Moving on Up

Tiger to WolfFriday, at the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet, we proudly watched Hendrick as he was awarded the rank of Wolf (Mike tied on his new yellow neckerchief).
It was wonderful to have a night of ceremony to celebrate the accomplishments of these boys.

Great Job son!

18 months

Kolpin is 18-Months-Old

. . . and WALKING!!!!

. major snuggle bug . gives "head-butts" . picks up toys . out eats his siblings .
. quick to crawl up the stairs . sleep 12 hours at night and takes two naps .
. nods "yes" when asked questions . waves "hi" and "bye" (buh) . dances/ bobs .
. 16 teeth . blows bubbles in the bathtub . gives open-mouthed kisses .
. holds up toy guns and makes shooting sounds: "shooo-shoo" .
. sleeps with a truck and a dinosaur . builds block towers . points and says "dat" (that) .
. talks more each day: "dada", "mama", "dah" (dog), "ah" (Olive), "fff" (food) .
. mimics words . stands alone in the middle of the floor . claps his hands .
. wrestles with the boys . squints his eyes and scrunches his nose for big smiles .
. 21.5 pounds (5th percentile) . 32 inches (25th percentile) .

Attachment

Attachment is not an easy topic . . .

When our children come home (God willing soon!), our primary focus will be bonding.

Bonding with children is critically important regardless of how your family is made. It is vital in child development to have healthy attachment with parents. For "birth children," bonding happens naturally. In the special case of adoption, parents must be intentional to build trust and form this attachment. Creating a secure attachment requires time and interaction and may require weeks or even years to develop. Predictable repetition of parents meeting a child's needs is the foundation to forming an attachment. Creating this early attachment will be critical to their ability to develop relationships in the future.

Hanna Hiwot and Jackson Tesfaye will be adjusting to so much when they arrive home and may need extra help connecting. Eventually we want them to bond with their siblings, but it is important for to their first attachments to be with us, their parents. We will need to be the center of their world and be their primary caregivers (which means no babysitters nor nursery for a time) to help build this attachment.

We would appreciate your support as we work these first few months to build secure attachment with our new children. We want to help make this transition as easy as possible for H & T and set them up for success in the road to bonding. It is our desire to heal these children and form healthy and secure attachments. God designed loving and secure families to be the best medicine for healing a broken child. We are believing God to fully heal these children.

How you can help:

1. Take some or all of the current 5 children for special play time. They will need extra attention during this transition, and we need the dedicated time to focus on H & T. (You are more than welcome to take our van!)
   
2. We know this is difficult, but please don't hold our children for the first few months - holding a child who is not "attached" can make the attachment process longer and harder.
3. Understand that these children are very good at "putting on a good face" in public.
4. Respect that we will need to keep our world quiet and small for a while. We can't wait for you to spend time with our new children, but this will happen after we have established a good start in the bonding process (most likely they will not come to church for a time)
5. Pray for all of our children through this process!

Thank you in advance!

The transition will not always be smooth, but we believe that practicing rigor in attachment practices now will enable a healthy bond. This is the ideal groundwork to lay as we aim to raise our children to know and love God. We pray, one day they will choose to follow Christ, where they will come to know the total and complete healing of God.

We are excited to start the bonding process with Hiwot and Tesfaye!

Outside

Breezy, Sunny and 70 Degrees - AND - Gramma and Grandpa
Makes for a Beautiful Weekend and Very Happy Kids!

We were so glad to have Gramma and Grandpa visiting for the long weekend. We thoroughly enjoyed being outside with visits to the Memphis Zoo (and Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant) and picnic and hike through Pinson Mounds.
Thanks Gramma and Grandpa for coming to see us!

"Sheep" came hiking too!

