house one day, and helped me with making a bunch of blankets. What a wonderful time we had dreaming about the trip and about the day our children would all be home together. Thank you so much Jenn!! I had a great time.

One thing that has really been on my mind lately is how Emmy will adjust to us. From the information we got about her, she is very shy. I guess I feel like if I expect the worst and then it's better, then I won't be shocked. We are really hoping to meet her father and wow, what an experience that would be. I remember going through my teens and wondering if I was adopted just because of how different I was from the rest of my family. I think every teen goes through that. I just think it would be nice to be able to tell Emebet that at least we had met her father. I would love feed back on this topic if anyone would want to leave a comment. Do you think this would be a good thing? What appropriate questions would you ask the father? Anyway, I will try to post again as soon as we hear more from Cafac. Happy New Year!!!

TRAVEL DATE!!!

2007-12-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, you read it right. We have a travel date. It will be either the week of Jan 21st or 28th. This will depend on the visa I think. We are soo excited!! I can't beleive this will finally happen. Only 40days(at most) till I hold her. Yeh!! What a great Christmas present. We are really hoping to get an update when Roberta comes back. I will try to post when this happens. Merry Christmas!

MEDICAL

2007-11-24T19:30:00.000-08:00

I can't believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We are currently waiting on our medical. Once we have that, then we should be getting our travel date. This has been the most painful "pregnancy" I have had yet!! It seems never ending. I do feel like this will happen though. Within 2 months, we should have her in our arms and I can't wait. We have been to a few Cafac events lately and it's been hard. Just the constant asking where we are at gets difficult after a while. I think it's just the fact that we've been talking about it for so long that we just would like to show her instead of talking about her at this point. Anyway, I'll keep you posted.

COURT DATE!!

2007-11-06T18:17:00.001-08:00

Just a quick update!! Our Court Hearing was APPROVED!!! Yeh!! I am soo excited!! I am soo praying for a miracle to travel before Christmas. It would be SO special to have her home for Christmas. Everyone Pray PLEASE! Thank you for the prayers so far. SO now what happens is the medical for immigration. Apparently that is supposed to be to Ethiopia soon.(from Nairobi) Then we get our VISA. YEHHH!! I am flying on cloud nine today.

COURT DATE!!

2007-11-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

WAITING AND MORE WAITING!!!!

2007-10-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

Did I mention that I am a terrible "Waiter"? This two year wait has just really drained me. We have been keeping busy and that has been important. We are currently waiting to hear about how the court day on Tuesday went. We are also waiting for our update on how Emebet is doing, her weight and height. We are praying for a complete miracle to bring her home for Christmas but we know the chances are slim.

Our children seem to realize that she will be coming soon and are very excited. They have colored many pictures for her and have written her letters and cards. There is a part of me that worries about how Jonah will feel not being the baby anymore. I do know though, that the Lord led us to do this adoption and he will help us through any struggles that come up.

Plans for the fundraiser are coming along really well. We have had an excellent response to the people we have talked to. I expect the turn out to be good. A friend of mine works for the local paper and is doing a story on our international adoption and will put our fundraiser in the paper so that should help.

We have done very little packing or preparing for the trip. I am thinking we will get a new travel package from Cafac as far as donations needed and what types of gifts and how many we will need. I look forward to getting the travel date and then I will be pumped to pack. It kinda still seems so unreal that we are even doing this. We have dreamed about it for so long that I can't believe it's actually going to happen. I will post as soon as we have our update.

Update on Paperwork!!! YEHHH!!!

2007-10-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

WOW!! Praise the Lord!! We got our court date for Emebet's hearing. This means that because her father is still living, he needs to show up at the court house to officially relinquish his rights.

The thought of this makes me teary eyed every time. The thought of relinquishing my rights to any one of my children is devastating. I can not imagine the point where I could not feed my child, but loved them so much that I would give them to someone who could provide. I don't in any way think that adoption is the perfect solution to poverty, however; I do think that the people who adopt these children have good intentions and desire to help and love these children.

Another exciting thing that happened is that we have got our BO number. This is yet another important step to be able to travel. We now wait for the court date to be over and Pray that the Lord will allow Emmy's father to get a way of making it to the court house. This can be very difficult. He lives approx 3hours driving from Addis and will need to be first of all notified of the date of the hearing. Someone will drive to where he is and tell him, and then have transportation to the city.

Once the court date is over and if it is all approved, then the medical part of the immigration work can start. (This is how it was explained to me) At this point her birth certificate can be redone and so on. PLEASE PRAY that he will be able to show to the court hearing on Oct 23.

