Bathtime

Kidest loves baths. She had one this morning with Trayton and then early evening with Chloe. That must not have been enough, because tonite when Christian was showering she jumped in there with her jammies on and sat down. Christian being a nine year old boy and shes a "girl" is wrapped up in the shower curtain yelling for me!  It was quite funny.  We have had our share of laughter and tears from everyone this weekend. It is an adjustment for everyone and will just take time and prayer. Kidest is really doing great. She loves to play and have fun. Not one fight between her and our bio kids...not even TJ which is amazing. They have gotton along great. Fighting between our bio kids....thats another story! Kidest is sleeping in her own bed for the first time tonite! Yeah! Chloe was happy, they share a room and she has wanted to be in her twin bed with her until tonite. Since Kidest is a loud snorer, Chloe has ended up in our bed the last few nites! Now I am going to bed, I will try to post more pics of our fam tomorrow.

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friends

We are home!

We made it home in the US! We finally arrived at 11:45 on Wed. eve..nine hours later than we thought because our first flight out of ethiopia was 2 hours late and caused us to miss every connecting flight! But Kidest did great and we felt so covered in prayer! We were greeted by so many friends and famlily! Thank you so much, what a blessing it was after such a long trip! The awesome signs and hugs were so great! Kidest is doing great and we are taking each day one at a time! The kids love her! Trayton wanted her to nap by him and said he loves her, Christian said he is so glad we adopted , and Chloe is little mother....carrying her everywhere, she is not lacking any love and just eating it up! Doctor appt. yesterday ....ear infection and bladder infection, what a tough girl! We have blood work this morning. She spit the medicine al over last nite, we are going to try agian this morning, pray she takes it. More updates to come later

missing connections

Hello from Amsterdam!  After waiting for 9 hours in the Addis Ababa airport our flight finally left.  We have missed our original flight home.  We will be leaving amsterdam and arriving in detroit around 3:30.  not sure when our flight from  detroit will get us home.  we will call when we arrive in detroit. we will try to email this blog in detroit too.  thank you for your prayers.  Kidist is doing great and just had her first mcdondalds!   She also experienced a little air sickness (all over Dad, oh well :).  It was tough saying goodbye to the other adoptive families we were here with.  Kidest got the biggest tears when she had to say good bye to her friends.
 

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Pure Joy

Have you ever seen someone experience something for the first time?   The pure joy is almost more than you can handle watching.  We were fortunate to go swimming with Kidist today.   Watching Kidist have an absolute riot in the bathtub -new experiece- was great, but watching this little girl's eyes get as big as saucers when she saw the kiddie pool was indescribable.  She calls me Poppa and she just kept saying Poppa Poppa as she neared the edge of the pool.  Pure Joy.  Thank you so much for your prayers and encouraging words.  We are so excited to have you meet this new sister of Christian, Chloe and TJ's.  We love you so much. 

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2nd day with kidist

It is 11:30 pm in Ethiopia.  This country is so beautiful, yet poverty is everywhere.  I think I'm beginning to not be so overwhelmed by it.  The family we are staying with and the Bethany staff has done an amazing job helping us experience as much of "real" Ethiopia as we can handle.  Bethany staff took us to the Epiphany ceremony today.   This is the Ethiopian Orthodox church celebration of the baptism of Jesus.   There were hundreds of thousands of people.  It was quite a site to see.  I suppose we were quite a site to see as well. Kidist is officially a Fisher.  She is so excited that she moves at a tiring (for us) speed.  She grabs sunglasses, digs in a purse looking for gum, picks up a camera and starts taking pictures, then she makes a dash for the outside or wants to play hide and seek and then digs in my back pack then gives us hugs and laughs, hopefully you get the idea.  Kidist is a treasure.   I asked Birtikan (guest house lady owner and an angel herself) if many kids that she sees are like Kidist.  She smiled and her eyes kind of gleamed, she paused and said Kidist is unique...and I like her VERY much.  God has been so good to us here.  It was Michelle's birthday today and the kids got an email thru with a picture of them holding happy birthday sign.  Yes, it gave us a lot of tears, but it was so nice.  Please continue to pray for us and and all the orphans (there are so many here) in the world.  Cast all your cares on Him and He will sustain you.   Good night. 

Chris

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Gotcha Day!

