A Taste of our Trip

*Posting blog entries in our room in Ethiopia*

Hello all....finally taking some time out to share some of the fun pictures and videos we have from Ethiopia that we could not post over there due to slow uploads.  So, here goes...

This is a picture of "AB" and myself at our lunch after church.  He was our translator and we are so grateful God brought us together.  He was a big part of making our entire trip so special and has a special place in our heart.  He is Makeda's "Uncle AB" now ;)  Can't wait to meet up again on our next trip!  See you soon AB!

This is a fun video from our trip back from the orphanage.  It is difficult to see so small, but the truck ahead of us is transporting a slew of camels.  The couple in the car commenting with us traveled with us to Awassa to see their new son.

This is a cute picture of the sweet little girl God had waiting for me at the entrance of Mission Ethiopia. She just came right up to me as we walked in and took my hand and led the way as if she had been commissioned.  "And a little child shall lead them..." :)

This is where the women of Mission Ethiopia do their work.  They started the day with prayer in that little room to the rear right of the picture and then shared technique with me as we created beads to be made into the jewelry they create and is sold to provide for their livelihood.  It was such an honor to share some time with them in their work.  Very sweet women God has brought from the dump or the streets to know Him better and be blessed by those who care.

These are the kids at Mission Ethiopia.  Boy did we have fun with them.  I was able to share the little bit of cashews I had left in my goodie travel bag.  They loved them.  I kept trying to break them up in little pieces to make them go as far as I could.  Next time I will take little treat bags for all of them!!

Below are a couple of pictures from Mt. Entoto.  The top of this mountain used to be the capital and we toured some historic sites there.  This mountain has become a place where many of those afflicted with HIV have made their home and is a place of much poverty.  The first picture is of a woman caring bundled branches she will sell for very little but it is her livelihood.  The bundles are HEAVY and the mountain road is LONG and steep.  It is quite a sight and testimony to the need.  The other picture is of the magnificent view from near the top of this mountain of Addis Ababa below.  WOW!

Trying to describe the streets of Addis Ababa is difficult with words.  There is just so much to see and so much to take in.  Here is a very brief look at some of what we got to see as we travel by...

Ahh, yes, our Ethiopian Restaurant visit.  This was great fun for me as I love dance and just really enjoyed watching all the cool Ethiopian dance styles.  Below is one of my favorites.  To my fellow Zumba girls; perhaps some new Zumba moves???  Great fun!!

And then my turn to share in some Ethiopian Dancing :)  Woohoo!!

okay...you can stop laughing now :)  It was a lot of fun ;)

The last day of our trip; May 22, 2012...our 19 year anniversary.  On our way to the airport AB took us to an Italian Restaurant.  He even ordered us a little chocolate dessert to surprise us for our anniversary.  Awww, how SWEET :)

The plane ride home was LONG (17 hours) and definitely NOT my favorite part of the trip.  But considering the plane rides the "labor" involved in having our daughter, it is bearable.  Not looking forward to that part again, but definitely looking forward to being in Ethiopia, visiting familiar sites and perhaps some new ones and most wonderfully, bringing Makeda into our family and welcoming her into her new God ordained home here in the United States.  

Can't thank you enough for the prayer covering and well wishes.  It has been great fun taking this journey and even more fun sharing it with you!!  Blessings to all...

...TO BE CONTINUED :)

Keda's Birth Certificate

We got her birth certificate today :)  How very exciting and she looks sooo adorable :)  It's fun to see her hair a different way :)  It will still be many weeks while her paperwork is put in order and then we get our embassy date to go back and get her.  Please pray for Makeda as she is moved from the orphanage she has called home for the last year to the transition home where she will live until we come to get her.

As for the homefront, we are slowly making this new house into our home.  Tim is recovering well from his fall and we look forward to being settled in this incredible blessing of a home God has granted to us.  "The Lord Has Done Great Things For Us and We Are Filled With Joy" Psalm 126:3 :)

OFFICIAL WORD :)

PRAISE THE LORD !  We have heard from our case coordinator in Ethiopia the judge has officially aproved our case.  We legally have a new daughter.  Thanks for the continued prayer covering and support.  Love you all!  (She's a cutie :)

HOME SWEET HOME (for 1 more night)

Ontoto Mountain view with a "hat salesman" :)

