Out of Africa

School Days (Daze)

2010-10-01T23:36:00.002-05:00

One month done with school and it is going fabulously! I am not just saying that either. Everyone of my children likes school (so far!). They all like their teachers and getting into the school routine has not been difficult. I think they all really missed it.
Mahlet is doing so great in school. Her teachers/school were a little apprehensive at first thinking they could not deal with a non-English speaking child, but they are amazed at her each day. She is adapting well to school routines and rules. I am waiting for a breakdown one day when the novelty will wear off and she decides she just doesn't want to go. :-)
Things I have learned the past couple of months. She is a stubborn little girl. She acts like an only child, which is odd having lived in an orphange. She doesn't really know how to play with siblings unless they are all doing the exact thing she wants to do at the exact moment she wants to do it! Compromise is definately not in her vocabulary yet. It's been a growing experience for all of us, but we went through the same thing with all of our children, adopted or biological. However, my biological children went through it at about age of 3, so sometimes it's hard to remember that while she is 7 years old physcially, certain aspects of her are still learning and growing.
She did give us a scare this week and at the dinner table had a seizure. It was small and unless you were aware of what forms seizures can look like one might have missed it. She came out of it good and was able to eat later. The following day of course was a trip to the doctor and then off for and MRI and EEG. A thankful answer to prayers that nothing out of the ordinary was found. The doctors are hoping it was just a one time deal. So we just wait and see. We weren't overly concerned as she has been home for 4 months and this is the first time we have had this issue. We are glad it was over quickly and answers to test were back super fast. Thanks be to God!

Going over our calander the other night we realized that our Samantha's 5 year Gotcha Day is coming up Oct. 15th! I would like to say, wow 5 years, but our reaction is, "it's only been 5 years!". We mean that in a great way. I can not remember our family without Samantha. Sometimes I forget I did not give physcial birth to her. She is an amazingly wondeful, cheerful, bright, energetic, and funny girl who adds a smile to my day everyday. Can't wait to celebrate her special day to reminder her how much she changed our lives for the better.

I have a senior this year! I can not believe it! We have been busy college shopping. I am having fun. I am not sure about her, but her father and I are doing the things we didn't get to do as 18 year olds. I hope one day she has fond memories of this year. We are trying to make it full of many fun memories.
We have a 5 child living with us for 3 weeks. Our German exchange student showed up. We are having the best time! It's fun trying to come up with "American" activities. It's a great experience for our whole family and she has been a real trooper about all the siblings running around. Mahlet thinks she is just the best present we could have gotten her. LOL!

So that is a basic catch up of our lives. I hope when I am done blogging for my dad's Appalachian Trail hike in a few weeks, I will have time to keep up my own blog. But then again, I am busy living life and having a great time (most of the time).

Thanks for stopping by!!!!

2010-07-30T10:08:00.002-05:00

So Monday’s post came out a little harsh. I didn’t mean for it to be. Chalk it up to post-adoption depression. Trust me there is such a thing. For a year you ride on these endorphin highs, even the lows are a high. There is always something to look forward to, but mostly your new child. Then BAM! Its here and over in a flash. Just like a tornado, it’s strikes and it’s gone and you are left with a big ‘ole mess to clean up.
Messy isn’t a negative word in this context necessarily. It’s just like any other big change in one’s life. It happened after the birth of my biological children as well. There is change in routines and schedules. I used to thrive on change. I loved changed. Negative or positive...it was a reminder that we are definitely not in control of this crazy ride we call life. This time though it has been hardest for me. Maybe it’s because I am approaching 40 in just a few short weeks. Maybe it’s because Doug will be going on 2 years of unemployment in October. Maybe it’s because my oldest “baby” is leaving us next year for college or maybe it’s just …because.
I find that my biggest goal for the day is to actually make it through the day. Getting up out of bed is a huge chore and I can’t wait to get back into my bed and lay my head on my pillow. I am so tired these days I have even stopped dreaming. When I am at work, I wish I was at home, when I am at home I wish I was out having an adventure. I hate that feeling! I hate wishing my days away. Each day is a gift and I need to remember to treat it that way. Doesn’t matter where I am physically, it matters where I am mentally. So, instead of de-cluttering my house, I am de-cluttering my mind….pushing out everything that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter I am not a super model (although it would make it easier to find clothes), it doesn’t matter I am not a gourmet cook (my kids wouldn’t eat it anyway), it doesn’t matter I am the breadwinner of my family (my girls will have 2 years of daddy time memories), it just doesn’t matter.
Funny how God has a way of taking you to the brink to get his point across. Well really, God gets his point across just fine if we were to be quiet and listen. It’s my fault I am at the breaking point, I forgot what does matter. It reminds me of the line in the movie City Slickers.
Do you know what the secret of life is? One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don't mean (squat).

The story

2010-07-26T09:20:00.002-05:00

“What’s her story?” That is the number one question I am asked about Mahlet. Funny, because that is not the number one question I was asked about out adopted daughter from China. Is it because adoptions from Africa are not as common (well, they are now)? Is it because they assume her parents are dead? Are they trying to figure out if she has some horrible disease? No one walks up to me and asks what’s my story or my biological daughters’ stories. Why do people want to know her “story”?
Well, I will tell you her story. She is a 7 year old girl who needed a home. End of story. That is the entire story that we needed. It should be more than adequate for you.
I am not saying that to be mean or to let you think we are hiding anything. I am saying that because she is a human being. You wouldn’t walk up to a complete stranger on the street and say, “Hey! Why don’t you have a leg?” No, it’s rude (and if you do, we should talk). It’s just as rude to think that sharing the intimate details of her young life is any of your business.
Again, the only thing that matters is that she is a 7 year old girl who needed a home and we are so blessed that we were chosen to be her family. That brings me to another point. People say, “You are so amazing for doing this.” I will be the first to step up to the plate and say we are not amazing. You know who is amazing? Mahlet is amazing. Eight weeks ago that girl was picked up and taken away from her life….literally, left everything behind. She was dropped into a new country, new house and new family. Yet every morning she wakes up with a smile on her face. She might not go to bed that way, but everyday she wakes up with a smile. What a grand testimony to her desire for life. She wakes up with a smile on her face and the attitude that this is a new day. Sure she has toys and TV and new clothes and sisters, but I am sure she would trade it all back in to be back in Ethiopia with people who understand her language, to the foods and smells she knows, to her birth family. She doesn’t care if she had to live on a dirt floor. How courageous is this little girl to put her life on our hands. To give us her trust?
You know who else is amazing? Our Samantha is amazing. She had to go through the same experiences at age 4 and now she is reliving those experiences with Mahlet. It has dredged up a lot of questions about her past. Questions she never asked and questions I can’t always answer for her. She is one of the bravest girls I know.
So, the next time you think to ask an adoptive parent about their child’s “story”, stop and consider what a personal question you are really asking?

One month and counting

2010-06-29T15:09:00.003-05:00

Okay, I admit. I am a terrible, terrible blogger. I should probably not even have this site, but I do and you have to put up with my sporatic posts. I fully accept any and all mocking via the comments section.

So, how is life one month later? Great, hectic, tiring, wonderful and surprising.

Mahlet is officially not sick anymore. The snotty nose is all gone! Yeah!!!

Mahlet has given herself a new name...Briana. Since Briana is gone to Germany for month, Mahlet figures her name must be up for grabs. She points to everyone at the table and then points to herself and says, "Briana" and then laughs and laughs. Hopefully, Briana gets her name back upon her return or that will teach her for going away!
We did have a big break-through in the name department. She freaked out after being home for a week when we were saying our first and last names and we tried to say Mahlet Graber. She was adament that was not her name and kept correcting us (using her Ethiopian last name, which is her biological father's first name). Of course, we didn't push it and let it drop, cause that is quite traumatic of a change. Bad enough we shaved her head, now we are changing her last name?! Well, the other day she went around the room and said Daddy Graber, Mommy Graber, Isabella Graber, Samantha Graber, and Mahlet Graber. Then clapped and gave us a hug. Not sure she really believes it yet or was doing it to please us, but it's a start and it doesn't matter to me. And really, as a kid, how many times do you have to answer to your last name?

