Days Go By....

As we come to a close on 2007, we look back on the year and realize that we have had so many good thing happen this year. Our children are healthy and happy and are really all very "good" kids. We feel so lucky that our family has come together like we have. Our children all love each other and have a great time together. We were able to spend all summer with Aaron and had a great time in Steamboat with all 4 kids. Our holidays were wonderful. Aaron was home from Cornell and Erica and her boyfriend, Dan spent Christmas with us. We had such a great time and the girls really do enjoy having everyone home. It was a lot of cooking and cleaning for me, but it was all worth it. Bailey and Sierra are spending some time in Yuma with their dad and will start school again on the 7th of January. We had a great office party and our office staff this year gave us a great gift. They collected money and sent it to AFAA to help support a child in our name. Everyone is in the spirit of giving the gift that keeps on giving!! This was such a special gift. Thank you all!!
We will end our holiday celebration this weekend with my mom and dad coming for New Years. I hope that my sister and her kids can come also. We will see!!
The biggest disappointment for the year was that we were not able to get the boys home from Ethiopia. We still have not heard anything about a court date and therefore have no idea when we will be traveling. At this point, it could easily be March. We are trying to be patient, but this becomes more frustrating every day! We will keep you posted......

It's All We Have For Now

I want to thank Karen again for some wonderful photos. Since this is all we have for now, we will take it! Some of these were taken over a year ago and some as recent as April 2007. Enjoy the photos!!!
Natinael Practicing his Karate!!Natinael on bike!Kidus!!Pajama Party - Natinael in the back right in white jammies with his arm around his friend TarikuKidus!Kidus getting tickled!!Karate in Pink Jammies!Natinael in Aug 2006Natinael on the left in light blue jacket.

More pictures!!!

Thank you Karen!! The pictures have helped put a bright spot into the last few days again. I am so thankful for any little piece of information or photos that I can get. It makes me realize that these are real little boys. Enjoy the photos!

Natinael with those big dark eyes with his buddy Fikre.

Kidus is in the background of this photo of his friend Efrem. This one is just too cute not to show you again!
Natinael-What a cutie!!
Another spelling of the name-who knows? Isn't he precious?!!Group photo-Natinael in the back in green and Fikre is on the right in pink/purple.Thanks again Karen! These are so precious to all of us!!
Pray for fast court dates!!!

Oh Boy-How about the BIG BOY!

Aaron we are so proud of you!! Aaron had his first indoor meet of the season this last weekend. Please click on the link below and get all the details. It makes Clint and I very anxious for trips east for track meets.
http://www.cornellbigred.com/index.asp?path=mtrack&tab=mens

Way to go Aaron!!


We do not have anything positive to report on the adoption story. We have had a very disappointing day and frustrating as well.
I have called all week to get an idea about the DVD and other goodies that we wanted to have sent to the boys. It has been sitting in Indiana all this time waiting for Cheryl to return from Liberia. After the third phone call this week I was told today that the DVD could NOT be sent to the boys. I was devastated!! I poured my heart and soul into that and just imagined them getting it and looking at it over and over again. AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!! Apparently there were issues when Cheryl took another DVD into Liberia this last week. Children were teased, cried, etc and I guess it was not a good scene. So...bottom line is it will not be going to the boys. All they will get is the photo albums.
I was such a mess after that conversation that I had to have Clint call to talk to Cheryl. What about court dates? Why are so many other agencies and their families getting court dates and AFAA families are not? Clint learned what a tough character Cheryl is and was able to have a conversation but really did not get any more information. We will just have to wait.......

I am over my shaking and crying but what makes me more angry and sad is that Natinael and Kidus are waiting also. We just want them to come home.........

We must concentrate on the good things....Sierra and Bailey are playing BB all weekend and that will keep us busy. Everyone is healthy and happy at home. Also, Aaron and Erica will be coming home soon for the holidays and we will be together!!!

No Court Date Yet

Hello everybody! I haven't posted in about a week and I know you are all dying to know if anything has happened yet. So are we...

