Miya has been home for a little over 3 months now. The time has gone so fast!! She is such a happy girl and has adjusted so well! She amazes me all the time. The thing that amazes me the most is the way she has picked up English. I know they say that kids can pick up a new language very fast, but to see it first hand is awesome. She is completely communicating in English and it's only been 3 months! She still has her cute accent and I know that's the next thing to go (which is sad). Sometimes I wonder what her Ethiopian father would think if he could see her now. The things she's done, the things she's seen, and the things she learned would probably blow his mind. She's in a completely different world and has taken to it so well! So maybe the language thing isn't the thing that amazes me the most, it's her ability to adjust so well. To come home with complete strangers, to a place that is completely new and different, where no one speaks your language and be able to fit right in. She learned to trust us and learned that she belonged to us incredibly fast. She loves her new sisters and they loved her back right away. Yes there have been times when she gets mad and upset, but that's just normal kid stuff. Overall we couldn't have asked for things to go more smoothly!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Home for 3 months!
Miya has been home for a little over 3 months now. The time has gone so fast!! She is such a happy girl and has adjusted so well! She amazes me all the time. The thing that amazes me the most is the way she has picked up English. I know they say that kids can pick up a new language very fast, but to see it first hand is awesome. She is completely communicating in English and it's only been 3 months! She still has her cute accent and I know that's the next thing to go (which is sad). Sometimes I wonder what her Ethiopian father would think if he could see her now. The things she's done, the things she's seen, and the things she learned would probably blow his mind. She's in a completely different world and has taken to it so well! So maybe the language thing isn't the thing that amazes me the most, it's her ability to adjust so well. To come home with complete strangers, to a place that is completely new and different, where no one speaks your language and be able to fit right in. She learned to trust us and learned that she belonged to us incredibly fast. She loves her new sisters and they loved her back right away. Yes there have been times when she gets mad and upset, but that's just normal kid stuff. Overall we couldn't have asked for things to go more smoothly!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Ethiopia
So we've been home almost 3 weeks and I haven't posted anything about our trip yet!! I'm so bad at this! But I guess I can use the excuse that I've been really busy since we got home, right? Anyway, we had an awesome trip to Ethiopia. I love to visit other countries, but have only had the chance to do it a couple of times. We arrived in Addis Ababa (the capitol of Ethiopia) on a Thursday night, late. So the drive from the airport to our guest house was in the dark, but the first thing we noticed were the people everywhere! All over the streets and in the shops. The next day we got a better picture of the city in the daylight and again there were people everywhere! It's just so different than around here. And the next thing you notice are the animals everywhere! Donkeys, cattle, goats, and chickens are all over the city!
That being said, you can guess that the city isn't very clean! There was a smell in the air of all the animals and the constant smell of diesel exhaust. I had a sore throat almost every day and I'm pretty sure it was from the poor air quality. The poverty is also unreal!! People are living in tin shacks with dirt floors and there are probably numerous people living in one shack. I had seen poverty like this in Jamaica, but Addis has 5 million people living in it so the size of the poverty was so much larger. It's hard to go to these places and not feel guilty for all that you have. But I've learned to be thankful instead of guilty! The day after we got there we were able to meet Miya for the first time. We were able to spend about an hour with her at the orphanage.
We felt bad leaving her, but she couldn't come with us over the weekend when we were traveling to meet her birth father, so she needed to stay at the orphanage a couple more days. We left the next morning to meet her birth father. The city she was from was about 300km south of Addis, but took 6 hours to get there. The road was actually nice and paved. What made the drive so long was all the people and there live stock in the roads. Seriously, the whole way there there were people walking in the road and herds of cattle and goats that we had to watch out for. It was crazy! But so cool to see this part of Africa! The country was beautiful and so green.
We met with her birth father at the first orphanage that he brought her to. They didn't let us take any pictures inside the orphanage. We got to spend about a half hour with her father and ask him all kinds of questions. It was a great experience and a sad one. You could tell that his decision to bring her to the orphanage was heart breaking for him and he misses her very much. We were able to give him a small photo album with pictures of her and our family, he was so grateful for this! He also said that he hoped she would have a good education and many opportunities here in America, something that she would not have in Ethiopia. We were able to tell him that she would be well cared for and have all her needs met here. He is also a believer and was excited when we told him we were also. Overall it was a great experience and well worth the 6 hour dive!! We spent the night there and headed back the next day. On Monday we headed back to the orphanage to get Miya and attend her going away ceremony. The nannies make a cake and all the kids sing to the ones that are leaving. They also dress the kids in traditional Ethiopian clothes for the ceremony, it was very cute!
!
After the ceremony she came with us and we spent the rest of the trip hanging out with her and allowing her to get to know us. She did really well and was never afraid of us. She also did great on the plane ride home, better than me!! She's also done really well at home and with her new sisters. They only time she seems to be sad is at night when she cries some. Other than that she is doing great!! And adjusting to American life really well. She loves water and playing outside! Her English is coming along and it amazes me at how much she understands us already. So here is a new family picture of us!!
That being said, you can guess that the city isn't very clean! There was a smell in the air of all the animals and the constant smell of diesel exhaust. I had a sore throat almost every day and I'm pretty sure it was from the poor air quality. The poverty is also unreal!! People are living in tin shacks with dirt floors and there are probably numerous people living in one shack. I had seen poverty like this in Jamaica, but Addis has 5 million people living in it so the size of the poverty was so much larger. It's hard to go to these places and not feel guilty for all that you have. But I've learned to be thankful instead of guilty! The day after we got there we were able to meet Miya for the first time. We were able to spend about an hour with her at the orphanage.
We felt bad leaving her, but she couldn't come with us over the weekend when we were traveling to meet her birth father, so she needed to stay at the orphanage a couple more days. We left the next morning to meet her birth father. The city she was from was about 300km south of Addis, but took 6 hours to get there. The road was actually nice and paved. What made the drive so long was all the people and there live stock in the roads. Seriously, the whole way there there were people walking in the road and herds of cattle and goats that we had to watch out for. It was crazy! But so cool to see this part of Africa! The country was beautiful and so green.
We met with her birth father at the first orphanage that he brought her to. They didn't let us take any pictures inside the orphanage. We got to spend about a half hour with her father and ask him all kinds of questions. It was a great experience and a sad one. You could tell that his decision to bring her to the orphanage was heart breaking for him and he misses her very much. We were able to give him a small photo album with pictures of her and our family, he was so grateful for this! He also said that he hoped she would have a good education and many opportunities here in America, something that she would not have in Ethiopia. We were able to tell him that she would be well cared for and have all her needs met here. He is also a believer and was excited when we told him we were also. Overall it was a great experience and well worth the 6 hour dive!! We spent the night there and headed back the next day. On Monday we headed back to the orphanage to get Miya and attend her going away ceremony. The nannies make a cake and all the kids sing to the ones that are leaving. They also dress the kids in traditional Ethiopian clothes for the ceremony, it was very cute!
!
After the ceremony she came with us and we spent the rest of the trip hanging out with her and allowing her to get to know us. She did really well and was never afraid of us. She also did great on the plane ride home, better than me!! She's also done really well at home and with her new sisters. They only time she seems to be sad is at night when she cries some. Other than that she is doing great!! And adjusting to American life really well. She loves water and playing outside! Her English is coming along and it amazes me at how much she understands us already. So here is a new family picture of us!!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Ethiopia...Here we come!!!
So we leave on Wednesday morning from Grand Rapids. We need to fly to Chicago and then to Washington DC before we are actually on our way to Ethiopia. Once we leave DC we have a 16 hour flight to Ethiopia. We will stop in Rome to refuel, but we won't get off the plane. I'm hoping I'll be able to sleep a big portion of the flight there! I don't really like flying either, so I'm also hoping and praying for smooth flights!! :)
Everything has happened so fast since we got our referral. I really didn't expect to be traveling this soon, but I am glad we are! I'm happy that it will be summer time when we bring her home and happy that we will have a big part of the summer for her to feel comfortable here before the crazy school schedule starts! (not happy that we had to pay peak airline prices!! yikes!) But God has provided all we need! God also provided a free mattress for us this week, it's awesome how everything has come together!
