Catching up with other families

It's been almost 10 months believe it or not since we met and brought home Belly Boy. While we were in Ethiopia we got to know some of the families who were adopting children too at the same time. We talked to these families each day at the breakfast, lunch, and dinner table and oohed and ahhed over their children.

It was fun to talk to these parents and fun also to watch them attach to their child or children. And then for me it was almost sad to say good bye as each of us went to a different state to adjust to a new life.

We said good-bye to everyone at the Addis Ababa airport and even shortly after then I was wondering how these families were doing on their flights home and as the months went on, I was wondering how the kids were adjusting and how they had changed and so on. My mom found one of the moms on facebook so occasionally we will look and exclaim over how much the baby has changed.

Because of the holidays, we have started to hear from the other families and have seen pictures of their children! It has been SO exciting to see how each of these kids have changed and also to hear and see how well they've adjusted to their new life in America. It has just been so much fun!!

Each of these little kids look so much stronger and healthier than when they were in Ethiopia! One girl who was adopted at 6 years old is going to school, has friends, and (the most amazing part), is actually reading at grade level! Wow! In ten months she's that far! It's encouraging to hear all this!

I've enjoyed so much catching up with everyone! I can't wait for us to send out Belly Boy's pictures and update! Everyone will be shocked to know that he can't get enough of meeting people! He was so quiet and nervous with everyone in Ethiopia! He has changed a lot!

Merry Christmas!

We celebrate Christmas a day early because of traveling to family on Christmas, so everyone here is becoming excited for tomorrow, the day we get to celebrate our Savior's birth!

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for ALL the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."


"Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

Luke 2:10-12 and 14

Ready for the holidays with a new little guy!

Okay, I like to keep comparing posts from a year ago with things now and it's just kind of neat to see how things have changed and how we've finally reached the things I only dreamed about last year. For example, last year at this time we knew about Belly Boy but he was far away in Ethiopia. We got ready for Christmas and even celebrated Christmas without him and it was kind of sad. BUT NOW we're celebrating the holidays with Belly Boy!

It's been cool to teach him all the little things we do each year in preparation of Christmas such as putting up the tree, hanging up the lights and ornaments, decorating the house, and all the fun stuff around this time! He also was introduced to snow which he declared was a BIG MESS! He did not like the cold snow on his face and he did not like how the snow covered his swing and everything outside! How could Miss Bossy and Sports Dude be so excited for this...MESS?

Yesterday we hung up ornaments and Belly Boy was so cute as he VERY quickly learned how to hang all the ornaments and ran back and forth for more and more. He liked the final tree with all its lights and sparkles! The poor kid must be really confused with all these new activities though!

So anyways this last month or so has been really fun to spend with Belly Boy! We are so happy to have him home to share Christmas with us!

In Time For Christmas

I posted the lyrics to this song and the one in the last post before about a year ago, but I really wanted my readers to see the actual video. So here is the music video to All I Really Want for Christmas. The part that used to always get me choked up is the part about having a dad or brother to wrestle with. I'm not sure why. :-) So I hope you enjoy this song and maybe it will become one of your favorites!!

Thanks to my Creator

Last year's post....Everything in parantheses has been added by me this year.
1. Belly Boy, He is such a cutie (We hadn't even met him at this point. We just had his darling picture)!
2.That God is taking care of us and has a plan for us (Always)
3.That we are able to adopt
4.Eachother (This is such a blessing, even though we can all get on eachother's nerves. If we weren't all together.. we would have a sad life).
5.For all the things God has provided for us! (He always provides)

This year I, (and my family) are thankful for everything above plus...
1. That Jesus died a horrible death on the cross to forgive our sins so that we can have a relationship with a perfect God.
2. Our friends
3. That we have a house to live in especially during winter. We usually take this for granted.
4. That we have a furnace to provide heat during cold days.
5. That we have plenty to eat
6. That Belly Boy is home!
7. That Belly Boy has adjusted so well to American life!
8. That we are able to tell the gospel to our neighbors without fear of arrest or death.
9. For the warm weather we've had during November. Weather is so strange sometimes!
and 10. Besides colds, our family has not gotten terribly sick yet this season!


Happy Thanksgiving to You All!! Hope you have a wonderful day!!! Enjoy the stuffing, (my favorite part!!)

Everything to Me

 This is absolutely one of my favorite adoption songs ever. (I know... I have a lot of favorites), but here is the music video to Mark Schultz's Everything to Me, written to his birthmom. Everything to Me

I dare you not to cry or tear up.

The Lyrics....

I must have held your tears

When they took me from your arms
I'm sure I must have heard you say goodbye
Young and so afraid
Had you made a big mistake
Could an ocean even hold the tears you cried
Oh you had dreams for me
And wanted the best for me
And you made the only choice you could that night
And you gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball in the yard with dad at night
Mom reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in my room
So if you worry if your choice was right
When you gave me up
Oh you gave everything to me
And if I saw you on the street
Would you know that it was me
And would your eyes be blue or green like mine
Would we share a warm embrace
Or would you know me in your heart
Or would you smile and let me walk on by
Knowing you had dreams for me
You wanted the best for me
Oh I hope that you'd be proud of who I am
Oh you gave life to me
A chance to find my dreams
And the chance to fall in love
You should have seen her shining face
On our wedding day
Oh is this the dream you had in mind
Oh when you gave me up
You gave everything to me
And when I see you there
Watching from heaven's gate
Into your arms I'm gonna run
And when you look in my eyes
You can see my whole life
See who I was and who I've become
Cuz you gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball with my son late at night
And reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in his room
I'm so grateful that I had this life
When you gave me up
You gave everything to me
Everything to Me

Adopting Again

Our family goes in twos. First you have Dad and Mom. They marry.

Then they have me. Then 2, (and a half) years later they have Bob.

Six years later they adopt Sports Dude. And then 2 years later they adopt Miss Bossy.

So, as you can see, our family goes in twos. The only problem is that to keep up the pattern we need to get a newborn baby right away because Belly Boy is 2! Or maybe an older baby in a few months.

This pattern works really well because then we all have someone around our age to play with when we're little!

I think it is very likely that we will adopt again. We like to adopt!
So don't be too surprised if within the next year I announce that we're starting the process again!

P.S. Miss Bossy and I would like to mention the fact that our twos also go boy-girl, (or girl-boy). So we say that the next child must be a girl. That likes to have her clothes chosen specially each day. And a bonus would be that she would like her hair done.

He speaks English!

I know.. all I seem to talk about with Belly Boy's progress is his speech, but it really is pretty amazing. This little guy has had to adjust to three different languages in his 2 years on Earth. It's pretty astonishing how well he understands English after only being around it for about 7 months. He speaks English and understands more than we sometimes realize.

It's pretty cool seeing how God has made our brains. I mean, if you had moved me to Ethiopia back in March and checked on my progress in speaking Amharic today, I would not be as far a long as Minte is in English. God has specially designed babies brains to pick up their parent's language really fast. (even though they may pretend they don't get it when you say "No!"). Once we get older, our brains lose some of the ability to learn a new language so fast.

We have a speech therapist coming to help Belly Boy with his speech because he is behind compared to other kids his age. But these are kids who have heard English all their lives. I think he's doing well for 7 months. He says phrases like, " 'Miss Bossy'. Naughty!" and even sentences like " I want down!" His sentences always start with "I want" and then he adds the part he wants. Once he said, "I want ANOTHER biscuit!" Probably the most impressive part though are the words he knows like, "mail", "music", our names, and tons more. You can actually have simple word conversations with him, but be careful how you ask questions because he will answer, "Yes or No!"

He is adjusting well to our life styles. Right now he is quietly sitting on my lap listening to Veggie Tales, (my kind of boy, music!). He knows our schedule pretty much and though he doesn't especially enjoy going to bed, he knows the routine.

I've said this before too, but we LOVE having him in our family. He is perfect for our family! God is so good!

Changes in Six Months

Right now I'm watching videos of Belly Boy from Ethiopia. He looks so sweet and babyish. He has grown up in the six months he's been home. His face has changed and his personality has changed as he's gotten more comfortable with us.

