The China EXPRESS - Adopting Sadie Zhi Xia

Almost home

2010-09-11T00:41:00.000-07:00

We have made it to The Beijing Airport (Starbucks of course)... and we
are ready for the 12 hour flight home.... Almost there!

2 More Days....

2010-09-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

I am missing my boys terribly....so ready to come home!

We are having a 'groundhogs day' today....we got all dressed up yesterday, the girls in their matching Chinese outfits (Sadie thought this was really cool) and took the taxi to the White Swan hotel to meet our group (it takes about 1/2 hour from the Navis' house) at 2:00 for our U.S. Consulate appointment. Only to find out that they forgot to tell us our appointment was the next day (today) since we were added to the group late. Lovely. We tried to shop around the island where the White Swan hotel is but all of the power was out so the stores had to close because it was too stifling hot without their air conditioning. We ended up going to a humongous shopping center that sold everything known to man. The girls had fun looking around.

When we skyped Cameron yesterday he told us he got a starting position on the 7th grade football team...center. We thought that was pretty cool!

We're off to the U.S. Consulate again looking not as nice as yesterday:)

Chinese Massage

2010-09-06T21:16:00.001-07:00

Okay, so Dave took Troy and I to the infamous Chinese massage place last night! Joani and Cindy had told us about this place. I was laughing sooooo hard throughout the whole hour ordeal. My massage dude must have thought I was a real nut job. So it's called the traditional Chinese foot massage......Yes, the feet were included as well as the rest of your entire body. One hour cost about $7.50. The picture we are posting is the guy sticking his knees in my back and lifting me into the air. I was crying in pain during half of it. I must say, they definitely knew what they were doing.

Once again, we were boiling up yesterday. We did touring in the morning of a museum then went to a park....both outdoor things you could really not even enjoy since all you could think of was jumping into a swimming pool. Sadie had her Visa photo and her TB test checked (negative as I posted yesterday) in the afternoon. The girls then went swimming when we got home. Sadie was dunking her head and cracking up! We've figured she gets really wild when she gets tired.....naps are a must!

I forgot to post that she is 35 1/2" tall and 23 lbs. A lot of people think she is 3 here. They also ALWAYS think Chloe and Marissa are twins (it is driving them crazy).

Whenever Sadie doesn't want us to do something (often) she says, "Beera". So funny. We now tell her Beera. She doesn't like that so much. She's repeating a lot of English words we say to her now.

A big difference between Ethiopia and China adopting a child is that in ET everyone would grab your child from you and love on them. Here, they are very friendly to your child but don't overstep their boundaries. Very interesting.

Troy just got home from walking to the store to buy watermelon (Sadie can single handedly eat an entire watermelon by herself each day). He is absolutely drenched in sweat from a short little walk. Ugh. We are going through sooooo much water here! I never thought I would long to see rain.....

We are having a very nice day hanging out at Dave and Darlene's house this morning doing nothing. Their I.E. (maid) gets here at noon so we'll head out then. I'm telling you, I need myself an I.E.! She makes their dinner, does their laundry and cleans their house. I just have a twinge of jealousy that I'll need to repent of!

Photos from Today

2010-09-05T06:46:00.001-07:00

Guangzhou

2010-09-05T06:02:00.001-07:00

Well, I know a lot of you heard but we had an 'exciting' couple of days yesterday and the day before yesterday. Our simple 1 hour flight from Nanchang to Guangzhou turned into a 20 hour ordeal. Let's just say lots of sitting around waiting, not understanding people speaking Mandarin, stuck in rooms filled with smoke until midnight with tired children. The plane couldn't land because of bad weather so we ended up flying to an unknown location and spending the night in a seedy motel after waiting around for 4 hours in a smoke infested airport room. We flew out the next morning. We couldn't figure out how to work the A/C so sweat to death in 100 degree plus rooms, sweating to death with only the clothes on our backs. They did hand out toothbrushes. The good news....we made it the next morning! Yeah. AND, they paid us about $30 each for our troubles. $200 yuan

The best news....as far as we can tell, Sadie DOES NOT have Tuberculosis because the test she had taken yesterday has not shown a reaction. She gets it officially checked tomorrow but I definitely know enough about TB tests to read them! Praise the Lord, thank you to those of you who have been praying.

Sadie got her first pair of squeaker shoes today. For those of you who don't know, China sells these darling little shoes that squeak when the kids walk for about $5. She wanted to put them on right away and continued to walk/squeak around for the next half hour. It's tough to get her out of her stroller (she loves it) but the shoes definitely did the trick! So cute!

Sadie had another new first today....Dave and Darlene have a pool at their apartment complex so the girls were dying to go swimming (you did NOT have to wear a swim cap at their pool). We decided to put Sadie's swim suit on just in case she decided she wanted to try. Since she is DEATHLY afraid of the bath tub, we did not think there was any chance she would actually do it. Well, those big sisters were having so darn much fun, she just couldn't resist. So daddy got in first then slowly over the course of time, lowered her in inch by inch and before she knew it, she was all the way in, splashing around, kicking her legs, and sticking her mouth in blowing bubbles!!!!!! We were in awe! She had sooooooooo much fun!

We bought a few cheepows (I spelled that all wrong)..the little Chinese outfits for Sadie today. Joani stressed me out telling me I need one for each year of her entire life....I thought maybe a few would do. The bargaining with these people is absolutely exhausting! The place we shopped was Shaiman Island where the famous 'White Swan' hotel is with the red couch.