Meet Hanna Hiwot

Our Darling Daughter

3-years-old

Shyly came to us each day and melted into our arms.
Warmed up to us very quickly.
Sought assurance that we were hers.
Was proud to be held by us. Never left our arms. Asked to be picked up.
Showed off in her Preschool class, flashing beautiful smiles in our direction.
Smiled at us between each bite at meal time, so pleased to have us watching.
Terrified of dogs. Proudly showed pictures to her friends. Loved getting gifts.
Played our our laps, giggling lots when bounced.
Hesitant to repeat English words - she was very soft spoken and giggled every time.
Loved to sing songs with us - ABCs and Baa Baa Black Sheep.
Craved our affection. Gave sweet kisses. Quiet and shy and affectionate.
An absolute sweetheart.

Meet Jackson Tesfaye

Our 5-year-old Son

Ran to us each day and jumped into our waiting arms.
Greeted us with teeth-bearing grins and bear hugs. Quiet and observant and quick to smile.
Called us "mommy" and "daddy" and led us by the hand.
Independent: ran off to play, but was always very aware of our location and quick to find us.
Kept other children away with a few quick words while with us.
Good student and concentrated well in his Kindergarten class.
Proud of his few English words and carefully writes his ABCs.
Loves football (soccer): played all the time and is very impressive to watch.
Quite the athlete. Very active.
Likes paper airplanes and trucks (which he raced down the gutter).
Looked through pictures of his siblings all week and could say each name.
A total Sweetie!

The New Wait Game

Hiwot and Tesfaye are our children.
We are waiting to bring them home.

Before they are ready to come home, they need to obtain visas from the US Embassy in Ethiopia. When the time come for this, we will travel to Ethiopia for the Embassy interview and bring our precious kids home. There is a large window as to when this may happen: 4-12 weeks.

What needs to happen before we can travel:

1. Adoption Decree written by Judge (1-7 days depending on Judge's schedule)
2. Letter from Ministry of Womens' Affairs (MOWA) requesting Birth Certificates
   
3. Birth Certificates created - with our names! (3+ days)
4. Passports Issued (3-7 days)
5. Visa Medical Appointments
6. Paperwork submitted to US Embassy
7. Embassy reviews documents (2-7 days) and will either request more information or will set a Visa Interview Date
   
8. We receive date confirmation at book our tickets (travel is typically 7 days later)

In the meantime, we are getting ready for our trip - we will need to be ready to travel with little notice. We are praying we will be able to travel in 5 weeks. As with this entire adoption, we lift it up to God: we are praying for miracles, and trusting His perfect timing. We are trying our best to be patient.

We can't wait to be reunited with our children. We are excited to have all SEVEN of our kids together with us.

Glad to be Seven

And, Glad to be going to ETHIOPIA!!!

We have been praying for a while that we would be able to take Hendrick with us on one of our trips to Ethiopia. He wants to go more than anything in the world - he's been praying too!

After our fantastic trip in January, we were determined to make it happen. We applied for a passport, and (wow!) it arrived on his birthday.

We wrapped up the passport with a picture of an airplane and gave it to him for his birthday.
"Am I going to Ethiopia?!!! . . . WOW!!!"

We are excited to take him on this once-in-a-lifetime journey to meet his brother and sister.
He is absolutely over the moon!

7

Happy Valentine's Day - AND - Happy Birthday

The boy is SEVEN!

Hard to believe we've had the blessing of being parents to this dear child for 7 years - the time has passed so quickly. Hendrick is a wonderful son, and a wonderful big brother . . . the eldest of 7!

Hendrick, our 7-year-old, in his own words:

MY FAVORITE . . .

. sport: baseball . outdoor activity: lake exploring . school subject: science (nature) and spelling .
. food: pears and pancakes . drink: guava juice . book: Chronicles of Narnia .
. movie: Star Wars . toy: Playmobile figures and army men . game: Lord of the Rings Risk .
. activity with brothers: scooter races and sword fights . activity with daddy: snow ball fights .
. activity with Mommy: reading books (currently Stuart Little) .
. color: black . music: rock 'n roll (Casting Crowns) . number: 100 . animal: bats .
. travel destination: Australia to see kangaroos . place: Chattanooga Aquarium .
. restaurant: Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant in Memphis . store: Dollar Tree .