It's funny though, because we have several videos, but they're all SO long. Like we have one of Mom feeding him in Ethiopia and it's gotta be like ten minutes long. All of him eating. Yeah. But he was so cute, and we didn't want to miss anything.

The specific video I've been watching is of Belly Boy "opening up to us". We were so excited that he was finally acting normal around us. That normal though is nothing to THE NORMAL Belly Boy.

In the video, we keep getting excited when he slightly smiles and laughs or when he makes a cute face. We now recognize these faces as the ones he gives when he is around new people that he doesn't know. Wow! He has changed so much from the quiet, sometimes nonresponsive little guy we met. He now jabbers constantly, laughs loudly, grins constantly, tattles normally, and loves us naturally!

I remember back when we thought it was so cute how he swung his arm when he walked. And sometimes his leg when we were holding him. Now we recognize those movements as showing us that he's really nervous.

As we've gotten to know Belly Boy better and he's learned to love us, he has opened up for real to us. And I am so glad he's what he is now and not what we thought he was. He's so much more fun this way!

And you know what else is funny and cool? He rarely shows nervousness as much as he used to. It's like he trusts us so much, that he can meet new people and places without fear. In fact, he ADORES going places and gets excited when we ask if he wants to go somewhere. God has worked so much in little Belly Boy's life!

Couple Minutes Later as I Watch More Videos-

It's funny. I recognize and remember certain faces, expressions, and actions Belly Boy does in these videos. But it's more like I'm watching some other kid. Or that Belly Boy has two different personalities. I can't imagine the Belly Boy I know now acting this way. So weird.

Two Ethiopia Pictures

 When I see this picture, (actually when I see any picture of our Ethiopia trip), I get a feeling in my stomach, remembering my stay there. The picture above is what we saw every day from our window. It's a very familiar picture.

And the sheep, (with LONG tails), that visited almost every day.

9/11

Today I was listening to the radio and heard a song about 9/11. It reminded me that the day was coming up or that maybe it was today. I hadn't checked the date before I left and couldn't remember. If I had seen the date even before I heard the song, I would've remembered what terrible event happened so many years ago because I understand better now. I hope that noone every forgets what happened that day, as I'm sure many  people before who have lived during a large, historical date have hoped.

When 9/11 happened 9 years ago, I was little and didn't understand what all had happened. As I got older I understood more and more and when I read a book recently that focused on the attacks, I understood a whole lot better of what all happened that day. I didn't know before of all the horrible things that happened right after the planes crashed into the World Trade Centers. After reading and being amazed and horrified, I understood better why it affected the United States so much. We lost so many U.S. citizens that day. We lost so many businessmen, firemen, and policemen. Regular men and women doing their jobs. And the fact that someone could be so cruel to organize such an attack is really hard to understand.

I hope that in the future years, the people like me who were too little to understand at the time or weren't even born into the world yet, will understand and always remember what tragic thing happened September 11, 2001.

Skin Colors

 People call people with dark skin, black. And those with lighter skin, white. (A friend of our family held up two black and white crayons in front of us and asked us whether our skin fit those names.) If it doesn't make a person feel bad, I don't care if the words are used. But sometimes it's like the person is being separated from everyone else. That I don't like.

I sunburn easily in the sun, therefore making my skin a lobster pink. From there my skin becomes tan. A very light tan. My brother tans easily and his skin turns a very dark brown. A friend of mine does not tan easily and her skin stays a very, very, light tan. When someone looks at another person with different tans, I don't think it really hits them about the skin color. They might notice that they're extremely tan, but it doesn't hit them easily. Do you kinda get where I'm going?

I do really bad at remembering what color people's hair is. Although I can picture them, I can't give their hair a color. Even special features they have, I can't tell you what it is that stands different, (besides if they have pink highlights!). My goal is to always think of a person with dark skin, no different than anyone else. To picture their skin difference as a different feature like I would think of someone with dark hair. Does this make sense?

Where's Ethiopia??

I had the weirdest conversation with some girls last week!

I went to my friend's new student orientation for her school and they played some games to get to know eachother better. Even though I wasn't new, they allowed me to join in. One of the games was Two Truths and a Lie. One person tells two truths and  a lie about themselves and everyone else has to guess which is the lie. So these were my truths and lie.

1) I'm homeschooled
2) I play soccer
3) I've been to Ethiopia

(Hey, do you know which is the lie??)

I got a variety of answers. Most of the kids thought it was the Ethiopia part. After they answered the correct one, I got some very strange questions like...

1) Where's Ethiopia?
     to which another girl answered:
2) Isn't it near Africa?

I answered through the noise that it was IN Africa, but I don't know whether they heard me. I just thought it was so funny that they had no idea where Ethiopia was. It's not like it's small like..say..Togo, and it's known around the world for it's coffee and stuff.

Hope you are having an AMAZING day!

Update on Belly Boy!

It's hard to believe, but Belly Boy has been home for about 5 months!

His newest thing now is possesion. Not the usual, "MINE!" from babies, but pointing to things and saying who they belong to. He'll point to the car and say, "Daddy!" and point to the van and say, "Du!" for  Bob, who is 14 and never drives the van. Not sure why he thinks that!!

He also recently spits! When he's mad at you or is just being goofy, he spits. Not very fun!! :-)

Belly Boy is very busy tattling, bossing, and chasing us around. As Mom says, the world revolves around him!

He is saying SO many words. And repeats everything! It is SO much fun!

He also likes owies and reenacting how they happened. He still gets "sad" about his week-old owies. And still wants kisses for them!

So that's what's up with this ADORABLE little guy!

More Ethiopian Dancing

Here's another video of the Ethiopian dancing we witnessed at a restaurant in Ethiopia! The dancers were very talented and amazing! They would finish up a long dance, go back stage to change clothes, and come right out to perform yet another long dance. They had very few breaks!

Ethiopian Dancing

While we were in Ethiopia, we went to an Ethiopian restaurant where you have the opportunity to taste Ethiopian food and watch dancers. Here is a video of one of the dances. I have two, so I may post the other one next time. Sorry about how shaky the video is at the end!!

4 Months

We've been home with this adorable, sweet, busy little Belly Boy for four months today. He's adjusted pretty well to this new life. He understands so much! And because he understands so much, he knows how he can show his stubborness! For example, if you tell him, "Come here so I can wipe your nose!", he will grin and stay where he is or might rub his hand under his nose! He amazes us a lot with everything he "gets". He also tattles. He will run to us and hit our arm until he gets our attention. Then he jabbers and points towards the problem.

He's getting used to cars too. He doesn't grab the sides of his carseat in panic around curves or cry for someone to hold his hand. He doesn't like long car rides, but that's understandable. I don't enjoy them much myself either.

Belly Boy's food usually consists of plain yogurt, formula milk, baby cereal, dry cereal like cheerios, soups like Leek and Carrot, bread and peanut butter, crackers and his favorite- cottage cheese.

You should see Belly Boy play with Miss Bossy and Sports Dude! It's so cute. Of course there are the times when they would rather play be themselves, and that doesn't always go over well with Belly Boy. But the times when he does play with them, he's usually their baby or the mom of a baby in a stroller! He cracks up when they laugh and when they play pretend, he does his best too.

One of his favorite games to play is doggy. He gets down and crawls around "woofing". He refuses to talk normally during this time and will sit up and actually put his hands on your legs like a real dog. He's a very good dog though not always obedient and will usually crawl to you when you say, "Come, doggy!" But sometimes he just grins and pretends he doesn't understand! And this isn't all, he used to put his nose in the trash like our dog, and once licked the floor and stuck his nose in the dog bowl. We have to keep a good eye on him when he's a doggy.

We're so thankful for Belly Boy. He fits our family so well! He laughs at our silly faces and actions! And he has us all wrapped around his finger. He knows our names and will scream at us for sympathy or help. He's so much fun!

