Introducing Our Son Zinaw!

I've really been trying to find my groove lately and it hasn't included updating this blog.... unfortunately. I  think I've lost the drive that I used to have to keep this thing going... but... I am planning on trying to update more frequently.....really.  Yeah, I know you probably will believe it when you see it!  LOL

Anyway.....

The reason for this post is to introduce our son Zinaw, who we just learned, will be turning 12 this month!  At this point we are waiting for word from the U.S. embassy in Ethiopia that our case is approved so that we can travel back over to get Zinaw and bring him home!  We are hoping to be able to travel sometime during the first two weeks of June.  This will be our third trip to Ethiopia since last November.....boy do I love that country!  We have been home with Amayah for over 3 months now, but it seems like so much longer than that.  I am missing Ethiopia, Addis, Layla house and my kids SO much, I'm so glad that we will be going back very soon!

Here is the reason for our next trip and the boy we miss more than words......

Zinaw wearing the Michigan shirt we sent him

Zinaw and Amayah just before we left Addis to come home with Amayah

Our daughter Haylie and Zinaw.  Haylie came with us on our last trip to Ethiopia.

Hang on Z....it won't be long now!!

Dreaming sweet dreams cuz I'm trip planning again!  Motherland.....here we come!  =)  

Introducing.....Amayah Tihun Pastoor!!!

Now that I have our whole trip documented I get the incredible pleasure of making this announcement:

On Friday November 26, 2010, Todd and I became the proud parents of Amayah Tihun Pastoor!  Yep...we passed court and she is legally ours, forever and always!  After two long years of waiting to be able to make this announcement we welcome Amayah Tihun into our family with open arms, hearts full of love and eager anticipation for her embassy date so that we can travel back to Ethiopia to bring her home!

This is the first picture we saw of her:....

......and this is her now.

Welcome to the family sweetie girl.....we can't wait to have you home with us!!

Leavin On a Jet Plane.....

We are now moved into our new house and almost every area is unpacked and organized.  I finally hit a point where I had to stop concentrating on the "move in" and start thinking about our trip to Ethiopia!  I have spent the whole week making list after list and trying to get my to-do list whittled down to the things that can wait until we get back home.  At the beginning of the week, I wasn't so sure I was going to get it all done and had panic attacks over the "what ifs"!  We shopped and ran errands and packed and packed and unpacked and shopped and organized and....did I mention packed and shopped??!  ;)

Here are a few pics of the "finished product"......as you can see, I didn't do too bad....

Haylie's dog lillie kept trying to hide her little stuffed animal in our suitcases!  For all I know, she could be hiding it in there as I'm typing this  =)

For those of you who are interested...

Here is my packing list:

Clothing

*Clothing for Todd and I for 6-7 days...short sleeve shirts and long sleeve shirts to wear over them, 3-4 pairs of pants/jeans....I also included extras of everything

*2-3 pairs of shoes, flip flops for shower, dress shoes and hiking shoes

*sunglasses

*belts

*larger size bag/purse--packing it in suitcase--to use while in Ethiopia to carry our "daily" things

Basic Things

*Driver's license, flight tickets and itinerary, credit card

*passports....cash...immunization records

*adaptor to convert Ethiopia's electric to our voltage..need to charge batteries and for hair dryer etc.

*detergent and fabric softner...actually, I cheated and mixed them together!

*clothes line to hang things to dry in our room

*Amharic phrase book/printed out "most used words" translation

*Amharic learning audio on Mp3

*Camera/video camera...chargers and extra batteries...extra camera cards

*Sharpie marker

*duct tape....cut a small section of paper towel roll and wrapped some DT around it

*ALL KINDS of info printed out....from our agency, travel agency and things we wanted to remember

*list of phone numbers and email addresses

*laptop computer

*small notebook...to record thoughts, info, and sizes/observations about other AAI family's children as requested by them...a pen...list of children to take pics of for their soon to be new parents!

*books/magazines to read

*Ipods

*bubble wrap, in case we buy fragile things to bring back home

*flashlight...incase the power goes out

*extra garbage bags..dirty clothes etc.

*"Flite Mate" ear plugs....helps to reduce air pressure and prevent air travel nausea

*two 35 gal. tubs filled with stuff for our agency's care center...clothing, crafts and sports equipment

*various things to take to the care center when we go every day to do with the kids....nail polish, slime, tattoos, silly bands etc.

