A legend of love.

Okay, so I was waiting to post this so I could include pics, but we just had a flood in our basement (due to a broken water heater) and I don't want to wait any longer.  So, here is an update on us without pics!  :)

Jeff and I made it home late Sunday night from Scottsdale, AZ.  We spent an extended weekend there, where we had a memorial for Papa, Jeff's grandfather (who passed away on Father's Day this year).

It was a good weekend of family and friends sharing in sweet memories of Papa.  We are amazed at how MANY lives one man can touch in such a positive way.  People from all over travelled to share in this time of celebrating the life of Papa.

What an inspiration.

Papa loved many openly.  He blessed many naturally.  He encouraged many genuinely.  He inspired many to do things beyond their belief in themselves.  He lived life fully.  He held back nothing, and went forth with such enthusiasm and passion ~ and passed this passion on to so many others.

His love for Grama was so complete.  All who knew him quickly knew how very much he adored his bride.  She was his diamond.  His jewel.  And he took care to make sure she knew it.  Daily.  They would even race to the calendar each morning, to see who could be the first one to write the other a love note on the day's date.  This,  after 63 years of marriage.

Their love has inspired many.  Including my sweet, precious husband.  Jeff carries on this legend of love, demonstrated by both of his now deceased grandfathers.  He also has his parents' example of true, unconditional, unguarded and genuine love..........

And I am the blessed recipient of Jeff's amazing love.  The beautiful generational examples that have so inspired Jeff, have now resulted in our own wonderful marriage.  What a precious gift from them to Jeff.  And from Jeff to me.  And it is my hope and intent, from me to Jeff.

We love you, Papa.  

Your legend of love carries on.

May you rest in peace.

TWO "Good News" Days!?!?!?!?

WOW!  I'm so out of practice of getting GOOD NEWS!!!!  I am sooooo very THANKFUL to each and every one of you who are holding our son ~ and us ~ up in prayer!!!!!  IT. IS. WORKING!!!!!!

We got the GREAT NEWS that the clearance decree from the orphanage arrived at our AWAA agency TODAY!!!!!

I feel like SKIPPING!!!!
{about to go for a run.....I might just SKIP instead!}  =)

Kristen said they will deliver the decree to MOWCYA and encourage them to write our recommendation letter soon.  PLEASE keep praying the next recommendation letter is an APPROVAL LETTER!!!!!

SOOOOO PRAISING GOD FOR THIS FORWARD MOVEMENT!!!!!!

And praising Him for all of YOU who are traveling alongside of us!!!!!

Jeff and I are going to make our son a "Build-a-Bear" bear tonight in celebration!......so he can hear our voices in our absence!!!!

Every step counts in this journey and we are so excited to be taking forward steps again.  I have sooooo longed for this feeling of making progress toward seeing him again, holding him again and bringing. him. HOME!!!!

My-oh-my how GOOD I will sleep tonight!!!!!  May you be having precious, precious dreams right now, as I write this, sweet son!!........and may you feel the presence of God in your dreams as well as in your hours awake!   

I LOVE YOU, BABY "K".......I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!!!!! 

Small ~ but GREAT ~ Step Forward!!!

This picture pretty much describes how I am feeling right now!

Although not a final step, it is a BIG STEP, nonetheless!!!

After crying several days in a row and feeling totally and utterly depleted; "wait meter" on empty; desperate for some sort of progress toward bringing our son home...........

We received word today that, although the document is not yet in the hands of AWAA, the orphanage has informed AWAA that the clearance decree is complete and on it's way to our agency!

Kristen says they should literally receive the ever-needed clearance decree ANY DAY!!!!

AWAA will then immediately provide this to MOWCYA, who had requested it six plus weeks ago, and we will be "in line" for MOWCYA to re-assess our case.........and prayerfully write us that long-awaited letter of APPROVAL!

Once MOWCYA writes an approval letter, our case will then be brought before the judge once the courts re-open.  Word is that the courts should re-open early October (depending on the rainy weather).

If you recall, the judge already approved our case and stated she just needed the approval letter from MOWCYA.  Therefore, we are praying, PRAYING, P-R-A-Y-I-N-G that once MOWCYA receives this document, they will be able to write us that letter!!!!

Although we have no real timeline, we are breathing easier just knowing that the needed document is on its way to AWAA!  The ball is F-I-N-A-L-L-Y rolling!!!!!!!

After so many weeks of no progress, this news has significantly lightened my heart and refueled my source of hope!  THANK YOU, GOD!!!  You heard my cry!  I felt as though I could not endure even one more day without some sign of forward movement..........and you provided!!!!!

