How Time Flies!

Time has really flown by!! It took me four months to finally post about our trip to Ethiopia, but now that I'm getting the hang of blogging, I'm going to fast forward through the highlights of the past four months, then try and keep up with things. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day!


When we arrrived back in Fort Wayne, we found out there had just been an ice storm the day before. This was quite the contrast from having just been in sunny Ethiopia. Welcome back to Indiana!! :)

Christmas was just a few short days after we got home. What a great gift to be able to bring Meron home in time for Christmas and all be together again.

What a sweetie!

I'm not sure I understand all of this.

It was so good to be home with our kiddos for Christmas.

Bud must have been a good boy, Santa left him a little treat too.

Getting ready for bath time.

They're already teaching her those bad video game habits!!!

Meron's first time in the snow.

Buddy loves the snow just as much as the kids. In fact, I think he thought he was one of the kids!


Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Buddy in February. He was such a huge part of our lives for fourteen years. He is missed so much. He was our first "kid", and a brother to Ty, Lane and Shelby. He brought so much joy to our family, as well as occasional frustration, like the time he ate an entire chocolate cake off the table, or when he would get wet in the pool run straight to the sand box and roll around then make a bee-line straight into the house to roll all over the carpet! Those were the days I wished we didn't have a dog, but what I remember him for the most is his love and loyalty. If he thought we were threatened, he was right there to protect us. If we were sick or sad, he was sitting right there beside us. If we were running around the back yard playing kick ball, he was running right along side us (usually tripping us up :) ) We love him and will miss him. There will never be another "Bud". He really was a great dog.

Brandt celebrated his ?? birthday. Bet you can't guess!

We celebrated Meron's baby dedication in February. This was a special day at church when we make a promise in front of family, friends and the congregation to raise Meron up to be a christian woman through our faith and through the help of the Lord's wisdom and guidance.

In March we celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. The years have flown by!!

Lane turned 11 in March! Seems like just yesterday he was such a little guy.

Shelby's drawing of a vase was chosen to be in the Fort Wayne FAME Festival that celebrates the arts.

In April, we went to North Carolina's Outer Banks for Spring Break. They are a group of barrier islands that run along the coast of North Carolina. It was very beautiful there, but it was still a little chilly and very windy. There are five lighthouses that are on the different islands. Two of them are open for climbing late spring through early fall. They both opened the week after we left, so unfortunately we missed out, but they were still neat to see. They were each painted differently and their grounds were all a little different.

This was a sunset on the ferry ride back to one of the islands.

Hanging out during a lunch pit-stop.

This is on Jockey's ridge sand dune. It was crazy windy up there!

Take them on vacation and they still find time for video games!

Too cold for playing at the beach, but we still found some cool sea shells.

All dressed up for Easter Sunday.

Grandma brought over some fun bubbles for after the egg hunt.

Meron loves her cousin Audrey! We spent an afternoon at Foster Park enjoying their beautiful flowers. Every spring they have the most beautiful tulips and daffodils in bloom.

Cute monkeys hanging in a tree!

After the park we went to Zesto's and Meron had her first ice cream cone. She absolutely loved it! She ate it so fast I'm surprised she didn't get a brain freeze.

What do you mean the ice cream's all gone!!!!

That's the last four months in a nutshell. After we got home from Ethiopia we kind of hit the ground running, as much as we would like to freeze time, life just takes hold and before we know it another day, week, month has flown by.

Home!!!

The long flight home. Dad stood in the aisle for a while so Meron could sit and not be held for a minute.

Our first photo all together as a family. What an exciting day!

Meeting my new brothers and sister and my cousin.

Meeting grandpa Mike.

Day 7

Saturday, December 20th

We flew overnight Friday night and most of the day Saturday. Meron did so good on the plane. By the time we flew into Indy, we had been traveling for 24 hours, which meant Meron had to be held for 24 hours. Needless to say she wasn't used to being held that much and especially by people she didn't know that well. She slept on and off in our arms and when she got restless, we would walk the aisles with her. We were in good company though as there were probably at least ten other adoptive families on board too. I'm sure it was quite amusing to some - all of these tired looking new parents pacing the aisles trying to entertain/sooth their child but still not knowing exactly how to do it.

We arrived in Indy in the late afternoon. We were a little apprehensive about how Meron would do in the car seat because she had never been in one before, but I think the exhaustion from the trip played in our favor. She slept most of the way home. It was so great to be back home. My sister-in-law and mother-in-law helped us surprise the kids. The kids didn't expect us home until the following Wednesday night. After they knew we were home they brought the kids home and we surprised them. It was so good to have them back in our arms.

Later that night and in the next couple of days the rest of the family came over to finally meet the baby girl we had all been praying for.