Ethiopia Pictures

I'm Proud to be an American

I'm proud to be an American

Where at least I know I'm free

And I won't forget the men who died

 Who gave their life for me

I am SO, SO blessed to have born in this family and in this country. I am so thankful for the freedom I have here. Last year I was studying about the Revolution and I think I'm more thankful this year than past for the freedom that I experience in the United States of America. The Founding Fathers had past generations who had been persecuted and such because of their beliefs. The men knew they had to create, with God's help, a country that gave freedom to beliefs, speech, and more. And that's what they accomplished.

Now we have men and women soldiers out there taking care of us and keeping the U.S. safe from its enemies. I am so thankful for them and the sacrifices they are making for me and you. Thank you so much!

So there's more to the Fourth of July than the food, people, and fireworks! It's remembering our country's birthday and all the privileges we have because we live in the United States of America!

LET FREEDOM RING!!!

Changes in this Generation

I was just thinking about how different this next generation is going to be! Lately, so many people have been adopting interracially! Not that very many people haven't before. I 'm not saying that. Just it is going to be so cool because basically now most everywhere I look, I see a family with a baby, toddler, or older child with darker or lighter skin tone. These kids are gonna grow up in these families. And many years down the road, they'll have their own families and be living by themself, but still visiting their parents and siblings! Won't it be so COOL to see the mixture of people! People will get used to seeing people with darker skin visiting their lighter skinned family in the hospital, nursing home, whatever. And the other way around! It will be so fun to see!!!!

An Interesting Conversation

Last Saturday my parents and siblings had a very unusual experience at Meijers. They walked into Meijers and inside they noticed a young, African-American man holding a white baby. He seemed to be watching my family pretty closely!

They noticed him some other times, holding the baby and the hand of another white toddler. He seemed to be trying to entertain them.

After a bit, my Mom took Miss Bossy and Sports Dude to the car because they were not being very helpful. She noticed the young man again in a nearby car. A little while later, Dad came out with the groceries and began putting them in the back of the van. Suddenly, the young man walked over and called to Dad. He got Dad's attention and then asked him if our family had adopted Miss Bossy and Sports Dude. Dad said yes. The young man then went on and explained that he too was adopted by a white family as a baby. He said that he was so glad he was adopted, and really respected us for adopting too. He then added at the end, "You've changed their lives!"

It was such a unique experience. Not very many people are brave enough to talk to you about your adoptions. And it's not very common to have a young man who himself was adopted, talk to you! So cool!

Belly Boy and his English

 Here is a video of Belly Boy showing off his English speaking skills! He loves to repeat after us and says things so adorable. Everytime he says "eyes", for some reason I go nutty and have to hug and cuddle him. He says it way too cute!

I made this video on purpose for my blog, so that's why the camera's pointed to the ground. Because of all the internet scares, we aren't putting pictures online. So I'm sorry it's such a boring video as far as seeing. You'll just have to listen!! :-)

When Love Takes You In

When Love takes you in.
And Everything changes.
A miracle starts with a beat of a heart

When Love takes you home
And says you belong here.
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When Love takes you in

And somewhere while you're sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you

And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what is been is lost and what will be


When Love takes you in
Everything changes.
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart.
And this love will never let you go.
There is nothing that could ever cause this love to lose its hold.

"When Love Takes You In"
By: Steven Curtis Chapman
I thought about writing my thoughts on this song here, but I think the song does pretty well on it's own.

3 Months Together

It's hard to believe, but a little more than three months ago, we didn't know Belly Boy. Sure we had pictures and papers telling us his personality, etc., but there's a difference between relying on other people for information about our brother and knowing him.

Three months ago today we were sitting at our first breakfast in Ethiopia, realizing that in less than an hour we were going to see the child that we had been praying for, reading about, and been so many months and miles away from! Today was THE DAY!

Then we were sitting in a room downstairs with all the other families waiting for Belly Boy's name to be called. When that finally happened, we were brought to a room right off the one we had been in! He had been right there all that time! Then Mom held him, talked to and about him, and cuddled him. Dad talked to him, watched him, and rubbed his back. I stood watching my NEW little brother! He was so cute!!!!! I couldn't wait to hug him!

Then we went to another area of the room we had waited in and played with him and got our picture taken and so on.

Three months ago. Wow. It seems like Belly Boy has been with us forever. He's always been jabbering at us, grabbing our hands, giving us kisses, smiling at us, and charming us!

Belly Boy has caught on to English so fast! These are the words he can say by himself with no reminding. Dada, Yeah, Go, Stop!, Boom, Ow!, Shoes, tickle-tickle, guys, Grandpa, wee!, hi, bye, cheese, and no. And then there are signs too that he uses to let us know of his needs or just to be polite, (please and thank you). He's constantly repeating us and we love it!

He has attached very well to us!!!! He loves all of us and will willingly go to anyone unless he's feeling stubborn.

Three months today! Crazy!

Em Wants More

I dreamed about this blog a whole lot before I made it. I would be cleaning the bathrooms, (this seems to be my thinking spot), and suddenly come up with something I wanted to tell the world about adoption. But I didn't have a place to share! Besides my next writing assignment for school, but by then I had usually forgotten it!

Finally, in August I was given the opportunity to start a blog. The only problem was my blog's name. I wanted something creative yet easily understandable. Mom came up with the name. Em Wants More, because I'm always begging for more children to be adopted into our family.

But now that I think of it, I want a lot more from this blog than I had thought before. What do I want more of? I want more people adopting. I want people's eyes to brighten up with the thought of adoption.  I want older children adopted. I want adoption to be thought of as a blessing. I want so much!

Our first glimpse of Belly Boy

 This was the Care Center where Belly Boy was staying. It's hard enough to be half a world away from your new brother and only knowing him from pictures, but to suddenly be within a mile or two of him and not being able to SEE him, that's horrible! The camera zoomed in on this picture, but you could see the Care Center from our window and it was really within walking distance. It was crazy thinking your brother was over THERE and you were HERE! Not fun!

This was after we met Belly Boy! The Care Center was gorgeous! See!

Think Before You Speak Part 2

You can read Part 1 by clicking here. I wrote part 1 last August, but reading through it, I still completely agree with what I wrote then.  Sometimes people just don't think before they speak and it can hurt kids and families.

But although strangers may say some pretty unneccessary and unthoughtful things, it concerns me a lot more when an adoptive family has this same sort of attitude. For example, I hate it when someone is introducing me to their family and then points out their adopted kids with the words, "They're adopted." Sometimes this is pretty obvious when the child has different skin color than their parents, but it's not something that needs to be pointed out, especially in an introduction. It's not important enough. It's like their nametag should say, My name is ___. I'm adopted by the way.

There really is no difference between the adopted kids in a family and the biological. Really almost the only time I really think of my siblings having a different skin tone is when I'm picking clothes for them that I know will stand out and look really cute against their darker skin. Miss Bossy is my little sister, I don't treat her like she's not a part of the family or that she's an outsider. She's my little sister that I love. If I had a little biological sister, I would treat her completely the same way.

I totally understand that the adopted kids in a family may have some mental, emotional, or other problems that may set them in some ways separate from the other kids in the family, but just like if they were born into the family with these problems, you don't treat them differently than if they were born to you. There may be birthfamily that may be a part of the child's life, but that isn't neccessary enough to mention during an introduction.

So, there's my opinion and I've had a good time writing this. Ugggh, this issue bothers me so much!

By the way, the other day a friend asked my mom if Miss Bossy and Sports Dude were blood related. We get this question a lot, but it mostly comes in the form of  "Are they brother and sister?"  Yes, we know what you want to know, but if you think more about that question, how really does that sound? Bad! Yes, they are brother and sister. Now that they have been adopted into this family! And they always will be brother and sister now! So Mom was pretty pleased when she got this question. It was a nice way of asking THE question.

I know I've asked you before....

You may have noticed that I am running out of ideas to write about on this blog. Now that the paperwork's done, Belly Boy's home, and everything's pretty much normal, I have no clue what to write about! So... if you have a question or have an idea to help a bloggerblocked 16 year old, leave it in the comment section and thank you so much in advance!!!!