I would also appreciate prayer for a fundraiser I am hoping to do locally. I am thinking of doing a sausage and Kielke supper and maybe having someone who has adopted to speak on the experience for them. I would LOVE feedback on this idea or other good fundraising ideas.

UPDATE ON EMEBET!

2007-10-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like things are slowly falling into place for us to be able to get our travel date. Roberta was just in Ethiopia and now we are waiting for our update. We will get new sizing and weight on Emmy. I also requested a drawing of her feet for buying shoes. As soon as we get our update here, I'll do a post and let you all know how she is doing.

WAITING AGAIN!!

2007-10-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've never waited for anything in my life so desperately. The first month after we received our referral was ok. We enjoyed sharing her pictures with family and friends and really just relaxed about the whole thing. We have now been waiting 1 1/2months and needless to say, I'm ready to go get her. Nothing as far as packing has been done because I know that once I start putting stuff together, every day will feel like forever.

Something we are praying about right now is our court date. The courts reopen tomorrow from their new years celebration. It's frustrating because first, we had to wait for the court to reopen and now it could be a while for us to even get our court date. I really hope because Emmys father is still living, that he can come to the courts and this would shorten the process a little. We also need our BO number and medical forms. This apparently is kinda done by luck.(when you get them) So frustrating!! I just want this to all be over. I just want my girl home! Roberta is in Ethiopia right now and will bring home updated pictures and her sizes. This is a little encouraging but it's not her.

EMMY'S ROOM

2007-09-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

Emebet's room has been soo much fun for us to work on while we are waiting for her. I go into her room a couple of times a day and just enjoy the bright beautiful room and all the things we've bought and received just for her. It's so hard to really imagine her in her room playing or sleeping in her room. If I spend too much time thinking about REALLY receiving her in my arms, I of course start to cry. We spent an evening with our friends who just got home with their two new daughters from Ethiopia and WOW! What fun to hear all their stories of things that happened and things they learned while in Ethiopia. The culture is definitely different than we are used to in many ways. Their girls are the most lovable children ever. Bill had so much fun getting Tess to laugh that I couldn't help but picture him with Emebet. We can't wait!!!

ETHIOPIAN FOOD FUN

2007-09-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

We have completely fallen in love with Ethiopian Food. I really think that I could eat it on a regular basis. Our children love the injera which is fine for now. We had a wonderful weekend of fun. We spent Saturday going to a friends Ethiopian Restaurant in the city with a bunch of friends who are also in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. What a wonderful evening of fellowship, food and watching the children dance with the owner.

Welcome Home to Shadae and Tesahni

2007-09-20T09:10:00.001-07:00

Welcome home to our new friends Shadae and Tesahni. They are beautiful daughters to Jossie and Earl. Congratulations guys!! We look forward to getting to know you better.

Things on our end seem to be slow again now. We received our acceptance of referral package and sent that back to them. We also have received our letter of no objection from the province of MB. I think as I understand, we are going to get our BO number soon. I'm having a hard time understanding the whole process. We're trying though.

Emebets room is all ready for her and we can't wait. The only thing I am unsure of is the size of smaller clothes to get her. I don't know how much she will grow in the foster home between now and the time we go get her. We will just wait to buy the small sizes until we have her size. I am soo happy with how her room turned out. It was wonderful to have something to keep us busy during the wait. The first 6 weeks of waiting to travel has gone well. It has gone by fast. I was so relieved when we received the referral that I now finally have a picture of my girl, that I have relaxed soo much knowing she is mine/ours. Praise the Lord. I have a shoe fetish and I can't wait to buy cute shoes for her.

Welcome Home to Shadae and Tesahni

2007-09-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

Happy New Years

2007-09-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

We had planned to go to some of the activities in Winnipeg for the Ethiopian New Year and well, needless to say our weekend got to full of other things. The girls just started grade 1 and had a difficult adjustment to being in school all day. My Surgery went ok, although it put me out a little more than I anticipated. We are really looking forward to having Emebet home and celebrating Ethiopian Christmas with her and other friends who have adopted.

My life is soo different now that the girls are in school. I have just Jonah at home and wow! This is crazy relaxing. This is my very first time having one on one time with any of my kids on a regular basis. I LOVE it. We play playdough, ride bikes, play at the park, read stories and lots more fun. I am really concentrating on just enjoying my time with Jonah and not stressing on when Emebet will be here.

Surgery

2007-08-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

Just thought I should let you all know that tomorrow is surgery day for me so I may not be posting for a few days. I'll be back soon.