Currently, his role as a big brother is to "take care of brothers and sisters", to "watch them, take toys out of Kolpin's mouth, and tell Davis not to steal food."

Looking into the future, this 7-year-old would like to be an "Aquarium Diver, a Missionary in South America, or a Park Ranger".

We look forward to watching our Hendrick as he continues to learn and grow. We know our son was created with a purpose and we can't wait to see how he will be used in God's work on earth.

You've Got A Friend In Me

New Names

Hiwot and Tesfaye are our children.

They have a new family, a new start, a new life. They will have new names.
Saul and Abram were renamed when they were adopted into God's family. We want to give Hiwot and Tesfaye new names to symbolize their joining our family. All of our children have been named family surnames, so will Hiwot and Tesfaye.

Their original names are very special, with lots of meaning. We will keep these names. We may always use these names. We will follow their lead as to which name we will use. But, legally we will give them new first names.

Our beautiful daughter:

Hanna Hiwot

Hanna (for Christine Addison Hanna on Amy's mother's side): "joy" and "grace"
Hiwot (HE-what): "Life"

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.
Psalm 16:11

Our precious son:

Jackson Tesfaye

Jackson (for Mary Jackson on Amy's mother's side): "God is gracious"
Tesfaye (TES-fye-eh): "Hope"

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him. Romans 15:13
For the lord your God is gracious and compassionate. 2 Chronicles 30:9

Hallelujah!

Praise be to the Lord

We passed Court


With great joy, we introduce our children:

Hanna Hiwot


Jackson Tesfaye

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

Hearts

Just in time for February 14th . . . Valentine Heart Barrettes.

These sweet hearts were super easy to stitch together with some scrap felt.
Maegli is very proud of them - she even selected "pretty" clothes to match!

Snowball

. . . Some of us Stayed Inside . . .
. . .Some of us played outside . . .

. . . and launched snowballs at the windows . . .

It was fun to watch!

Waiting . . .

Waiting for it to be official . . .
Waiting to return to Ethiopia . . .
Waiting for our kids . . .

Waiting is difficult.

We are believing God to complete this adoption.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him,
who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.

We know God has a plan in this wait - He can use this wait.

We pray this wait will be over soon.

We are praying that God will step in and swiftly complete this adoption.

We are praying.
We are hopeful.

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it,
and it will be yours." Mark 11:24


*We are on our fourth attempt to receive court approval in Ethiopia (awaiting our MOWA letter).
Once we "pass court", the adoption will be final in Ethiopia . . .then we wait to bring our kids home.

View from Entoto Mountain in Ethiopia

Pinewood Derby

Hendrick's first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby.
Hendrick was very proud of his self-built car - he designed, cut, and painted the car all by himself. The car is painted to look like the Ethiopian flag. He also added $0.88 for weight (later pried off to deposit in his piggy bank). This weekend at the big race, Hendrick's car won 7 in a row and placed 2nd among Tiger Cub Scouts. It was a very exciting day of racing.

Little brothers made a great audience, but it was a long day of races!

Lake Awassa

On the shores of the beautiful Lake Awassa, the smallest of the Rift Valley Lakes, with mountainous backdrop, hippos, grivet monkeys, marabou storks; the Eastern edge of the city of Awassa, capital of SNNPR in Ethiopia. The bustling and vibrant fish market. We arrived early to watch the hauls of tilapia and catfish brought on shore, detangled from nets, sold fresh or cooked in oil. Huge marabou storks patrolled the lake edge - reaching 4 feet tall with a wing-span of over 8 feet. Young children threw pieces of fish to the storks and then asked for a few Birr from us ferenji (they were helping us to get good pictures and wanted payment for the service). Monkeys skittered between fish stalls.
On the opposite shore, men standing in reed boats with 20 foot poles, collected floating grasses, to be used for thatch roofs of local huts.