Journey to Ethiopia

This is Nigiste and her new mom Amy and her sister Jennifer. We had the opportunity to get to know them during our time in Ethiopia. They are a great couple of ladies. Nigiste was at the House of Hope with Meron. It will be great to keep contact over the years, so Meron can know another child she was in Ethiopia with.

This is Mekedes and her parents, Marianne and Steve. They arrived at the House of Hope the day before we left, so unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time to visit with them. We are thankful to have photos of a couple of the children she was at the House of Hope with to share with Meron as she gets older.

Our last day in Ethiopia. We're eager to get home, but at the same time it's hard to leave Ethiopia. We met so many wonderful people and had such great experiences it's hard to leave it all. We were very fortunate to have the time we had there. Despite it's struggles with disease and poverty, it is a great country. The countryside is beautiful and the culture there is very kind and friendly. We will tell Meron about her heritage, but hopefully someday we can take her back to visit so she can experience it herself. She is such a blessing.

Day 6
Friday, Dec.19



This was our last day in Ethiopia. Meron's travel documents were completed early so we either had the opportunity to go home today or wait until the next Tues. which would have gotten us home late Christmas Eve. There weren't any flights in between and we were missing our kids back home so much so we took the earlier flight. In retrospect, we kind of wish we would have stayed the extra couple of days we had intended because there is so much more of the country and the culture we would have liked to take in, but at the time we just wanted to be home with our kiddos. We also were going to have to go to another guest house so other families could come to the House of Hope, and before we left for Ethiopia we were told that we were not able to take Meron with us out in public because people have raised questions and concerns over the number of Ethiopian children being adopted by foreigners. While we stayed at the House of Hope, we would leave Meron with her nannies when we had to go somewhere and they had a driver that helped get us around. At the guest house we would have to leave her with nannies she didn't know, and we didn't want to do that to her after having just gone through getting to know us. We also didn't think we would have any transportation. So with that knowledge we thought our last few days would be spent sitting in the guest house, and we thought we might as well come home early if we weren't going to have the opportunity to see more of Ethiopia. Since we have been home we have found out that we could have taken Meron with us places and the guest home had a driver we could have hired. Oh well, the experiences we had were priceless and maybe someday we will be able to take Meron to see the wonderful country she came from.



Before we headed back home, we had a full day ahead of us. In the morning, Tsegay's wife took us shopping for souvenirs. We were able to by some wonderful souvenirs to give to Meron through the years as well as some beautiful items to give to her siblings to help remind them of her culture. I wish I would have thought to take some pictures while we were out and about that morning, but I think I was still a little out of it from the day before.



Later that afternoon we had the opportunity to go see Meron's orphanage where she spent the first five months of her life before she went to the transition home. It was an absolutely priceless opportunity. It's hard to describe the emotions. The pictures tell a lot.



This is a courtyard area when you first come into the orphanage.

This wooden pen area had rabbits in it, we thought they might be pets, but when we saw a rabbit skin hanging from a tree we realized that they were for food.

This sweet girl is standing in front of one of the rooms. Most of the other older children were at school while we were there. It would have been hard to see all of the older children there because unlike the House of Hope, the children here are not matched up and waiting for their families. Unfortunately, only a small number of the older children will probably be adopted.

This is the nurse. She is standing in one of the baby rooms. They have small cribs wall to wall with two babies in every crib. It is overwhelming to see the need there. The orphanage workers are wonderful people who love these children and give it their all to care for them, but the need and the number of children leave little time except for basic care such as feeding and changing.

These women are washing laundry and diapers at the orphanage. The conditions are rough and the work endless, yet they were smiling all the while.

These young women got a kick out of getting their picture taken and seeing themselves on the digital screen.

After dinner that night it was time to say goodbye to all of the amazing people we had met throughout the week, and who played such a huge part in caring for Meron and helping us make her a part of our family.

We then headed to the airport to start the long trip home.

Journey to Ethiopia

Here are some random photos from our trip.



Hanging out at the House of Hope. She's still
trying to figure out what's happened in the last
couple of days.

The blue buses are taxis. Our driver called them

"blue devils", driving in Addis Ababa is like organized

chaos. I wish I would have gotten a picture out the front

window to tell the story better. Cars drive within inches

of each other and the lines on the road, if there are any,

are just taken as a general guideline.

A modern building in Addis Ababa.

It is not uncommon for cattle, goats etc. to be grazing

alongside the road in Addis, or just walking down

the street.

Meron sleeping in her crib at the House of Hope.

This is a view of the Ethiopian countryside.
Addis Ababa is in a high elevation area of Ethiopia
and the mountains are beautiful.

On the other side of the cars is an area where they

had their millennium celebration last year. They

celebrated the millennium in September of our

2008. We follow the Gregorian calendar and Ethiopia

follows the Ge'es calendar of 13 months. They have 12

months of 30 days and 1 month of 6 days. It's hard to

see but there is a large sign of lights right beyond the car

that says 2000.