MEETING OTHERS

2007-08-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

Wow! My husband and I are having just a wonderful time getting to know other families who have children or are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. Cafac was generous enough to hook us up with other adoptive families who received their referrals at the same time as us. We have been emailing each other and sharing our joys together. How exciting is that! It is soo amazing to me, how very attatched I have gotten to my Emmy. All the other referral pictures are awsome and the children are beautiful but you develope a bond with your own that I can't describe. You know, people say that your child starts to look like you even if they are adopted... I can see it now. Anyway, a couple that Bill and I just met left for Ethiopia today, to pick up their two girls. We got together with them on Friday night and were just thrilled when they offered to take a little gift to Emebet. We sent a teddy bear, a little doll, and a small photo album of our family and her room. I really hope and pray that she will be able to see the pictures and enjoy the bear. I can't wait to hear about their trip when they get back.

The pictures above are on Ethiopia day at the park. There was tons of fun for the kids. They had a lot of games and races for the children and then in the end, all of them got a metal with Ethiopia Day engraved in the back. Our children made some great friends and had a wonderful time. We have decided that we do not want to focus on not having Emebet yet and just obsessing about trying to speed the process of paperwork, but rather just enjoy this time of research, getting to know others and enjoying our family as it is right now.(We will need prayer in this area)

The Wait Begins Again!

2007-08-23T06:19:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I have gone into this next time of waiting with alot more contentment. I now have a picture of abeautiful little baby girl. I of course would just love to go pick her up tommorow if I could but I also realize that the formality and Legality is necessary and important. We are so blessed to be working with an agency that is very experienced with all the paper chasing. I do dream of the day that I will hold her for the first time. I have sooo many dreams of the places I would love to take her and the experiences I would love to give her.

REFERRAL!!

2007-08-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, now that some of the parties and celebration are over, it's time to get back to having a schedule. I thought I'd share the story of how we received the news and the days leading up to that exciting day. Last weekend was the Cafac camping weekend in Minnidosa. We got there on Friday night, put up our tent and just relaxed around the fire with friends of ours who are also in the process. I tried soo hard not to focus on the referral and just have fun. During Friday night, it rained and got extremely windy and cold. When we woke up in the morning, everyone was hibernating in their tents or in the pavilion. We had breakfest and took a walk to find other friends we had met last summer at the Cafac weekend. We ran into Deb and Roberta and chatted for a while. I was very determined to make it the best weekend possible even though I was very disappointed to come without a referral. Later that day, Bill and I had a talk with Roberta and she left a few hints that our referral was close. By Saturday evening, we were soooo cold that we decided to head home and warm up. Of course Monday seemed like a long day. I had kinda wondered if Debra had brought our referral with her since she just came home from Ethiopia. This meant that it should get to us very soon if that was the case. We went to bed disappointed on Monday and just again prayed for the Lords timing. This prayer was getting really difficult to pray. On Tuesday morning, I decided I would not pick up any phone calls since I had been getting alot of questions regarding the weekend and weather we knew anything. At 9:00am the phone rang and I let the answering machine get it. I heard "HI LISA!" "IT'S ARLEIGH FROM CAFAC", Well needless to say, I've never ran to the phone so fast in my life. Anyone who is in the process or has ever been, knows that they don't generally call. She asked if Bill was home and I assured her that he would be in five minutes. I then called Bill at work and he came home to share the wonderful news with me. When we heard her name was Emebet, we immediately decided to call her Emmy for short but leave her legal name Emebet. So her full name is Emebet Joy Rempel. I know many of you are confused because we were going to name her Zalea. Well, sorry we changed our mind. It was also her name given by her biological parents and we felt that it was the one and only thing she could keep from them. Anyway, here is some of the information we were given about her. She just turned 2 on July 12 and weighs 18 pounds.(pretty tiny hey?) She is potty trained and is speaking a few words. She came to the foster home in early July and was matched with us almost immediately. One thing I can't show but must share is that she is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. She is soooo adorable. I have never experienced such instant love. Now comes MORE WAITING!! I am comforted knowing that she has been saved for us and we have excepted the referral. We are determined to make the best of each day and enjoy getting ready for her arrival home.

REFERRAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-08-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

We finally received our referral!!!!!! Yehhhhh!!!! Her name is Emebet! She is absolutely BEUTIFUL!! How do you SCREAM on blogs???? I am soooooo Excited and can't even explain. I have to run but wow!!!! Life is great right now!!!!!!