We have yet to complete a successful walk as a family, but it is getting closer and closer. The meltdowns come now from just wanting to be walking in the middle of the road or on the opposite side as everyone else or hitching a ride home with whatever car is driving by...okay, just kidding on that last one. She isn't bulking at the walks as much as the rules on the walk. I am sure she is thinking these people are crazy. They can drive wherever they want to go, yet they insist on walking in a circle at night. :-)

We have had some firsts...swimming in the area lakes. She loves it. Hesitant for about 5 seconds and then jumpled right in with her sisters. She doesn't go under the water, which is fine by me. But she just loves to be in the water. I even braved a swimsuit and went in with them the other day and she road around on my back for about an hour. What a great work out. Eat your heart out your P90X -ers. You ain't got nothing on a mom that swims around with kids on your back. BTW: I am not the only mom that uses this workout routine. Maybe we should be selling it? :-)

Samantha is getting better. Mahlet and her have come to a nighlite agreement that I think it working well. Samantha with her glaucoma hates any bright light and a nightlite in a dark room feels like the sun burning your eyeballs out. Mahlet doesn't like the dark in the least and I really prefer if she had some light so if she woke up and forgot where she was she could find the door. So basically, they are sorting out sharing a bedroom.

Oh, we also had our first movie. Toy Story 3. I, the adult, thought it was cute, but not the best of the 3. Mahlet had a good time. Mostly because popcorn was served. She LOVES popcorn. Pretty sure she would eat it 24/7 if we let her. She couldn't sit on the movie theater seat because they kept springing up and folding her in half and she was getting quite irrated. She never did figure out how to displace her weight, so I watched the movie through the head of a 7 year old with a giant bag of popcorn. It was all good!

Pet store...still not a favorite place. This time we were looking at the cats up for adoption. First two were fine, but the all black kitty--not so much. She started screaming. Not sure if that is a bad luck thing or a reminder of something, but we left. Cats don't like screaming seven year olds.

Her and Keesha are getting along super now. Mahlet sneaks her about 20 treats a day to get her to like her and then she gets mad when Keesha follows her around the house. LOL!

Mahlet loves TV. Poor thing, as we cut off our TV for the summer. She discovered she loves the movie Ella Enchanted and can now sing 2 of the songs and knows the dance routine for at least one. Speaking of which, the girl loves to dance and sing. I guess I know what we get to sign her up for first.

She does have a stubborn streak and is a drama queen, so we are "working" on those things. However, most of that has to be worked on when the language comes along. She is adding about 5 new words a day. She will totally be ready for school by the fall. Speaking of which, we plan to start her in 1st grade in September. She is so excited for school already.

Isabella is doing well. She is also finding her place in the family now and will soon be the big sister in the house (Briana is going to be a senior this year). She really misses Briana. Mahlet loves Isabella, which is no surprise, animals and kids all love Isabella. She just has this "thing".

I returned to work 2 weeks ago. It was hard as it was right at the beginning of summer break, but Doug is staying home with the girls for now. He is a great dad, but is ready to be back at work for the mental stimulation.

Mahlet teaching Luke how to clap!

2010-06-09T09:57:00.002-05:00

2010-06-09T09:56:00.001-05:00

What day is it?

2010-06-09T09:33:00.003-05:00

Well, I realized that I haven't been good about posting. Where do people find the time to keep up with this? Okay, to be honest I have the time, I just don't think about it. We are having too much fun enjoying our new daughter and keeping up with our 4 girls!

Mahlet is doing very well. We are so lucky. She is sleeping through the night. She takes a nap, but we will be weening her off of that, cause I don't think she really needs it. however, mom and dad enjoy the little break for some alone time.

She has slipped in her eating habits a bit and has gone to all carbs. I hear this is common with older children from Ethiopia when they come here.

She is definately seven years old. We have our power struggles as we both struggle with some launguage barriers. Really, the language isn't a problem until we ask her to do something and she doesn't want to do it and I have no way to explain, so it usually ends in her talking back to me in Amarhic (trust me, talking back sounds the same in any language) and her in a time out.

Everything is new to her. Our trip to the pet store to get more dog food was interesting. The first thing she saw was the wall of fish tanks. She clutched her chest like she was having a heart attack ("It's the big one Elizabeth). When I finally convinced her to walk up to the fish tanks and I showed her there was in fact glass holding them in, she was completely awe struck.
The snack behind glass did not go as well and that is when we left. :-)

For the most part, I understand things are new and stores and malls (which we have not attempted yet) are going to be difficult, but I have to admit some things I never thought would be an issue have come up. For example.... walking to the little park by our house to play. Isabella, Samantha, Mahlet and I all get on our tennis shoes (tennis shoes, a whole 'nother story) and we start heading out to the park. We get about 5 steps off the driveway and she starts screaming in Amharic and crying. She buckles her knees and won't walk. She is pointing to the house. I am standing there like an idiot going, "okay, why is this a big deal? Why would a walk freak her out?" Then I have to figure out what to do. Turn around or keep going? I decide we need to keep going. She has to see that going for a walk doesn't mean we are walking away and not coming home. I'm not even sure that is why she is freaking out, but that is my theory. She I carry part way and then set her down. She takes a few steps and quits walking. I pull her along. The normal 3 minute walk to the park takes about 20 minutes. Once we get there, she has a great time. I think, "Okay, this is good." When it's time to go, she willingly comes along. She asks, "bayt?" Which means home and I say yes. She takes off running full steam. I have to send her sisters after her. I can run, but not as fast as a 7 year old anymore. Once we got home I told Doug, I used to have an old horse that was the same way. It would take him half an hour to go a 1/4 mile down the driveway, but once you turned him around to go home, it would take 30 seconds. LOL!

Again, the other night after dinner we decide to take a family walk. In the nice weather, we love to take family walks after dinner. The dishes can wait, but hanging with the kids can't. Well, we all get our shoes on and she is actually cooperative. We head out and get about the end of the cul-de-sac and she decides that walking is no good. She buckles her knees. So, Doug and I end up dragging her through half our neighborhood with her crying, snot running down in droves (and I mean LOTS of snot). I have no kleenex so she has to use a leaf. I keep thinking, our poor neighbors. If I was looking out the window at this specticle I would have to wonder. She did finally walk the last half home, but not without testing all the boundaries.

So, the gist of it is, you just never know what to expect. The things I thought would be difficult, not so much. Then things that I thought would be fine--like going to the park---big ordeals.

I have to say though. I would so recommend an older child from Ethiopia. It's been a really good transition. Even though she gives us a few more things to deal with than Samantha, I think it's more an appropiate reaction. With Samantha we had the hurdle of the chinese nanny telling her to be good or we wouldn't want her, so a lot of her adjustment was false and took a lot longer.

Speaking of Samantha. She is doing okay with the new sister. She has to share the bedroom, so more of an adjustment is required of her.

Briana is heading out to Germany on the 15th! I can't believe she will be gone for a month! How crazy is that? We will miss her. She is a going to be a senior, so a year filled with lots of adjustments. She is looking at colleges and trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up. I tell her to be a good person and make sure that comes with dental. LOL!

Oh, and Mahlet had her check up and she is doing swimmingly. The doctor was very impressed with her overall health. We again, are very blessed.

1 full day home

2010-05-30T08:45:00.002-05:00

It's Sunday morning here and we were all up at about 6am. I am actually sleeping at night, Doug is having a little bit harder time adjusting to the time, but really we are doing quite well.

Yesterday was our first full day home. She is still sick, so it's been tough for her in that aspect. It dosn't take long to wear her out. I think the antibiotics are finally kicking in though. She is a bit of a drama queen I am afraid, but wouldn't you be if someone rescued you and gave you hugs and rocked you when you complained your throat hurt. :-) I am pretty sure not much of that went on at the orphanage.

We finally decided to tackle her hair yesterday. It took 2 hours to undo her braids, but mostly because she didn't want to cooperate. Then we finally were able to really see she did in fact have lice. We got out the shampoo and then it was time to sit and work on getting them all out. Well, she has beautiful, yet thick hair. After 1/2 an hour of her throwing her head back and forth and nothing getting done we decided we had no choice but to shave her head. They shaved their heads in the orphange, so it didn't seem too traumatic at first. Ha! it was definately the calm before the storm. I held her in a bear hug, while Doug tried to shave her head as it is flaying about. She cried for almost 2 hours before passing out. Not sure if it the trauma of just the change, or if they were not nice about shaving their heads in the orphanage or if it was losing her hair. In a way I am glad we shaved it, because it was so damaged from not being taken care of.

This morning she woke up early with me and we snuggled on the couch for about an hour. Doug got her to eat some eggs. That is another thing, she has not had anything except Ethiopian food her entire life. The Ehiopians rarely use sugar and they have no "desserts". We are trying to limit giving her these items as I am sure she will be introduced to them soon enough. She doesn't even like apple juice. She loves carbs though. Will eat lots of bread if you let her.