Trusting that our Heavenly Father is STILL IN CONTROL and that He is holding our sweet son in his arms every moment.  May He protect this document and its delivery to our agency.  May He guide its placement in the MOWCYA office.  May it be His will to push our case through with efficiency and ease!  May He protect and provide for all of us who got caught in the closures as well as for the others in various stages of their adoption!

May our BABY "K" officially become OUR SON soon upon the courts re-openning!  

Please God, PLEASE!!!!!

YELLOWSTONE!

Well, the weekend after Wallowa Lake was spent helping our friends celebrate their sons' birthdays!  Jordan turned 8 and Felix turned 6, and we helped them celebrate Saturday, August 27th.  Fun to watch the kiddos play.....and picture our Baby "K" joining in the celebration next year!

The following weekend was Labor Day weekend (Sept 1-4), and a number of us had made reservations for this log home just outside of Yellowstone in Island Park.  It was a fabulous four day weekend (we left town on Thursday afternoon) with wonderful friends, a GREAT time in Yellowstone, and a b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. log home!

Out of fourteen of us, eleven of us got the "bug" that Devin had gotten from school.  He had since recovered, but we all took our turns experiencing the "joy" of the sick bug.  Ironically, we all felt great on Monday.....not one of us was sick!.......but it was travel home day.........

Aside from feeling sick a day or two each, we all managed to have a great time, and it started what we all have agreed will be an annual event!  Only next year.....NO SICKNESS!!!!!  ;)

Easiest way to share the weekend is through pictures, so here they are...............

                   Detour/Backroads on way to Yellowstone.

Friends that came with us, The Wernette's.

Picking edible berries, according to our biologist friend, Karie.

Aaahhhh......relaxing in the hot tub.......

 Doing the walk around some geysers....
Paige knew I had just gotten sick and said,

"Debbie, I'll hold your hand if you want me to......"
Such a sweet girl.

Me and Paige.

 Me and my honey pie.

 Devin and Grady.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

 Babe and me.

Jeff and Devin.

Geyser Jeff caught "in action" bubbling away.

 OLD FAITHFUL!

 Ice cream break with Isabella!

 Geographical Amazements!

    Jayden and his fruit buddy.....

Both of us Feelin' GOOD....on Monday.....the day to travel home.......

THE GANG.

We all thought that our Baby "K" would be joining us on this trip, when we planned back in the Winter. Sad that he wasn't there, physically, but he was definitely there in our hearts!  Can't wait to take him along next year!!!!!

Good time.  Good friends.  Good memories!

WALLOWA LAKE

What have we been up to during the Court Closures????

Labor Day was Yellowstone (pictures to come) but about two weekends after returning from Ethiopia/Germany, we went to WALLOWA LAKE with Jason, Karie and their two kiddos Felix and Isabella.  Allow me to share the weekend with you via pictures......

 Firepit.  Kind of a cool pic. 

Enjoying the fire with Isabella while chatting it up with Karie.

Beautiful hike.

 Happy Girl on the hike.  

(World's largest tongue!)

 Kids made their own teeter totter at the beach.

Jeff's turn.

 Karie helping Felix build a damn.

Now THAT's relaxed!

 Family at the beach minus one......

 Dutch Oven dinner.  Enchiladas.  YUM!
THANKS, Jason!

 nap time.  hike wore them out. 

silly kids...

Good times.  Good fun.  Good friends.

{WALLOWA LAKE is the place we have made plans to meet annually with Angela and Darin, once we all have our kiddos home!!!   First annual event should be next summer, Ditchens!!!!!}

He is WELL!

My heart sank when I saw an email in my inbox titled...........

"K***** Health Update".......

Every time and any time I have received an email with that title, it has been to inform us that our sweet baby boy is sick.  He has battled multiple upper respiratory infections, several ear infections as well as conjunctivitis.

It is so sad to think of how many bouts Baby K as had with these illnesses!  And to think of how many doses of antibiotics he has had to be on.  Ugh.  But hey ~ when you need 'em, you need 'em, right!!?? Just would have liked him to get his antibiotics here, in the US, in hopes that maybe he wouldn't have needed quite so many doses.

Well, we are THANKFUL to our AWAA doctors who are taking such good care of our son and are grateful that they even have access to such antibiotics to help make him well each time!

Back to the September 7th email.......

I opened it up, anticipating another ear infection or upper respiratory infection, or worse.....only to see these sweet words,  "Today our in-country staff reported that K****** is healthy and in good condition.  I just wanted to let you know."