Please pray for us this week as we travel and as we meet our little girl for the first time! (I promise she'll has a name soon!!) And for our girls as they stay with my parents while we're gone. They are not too upset about us leaving, they are actually very excited because they get to play with their cousins almost the whole time we're gone. Today they said they wished we were leaving now so they could go to the cottage for the 4th of July! I think they'll be fine!
My next post will include pictures of our trip! I won't be able to blog from Ethiopia, so I will post pictures when I get back!
Everything has happened so fast since we got our referral. I really didn't expect to be traveling this soon, but I am glad we are! I'm happy that it will be summer time when we bring her home and happy that we will have a big part of the summer for her to feel comfortable here before the crazy school schedule starts! (not happy that we had to pay peak airline prices!! yikes!) But God has provided all we need! God also provided a free mattress for us this week, it's awesome how everything has come together!
Please pray for us this week as we travel and as we meet our little girl for the first time! (I promise she'll has a name soon!!) And for our girls as they stay with my parents while we're gone. They are not too upset about us leaving, they are actually very excited because they get to play with their cousins almost the whole time we're gone. Today they said they wished we were leaving now so they could go to the cottage for the 4th of July! I think they'll be fine!
My next post will include pictures of our trip! I won't be able to blog from Ethiopia, so I will post pictures when I get back!
Monday, June 07, 2010
She's ours!!
I got an e-mail this morning that said we had passed court today in Ethiopia. Which means she is leagally ours! We now have to wait AGAIN for more paperwork to be finished. We need to wait for her to get a new birth certificate and a passport. The e-mail I got stated we should plan on traveling 1-3 months from now, but the trend seems to be to travel 6 weeks after court. So we will see!! I'm just glad this part is done, just one more step to go!! Yay!!
Friday, June 04, 2010
Olivia is 4!!
My sister took some 4 year old pictures of Olivia recently. (a little late) Olivia did really well.
Waiting stinks!!!!
I really am not a very patient person and lately I'm feeling especially impatient! Our court date is on Monday and I am praying really hard that we pass the first time. I'm praying that all our paperwork will be there and that our little girl's birth father will be able to make it to court. (He needs to be there in order for us to pass) When we pass we will only have one more thing to wait for, and that is to travel. It's been over a year of waiting for appointments and paperwork and this and that and whatever! Now I just want to go and get this little girl!
I met with a group of local mom's last night who have adopted from Ethiopia or are in the process like we are. Some of the mom's had their little kids with them and they were so cute! Hearing their stories was great and made me very anxious to travel. I got a lot of info about traveling and feel even more ready to go now!
So Monday can't come soon enough!! :)
I met with a group of local mom's last night who have adopted from Ethiopia or are in the process like we are. Some of the mom's had their little kids with them and they were so cute! Hearing their stories was great and made me very anxious to travel. I got a lot of info about traveling and feel even more ready to go now!
So Monday can't come soon enough!! :)
Monday, May 17, 2010
Court date
We got an email from our social worker this morning stating that we have a court date for June 7!! We are praying that we will pass court the first time! When we pass court, our little girl will legally be ours! Then we wait to travel for an embassy appointment which is usually 1-2 months after court. Really hoping all this happens quickly!!
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Once!!
Our social worker called on Friday to let us know that we beat the deadline and will only have to travel once to Ethiopia! This is a huge answer to prayer and a big relief! Now we wait for a court date and hopefully we will pass court on the first try. Sometimes things don't come together and families don't pass court on the first try, but we're hoping for the best!! Families usually travel about 6 weeks after they pass court. I'm hoping to have her home before August, but we shall see!!
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