She really doesn't like Keesha (our dog), but is warming up to her as well. She doesn't shriek loud enough to shatter windows anymore when Keesha walks into a the same room as her. It's progress.

She does get quite shy and scared whenever there are more than 3 strangers in a room. So, we will definatley be staying close to home for awhile. She had no outside world experiences, as the orphange never took them anywhere, so everything is new. Things we take for granted everyday, like walking into the kitchen for a glass of milke or opening the drawers and pulling out clean clothes and actually have choices. These are all so new. Plus, living in a family environment, learning the rules of just being part of a family. We have no language to explain anything that is happening, but surprising smiles and hugs mean the same thing in every language.

I still can't believe we have only been home for 2 days. We are excited that the kids have a long weekend and then soon summer vacation in 8 days.

The next 2 weeks will be filled with doctors appointments and just laying as low as possible without going nuts.

Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all of you who are serving and have served our great country. We also thank the families who have had to make sacrifices for our country. God Bless you ALL!

We are home

2010-05-28T17:22:00.002-05:00

We left Thursday night at 11pm. All the flights were on time and went well (at least the pilots portion). We arrived in the cities at noon on Friday. However, technically we had been traveling like 21 hours and we have been up for 36 hours (then). Doug finally crashed-I think he plans to take the second shift. We did not get to sit together on the flight, so he sat next to Mahlet... I think he deserve a break.

I am really tired and have so much to say, but I know everyone is really just dying to hear about Mahlet. Well, first things first, we are calling her Mahlet...for now. She is very proud of her name and it fits her so well. Plus it's easier to say then we thought. We haven't given up on Emma, just still working out the details.

When we picked Mahlet up from the orphanage she had a pretty icky nose cold. But no fever and didn't seem slowed down in the least, not to mention almost all the kids in our group had a nose cold thing going on. However, it was obvious on Wednesday it wasn't getting better. We tried Benedryl and that at least helped her sleep. By the time we hit the second plane ride today she had a fever. She slept a lot and just didn't look like herself. I really did not want to expose her to the culture shock of a doctors office and tests, but with the long weekend I was getting nervous to wait.

Doctor took a quick peek and was nice enough NOT to draw any blood or do a throat culture or anything that might scare her since we did not have the language to tell her what was going on. He found enough things to justify starting her on antibiotics. Her fever was at 102, her throat is red, her ear is red and a I think he was just thinking there was a million other things. ha! poor kid.

What is her personality like? Well, she is a ham. Once she warms up to you. She is very shy around any more than 2 people in a room. She is super smart. Learned how to run the computer to run her DVD in the first sitting. And she is fabulous with babies. She LOVES them. I am guessing she was a caregiver of sorts to the younger children at the orphanage.

She HATES Keesha, our dog. But that doesn't surprise me. Dogs in Ethiopia are not considered part of the family. Some do have them as pets, but they most run around wild and cause foreigners a lot of headaches at night with all of their barking. I sure hope she comes around soon.

Hmm, I know there is lots to say and I will try to get my thoughts more organized in the next few days.

Thank you so much for everyone, for support, prayers, food, and childcare. This was definately a group effort.

Of course...

2010-05-28T13:38:00.003-05:00

the second I post about not hearing from them...I get a text from Katy.

They are home as in, in their house. I do not have any other details, but the main point is that they are all 3 home safe and sound.

I am signing off.

The next post will be from Katy whenever she feels up to it.

WELCOME HOME GRABER FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update!

2010-05-25T10:20:00.001-05:00

Today was the embassy day. It was a very long day, but successful. We are approved and don't see that anything that would prevent us from leaving on time.

Today we bought coffee, tea, and Ethiopian spice. And some jewelry as a mission work through the guest house.

Tomorrow we are going shopping. The election went well in the fact that there are no riots. Then we will attend the other families farewell party at the orphanage.

We are almost done. Really, the Bethany staff has been really, really good. The guide is amazing and always with us and they all know Emma for a while so she is comfortable talking with them for us. The staff was really very good at the paperwork and keeping organized.

I will say ,I have not met any Ethiopian people that are not friendly. We are enjoying our time, but ready to be back home. I really miss the girls.

Emma has a great personality. She shares everything. She is acting appropriate,not overly affectionate, but trusting us slowly. She is very smart as well.

Okay, I have to jump off.

Hugs the girls. Tell them We love them and miss then. Almost there ladies! Mommy is almost home!!

HUGS AND KISSES,

MOM AND DAD

They are now a Family of 6!!!

2010-05-24T09:46:00.002-05:00

Wow, where do I start? First we slept like nothing last night. We were wide awake from 2-5am. Not jet lag, nervous energy about meeting Emma.

We got to the orphanage at 8:30am. She was there at the door waiting. We also had a cameraman from the Lifebook following us around. I know I will really appreciate it, but at the time it felt a little claustrophobic. ha! She was standing next to the nanny and apprehensive. We gave her the doll we brought but definitely was just a thing she took with a smile. We gave her a bag of candy to hand out to her friends. They all liked it very much! She even shared with the Bethany guide and the cameraman. Very sharing little girl. There were 6 nannies and they were all in tears giving her hugs good bye. I didn't cry until then. It seemed they all loved her , as well as the children. They were sad to see her go.

She shook our hands - it was cute. On the bus to pick up everyone else, we bonded well over the book Brown Bear. The nannies told me no English at all. She quickly squashed that when were looked at the picture dictionary. She said, Fish, Policeman, Physician. She counted to twenty in English and said half the alphabet. We have a great start to work with.

Next we headed to the Bethany office to fill out the I600. ALL of the staff (about 8) knew her and she knew them. Since we had a long delay it turns out they went to check on her a lot. The head Bethany staff came over and thanked us for waiting and still adopting her. It took about 2 hours here but very organized. We bought some handmade blankets and an outfit to put away for her. It's the only shopping we have done and maybe all we will get. I will be disappointed, but not the purpose of the trip.

We went out to lunch and she ate a lot. Lamb stew with injera. She was very tired, so by the time we got back to the guest house I had her lay down in her bed and I in mine and she quickly fell asleep.

She is so smiley. She has taken our hands and goes with us. She laughs when we tickle her and she loves to play with balloons. She had the photo album we sent in Feb. and kept pointing to her sisters and saying, "my sisters. I am excited to have sisters," That is what the guide said she was saying.

I wish I could send a picture but the internet is terribly slow and I get worried I will lose this whole email. ha!

My girls-you are going to love Emma/Mahlet. She is smiley happy girl. She is excited to meet you. Samantha she is excited to see your room. She is adjusting really well! We miss you so, so much, but can't believe our trip is almost over.

Hugs to all! Miss you tons!!!

They are in Addis

2010-05-23T09:30:00.003-05:00

Katy just sent me an email about their arrival in Ethiopia. I have copied it below, but first I did want to give aunts, uncles, grandparents and whoever else might be interested an update on the girls.

They are doing fabulous. I have no idea is they are enjoying their time with me, but I am enjoying them tremendously. Bright, sweet, funny girls, who clearly are their parents children.

I know that while I am thankful to be here and having a great time, I miss my family. There is just no substitute for one's own family, so I suspect the girls are feeling the same and are anxious to get their parents back home, but they are being real troopers.

For the most part they are keeping busy. Samantha has had friends over and we have played many, many, many hands of UNO. Briana went to the movies with a friend and has been running around like all almost 17 year olds do. She and Bella went to a Bon Fire with their church youth group last night and seemed to have a great time. We have yummy dinners and delightful dinner conversations. I love listening to them talk and laugh and I espcially love to see them interact with each other.

We had plans to head to the local outdoor zoo, but the weather is not cooperating, so we have not had much outdoor time. In an effort to not feel cooped up, we are going to head to Katy's favorite place...The Mall Of America. In all my visits I have had one whirlwind mad dash through the mall as Katy despises the place. Since the girls and I are in no hurry, we don't really care about the crowds and whatnot, so we will stroll and perhaps get shoved a bit and grab a bite to eat and just enjoy being out and about.

Ok, enough of that, onto the real news...

Hello from Addis. It is raining here as well, but just this afternoon.
It is the rainy season.

We had a good flight to Addis, but there was a storm so the last 10
minutes, not so fun. Was thinking Katie was going to be a mom sooner
than later. :-)

Our bags showed up. Phew! Getting the Visa was super easy. The driver
was at the airport and ready to take us to the guest house. Abel is
our Bethany guide. He seems very, very nice and knowlegeable. We
didn't get to the guest house until 11:30pm. We got to our room and
just crashed. I slept very hard, did not hear a thing and they had to
wake us up for breakfast. Doug said he didn't sleep as well, barking
dogs and pray chants over megaphones kept him awake.