We went with Dave and Darlene to a fun Vietnamese restaurant for lunch. We had a great time! It is so nice to be at their house instead of a hotel. They are so hospitable and gracious to us who they don't even know!

When we talked with Bryce this morning, he told me he threw up at school on Friday and Pop had to come and get him.....my poor liitle guy. He has his first loose tooth that looks like it will fall out any second! It looks like mommy has to miss another one of Bryce's firsts! I told him NOT to wiggle it.

Photos from Today

2010-09-02T00:34:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos from today, along with the "toilet" shot from Tienanmen Square (you'll have to ask Marissa about this).

Nanchang

2010-09-01T22:58:00.001-07:00

Well, we are feeling done with hotel life and are excited to get to stay with the Navis's in Guangzhou starting tomorrow evening; it is a 1 1/2 hour plane ride. We are tired of buffets (except Marissa), tired of smoke smell, tired of Chinese people pushing past us onto the elevator, tired of doing sink laundry, tired of Chinese men gawking at the girls and tired of concrete for beds!

We went to a place to buy porcelain yesterday since Nanchang (Sadie's province) is most known for their porcelain. We bought her a beautiful tea set we plan to give her when she's 18. We are trying to buy her 16 gifts in China to give to her each 'gotcha day' until she's 18. I'm up to 10....6 more to go.

Gramma Sandee gave the girls $20 to spend in China so they had fun converting their money to Yuan and buying things here. They have each bought a Chinese fan and a battery operated fan because we are SOOOO hot all of the time!

We went to the Nanchang zoo today. It was one of those super inhumane zoos where the animals all looked a bit sick. What was nice was that there were NO people there! First place in China we've been that wasn't packed to the gills. Marissa got to see a panda bear so all was well! Sadie loooooooved the zoo. She SQUEALED with excitement at each animal! When we would get too close to the animals, she would cry. It was a love hate thing. We bought her bubbles and she shrieked as she would try to catch them.....she had all the fun for all the kids that went. The other little girls didn't have so much fun. They are still very sullen and cry a lot. The one little girl who is blind moans and cries all day long. It is absolutely tear jerking to listen to. All she does at the hotel is wander the halls with her mommy or daddy looking for a way out. So hard to watch. Her name is Eva. Please pray for precious Eva.

Sadie LOVED talking to Lukie on skype! She thought he was a crack up! She reminds me of Luke in that she waves at EVERYONE (there are a lot of people to wave at in China).

The girls and I walked to a grocery store last night to get some batteries and pick up something for dinner. We found something that looked like chicken so we confirmed about 10 times with the guy who spoke no English 'chicken' (we have been warned that you never know what it might be...aka dog). Most of the time we eat at fast food or the hotel but we are so bored with both of those. Sadie is obviously not used to the food she's been eating because she has diarrhea.

I went to go use the treadmill in the hotel gym this morning but someone had decided to use it for a smoking room so the stench made me stop.

We got a scanned copy of the note that Sadie's mom left with her when she abandoned her at the orphanage when she was 8 days old. I read that at her orphanage, there is a big gate that cars/people go through then there is a tiny little gate for people to leave their abandoned babies at. When they leave the babies, there is a pad of paper/pen and firecrackers sitting there to light so that someone knows to come and get the baby. Quite a process, huh?

My parents sent us pictures of the boys' first day of school. We were cracking up at Luke's because all of his classmates look like his caretakers because they are so tall and he is so short! Apparently he cried when my dad took him this morning.

We met a guy yesterday who is here by himself adopting a 3 year old because his wife caught something soon before they were supposed to leave and couldn't travel. He was telling us that the little girl they adopted (Quinn) was their second referral because 4 weeks before they were supposed to travel to get their first little girl, she got pneumonia and died. He was getting choked up just talking about it. Heart breaking. There just seems to be little value of human life here.

Day 5 - Recap

2010-08-31T15:11:00.001-07:00

Nanchang is SOOOOO hot. It is suffocating. We are doing a tour of her province today. It is known for its porcelain.

It was the absolute cutest thing you could ever lay your eyes upon yesterday.....Troy got out the laptop to play a movie for the girls. He put the laptop on the bed and Sadie jumped up on the bed and started shrieking in excitement. She got in between the two girls and by her own free will THREW her arms around the girls with the hugest smile on her face. We took a picture and will attach. She definitely has her times of grieving as well. She will cry for periods of time that deep grieving cry. So sad but so necessary. You can tell that she spent a large amount of time in those exercausers with wheels. She doesn't have a lot of muscle tone and falls quite a bit. She's been eating A LOT! She uses a spoon perfectly. To get her to sleep at bed or a nap, I will lay her in the crib and she'll cry for a few minutes then I pat her chest for about 5 minutes and she's out. Little sweet pea.

Our guide in Beijing talked quite a bit about the Family Plan in China. We've heard such conflicting things in the past. They are asked to have only one child. If they have more than one, they must pay a fine. Many times the fine is up to more than 10 times their annual salary (obviously impossible to pay). In many of these cases they will not register the child therefore the child does not receive citizenship. Without citizenship, you have no access to doctors. This is why a lot of times kids with special needs are given up. Apparently they are doing a census this year to try to figure out just how many people live in CHina....they really have no idea because of so many hidden kids. CRAZY. We were reading the China Daily newspaper and a teeny tiny article talked about a family who brought their seriously ill child to the hospital, they depleted their savings then had to abandon the child in hopes that the hospital would take care of him. They returned some time period later to find out the hospital let the child die. They then got arrested for child abandonment. Heart wrenching. So much to pray for.