No news yet about court dates. I did have a great weekend though, because of a couple of emails that I received through the AFAA yahoo group. I had sent out a post on the site last week asking if any families would be traveling to Ethiopia soon and also announced that we had a referral for Kidus and Natinael. Several families have replied saying that they have traveled recently or their children knew Natinael and Kidus. It was wonderful to hear the stories from other children that were at the AFAA house with Natinael. I will share this story with you.......

Lisa, are your two little boys at the AFAA house? I try to update Tru and Penn as to what's happening with the other kids who were still at the AFAA house when they left. Their eyes completely lit up when I said your boys were coming to America. I asked my kids what your boys were like, and Tru said, "They are so sweet and so cute!! Kidus loves toys and loved the tricycle." Penn said Natnael was always trying to ride a broken down bike at the AFAA house and thought that you better have a bike ready for him :) Tru also wanted you to know not to feel bad if Kidus is very quiet the first day and cries when you leave Ethiopia, and that they both love milk. She said Kidus will probably eat anything but Natnael might have a harder time with new foods, and Kirdus is shyer than Natnael. She thinks they need to sleep in the same room when they come to your house (our kids are still very afraid to sleep alone). I loved hearing Tru tell me all of this, it made me realize how far she has come so quickly.So how is that for some random thoughts on your kids :) Tru wants to know where you guys live. When they come, it might help the boys to have our kids call so they can hear a friendly voice. Let us know if that would help.
Our kids (9 and 11, unrelated boy and girl) have been home three and a half months. They are really doing beautifully. It's not easy at first. The grief they feel over leaving their country, their friends, their religion, their food, friends, remaining family members, it's just all-cosuming for many weeks. Our daughter had a rough time at first, and I had days when I went to sleep wondering if I had adopted a child I would never love. Those feelings are all gone. She is fantastic, they both are. They are crazy about all of us, every member of our extended family. They are extremely smart, great athletes, wonderful to our two little boys, 2 and 4, have made friends easily, are a great help around the house. Our son (age 9)is a truly gifted artist, is painting with watercolors, can freehand draw anything. I can't believe we got such great kids. Four kids is really hard - that's been our biggest struggle. We both have demanding jobs, and trying to balance the needs of our small boys with two new kids with issues, keep our marriage intact, and carve out time for ourselves as individuals is not easy. But I really feel that it couldn't be going any better. Watching all four of our kids bond, mature, become a healthy, happy family, has been amazing.

And this from another mother.....

Hi Lisa,
Thanks for sending me the link to your blog - I cried watching your video and I don't even know you! It doesn't take much to make me cry these days. You have a beautiful family and a magnificent home. The boys will have so much fun playing in that yard - if you can even call it a yard - I guess
more like a field. It broke my heart to read your blog - a mixup with pictures. I am amazed at how you can so fall in love with a picture. Our son, Mintesinot, is 5 now - we adopted him 2.5 yrs ago through AFAA - we got about 5 pictures of him 2 months after our referral and the pictures clearly were of 3 different children. We really didn't know for sure which was him, but decided to go with the one holding a card with his name on it. Then Melissa Green sent us pictures of Mintsinot with his father Eskender (I saw a picture of her book in your blog - our sons story is in Chapter 1) that's when we were sure of who he was.
I posted a picture of one of our sons, Fikre-Yohannes, and his 2 friends - Tariku and Natinael. Fikre is on the left, Natinael in the middle. Tariku went home in September to New York. His mom, Kate Muldowney, said it was a very tearful good-bye for the boys. I have pictures of the three boys back almost 2 years ago at AFAA. The second picture - Fikre is on the top with his chin on Tariku's head and Natinael is to Tariku's left in the orange. I am sure that Fikre is in the CD taken last year that you spoke of, but I have not seen it. These are pictures I have copied from other AFAA families off our group site.
I hope I don't muddy the water more with confusing pictures. The McNichols family lives in California they have 5 Ethiopian children and 3 bio children, they have been a tremendous help to us. They brought Shawn and Fikerta home in July - I am sure they can point out kids names in pictures if you want further clarification. And Jana that posted recently on the AFAA site- her children just came home and probably could do the same.
I would love to keep in touch so when the kids come home they can talk on the phone. We have met with 7 other families in California - all AFAA families - all of the kids were at the AFAA house with at least one other child - 32 Ethiopian children in all at our celebration - the Ethiopian New Year. That may be a little far for your family, but I'll keep you posted on our get togethers.
I hope you find peace with the picture mix up and that we get court dates real soon.

