More pictures....

Me with all my birr!!!




Pictures from my hotel room. If you could hear the sounds, you would hear dogs barking, people yelling, cars honking, and every once and awhile a whistle blowing....

Some pictures from the trip..

This is our huge plane. It was so big and really nice. Even had an upstairs!! Hopefully we have one like that on the way home so Durant can walk around.


This is me with Christi and Brian... A CWA couple.. we are waiting at the airport in Frankfurt!

Hi from Africa.... again....

I had a pretty good night's sleep last night! I'm really looking forward to going shopping in a few hours. We hired a really great driver and he will be picking us up at the Hilton at 11am! I have so much I want to buy!!! I can't wait.
Right now the weather is beautiful and cool. It's supposed to be sunny and 75 today!
The streets of Addis are very interesting. There are people everywhere. And the driving is insane!! Our driver had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting a herd of goats!! And people just dart out in traffic at any given moment!! I asked our driver if the driving every makes him get angry and he just laughed!!
The begging from people is very hard to handle. There are so many in need and these absolutely adorable children come up to your window wanting money and even start singing about Jesus. Little kids younger than carter, just walking around without shoes and with only a large man's t'shirt on. I couldn't handle it and started crying (doesn't help that I was very tired)!!! Not just because that is their life, but because there are so many people that I just can't help them all. It's hard to help some and not others. I'm going to try to help as many as I can with meal tickets and bars I hand out, but it hardly seems like it makes any difference.
My driver saw that I was crying and told the beggars to move away and he just kept saying that "You are very kind, you are very kind" But let me tell you, I don't feel kind at all. Not with a hotel room full of food, snacks, and so much clothes, things, Ipod, PSP, computer, that I just couldn't live without for 11 days. It's just very real and it makes you think about your own life. Not that we should all live without anything because these people do, but what are we going to do to help these people to not continue to live this way.......

1st Ethiopia meal

Okay Okay, so I had pizza!!! What can you say, are you really that surprised? It was really good though and I even have left-overs for lunch today!

We've arrived!

I want to say thank you to all my friends and family for the calls,
emails and gifts before I left. It was fun having the phone ring off the hook
and having many of you stop by with last minute gifts for me!! You didn't
need to do that, I feel so cared about and loved! Thank you for caring about
me so much!! I've enjoyed the special treats for the plane ride too from
many of you!! You all are so awesome!!

Well.... we made it!! It started a little rough, but ended up great! We
left our house at 5:30am on Tuesday May 29th. First flight from MSP to
Chicago O'Hare was quick and easy. Then the long waiting began. We waited in
O'hare for 8 hours. Finally able to board our plane, we found out we needed to
wait for 40 others, but after an hour of waiting, decided to leave without
them anyway. But the late start made us miss our connecting flight to Addis
Ababa. We ended up waiting for 13 hours in Frankfurt, Germany. But the
best part of the waiting was when Melissa and I left the airport and went
downtown Frankfurt. We got out in the sunshine and walked all over the
place. It was so fun!!! And very needed!!! And I got another stamp in
my passport!!!
So, after 48 long hours of traveling, we finally made it to Ethiopia!!!
The flights went really well and didn't seem too long at all. When I got to
the airport in Ethiopia, I found out that one of my bags (the one with all
my clothes) was still in Frankfurt!! I was like, seriously?? We were there
for 13 hours.. you'd think they would of had time to put it on the plane.
Anyway, without stressing too much, I had to leave the airport without
it. Good news is only a few hours later I got a call saying it was here. So
back to the airport to get my luggage. So now all is well with the world!
Our first day is coming to an end! It's been good so far. We haven't done
much today. Slept a little, emailed, relaxed. Tomorrow is a full day of
shopping, buying meal tickets to hand out, and buying more donations to deliver!!
Thanks for all your love and support! I'll write again soon.
Here is a picture of downtown Frankfurt......

The time has come

December 11th, 2006 Matt and I sent our application to CWA to begin the process of adopting a little boy from Ethiopia. Less then six months later, I am about to get on a plane and fly to Ethiopia to meet our little boy for the first time.
I can't believe that this part of my journey is almost over. And the next part is about to begin. Reflecting back on this adoption, I realize that Matt and I have gone through a lot. We've been challenged many times as to why we want to do this, why now, why Ethiopia, just why? We've had to fight for our family over and over again. But, it's okay. It's been really good for us. We know our family is so worth the fight. We will continue to fight for each other and our children always.
We know that this is what God wants for our lives and we are walking in His favor.
I know I've said this before, but thank you for all of your wonderful support and for your understanding of who we are and why we make the choices we make. We appreciate you all so much. Your love and kindness does not go unnoticed!!!
Thank you!!! Thank you!! Thank you!!
I'm off to get our little boy......

Some of you have been asking for specific prayer requests while I am gone so I thought I'd write a few down......

To stay healthy so I can be at my best for taking care of Durant

To stay safe during entire trip

For Ana to do okay being away from Mom overnight for the 1st time ever

For Carter to have a great time with Dad and Ana

For Matt and the kids to be safe

For no major illness or emergency to happen to my family while I'm gone

To stay healthy ( I put this twice cause I really don't want to get sick while there)

For Durant and the huge adjustment he'll be making

For Durant on the l..o...n...g plane ride home

Thank you so much everyone!! I really appreciate your prayers, concern, love, and support throughout these last 5 1/2 months!!!