Doug is doing stupendously. Thank you for the prayers. Staying the
room in Amsterdam was probably the best decision. I think he slept
probaby 16 hours.

This morning we had pancakes for breatkfast and then went to church.
Church was amazing. The singing and the passion were incredible.
Didn't understand a darned thing, but could feel the passion and
spirit of God through these people.

The people are so gracious. Excepting and nice.

For lunch we had Doro wat which is a chicken stew. It takes a day and
a half to prepare. It is spicy, but very good. They are treating us
like kings and queens.

There are two families at the guest house and they got their babies
yesterday. Ethiopians are literraly a gorgeous people. One more family
arrives late tonight.

Tomorrow morning we leave at 8am and meet Emma. We will not get much
time, like a snatch and run thing according to Abel and we are the
only family adopting from Gelegela. Orphaange. We then will
accompanying the other families to their orphanges to meet their
childen and participate in their farewell ceremony. I am torn about
this, as I am sure it will not be a good time for Emma to see all the
babies getting special treatment and she gets shoved on a bus. We will
try to make it good.

We will head to the Bethany office in the afternoon and fill out
paperwork and see the nurse. I guess their is a medical check up.

We are anxious excited and nervous for tomorrow. Prayers are appreciated.

Oh, the elections are today, but nothing exciting happening outside.
Thank Goodness!

Okay, I had better get off as I might be pushing it.

HUGS AND LOVE TO ALL!
Katy

Amsterdam

2010-05-21T14:16:00.002-05:00

I got a quick email from Katy this afternoon. They made it to Amsterdam!!!!!

Things are for the most part good. As with most international travel and all adoption journeys, there were some bumps in the road. I have copied a bit of her email...

The flight here was smooth. However we were stuck in the middle of the middle row, so no sleep for either of us. We landed on time (about 10:30am their time). We ran into a couple from Hugo, MN that is also staying overnight here. They are adopting a 7 month old AND 61/2 month old baby girls. They are not siblings. They have a 13 month old at home. The process went super fast for them, so they thought they would have 9 more months. ha! They seemed so young, but very, very sweet. We departed ways as they were heading out to find a hotel. We head down to baggage claim to discover that neither of our bags where there. Off to file a lost report. We are so, so hoping that they just routed them straight through to Addis. Thankfully, I packed underwear and socks in the carry on and we will probably go by cheesy Netherland t-shirts for the trip tomorrow.

The hotel is connected to the airport, so it literally a 2 minute walk. We head to the room and decide to sleep 2 hours before taking the train to the city center. Doug woke up and is not feeling well. He has had a slight fever and seems clammy, so we are staying close to the room. Makes for a long day, especially when there really is no TV.

But by the time we got to the room we have made lots of jokes about wearing the same shirt for the next five days. We have no idea what Emma will get to wear. LOL! I have never, ever have had my luggage lost and the weird thing is both bags??? So we are really being optimistic and thinking they just routed the bags ahead to Addis.

Tomorrow our flight is at 10am ish.

P.S. Tell the girls we love them and miss them terribly already!!!

They're Off

2010-05-20T20:45:00.002-05:00

Howdy all, Shelby here, Graber family friend. Wanted to let everyone know that Katy and Doug got off to the airport just fine and their plane left at 8pm this evening. Next stop Amsterdam.

Internet and phone reception are spotty at best in Ethiopia, so I can't guarantee daily updates, but I will post as I hear from them.

I am sure they would appreciate every one's prayers.

4 days and counting...

2010-05-17T11:13:00.002-05:00

Okay the weird thing about this. I am still working and plan on being at work thru Wednesday. The packing is done. (mostly). We have decided to go with cash donations instead of bringing stuff. We have a few pairs of tennis shoes but other than that, cash it is. (I hear they prefer that anyway, so they can get what they really need).

We had a scare this weekened and didn't have a sitter for the girls. I have to admit, I handled it with grace, style and dignaty....as long as that means, crying, fetal position, yelling and screaming. :-)
Uber thank you to Shelby for flying halfway across the country to stay with the kiddos for a week. My brother Dirk and his wife, Brandi will cover the last two days. After that, they are on their own. :-)

Another scare this morning, the ash cloud over London will affect our travel if it keeps up. So pray that goes away. Far, far away!!!

We are feeling good. prepared (as we can be) and glad that it is finally here!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

2010-05-13T09:48:00.002-05:00

The Power of Prayer! It works (now duh!)

We got our travel call yesterday morning. We are so, so excited to finally be going. We are leaving next Thursday...one week. yesterday I spent a lot of time on the phone with travel agents and airlines to find tickets. First we were going for price, then ease of return flights and then it was, "Ok, what can we actually get?". After 55 minutes on the phone with Delta (the second time-I won't go into the first time) we actually got pretty decent flights and the price was rockin'.
Doug and I leave on Thursday the 20th at 7:50pm. We fly to Amsterdam and then have a 24 hour layover. We fly from Amersterdam the following night to Addis, Ethiopia. So we actually arrive in Ethiopia the late night of the the 22nd. My guess is we will meet our daughter on Monday. Our embassy date is the 25th and then we can pick up her Visa on the 27th. We will fly out on the night of the 27th and arrive home on Friday, May 28th around noon. It's a fast trip, but our main focus is to get Emma. Site seeing will come on a later trip.

We ask for continued prayers for our children left at home, safe travels, and of course for Emma. Who is leaving a life of knowns to come to a big world of unknowns. How scared she is going to feel can not be put into words.

I will be posting more the next week with more information on where we are staying and a better iternary schedule. My friend has graciously agreed to keep up the blog while we are Ethiopia. The internet connection is very sketchy at times so having one point of contact is the best.

I can't believe we are really going!?!?!?!!

2010-05-07T10:41:00.003-05:00

I am asking everyone I know; family, friends, church members, and people I don't even know to intercede on our behalf with prayer.
Saturday morning at 9AM, whatever you are doing we are asking that everyone stop and say a prayer on behalf of our family. That we may get our daughter's Visa and finally travel. On Monday it will be 14 weeks since we passed court.

God has had his hand in this entire adoption. I could write a book (and maybe one day I will) on how this adoption is all GOD. He was the beginning, the middle and he will be the end. If we started it with prayer, we need to end it with prayer.

Please join us on Saturday, May 8th at 9AM, to pray for the Graber family and *M* to be brought together on one continent, one house, and one family.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phillipians 4:6

April what??

2010-04-19T15:09:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's April 19th already. Another month is passing by. While it's happening it seems so slow, but once it's gone I think, "It can't be another month without a travel date?"

Yes, I am completely and utterly out of words at this point. Our last update that we passed all the road-blocks apparently wasn't enough. It's very difficult to work with several different people, on different continents, through different agencies, governments and non-governments. In your mind you know that everyone is doing the best they can, with the limited resources they have, but your mother's heart will not be satisfied that they are doing enough. :-(

The good news is, we have had lots of distractions this month. My very good friend and Elison founder, Shelby. Flew in and spent the weekend with me. We went shopping, shopping, shopping and even ate some Ethiopian food "in the hood" of St. Paul, MN. The food was very good and the shopping was excellent, but the time spent with friends was the best!

The past weekend, we celebrated Samantha's and Isabella's birthday. My girls are getting so big! Samantha turned nine and her present was finally getting her ears pierced. She looks so cute, I mean "grown-up." Isabella turned 12 and we took her to get her first cell phone. She was definately shocked/excited. Thankfully, she is not a squily girl, just very thankful with a big grin sort of way. She is learning to become a master texter already. In fact, I think she has sent more texts in three days, then in all the years her 16 year sister has had a phone. ha!

Briana has a birthday coming in May, but her big treat will be heading to WAshington, D.C. May 15th for the National Rocket finals. Her rocket team made it to nationals for the first time in 3 years! She is beyond excited and she should be. They have all worked very hard! We wish we could be there, but hopefully her father and I will be on our own plane to Ethiopia.

The next embassy date to pray for is May 11th. So everyone, start your prayers and keep your fingers crossed. It's time to get this Graber girl home!

HUGS from Minnesota

Happy Easter weekend

2010-04-01T16:08:00.002-05:00

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. " John 3:16

*It's frustrating to have such a limited blog, but we did have our first encouraging news today since our very disappointing news a month ago. We have learned that our paperwork indeed completed a process and is moving onto the next phase. Our agency is hoping for specific news to follow within the next 2 weeks.
There are only two embassy dates in April, the first is the 9th (which we probably won't make), the second is April 27th. We are praying diligently for this to be our date, so our wait can be over. Of course, we do realize that when it's time for everything to come together it will. This has definately been a difficult season in all my parenting life.