CAFAC CAMPING WEEKEND

2007-08-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

I don't know who ordered the weather this weekend, but it was freezing and WINDY!!! We arrived in Minnidosa later friday evening and set up our tent. Last year when we had been at the camping weekend, we had tons of rain during the night and this year it was a cold wind. We made a fire and sat around the fire until 2am with some of our friends. We had a great time chatting, laughing and being kids. During the night, it got even more windy and rained. We were so tired we slept through it all. Saturday morning was no different as far as weather. We went to go mingle with some of the other families who came out. We also saw Roberta and Debra, Arleigh and the other crew. That was special to see them in person. I was shocked at the amount of people. I think Roberta said 250 people. It was somewhat encouraging to see all the beautiful children and know that it will happen for us. I also know that what everyone says is true. The wait will be worth it all.

Congratulations to my friend Lisa who just arrived home with their two beautiful daughters. Welcome home girls!!!

A GOODBYE TO A SPECIAL AUNTY!

2007-08-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

On Friday August 3, my aunt who was 37 and battled breast cancer for four years, finally passed away. We have been very busy with funeral planning and just being there for his her children and husband. What a tragic story.

BILLS JOBS TAKE OFF

2007-07-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

Bill has been wanting to start a side job of renovations and I feel like it's finally really taking off. He just got a job through the town, concreting a pathway that goes from our house to the school which is one block. It will be wonderful to have a clean path for winter when the girls walk to school. He just finished our fence around our yard and has received tons of complements on it. He has now been offered a job doing fences for next summer through a contractor. Needless to say, he's excited!

I'm really getting excited about the next few weeks. We have a couple friend who have a beautiful site at a local resort and they have offered us the use of it for all of next week. I'm still trying to fix the program that allows our camera to download pictures to the computer. (Did I ever say we have an old computer?) I hope to take a bunch of pictures and then I'll post them. They have an amazing water park with slides and games for kids. They also have the most amazing bands in the evening. Bill has a few days off so I hope that this passes time as we continue to wait for our referral. We also have the Cafac camping weekend August 10-12 and will once again have a wonderful time with a few of our friends who are also in the process. If my next post takes a while please check back again.

THE WAIT CONTINUES

2007-07-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

Almost 10months and no referral. I would be lying if I said I was not disscouraged. I am kinda starting to feel like this just won't happen. Every where I look are families coming home with their children and receiving their referrals. We have been keeping ourselves very, very busy and for the most part it is keeping me from getting frusterated. But today is just one of those days where I'm just tired of it all. We don't regret starting the proccess at all but it is very hard at times to keep motivated. My prayer was and still is that we will be together as a family for Christmas. We have several friends who have just started the proccess. They all have the same determanation that things will be quicker for them. Bill and I have made sure not to point out reality to them because I believe that having that hope for the first six months is what got us through. To just believe!!

2007-07-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Our first year of having children in school has come to an end and we are having wonderful summer holidays. Bill is taking next week off and we all can't wait to have a week of relaxation and fun. The very first report cards for the girls was a little hard. They did wonderful but to be honest, I'm a bit of a perfectionist and find it hard to need improvement in any areas. Well we've decided we'll work really hard for next year. I'm a little sad that they will be in school all day, but I can't wait to spend some one on one time with Jonah.
On the adoption end of our life, we don't have our referral at this point, but we do know that we are very close. I've had a lot of dreams of her lately and can't wait to see what she looks like and how old she is. We have had so much fun buying a few adorable summer outfits for her on sale racks at Gap recently. I really was hoping to show them but like I said, I can't get it to work.

SUMMER FUN!!

2007-07-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

We have had a wonderful week of fun. We went with our friends to stay in a cabin at Riding Mountain National Park and what a blast! I tried tubing and fell in love with it. We also set up Beach Badmontin and I realized how many years have gone by since high school. Our children also kind of tried tubing and wow!!! We are really water sports lovers. It was great to see the couple we went with having so much fun and just relaxing. It was awsome for me to just get away and forget about our waiting time for a while. I will try to post some pictures of our weekend but for some reason our computer is not allowing us to load the pictures up right now so I'll do it in a later post.

A PRAYER FOR MY AUNT

2007-06-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry about my lack of posts in the last while. We have had quite the busy summer so far. My aunt who is just a few years older than me has just gone into her last stage of cancer so needless to say this has been very difficult. She has three young children who are such incredible mommy children, it's unreal. We often talked about us adopting and although that's not really her culture to mix cultures, she has been a big support. I have been replaying things her and I did together as kids, the things she and I talked about and the physical things I have from her. I am really hoping I will have the opportunity to share my picture of our angel with her. I guess I have been feeling so depressed and I don't want to just have a sad negative post so I just don't post at all. I then took the time to think about what my purpose in posting was and reminded myself that it's for me and if that's how I've been feeling lately then why shouldn't I be honest?

I want to congratulate my friend who has been trying to conceive and is finally pregnant!!! Congratulations Lena! I love you and I'm very happy for you!

YARD WORK

2007-05-30T13:22:00.000-07:00

WOW! I waited all winter for spring, so we could get our yard done and now it finally here. It is so exciting to see a big lot of weeds turn into a nice landscaped yard. I'm having fun adding the finishing touches now. Once I'm all done, I'll post a few pictures.

Jonah is in 7th heaven!! He and Bill(my husband) have been talking about getting a 4 wheeler for the past 11/2 years. Bill finally got a small kids 4 wheeler.(They can still both go on it) They are having such a great time. It's so awesome to see that bonding between them. I sometimes feel a bit of guilt with us getting a girl, but then I see them together and realize he has a bud.

The adoption end of our life seems dead right now. It's frustrating when you don't hear anything from Cafac for what seems an eternity. We got an update at the end of last month and I'm really praying for one this month as well. I feel like months are a year right now. I am getting so sick of going into Zalea's room and everyday it's empty with not even a picture of her. I have never been at a point in life where I have felt so depressed for such a long period of time. I'm kinda wondering if others got to this point in waiting. I'm generally the one building everyone else up and now I'm the one distancing myself from everyone. You know when you just want to sleep and sleep. Don't get me wrong, I don't do this, and I am still caring for my children as normal. I'm doing everything I can to encourage them to keep praying for Zalea and telling them she will come in Gods time. It's just hard to tell them this when I have a hard time believing it. I keep telling myself that once I see that picture, all the waiting will go away, but it doesn't change the fact that I don't have the picture. I really dislike it when I get so pessimistic, and I have to find a way of just living each day to it's fullest, as hard as this can be.

KEEPING BUSY!!!

2007-05-17T06:46:00.001-07:00

As much as we are still desperately waiting for our referral, and of course a day does not go by where I don't think about it, we are finding ways of keeping busy to pass the time. We moved to our new home in November and are now doing our yard. I think it will look great when it's done... I can't wait. On Saturday, myself and a friend are going into the city while the men do the grass. (Nice exchange hu?) I can't wait till I can see Zalea on the play structure having fun.

I was reading a friends blog this morning and reality set in! How blessed we are to live in a country that is for the most part safe and filled with freedom. Her clips were talking about the Aids crisis! I really feel like sometimes I want to block out what is happening out there because, #1. It is so devastating to think about, and #2. I feel that I can't make a big difference is such a huge problem anyway. Bill and I know that we want to adopt as many children as possible, but I sometimes catch myself thinking.... What a difference am I really making in such a massive, wide spread issue?? (I realize we can't adopt children with aids) I just know that the chance for the children we adopt to get aids at some point is high. I don't mean to be pessimistic in this post... I just can't help but think about this tragedy. I sometimes picture my girls being the ones abducted and raped and then being forced into marriage and needless to say It just puts things into perspective. I am somewhat frustrated in my community because I feel like we all live in such a bubble of comfort that I will have people ask me not to mention that things like that happen out there, because it's to hard to hear. If it's to hard to hear.... What about them. Sorry, just venting!

UPDATING PAPER WORK

2007-05-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

Well, Bill and I have decided to increase the age we are willing to accept in a referral and I feel good about it. I spend the weekend praying about it and talking to friends and we felt that it didn't really matter to us. We have had the infant stage two times over and are happy to give people the opportunity who are receiving their first children. This was partially to hopefully receive a referral soon but also, we took some time to look at our family and what would work best for us as a family. So our girl could now be between 0-3yrs old. The only thing stopping us from doing this when we started, is that the province of MB does not like to have fake twinning and that's what would have happened with our son at that time. I guess the only thing I now have a small fear about is getting a child who is said to be 3 but is really 5. I then have to remind myself that we have spend alot of time praying for exactly the child the Lord has for us and we believe this will happen regaurdless of her age.

This weekend was really hard, not because I'm not a mother, because I am. But because I had really, really prayed for our referral by mothers day. I know this is a very selfish prayer because I'm sure alot more mothers felt this way, but that's what's amazing about God. He can handle our selfishness and love us just the same. Isn't that great!!!

JONAH'S FOURTH BIRTHDAY

2007-05-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

My baby is 4!!!! What a weekend of parties for my baby!! Jonah didn't sleep for a week because he was so excited!! We had 4 different parties this year. Every year I tell the kids that it will be very simple and well, it never is!! I have come to the conclusion that I enjoy having parties.

On the adoption end..... Well, not sure what more to say then that we're still impatiently waiting. I guess every Monday morning I have a renewed hope for the week. One of these weeks it's gotta happen..

I was just talking to a friend on the phone this morning who has three children adopted from Ethiopia, and she was sharing that her son is beginning to have a bit of a difficult time with feeling different in their community. He has been asking his mom, when God will turn him white. Her daughter is the same age and has not expressed any amount of "struggle" with this. I guess I thought this may be more of a girl issue than a boy.. I'm obviously wrong. I have been very blessed knowing this couple and many other couples in our area who have children from Ethiopia. I have learned so much about their process, their struggles and Joys. We have been doing alot of research about the Ethiopian culture, food etc. The more I learn, the more I appreciate who our daughter will be and where she comes from. Well I gotta run. Sorry about my post being a mix of my thoughts today.

I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU!!!

2007-05-04T07:43:00.000-07:00

My friend Sheila is back from a year in Berundi Africa and brought these dolls for our girls. She was teaching at a school for children who were sponsered. Just thought I should share the pictures.

When I was 8 years old, I was quite obsessed with death and what happened to peoples souls after etc. I told my mom that if I died, I wanted Jeremiah 29 11-13 on my grave stone. Those verses have become my favorite verses in the bible. It gives me a contentment to know that the Lord is in control of my life and he has plans to prosper me. Today is a day filled with a new hope and contentedness. For some reason I just needed the last Ethiopia update to give me hope and a knowing that our turn is coming. I have been praying for exactly the girl that God has in plan for us as a family. I have to confess that I have had a lot of fun shopping in the last few months, and just wonder what she will look like in all her adorable clothes. One of my favorite things to buy for her is hair things. Hairbands, ponytails, clips etc. I have bought some shoes in bigger size and hope they will fit her. (I'm assuming she will be close to two).

Another thing that has really helped this week go by fast is our fundraising. This is going very well. My husband took the forms to work and sold $1200.00 in Sobeys cards in one day. We are hoping to use some of this money to buy things for the foster home while we are in Ethiopia. We then plan on taking a bunch of pictures and show people out here when we come back where their money went. So Sorry if my grammer is not always perfect. I'm kinda flying by the seat of my pants, typing what comes to mind.

I feel like I need to mention a prayer request. My aunt is 35years old and has breast cancer that has moved into the rest of her body. She has been told by every specialist that it's a matter of time. She now has three children under five and is a stay at home mom. To give a little background ifo on her. She has had nine miscarriages and wanted nothing more than to be a mother. She went to extreme lengths to have their infertility corrected and finally with success. It seems so unfair that she now has to leave her wonderful kids. I say kids, because she is married to someone who has been an alcoholic since shortly after they were married. As you can guess, that's how he is dealing with her illness now. You would think that she would have enough pain in her life. Well, the worst thing just happened. Her son (my cousin) who is 5, was just mollested by a family extended family member who is out here from Mexico on a working visa. What a mess!!!!! Please pray for this family. I'm sure God will know who you're talking about.

WAITING, WAITING, AND MORE WAITING

2007-05-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

I'm at a point where I'm not sure what to share. I'm in a place where I feel time is standing still and I'm going through the motions of every day. We received an Ethiopian update last night and according to that, we should be getting our referral any time now. They were saying that they are receiving referrals (for people requesting infants)whose paperwork arrived in Addis in July.(We are September) and referrals for older children are 2-6month wait. We asked for a girl
0-2yrs old. I was told that request is between infant and older. I am trying really hard not to get my hopes up but it's hard. I'm not sure if I shared this already, but I had a dream of me walking with my little girl holding her hand. The funny thing about the dream was that I remember exactly what she looked like. Somehow, I now picture her that way.

I have started doing some fundraising and have to say that I'm quite overwhelmed with how well it's going. We are selling Sobeys gift cards. In case you don't know, it's a local Grocery store. I recieve aprox 7% of what value I sell. I only started two days ago and I've sold $3500.00. I do have to say that I am quite out of my comfort zone doing this. A few negative comments can be difficult for me. (I'm sure this is the case for anyone)

Tommorow is our sons birthday and he is beyond excited. He is turning four years old. I am in denial about how old he really is. My husband and I are comforting ourselves with the fact that Zalea will be under 2. I just love the toddler stage. That's why it was important to me to have that stage with Zalea. My twin girls will be going to grade one in fall and I am starting to realize that I think that will be even harder than Kind. I can't even imagine not having them home all day. They (my children) are the joy of my life. Bill and I often joke that we'll just keep adopting until we're 60 LOL!!!! We will be broke in terms of money, but packed full with love in our home. LOL LOL!!!