THANK YOU, GOD!!!  For getting our son healthy and helping him to stay healthy!
THANK YOU, PHYSICIANS!!!  For tending to our Baby "K" so thoroughly and wonderfully!
THANK YOU, CAITLIN (our family coordinator)!!!  For caring enough to let us know that we had a week with GOOD news of his health!!!!  


Caitlin usually only sends an email to update us of sickness ~ and then another one when he is healthy again.  We received the email telling us he had overcome his URI and ear infection the week before.  THIS email was just to give us peace of mind that he was STILL healthy!  I SO needed that ray of sunshine in my week!  God knew that I needed that, and Caitlin followed His prompting!  What a sweet blessing!


Oh, what it does to our hearts to know that he is HEALTHY!!!  
We did not get any email this week.......which means he is STILL healthy!
WOOHOO!!!!!


THANK YOU to each and every one of you who continue to pray for our sweet son!!!!  YOU are helping to keep him healthy through the POWER of prayer!!!!


And we cannot THANK YOU enough!!!!


Stay STRONG, our sweet Baby "K!"  


Lord, we praise you for watching over our baby.  For loving, protecting and providing for our son.  We ask you, Lord, to continue to orchestrate the details to get this decree from the orphanage to MOWCYA; to help it result in an approval letter; and that you then guide the approval letter straight into the judge's hands.  Without delay.  We pray this all happens before the courts re-open.  We KNOW you can make this happen, and pray it is Your will!              AMEN.

Habakkuk ~ Words to Hold Onto

Trying to BELIEVE that God IS DOING SOMETHING.  That we WILL have our own day!  That He will blow our minds and bless our socks off as He finalizes this adoption.  I am trying to hold fast to this belief ~ even amidst the silence of this rainy season.  

No progress has been made.  The orphanage has not yet provided the needed clearance decree for MOWCYA.  Therefore, still no MOWCYA letter.  The rainy season makes it very challenging to accomplish tasks such as these.

The silence is deafening.  And I am growing weary.  So, I remind myself of God's infinite POWER and of His ever-loving plan to bring us together as a family.  


I remind myself (often daily or even moment-by-moment) of this verse.......

For I am doing something in your own day, 

something you wouldn't believe 

even if someone told you about it.

~ Habakkuk 1:5, NLT

Melkam Addis Amet!

Melkam Addis Amet! 

(Happy Ethiopian New Year!)

Enkutatash is the first day of the New Year in Ethiopia!  This lands on September 12 on our calendar (the Gregorian calendar).  Ethiopia retains the Julian calendar, in which the year is divided into 12 months of 30 days each and a 13th month of 5 days (6 days in leap year).  


The current year according to the Ethiopian calendar is 2004, which began on September 12, 2011 AD of the Gregorian calendar.  Therefore, there is a 7-8 year gap between Ethiopian and US calendars.


Yes, they are celebrating the New Year of 2004 today!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, DEAR SON!!!!  

May this new year bring you much health, happiness, love, provision, and blessings in abundance.......including coming HOME and FOREVER being with YOUR FAMILY!!!!!  We LOVE you so SO much more than you could ever know!!!!  We pray for you daily and cannot WAIT to have you in our arms once again!!!!!

GERMANY

We left Ethiopia late Saturday night around midnight, heading back to Frankfurt, where we planned to spend a few days to unwind, soak in the most incredible week we just shared with our son, and take in Germany as a "babymoon."

We rented a car in Frankfurt.  Awwww, shucks!  The car rental place had to upgrade us from an Audi to a BMW.....drat!  Ha!  Nice ride.  Very nice ride!

THANKS to our dear friends, Kerry and Anna, who were basically our own personal travel agents (Anna lived here for ~5 yrs), we immediately hit the back roads of the German countryside.  Our first stop was St Goarshausen, which is on the Rhine River, and we then headed north, along the east side of the Rhine river to Koblenz.  We had lunch in Koblenz and quickly learned that English was known by more peeps in Ethiopia than in Germany!  They did have an English menu, thank goodness.  We then walked around the quaint town before hitting the road again.  Germany is so QUAINT!

       Beautiful church in Koblenz.

Our destination for our first night was Castle Hotel Auf Shoenburg.  Nestled atop a hill, this intimate middle age castle was built in the 10th century and overlooks the Rhine.  We arrived and had time to check out the many floors of this spectacular masterpiece before dinner.

                    I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E!!!!!  

This magical place had many old antiques throughout, carrying with it the history of its ancestors.  As guests, we were allowed to inspect every inch of the castle ~ both inside as well as outside on the grounds and fortresses!  Here are some pictures of our room.....

My honey in our room

 This was the old school room. 

 Cute window from outside the castle. 

 Sitting down to a 7 course meal!