Picture #1 Fikre, Natinael and Tariku

Photo #2 Natinael is in the back in orange to the right of Tariku and Fikre. I believe the little boy in front with the grey sweatshirt is the "first" Natinael that we got pictures of on Oct 8th.

Thanks Karen and Jana, any information is so precious!! It is so great to have these parents that have "been there, done that".
I hope to form great friendships and bonds with these families, for we all share a common love for these special kids!!

We will continue to update you all and please have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!! We have so much to be thankful for!!
Love you all...

The video and care package for the boys!!

I think we are finally done with the video for the boys. We will get it sent off this week, first to Indiana and then on to....Ethiopia. We wanted to add so much more. There is so much to tell and see, but we did not want it to be too overwhelming for them. We did not want to leave out anyone, so I hope that we did not hurt anybody's feelings!! We tried to introduce to the boys, the things and people that they will see the most in their lives. We cannot wait until they receive it and watch it over and over until they can come and see it in person.


We love all of our family and thank you for your support!!

Bailey's 15th Birthday

Today was Bailey's 15th birthday!! Where does the time go? We went to dinner with the boyfriends at the Vee Bar Guest Ranch. It is a great old B & B in Cemtennial. Just 15 minutes from our house. The food was wonderful and we had a great time!! Enjoy the pictures!!

Bailey with Roses from Tyler Bailey and Tyler
Kelby and Sierra
Clint and I
The girls

A Case of Mistaken Identity

I wasn't sure how I was going to start this posting. It has been an interesting 5 days. Let me start on Saturday when Clint went to get the mail. There was an unexpected envelope from AFAA (Americans for African Adoptions), our agency. I anxiously opened it as Clint stood by and watched. There was a letter from Cheryl stating she had included recent pictures of Kidus and Natinael along with their medical test reports. As we viewed the pictures we were shocked to firnd that the picture of Natinael was not the same little boy we had been cherishing for the last month. Shocked and confused we stood there and wondered what to do next. It is Saturday afternoon and we couldn't call the agency until Monday. Many tears were shed and a few choice words as well. How could they make this mistake? Now another face of a little boy had entered our minds and hearts and this might be our son. Monday came very slowly and I called the agency first thing and Cheryl was not available. I explained the situation and asked that she call me right away. All I got was an email stating she would forward the pictures to Tigist in Ethiopia and ask for clarification. In other words, she had no idea!! I waited all day Monday and Tuesday with three little faces swimming in my mind. Finally by Wednesday morning at 9:30, I couldn't stand it any longer. I called the agency and asked for Cheryl, and basically had a conversation that made my blood boil. I will spare you all the details. I finally got the answer.

We have a new face that we will continue to love and become more familiar with as the months go by. This is still the little boy that loves the color purple, loves pasta and soccer. He is still close to Kidus and knows that he finally has a family to call his own. There was never any confusion in Ethiopia. This little boy is the one that was told he had a family and would come to the US with Kidus.


Meet our NEW son, Natinael and of course, Kidus!!

It was still a little difficult to take down the picture of the little boy in the grey sweatshirt that we had received on October 8th. We had considered adopting him as well, but I was told today that he has been adopted along with his sister. That picture will always be a part of our story. I thought about changing the video at the beginning of the blog, but I think I will just make another. It is still a part of this journey that we have made. Sometime in the future when Natinael reads this blog we will explain that all things happen for a reason. HE was meant to be our son!!

The addendum has been received in Ehtiopia and we are waiting for a court date. No idea how long it will be. We have the photo albums all ready to send and the DVD is almost done. We are just waiting on a few last minute photos.

Love you all!!!

Playroom and more......

We continue to get things ready, including the playroom and of course a few toys. The boys will have NO clothes that they will bring with them and I guess it is a good idea to have Kidus dressing like a boy instead of a little girl. We have bought clothes that we THINK will fit. It is hard to know since we do not have heights or weights. We just have the pictures to go by. Any ideas on shoes sizes? Give me a shout!! We did buy a pair of CROCS for each one. They said that is a good idea since they are NOT very fitted.



The bed in the "tree room" looks so BIG!! It looks great just took up a little more room then I thought. But thats OK, we have a great playroom!!





Enjoy the pictures!!


I just have to share...Bailey called me today at noon and she had to give her Civics presentation and she just had to tell me that when she got done, Mr. Ferguson had tears in his eyes and said it was by far one of the best presentations he had seen. Bailey had done her entire presentation on "WE THE PEOPLE" and what it meant to her. She explained that "we the people" has taken on a whole new meaning for her and our family. It goes beyond the constitution and the USA and includes people all over the world including of course, Africa. She had great pictures and information on adoption and how the boys have already had an impact on her and how she thinks about children all over the world that are less fortunate. Obviously it must have been a real tear jerker because Mr. Ferguson DOES NOT shed tears!!! Way to go Bailey!!!

What??

Now the agency doesn't know if the addendum has to be authenticated. So it is still sitting in Indiana at the agency's office waiting for further instruction from Ethiopia.

So if we do NOT need the authentication process, we can ask for the court date, and maybe travel by the end of the year. If we DO need the authentication, then we have just lost 2 weeks with it sitting in IN!!!

I updated the video. Check it out! We are still working on the DVD for the boys.

Good News or Bad News, Which First?

Well I will start with the bad news and then we can end this post on a good note. It looks like we will not have the boys home for Christmas. Sometimes I think I must dream up these timelines that I write about. But seriously, I have been told so many false timelines that I should just know by now. Cheryl told me today that there is "no way you will travel by December". The addendum has to be authenticated in IN and then in DC before it goes to Ethiopia. Just a minor detail I didn't know about!! Then we can apply for our court date. We then travel 6-8 weeks after our court date. Can you see the calendar pages being torn off and thrown in the trash? So I had to put travel plans on hold and shed a few tears and then I looked at the pictures of the boys and realized that it was OK. The good news.......they are still ours and coming home to join our family. It may be a little longer wait then we thought, but it will still happen.

The boys have been told about us and so they do know that they have been chosen for adoption. We are working on a care package to send. We already have a mini photo album for each of them. Our agency director, Cheryl, said that a lot of parents are now creating a CD to send to the kids. They do have a CD/DVD player at the foster house to watch it on. Can you imagine how many times that will be watched in the next couple of months? So we are trying to be creative and have some fun with this for the boys. We will definitely share it with all of you as soon as it is finished.

We have so much to be thankful for. A loving spouse, beautiful healthy and caring children, a lovely home and a wonderful and very supportive family, a succesful business where we help people every day. So if we have to wait another couple of weeks longer then we thought, that's OK. It is what it is and when we finally have the boys home, it will all be worth the wait.
Love you all!!!

OK, so now what??

Hello everyone!! I am sure you are all wondering so, now what? Well things have been a bit of a whirlwind since we got our referral. I don't cry everyday now just every other. I can't believe they are ours. The first thing we had to get done was an addendum to our home study. Clint and I had originally said we wanted a sibling group ages 2-5. Now we have unrelated children and they are ages 5 and 7. So we had to contact our home study agency in Cheyenne and get the changes made. That has been forwarded to our placement agency in Indiana and from there it will go to Ethiopia. Once Tigist (the social worker in Ethiopia that works for AFAA) receives the addendum she will go to the Ethiopian court and request that Natinael and Kidus be assigned to us and it will be official!! We then will travel within 4-6 weeks to Ethiopia to bring our boys home. I am hoping to have everyone home for Christmas. We should be in Ethiopia for 5-7 days. We have contacted a travel agent that specializes in adoption travel and are starting to get plans made.
The girls are doing well. Bailey is done with her Freshman volleyball season. We traveled to Gillette last weekend and watched Bailey's team struggle through their last day. She is such a great player, I hope she doesn't get too discouraged and will go out next year. Basketball starts on November 12th. Things should get really crazy then. Sierra will be playing Varsity and Bailey on Freshman maybe Sophmore or JV. Different schedules of course!!
This is so unbelievable!! It really is happening and we are all so excited. Thank you all for your love and support. As we get more information about the boys we will pass it on to you.