We again, can not thank everyone for their continued prayer and support for our family.

May you all remember the reason for celebrating Easter. May you be close to family and loved ones and may you remember to say a prayer for your blessings!

All good things come to those who wait

2010-03-10T07:42:00.005-06:00

I have to be honest here. It has taken me a week to be able to write this post. Why? Because somehow writing it down makes it real and I was really hoping it was a cruel joke.
The story is long and I won't bore you with the dirty details, but what is boils down to is we will not get to travel for a 8 weeks.
Our little adoption "travel" group is leaving today to pick up their children and here we sit with bags packed, a sitter ready, and 3 girls at home on the edge of their seats waiting to bring another sister into their lives.
Receiving news of another delay was like getting "hit in the chest with a sledgehammer"...or so I would assume, since I have never been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. (ha!)

We are surrounded by the BEST family and friends on earth. I've received numerous emails and calls. All with words of encouragement. However, being completely honest, I did not want to be soothed or made happy. It's was not a happy moment for us. In fact, it's not a happy week. It's been quite stressful. "patience is a virture", "good things come to those who wait", "all in God's timing". Great phrases, but not real comforting when you are seconds away from touching your child and it's pulled away from you. I am fortunate enough to be a biological mom, as well as an adoptive mom. That moment felt like I was in delivery, pushing, screaming, crying, and out pops this wonderful baby. Now imagine the doctor holding the baby up, saying, "Congratulations it's a girl, but you can't have her for eight weeks...maybe".Than you watch the doctor turn and walk out the door with your baby. ... That was our moment.

Am I whining? Yes! Am I proud of it...no. But, it's the truth. Feelings are feelings you can't control them. I am feeling empty, useless, helpless, and tired. Very, very tired.

On the flip side, we have many, many blessings. The adoption is still moving forward and eight weeks, is now down to seven. Spring is in the air and Emma will come home to nice warm weather instead of 20 below. The girls at home are taking this all in great stride (better than their mom). I am so, so thankful that God is in control because, for the brief moments I think I have control, he rapps my fingers and says, "back off, this is mine to handle for you. You enjoy the moment you're in and let tomorrow come tomorrow."

Ecclesisates 3:4 "A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance"

I think Solomon was going through an international adoption when he wrote that. ;-)

Through the eyes of a child....

2010-02-26T08:17:00.002-06:00

This was in Emma's update that we received yesterday. It needs no intro.

The social worker asked her what she thinks of going to USA with her families, she was very happy. And when she was asked "Why?" she said “My parents will play with me, make me happy and send me to school".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So many times during the adoption process we hear the statement, " you are doing great things. This child is so lucky." We are not doing great things, we are doing the thing that God has called all of us to do. Take care of the orphans. Her needs are not material, all she is asking for is someone to love her and care for her. In many parts of the world it's a privilage to go to school, it costs money. A child views it as love.
It's so darn easy to love these kids. They want it, they hang on every moment of your time, every word you say. If I tell Samantha we are spending the afternoon together one day, you would think I told her she would never have to do a chore again. It's not about what we do that day. If I give her 2 hours of uninterrupted mommy time that is a hundered pounds of golden love. How lucky am I to receive that gift from her? I can give Emma material things, but it's all about the LOVE exchange. It's hard to put into words and one day I hope you all understand, that Doug andI are the lucky ones. God is giving us the greatest gift ever, the gift of love all wrapped up in a little girls body.

"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K"

2010-02-25T14:37:00.002-06:00

10 points for whoever can guess where that is from. (OKay, I know it's an easy one).

It's been an exciting couple of days this week. First we celebrated Emma's birthday via video camera. I am sure the DVD will bring her much amusement in the years ahead, but we had fun making it.
Yesterday we got an update from our social worker that we passed a hurdle that might let us travel by mid-March. We are very exicted and while it will only give us about a weeks notice we really hope we get that Mid-March embassy date.

Today we got another update on Emma. There were pictures attached and in the pictures she is wearing the clothes we sent for her birthday and holding the doll! It was so thoughtful of them to include in the pictures the things we sent for her.

Keep us in our prayers the coming week as we try to remain calm, cool, and collected enough to pack and organize.

Wishes, excitement and anxiety...oh my!

2010-02-23T13:07:00.003-06:00

Since I do not have a private blog and it would take me forever to figure out how to set a private blog, I have to keep this blog very generic. While it can be challanging at times it is also great to be able to share with so many people who wish to be lingerers.

The incredible Deutschland family just returned home Sunday night from Ethiopia. They took our daughters birthday package with them. They were unable to give her the present directly, so no pictures of that, but the important thing is she knows that there is a family in the US waiting for her and wanting to celebrate her milestones whether she is near or far from us.

The waiting this week is getting very difficult. There are murmors on the board and someone got their travel call which only intensifies the situation. Part of me is thankful we don't have our call yet, because I feel like I still have so much to do. But mostly, I could be packed and on a plane in 48 hours if I was required to be.

Things I have learned about traveling to Ethiopia-
Bring a flashlight-electricity is a luxury
The people are amazing-there has not been one person I have talked to yet that has said anything other than the people of Ethiopia are the kindess people they have ever met. I guess Minnesota nice met it's match! :-)
Coffee is an artform-you don't run to the local coffee joint and hope to get it in 30 seconds or less, there is a coffee ceremony. They are very proud of their chief export and it's very good!
Last, but not least...They love their children!

Thank you to all of those who have asked and are praying for us. We are tired of the waiting, but it's not our decision to make, so we we wait un-patiently on stand-bye.

Clip from "Dear Sweet Daughter" by Gayle Leubecker
I'll be right there to get you just as soon as God allows.
But til He says the time is right I give to you this vow.
I'll pray for your protection every night on bended knee.
For God will hold you in His arms, until you're here with me.

The package is in the air

2010-02-11T09:49:00.003-06:00

The wonderful family that is taking our daugther's package is leaving today. I am being a little selfish and hoping they will send me pictures of "Emma".

Still no word on travel, but doing okay about that. Work is crazy busy. I have turned the guest room into the packing staging room and anytime I think of something I need to bring I open the door and fling it onto the bed in there. It's definately going to be interesting when it's time to pack it all. how much do you need for one week?! I'll post that list later....

Travel when?!?

2010-02-05T21:45:00.003-06:00

Everyone's adoptions are different. It depends on domestic or international. If it's international, which country? It also depends on your agency. My friend is actually leaving next for Ethiopia to pick up their baby son. They passed court around Christmas and found out their travel date about 10 days after passing court. Plenty of time to buy airline tickets and find someone to stay with their kiddos back home.
Well, after much research on our agencies blog, I am discovering; for some reason our agency only gives you about 10-12 days notice before you travel. YIKES!!
I am have to admit I am starting to panic some. The short notice to travel doesn't scare me as much as trying to find someone to stay with the kids. They have school and need to be here. Samantha especially will need the stability and routine. So, if you all could pray that someone is able to step forward and stay with our kids (and Keesha).

Some great news this week! While we are not able to be with our daughter for her birthday at the end of February, I was able to locate a family to take her a birthday present. They are leaving next week. And get this...they are adopting 2 kids from our daughters orphange. Which is a small orphange, so it's amazing. Our kids are probably great friends! This family was definately an answer to prayer! We can not thank them enough for this special gift.

It's been a great week all in all. I never realized how much stress waiting for court had on me and our family. Holding your breathe for that long does makes you a little crazy (it's that lack of oxygen.)

It's getting close....

WE PASSED COURT!!

2010-02-01T15:36:00.002-06:00

Phew!! What a very long month it has been and a very long day! We are so excited that we passed this time around and didn't have to live through another re-scheduling of court dates. We are officially new parents again!!!

Too soon to give you news on travel, but it's been about 6-8 weeks after you pass court. So that puts us around mid-late March.

The girls are so excited. We have all just been holding our breathes. There is so much to do to get ready for travel, but hopefully there is no more glitches and it's all down hill from here.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and kind words over the last week and especially the last 24 hours. We couldn't have done it without all the support from everyone!

9 hours ahed!!

2010-01-29T16:49:00.005-06:00

Okay, this is it. We are going out full force and asking for all prayers and good thoughts on Sunday night here in the United States, as they will be starting their work day in Ethiopia. Our court date is Feb. 1st, by the time it's 9AM on Feb. 1st in the United States it should all be over in Ethiopia and hopefully our papers will have a big old "PASSED" stamp on it!

