Oh no. 

The first court date didn’t go through. 

Our second court date is booked for January 28th.

One whole month more waiting to see if the girls become ours.

I am so disappointed and worried…

This is just not cool.

So our court date was today – and the day is long over in Ethiopia…

But no news YET.

But on the good side, I did get a great email from an online aquaintence who sent me a little note about the girls. It was a wonderful gift to get on such a nerve-wracking day.

We’re just back from Ethiopia and I wanted to let you know that we met K and S the other day! The twins are amazing.

I spent quite a bit of time with K. S was playing with another family. K is very sweet and a little shy. I was playing with some of the older kids and she came and observed us at first. After a little while she came closer. I was drawing pictures for the kids and she came over and held onto my pencil. She held on while I drew the pictures so that we were drawing together. So cute!!!!

I am very excited for you guys and I’m hoping for some very exciting court news for you today.

Please keep me posted!
All the best,  C

My parents have been visiting for the last few days and were trying to hang around long enough to share the up or down of the news.  But it’s been too long so they are on the road again…

From Melissa’s Blog…

The items I’ve done are in bold! Copy and paste this list to reflect your own experiences.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain (Mt Robson!)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (See #12)
20. Slept on an overnight train (See #91)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (Don’t tell!)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (See #12)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

These pictures were taken a week or so ago… we have even more snow now! Unheard of for Kelowna… not in recent history, anyway.

And to all a good night!

From the Rowan Family

Borrowing a line from a favorite movie… White Christmas… we should count our blessing each night instead of sheep.

Yet, I truly believe that happiness comes from a deeper conscious place than our blessing or lack of.  I’ve read several books on happiness over the last year – written by economists, psychiatrists and researchers.  (My favorite book on happiness I am rereading right now – the Art of Happiness by Howard Cutler and the Dalai Lama.)  All these sources agree that our conscious decisions to cultivate happiness through relationships, attitude and health are some of the most powerful influences on our mental/emotional state of happiness. 

I saw this video on Jaclyn’s blog and thought it very fitting for the season… a little note of grace in what can be a time of excess and focus on what we “have.”

To borrow another line… from the (financial planner!) David Bach – first we should focus on what we want to BE, then what we want to DO, and lastly, what we want to HAVE.

So…

Merry Christmas!

Happy Chanukah!

Joyous Kwanzaa!

and mostly:

Peace, Love and Joy to your families!

We were expecting an update from our adoption agency ‘before’ Christmas… photos and some information about the girls. But the agency closes today; and after a week of refreshing my email every hour or so, I decided I would call and see if we were getting an update after all.

Nope.  Apparently email is down in Ethiopia – it does that sometimes.  So they haven’t received any pictures.  So they have nothing to send to us.

It’s nobody’s fault – except for perhaps Ethiopian Telekom’s! but it is SO disappointing.  My only real ‘grown-up Christmas wish’ was to have pictures of my girls.

The only tidbit we did get was new measurements – apparently sent before the email issues.  The girls are now up to a whopping 22.5 lbs and still 33 inches tall.  That’s actually pretty good, because they’ve gained 2 and 1 1/2 lbs respectively, since being in the agency’s care. 

So I guess I’ll just have to go on that.

PS: Our first court date is December 30… so please say a prayer, cross your fingers or vibe some karma our way…

A little Christmas present for those in waiting…

New (on my blog)

• Ready to pick up the twins
• The Dunham Family
• Delightful Mihret
• Journey to Ethiopia 2008
• Belane and He is Ours
• Our two little ones
• Adoption 2005
• Bringing home Zoie
• Journey to my daughter Ketema
• Getting Rylee Bona
• Meeting the Boys
• Welcome Home Twins
• We R Family
• Ty Comes Home
• Our Journey to Jonah
• Journey to Sadie Mitike

Others Previously Posted (but worth another look!)

• Journey to My Daughter
• Journey to Emmy
• Journey to Our Son
• Meeting Zia 
• And babies make 10
• Our Angel Astrid
• Bringing Home Girum
• Meeting Silas
• The Triplets
• Our First Year with Ava Sidisse
• Our two little ones
• Bade Family Adoption
• Yosef and Biniam
• Abi’s Journey
• Meeting Silas
• Forever Day
• Our Ethiopian Adoption – Delightful Mihret
• Bringing home Girum
• Happy Referral Day
• Picking Up Abi
• Happy Adoption Day
• Our Adoption Journey
• One Year Later
• Meeting Deacon
• The Miracle of Adoption
• Eva Adoption Video
• Half a World Away
• When Love Takes You In
• Meeting Robel
• Somewhere over the rainbow
• Lisa at the LIGA school
• No small feet
• Journey to Baby Jason

MANY MANY thanks to Allison, who is currently in Ethiopia picking up here little girl Ebba… she was able to visit the toddler home and wrote us this about our girls…

Your twins are THE CUTEST THINGS EVER!

They are in the toddler house, and they are faves with the staff, who say they are smart, obedient, sensitive.

They love to copy what the big kids are doing, and they took great pride in showing me their shoes!

Happy & outgoing – so wonderful!

As Jrock said “well, that update beats the heck out of just knowing their head circumferences!”

Not that head cuircumference isn’t good to know, BUT this is the first report we’ve had at all on our girls’ personalities – so it’s just like candy for us!

And I’m also glad to hear they like their shoes – because fashionistas are very welcome in this house! (Especialy when I get to buy clothes for them, lol.)

Oh, I can’t wait to see if any of the families in Ethiopia right now get some more pictures or observations for us – heaven!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Allison!

The other day I picked up a organizer case at the dollar store for all the girls combs and headbands and elastics.  I was showing them to Jrock last night and he said “what about beads?”

So we went to my friend Shelley’s hair care website, Sharuba, and picked out a whole bunch of snaps and beads, as well as a couple of beaders and a coil comb.  Shelley runs her store out of her home in Saskatchewan, and she is an invaluable resource for black kids hair care if you don’t live in a big city.  Kelowna is big enough that we can get hair products, but beads and snaps and kid-sized sleeping caps (oh, we got two of those as well) are a bit beyond what Kelowna has to offer.

ALL ETHIO PARENTS-TO-BE: NOTE! One of the coolest things on Shelley’s site are the home videos of her doing her girls’ hair.  They explain how to do box braids, coils, etc.  It’s really helpful if you don’t have the same type of hair as your kids.  Jrock was pretty interested in watching them, and was like “I can do that!”

Which is good.  Because there are TWO of them.  He will have to!

PS: We’re expecting an update sometime this week or early next week – I can’t wait to see the girls with 3 week-long hair! lol

Wondering what to give your favorite adopting parent for the holidays? (No – this is not a hint for my family! I already have one. )

I just got to read this book for the first time: Labours of Love – Canadian Talk About Adoption.  Deborah Brennan takes you on a tour across the country, and interviews all sorts of adoptive families.  She tells the stories of their adoptions, the relationships the kids and parents have with birth families, and shares all the joys along the way. 

It’s a great book! and has such a different tone, since she narrates each short story in the first person, and visits all the families in their homes.

One of my on-line friends Carrie is profiled in one of the first chapters, which is really neat too.

If you want to read it, either check it out at your local library – or you can get it from my on-line bookstore as well! Enjoy!

My friend L from across the lake had a small heart attack this week.  She thought she MIGHT be leaving before Christmas to go pick up her girls in Ethiopia. 

This was not planned – or rather, I should say – the timeline has been 4 weeks instead of the 2-6 months that we were expecting! As it turns out, she will be going after Christmas, after all.

But she is in a hurry to get a bunch of things done – and top of the priority list was to cook a bunch of Ethiopian food. She is adopting older girls (older than ours) and wants to have some comfort food ready for them in what will be surely a time of upheaval and change for them.

So this past week we spent one better part of a day making doro wat (chicken stew), key wat (beef stew), yataklete kilkil, (cauliflower veg stuff), and some red lentil stew.

Just to give you an idea for those of you who haven’t cooked Ethiopian, the food is basically is founded on two principles:

Onions. Lots of onions.                        And butter infused with berbere/spices.

For some of our great homemade Ethiopian recipes, just click here.  They are my sister and I’s and all of them work awesomely!

Speaking of the devil – guess who’s coming to our house next week to paint murals in the kids’ room?!? yipee!!

Ah, the clothes shopping for little girls.  It is just AWESOME, I have to tell you! 

And, it’s pretty addictive.  Today, Jrock examined the treasures laid out on the bed (and yes, these are just todays’ – remember I am shopping for two! – and shrugged and commented “you know, they aren’t going to arrive any faster if you buy more clothes, you know.”

True; true.  But it is TOO fun.  But this time I’m done.  I swear.  I even have tights now.  The only thing we are missing is footwear – and hopefully my friend will trace their feet when she goes to pick up her kids in  couple of weeks.  Then we’ll have some idea of the girls’ shoe size.

PS: Every one of these pieces of clothing, (except two shirts and the tights,) is second hand.  I LOVE second hand shops!  Recycling and fashion all-in-one!

My dad was in town visiting last weekend, and we decided to make a family day of it and went to get our Christmas tree.  We had a long debate about the good and bads of cultured vers wild trees, fertilized vers non-fertilized.  Only in our house.  And in the end, we ended up with a local Christmas tree, farmed locally, but nicely shaped so it was probably fertilized.  There you go.

Well, way to take the fun out it, e?!? Enough of the tree business – let’s get onto the Christmas part!

I tuned up the guitar for Dad and he strummed away… we drank hot chocolate and hung out in from of the tree and fireplace.  It doesn’t get much better than that

P.S. The picture of Jrock sweeping is because our dear puppy Luaghlin decided that he likes the taste of glass tree lights.  Yes, you read that right.  Luckily they weren’t plugged in when he crunched the first one!

What an amazing week it has been in our little Ethiopian adoption world!

• Sandi is preggers!
• My friend L from across the lake is off to pick up her girls in a few weeks! (We are madly cooking a big batch of Ethiopian food to freeze today!)
• And many of our on-line friends who got through court just a few weeks ago have their visas and citiznships processed – and are good to travel!

Congrats to everyone!

And the good news for us is that IF everything works out well with our first court date, we COULD be travelling at the beginning of February!!! Wouldn’t that be nice?  Now, let’s cross our fingers… X X