*things to do with our little one....special art notebook and paint pens, photo album/video of kids back home 

Meds/Toiletries

*allergy meds/asthma meds

*Ginko...helps with altitude and travel

*Pepto Bismol

*Immodium AD

*Melatonin...to take the first couple of nights to help us sleep

*Airborne...powder and tablets...to ward off sickness

*Tums

*Elderberry Syrup...immunity booster

*Advil

*Hydrocortisone cream

*Benedryl cream

*antibacterial cream

*Bandaids

*"Cell Power"...from the health food store....to help with altitude sickness

*Listerine....to swish with a couple times/day and swallow a bit to kill harmful bacteria

*vitamins

*No-Jet-Lag....Homeopathic med 

*Acidophilus...healthy digestion, protects against germs

*Dramamine.....for motion sickness

*T.P....many places in Ethiopia do not have it in their restrooms!

*travel size kleenex

*tweezers

*razors

*deodorant

*hair dryer

*barrette/hair ties etc.

*dental floss

*toothpaste

*extra toothbrushes...incase we forget to brush with bottled water and we need to throw our TBr away

*travel toothbrushes...for airplane, the kind with TPaste already on them

*make-up

*disposable face washing cloths

*clorox wipes to wipe EVERYTHING down, airline seats, hotel rooms, hands...

*hand sanitizer 

*shampoo/conditioner

*lotion

*brush

*feminine supplies

*Chapstick

*nail clippers

*Q-tips

Snacks

*lots of protein bars

*fruit trail mix

*fruit and nut trail mix

*life savor peppermints

*chewing gum

**We didn't pack a lot of snacks because we figured that food would pretty much be available wherever we may be

**We also didn't pack a lot of extra food like instant oatmeal, mac n cheese etc. like a lot of other families do because we are staying at a hotel and we don't feel that we will have a problem getting food to eat....we love Ethiopian food and there are also American type restaurants over there.

We are heading to the airport tomorrow morning, planning to arrive around 9 a.m. for our 1:00 p.m. flight.  Need to get there early to request bulkhead seats!  Need extra leg room for Todd, and really, just want to sit on the side of the plane next to the windows instead of in the row with 4 seats.

It's still unbelievable to me that after two years of waiting, we are finally getting on that plane and meeting our new daughter for the first time!  So very excited about this and also very excited to be going to Ethiopia!  Can't wait to immerse myself in the culture and learn/experience as much as I can while we are there.  

Leaving our little one won't be easy but we have been told that our agency has 3 embassy dates for next month.....the 1st, 15th and 29th.  It's pretty unlikely that we will make the first one because after passing court, a lot of paperwork has to be finished and submitted two weeks before your embassy appointment.  We may be able to make the 15th or the 29th, so we could be traveling back to get our little sweetie on one of those two dates.  Preferably, I would like to have a Dec. 29th embassy date.  If this would happen, we could be there to celebrate the Ethiopian Christmas holidays!  THAT would be amazing!  =)

Signing off for now.......next time I post, I will be posting about our trip.....and maybe sharing pics of our new little one!!!

Have a great week.....

From Old House to New House and COURT DATES...Oh My!

On the 12th of October we finally got to the end of our 5 1/2 month house selling ordeal....we walked into the title company and closed on both our old house AND our new house!  We started way back in April/May working feverishly to prepare our home to be put on the market.  We then we moved into the "house showing" portion of the process, and to tell you the truth, I really don't know which was worse....living in a construction zone or constantly cleaning, sometimes at the last minute, to accommodate prospective buyers.

We continued to pack our boxes and prepare for our "BIG move" for the rest of that week and then on that Sunday we walked into our new house for the first time as the owners!  We spent that day and all day Monday and Tuesday working in the new house cleaning and getting it ready for us to move in. After enduring three full days of dusting, washing walls, cleaning out cupboards, vacuuming, mopping...and....well, you get the picture....we were dead tired!

Then on Tuesday night I opened my computer to check my email.  As I was scanning through the MANY emails, I noticed one from our agency.....my heart stopped.  Could it be?!  I opened it and this is what it said:

"Two court dates have been scheduled for your family: November 11^th and December 13^th.  Previously, we were told that prospective adoptive parents were to appear at the second court date to consent to the adoption.  Now, however, our legal representative has informed us that you can elect to appear at the first court date or the second court date.

Please let me know if your family plans to travel for the first or second court date.  You are requested to arrive in Ethiopia two days before the court date and your family can depart as soon as the evening following your morning court appearance.  For the first court date, that would mean arriving in Ethiopia by November 9^th and departing Ethiopia as soon as the evening of November 11^th.  For the December 13^th court date, that would mean arriving in Ethiopia by December 11^th and departing as soon as the evening of December 13^th. 