Phew, we made it.  What a joy it was to get home today.  17 hours on a plane starting at 10 pm last night with a 4 hour layover in Washington DC before finally taking off to come home.  We are seriously feeling the time difference and the malaise of travel and can't even imagine thinking about all the stuff that needs done to be moved out of our house tomorrow, but we know our awesome God will carry us through.  The season of blessing; meeting Makeda and now moving to our new house on Friday is one God has ordained and what He establishes He carries through to completion.  We have not heard the final word that the judge did receive the MOWA letter and that Makeda's file is complete.  I believe the many prayers that were lifted up on our behalf allowed us to hear before we left Ethiopia that at least the letter had been generated.  Communication between the agency stateside and Ethiopia is often slow.  When we do hear we will finally be able to share a picture of her.  Once her adoption is court approved, Makeda will be moved to a transitional home in Addis Ababa within a few weeks.  She will stay there a couple of months until her birth certificate can be generated and all her paperwork for her visa made complete.  We will then be given an Embassy date to go back to Ethiopia to get her :)  (usually a 2-3 month process).  So grateful you have joined your hearts with ours in praying Makeda home.  Thank you so much!

HAPPY 19TH ANNIVERSARY :)

Praise the Lord!  Today Tim and I celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary and the best gift we could have received was word from our case coordinator that he got the MOWA opinion letter.  That is all we needed to complete Makeda's file.  He will deliver it to the judge tomorrow and then her adoption will be legal.  Thank you so much for all your prayers :)  We have to leave now, so I don't have the luxury of looking up what other emails were sent my way or blogging our events of today, but certainly will at a later time.  We are flying out of Ethiopia at 10:15 this evening and 17 hours later (fueling stop in rome) we should arrive in Washington DC Wednesday morning and be home Wednesday afternoon.  Please pray for us, as of course, we move out of our house thursday.  Phew.  God is Good.  Thanks much!  :)

COURT DATE

Monday May21st, court date.  We actually started the day by visiting Mission Ethiopia.  It is a mission that our guest house here supports and suggest we go to see.  I had no idea what to expect and was wearing my court best.  Well, it is a very very impoverished area.  The mission set up shop there to bring women and children who were living in the dump and let them know the love of Jesus and earn a living by making beads and scarves that are sold in outlets and bring them profit.  I was able to make beads with some of the women and try to talk.  The Spirit of the Lord joined our hearts and despite the language barrier we had a joyful time.  Tim and I then went to see the children who were hanging out in a separate area.  Hugs and love galore as you walk into their presence.  I had some extra cashews and would break them in pieces to pop them into the open little mouths all around me as they giggled and clamored for more.  It was the most thrilling and joyful time.  So many kisses and hugs as we left that area and went to explore where the food is prepared.  Beautiful people living in what would be considered deplorable conditions in our part of the world.  We look forward to returning next trip with some stuff to bless them with there.  We then came back for lunch and court.  As most of you know by now, our MOWA letter was not in Makeda's file, so we have to wait until that letter is received by the court to have our adoption legally fianlized.  Frustrating, but there is peace in knowing God has all planned as it should be.  Hoping all the extra prayers help tip the scale to a quicker completion of her file.  After resting a bit after court, we did a bit of "grocery" shopping in a local store and then headed off to our traditional ethiopian dinner, complete with traditional dance.  Amazing!  I even was blessed to dance with one of the dancers and it was just sooo much fun :) .  So, this is our last night here in Ethiopia.  Tomorrow evening at 10:15 our plane will take off to take us back to our side of the world.  Looking forward to all that God has in store for us tomorrow.  To Him be all the glory :)  AMEN!

A day in Addis

Our Sunday was wonderful.  We started with worship at Beza International Church.  The service is in English.  It was an amazing service and the message was great in contrasting the hearts of King David and King Saul and the call to true worship.  The tie in to the New Testament was about the alabaster jar of perfume being poured out on Jesus feet.  We need to break our flesh (the precious outside that God has created) to get to the even more precious inside (His spirit dwelling in us to be poured out in worship to Him).  And beware of the spirit of Mical.  (Had to put that in here to recall it all someday...it was good!)  After great worship our driver and translator took us to Lucy restaurant and museum.  Had some great history lessons there and at Addis Ababa university.  We then went to the Hilton hotel to exchange currency and did a bit of shopping.  We expereienced some sweet street children in Addis and bought some coffee as well (for you cess and kie :).  This was a day full of just as many amazing sights, only city instead of our yesterday "countryside" experience.  Our translater "AB" was such a blessing and we learned so much from him about the culture and just had a very nice time together.  We just finished our delicious dinner here at the guest house and it is dark by 6:30, so it feels like bed time.  It's likely no surprise to those who know Tim that he had a great sleep last night, and I am still struggling waking up a few hours after i fall to sleep and not being able to go back.  Should be interesting how moving day goes the day after we arrive home :) .  Tomorrow is court and if all her paperwork is there and in order, she should be legally our daughter by tomorrow evening.  All Glory to God :)  Sure appreciate the prayers!  Blessings to all!