BUSY WEEK

It's been a busy week.  Especially since the dishwasher quit working!!!  And since Russell didn't quit working.  A water pipe 8 feet underground broke!  It took two very long days to dig down that far and fix it!!!  And the coal boiler went down two nights this week (as usual) once at 4 a.m. and the other at 12:45a.m.  Oh for some sweet uninterrupted sleep!  But we did get the Christmas cards mailed out with lots of help from Cassie and Carrie. 

The fun busy thing we did this week was volunteering at the Salvation Army.  The girls and I worked in the Joy Shop for 4 hours on Wednesday then took a break for a LATE lunch.  After that Cassie & Carrie were bell ringers at the Mall, which gave me time to do a little more Christmas shopping!  The Joy Shop was a great experience, we would do it again.  In case you are wondering what it is let me explain.

You know the Angel Trees in Wal-mart, etc..  The gifts that people purchase are brought to the Salvation Army.  Then a group of volunteers organizes all of them by size, type, etc in a large gymnasium set up sort of like a "shop".  Then parents in the community who would have nothing else, are invited in to go shopping for their children.  We escort them through the "shop" and help them find what they need for their kids.  The joy on some of the faces was very rewarding!!! 

One section in the "shop" had used toys donated from the community.  There were some very nice bikes and other toys, and some JUNK!  It was appalling to see that some people actually donated stuff that was only worth throwing away.  WHY?! 

Another neat happening with our adoption is that we have connected with a family who adopted Kidane's very close friend  back in July.  They have been over in Ethiopia and met Kidane.  They have shared some pictures with us.  It was so exciting!  It made me feel even closer and even more impatient to bring my little boy home!!!  We plan to get the boys together by phone, skype, something....  They have a shared experience being from the same orphanage and are like brothers.  So now we have some new relatives!

And the wait goes on......

More Reading

Well, I haven't posted much lately.  We are just waiting, waiting, waiting.  But then I realized we have a lot to do!  We are going to redo the kids bedrooms, right now our girls each have their own room.  They are going to share the larger bedroom.  Kidane will have the other bedroom which currently has lavender walls, dainty purple curtains, butterflies, etc... you get the idea.  Also, I have been researching on google for Ethiopian recipes.  I am going to experiment with making Injera (a bread).  But first I have to find the grain/flour.  It is made by Bob's Red Mill, the grain is Teff.

We are still working on Amharic words, progress is VERY SLOW!  Carrie, our youngest seems to do the best with the words.  Oh, to be 12 and feel like you can do anything and really you can!  (Philippians 4:13).

Yesterday I received an email with a little 55 page document attached!!!  These instructions are to prepare us for  travel and for what to expect while over there.  I thought we were done with all the homework!  There is always more....  but when we stop learning we stop growing....  I know we have so much more to learn.
Dear Lord, We can't do this without you.  Please give us your strength, your wisdom, your patience and most of all your love.  We can't wait to hold your precious child, Kidane, thank you for giving him to us.  Amen

I am so thankful for the supportive friends & family we have.  We couldn't have come this far without your encouragement!