New Experiences

When we brought Belly Boy home from Ethiopia, we kept him at home for a long time so that he would attach to our family and everything. (Remember how long ago in another post, I said that I wouldn't be able to let Belly Boy get really attached to me because it would be really hard when I left for college? Forget that! He's pretty attached to me! AND I've finally been able to start to feed, wake him up, change his diaper, [oh fun!], and dress him. This was all stuff that Dad and Mom were ONLY able to do for attachment reasons.)

But after we felt he was very attached to us, we started taking Belly Boy to new places and new experiences. This has been a lot of fun, especially introducing him to our friends and family! (We've found he likes blonds!!) He hates car rides, but LOVES going to new places!

Yesterday we took Belly Boy to his first store.(Baby's R Us, I love that place!!!) Dad put him in a cart and slowly started pushing him. Belly Boy went "Weeeee!" very softly! He loves to be pushed on things! It was so sweet! Then he pushed Dad's hands away and pushed at the metal bar in front of him, trying to push himself! The kid's never been in a cart before!

It's so much fun seeing his reaction to things! He had his first french fries and hamburger bun yesterday! He sucked the potato and salt from the fries! And I didn't think I was gonna have any more bun left to my cheeseburger with the way he kept asking for more!

I love it! I love HIM!

Addis Ababa Pictures

We've got, let's see...okay, not gonna count them. We have 800-900 pictures of our trip to Ethiopia. Unfortunately with how the trip goes, only the last hundred or so are of Belly Boy. But that's alright, we've made it up with tons of pictures at home.

This is a view of the streets, but it doesn't show the traffic very well. Okay.. picture a busy intersection without streetlights. Chaos, right? I saw very few stoplights, and if there was one, it was either run over or not working. So if the intersections weren't the roundy type, they would just be full of beeping, slowly moving cars fighting their way through.

I think this picture KINDA shows how crowded some of the streets were. People walked in front of cars and cars pulled in front of other cars. It was so busy!!!!!

This too kinda shows what I was talking about.

This building was kinda interesting with it's meshlike material on the outside. It was under construction.

Here's a close up of the building. Another thing you might notice are the branches that crookedly hold this thing together. Instead of using 2 by 4s or whatever, they used branches from trees.

And here's someone near the guest house demonstrating how they put together the framing. That branch is looooong!

Some Women in Ethiopia

This was a picture taken on the bus on the way home from Hosanna. These women loved having their picture taken and looking at it after! They really struck some poses!

Ethiopian Culture

Today Mom was going over our schoolwork from the last week with us, and when she mentioned culture differences, I started thinking about Ethiopian culture. I thought of two things, but now I can only remember one! :-( So I'll have to share that one with you and a couple more Mom thought of.

1. It is a common sight to see the Ethiopian men holding eachother's hands as they walk together. My friend who went to Uganda last year says that that is also common in Uganda. It's very interesting and kind of surprising to see men holding hands as they walk down the street.

2. When they meet eachother, the Ethiopian people greet eachother by kissing eachother"s cheeks or the air by their cheeks. I noticed that usually they would greet eachother, and then as they were talking about how they were doing or whatever, they would do their kissing routine. This is actually something we have experienced with Belly Boy. Although he gave us kisses, he never kissed our mouth or anything. He would always turn his head to kiss one cheek and then the other. It was very cute!! Now he goes between cheek and lip kissing.

3. It is considered rude to eat with your left hand!

So there are three culture facts about Ethiopia. I'll probably think of the one I forgot later while I'm in bed!

Hope you had a wonderful Sunday!

I hadn't thought of this...

I never thought of the fact until the other day that Belly Boy probably misses Ethiopia and his nannies and his friends there. Sure, he loves us a lot, and perhaps he doesn't get the whole new family thing, but he knows we are here to hold him when he gets hurt, play with him, love on him, and care for him. But this is all stuff he's had to rely on other people for. Then all of the sudden he meets some people who visit on and off for several days and then he's taken away from the place he's lived at for such a long time.

The other day Minte woke up crying. This is normal obviously. I think most all babies I know cry to get your attention when they're awake. But this was not that kind of cry. It was almost like he had had a bad dream. It was so sad. Mom cuddled him and finally he settled down. Mom thought he missed Ethiopia and his nannies and friends back there.

I get homesick after about a week after being away from my family! When I was in Ethiopia, I got homesick even faster because I was sick of long plane rides and being so far from home! Poor Belly Boy! He has been so far away from his "home" for weeks! He must miss so many things back in Ethiopia!

Homesickness is such a horrible feeling to have, especially when you are so little. I can't imagine being so little and not understanding what was going on, and not being able to tell my new parents that I was sad and missed Ethiopia.

Two interesting stories about our trip

I think about a lot of things while I clean bathrooms. I think about what someone just said to me, how slowly I should eat my Peeps, (the marshmallow kind!), so they last, and randomly about other things. I also am pretty good at multitasking! ;-)

But anyways, today while I cleaned the kids' bathroom, I was randomly thinking about the airport on our way to and from Ethiopia. And along with a few amusing things that we saw, I thought more about two stories that happened along the way.

So, we're on our way to Ethiopia to pick up my new little brother and we're at the Amsterdam airport waiting for Dad who's in the bathroom. Throughout the airport they have signs, recordings, and all these things warning you about do's and don'ts! Do NOT bring 6 in. long knives. Do NOT bring weapons! Do NOT leave your baggage unattended.

So Mom and I are standing against a wall with our bags, waiting for Dad. People are walking by. Short people, tall people, long-haired people, short-haired people, (I feel like Dr. Suess!). You hear all kinds of languages and see all kinds of people. And it's rather interesting to watch. All of the sudden an older man though I wouldn't call him elderly, goes flying forward to the ground. It looks like he tripped. He's about 9 ft. away from Mom and I and he quickly sits up and he's shaking. The people around him quickly stop to check on him, including Mom. I stay behind replaying his falling scene in my head and thinking how fake it looked. But I'm usually wrong when I think someone's faking, so I just stay behind and let Mom and the other people talk to him and help him.

The man looks like he's not enjoying the attention, but his knees and legs are shaking so much that it's obviously going to be impossible to help him get to his feet. He looks like he's having a seizure. After a while, a security guy and a few other people make their way to the crowd and everyone starts to leave and let them take care of him. The man is requesting that someone please get his son at this gate number and so on, but although the guy in the suit talks into a walkie talkie, nothing seems to be happening. They got the man something hot to drink and are still letting him sit there. No sign of a younger man coming. Mom went over there again and tried to get the men to understand he wants his son to help him, but though they seem to understand, they never do anything.

While Mom is on her way over back to me, she asks me with a weird kind of smile, "Did you stay with our stuff?" I nod yes and she joins me to continue waiting for Dad and watch the older man.

After a while, nothing was happening, so I got bored and didn't continue watching the scene. Some time later, though, I noticed that they had put the fallen man in a seat cart thing and were wheeling him towards the gates. I don't know what happened later, but it was a very interesting experience.

The second thing I was remembering was the long wait at the Ethiopian airport with Minte. When we got to the airport, we had to wait FOREVER for the lines to open up for us to check our flights and stuff. That was because we were VERY, VERY early. They had this little area with benches for people to sit and wait, so we went with a few other of our group to wait there. Our family had a baggage cart filled with a few of our suitcases, while the rest were sitting next to us. I was holding Minte and pulling a wheeled suitcase because Mom was feeling very sick and Dad had to figure out paperwork and everything. We went to this area and Mom took Minte to one open spot on a bench to try to sit down and feel better. Dad went to go try to get birr exchanged back to U.S. dollars.

I was left with the bags again and sat down on one not on the cart. In front of me were all the filled benches. But directly in front of me, an older Ethiopian woman was curled up with a light shawl completely covering her. Obviously she was sleeping to pass the time away til her flight. She had a cart next to her filled with plastic wrapped baggage.

A few minutes later, a man approached her, waking her up. She looked sleepy and was trying to wrap the shawl around her as she fumbled for her purse. Opening it, she pulled out a passport and gave it to him. He flipped through it, looked like he couldn't find what he was looking for, and then said something more to her. She looked more in her purse, but found nothing more to give him.