One funny thing....Marissa used a squatter toilet! Most bathrooms have 2 or so normal toilets and the rest squatter toilets (a toilet level with the ground). At one point, Marissa had to go to the bathroom really bad and the bathroom had no real toilets. So funny! I'm a little upset with Joani that she didn't warn me that China is a byotp (bring your own toilet paper) country. I felt very clueless the first time we went to a bathroom and there was NO toilet paper! We learned quickly to carry a role with us.

Nanchang is worse than Beijing as far as the roads. There appears to be no system whatsoever on the roads....massive chaos and confusion. They don't even drive on a particular side of the street. The open road is yours to be maneuvered however you like. SOOOOOOO scary! We came head on with a bus and had to violently slam on the breaks with a near miss all while not wearing seat belts.

The girls are refusing to go in the pool in China because you have to wear swim caps. We went to a Walmart yesterday (wow, what an experience!) but they still didn't want me to get them a swim cap!

Sadie can't wait to meet you all:)

Day 4 - Continued (From Heather)

2010-08-30T18:53:00.001-07:00

Monday

Wow, we are feeling like the luckiest family in China! Sadie is doing awesome!!! She cried a little bit yesterday when we got her yesterday and had a deer in the headlights look about her the rest of the day. Since she woke up this morning, the girls have her laughing, saying words, playing ball. Her outgoing personality is coming out for sure! The two other little two year old girls who were adopted are not fairing as well. They want to borrow Marissa and Chloe:) She still wants to be held by Mama. She is an absolute princess! She is very tall and very skinny. She just fits in the 2T footed pajamas. All the shoes we brought are too big (you were right Joani and Cindy!) We'll definitely be buying some squeaker shoes! She ate a TON this morning. She pooped and peed on the potty twice! If she doesn't want to do something, she violently shakes her head. She LOVES the stroller and asks to go in that. She has very dry skin (thank you for the Cetaphil tip Joani!) Her hair is very fine and thin. She slept all night but very fitfully (thrashing and moaning). It's so cute, she's telling people Ni How (hello in Mandarin). Did I mention she is precious? We have Skyped our whole family and she loves to watch them on the computer screen.

I think Troy talked about the Silk Market the other day but it is definitely worth repeating from my perspective. This place was the most amazing garage sale on steroids you have EVER seen! We bought North Face coats for the entire family.....and Troy bought suits. Our suitcases were absolutely busting at the seems! I have never laughed so hard watching Troy bargain with the people....they all spoke English. At one point they grabbed Marissa and began trying jeans on her. Marissa is laughing the whole time telling them "I don't need jeans" they kept telling her that didn't matter, you buy. Chloe would have kicked them if they pulled that on her! They were all beyond fascinated with the girls. They couldn't stop stroking Marissa's pony tails asking her if they 'natural'? They wanted to see pictures of our family so we were showing them then we were surrounded with a bunch of them looking at the pics. They kept insisting all those kids were not ours. Then we told them we were in China to adopt a little girl. They nearly hit the ground in astonishment. They kept saying, "Why you want baby from China?" I had a chance to share my faith so we told them that we were Christians and felt led by God to adopt. Then they said they knew we had good heart. It was fascinating to see their level of shock of a large family. I will write what we have learned about the China Family Plan in another blog. I hope the first day of school went well for all! I was so happy to hear it went well for Bryce, Luke and Cameron! Whew. We are off to a Chinese Wall Mart!

Day 4 - Nanchung - Hello Sadie! - GOTCHA DAY!

2010-08-30T05:19:00.001-07:00

Well, today was an amazing day. It started with an early morning flight to Nanchung from Beijing (about a 2 hour flight). After landing in Nanchung, our adoption agency picked us up and took us to the Galactic Hotel in downtown Nanchung (about a 1 hour drive). Sadie (and other adopted kids in our group) was already at the hotel waiting for us. We put our bags in our room and within 5 minutes we met her for the first time. What an amazing day that cannot be put into words. She is more precious than we could have ever imagined. She cried for the first two minutes of our initial meeting and then the confusion of what was happening sunk in. She is still a little unsure of mom and dad, however. After processing some paperwork with the China officials, we headed off to dinner at the hotel (Chinese buffet of course). Just before dinner, Chloe & Marissa had her laughing, giving "hi-fives", and speaking several words (her first English word was "mama"... utterly amazing. The girls push her around in her stroller endlessly and she does not want to get out. Heather put her down to sleep with out much fussing. I will quote Marissa: "This is the most amazing day of my life." Enough from me... I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The Beijing "silk shop"

2010-08-29T05:00:00.001-07:00

We had to make one more post of the rent "purchases" from the Beijing Silk shop (the ultimate Chinese bargain Betty's). This place is several story's of hundreds and hundreds of vendors selling everything we buy in the US for a fraction of the price. Heather put her negotiating skills to the limit. But I think the Chinese have mastered negotiation.

We are off to Nanchang early in the AM to meet Sadie.