We ask that you keep not only our family in your prayers, but all the families in waiting, children in waiting, staff at the orphanages and MOWA, judges and everyone involved that make these adoptions happen everyday. We will never meet most of these people, but we know they are out there. So...thank you.

What to expect when your expecting???

2010-01-27T16:11:00.003-06:00

I am not sure what to expect while you are expecting, but I can tell you what to expect while you are waiting during an adoption (from my point of view at least).

You can expect to be flooded with very awesome emails, notes, and phone calls. Our family and friends have been super great about standing by and supporting us. Thank you everyone!

You can expect..."It's not a baby shower." Our new daughter will have a new outfit to wear everyday for a month or more. Plus, she now has a plethera of Target gift cards to keep her in new clothes for the next year. Thank you everyone!

You can expect, "So, when are you traveling?" To be asked at least 10 times each day. I don't mind this question, because it means people care enough to ask you about your new family member.

You can expect to cry suddenly at the what seem the oddest times. Example: playing a board game with your other children and realize there is someone missing.

You can expect to worry over nothing or something completely out of your control. Trust me on this one...you can actually make up the weirdest things to worry about. "What if she is allergic to milk?" LOL!

The best thing you can expect....that yes, one day, you will actually get to stop expecting, because your new daughter will be home with you!

Keep us in your prayers, especially FEB 1st!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Not great news...

2010-01-04T15:06:00.003-06:00

Our wonderful SW made some calls and found out that our court date has been moved to Feb. 1st. We are at a loss for words and quite sadden by the delay, but we are confident that they are doign everything they can to get out daughter home to us.

No News Yet!

2010-01-04T14:39:00.002-06:00

Well, unfortunately it is almost midnight in Ethiopia so not a big chance we will hear today if we passed court or not. Our SW is pretty confident she will have news sitting in her inbox when she comes into work tomorrow. Let's pray she is right!
How crazy that our daughter may know she is adopted before her parents??

Court Date

2010-01-04T09:01:00.001-06:00

Well, it's here! Hopefully we will know soon if we passed as it is already supper time in Ethiopia.
Please pray we pass the first time so we can get her home all the faster.

Court date!...already?!?

2009-12-14T20:34:00.003-06:00

Well, I just got done posting that we got our official referral and that we had to wait about 2 weeks for a court date. On Friday morning we received an email that said our court date was set for Jan. 4th! Since Ethiopia is ahead of us, we should find out by noon if we passed court.

We are very encouraged by the speed of our court date. We know that God is watching this whole thing closely and we keep praying we can have her home before her next birthday! (which is the end of February).

We are very glad that we have the holidays to keep us distracted while we wait for our court date. We will have one of the best destractions ever, the McKenzie clan (all 7 of them) will be coming to stay with us for a week and help us ring in the New Year. Another family, the Mottos (who just brought home their son from China) will be coming to spend New Years eve with us as well (the McKenzie's and Mottos were friends first, but now we all are). Anyway, that will be their 5 and our 5 and the McKenzie 7! Wow!! What a house full we will have and we are looking forward to every minute of it.

Keep up your prayers. Send us emails of encouragement!
Merry Christmas!

It's here! It's here! It's here!

2009-12-10T10:45:00.003-06:00

Our official referral showed up on Tuesday! We had a scare last Thursday that there might have been a problem, apparently everyone at the agency thought we had our referral already. Sort of a nerve racking weekend!

Yesterday, we dropped the 100 pages of signed and notorized documents and another check off in the mail. (okay, not quite a 100 pages, but it felt like it). So glad that part is over.

Next step is waiting for a court date. We hope to hear about our court date before the end of December, but it could be January. We do not have to be there for the actual court date, a representative of the agency handles that for us. The theory is we should "pass" court a-okay because our daughter was on a special list and all her paperwork is in order. Some people don't pass court the first time, which just means the judge wants clarification on something, so you get another date and so on til you pass.

Once we pass court we get to travel. It's about 3-4 weeks after court...typically. We are praying very hard and would appreciate all prayers that the next 2 steps go very quickly as Emma has a birthday toward the end of February. We would love to have her home by then.

In the meantime we are keeping very busy with the holiday season. We will have family over for Christmas day dinner and our dear friends are going to drive all the way from Virginia to spend the week before and New Year's with us. We are so excited to have them again this year. The distraction will be great for the kids as everyone is getting anxious nervouse and anxious excited.

My apologies to everyone, but I am not mailing Christmas cards this year. I will try to get a great picture of the kiddos up as you won't believe how much they keep changing!

Thank you for all your warm thoughts and prayers.

The Blind Side

2009-12-04T11:03:00.002-06:00

Doug and I went to see the Blind Side over Thanksgiving weekend. Actually, we went twice, because the fist time it was sold out! I was impressed that it was sold out after already running for 2 weeks and it was an afternoon show.
Anway, all I can say is "Wow!" It is definately a must see.
As most of you know, I am not a crier. I can take a hit pretty well and I don't choke up at things that normal women choke up at. However, there is a scene in the movie that struck a cord with me. It's played in a commercial for the movie, but something about seeing it in the moment and I couldn't stop the tears.
The foster mom shows Michael his bedroom and Michael says, "I've never had one before." She says, "What? Your own bedroom?" and he says, " A bed."
Can you imagine being 16 and never having a bed? Well, it's happening all around us. Right in our own backyards (as this movie depicts) and all around the world.
Do us a favor. Count your blessings. Do you have a bed? Did you eat today? Yesterday? Will you be able to eat tomorrow? Do you have shelter over your head? Do you have heat? Someone to call family?
What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us. What we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.Albert Pine, English author, d.1851

It's a good day!

2009-11-11T16:17:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to write that. IT'S A GOOD DAY!

I wonder what our Ethiopian daughter is doing today? Did someone give her a hug today? I wonder what her hugs are like? Are they tight? Does she reach for your neck or your waist? Does she look you in the eyes when she hugs (like my Samantha) or does she lay her head on your chest and snuggle in (like my Isabella)? ....sigh....

DTE!

2009-11-09T13:24:00.002-06:00

We are DTE as of Friday, November 6th!!

DTE=Dossier to Ethiopia

Timeline??? Still no idea. We have to go through translation 2-4 weeks and then wait for official referal and then court and then we can finally get travel approval. Best guess (and I am emphasizing GUESS here) Travel time ... Feb. 2010!

National Adoption Month

2009-11-06T17:30:00.002-06:00

November brings a lot of fun and exciting times. November in MN usually brings the first snow that stays until March. In November we have Thanksgiving, which leads to black Friday shopping, which leads to Christmas.

But did you know that November is also National Adoption month? I personally didn't know this until myself had adopted. The second Sunday of November has been marked as Orphan Sunday in many churches. Again, never knew that (or paid attention) until I adopted. I am not proud of that fact, in fact I am embarrassed my own self-centeredness. Yes, I was one of those people that thought, "Adoption is for all those other people." You know, the ones with lots of money, the stay-at-home mom types, the people that have the patience of Job, the people with the Norman Rockwell home and the white picket fence to boot. Boy, was I ever wrong. The typical people who adopt, are not rich, not stay-at-home moms, ALL have the patience of Job (you have to with adoption), live in homes less than 3000 square feet and a chipped white picket fence (if there is even a fence). They are amazing people inside and out. Everyone has something special of themselves to contribute the crazy world of adoptions and foster care.

I realize that many of you are not in a position to adopt or foster care a child, but there are so many things you can do to help orphans. This is a list I keep handy on my computer through the last year. I hope it inspires you to serve orphans this November and forever….

*Be informed - learn about adoption so you can support those who do. Many are still hindered by ignorance when it comes to adoption - don't be one of them.

*Financial Support
-Donate to a specific family trying to raise funds for their adoption-Donate to foundations that support adoption
Shaohannah's Hope www.shaohannahshope.org/
The Elison Project www.theelisonproject.org/
Project 1:27 http://www.project127.com/

*New in 2009: Children’s Hope Gift Catalog:
http://orphan.childrenshope.net/fileadmin/media/2010_Foundation_Catalog.swf

*Physical Support
-Provide assistance to a family during the adoption process
-During their travel time (3 days to a month or more) provide:
- childcare to children left at home
- provide meals
- Lawn care or shoveling
- Pet Sitting
- Housecleaning or house-sitting

*Throw a baby shower or welcoming party if the child is older- all children new to the family should be honored and recognized

*Home modifications
- help paint/decorate the child's room
- donate new or gently used furniture
- help with modifications necessary for the child who has physical challenges

*Ongoing Support
- Adoptive family's needs may not be known for several years after finalization - be there for the long haul
- Be a "student" of the adoptive family and counsel them with empathy and respect.
- Provide one-on-one support to the special needs child during church so their parents can be refreshed by worship and fellowship.