The airport man looked like he was tired and didn't want to deal with whatever this lady's problem was, but he said something more to the woman and left. I saw him later arguing with another man. The older woman looked sad. She was very thin and her hair was very thin and grey. She slowly swung her feet off the bench in front of her and pulled on her shoes and then put her shawl more nicely and securely around herself. She was talking to herself, and it was kind of freaking me out. Dad was far away and Mom was with Minte quite a distance away too. And there were so many suitcases to keep an eye on!!!!

I can't remember what exactly happened next. Maybe the man came back and said more to the woman, or maybe she saw them talking intently a distance away. Either way, she began crying. She was trying not to cry very loudly, but tears were rolling down her face and she kept sobbing. The man sitting on the bench next to her looked like an American. He turned to see her crying. He then turned towards me, caught my eye, shrugged, and went back to his paper. It seemed so mean. I wanted to help her, but I don't know her language, don't know ANYTHING about paperwork, and Dad wasn't nearby. I didn't feel safe enough to go to her. The woman was now putting her arms slightly in the air towards the ceiling, still muttering, but I think she was praying for God's help. She kept looking down, talking, then turning to the ceiling again. It was very cool, because she wasn't dressed Muslim and I think she was a Christian, like me.

Some men came to the woman later and said something. She quickly grabbed her stuff, and quickly started pushing the heavy cart with them towards the desks. I was mad that they would let her, a tiny, frail old woman,  push the cart herself, but when they got farther along, one of the men took it himself. I don't know what ended up happening. I never saw her again.

So those are my two airport stories. I think the second one was the most interesting. And I wish now I had done something or that Dad had been there to tell me what to do or whatever.

Picture from Ethiopia

The making of injera

This is the griddle thing that the cooks at the guest house used to make the injera we ate. It is in the back, behind the kitchen, in a little room.
The cooks use this seed that, when hot, leaves an oil behind. So basically, instead of using cooking spray, they use seed.

They first sprinkle the seed on the griddle.

Then they wipe off the burned seeds, leaving behind the seed's oil. The cook then poured the mixture on to the "griddle" just like a pancake.

Round and round. She was doing this so fast! It was pretty impressive!

The injera bubbles for a while..

then they put down the top and wait for a couple minutes.

Next, they use a basket and slide it under the now cooked injera.

They slide the basket under the injera and take it to another waiting basket where they lay it on top of the other finished injera. I didn't see what they did afterward, but I think they cut it in half and rolled it up for us to use to dip in the spicy sauces for lunch!

The cook was so pretty and nice and she gave us an opportunity to try to make injera ourselves. I volunteered after Mom left with the camera. The man giving us the "tour", gave me an A! ;-) (I poured some of the batter off the griddle! The cook was so nice again, trying to let me know through our language barriers, that it was okay and not a big deal! I loved her!)

Part 2

So going back to what I was saying before, (though I must say, I'm not in the same mood as I was then! :-), it has been amazing seeing God working through our latest adoption.

It began with us looking into foster care and going through the process. When the agency messed up, my parents decided that was God's sign that we shouldn't do foster care. So they began looking into adopting again. They chose to try to adopt from Ethiopia this time.

We filled out paperwork and began the process to adopt. It took a while. Then Mom saw info about a child on the waiting child list. She told Dad about him and they began praying. When they received Belly Boy's information, they prayed again. And I remember the night they decided God was telling them to adopt that child. That was one great night!

Before Dad and Mom found out about Belly Boy, we were pretty sure we were going to have twins. We wanted twins pretty bad. At least, us kids did. We told the agency we were open to twins, but God had a bigger, better plan.

After we got Belly Boy's referral and accepted it, we had to pass court. But we didn't pass the first time. Our date was rescheduled. To our relief, we passed that time.

Now we were eager to leave to get Belly Boy, but we had to wait again. We received a date sometime in April. We planned for then. Then we got that phone call that gave us the opportunity to leave MUCH earlier! A month earlier!!! Wow, thank you, God! Who knows if we had passed court the first time, if we would have been able to leave much earlier like we did!

And when we reached Ethiopia, and met Belly Boy, he bonded to us so quickly! Today, at home, he is so close to all of us. He knows who will get the toys he drops and who will cuddle him and squeeze him, and who also will teach him to hit himself and laugh, (me!).

Let's have a break.

I don't know about you, but I am ready to have a post from today, right now. I love having my post already written and just having to edit it before publishing it, but I just need to talk.

So first of all, I have to admit to you, that I began editing my last, (sob), journal entry from Ethiopia. There were a few days left to the week, but they were about the same. Belly Boy is great, Belly Boy is cool. Belly Boy drools! Just kidding. Not about the drooling part, it's true. I'm just in a mood. Oh boy, right? So I'm editing this, and I'm coming up will all sort of things to write in parantheses.

So let me put these parantheses into a post. First, I'm just amazed and shouldn't be, but am, astonished at how God has worked through this adoption process. It's been so cool. As I think back to my first post, I think it's funny. We were planning on twins. After all, there are so many boy twins in our church, why wouldn't we have twins? But that's not what God had planned.

I have to go already. Count this as Part 1 of a post. I will try to write more as soon as I can. Schoolwork calls throughout the day!!! But you might find it interesting to read my first few posts. God has worked amazingly.

The next post from Ethiopia

It’s hard to keep track of which day it is over here and which it is back home. Today, (Tuesday), Miss Bossy turned six!!! Congrats, Miss Bossy!


But also today it was great because we got to bring Belly Boy home with us.

The schedule was that we would pick up the kids at the Care Center, have a goodbye ceremony there, and then that afternoon, go to Embassy.

At breakfast, some of us were trying to decide whether we should dress up for Embassy now or if there’d be time when we got back. Most of us decided it was best to do it now so that’s what we headed up to do after breakfast. Well, then suddenly, one of the ladies in our group poked her head in our bedroom and said that there was a change of plans, and we were doing Embassy this morning and the farewell ceremony this afternoon. So we quickly had to finish changing clothes and dressing up.

We got in the bus and headed for the Care Center. I waited on the bus while Dad and Mom went to get Belly Boy from his room. The poor nannies at the Center were so confused. And one nanny actually gave Belly Boy a bath while Mom waited to bring him quickly to the bus. I think we left the Care Center later than they were hoping. We stopped at the office for a CHSFS lady and then we were off for Embassy. We had to cover the babies heads walking from the bus to the building, and Belly Boy did not like that one bit! Finally we made it to the building. We had to wait outside while people went through security. Then we waited in a little covered area until the CHSFS lady told us to come up to the next building. Then we went through a better security and waited in a room until our name was called. I had to stay behind when Dad and Mom got called and people were teasing me that they hoped Dad and Mom would come back or I was stranded. I figured Dad and Mom would, and they did. We had to wait for everyone else, but it really didn’t take that long. I guess there wasn’t much to do when you were interviewed.

We headed back to the guest house, fed the hungry babies, cuddled and played with them, and then we left for the care center. When we reached the Care Center, Belly Boy was snatched from us by a nanny and they hurried off to get him ready for the ceremony. We went downstairs and sat on the couches and chairs down there. The other kids at the Center were sitting, sometimes wildly and noisily, waiting for everything to begin.

Then the social workers announced that the nannies and children were coming. We stood up and clapped with the other kids in a beat as the nannies came downstairs. All the kids being adopted were wearing Ethiopian traditional clothes. Belly Boy’s actually looked like the ones we got him even! Their special nannies held each child and also were dressed about the same. They were so gorgeous!

First each family got a heart shaped card from the Center with a special note for their child inside. Then we made a circle around the nannies holding the children, and a lady said a prayer in Amharic. It was so cute, because the children not being adopted, would say, “Amen” at certain parts of the prayer. Sometimes together, other times not. Then we had an opportunity to pray, but no one did. After, the nannies handed over the kids with sometimes tears.

Then the kids at the Center clapped their hands in rhythm and chanted each being adopted kid’s name as they came up to get their hand print on a paper for the Care Center. It was so cute. When it came to be Belly Boy’s turn, the kids had a hard time chanting his name, so they shortened it, (which is what we call him anyways)! Belly Boy did not want his hand painted!