Days 1, 2 and 3

2010-08-29T00:29:00.001-07:00

This is Heather's first post....not sure what Troy has written! We showed up at the airport at 2:00 since our flight was leaving at 4pm and went to our airline (Hainan) only to find out there was NO ONE in line! We found out the flight was LEAVING at 2pm...we freaked. God was in control however and the flight was delayed by 45 minutes....just enough time for us to RUN and make the flight. Poor Chloe was crying (actually, I was too). We are staying in a nice hotel in Beijing in kind of a funky part of town. The traffic here is OUT OF THIS WORLD. The number of people living in one city is mind boggling henceforth it is a very dirty city. Marissa's favorite part so far is the big breakfast buffet we have gotten each morning:) She is sad we are leaving tomorrow for Sadie's province and therefore leaving our breakfast buffet. The girls have been GREAT! Real troopers. We went to the Great Wall yesterday....it was very hot but we climbed up a huge amount of steps and they did great! These steps were so weird because one step would be a few inches tall and the next would be over 3 feet tall! It really tripped you up! It was an amazing experience. The girls and I checked out a Beijing supermarket....the stench was overwhelming and once again the number of people in one location was over the top. We had NO idea what we were buying but tried to buy a few snacks. We went to a fun acrobatic show the girls really liked. Troy's MAC power cord busted so he decided we would locate a Beijing MAC store so he could buy a new one....he was on a definite mission. Marissa took her first taxi ride and thought that was 'a hoot'. She told me Mimi taught her that word. We went to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City today. I was wishing they would have forbidden me to go to the Forbidden City. It was SOOOOOOOOOO hot! The girls and I were dying! I have never seen so many people in one location in my life. The girls have been like rock stars wherever we go. People keep asking if they can get their picture taken with them. Chloe FREAKED out the first time but is now getting used to it. Marissa just keeps smiling for the pictures:) The Chinese guide today told me....your daughters so lovely. It's hilarious. In our group there are 2 other little girls the same ages as our girls....very fun for them since we are with these people most of the trip. The girls are trying to squeeze homework in when they can. We get Sadie tomorrow at noon!!! Which would be 9pm Sunday night your time! We have a 2 and a half our flight to her province and will be traveling with 2 other families from our group. One last funny thing, we were buying a couple of souvenir books outside of the Forbidden City and later when we looked at the change the woman gave us back, it was Russian money! She totally scammed us! At least it was only for about $8 US!

The Great Wall

2010-08-28T05:05:00.001-07:00

We have arrived in China and made it to the Great Wall!

Shopping in Beijing

2010-08-27T01:09:00.001-07:00

The girls are loving the "shopping" in Beijing. Somehow, I think the venders have gotten the best of us!

Beijing

2010-08-26T02:57:00.001-07:00

After almost missing our flight (Heather will tell the full story
later) we are in Beijing!

Adoption Round 2 - Sadie Zhi Xia

2010-08-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

Updated Pictures

2009-08-24T21:34:00.001-07:00

The Fair and Camano

2009-08-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

Our family went to the fair on Friday. Luke loved looking at all of the animals...they are all "Annies"...the name of our cat. We didn't last long but it was a fun few hours.

We then took off for Camano Island for 2 nights. Luke slept pretty well there (we weren't sure if it was the smartest thing to take him). He LOVE LOVED the water and sand and gas (birds). This kid sure enjoys the outdoors. If he isn't outside, then he is standing at the window or door gazing out. He can usually get a brother or sister to oblige and take him out.

Cameron had an accident with a piece of drift wood impaling his calf while at Camano. We spent hours at Madrona with the doctor probing out pieces of drift wood on Sunday. It was so gross and he was in A LOT of pain. We felt so bad for him since he is out of football for a while. He's pretty depressed. The doctors are worried about infection so he has to sit with the leg propped up all the time.

Cameron is going to post some new pictures!

We have decided to home school Bryce for many reasons. We want Luke and Bryce to form a special bond since they are the closest in age, it will save us lots of money, he already knows how to read and write and do math, and he WANTS to be! He says he is the luckiest boy since he has Mrs. Muljat for a teacher! WOW.

Luke Update

2009-08-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, sometime last week, Luke was determined to have active TB (tuberculosis). He spent 2 nights in the hospital trying to get a sample from his gut of the 'bad bugs' (we heard today that it most likely did not work). We have spent hours on the phone with doctors and public health nurses and doctors trying to figure out the best way to treat him. It has been an exhausting 5 days. Once again, we have been ASSURED that Luke is NOT contagious in any way. Children are not transmitters of TB, adults are. Children are unable to cough deep enough down into their lungs to cough up any speutum besides, Luke has NO upper respiratory symptoms at all. You would never know this little boy had this slow growing bacteria inside of him. As we have been told, in children, tb can manifest itself in different parts of the body and come out all of a sudden as something big and bad which is why it is so important to treat it right away. Apparently, he was treated in Ethiopia but ineffectively...we just received records today. He started a 6 month drug treatment today, taking 4 different drugs on a daily basis then possibly reducing the number of drugs/treatments as time goes on depending how he reacts to them. The public health nurse is my new best friend since she comes on a daily basis to administer the medication. Our main prayers are that his body has not become immune to any of the drugs and that they can better figure out what type of TB it is so they can treat him most effectively.

The wonderful Sonlight women's prayer group gave him the most darling elephant quilt you have ever laid your eyes upon. He love loves it and enjoys pointing to each bright elephant. He brought that to the hospital and felt very loved. That was the most special present ever! June is quite the incredible quilter! We feel so blessed to have such an incredible group of women praying for him!