-*ASK - don't be afraid to ask what ways you can help families raising adopted children - particularly those with special needs.

* Pray for families who have adopted and that God will raise up many more who are willing.

Samantha's GOTCHA DAY

2009-10-15T15:26:00.003-05:00

It's so hard to believe that it's been 4 years since we laid eyes on Samantha for the first time. I remember her standing in classroom where all the tables were pushed up against the tall windows. Her back was to us, but she had beautiful long black hair. She was putting beads onto string. Her eyes were so close to both, but Doug and I looked at each other and then at her foster mom and said, "She can see?!?!" Her foster mom was surprised that we didn't know she could see. When you get into adoption, especially international you have to take a leap of faith and boy did that leap pay off greatly for us.
Samantha is thriving in school, with family and friends. She just loves life and has the energy to prove it.

Tonights menu...dumplings, corn (on the cob) and chocolate dessert fondu!

We love you Samantha!
Mom and Dad

Snow?

2009-10-12T08:59:00.002-05:00

It's snowing in MN right now. We had snow a couple of days ago, more than a dusting, less than an inch. But it started at 3AM and it's suppose to go until late this afternoon. We have actual white trees, white ground and white knuckles (driving for the first time this snow season is always fun).

It made me think, what's the temp. like in Addis Ababa, ET?
70 degrees the whole week (rain today and tomorrow) Lows are around 50s. Not as bad as I thought. However, poor Emma. Nice warm weather and we are dragging her to the frozen tundra at the coldest time of year. (sorry sweetie!) We promise to buy a very nice coat, boats, hat, mittens, scarf and save our best bread bags.

A few quick facts about Ethiopia.

Capital: Addis Ababa
Population: 64.5 million
Currency: Birr ($1-8.16)
Language: Amharic + 60 others
**Ethiopia is the oldest state in Africa and formly known as Abyssinia.

Thank you to mapsoftheworld.com for the above information.

Feel free to email me or post a comment if you know any "fun" facts about Ethiopia.

It's here! It's here! It's here!

2009-09-28T08:38:00.002-05:00

Our pesky little I600A came back! Around 60 days! We didn't think we would see it until at least mid October. So off to get the last of the documents state sealed. make a million and one copies and then it goes to our agency who just makes sure everything is there and then off to Ethiopia!
Yikes! It's sort of like this hazy dream is coming into view!

Surprise!!

2009-09-22T15:04:00.003-05:00

Out of the blue I got an email from our social worker with another several page assessment and more pictures!! She is doing fabulously and looks so big to me.

Please pray we can get her home before her next birthday which is the end of February!

School days, school days, good old golden rule days...

2009-09-17T13:07:00.002-05:00

All the girls are back in school. As we were preparing the week before by trying on clothes and switching summer clothese to fall clothes and sorting school clothes from play clothes I realized that next year I would be doing this for one more girl. Phew, I will have to start at least a month before school next year!

Briana started her junior year. She is loving it already. She has decided to not be apart of debate team and try her hat in different areas, such as the school play. She is hoping to get on tech crew.

Isabella started middle school this year. It's a very big change for her, not only does she start school an hour and half earlier she has to change class rooms every hour. Isabella doesn't like change very much, but I already see her getting more comfortable and I think she will really like middle school.

Samantha started 3rd grade. She loves her new teacher and she is so excited to be back to see her friends. She is still playing the piano and is doing quite well.

Emma- I suppose will start first grade when we bring her home. Her and Samantha will be in the same school, so that will be nice. Of course, they are sharing a room so they may get tired of each other pretty quickly. ;-)

We have no adoption news as of yet. We are just waiting on our I600A (Petition to bring an orphan into the United States). We are thinking we should see it around mid-October. Then we can get everything all ready to send over to Ethiopia. I can't wait til it is off my desk and onto someone elses.

We hope you all had a fabulous summer and make sure you get out and enjoy the beautiful fall colors (for those of you that live places with trees and cooler weather) !

Exciting news!

2009-08-25T10:37:00.002-05:00

Last week, Briana and I went to see the movie Julie and Julia. It was cute. If you are not aware, it's about a women, Julie, who cooks her way through Julia Childs cookbook and blogs about it...EVERYDAY. It dawns on me that people actually write on their blogs everyday. Now, between blogs, Facebook, Twitter, work, home, and family, I have no idea how people get the time to BLOG everyday. Most of you know I am not a fan of FB and you maybe see me once a week throw something on there.

My new thing will be to post once a week on this Blog. It's intended for friends and family to keep up with the adoption, but since I have a capitve audience (of about one I am guess. ha!) I will post something else. Maybe interesting facts about Ethiopia, and funny family story (which usually involves, a child, a pet, or some sort of injury). This way I can train you all to come out to the Blog, so when it comes time for updates on the adoption you are already checking the site.

Onto the Exciting NEWS!!!

We got an update on our daughter waiting for us in Ethiopia. Our referral photo can't even really be called a photo. It was the size of a postage stamp and Xeroxed so many times that all we could see was a silhoute. Obviously to us it doesn't matter what she looks like because between this photo and about 3 sentences of information we decided she was the child for us. However, after all this time of paperchasing and paying money out for this and that I didn't realize until yesterday how much I needed that photo. It's my tangible evidence that I do have a daugther and she is not just a paragraph on a piece of paper.

Let me tell you. She is absolutely, 100% gorgeous! She looks healthy and happy. She is smiling and already missing a front tooth! (That makes me a little sad, I am missing the milestone of no front teeth). Not only were we blessed with a photo, but a 6 page assessment report!!!

I can not share her photo with you online or any personal information, but Iwill tell you she is beatiful, an intelligent girl and loves to jump rope! Our family was so excited last night gathered around the computer. We printed off her photo and put it at the empty chair at the table and from now on she is with us in spirit until she can be with us forever!

When is forever going to get here you ask? Well....FOREVER...ha! We are waiting for our final piece of paper from the government and then we can send our whole dossier off to the main agency and they will make sure it's complete. It will be sent to Ethiopia, where it will be translated. This takes about a month. Right now best guess is January-February time frame. Of course, with adoptions nothing is set in stone. It's like trying to nail jello to the wall.

Thanks for all your continued prayers and support!

HUGS and LOVE~ The Grabers

2009 Annual Family Camping Trip

2009-07-20T11:29:00.002-05:00

Average July temps for MN/WI - 90's
Temp for our camping trip (average) 50's !

Yikes it was a cold one, but yet another great time. Funny how great company, family, food, and a little firewood (okay lots of firewood) can turn your mind from the cold weather into a great weekend!
This year we camped at the same place as 2007, which is an Army Corp of Engineers campground just 60 mins east of the cities. We had the pleasure of being joined by our usual suspects and for her 2nd Johnson family camping, a returnee, my friend Nicole from NM and her son Joshua (age 4). I think Joshua had the best time ever!

We ate great food, pretty much 24/7 and played lots of games (you are looking at the 2009 cribbage champion), searched for the 2nd annual Yule bucket (found by my Samantha) and talked and talked. We even got my dad's iteranary for his 2010 hike along the Applacian Trail.

I didn't get any pictures, but there were people in the group lurking with cameras so I hope we can get a few copies of that and I will post.

It was fun to get our minds of the stresses of adoption and tell family and friends of our new daughter who will be joining us on 2010's annual family camping trip!

Still paperchasing

2009-07-14T09:45:00.002-05:00

Just so you don't think we fell off the face of the earth. Right now I am scrambling to gather paperwork from far and wide. I actually do sit down with my SW and go over everything we have collected so far, make sure we have it all and it will pass (notaries signatures, dates, etc...). If it is all good and I can send it off for state sealing and then off to the main Bethany office for final approval and then off to Ethiopia! It sounds so far away but the next couple of weeks lots of things will be determined.

The summer is going much faster than I would like, but loving July so far.

Prayer requests: I can't be specific, but we have a major hurdle to overcome please keep us in your prayers while we try to handle it with the Lords grace and timing.