FUNDRAISING

2007-04-25T06:18:00.000-07:00

I have spent alot of time reading other blogs in this long waiting time, and how grateful I am for them because it has really validated my feelings, frustrations, and concerns.
Something I have been praying about is the whole idea of fundraising and donations etc. Our community does have people who have adopted, and as much as I feel that people support the idea of adoption, everyone that I know of has funded the entire adoption/trip themselves. The other thing is that the couples in my area who have adopted or are adopting, are professionals. (surgeons, doctors)

I guess I feel like we shouldn't really be fundraising since we don't have a fertility problem. We just simply felt like God has called us in this direction as well as the fact that we feel completely drawn to Ethiopia and it's culture and people. I have dreamed of having a large family for so long and this was always a way that we wanted to do that. We are fairly certain that we will go back for two more after our current adoption. That would give us 6 children and that's what I've prayed for.
At this point, I would like some feedback about the fundraising/donations idea. Is it OK to ask friends/family if they would be interested in donating? Does this sound bad? My family has had several really difficult things happen in the last few years and are not really in a position to help, but what about the church. My one idea was to ask the church to help with a few fundraisers. Is this a bad idea?
I just want to clear up that we did not go into this process blindly. We did know how much it would cost, and didn't start the process not having any money, however; it is a large amount of money and we didn't have clear cash to pay for the whole thing.
Anyway, hope this all makes sense.
I just wanted to share a cute story of our daughter Denniel. She is such an amazing and sweet girl, she always blows me away with her knowledge. We were at a store the other day and she saw a Barbie she just loved. It was brown and she of course was thrilled( since they have decided to always look for the brown dolls/barbies) They say that they want to make Zalea feel special by having brown dolls. (Isn't that sweet?) Anyway, on with the real story, she wanted this doll and then caught herself and said; "but mommy, we have to save all our money so we can go pick up Zalea." "She has been waiting a long time for us." I thought that was so thougtful of her. I am just shocked everyday at how much the children understand of the adoption. We decided to name her quite early on in the process and I have been really glad about that. Our children talk about her as if she is in our family already.
Just thought I would share a few pictures of the CAFAC camping weekend last summer, in Minnidosa. Our children had a blast. P.S. Look above post for the pictures.

TRUST IN THE LORD!!!

2007-04-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

I have been praying for our referral to come soon, before my heart breaks of longing for my little girl. Having been pregnant before, I can honestly say that it feels the same way. In my devotions today, I read some of my favorite verses and wanted to share them.
"FOR YOU FORMED ALL THE DELICATE, INNER PARTS OF MY BODY AND KNIT ME TOGETHER IN MY MOTHER'S WOMB. I PRAISE YOU, FOR I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE. WONDERFUL ARE YOUR WORKS; MY SOUL KNOWS IT VERY WELL. MY FRAME WAS NOT HIDDEN FROM YOU, WHEN I WAS MADE IN SECRET, INTRICATELY WOVEN IN THE DEPTHS OF THE EARTH. YOUR EYES SAW MY UNFORMED SUBSTANCE; IN YOUR BOOK WERE WRITTEN, EVERY ONE OF THEM, THE DAYS THAT WERE FORMED FOR ME, WHEN AS YET THERE WERE NONE OF THEM. "PSALM 139 13-16"
Today was such a beautiful day. We spent the day getting the play structure together for the kids. I couldn't help but picture a little Zalea playing with our other children. I thought it was so sweet when the twins decided for bed time prayer, they would pray for Zalea's safety and of course food, clothes, and love.

I just thought I'd share with you, about the support group my friend and I have started. It's for families with children from Ethiopia. She has a 6 year old daughter from Ethiopia and what a beauty she is. It has been just amazing to see her learn english and adjust to our culture. It is amazing how fast this can happen. I had planned on only starting this group after we came home with Zalea, but she called me and asked if I would help her with it, and of course I could't say no. We have 7 families attending who are all from our church. It is really wonderful to have an extended family like this. We take turns meeting at each others homes and especially the children really enjoy it. It is also a wonderful time for us as parents, to share ideas, struggles, and just general chit chat. For Bill and I at this point, it has just been great to see so many families who have come home with their children. Seeing this just makes it real for us, and reminds us that in the Lords time, it will happen.

OUR CHILDREN

2007-04-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would share briefly the story of our children and the joy they bring to us. Bill and I were married for arox. 1 1/2 years when I found out I was pregnant. At this point, the thought of having twins had never crossed my mind. Bill and I love our children more than words can express and we are so blessed to have them, however; we had not planned on having our own children since our dream was to adopt from Africa. When I was six months pregnant, I had only gained a few pounds and I was getting quite concerned. I had been extremely nauseous in the first six months and kept down very little food. My doctor sent me for an ultrasound at this point, and to my shock, I found out we would have twins. The girls were born healthy and weighed 5 pounds 3ounces and 4 pounds 14ounces. I have never experienced such amazing instant love in my whole life. It would be impossible to describe the first year with my girls. My mother was fighting breast cancer at the time, my father in law had had a heart attack so my mother in law was busy taking care of her husband. I was on my own!!! Bill had a job where he worked very long days and often didn't get home till very late. Anyway, when the girls turned one year old, I again found out I was pregnant, and nine months later, our beautiful son was born. He weighed 5 pounds 13ounces. He was so little because the cord was in several knots.