Day one at the hospital went relatively well all things considering then day 2 was HORRIBLE. When they tried to shove the feeding tube down his nose, he couldn't breathe for a bit then proceeded to throw up and cough up blood. He was quite traumatized (Troy and Luke). My wonderful husband spent both nights at the hospital with our precious little guy. We ended up refusing to do night number 3! I was having back issues from holding 26 pounds all the time when I haven't been used to it. The thought of a hospital bed was over the top.

On to more fun things....Luke is such a crack up! He is always looking for a laugh. Speaking of his laugh, it is this hilarious sinister little laugh that goes on and on. Lynda Burke prayed for a long laugh for Luke and boy did we get it! When we ask him to say 'mommy and daddy,' he'll say 'mommy and puppy' then he'll say 'daddy and puppy' then laugh hysterically. He love LOVES his daddy. When daddy gets home from work, he runs to him with arms up yelling 'daddy daddy' then he'll turn around and look at me and say, 'bye'. Really makes a mommy feel special. He loves for daddy to chase him around the couch then catch him and throw him into the air or onto the couch. Very fun to watch him laughing so much. When Cameron got home from football tonight, he ran up to Cameron with his arms out wanting a big hug. Cameron gave him about 25 hugs, he couldn't get enough. So sweet. He is still not calling the kids anything yet but definitely knows each of their names.

Luke can be a little spoiled pill sometimes and has had quite a few time outs for his tantrums. We figure in the orphanage, all of the little girls gave him what he wanted when he wanted it. So funny to think of a spoiled orphanage kid. He does NOT like his time outs and pretty much screams the whole time. Cameron gets VERY concerned that he won't like us. It's pretty funny. He's DEFINITELY two! He is extremely busy and into everything.

Cameron was asking if he himself was this much work when he was 2 and after I gave him a definite YES, he decided he would not be having children. After thinking for a bit, he changed his mind and said he would have children but his wife would have to take care of them. Oh dear. We have some work to do.

I think the hardest thing about having 5 children will be not forgetting one of them somewhere....seeing as that has almost happened a few times now!

We have so VERY much to be thankful for. Our little boy is HOME and can be treated in the U.S. and for his wonderful transition into our family. God is so good! Thank you for your continued prayers!

p.s. Troy is wondering if anyone can answer Marissa's question after going to the fair of, "What is the Bulls job again daddy?" Yikes.

More Pics

2009-08-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

A few more fun pictures!

Fun Pictures

2009-08-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!! Luke slept for 9 hours last night! We just saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

Funny enough, he told us "ca ca" (which means poop) yesterday and started pulling his overalls off. We helped him take his overalls off then he sat on the little potty and proceeded to poop. We are wondering if he is potty trained and we didn't know it.

Happy Birthday Luke!!!

2009-08-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

Today is Luke's 2nd birthday! He got to spend it at the doctor. He got a TB test and blood drawn to check for parasites....fun! The Myhre family brought him some very fun cupcakes that spelled out "Happy Birthday Luke." Fun Auntie Lynda (Burke) brought him some injera yesterday that he got last night and will have tonight as well. Bryce of all people loved injera. He asked if he could have it instead of fruit. We are going to try having him sleep in Bryce's room tonight. Bryce is very excited. Marissa is the best helper ever! I asked her today if she wanted to be homeschooled so she could be my special helper...she thought that was a great idea then Bryce and Chloe did too. Cameron made sure he was NOT included in that idea. Last night the kids thought Luke really needed to see "The Lion King"...he danced to the music. We decided he will definitely be the one with all the dance 'moves' in the family.

Day 3, Day 4, trip home and Days 1 and 2 at home

2009-08-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Day 3

We saw the Ethiopian doctor today….apparently he does not have scabies, he has some fungus rash. So much for self diagnosis! We met with Zelalem (director of Hosanna orphanage he spent 15 months at) today to learn more about Luke’s history. God is so good for providing such a resource for us! He really loved Luke, which makes us so happy! We learned he is from the Wolaita area in the town of Soddo. His uncle brought him to a missionary woman named Dr. Mary (she lives with the Wolaita people). She then brought him to a small Wolaita orphanage where he spent a few weeks then eventually he came to the orphanage in Hosanna. The Wolaita people are the largest of the Ethiopians. We asked what an average man’s height is and they said 1 meter 90 which Troy converted on the Ipod to 6’2”. The men are very big and strong which is why the Ethiopian government choose all of their soldiers from this tribe. Zelalem was quite sure Luke would be the star of the basketball team….we laughed and said….ooooh not in the U.S….maybe football! Luke apparently has the exact “look” of a true Wolaitu. He had a best friend at the orphanage named Bereket. Bereket was just adopted 2 weeks ago to a family in Boulder, CO. We are going to try to make contact with them so the boys could keep in contact. Luke and Bereket were the only 2 babies in the orphanage for a few months. We asked if Luke cried very much and he said only when he was hungry. We haven’t seen Luke cry yet from getting hurt…he is very tough and has a few orphanage battle wounds to prove it! We were very thankful to make contact with this man! Luke was very dear to him and we said we would send pictures.

