It's a "No Go"

This is an email another member of our group received today (wishing we had heard something as well - we've been sitting here all day waiting to hear some news):

We just spoke to the team in Ethiopia, who had a meeting with the US Embassy today. They discussed the extended time frame it was taking the US Embassy to issue invitations for Embassy appointments to families. It was a very positive meeting, with the US Embassy being complimentary about our Lifebooks and desire to complete ethical, transparent adoptions.

They did indicate, however, that we should no longer rely on them taking only 1 - 1 1/2 weeks to review
cases after submission (our team in Ethiopia currently submits the case at least two weeks prior to the family's
intended Embassy date, as soon as they have the required paperwork (birth certificate, passport, etc.) in order to do so). The Embassy could not provide a specific time frame that their review would take, but families would need to, instead, wait until our staff received the "okay" for the
family to travel before starting to plan for a specific Embassy date.

Please inform your families that we do not, at this time, expect that they will be able to travel for the Jan. 4 Embassy date, as we do not know when the Embassy will issue this "okay" to travel. The US Embassy is closely reviewing each child's documents, which takes time. The US Embassy pointed out that this is in the child and the family's best interest to ensure that ethical adoptions are being completed.

God only gives us what we can handle

I'm trying to believe in this as I sit in my cubicle at work stalking my email waiting for some news.  We would be at the airport at this time tomorrow.  I can't believe we don't know yet.  Trying to have faith that it will all work out............

Is this labor?

Okay, since I've had a baby before, I know this isn't what labor is really like but waiting to find out if we can leave yet 45 hours from now to bring our son home is similar to labor pains!  I'm feeling sweaty, nauseous, shaky, nervous, anxious and have no question that an epidural would help make the "pain" go away right now.  I remember counting my contractions on a newspaper the night before I had Kendal and I think that counting down the clock until tomorrow morning when we "may" find out if we can get our son is similar.  It hurts more and more the closer it gets.  "H" we are coming, we promise.  Trying to remember scripture that reminds us that things are in God's hands and that He has a plan for us. 

Wanting to Cry

We have been "patiently" waiting to hear if we have been invited to come to Ethiopia to the Embassy date on January 4th.  We would leave on Wednesday around noon from Grand Rapids (along with a few other couples in the same boat).  We were told we would get word today and no word.  A representative from the Bethany office in Ethiopia is meeting with the Embassy tomorrow to see why there is a delay.  All of the couples from Bethany have not been invited.........We are really struggling to deal with this.  We have plans for Kendal and Remington and now we may have to change all that.  No one has any answers and it's so frustrating.  I can't imagine not having our little boy any longer.  Now that we are this close, it's so much harder to wait.  So, we may get some great news tomorrow (there has not been any timeframe this short by the way) or we may have to wait who knows how long to get our son.  Please pray that we can all travel on Wednesday to get our children. 

Great News

We received an email today giving us an unofficial embassy date for January 4th!  We would leave on December 29th and return Janurary 7th!  January 7th happens to be Ethiopian Christmas.  Wouldn't this be the best Christmas present ever?  We're still trying to grasp the fact that we would leave so soon.  We are still trying to get used to the time change!  I do have the babies suitcase packed mostly already.  If anyone can think of anything really cool that a one-year old can play with that is quiet, let us know.  We have a long trip home.  So excited.  Can't believe he could be home so soon!  The last two weeks flew by so these next two weeks will be nothing.  Baby "H" will be HOME soon!!!

Happy Birthday "H"

Today is his first birthday.  Definitely bittersweet.  We can't be with him but we know he is taken care of and is a healthy, happy baby.  He did officially become our son last Friday, December 3rd.  This was a very emotional day.  Waiting for the judge seemed like an eternity, especially for my stomach.  She asked us seven questions which all of our answers were, "yes" and then she said, "He is yours."  The best three words I think I've ever heard.  We have been on this journey with six other couples and it was such a blessing to have this connection.  We should travel again in about six weeks to get him.  We are waiting for his birth certificate and passport to be processed.  When we return we will be there from a Thursday to Thursday (along with travel).  We will travel to Awassa to hopefully meet his mother.  This will be an emotional trip for sure.  We want to go there anyways to see where he is from.  The big city of Addis doesn't give a picture of the whole country.  We then will get him on the Monday and go to the US Embassy on Tuesday.  His paperwork should be processed then and be ready by Thursday and we will leave that Thursday night.  We will keep you updated on the progress of his paperwork.  Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!

