The night before EVERYTHING changes....

Tomorrow we board the plane for Africa! At long last.

I am looking forward to the long flight with 22 hours of NO TO DO LIST, and books, snoozing...praying....:)

Such a blessing that my eldest, Nick, gets to go with me and have his 12th birthday in Ethiopia.

I wonder if Hiywat (Seen it spelled many ways)....Olivia.... knows we are coming...or will Tuesday am be a big surprize for her?

Would you pray for our safe journey? For SMOOOOTH final paperwork with no issues? For safety abroad, for our meeting with Olivia....for my children and pets staying home, my parents......all of it.

I have a friend helping to post, hopefully, when I send her update by email..... so stay tuned!

Blessings to all who have walked this journey with us in prayers and tears. I know you are out there.

One day closer to you.....

7 to go!

Things are coming together, all the puzzle pieces are lining up....

all the work tasks, and school tasks, and home tasks, and pre-travel tasks are all getting done.

It is ALMOST "get excited" time.... :)

What should I do in Washington DC with an 8 hour layover on the way home?

Any suggestions?

11 days and counting......

Things are progressing. Ticket bought, hotel booked, Olivia's clothes packed, books,...

Arrangements for my kids staying here made.....

I have been working working working, to hand my work over to a back-up while I am out ALL SUMMER.

That, plus the end of school with all the extra field trips, awards assemblies, kindergarten graduation, teacher's gifts, piano recital, concerts....

Whew!!! I will be GLAD to be on a plane for 6, then 16 hours just to rest and read!!! Looking forward to it. I might even bring a NOVEL! lol.

Can you believe after so long, the time is just around the corner to actually bring Olivia home? And to experience Ethiopia???!!! I am so excited..and so blessed that my son Nick, gets to come with me. What a time we will have.

Please pray for our journey, my kids (and pets) at home, my mom who worries about us :), and our Olivia Hiywat.

Just 11 days.

Gonna GO Get my Girl!!!

At last....a travel date! My embassy date is June 3 (which is also my Nicholas' 12th b-day) and Nick and I will be leaving for Ethiopia on May 29th!!

At last, at last ...our turn to go!

Beautiful Beads...and a momma's hope.

So how quickly can you blow through $18? Seriously....five latte's or less..... not even a night at the movies with my kids.... maybe a Mcdonald's drive through run....

Well first....Read Katies blog Here (you MUST read it) I found out about these lovely beads..... Made by momma's in Africa to help feed their children........ Aren't they lovely??!!

And they are made from Magazines! Really! I just bought 10....some for myself and some to give as gifts....

Would you consider it? And help a momma far away!

Check them out here: http://147millionorphans.com/uganda-necklaces/ugandan-magazine-beads

Hiywot

I found out today....my "Mame's" name on her birth certificate is spelled

Hiywot

Not sure how you pronounce it. I have been told that it means "life", which I am confirming that and the pronunciation.

We have thought of her as "Olivia Mame" for so long...this will be a mental change.

I have been told that many of the older girls being adopted want an "American" name too. So we will see her choice....

If she wants to be "Olivia Hiywot" or Mame, or Hiywot Mame or ?

How much notice?

I heard from someone else today of a family that got one weeks notice before travel for them embassy date..... EEEEEK! I guess I better just get ready and start ordering those hair products!!

I need to have plans set up for each week it could possibly be!

Can you believe I am really at this stage????!!!

I can't!

Planning for school.....

I am so excited, after all the wait, to think about Mame getting to go to Summit school with her new brothers and sisters in the fall. One of the teachers, is also an ESL teacher, and we are meeting next week to put together a summer plan for Mame....that I can do at home and help her be ready for the fall.

And then, when she starts school this fall, this same, wonderful teacher, is going to help and put together a program for her, depending on where she is and how much she has learned.

What a blessing.

These are pictures of Mame and her "school" time at the orphanage. I can see they learned a little English alphabet and some words....I cannot wait to talk to her face to face...or at least try. It is happy/sad to think that all the other children in these photos are home with their new families....while Mame has waited and waited.

BUT...her wait will be over soon.

Pictures during the wait....

Todays picture comes from April 2009. Not normally in a dress, I am assuming this came in some donations....

My lovely daughter....

If a picture tells a 1000 words......

Then what does a 1000 pictures tell?



lol. Well, not quite a thousand.



But in waiting two years for Mame....I have collected quite a few photos....about a year ago, I counted them ...and I had 400...and I have some new ones since then of course! I have made her a scrapbook, that is up to 99 pages already...and I have to finish...before I go.

So I thought over the next two months...as I wait to travel, I will share of those pictures. And all those traveling families, who have gone before, you will recognize your photography. Thank you!








Today's favorite...Mame and her girlfriends....who have been home in the States for quite a while.

Finally, my daughter....

The journey of a 1000 days.....

......well actually 748! :)

Announcing my daughter:

Olivia Hiwot (Hewot?) "Mame"

as of APRIL 13th!

(I passed court 9 days ago, but no one told me..)

Jehovah be praised.....

watching the.....

tick tock tick tock tick tock....

(one burden lifted, I was worrying last night about funds for the trip...and time off work, and I had forgotten about some stock I had. ;) Cashed in enough for the trip and time off. what a blessing.....God provides!)

tick tock tick tock tick tock...

The week that changed our lives....perhaps....

There are some weeks....days..moments...that we hold our breath, as we realize...life will never be the same.

I don't know if this will be one of those weeks.....I have had four or five of them in my lifetime.....

hoping it will.....

waiting.....

Where the rubber meets the road.....

feeling anxious....

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Phil 4:6,7

Counter's back up....9 days.....

Maybe the news on April 22nd will be an early birthday present.....

Did not pass....

I did not pass court. MOWA, who has to show up with their approval form...did not show up. My next (5th) court date is April 22.

Two nights.....

Just two nights.....two more nights....until I know. ..... For the first time this afternoon, it started to hit me... that maybe, this time, maybe it will happen. All the waiting will be over and I will be a new momma.....

Could it be? Wish it was tomorrow night already....

Numbers and dates

fourth court date, four days away

six to 8 weeks (if I pass) to embassy date

possible embassy dates every other Thursday: May 6, 20, June 3, June 17, July 1 July

7 weeks would be June 3rd.... my Nicholas' 12th birthday!

When will it be? It seems too.....unreal and scary that I might, after two years, actually be making a trip to Ethiopia....

To be honest...I feel nothing right now. I know, if I pass, I will be in tears and estatic..... I know if I don't, I will continue feeling nothing..... But I don't feel nervous or weary, or hopeful....odd.

Now wait and talk to me Monday night! lol.

Counting down....

9 days until court.... I wonder if this will be the magic one...

It almost scares me....

Eeeek.... after waiting so long.

Those who read and pray....pray not just that we will pass court, but that the timing of the embassy appointment and logistics for my children staying at home will reveal themselves. At the minute I have no clue how that will work out....let alone be good for everyone.

But God does.

I have a date!

A court date, that is....for "Olivia" "Mame" Hiwot!

Yippeeeeee!!!!!

April 13th!

Maybe this fourth time is the charm! It will be a year and almost two months since our last (third) court date!!!


AND...I do not have to travel twice! What a blessing!!!!