In the evening, we went to the Thomas Center transitional house for a good-bye celebration. All of the kids sang lots of songs, danced and clapped. We drank pop, ate popcorn and some other Ethiopian snacks. The kids all loved having their pictures taken….it was so nice knowing all of the kids in this home had a family coming to get them soon. It was very sweet to watch. Abdissa (CHI director) then busted into an hour long sermon. It was a VERY nice sermon on faith but so unexpected on our part and difficult to sit through with a 2 year old! We then had a cake cutting ceremony with our family and the other CHI family and they gave us all Ethiopian outfits to put on and one for each child at home. Luke looked hilarious in his outfit! I couldn’t stop laughing (I’m sure that was highly inappropriate). By this point it was 8:00 at night and we were READY to head home but off we were to Hebur, an authentic Ethiopian restaurant with live dancing of 4 different Ethiopian tribes. It was a very cultural experience. I had dreaded this moment, having to Ethiopian food in front of Ethiopian people…..Abdissa helped us order our food. I picked at the meat unable to stomach any injera (their bread they eat with EVERYTHING). I fed most of my meal to Luke so it looked like I ate quite a bit. Now we were really ready to get home and into bed since the next night we would be leaving for AMERICA! Too bad my stomach felt like a fireball all night long from the little bit of meat I ate! Pepto Bismol didn’t even touch what Berr Berr (their spice on everything) did to me.

Day 4

Today we visited the AWOP orphanage Luke spent 4 ½ months at in Addis Ababa. WOW….what an experience. We pulled up and the van was surrounded by children all wanting to kiss and hug and hold Luke. He was a popular little guy…especially with the 8-10 year old little girl crowd. Now I see why the molluscum warts spread so rapidly on the face there….all the kissing! Since we had arrived in Addis Ababa, I had been on the hunt for the picture book we had shipped over to him. I had spent a lot of time making this for Luke and wanted to show him pictures of the family on our way home. No one knew where this picture book was so this was my last ditch effort to ask. I asked the orphanage director and he had no idea. A little 10 year old girl overheard me asking and said….picture book?....I know where is. She ran off up the stairs and brought back the picture book!!! We couldn’t believe it! She reminded me so much of my Chloe….always knowing what is going on and so aware of her surroundings. One little 2 or 3 year old girl followed us around with her arms up in the air just wanting to be held. She had so much sadness in her eyes, I am crying thinking about it. None of these kids had homes to go to. Troy and I took turns holding her (since the older girls still were mauling Luke). The kids were so dirty and grimy….heartbreaking. We just couldn’t believe this was the “nicer” orphanage! The poverty is devastating. They showed us where Luke slept…a tiny room with 4 cribs…his was small and pink! Bryce was horribly offended at this news!

We met a precious man named Bereket (not to be confused with best friend Bereket) who took us into his office and proceeded to tell us he was a Wolaitu and knew Luke’s relatives….they live way out in a remote Wailutu village. He exchanged emails with us and was SO proud of Luke and was so happy we were going to email him pictures. He thought Luke would return to Ethiopia one day and make his people proud. He promised to email pictures of Wailutu and was going to try to email pics of his relatives!!!! He confirmed that both Luke’s mom and dad were dead. WOW…what a gift!

Traveling Home

We got to the airport at 7:15 pm (day 4) and our plane was leaving at 10:30 pm. We hung out with 4 other families from the guest house that were also leaving that evening. One other family was on our flight to Amsterdam. Efa (sick little 9 pound 6 month old) was heading home also! He had switched formula to a hypoallergenic one and was doing much better…Praise God! They were heading straight to the emergency room at a Children’s hospital when they got home. The first leg of the trip was an absolute nightmare…Luke screaming non-stop. Diarrhea diapers. WOW….what a test. One gift was an Ethiopian young man sitting next to us….he was the baby whisperer! He whispered to Luke in Amharic and he would stop crying. He was a blessing yet at the same time, it is a horrible feeling watching some stranger be able to comfort your child and you can’t. Because of so many different factors, I cried silently the entire 25 hours of flying /layover time . I’m sure everyone around me thought I was an absolute psycho. On our second leg, Amsterdam to Seattle, we had the rudest flight attendants on the face of the earth. In my fragile condition, I was REALLY sobbing by this point. We decided it was racism….I thought it wouldn’t bother me to be a conspicuous family but I can say it HURT that these women were treating us so poorly for no reason at all. The only thing that helped was a dear woman sitting behind us who told me she was writing a letter to Northwest about the treatment we (and she) received from these awful people. Troy and Luke really bonded during this time since I was kind of uncapable of taking care of him in my condition. By the end of the flight, I was nauseous…thinking I was just overtired or something. I was sooooooo excited to get home to see my kids!!!

Troy’s dear parents picked us up from the airport…we breezed through customs/immigration. We had been warned that it could take up to 2 hours so that was nice! Luke loved sitting in his carseat and looking out the window…we had been nervous about the carseat situation since he had never been in one. He babbled all the way home! We were in awe that he never fell asleep. Troy and I were too tired to keep our eyes open but talked with his parents with them closed. It was so painful.

We had the most warm welcome home ever! We felt so loved! There were Ethiopian balloons, wonderful signs, floweres, a fabulous Ethiopia cake and my precious mom had the house sparkling clean and ORGANIZED….labels and all! Wow! Can I just say Luke is SO lucky to have the BEST brothers and sisters EVER! They just loved him up the moment they saw him. They love to show him new things, pick him up and just play with him! He is so used to older kids that none of it bothered him.

We figured out that we had grabbed the wrong suitcase in our overtired condition….turns out this poor man went on a cruise with no luggage! WE feel awful! Troy’s parents very kindly offered to remedy the situation the next day.

The kids and I gave Luke a bath….he loved that!