Next, the older being adopted kids, (4 and 6), cut a line in a cake. While the workers handed out sodas and cake, the older children, (including the older adopted kids), performed a few songs. It was cute, first, because they had motions that were adorable, second, that we couldn’t understand them most of the time, and third, because they kept repeating the same verse over and over until someone older helped them get back on track!!
We ate and drank and then we got our picture taken with the camera men who had been taping the whole thing. We said goodbye, but no one wanted to leave. People were taking pictures and saying good bye to the kids at the Center. It was hard knowing that we wouldn’t see the kids or the Care Center again. Then we took Belly Boy home to the guest house.

Once we got home Belly Boy opened right up, even though he was probably exhausted because he didn’t have a good nap and his Ethiopian clothes were so hot. We discovered his ticklish spots in his underarm, his belly, and thighs. His neck is also a little ticklish. He was being goofy, throwing his toys off the bed and then fussing until someone got them back. Then he did it all over again. I also held him and pretended to reach for the ceiling. He copied me, giggling the whole time. So we got him laughing quite a bit so that Bob, Sports Dude, Miss Bossy, and Grandma could hear him. Mom also gave the phone to Belly Boy so he could talk to Sports Dude and Miss Bossy. He grinned and didn’t fight against the phone really.

Earlier that evening we took him outside and put him in one of Sports Dude’s old hats. He didn’t mind it and was so cute. All he does outside is pace up and down the patio. Oh, and run to us when a ball is rolled towards him.

I taught him to wave bye-bye when we asked him to. And he was waving bye-bye to the cats that ran off outside.

At about 10, Dad and Mom fixed Belly Boy a bottle. Oh my goodness, the kid knew what to do. He snatched that bottle and sucked away. It took him a while to eat though. He ate one ounce in a looong time. Finally Mom switched to a sippie cup and he downed his milk. He loves his milk.



Mom and I are sleeping in the same room because Mom is uncomfortable with me sleeping in my own room. So Belly Boy slept in our room. He slept so well! We fed him at 10 and then he slept until 6:30 or 7. We got up with him once when he was having a coughing fit, but he never woke up and really fussed when we tried to. So the night went well.

Fourth Ethiopian Entry...

Monday was a great day because FINALLY we got to take pictures of Belly Boy. We got up and then we left for the Care Center. It’s always funny because the nannies just let you go in the kids’ rooms even during naps and take your child out. The only reasons they might stop you are if the child needs a diaper change or bath. So Mom went in Belly Boy’s room to get him. We weren’t able to see him the day before because of the Hosanna trip, (which was hard and sad), and Belly Boy didn’t reach out for Mom until she turned away. Then he lunged for her. But the nanny had to go change his diaper, so we had to wait FOREVER! Then we finally got him. He was very sweet, but quiet as usual.


The social worker came over a bit later with Belly Boy’s nanny. Mom asked tons of questions to the nanny through the social worker interpreting. She asked a lot of questions like, “What’s his schedule like?” and “Is he being potty trained?” (YES!) That was great, except the social worker had to go on with the other families. After they left, we played some more with Belly Boy.

Next came the part we’d been waiting for. Taking Belly Boy home to the guest house. Oh, that was great. Well, not the ride there.. Belly Boy has never been on a bus so he clung to us on the way back. I took videos thinking that he was going to be fine and cute as usual, but he was so nervous!

When we got to the guest house, Belly Boy was so cute. It was like being alone with him, brought out his real character. He was crazy!!!! He crawled around on the bed being goofy. I took a lot of video!

We got to feed Belly Boy his lunch which usually doesn’t go very well as he doesn’t have a good appetite, but today he ate it all. I taped the whole thing basically. I was hoping to get his face when he teasingly shows he done eating, but he never did it. 

Afterwards, we took the kids back to the Care Center for the LAST time. Belly Boy was asleep, but when Dad put him down in his bed, he woke up. Mom said he had a sad face on his face when they left.

We next went to the Turkish airlines to drop off a family who had to check their flight. So we waited in the bus for them. And who came to visit us? The Beggars. :( First they’d begin by poking their head in the bus door and then they’d circle the bus pleading for money. An old woman was persistent! She came to my window, but I had to ignore her. I had no money and she wouldn’t be able to understand me if I tried to tell her! So she went to the person behind me who also ignored her. And slowly the woman went around the bus calling sister to all the women. Finally the woman made it to Mom’s window. I was looking the other way when suddenly I heard a scream. And then people in the bus were laughing and Mom was too. Finally I understood what happened. Mom had been in her own world when suddenly the beggar called to her outside her window. Mom wasn’t expecting it and screamed!!!! It was hilarious. I couldn’t stop laughing!

Next we went to a museum. It was actually the one where Lucy is. This museum- “The National Museum of Ethiopia” had very few signs on the exhibits. It was hard to know what things were. There were crowns and capes and thrones and chairs and lots of things. The skeleton exhibit was in English which was kind of amusing since we were in a foreign country.

We next went to the market and bought more stuff. One store gave me a discount cause Mom bought so many things last time. I think we got a lot of things, but I wish we still had more time to buy stuff. It is so crazy trying to bargain. I wasn’t in the mood, so I just paid whatever they said. I guess that’s considered rude. Oh well. I got stuff for my friends and another Ethiopian traditional dress. It’s cool. It looks better on Ethiopian women though!!!

After the market, which we stayed past time at, we rushed home to freshen up for a cultural dinner. I REALLY didn’t want to go, but did go. When we got there, a guard actually used his metal detector thingy on the men entering the restaurant. It has been crazy going through security places everywhere. It’s kind of funny cuz I told my friend that the only thing I was nervous about was going through security at the airport. Well, we’ve gone through a lot of security now. I’ve been patted down twice!!! Ughh..

The restaurant was set up really cool. It was painted and decorated to look like it was outdoors and the “tables” were set under a thatched roof sticking out of the wall. The tables were tiny circles with basket type “hats” on them. There was also a stage with some musicians and dancers. It was difficult ordering because we didn’t want anything spicy. A man helping us told us what to do, what we might want to order and so on. Then we got our drinks. The drinks are funny because you either get bottled water or soda in a glass bottle with a cap.

The seating was really weird. It was basically a bunch of chairs with a couple teensy circular tables in front. When we were seated, they pulled off the “hats” to the tables. After we ordered, a man came with a pitcher of water and soap. He put down the bowl and we took turns putting our hands over it while he poured water on them and squirted soap. It wasn’t too bad except we had no towel to wipe our hands afterwards. They were soaking wet. I had wiped my hands on my skirt before Mom offered me a napkin.

We watched the dancing while we waited and while we ate. The music is so different over here! I can’t catch the “catchy” part, just cause I’m not used to their kind of music! Sometimes singers came out, but it was hard because we couldn’t understand the language. The dancers were amazing. It was so cool how they could keep moving constantly. Some of the men were getting sweaty. They had one dance and in the middle, the man dancer fell. The music stopped and everyone was shocked it looked like. Someone asked if he was okay and he just grinned. I still don’t know whether it was fake or if he really did lose his balance. I thought it looked fake, but I dunno..

There was also one part when during a dance, a man dancer kissed a woman dancer. I assume this was part of the dance because it just seemed to be set up like a play! The woman dancer was mad and the other women were helping her get up from the ground. The man dancer was agitated and the men dancers were trying to calm him down. At the end, they get the couple to hold hands. Once again, it was hard to understand what was happening cause we couldn’t understand the singer!

This one dancer kept doing these weird neck moves. (By the way, I kept thinking of Sports Dude as I watched these talented, flexible dancers). At different points in her dance, it seemed like she was waiting for applause, but we weren’t sure what to do, so we didn’t clap and then she’d look angry and start dancing again.

