Gotcha Day!

Today we officially took custody of Melat!   This is a doubly special day for us, as besides being Melat’s Gotcha Day, it also would have been Greg’s mom’s 87^th birthday!

 To back up a bit, we arrived in Ethiopia early Sunday morning and went to the transition foster home Sunday afternoon to visit Melat.  When we arrived she wasn’t her usual cheerful self.  Turns out she has a slight cold and a bit of a fever.  We spent about an hour with her then left her to rest.  We went back to the hotel and did the same as we had been up for nearly 30 hours without much sleep.

On Monday we went back to pick up Melat at 2:00pm Ethiopia time.  She had just woken up from her nap and was still a bit warm, not feeling a 100% yet.  The nurse was there and we were able to ask lots of questions and get her routine, favorite foods and her overall health assessment.  Outside of her cold, she seems to be in pretty good overall health.  The nurse gave her some children’s Motrin and she perked up about an hour later.  We thanked the foster home staff, left them gifts of appreciation then headed back to the hotel.

By the time we returned to the hotel, it seemed Melat was feeling much better.  She started to smile more and devoured a bowl of cheerios, which appear to be a new favorite snack.  So we’ve been playing with toys, coloring, eating cheerios and basically just hanging out.  It will be a long 3 days hold up in the hotel as we wait for her visa and other paperwork Thursday.

Here are a few pictures from Sunday and today, Gotcah Day, as Melat begins her new life with her forever family.  We’ll post more in the days to come and perhaps a short video or two.

Thank you all for the prayers and good wishes while we’re on our journey!

Not feeling so well :(

But Daddy got a smile out of her!

Gotcha Day!



Someone discovered Cherrios!



The Waiting Game

Well it has now been over 5 years since we have been trying to adopt again.  We have had to remind ourselves many times that it is all in God's timing.  Our plan was to return to China to adopt a sibling for Annierae, from her same birth country.  We waited a year to submit our dossier to China because that was the Chinese government’s rule.  Our dossier was logged into China on February 6, 2007.  After waiting in line for two years, China referrals slowed way down, we were given the news that I (Kristine) had stage 2 breast cancer.  After waiting another year to go through treatments and surgeries we were told that China would no longer accept us, unless we were willing to adopt an older child with more difficult special needs.  Hmm, I am not well enough to take care of a child with little to no special needs but a child with server challenges I could handle?  Our hearts were broken and we thought that our hope to adopt again would never happen.  I remember begging God to take away the desire for another child but that feeling would not dissipate. 

God's plans are always better than ours, another reminder that we have held onto.  We are thankful that God made us wait.  If not for the wait, our beautiful daughter Ja may have never become part of our family.  If we had brought a child home from China when we thought we were going to, we would have never been open to taking in a 16 year old refugee from Burma.  We would have never known Ja and I think that somehow we would have felt an empty spot in our hearts and not known why. 

We are also thankful for the way God answers our prayers.  If He had taken away my desire we would have never pursued finding an agency that would work with us, even though I had a history of cancer.  Adoption Associates was very positive that if we sent in a dossier to Ethiopia, we would be accepted into the program.  Our dossier arrived in Ethiopia on November 17, 2010.  We thought that it would only be a couple of months until we received a referral.  Ahhh, but once again referrals slowed down and so we waited.  We prayed fervently that God would fulfill our dreams of adopting again.  He answered this prayer with the referral of our beautiful daughter, Melat.  After meeting her in December, we were reminded yet again that God is so good and His plans are much better than ours.  As we say with all our daughters, we could have never dreamed of better children then the ones God has blessed us with.  God knew well before Greg and I ever meet what our family would be and He had his hands on our children, taking care of them in ways we never imagined before bringing them into our lives.

We are thrilled to report that on February 24^th we will be heading to Ethiopia to bring home our sweet Melat.  The wait the past couple of months has been the most difficult in all the years we have waited.    To hold your child and then have to leave her behind is unspeakable to us and we honestly don't know, other than by God's grace, how we did it.  Melat will be home with her forever family on March 2^nd, 2012.  It's been a long wait but God had a plan and we waited for Him to unite us with Melat.

Merry Christmas!

With all our travel and trip preparations, we didn't get Christmas cards out this year, so this is the best we can do.

Wishing all our friends and family

a very Merry Christmas

and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

Made it back to the USA!

Kristine & I made it home safely late last night.  The return trip was a bit tougher as there were numerous delays and we nearly missed our connection in Chicago.  But, at the end of the day, we made it home and now we can focus on prayers that the US embassy will review our petition quickly and act to finalize things so we can bring Melat home.

Over the next few days Kristine and I will post more photos from our adventure, but for now we're working on returning to our normal routine and getting ready for Christmas and all our family and friends that we'll be celebrating with.

Thank you to everyone who offered prayers and support for this trip - we truly appreciate it and are blessed to have so many offer to assist!  God bless you all!! 

Happy Day, Sad Day

Well today has been one of mixed emotions.  We were at court bright and early (8:45am) only to have to wait until nearly 11:30 to be called in front of the judge.  The entire process once we saw the judge took only about 7 minutes.  Were were asked several questions and then the judge granted our petition of adoption of Melat.  That was the happy part - Melat is officially ours now!!!

We then spent some time visiting the lions at the zoo and some shopping before returning to the orphanage for the final time this trip to visit Melat and to say goodbye to her for a few weeks (the sad part of the day).

So with that, we would like to formally introduce Melat............enjoy the pictures (click to enlage)!

Another Day in Ethiopia

Today was a really long and hard day for me (Kristine).  We started out in the morning to two museums.  When we first headed out in the van a young boy came to my window and told me he was hungry so as the driver started to go I handed him a bunch of candy canes that I was bringing to the orphanage.  We have been told that if you give to one that a mob will surround you and that you have to be careful.  As we continued on our way to the first museum, we were tied up in traffic and had many beggars approach our van.  The driver told me to close the window because he could see I was getting upset.  We have experienced the begging since we arrived but today it was really difficult for me emotionally.  It’s so hard to see the poor and suffering here when we have so much at home.  You so badly want to give but you don’t want to create a mob scene so I found myself just in tears for most of the ride.

 The first museum we visited was the University Museum; we had a wonderful tour guide and learned much about the rich Ethiopian culture.  We then moved onto the National Museum and learned  more Ethiopian history along with seeing fossils, some human, millions of years old.  I forget how young America is in comparison to other cultures.  The Ethiopians are very strong yet peaceful people and it shows throughout their history.

After lunch we went back to the orphanage.  Melat was ready to see us and immediately crawled into Greg’s lap and just stared at him, it was so cute.  I brought some small beach balls and blew a few up and handed them to the older children.   When I handed one to Melat she instantly started to kick it to me, she was amazing.  I think we have a natural born soccer player.  I then got out some coloring books and crayons.  The orphanage director told me that Melat had never held a crayon, but once we showed her how she became an artist coloring many pages.  When I pulled out the sticker and asked her where she wanted it she pointed on the page.  We were both amazed how quickly she was catching on to everything we showed her or asked her to do.  When our visit came to an end we all had a hard time.  She did not want me to hand her off and cried when we left.  I don’t think we will have many bonding issues.

Greg and I were able to rest a little before our guide took us out for an amazing authentic Ethiopian dinner and dance show.  We are now back in the room ready to go to bed so that we can go to court early tomorrow morning.  After we are finished with court we will be able to post photos of our sweet little girl so stay tuned.

We hope that grandma and grandpa made it safely to Grand Rapids.  Thanks for hanging out and taking care of our girls.  Ja and Anniearea we miss you both so very much and can’t wait to get home to tell you all about our trip.  Love you!!!

-- Kristine

(10:44pm Thur, 12/15 Etiopian time)

We met Melat!

Hi All….this is Kristine, we have had a very busy day along with very little sleep.  Our first stop for the day was to Melat’s orphanage.  We were welcomed by  five of her friends.  We barely got through the gate when four older children ranging in age from 6-13 came rushing up to us all wanting hugs.  We found out that they are a sibling group and are waiting for their adoptive parents to come back and pick them up.  It’s a good thing they already had an adoptive family because I was ready to take them home myself.  Little Melat came running up to us after the older kids were finished getting hugs.  I sat down on the ground and she came right to me with her arms held up for her hug.  It was so percious and she was just a little sweet heart.   I got a sucker out and handed it to her and she was all smiles after that.  She did great with Greg especially when he got a balloon out and they played a little game.   She has the best belly laugh and loves to be held.  She is a little peanut for being three but seems very healthy.  We will go again tomorrow and hopefully one more time before we leave.

While we were at the orphanage we had our first coffee ceremony.  This is a tradition that is done for special guest or events, we were very honored to share in the ceremony.   Greg even tried the coffee, which is something I have never seen him do.

After the visit our guide took us to get coffee and chat with him and the social worker.  We then went back to the hotel and chilled out for an hour.   In the afternoon a driver came to pick us up and took us to a local market.  I had fun shopping while Greg carried all my purchases.  The vendors were great and I got better at bargaining with them by the end of our shopping excursion.

We are now back at the hotel relaxing and trying to stay awake at least until 8:00.  The jet leg has really set in for both of us.   We want to be ready for tomorrow.  We will be going to see the lions in the morning, then more time with Melat at the orphanage and then out to dinner and a show with our in country guide.

Annierae and Ja we miss you and hope you are doing well.  I know that the two of you are going to love having Melat as a little sister!!!  Hugs and kisses to you both!!!

-- Kristine (6:47PM Wed, 12/14 Ethiopian time)