It's a Boy!! (Boys)

Thanks Mom and David! We love you!

More Information!

This email came today from Ethiopia via AFAA. Cheryl passed it along to us and now me to you! (She said there is still another correction on the spelling of the name for Nathnael. Now they say it is Natinael. This may change again and that's alright!)

Regarding Natinael and Kidus, I am extremely happy to hear they have a family and they will be going to be adopted together.

Natinael is in the 2nd grade, he loves maths and is very good at it. He loves to play Karate, soccer and loves the Manchester team. He is very close to Kidus and I believe will be great for him. He loves the color purple, he loves to eat pasta. He is 7 years old. He is from Harar and his birth mother is alive but is HIV+. He has no other siblings and his father is deceased.

Kidus is 5 years old, he has very good character and is very kind, knows how to play with his peers, he loves to play lego and plays with it all the time, he is good with food and is loved by all at the foster home. He is from Harar and has a brother who is about 8 years old who is HIV+ who lives with his mother who is also HIV+. His father is deceased

I will continue to pass along more info as it comes from the agency or Ethiopia.

Love you all!

The boys!!

I waited all day by the computer, checking each "inbox" every second to see if there was anything from AFAA. It was a loooong day! Nothing came except for junk, and other "business" emails. Nothing from AFAA. I was turning off my computer about 3:30 pm to meet the girls to do some shopping and there it was! AFAA in my inbox. Clint was on his way to my office and I told him I thought I had an email from AFAA. I could not get my inbox open fast enough!! There they were, Kidus and Nathnael. What beautiful boys!! Kidus is the little one in girl's clothing. Nathnael is in the gray fleece with the brightest eyes!! What a wonderful feeling to know that these little boys could be ours and probably before the end of the year. I could not wait to call each of you and send the pictures. I hope you were able to see them in the individual emails that I had sent. If not, here they are....

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Referral Day!!!!

I ordered the beds and they came! I can't believe all the emotions that we have felt today. Of course, overjoyed, sad for the mother and father who had to leave these children behind, a little overwhelmed, excited and anxious for the next step. So... what about these little fellas? We have limited information as of today, but this is what we do know.

Kidist (Patience)- Age 5, HIV neg, Hep B +, His mother is still alive and is dying of HIV.
Nathnael (Nathaniel)- Age 7, HIV neg, Hep B -, No family info yet. He is in the 1st grade and is said to be a good student.
They are not siblings but "best buddies".
We should have pictures tomorrow and more health information.

Cheryl from AFAA called about noon today and said "I have two boys, they are not related and they are a little older than you wanted." Clint happened to be in my office when she called and all I had written down was "2 boys" and he was already smiling. After Cheryl had given us as much info as she had at the time, we talked about the Hep B+ child and Clint quickly got on the internet to read what he could about Hep B Infection. Of course we would have him retested here in the states and get an expert to give us an opinion, but as near as we can tell, it should not be too big of an issue.
We could not say NO! How do you decide to change a life or not? We couldn't stand the thought of saying NO and starting over and how do we know who is right or wrong? I knew this day would come where we would have to make a decision about who would join our family. It is a hard decision but there is peace in knowing that the decision has been made.

Clint said to me when he got home from work "This was such a good idea, I am so glad we did this. I feel like we have done a very good thing".

We love you all and thank you for your continued love and support! We will keep you posted!!

Already October

Hello All!
Thought I would just add pictures of our beautiful family and beautiful land and oh yeah, that beautiful tree?
Let me know what you think. This will be the kid's room! We are getting bunk beds ordered this week. Maybe that is why we haven't gotten a referral yet, they have no beds!!


Oh, this is getting really hard as each week goes by, I wonder if it is ever going to happen. I know it will, I just hope I'm not fifty and Clinty will be 62!! He looks pretty good for 62, oh I mean 54!!
I love you all and maybe this week we will have good news. Still waiting.......