Day 1 at Home

OUCH…after being awake for 48 hours we were really wanting some sleep….not in the cards. He slept 4 hours. His diarrhea is getting worse. We’re old….wish I was 25 again. We are calling him “the Destructor”….he is into everything! The kids cleaned up after him at first but soon realized it was pointless. He is becoming afraid of his crib. He took a nap finally on our bed….it took A LOT to get him to sleep. We bought some lactose free milk and soy milk thinking maybe the milk was giving him the diarrhea. Neither seems to help…..excited to get to his doctor appointment on Monday. I am sick with the Ethiopian runs. Gross. We measured how tall Luke is on our official Muljat door jam. Bryce has grown 2 inches in 2 months! They all looked so tall when we got home! Bryce adores his Ethiopian outfit we brought him. He is asking if he can wear it to church. We said what the heck…go ahead. He is excited to match Luke. Bryce has expressed is disappointment….I didn’t know he would be so much like a baby!

Day 2 at Home

Luke slept 4 hours once again and now the diarrhea is intolerable. We are heading to the doctor today with a sample.

We are home from the doctor now and they almost put him in the hospital thinking E Coli. They decided not to because apparently the dangerous strain of E Coli that causes bloody diarrhea is a U.S. thing and the chances of him getting in 2 days of being here is so slim. Thank you Lord….that would have been such a set back for him attachment wise! They are culturing his stool and we have another appointment tomorrow. He is sleeping now……

Gotcha Day and Day 2

2009-08-05T23:49:00.000-07:00

Gotcha Day

Well, it was our day for no power today. Every other day we have no power because that’s what the government wants. We rode over to the Thomas Center transition home with Abdissa (the director of CHI). The pollution was THICK...you could taste it. We pulled in to the Thomas Center and had NO idea that Luke would be standing there waiting for us!!!! We didn’t have the video camera or camera ready or anything! We were stunned! It was very emotional seeing him standing there waiting for us with Abdissa’s wife (she runs the Thomas Center). There were no other families doing it, just us. He wasn’t too excited but let us hold him. We toured the Thomas Center....so hard to see so many orphans! We were stunned by how well behaved all the kids were. They had them separated out by age and they chanted WELCOME to us. It was sweet. We saw Luke’s crib (it’s only been his crib for a few weeks...we go to his previous orphanage on Thursday). Outside there were hundreds of little clothes drying EVERYWHERE (it was not raining).

We then left and went to the CHI headquarters to fill out paperwork. We were up in a room alone for a long time unsure what we were to do but we started getting to know our new son! Troy then left to fill out the paperwork and Luke and I stayed in that room. In that time I found out lots about him...he likes raisins (we soon learned he likes to eat ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING and a lot of it!!!)...he likes to color...he loves toy cars..he loves to go outside...he wears 18-24 month clothes. We were kind of thinking that maybe he didn’t utter any words or noises or anything then all of a sudden he copied me after he picked up something from the ground, “yucky”. I nearly fell over! After we left we took him to a few places and he napped in our arms. We took him to a little shop and the women working there were kissing and hugging him and wiping his boogars....Ethiopians LOVE their children. The women then asked what his name was and we said Mamoosh (his African name) they told us that WAS NOT a name that just meant ‘little boy’. We then said his American name was Luke and they were very dissatisfied with that and said we needed to name him Lazarus. Too funny. They then told us he looked African and not Ethiopian...whatever that means! When we took him home he really started copying us saying, “mommy, daddy, puppy and other funny things! It was so precious! He loved his first bath until he pooped in it.

It was bitter sweet today because one of the other families staying at the guest house got a 6 month old baby today and were told he was very sick and needed to go to the hospital. He weighs 9 pounds and is severely malnourished! We couldn’t sleep for a large chunk of the night and kept praying for little Efa.

Day 2

Luke only woke up once in the night and Troy patted his back for a while and he went back to sleep. There was thunder in the night that shook all of Ethiopia....I literally thought we were being bombed. Luke didn’t wake up! He does have a cough thing going and coughed for a couple hours in his sleep. He woke up happy and has been quite a kid today! Smiling (Yes Lynda and Tammy...smiling!!!...I found his tickle spot), chuckling and getting into 2 year old mischief. He loves to talk! I decided to try feeding him a bottle (older kid formula) before nap and bed and he LOVED it. He is very easy to put to bed. It was our embassy appointment today which went without a hitch. Another family in our guest home did not get their kids’ visas because they had a paper missing! We are praying for them! Little Efa continues to throw up and have diahrrhea and cries continually. We keep praying. They are next door to us so it should be a long night (we never sleep much anyway).

We met a man today that first was with Luke at his first orphanage and was with him for over a year. He told us he has pictures of Luke and his good buddy that go way back. WE were thrilled and are trying to figure out a way to meet with him. There appears to be some weirdness because he no longer works for CHI and Abdissa is acting weird about it. We are determined to meet with him though to get as much history as possible for Luke. We ate an Ethiopian lunch with the one other CHI family adopting this week. YUCK....I did my best to get some down. I also drank a tiny cup of coffee...since we were in Ethiopia and all. I found an Ethiopian nativity set I am so excited about...I had been searching for the past 2 days and no one even knew what I was talking about but I finally found a woman who knew! Luke has scabies (yum) and we applied the medicine head to toe. He is SO good about sitting still for stuff! We also put stuff on the molluscum warts on his face. He took another bath and was cracking up this time as he spilled water out of cups over his head....too cute. Our little boy is So precious...molluscum warts and all!