Quick Facts:

2009-06-30T08:22:00.009-05:00

Quick facts:

The average cost of an international adoption is $25,000-$30,000
According to UNICEF, there are over 100 million orphans worldwide

"He who can reach a childs heart, can reach the worlds heart." Rudyard Kipling

Happy Anniversary

2009-06-15T14:20:00.003-05:00

Happy Anniversary my love! 18 years. What a ride! Thank goodness we aren't the ones in control as we would have crashed and burned years ago!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down,his friend can help him up.But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,two can defend themselves.A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

It's most definately a girl!

2009-06-11T11:08:00.003-05:00

Our social worker came over last night for our homestudy visit and she brought news that I didn't think we would hear for more than two more weeks. M* is offically our daughter. Well, as official as she can be. She has been put on hold for us while we complete our dossier paperwork. We are excited, humbled and feel so blessed!! I want to shout from the rooftops and tell you everything, but I can't (due to some country regulations). that's okay, whatever it takes to bring her home is fine with me. Bring on the burning hoops we need to jump through!

It's a GIRL....maybe...

2009-06-04T13:11:00.005-05:00

Doug and I have decided to pursue the adoption of a six year old girl that resides in Ethiopia. Please pray for her and for us while we try to finalize things in the coming weeks to make her officially ours. Right now we can only say we want to pursue her since our homestudy isn't done yet.
We are very excited. As soon as I am able I will share more about her. Due to Ethiopia restrictions I can not post a picture of her or her real name. In fact, I can't post those things until after we are home with her.
Thank you for your continued prayer and support. We need it now especially!

Bethany Ethiopia Adoption Videos

2009-06-01T16:58:00.003-05:00

This is a very, very good video that our agency put together about adoptions and the children of Ethiopia. It was definately the reminder I needed today why I am doing this. I need to focus on Gods plan. Please take a few moments to watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGcO3DpABdA

Out of the mouth of babes!

2009-05-20T13:18:00.001-05:00

This was sent to me from one of Samantha's teachers...

Samantha said, "My parents are thinking of adopting another child." I asked if it was going to be a boy or a girl. Samantha said, "Definitely a girl.A boy wouldn't really go with our 'theme'."

Our Story

2009-05-08T09:40:00.012-05:00

Who are we? What are we doing? and Why do we have a blog?

Hi, we are Doug and Katy Graber. We live in beautiful Minnesota. We have two biological daughers, ages 16 and 11 and one adopted daughter from China, age 8. We are your every day run of the mill suburban family. We are just a normal family, that is about to go on a crazy adventure; we are adopting from Ethiopia. We plan to adopt a girl between 5-8 years old and special needs is a definate possibility. We have been called to step up and step out in faith. There are millions of orphans in the world and they cannot wait! That is why we have this blog. We feel so strongly about moving forward with this adoption now.
We want this blog to be an inspiration to the thousands and thousands of people that have thought about adopting, but something is holding them back. Please take a few moments and read our stories below so you can understand where we are coming from.
We realize in these trying economic times that money is tight for so many people out there. Our requst is prayer. Prayer for our family as we prepare to bring a child into our home, prayer for our daughter that is waiting for her family to come and get her, and prayer for all the orphans to find their families.
We want to thank everyone who is reading this for taking a moment out of their time. Please feel free to pass this blog along. The more people praying for us, definately the better!
Doug and Katy Graber

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”

Katy's Story:
In October of 2005 we brought home from China our new daughter; taking our family of 4 to a family of 5. The year leading up to her homecoming and the year following, were some of the biggest, life changing years of my life. I went into adoption because we wanted to add to our family, but we came out of the process with a love for a country, a culture, a lifestyle, and a child I never knew could exist on this earth. My family was complete.

In September of 2008 I traveled with my very good friend, Shelby to China once again to adopt her son. The trip was long and hard, but the seed had been planted. My son was waiting for me in China. I secretly always wanted a son. Growing up with 4 older brothers I was more of a tom-boy than anything else. I thought it was ironic God blessed me with 3 girls. With my first pregnancy I prayed fervently for a boy, I was never a sister to a sister and never a girl in the true sense of the word. I preferred action flicks to romance, I would rather drive a truck than go shopping, I love, love, love to play sports, watch football, and only recently I discovered I had tear ducts. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my daughters and I am jealous of the relationship they do have and will have, one that I never will experience. I just thought I could relate to a boy better. ;-)

While on my China trip I knew I would have to pitch the adoption idea to my husband very carefully, as he doesn’t like change in the least. He loves our children and has a heart of gold, but he likes his world of consistency. However, I had a plan. Ha! Turns out that saying, “Wanna make God laugh? Tell him your plans”, was right on the money. Through the next couple of months, my plan to adopt was not dead, but pushed out a couple of years. Strangely, I had accepted that easier than I thought.

In late March of this year I started waking up each morning with two words in my head, girl and Africa. I didn’t give it much thought other than I would be getting ready in the mornings and trying to remember if I have ever in my life woken up like that. It’s the only thing in my head and clear as a bell. It would stick with me for at least an hour. It was nothing more than a cool conundrum. This went on for about a week. Every morning I would wake up with those two words and only that in my head… girl and Africa. At this point I still think it sort of neat to wake up with my mind that clear. Then it started to happen during the night; one time during the night, as well as the morning and then twice at night and so on. I would just pop open my eyes and those two words clear as a day… girl and Africa. Now it was starting to annoy me! I would go to work tired and come home crabby. I am definitely someone that needs her sleep. Finally, through utter exhaustion, one night I headed to bed quite early for me. I was bound and determined to get some rest. For the next 2 hours I woke up every 20 minutes from a sound sleep with those darn 2 words in my head... girl and Africa. I was so mad, tired, and frustrated I wanted to cry. But then for a brief moment my heart stopped, I caught my breath, stumbled out to the living room to where Doug was sitting on the couch and said, “I think we are suppose to go to Africa and adopt a girl...now maybe I can sleep.”

I walked back to my room, lay down and had the best night of sleep in probably my entire life.

Doug's Story:
Our story really starts way back in autumn, 1990. Katy and I had met just a few short months before, but we had already realized we were going to marry. Katy was talking about how she would like to adopt at some point. It was a nicely amorphous dream. I could agree that adopting, at some point, would be nice; but I didn’t really give the discussion serious consideration.

Fast forward fourteen years – autumn, 2004. We’re finally living in our own home with two children and a dog. Both Katy and I have good jobs and we’re bringing home some nice money. We’re comfortable. I like comfortable. Katy says she is ready to adopt. Woah! Where did that come from? September, October. Much discussion and prayer ensue; but I have my heels dug in – We’re Comfortable! Lord, please change my wife’s heart. This can’t possibly be what you want for us. A couple months and many, many prayers later the Lord finally softened my heart, and we proceeded to add a wonderful daughter to our family. Through every step of the way, the Lord demonstrated his hand in the process. This was definitely what he wanted for us. The year following the adoption was probably the most emotionally trying time I’ve ever experienced. I don’t like change very much, and we had change coming out our ears. Things finally settled down, and I can say that I have absolutely no regrets.

Fast forward another few years – autumn, 2008. We’re living in a different house with three children and a dog. I know Katy’s thinking about adoption again, but there’s no way I’m even going to consider it. The subject keeps coming up – “Let’s adopt a boy from China”. Well, I’m not going to consider adoption right now, but, of course we’ll adopt from China if we adopt again. Lord, this can’t possibly be what you want for us. If this is what you really want for us, please give me a sign (something big so I won’t miss it).

March 2009 – We’re still in the same house with three children, but we’ve added another dog. Adoption is way on the back burner, but is still part of my prayers. It’s late at night, and I’m still up watching TV. Katy’s been in bed for a couple hours already, so I’m surprised when she comes back down the hall. “Honey, I think we’re supposed to adopt a girl from Africa”, she says. I knew as soon as she said it that we had been called. “Girl” and “Africa” hadn’t been on either of our hearts or minds. As much as I was prepared to dig in my heels again, I couldn’t. I had my sign. I knew this was right. This is what the Lord wanted us to do.

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18

Timeline

2009-04-16T11:19:00.008-05:00

April 15, 2009 Mailed Pre-application to Bethany
April 23, 2009 Submitted Pre-Formaal Application to Bethany
May 6, 2009 First meeting with Bethany (start paperchasing)
June 3, 2009 Told SW we want to pursue 6 yr. girl on their list
June 5, 2009 Formal Application (and ALL Dr. visits) DONE!
June 11, 2009 Homestudy visit (first and last!)
July 25, 2009 Fingerprints for I600A
September 24, 2009 I600A received!
November 6, 2009 DTE
December 8, 2009 Official Referral