At one point, the men dancers “chased” the women off the stage. A bit later I saw one of the women dancing in front of someone’s table. Then I looked on stage and one of the men dancers was talking to another and nodding towards our table. When he came over I tried looking away, but he came to my table and motioned toward me. I didn’t get what he wanted. Mom told me he wanted me to dance with him. So I smiled and shook my head no. He kept asking. Finally, he turned to a 12 year old boy in our group and pulled him in front of our table to dance. He would do a move and then the boy would copy him. It was so funny. I was laughing! He danced with someone else in our group too, and that was REALLY funny! I’m still glad I refused to dance with him, but I had a lot of fun watching other people!

For our food, Mom got this “sample” dish full of many kinds of sauces and also a big bowl of meat. They delivered our food by placing a round dish, the size of the table, on our table. Inside was injera rolled out, and injera rolled by the side. Then the waitress, hurryingly and messily spooned the sauces and meat onto the injera. Some of the food was TOUCHING!  Then we pulled off injera from the rolled part and pinched the meat or sauce into it. Some of the sauces were good. Some were very spicy and the meat was kind of chewy.

After dinner, we went home tired. I think it was the latest many of us had ever stayed up over here.

But I was looking forward to the next day!! Embassy and bringing Belly Boy home to the Guest House!

Third Ethiopian Entry

Our loooong Ethiopian tour could be described as this…




Take the CHSFS bus down to the city of Hosanna! Enjoy the gorgeous mountains with their many layers and foggy “steeples”. Take pictures of the many exotic plants found in the southern part of Ethiopia. From flat topped trees, to “fake banana trees” , Ethiopia’s interesting plants will keep your eyes fed.

Enjoy the animals of Africa. No lions, giraffes, or elephants are likely to be seen on this trip, but more animals like donkeys, stray dogs, and monkeys are more likely to be found. Keep your eyes open for the monkeys as they could be found in the trees, crossing the road, or running pell-mell through the brush. Donkeys are likely to be found as often as you would find squirrels back home. Donkeys are used mostly for carrying heavy packs like water and food. It is a usual sight to see young children or women beating and leading the donkeys.

Women and children walk for hours to rivers where they will scoop up the muddy water in yellow containers to take home. These women also will take the chance to clean their and their family’s clothes. Watch for these popular water spots and enjoy the sight. WARNING- Do not be shocked to accidentally see someone swimming nude or washing their clothes no longer on their backs in these rivers. This is a common occurrence.

As we tour the Southern Ethiopian area, you will meet and play with many children along the way. These children love the sound of a bus and will pour out of their houses to run alongside grinning and yelling. The children love foreigners as they are likely to give money. Do not be surprised to hear the children yelling, “Money, money” as we pass. Do not feel obligated to give to them even if they do command you to give them money. Remember, although these children are poor, the majority of them and their families are very happy. Although money is a treat, so also is a kind smile, word, or motion.

This tour will take a little more than three hours each way. (This is only an estimate amount of time. Stray dogs, donkeys, cows, people, especially very young children may not only make this trip a swervy one, but also a long one. Your driver, knowing you may have somewhere to go, will try to keep the bus at about 60 mph, dodging and beeping at anything in his way, including children).

If at some time, we come to a complete stop for donkeys crossing, cars jammed, etc., please beware that there are likely to be many beggars coming to the windows. Although they have very limited English, they usually are able to get their point across. Depending on whether you’re male or female, they will call you sister or brother. This is normal. If you do not wish to give them money, the best way is not to shake your head. They will not listen. The best way to get rid of them is simply to ignore them and look the other way no matter how many times they beg, tap on your window, or stick their hand in. If you do not wish to have beggars at your window, it is best to keep your window shut.

You may also be approached by men or women trying to sell you things. The prices are usually outrageous and again if you do not wish to deal with them, it is simply best to keep your window closed.

 You will want to wear modest clothing and a scarf to cover your mouth from the dust. Sunglasses and water are a great idea. Please also pack a lunch, as we do not provide it. NOTE: Because of the amount of dirt and dust, do not plan on wearing your outfit again during your stay in beautiful Ethiopia.

By Emily

 The above is a pretty good description of what we saw on our trip to Hosanna, Sunday. We woke really early so we could set out in the bus at 6. CHSFS did not provide lunch so we brought our own food. Yum.. cereal bars, Chocolate-peanut butter oatmeal bars, sausage bites, nuts, peanut butter crackers. Mmm… The trip to Hosanna was good. It was long, but it was so amazing seeing all the houses and villages. The houses honestly are what you would see in picture books. Thatched roofs, children leaning in the doorway, cows and goats in the front yard.. We stopped at a hotel to use “western” toilets. The problem was that although they were western toilets, nothing else was the same. The stalls were in a room for men and women alike and inside the stalls there was no room to move. The front of the toilet basically almost touched the stall door. Yeah. Then only a couple sinks worked.

After being amazed with all the views and scenery, we finally made it to Hosanna. The bus crept through the streets with children on each side yelling hello and that they wanted money. One family said that a little boy waving at them as he ran by the road, ran into an open door of a bus. They have before and after pictures of that! And Dad actually had a teen boy come to his window and say, “Give me money!”!!! That was funny! When we stopped at a gate and prepared to back into it, children surrounded us again calling for money. They were being so cute and grinning at us. Then I heard someone gasp and looked up to see someone whipping the kids back with a long grass blade. They continued to smile at us!!!! 

We had a special meeting and ceremony and then we got in the bus and headed next to a school built by CHSFS. It was so different than our schools. But they had posters on the walls. In fact, one had a bunch of rules and one was NEVER to ask to use the bathroom during class only during breaks. Oh, and that bathroom- it was a squatty-potty. You had to walk down this hallway and turn to the left and there it was. No doors. Someone had to guard the hallway!

There were kids again at the school. They weren’t actually at the gate. They just met us at the bus and again at the school’s gate when we were done. They were adorable. There were 4 boys there and three girls hanging shyly behind them. When we came out from our tour, they were smooshing their faces between the bars of the gate. One man took their picture and then came around and showed them. The boys were shy about it, but you could tell they were pleased. Then he took a picture of each of them. They liked to look at themselves afterwards. A woman, (which this is a good idea for future travelers), had candy in her purse, so she asked the man in charge if she could give them one and he said they expected it! So she did and gave some to the girls too. They were so happy in a shy way.

Then we continued on our long journey. We stopped once at a beautiful spot on the road for pictures. We had to step over the guard rail though and that is tough with skirts!! I followed a woman who found a pile of dirt to step on to. There we saw the monkeys. They were either running across the road or running down a hill trying to get away from our pictures. We took tons of pictures. A guy in our group took pictures of some women walking down the road and then showed them. They loved it and made some poses and motioned for him to take their picture. Then they would crack up laughing when they saw the picture!! :-) We also got some pictures of donkeys, but unfortunately not any of the baby donkey. :-(

When we came home we had a couple minutes to freshen up from the dirt before we had to eat supper. I think that might’ve been the day we had spaghetti. It was very yummy. These cooks are so good at giving us yummy, American, food. I love it. But they add an “Ethiopian twist” to it!! They also, quite a bit, make Ethiopian foods like injera and spicy sauces.

My Second Ethiopia Journal Entry

This is the third entry I wrote, but I think it's still the second day....

The kids at the Care Center are so cute. I so want to play, cuddle, and adore Belly Boy, but these kids here grab you, hug you, and want attention, that it’s hard not to play with them. I, of course, prefer playing with Belly Boy to swinging little kids around in a circle and doing hand games with them, but I love it still.


When we first got there, the kids were so loving. They wanted to show you what they could do and wanted to be held and wanted to play soccer with us. One boy wanted Dad to hold him. When he did, I leaned toward the little boy to smile and he placed his hand against my cheek and kissed me. It was so sweet.