Ethiopia

I hope this works. I tried to update the other day from my home email and it didnt work. Our son is the most beautiful gift ever. We got to spend about 2 1/2 hours with him the last two days. We have lot and lots of pics and video. He is such a good little boy. A lot of his personality reminds me of Kendal. We are loving this country.  It's obviously very different from the US but everyone is so laid back and wonderful. Everywhere we have been has been great. It's crazy just to see a cow walking down a busy street. The guest house we are staying in is very nice. The food is beter than we have at home. The noises are so different. At night we hear dogs, cows, Muslim chanting on a loud speaker. The smells are so different too. We got terrible news in the Chicago airport that no one going to court on Friday would pass. We all just sat there and didn't know what to think. It was due to licensing in some of the orphanages here. We got word today that one hour before our training at Bethany that the licenses were renewed! So hopefully tomorrow will go well at court and we will pass. He will then be officially our son.

We leave tomorrow!

We leave tomorrow to meet our little guy.  We're anxious about the trip itself but are so excited to finally meet him.  Thank you to our family who is taking care of Kendal while we are gone.  It makes it a lot easier knowing that she is being taken care of.  She knows all about both of our trips, so feel free to ask her.  She'll tell you all about it and her brother.  So, please pray for safe travels for us and that Hagirsa feels how much we love him.  We won't get to see him much on this trip but at least we get to hold him for a small amount of time.  Hopefully our court date passes and then he will be our "son" on December 3rd!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you

We just wanted to thank those of you who came to the pancake breakfast on Saturday.  We are so grateful for your donations and those of you who worked and helped to get it ready.  Thanks Kevin for making the slideshow for us.  It turned out beautifully.  Thanks to my mom, Kevin and Kendal for helping us set up the night before.  Thanks to Kris, Kevin, Pa Sills and Kreg's co-worker for cooking all morning.  The pancakes were good!  Thanks to the Veenstra family who did dishes and served food.  Thanks to Leslie for taking the donations. Thanks to lots of you who cleaned up as well and to Harderwyk Ministries who let us use the facility.  We made $99.00 for Yeselalem Minch Orphanage feeding program (through coffee sales) and lots of you brought items we can take directly to the orphanages next week.  We have the two suitcases of donations filled to the brim.  I'm buying a scale tonight so that we can get our 50 lbs worth of stuff in each suitcase!  Most importantly, thanks for all your prayers.  They have been answered by way of an 11 month old little boy.

By the way, "H" is feeling better!  Can't wait to see him soon.  We leave one week from today!

Please pray for H

We just got an email from Bethany yesterday saying that "H" is vomiting and has diarrhea.  They are giving him two kinds of medication.  Please pray that he will feel better very, very soon.

Eleven Months Old

Our little guy was eleven months old on Friday.  He weighs 15.5 pounds and his motor and gross skills are awesome and on target for his age.  We are so thankful for that.  We will get to see him almost a week before his birthday so I bought a bib on Saturday that says, "Birthday Boy."  I hope they let me put in on him for a photo op and to sing to him.  We leave two weeks from tomorrow to go meet the answers to our prayers!

Home Study and Ethiopian Update

We just had our last home study (prior to adoption) on Wednesday.  Everything went really well.  We had some questions answered about traveling and just got to talk a lot about our little boy.  One comment she made was that Ethiopia takes care of their children better than any other country they've worked with.  Kendal showed Belinda (our case worker) his room and told her how much she is going to help when he gets home.  Kendal can't wait to be a big sister.

Last night I met at Panera Bread with about 15 moms.  They either had their children home, had just gone to Ethiopia or had court dates like ourselves.  It was so nice to ge the "real" story about what will happen when we get there.  I got to see video of the orphanage where he is at.  One video had them all singing songs with the older kids in the orphanage leading the songs.  Even the babies were getting into it and clapping.  The kids all seemed so happy.  It's comforting that when we leave there in between the court date and embassy date, that he will be taken care of and is happy.  We also got to get the inside scoop as to what to bring with us.  Things I wouldn't have thought of like diaper bags (for us because you can't put anything down their toilets), nasal spray (because it's so dry), peanut butter and syrup (they love it and I guess it's really expensive there), and just lots of little things I wouldn't have thought to bring.  I'm so thankful to have the chance to talk with people who were JUST there!  They got to play and hold our little guy.  Okay, 24 days before we leave!!