Once your itinerary and plans for accommodations are finalized, please send me a copy so I can notify my co-workers in Ethiopia.  Attached is a travel packet that is sent to families before homecoming travel, although some of this information may also be helpful in planning your first trip to Ethiopia."

I was in shock....I just sat and read and re-read it over and over.  After two years of waiting....  It seemed pretty real when we received our referral, but then you go back to waiting mode and your brain does crazy things.  You have a pictures to look at... but..... "is it real"??  I don't think it fully hit me until I received this email......WE are GOING to ETHIOPIA!!  We are going to meet our new daughter...face to face.  We are going to be able to hug and kiss her and hold her and talk to her.....really.  In 19 days!!  Actually it's now 11 days....but who's counting??!  Ummmm....are you kidding me....I AM!!!  =)

So in the midst of packing more boxes and loading up the moving van and unloading the moving van, we made our travel arrangements, scheduled flights and booked our hotel.  On October 7th we will be stepping on board a plane in Grand Rapids that will take us to Chicago and then we will be boarding a Lufthansa fight that will take us to Amsterdam and on to Addis.  We will be arriving in Addis at 9:15 Monday night.....and we will get to see our baby on Tuesday morning!

It will be a long and tiring journey. 16+ hours actually on planes, and 11+ hours in airports = over 27 hours of traveling. We will pretty much be switching our "day for night" as we fly over there, so we'll be a bit messed up!  We will most likely be fighting jet lag, not enough sleep, and the altitude of Addis Ababa......but it's going to be soooo worth every minute.  Thank goodness it will be evening when we arrive and we will be able to go straight to our hotel room and TRY to catch up on sleep.  I say try because, really, who could sleep knowing that in just a few short hours you would be with your child....the one you've waited for....for two years!

I spoke with our agency yesterday to ask about the next steps.  I wondered when we might be receiving our embassy appointment.....that will be our second trip over.  Normally it usually comes about 6-8 weeks after court but with the new rule where parents can attend the birth family's court date, I wondered how that would affect our embassy date.  There is a good chance that we could receive an embassy appointment in December!  I had given up all hope to have "T" home by Christmas.....but this will now be a possibility!  The bad side to travel in December is that the month, in itself, is a very busy month and also the travel costs for flights in December can double or triple!  =(  So we will just have to wait and see what happens......our agency did say that we can elect to wait until January to travel over.....THAT would be a tough decision!

So here is a "Photo Story" of our last few days.....

We left this house.....

and moved to this house....

View from the deck off the back of our house, if you look closely you can see the pond through the trees...

Views of the pond....

AND.....soon we will be able to see these sights IN PERSON!

Yes.....this is our precious little girl.....well, at least part of her anyway!  =)

I'm off to unpack more boxes......

Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday

There's nothing like "Puppy Love".......

Flashback Friday

These are our three oldest girls who are now 18, 22 and 15!  One has graduated from college and has been married for over a year now, one is graduating from high school, and one, I get to hang on to for just a little while longer.  Oh, to go back to the days when they were just little kidders and I had years before they would leave home!  =(

Time sure flies....

When life gets to be "so daily" you never think that these times will soon end.  But, speaking as a Mom who has already "lost" one daughter from the nest and within a few short years will most likely be losing at least 2 more.....

Gotta hold on easy as I let you go.
Gonna tell you how much I love you,
Though you think you already know.
I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink so soft and warm.
You've had me wrapped around your finger since the day you were born.

You beautiful baby from the outside in..
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again.
Go on, take on this whole world,
But to me, you know you'll always be.....

 my little girl

~Tim McGraw

Cherish these times, even when things can be hectic, hum drum or out of control, because this time in your life will only last for a season and then it will be gone.....
Have a great day today...

Wordless Wednesday

A sandwich built for a man......

......But he's only 9......Help!!  My grocery bill is under attack!  =(

Frankenmuth MI--WillKommen

WillKommen... "Welcome" in German.  Meaning...Welcome to Michigan's "Little Bavaria".  A place where you can enjoy horse drawn carriage rides, riverboat cruises and world famous chicken dinners!  A place where it's Christmas...ALL YEAR LONG!

My wonderful hubby surprised us with a 3 day/2 night trip to Frankenmuth where we stayed at Zender's Splash Village....hotel and waterpark.  It was a nice getaway that rewarded us for all the hard work that was put into getting our house ready to put on the market and also the work it took to get the house ready for many showings (and trying to keep it that way on a daily basis---not an easy task for a family of 8!)... but we were especially celebrating the fact that we sold our house!