Today I spent the most time with the kids. Belly Boy was tired and cuddly today, so when one of us was holding him, the others really had nothing to do, so we did the next best thing- play with the kids!! One little girl grabbed my hands and spun me around until I eventually was swinging her around by her wrists. She couldn’t understand me, so I had to motion that I was dizzy and done with that. It wasn’t long until other kids were grabbing me to do the same thing to them. I kept trying to show that I was dizzy. The first girl kept yelling at them in Amharic. Then they’d pout so I’d motion that it was her turn right now. Another girl got mad at the first and hit her. When she pouted, I ignored it as I played with a little boy. Later she and the little girl were hugging on to me front and back as I leaned over playing with a little boy! After the kids understood I was tired of spinning, the girls wanted to play clapping games with me. I played along. One hand, clap, next hand, clap… We got a great rhythm going. I tried to speed it up sometimes. The kids quickly understood that they had to take turns with me so they would push each other away when someone else was trying to push their way to me and point to whoever was playing with me and basically say it was their turn. It was so cool. The first girl ran off for her friend and got my attention as she showed a new clapping game. I watched and learned and then offered to try it with one of them. I actually caught on quickly. It wasn’t that hard. One hand, clap, next hand, clap, both hands, clap. It was just hard doing it faster. I had to think through each move.

The older kids that I’m guessing are around 7 or 8 still would ask you to hold them. They’d say “up, up!” (the opposite of the “big” kids back home), and I would say, “No, no, you’re too big.” But obviously they could not understand me. So I’d shake my head no. Occasionally I would let up for this one adorable girl and she’d clasp me around the neck and giggle. Once she gave me a kiss. But she was like a monkey and I’d have to tickle her to get her to let go.

The kids loved Dad’s watch and my pony tail holder on my wrist. They wanted to make Dad’s watch beep and were intrigued with it. The little girls liked putting my pony tail holder on their own wrist and then back on mine.

Mom played jump rope with the kids , kicked a soccer ball about, and just played with the kids and made them feel special.

Today we brought fun toys for Belly Boy, and before we knew it the ball and two books were taken away by the kids who hang around the adopting families. We found the ball, but a little girl took to naptime at least one of the books. How sweet. So we left her alone.

The kids are so eager for attention, but it’s not like they don’t get any from their nannies. They love their nannies too.

It’s cute because the kids call out Mommy , Daddy when we leave and when we come. They also found how to squeeze through the gate to us!

We're Home!

Hey, it's great to be back. Many, many thanks to Lindsey, who wrote for me as I didn't have computer access. (applause..)

So we're home and doing great. Belly Boy is adorable and we are thrilled to have him home. He is very comfortable with us, (enough even to throw tantrums! :-) and loves to play and snuggle with us.

So, because I wasn't able to blog, I am going to fill you in now. Each day, (as much as I could), I tried writing about our day on Microsoft Word so I could share with you all when we got home. But they're really long, so I'm gonna share one with you every day. I think there are 7, so hang in there.

Here we go..

There’s a lot to write about in this post. I could talk about the plane rides, the airport, our tiredness, or Ethiopia in general. But I want to share with you the highlight of our day. That was when we met Belly Boy!

We got up early to get ready for the day and eat our breakfast. In the meantime, we got to know the other families here. During our breakfast we counted down the minutes until we met Belly Boy for the first time. Unfortunately the social workers were late getting here, so we had to wait a long time before we could leave on the bus for the Care Center, (which we can see from our bedroom window).

Mom thought she spied Belly Boy being hurried away by one of the nannies when we got there, but later we thought no. We were brought down to the “basement” sorta and were surprised and amazed at the beauty of the room from marble steps to the decorated ceiling.

Then the social workers took two families at a time to meet their baby(ies). We were not the first, but thankfully not the last. Instead of taking us upstairs like the others, we were led to the toddler room. A camera man walked backwards in front of us. The social worker asked Mom if she knew which was Belly Boy when we got in the room. Mom guessed right. He was picked up and given to Mom. It was so cute. He was so nervous and worried. We have a picture of him worried back home so it was fun to see that expression. His eyebrows are so expressive. With each rising and falling he has a different face. He and Miss Bossy will have to have contests when we get home.

After saying hi to him, and hugging, and touching him, we joined the other families outside. Oh my goodness, were the kids cute!  Belly Boy had his bottom lip stuck out and looked like he was pouting. He didn’t smile, babble, motion, or really anything. He sat in Dad or Mom’s arms looking at everyone he knew and occasionally cuddling in to whoever was holding him. Mom took him to the nannies who told her he could walk so she put him on the ground. Oh you should have seen him take off. Not running away, just in a hurry to get nowhere. They put him on the plane that we actually bought him for at home and after getting pushed a minute, he figured out how to push himself. As he went, he threw his upper body back and forth trying to get the plane moving. When Dad started pushing him later, this was how he got Dad to keep pushing him. He seems to really like the plane.

Like I said, he’s walking, almost running, and is cute as can be. Unfortunately he doesn’t look where he’s going. He’s too busy watching his spectacular feet move. He ran into a pillar while we were there. He cried, and Mom comforted him, and he quickly recovered. Mom gave him to me next and while I was leaning to pick up a toy he dropped, Belly Boy suddenly started grinning. I discovered he liked to fall like that and got quite a lot of smiles. No laughs yet.

Next they fed Belly Boy his lunch. I got to hold him on my lap while the social worker tried to feed him. We were laughing so hard, (which we are going to regret later when he does it to us), because he got this Belly Boy teasing grin on his face and turned his head from the food. I can’t describe his teasing. His eyes light up, his mouth draws into a smile, and there he goes.

So Belly Boy refused to eat so he was taken to his nanny who after a few tries, got him to eat quite a bit. After that, Belly Boy got a few more squeezes and then we had to leave.

We had orientation and lunch and then some of the families went to a meeting and we went to the Care Center to see Belly Boy again. Unfortunately he was having a nap and we didn’t want to wake him. Every time the door opened, I’d walk across the room to get a view of his crib to see if he was still sleeping. And he was. Man, those nannies were so LOUD! They kept slamming the door when they walked in and it’d echo, and then they had music on in his room, and the nannies were moving around in there, as well as some nonsleepy babies.

FINALLY, when we had about 10 minutes left, Mom went into his bedroom to see if Belly Boy was awake and he was! She brought him out and cuddled him on the couch and then gave him to Dad. It wasn’t long, but when Mom had to bring him back to his room cuz we were leaving, Belly Boy cried!! He didn’t want to go to his nanny and was reaching out for Mom. She took his head to kiss it and the nanny took that as a sign she wanted him, so handed him over. Finally Mom tore herself away as he cried more. Although it was hard leaving him, this is SUCH A GREAT SIGN! He’s already getting attached to us. Thank you all so much for your prayers.

Dad and Mom went to a meeting next and I had to sit in a lobby by myself. Occasionally men walked in and I was nervous, but then some women came in, so I felt comfortable again. Mom and Dad had some papers to fill out, and a video to watch.
Then we went to pick up a group at the Care Center, but was happily surprised when the bus driver told us we had 20 minutes at the Care Center. We took off to Belly Boy's  room and when Mom walked in he stood up from where he was playing with a grin and held up his arms as he walked towards Mom. It was SO COOL! SO ENCOURAGING! He was the most active during this visit. He babbled occasionally. And apparently really likes crayons. He’d keep grabbing a green crayon and scribbling on a book. Mom tried to take it away from him, but he grinned and ran away until I caught him and brought him back. Then a little bit later when he got a hold of that crayon again, I took it away and oh boy, was he mad. Mom comforted him. When we had to leave, Belly Boy’s nanny distracted him while Mom walked away.

We see him again tomorrow morning before we leave to go shopping. I just want to bring him home with us. Like U.S. home.

Mom looked at Belly Boy’s clothes to see what size he was and was surprised and a little dismayed to find that he was wearing a 3-6 mo. shirt, and either 9 or 12 month pants. We packed 18-24 mo. clothes for him!!!! (Note: He actually does fit in 18 mo. clothes. The nannies at the Care Center don't really care about size, or matching, actually!!! :-)
So that’s the deal on Belly Boy. We can’t wait for the morning. Tuesday, (our time here), we bring him to the guest house with us to live with us forever.

We love you so very much, Belly Boy! We are so glad we got to leave so early to get you. You are already starting to become attached to us which it was wonderful. Love you, you big tease!

One other thing, the kids here. They are a little spoiled and a little rough sometimes, but they are the most charming, adorable, smilie kids. They LOVE attention and will just eat it up.