Travel to Ethiopia and Day 1

2009-08-02T21:37:00.000-07:00

Travel to Ethiopia and Day 1

Our Travel Day:

Our day started off challenging when our paid reservation for the shuttle to the airport was mysteriously lost. We ended up taking a taxi and after much haggling getting them to pay for it since they were the ones responsible for booking our reservation. When in line to get on the airplane, we met another couple who was adopting in Ethiopia who just so happened to be staying at the same place we were. It was so nice to have someone else going through the same thing just as lost as we were. The flight was great until we landed in Khartoum for refueling. A very large Ethiopian woman (I had no idea those words could go hand in hand...large and Ethiopian) voiced her deep concern to me that we were landing in Khartoum. Apparently there is much political unrest and a missing president and genocide, etc. I prayed much and before we knew it we were in Ethiopia. We had to wait for over 2 hours to get through the visa and immigration process. Lots of pushing and shoving! Our guest house picked us and our new adoption friends up at the airport (our new friends lost one of their pieces of luggage...another long wait). We arrived at our guest house at 10:30pm and they had dinner for us...cold noodles and some sauce. All of the meals have a certain spice called berr berr or something...I took a pepto bismol. We unpacked, tired to take a shower (no water, the power was out) and went to bed. Immediately mosquitoes were buzzing around us...we sprayed bug spray all over but trying to sleep was near impossible. Then “it” started, the Muslim mosque chanting at 4:40 am and the wild dogs singing along. UNFORTUNATELY my rainmaker broke while we were in Amsterdam...my lifesaver! Major bummer. Our guest house is behind a tall tin fence and barbed wire and has a gate with a man standing on watch. They assure us this is all unnecessary....The men working at the guest house are VERY sweet and very protective of us. One man, Akki, asked us right away if we were born again? We said yes and he said he was too. He said most Christians in Ethiopia are orthodox. He had MWS playing in the car, very cute!

Day 1 – In Addis Ababa

We went to church with a couple doing some mission work here. It was called International Evangelical Church and lots of missionaries go there and people all over the world. It was awesome! We loved singing VERY loudly to drown out all of that Mosque Muslim chanting and praying. While we were there, a MASSIVE downpour occurred. I could barely hear the pastor. I thought maybe we should evacuate but no one there even batted an eyelid. I sat next to an Ethiopian man who asked what brought us to Ethiopia, I told him we were adopting and he asked if we would adopt him also. This was the third man who asked us this since coming. Very sweet. Many have a deep desire to see “America.” After church we were bombarded with kids selling gum. Lots of kids on the streets EVERYWHERE standing there mostly or shining shoes or begging. Lots of moms holding babies coming up to the van asking for money to feed their baby. So hard to see. We are trying to go to a place today that sells meal tickets you can hand out to kids since you are not supposed to support the begging. In front of our guest house there are always random goats, 3 legged donkeys and lots of cows (not to mention cats and dogs). We went shopping and got our whole family Ethiopian outfits hoping to do a picture when we get home....Shona?:) A few families at our guest house received their kids today which was super/emotional and draining to watch! We are excited to meet our son!

Our time is up in Amsterdam

2009-07-31T12:03:00.001-07:00

Our time is up in Amsterdam, we are ready to leave everything it has to offer behind! We leave first thing in the morning for ET (we are 9 hours ahead of you). Troy has enjoyed sampling dutch food and beer....I on the other hand, stick to toasted cheese sandwiches and water (they always ask flat or bubbly?). We did as the Amsterdamians (I made up this word) do today....rode bikes all day. It was lots of fun! I can't believe we didn't get maimed by a moped, car or another bike. We learned there are 600,000 bikes in Amsterdam. We went to the Van Gogh museum yesterday. Here is a little tid bit....Van Gogh committed suicide when he was 37 years old. I myself was wondering if anyone had ever committed suicide from being in a museum too long (Troy did not appreciate that thought). Cracked myself up though. We also went to the Anne Frank museum today...that was quite interesting.

Here is a new photo from the Orphanage

2009-07-31T12:01:00.000-07:00

Grandma Sandee say's I look like an orphan from the movie "Annie". Cameron captioned this: "whistle while you work."

We have made it.... half way!

2009-07-30T01:04:00.000-07:00

We have made it half-way to Ethiopia....Amsterdam (Hamsterdam as Bryce calls it). We will spend 3 days in this historic (and quite interesting) Dutch city....it is NOT reminding us of Lynden!!! On Saturday, we will fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. There are bikes EVERYWHERE in Amsterdam! I saw the BEST red and white polka dotted bike with a basket of flowers on the front...so cute! We are going on a bike tour tomorrow. I thought the shopping would be better here. We are visiting some museums and doing a canal ride today. We slept for 14 hours yesterday.....

Off to Ehiopia!

2009-07-30T00:59:00.001-07:00

The Kids are excited!

2009-07-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

We asked each of the kids what they were most excited about bringing Luke home. Here are their answers:

Cameron (12) - "I am most exciting about everything and to see him in person."

Chloe (10) - "I am excited to play with play him because he is a baby. I want to hold him, if he's not too wiggly."

Marissa (8) - "I am excited to play with him and to give him a hug."

Bryce (5) - "I am most excited to see Luke and share my bunk bed."

Ethiopia Bound!

2009-07-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

Luke Uriah Mamush Muljat

2009-07-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

We have chosen Luke as our new son's name because he will bring light to our family and our community. Uriah is the name given to him by the missionary who found him in Sodo, Ethiopia. Mamush is his Ethiopian name given to him by his birth parents.

Luke 15:31 "My son, the father said, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours."