More youtube videos up!

Got It!!!! Officially Ours!!!!

WOW! We prayed and prayed that we would get the official decree before we left Ethiopia! We cried out to the Lord all day yesterday and He heard our cries!!!!

Thank you for praying with us! Now we introduce our daughter, Acacia Dibora, to you!

Our goodbye was a celebration without tears! We were able to say with FULL assurance "You ARE our girl and we WILL be back soon!" We ate noodles for lunch today and our daughter, Dibora was slurping the noodles up really fast! She kept saying "FAST MOMMY FAST!!" Then when we left she said, "Come FAST Mommy!!!" So she understands that we will be back FAST! What a wonderful day! I expected many tears. Instead we have been singing and praising the Lord for the last few hours and are getting ready to see our families for the first Christmas in 4 years! PTL!!

Please pray that the medical and passport appts happen this week and our paperwork will be submitted to the Embassy within a couple weeks. Pray that everything is cleared so we can come back to get her in no more than 2 months!!! Thank you for joining us in our celebration!

Ethiopia Week 2

Thanks so much for all your prayers regarding a place to stay in Addis! The original hotel where we were staying gave us a discounted rate for the remainder of our time here! Directly above is a picture of our view from our hotel room and a picture of one of their hospitable staff braiding Averi's hair! Though it is still much more expensive than we would have paid in Mekele, we are looking at the extra funds as an offering/tithe to this incredible ministry. Check out a video about their ministry at: http://vimeo.com/17683549

Our daughter flew down to Addis a few days ago and we have been spending lots of quality time together. We spent all day for the first 3 days at the House of Hope Transition Home (Pictured on top. Look at all that laundry!!!) Then, on Friday we were able to bring her back to our hotel, eat lunch together, go to the store for ice cream and balloons, and have a fun fashion show in our room with the clothes we brought for her! We have been surprised this week by how smart our girl is! She beats all of us in checkers pretty much everytime, she knows lots of adding and subtracting facts, she knows the English alphabet and can read some English words, and she put a difficult puzzle together super fast! She can communicate her needs with some English and acting things out with her vibrant personality! She knows more English than we thought she would and she mimics pretty much everything we say or do- She is such a fast learner!

Please continue to pray as we go back and forth to the orphanage. Transportation is pricey and we are trying to find ways to keep our expenses down. Thank you for your continued prayers for:

• Bonding with our daughter and the culture
• Good stewardship of time and resources
• Provision for extra unanticipated expenses (ie. transportation, hotel, food)
• Forming good relationships with the adoption agency and hotel staff
• Forming a great support network with other adopting families staying here
• VERY FAST processing of all our paperwork
• All appointments for our daughter go smoothly (Birth Cert, Passport, Medical)

Please pray we get our DECREE ASAP! Then, she will officiallyBE OURS and we will be able to post pictures of our girl on-line for you all to see!!!

First Week in Ethiopia-Play by play.

Nov 18-19 Fly to Beijing, Drink our first Starbucks coffee in a year and a half! Take a train and a shuttle to terminal 1. Averi and Eli bounce around the play area as we wait to board our plane to Africa!

Nov 19-6am. Arrive in Addis Ababa. Spend the day resting at the Ethiopia Guest Home. Visit with other adoptive families (one family from Florida adopting a 10 month old girl and one family from Ohio adopting an 11 month baby girl) Great time sharing stories.

Nov 20-Anxiously wait to meet our girl. Fly to Mekele at 1:25pm. Go to our hotel. They don’t have any record of our reservation. Go to a few other hotels looking for a family-size room. Find a hotel for only $15 a night with a great restaurant right next door. Go to the orphanage. Give Acacia a great big hug. Averi gives Acacia a teddy bear. She says thank you and gives Averi a kiss on the cheek. She takes Averi by the hand and runs to play in the outdoor playhouse. They play with flowers and make coffee with her tea set. I take lots of pictures and video. She captures our hearts! Gabe and Connie take us out to eat traditional Ethiopian food.

Nov 21-Meet the Parkers, a family adopting a 11 year old boy from the same orphanage. Go to the orphanage. Play with Acacia. She and Averi braid my hair.Averi, Eli, and Acacia drink real coffee together. Acacia feeds us lots of popcorn. Eli plays soccer with the boys. Visit the Orthodox Theological School.

Nov 22 –Go to the school of the blind. Eat lunch with the children at the orphanage. Watch Acacia eat two huge plates of food! Play with a purple balloon for an hour. It breaks. Acacia cries. I hold her. Larry comes to sit with us. Averi takes funny pictures of herself to cheer her up. Averi and Acacia do Ethiopian shoulder dancing. Larry dances with Acacia and spins her around. Back to her cheerful lively self. Acacia shows us her room. Sit together on her bed. Write her name on her new teddy bear. She proudly shows her friends her name on the bear’s dress.

Nov 23-Get ready to depart for a close-by town where the Parker’s Ethiopian daughter is from(adopted her 2 years ago). Get in the car. Acacia and their son are in the car! Visit the Bible Society. Meet the translators translating the bible into Tigrinya-our children’s language for the first time ever after 9 years of tedious labor! Then off on a great adventure with our kids! Acacia gets sick a couple times. After arriving in a small town 30-45 minutes north, go west an additional 17 kilometers on a very bumpy road. Take in the beautiful scenery: red rocky cliffs, huge trees, rock-brick huts. Climb many stairs to visit a rock-hewn church. Visit a lame priest. Pray for him. Go to the orphanage. Give Acacia a photo album with lots of pictures of us. She shows all her friends. The kids sing worship songs for us in English and Tigrinya. Surround us and pray a powerful blessing over us. Hug all the kids. Say goodbye.

Nov 24-Fly back to Addis. Wait an hour and a half until our shuttle arrives at the airport. Get back to hotel. Eat dinner. Rest.

Nov 25-Go to Court! Wait 2.5 hours to see judge. Judge approves other 2 families. Says, “Sorry. We are still waiting for another document. We’ll approve your case in 13 days.” Walk out confused. Why are we here if the papers are not ready? Ask our translator. She says, “Don’t worry.” Call agency representative. She says, “Don’t worry.” Call orphanage director. He says, “Don’t worry.” So hard not to worry. Go to Transition house. Hold babies. Play soccer with older kids. Feels cramped. Not enough room to play. Pray for the children. Our daughter will come to stay here in 4 days. Sad for her.

Nov 26-Take shuttle to check another hotel. ½ price. Go near post office to buy souvenirs. Go to Kolbi coffee. Drink coffee. Eat ice cream. Buy honey peanut butter at foreign supermarket.

Our New Home in Hovd!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT24GRxVUks

After a few months of renovations, we present our new house to you! This past summer, we added red bricks, insulation, and a new roof to our adobe mud block home to get it ready for winter. Recently, we added a garage style fitness room out front and have been fixing up the inside. Thanks for your support and prayers during this time of building up and setting down roots here in Hovd!

We are now a priority project!

Check it out at: http://www.camaservices.com/priority/mighty-men.php

Are we REALLY going!

God's Timing

Is it the best time to leave Hovd? Should we start this study only for a month? Why did we start building the Fitness Club? Does it make since to keep studying the language? Or what about finishing all the small things in our new home? Should I keep visiting people? Do I really have to keep sorting out all the problems people bring me? ETC? Why can't we have some horses yet?(Averi). Why can't I have an eagle? (Eli). Why do we have to wait an additional 2 t0 4 months to bring our daughter home? Why do I have to keep driving down this road?

We don't have the answers, but we know that God does, and as long as we keep trusting in Him we will be heading in the right direction. Not sure if I should be seeking a direction, but KNOW for sure that I am supposed to keep seeking him.