New Pics and Great News

We had another couple that is adopting from Ethiopia graciously take pictures for us last week of him.  He is the sweetest thing.  Jennifer, the girl that took the pics, said that he is a "kind spirited little boy."  She said he is crawling and sits up on his own (almost).  She says he smiles all the time and is very curious about what everyone else is doing all the time.  His pictures look SO different. They do grow SO fast. His hair is grown out a bit.  It makes you realize how much you miss when they are little.  She said though that he is so loved there in his orphanage not only by the caretakers, but by the older kids in the orphanage and the future parents that come to visit the orphanage.

On another note, we received some great news about Kendal today.  In the midst of all of our adoption excitement, we have been worried that Kendal could have something serious.  We were referred to a pediatric surgeon and had the appt. this morning.  She has, "benign active lymph nodes" and they are not to worry about at all unless they get larger.  So, we are not only blessed with great news about our little boy but our little girl as well.  They are both angels and we are so incredibly blessed that they are both happy and healthy.  Praise, praise God.

Ethiopian Bethany Workers in Zeeland!!

So, tonight we got to meet people from Ethiopia that work for Bethany.  They were travelling to the US for some training and we had the opportunity to meet them before we MEET them!  The man in the picture will be our driver to the court appointment as well as our Embassy appointment.  We were able to meet social workers, a foster care worker and the director of Bethany in Ethiopia (and his wife).  Everyone was SO nice and so excited for us.  I also asked to make sure we were pronouncing our little guy's name correctly and we were! 

We also met a couple that will be in Ethiopia and has the same court date as us.  The most awesome thing that happened was that we met a couple who is leaving on Monday for Ethiopia.  Their son is in the same orphanage as ours.  They said they would take pictures and send them to us (we have to get some paperwork going for them to do that).  We are so excited to get some more info about our little guy!  He is now ten months old!! 

Ethiopia Here We Come!

Oh my gosh, we just found out tonight that we get to meet our son on December 1st!!  That is seven weeks away (51 days to be exact).  We are sooooo excited.  Our court date is December 3rd and if all the paperwork goes through, he will officially be our son on that day!  We are so thrilled to meet this little guy that we can hardly stand it.  If you've seen his pictures, you know what I mean! 

We will then have to come home and travel back to Ethiopia 1-2 months after the court date to pick him up and bring him HOME! 

We've gotten some questions about if we're bringing Kendal to Ethiopia and the answer is, "no."  We would love to take her but we don't want to have to worry about her and she's too young to really understand and remember what is going on.  She is so excited though.  Her prayer tonight  was that she hopes God brings Hagirsa to our house tomorrow.  

So please keep praying that he remains healthy and that we have safe travels to and from AFRICA!!  Can't wait!

Getting Closer to Court Date

Our friends that submitted their dossier the same day as us and got a referral a few days prior to us, just got a court date for December 3rd!!  I am so hoping and praying we will hear soon.  His birthday is December 12th and we would LOVE to celebrate it with him.  Getting anxious to hear sooooooooooon!

Save the Date

We are going to be putting on a pancake breakfast on November 20th to raise money for our adoption and for the orphanage that our little guy is at.  It will be from 8-10 a.m. at Harderwyk Church in Holland (the main building).  We are going to try to get everyone to bring either a pair of new socks or undies (ages 0-10 years) for us to bring to the orphanage with us.  Kreg and I will each have a whole suitcase that we can fill with things to bring to them.  We already have some formula and clothes.  We would like to bring them something the kids can have that is new and a necessity.  If you think of anything else, please let us know.  We hope to see you there.  More info to come.......

Great News!

Two great things in one week!  Monday I got to work and found a screening and 10 PICTURES of our little guy!  He is seriously just the cutest thing you have ever seen.  Better than that, he is healthy!  There was nothing in his report that we should be concerned about at all.  We had sent him a picture book with all of our pictures in it (Kendal, us, grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.) and saw that in one of the pictures, he was playing with it.  So, he has sort of met us already!  Can't wait to hold him.  He looks so happy in his pictures and we are so thankful for that. 

I just got an email today stating that our dossier was sent to court in Ethiopia and that we should be getting a court date in November or December.  Wow, we get to meet him soon.