This is the lion of Judah. The lion is represented in

many places in Ethiopia.

This is a woman carrying a large bundle of wood or

something along the mountainside road. Many women

do this job everyday. Ephrim told us that Ethiopian

women are very strong, most of these women are very

old and they go up and down this mountain everyday doing

this hard physical labor.

This is a former king's house.

This is another view of the Ethiopian countryside.

Day 5

Thursday Dec. 18

This was Embassy day! Other than meeting Meron, this was the most important part of our trip for the adoption. It is an interview at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa to ensure that we are indeed Meron's adoptive parents, that she was legally an orphan and to start the process for her to get a travel visa. Unfortunately, nature was against me starting the night before. Wednesday night I woke up with wrenching stomach pain which soon turned into double-ended unpleasentries I won't go into detail about. I was so careful with what I ate and drank, I thought for sure I would avoid contracting any kind of sickness from the food or water. We even used bottled water to brush our teeth. The only thing I can think of is that maybe I could have gotten something from our eating utensils, because the plates, glasses and silverware were washed in regular water. Anyhow, I started popping pepto pills hoping to start feeling human again before our visa appointment. We had taken a prescription with us for this kind of sickness, but the day before we left I read about another family that had traveled before us and the husband had gotten sick and had a terrible reaction to the medication. He ended up in the hospital because of the antibiotic. So, the thought of having a reaction and being hospitalized there freaked me out. That was a big mistake, I should have started the prescription as soon as I got sick, but I continued with the pepto which did nothing. Noon came and it was time to go to the Embassy. Rescheduling or missing your appt. is not an option. I felt terrible, the car ride to the Embassy felt like an eternity. We finally arrived and stood in a short line to go through security, all the while with my sickness bag in hand. I probably looked like quite the picture, pale-faced and all hunched over holding my stomach. After a short time, we got through security and they took us to another building to wait to be called for our interview. We went upstairs to a small, hot, overcrowded room and sat down. It was only a matter of minutes and I needed a bathroom fast! Upon asking Tsegay were the ladies room was, he informed me that the only one was back in the other building! So the next hour entailed of going back and forth between buildings until we were called for our interview. Finally it was our turn, and we were called up to a window like a bank tellers and asked to raise our right hand and say an oath, although I couldn't say what it was because all I was concentrating on was not throwing up on the Embassy official. I'm assuming I must have looked pretty terrible because upon finishing the oath, the official told me I could go and Brandt could finish everything else. Needless to say I immediately started the prescription, because at that point I couldn't imagine that any reaction I had could feel any worse. The rest of that day and night are kind of a blur for me, I spent most of it in bed and the bathroom. Brandt was amazing through it all. He completely took care of Meron and all our paperwork that day. I also forgot to mention that Meron had SEVERE diarrhea and was going through entire outfits every hour and Brandt was a trooper through it all. Unfortunately, I was feeling pretty miserable and didn't think to take pictures of anything that day.

Earlier in the day, before our appt. Ephrim took Brandt out of the city so he could see some of the countryside. I wish I could have been there, it seemed pretty amazing. He was able to get some pretty amazing pictures though.

Journey to Ethiopia

Day 4

Wednesday, Dec.17

This was our first full day in Ethiopia. After breakfast, Ephrim took Brandt and I and Amy and Jennifer to Lion Zoo. It was a small zoo, about the size of a park, but we were able to get extremely close to the lions. A chainlink fence was about a foot out from their steal bars and that was it. I suppose if you were crazy enough to try you could reach out and touch them. It was kind of funny to see rabbits at the zoo. They also had monkeys, some in cages and wild ones on the outside. The wild ones hung around the outside of the cages visiting their buddies.

After the zoo, Ephrim took us to the national museum. It was very interesting. We had a great guide who was able to share a lot of cultural information with us. He did drag things on a bit long in the evolution section, and lost us with a lot of details, but the rest of the tour was spectacular. We were able to learn about some of the different tribes in Africa, as well as see ancient artifacts. There was also a section full of crowns, robes and furniture from past kings and queens. There is a lot of history of Meron's country that we didn't know about.

ancient dice

After the museum, we went back to the House of Hope and spent time with Meron. Tsegay also gave us a tour of the House of Hope and we were able to take some pictures because the children were napping. We were not allowed to take pictures with other children in them because they were matched up with other families and we didn't have their permission. We would have liked to take pictures of the other children Meron was there with for her to have someday, but we were at least able to exchange photos with the two other families that were there when we were.

Journey to Ethiopia

playing with dad

Meron's day nannies

Meron's night nanny (she had a special bond with her)

This is Tsegay, who represented us in court.

This is Selay, our amazing cook, roasting beans for coffee.

courtyard at house of hope

Meron's nursery at house of hope transition home.

This was our room at the transition home with Meron.

Playing with Meron our first day together.

The other part of the courtyard at house of hope.