What a day! It is 9:30 pm right now (it is 1:30) Kidist is in our bed sound asleep and snoring!  I really will not be able to explain the whole day in this email, my head is sooooo full. We met Anelym, Kidest birthmom. They taped the whole meeting to put it in our lifebook video and we were able to have a translator. The meeting......we did not expect her mother to be so emotional. She came in the room in tears. She said she was only 17 (could be older because they sometimes dont know their birthdate. She is an Orthodox Christian and was happy Kidist was in a Christ believing home. She shared how much she loved kidist and wanted a better life for her, she could not provide for her. There is much more of her story, but it is Kidist story for her someday.  Meeting Kidist......she was a little reserved at first..not much smiling, but that changed soon after! She gave us hugs and loved Chris! I can't describe the moment. I think it is something that unless you go through...you can't really grasp it. Unbelievable!! She was excited to get into the car and was looking at the photo book of Christian, Chloe and Trayton and said "sisters!" I am sure she meant brothers too! Lots and Lots of children there, all wanted to touch you, hold your hand, give a hug. Andrea, got great pics and it was great you had the Bethany Disclosure or I wouldn't have been able to. He is adorable, gave him big hugs. Ok, so we get to the guesthouse and Kidest turned into a different person...no more reserved!! She was into everything and so curious...wanting to put on the shoes we brought her and the new clothes, lotion, examining everything and running everywhere!! They said she was very active and they werent' kidding! We had her giggling like crazy and Chloe she can say your name!!!! She said it while looking at your picture! We are working on Christian and Trayton! She is also quite the comedian, very funny!! We think she may be more like 5 and a half...very smart and both bottom teeth are in. We put her in her bed tonite and she had a tough time falling asleep, so I layed by her in our bed and she rubbed my face until she fell asleep. I think she is used to sleeping 2 in a bed...so Chloe I think she will be climing in with you!!  Once again, so much to write, but we are exhausted and need to sleep....It is the Ethiopian Holiday "Epiphany" Tomorrow. All the ehtiopian orthodox churches carry in a procession a copy of the arc of the covenant to one central place in Addis, it is a big procession of all the people in the streets and we already saw it starting today! Wow, alot of people!  We will be leaving here at 8 am to be part of it with the Bethany Staff here. Love to all our family and friends and especially our kiddos...we miss you so much..hugs and kisses and we will be be home before you know it to scoop you up. I know Kidest will want to hug you all too!! Stacey or Lisa can you get this to our parents...they have had trouble getting a connection. Chaow in Ethiopian!  

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Ethiopia update

It is hard to know where to begin. We have only been here one full day and have taken in so much. It also is hard to really write and give a picture of what we are seeing and feeling. The people Birtukan and Nesibu who we are staying with were described to us by friends as the hands and feet of Jesus. They were right on. This couple is the most genuine, loving, serving, spirit filled people I have ever met. We began our day with a breakfast of pancakes and bananas and mango juice at 8am. We then walked with Birtukan and her family to church. Wow It was all in Amharic, but incredible and moving. Beautiful people, filled with joy and worshiping with their whole body, soul and mind. Our walk there and back was alot to take in. I will try to download some pics later this week, it is hard to describe. We then came back and had Ethiopian lunch of injera, and what goes with it. Remember that Christian!?? It is even better here in Ethiopia! We shared tears and laughter over lunch with the kieths and Birtukan and Nesibu. Their life stories are amazing! We then hung out with their kids..they are 11, 9, 7, and 3 ., alot like our family! Christian, Chloe and Trayton, you would have fun with them! We gave them a couple of the punching balloons and they played with them all day! Oh, they also had alot of fun watching Chris videos on his laptop of our boys boxing and all of them sledding and snowboarding! They got a total kick out of it !! Then, nap time...much needed. 9am we will be meeting Kidist birthmom and from there going to meet her. I hope we can sleep tonite!! The weather here is about 70 and then it feels like 6 in the evenings..very comfortable. I could write a book already, but this will be it for now. Mom and dad hope all is well with the kids, We miss you and love you Christian, Chloe and Trayton! Praying for you every day. 

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Arrival

Good morning from Ethiopia! Christian, Chloe and Trayton we love you so much and we miss you! We just got done eating breakfast of pancakes and bananas, and some very strong coffee!  My watch says it would be 1:24 at home in the US! We will be leaving for church soon with Birtukan and Nesibu.  Thank you for prayers, we felt so covered during our flight. It went incredibly smooth and I didn't feel nautious a bit, which is an answer to prayer!! We will be meeting Kidist birthmom tomorrow and then meeting Kidist after that! We met up with the Kieths (a family from Atlanta) in Amsterdam and were able to travel the rest of the way with them. They are such wonderful couple. They are adopting two sisters ages 4 and 5, so it will be nice for our kids to play together. We feel Gods presence with us! We will update again soon! Hope Christian, Chloe and Trayton ...you all had fun at camp swampy this weekend with grandpa and grandma! We love you! Love, Mom and Dad (Chris and Michelle)

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Are we ready!!??

Well, I just figured out how to post to our blog while we are in Ethiopia! I am so not techy, but thanks to Hollys step by step directions it's all set.....we just need electricity and an internet connection! Only 2 more days until we leave. We we leave at 1:40 on Friday and will arrive in Addis at 10:10pm (thier time) on Sat. I believe we will be meeting Kidest for the first time on Sunday afternoon and she will be with us the rest of the time, except for when we will be meeting Kidest birthmom. I can not even imagine what God has in store for us in the next couple of weeks, hoping to share some pictures, updates, and how God works while we are there!

Checking......

seeing if this will work to post via email from ethiopia.

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Travel Call!!

This morning we got the call with our travel dates!!! Our Embassy Appt. is Jan 21 and we need to be in Addis on the 17th!! We are soooooo excited! I'll post more later!

Michelle