We tried to enjoy this amazing dinner that evening, but somehow a seven course meal (after having just left Ethiopia, where we know many people struggle to provide their family ONE MEAL a day), the two extremes left my heart in a quandry. 

 View from our room after dinner......

 I have a thing for doors.....

"Auf wiedersehen, Auf Shoenburg!"

 Vineyard.

View of Auf Shoenburg from the vineyard.

After a sweet morning of driving through vineyards just outside of Oberwesel, we headed north again, back toward St Goar.  St Goar is where we toured the Rheinfels castle.  Well, what was left of it, that is.  The ruins were open ground for us to roam.  We found many dark tunnels to explore that eventually brought us to its other entrance.  I would often be holding onto Jeff's shirt, as I literally could not see a THING, and neither could he!  Nothing like having the saying, "see the light at the end of the tunnel" develope literal and real-life meaning!  It was great fun to imagine the grand lifestyle of those who once lived in this amazing castle!  It made me want to put on a dress with a big hoop skirt! {smile}

After our Rheinfels adventure, we continued north and then west ~ now following the Mosel River to BERG ELTZ Castle.  Now this castle made me think of Disneyland! ~ though it is not the one that Disney designed their first castle after (that is in another town).  Never tiring of history and castles, we toured this one as well.  The guide walked us through and gave us great history of the families that once lived there, and each room was kept much like it was originally created and decorated. {they didn't let us take pics inside of it.....bummer}

 

Continuing up the Mosel to Kochem, we then crossed the Mosel river and took in the beautiful and serene backcountry/countryside for a couple of hours.  The views were breathtaking and the peace of it all quenched our souls.  We then came to a place where we had to cross the Rhine by ferry, taking us to Rudesheim.   We arrived quite late that evening and were welcomed with complimentary champagne.

Did I mention that our breakfasts in Germany were spectacular?  Wow!  Both ET and Germany know how to put on a spread for breakfast!  Of course I was in heaven, being the breakfast girl that I am, always have been ~ always will be!  {smile} 

The next day we went on to Heidelberg, where we toured the Heidelberg castle and took in the town.   This castle was incredible (of course each castle blew us away!).  The hundreds of acres for their garden had walkways and various areas with flowers and structures that were just majestic!

 Break time in the courtyard (above and below pics).

 This part of the castle struck by lightening and never repaired.

Jeff was feeling pretty poorly by this time, so he could hardly eat anything for dinner, but we did manage to take in some stores and sites and enjoy a relaxed evening together.  We spent the night in this town and enjoyed a Starbucks (yes, a REAL Starbucks!) the next morning.   After trying out an authentic German pastry shop, we drove to Rothenberg and stayed here for our last two days.

Poor Jeff slept that day while I shopped and took in this quaint town.  They have this huge, HUGE Christmas store that has any possible Christmas decoration you could possibly think of!  In remembrance of our childhood days, we bought a candle chime to bring home with us.  Remember those?  The heat from the candle flames gets the fan-like part to slowly rotate..........this one is so precious!  It will be so fun to bring this out every year and remember the trip ~ and better yet, the REASON we were in Germany in the first place.....we had just met our SON!!!!!!!

Rothenberg had so much to offer it was fun taking it all in.  Jeff was starting to feel better after a two hour nap, so we attended the night watchman's tour ~ where this man dressed as a watchman and gave us a tour of the city while sharing with us it's rich history.  Quiet informative and entertaining!

The second day we did more shopping, took in the mideival crime and punishment museum (which creeped me out, truth be known), climbed the look-out tower, and walked the city wall ~ which was the old fortress that soldiers tended to keep the village safe.  Here are some snapshots of Rothenberg.....

 Entering Rothenberg.

 In the courtyard of Gasthof Greifen

(where we stayed ~ WILL go back!)

 Center Square.

 Our hotel was the green one!

Right in the center of it all!

 We visited a beautiful church one of the days.

 We said a prayer and lit a candle for Baby K.....

 Jeff asked if they had a big beer (thinking liter).

They brought him TWO Liters ~ 

biggest beer we have ever seen!

 View from the tower.

Sweet window that reminded us God was with us.

 We bought Baby K a precious teddy bear from a teddy bear specialty shop.

  Enjoying the day turn to evening.

 YUM!

 Pretty picture along one of the entries into the town.

 The fortress wall (looking out one of the windows).

Outside The Christmas Shoppe.

How sweet.  It was our last night in Germany.

We stopped for a cappuccino, and this is how our waiter made it for us.

PERFECT.

  

For a trip whose soul purpose centered around 

L.O.V.E!

We LOVE you, our sweet little Baby K!!!!!