A Few New Pics

And I thought getting just 3 kids to smile at the same time was hard....

She's doing great!

Well, we've been home for one whole week and things are going great. As some of you know, the first few days were a bit rocky and discouraging. Fasika was not keen on strangers...especially 2 Americans who wanted to hold and kiss her all the time. Every time she woke up, she'd look at us and cry. Obviously this is not the ideal encounter for adoptive parents...or small orphan children. :) On the trip home from Africa she started really wanting mommy and has been a mommy girl since. But, the last couple days she has opened up to the whole family and is doing so great. She sleeps AWESOME, eats great, and loves to play...what more could we ask for?! She's even waving at strangers! There's hope for this shy girl yet!! (If you know our family, you know shyness is not one of our strengths.)

David is trying to go through all our pictures and get organized, so we'll be posting pictures again soon. He's also trying to put together a video to give out that hopefully will encourage others to consider adoption or help others financially adopt. We want this experience to be used for more than just blessing our family. We hope it becomes a blessing to many others...especially the millions of orphans who have no one to speak up for them. May God continue to nudge you to help orphans in some way!

We're Home!

Well, after a few flight delays we finally made it home around 6 last night (which was actually somewhere in the middle of the night to our bodies which are still on Ethiopian time. Thought you'd like to see a few pics. :)

Heading Home!

Hi everyone! Dave here in the Ethiopian airport. It's almost midnight here and our flight leaves at around 1:35 AM. What an amazing time it's been here in Addis Ababa! Fasika has warmed up to us us over the past couple of days and is doing GREAT! Happy and healthy... she's quite a cuddler too! And she really likes sticking out her tongue (which is actually pretty long). She's so adorable!

We were without power at out hotel for at least 80% of the time and the email almost never worked. I'm not complaining.. it's just a different world here. It did become pretty frustrating when I learned that my father (who live in the same city that we do in Oregon) had some serious health problems (a stroke and minor heart attack). It was hard to get updated info... last report he's stable and improving.

We'll share pics and thoughts upon our return... we have a lot to process. But I want to thank you all again for your prayers and support. There are so many wonderful kids looking for parents here in Ethiopia. Please pray for them!

God bless!!!

Shy Girl

I just talked to my parents on the phone today, and the power had gone out at the hotel, so they couldn't check all the e-mails I sent them. Apparently, Fasika is very shy. When Mom and Dad took her to the hotel, she cried when she looked at them, when they picked her up, when they put her down, etc. They went to the orphanage and asked if they were doing something wrong, and the people there said that Fasika was just a shy baby. But, surprisingly, she slept through the night (10 1/2 hours! I don't even sleep that long - and she's a baby!). I'm sure the baby will warm up to our family, though. Please continue praying for them and for the baby. Also, please pray for someone I know (I'd tell you who but I'm not sure if the person wants this to be something shared) because this person is ill and in the hospital. Things aren't looking the greatest right now for that person. Thank you so much!
God bless you!

Fasika Will Fit Right In!

Hey, everybody! This is Talia. Sorry I have not posted on here. I tried one time, but this computer was acting weird. Fasika, our Ethiopian Princess, is staying with my parents tonight and for the next couple of nights. You know what? Fasika will fit right in with our family! She walks around (she's the only one walking in the section she's in), takes toys from other kids, and hides them! Ha! :) We are going to have so much fun with her (and it's going to be quite an adventure sharing a room with a walking baby who likes to get into things!)! I have not met Fasika, but I already love her. She is so adorable and I'm so thankful God placed her with our family. He has a purpose for her to be with us. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. I will try to post later!

Jeremiah 29:11

From Venice to Ethiopia

We're in the Venice airport business center and we have a few moments before our flight to Ethiopia... so we thought we'd give you a quick update. We were blessed to be able to stop in Venice, Italy on our way. It was a real treat since I (Dave) am Italian but have never been to "the mother land". Venice is beautiful... we'll try and post some pics when we get home. If you ever plan to travel there.. CALL US FIRST! We've learned a lot from our mistakes.... like dragging 4 huge suitcases (50 lbs each) across half the island, up and down stairs and bridges... through small passages in 80 degree weather with everyone laughing at us and Kristen almost crying. Whee! BTW... 3 of the bags are donations to the orphanage in Ethiopia.. only 1 had our clothes and stuff. We took an easier way when we left this morning.

We didn't know our room had an air conditioner until this morning! It was hiding behind a couch! :)

The food was great and the city was beautiful! But we're REALLY excited to get to Ethiopia and see our little princess! We should arrive there about midnight tonight (our time) and we'll see Fasika tomorrow morning!!!!!

Please continue to pray for us on this trip... and pray that we'll be able to bond with her quickly.

And pray that those 4 huge suitcases make it to Ethiopia! :)

God bless!!!!

posted by Dave... who's feeling a bit humid.

Here We Go

We will be leaving in a few days to pick up our precious Ethiopian princess. It's been a very stressful week with only 7 days notice to get everything ready, but we are very excited for this trip and to meet our girly in person. While we are gone, Talia is going to try to keep the blog updated. It's hard to communicate from Ethiopia sometimes...rolling blackouts, slow dial-up internet, etc. We will do our best to keep in touch with our children and hopefully you'll get to follow along as well. Please pray that everything goes well with the visas we need for Fasika. Some paperwork has not made it to Addis that needs to be there before our Embassy appointment. We also have to stay a day later than the other families to get a transit visa to go through the airport in Germany. Please pray that we find favor with both governments! Also pray as we meet our Compassion International boy and Haley's boy that she sponsors. Compassion is bringing the boys to Addis to meet us. We are very excited! I'm also going to need prayer about being away from the kids for so long. I'm sure it's going to go quickly, but it's still hard. They're going to be having a fantastic time with grandma and grandpa, and lots of friends. Thank you everyone who's helping with them during this time! Thank you to so many of you who have helped us out with resources, time, and money. We only had $200 to start this process last year, and now we are traveling with everything paid for. God is soooo good!

The Journey of a Thousand Miles....

...starts when you take your first step. When Kristen and I first committed this whole adoption idea to the Lord in February of '08 we knew it would be a long road. While we were in the midst of it, it seemed as though we were waiting forever for some of the pieces to fall into place... waiting for a placement... waiting for more pictures... waiting for a court date... waiting for travel dates. But now that we have our travel dates and will be leaving soon to pick up Fasika, it all feels like it's gone by so fast... and now we're scrambling to get everything ready to go. I thank God that I'm married to a VERY organized woman who has all the legal stuff in order and checklists of what we need. If keeping track of all the details were up to me, this wouldn't be happening.

We just arrived home from a wonderful baby shower that some dear friends put together for us... lots of cute stuff for our new baby girl! :) These are people who have gone along on this journey with us in their prayers and support. It was neat to reflect back on how God has worked all of this out and has been so faithful to provide us with the means and the mind to do this.

We (and the kids) are so glad that we took that first step of faith. We would have missed out on so much! And there's so much more to go!


posted by Dave