We had a great time walking around downtown Frankenmuth, checking out all the different shops.  They were having a Craft Fair that weekend so we spent some time browsing through the booths and sampling some of the different foods people had to offer.

Even though the weekend was a bit rainy, somehow we managed to avoid getting wet........outside, that is.  =)

Everyone waiting for the BIG bucket of water to drop

Hana and Nathaniel riding on a double tube down the waterslide

Me diligently reading "Toddler Adoption: The Weaver's Craft" to prepare myself for our adoption. Yes, I did partake in the water park activities...but at this point, I was "water park-ed" out! 

This was a good time to go do something OTHER than spend time in the water. Luckily our hotel was right next to, none other than, Bonner's CHRISTmas Wonderland!  Since it was within walking distance we....well....walked...over there and on our way we stopped to enjoy the many Christmas decorations they have displayed all throughout their property.

Once inside this is what it looks like:

And this is just the beginning.....this place goes on and on and on....I could have dropped a bundle in here but I'm proud to say that I showed a lot of restraint!  Still trying to pay for an adoption, ya know?

On our last day, we gave the kids some tokens and let them play in the arcade for a while. Somehow I think that they would have been just as happy to spend ALL their time in there!  They were all on a "ticket getting" high and the top of the cake was that they all got to stand at the counter and pick out their prizes!  Some took longer than others to choose....needless to say, the lady at the counter was VERY amused!

Right before we left for home Chloe got to meet the Zender's Chicken!  Oh happy day!  As you can see, she needed her big sister's help to be brave enough to even get near him!  =)

A good time was had by all.....if you are in the Saginaw MI area, stop by Frankenmuth....and....just down the road from that is the Birch Run Outlet Stores. Can I hear a "Woot"!!  for shopping?!!

End of the Summer Trip

We headed north last week for a camping trip with family that had been planned since sometime early this spring.  This is just the start of the pile of stuff we loaded into "Snow White"-- our 15 passenger van. If you look carefully, you can see Chloe.  She was ready to go WAY before the rest of us were! She was just making sure that we weren't going to forget her!

The plan was to drive the 5 hours to my Mom's house first, to get all of our camping gear and campers ready to rock and roll. From there we would drive the 45 minutes or so to Tahquamenon Falls, near Paradise MI.......... But on the way up, we stopped at Sea Shell City.

Ok, so funny story....  When I was in 4th grade we moved from lower Michigan to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  At least once or twice a year we would travel down state to visit relatives etc.... and we would pass Sea Shell City.  It's a crazy place...a tourist trap right off the highway and they sell sea shells and various other stuff from the ocean, t-shirts, jewelry, fudge--of course and JUNK. I still have no clue why they sell ocean type stuff when they are no where near the ocean!!??  As a matter of fact, they aren't very close to the Great Lakes either??  Um, yeah.  Anyway...
So, I would always beg my Dad to stop there so we could see the "Giant Man Eating Clam" but my Dad never caved, so sadly, I grew up never having the privilege of partaking in their "Sea Shell Wonders."  So after Todd and I got married, he took me there!  It's nothing special, just like I said, sea shells in the middle of nowhere but each time we are heading home from my Mom's we stop there...it's a tradition now.  The kids love it, of course....and I don't mind eating the fudge!  ;)  The funny thing is, my Mom has still never been there!  After all these years and all the times she has passed by there.  One of these days I'm gonna have to take her there.....

The boys were able to take an early morning fishing trip with their Dad and Uncle PJ while the girls were helping around Grandma's house taking care of the last details for our camping trip.  As you can see, they found a "sweet spot" and were able to haul in quite a catch and we all got to have a little snack of fresh fried fish before we left for camp! Yum!

We went to the Blueberry Festival in Paradise MI and then headed up to Whitefish Point to see the lighthouse and to take some pics on the beach.  It was raining when we got there but cleared up just in time for us to take the pics and let the kids have some fun.

We camped at Tahquamenon Falls State Park, the lower falls campground. We drove to the Upper Falls and also hiked the mile from our campground to the Lower Falls.  We rented a boat and rowed it over to the island at the Lower Falls.  Nine of us in one boat....we thought we were either going to tip over or sink....thankfully, as you can see, we survived without any accidents!  We walked around the island, played in the falls a bit and took lots of pictures.

S'more making was great fun. We make gourmet s'mores in our family and some of us take this process very seriously!  We usually have --regular, strawberry and coconut marshmallows---peanut butter cups and Hershey's chocolate bars----fudge striped cookies, graham crackers and various other cookies---all on hand to satisfy even the pickiest s'more maker!

Want one?  

Wishing you a  SA WEET  day!