At this point I had three children under two!!! Life was busy to say the least. Although life was a complete blur, I do remember praying for one thing..... I prayed many, many times, that the girls would become best friends. To describe my girls as best friends today, would be an under statement. From the moment they wake up in the morning, until the moment they go to bed, they are together. I can not describe what a joy it is to see the love between them. They are such great "big" sisters to Jonah. They include him in their daily activities and really do their best to make him feel included.

Well, that's my mini brag page of my children. Gotta run. Love you guys.

ZALEA'S ROOM

2007-04-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. As I said in my last post, I am computer challenged and am learning a whole lot of stuff. I've redone this post for the third time now and hopefully this is the last. I was having problems with upside down pictures etc.

My husband and I have spend alot of time working in Zalea's room lately and I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I saw a picture in a magazine and loved it, so I tried to copy it. We found some wall paper that fit well. My favorite buy was at Winners, where I found the dressers. It was a great project for us to work together on.(Good bonding time) We realize that we will probably have to put the crib in her room at least for a while, but for now this will work until we know her age. I am just dreaming of the day we get that long awaited call or email about our angel. I just am dieing to know what she looks like and how old she is. Everyone is telling me that it will happen soon, but I'm finding myself losing hope. This week was hard!! Even with being very busy, I still can't stop thinking of her, and how she's doing. I have several friends with children from Ethiopia and I'm so grateful for that. They are a constant reminder that it will happen with time. We have spend alot of time with them since our process started and praise the Lord for that. What a blessing it will be to have so many children for Zalea to relate to.

My husband and I have recently gone to several Ethiopian restaurants locally, and fallen in love with the food. I was craving it really bad one day, so we called up one of our friends and went for supper. We are really enjoying some of these experiences. Well gotta run. I'm going away for the weekend and can't wait.

MY FIRST BLOG ENTRY

2007-04-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

HELLO!!!! Welcome to my very first attempt at doing a blog posting. To give you a brief overview on myself and my family, here goes. My name is Lisa and I have been married to my husband Bill for seven years. We have three WONDERFUL children Breahnna and Denniel who are almost six and are twins. We also have an almost four year old (Jonah). We are now waiting for a refferal for our daughter from Ethiopia.

I have so many things to share, but I would like to start with the reason we are adopting because I'm sure you can tell that it's not a fertility problem.

When I was 6 years old, my dad took my sister and me to see "The African Childrens Choir!" They were amazing, but mostly, it was that day I remember as being the day that changed many of my hopes and dreams for my life. I fell in love with those children that night. When I was old enough to understand that they were orphans and alot of children in parts of Africa were in need of parents, I set it in my heart that one day I would adopt as many as the Lord would allow me to. That dream has never left me. When I met my husband and I found out this was also a dream of his, I was certain that this was the road the Lord wanted us to travel. My husband and I at this point, had decided that we were happy not to have our own biological children but that we would just adopt. I then found out just shortly after this, that I was pregnant. When I was six months pregnant, I found out it was twins. I would be lieing if I said that I wasn't disapoined. I know that for those of you who have really struggled with infertility, this is probably upsetting to even hear. Because I had some friends who struggled with infertility, I didn't show my feelings to anyone. It was after a surprise pregnancy with my son that I couldn't hide my feelings anymore. It was almost a feeling of guilt(the fact that I was pregnant) That must sound crazy, but it was because I felt that there was so many children without parents, that why would I bring more into the world, especially because we felt called to adopt.

We started our process of adoption on April 4th 2006. So we have been working on it exactly one year. What a rollarcoaster of emotions!!!! When we started, we were so excited and determined to be patient and not let it become an obsession. That is easier said then done. We are working through an agency called CAFAC. What a wonderful team. They have been just amazing to work with. I would recomend them to anyone concidering adoption in Canada. Our dossier arrived on Oct 2nd 2006. We have now been waiting for 6 months and 2 days. I am having a much harder time waiting then my husband. I can honestly say that the bonding that happens when you are pregnant, has happened every bit as much for me in this process. How awsome is that. I have cried for this child just like in my pregnancies.