Orphanage

Found out through a couple of different people that our little guy is being well taken care of at the orphanage in Addis Ababa.  Each person has said that the orphanage is clean, lots of toys, and the caretakers are wonderful.  We are so blessed that he is there.  We haven't heard anything yet about our court date but we will post as soon as we know.  Hopefully we will hear soon.

Baby room is done!

Baby room is done. :)  We decided to move him upstairs to be closer to us.  All we had to do was paint the top blue.  I wasn't sure how that would go over with Kendal but she was so excited and couldn't wait to touch the dry paint.  Thank you Kendal for giving up a few things in your room to give to the baby too.

A little delay

We found out on Friday that the courts in Ethiopia are closed.  They closed Friday and then won't open again until Sept. 30th.  So, our paperwork won't start until then.  After the 30th, it will be about 2-3 months for us to travel the first time and then 1-2 months after that before we can bring him home.  He is such a pumpkin.  We did find out that we will get updates on how he is growing and new pictures of him every month.  His room is getting done.  The drywall is complete.  A guy I work with did it and it turned out nice and he gave us a great price on it.  Thanks Tom!  Now, we need floor and paint.  I ordered his bed set yesterday so we can get the paint once it arrives!  So excited!!!  I didn't think buying boy stuff would be so much fun!

Love at First Sight

He was definitely worth the wait!  We got a REFERRAL yesterday!  A little boy waiting for us in Ethopia.  He is a smiley, healthy baby.  He has been in the orphanage for about a month.  He is the cutest thing you have ever seen.  We would love to put his picture on here but we are not allowed to until we bring him home.  So, if you see me, ask for my new baby album which has one page filled in with his picture! 

Kendal is really excited.  She keeps calling him her "baby brother" instead of by his name (which is hard to pronounce).  She helped me go through her clothes already and get out anything that may fit him that was gender neutral - not much by the way.  I didn't realize how much PINK we have! 

We cannot be more excited.  We meet with our social worker on Friday to fill out some more paperwork and send him a small photo book of us so he can see who we are.  We will travel the first time in about three months to go to a court date and then see him in the orphanage.  That trip will be about 4-5 days long.  We can't actually take him out of there until the second visit which will be around 1-3 months after that.  Then, the little guy can come home with us. 

GOD IS SO GOOD!!!  Please pray for him that he has the best care possible and that he knows deep down that he has a family that loves him so much!  Thank you all for all of your prayers.  God was listening!

Construction

Construction started this week on the new baby room.  All we need now is a baby to put it in!  The dry wall is being finished today and next week it should really look different!  So excited!

Bummer

Wow, there are a lot of changes going on in the Ethiopian court system right now.  A new director means we need to redo some of our dossier paperwork with the old directors name on it.  We need to get it retyped, recertified and redone at the sec of states office in Grand Rapids and then taken personally over to the GR Bethany office.  Also, the court system takes a break for a month and a half in August.  They have also changed some info on if the birth certificates can still be used as passport and that their birth parents sign papers before the child is released (never done before).  So, lots of changes that will just take more time unfortunately.

GoJo Ethiopian Restaurant

Kreg and I are going to eat at GoJo Ethiopian Restaurant tonight for our 6th year anniversary!  I can't wait.  Last time we went, the food and environment was awesome!

Do you love coffee?

We just became a "coffee roaster" from a company called, "Just Love Coffee."  It is an organization that uses the proceeds to help an Ethiopian orphanage and families adopting (that's us) not just from Ethiopia, but from anywhere in the world.  The guy that started the company is a father of four children, two are adopted from Ethiopia.  He took his love of the coffee industry and love of his children and orphans and started this new company.  The coffee is purchased from high quality, Fair Trade, specialty coffees from all over the world.  So, check out our new website:  www.justlovecoffee.com/TheSills

Visiting Little Ethiopia in California

We stopped in Little Ethiopia on our way to Brandi's graduation.  Everything was still closed but we got to take some pictures.  I was really excited when everyone agreed to go back Saturday night for dinner.  We stopped at "Mercato Ethiopian Restaurant-Market."  I got a bracelet and a flag to bring home.  We stopped at another store and I got Kendal a T-shirt that has the Ethiopian alphabet on it.  We then went to dinner at "Little Ethiopia" Restaurant.  The food was awesome and it was fun having everyone use their hands without utensils to eat (they don't give you any).  Everyone loved the food which made me feel good that I brought them here.  Well, soon we will be going to the REAL Ethiopia but it was fun and memorable to get a little taste of it on our trip.

Little Ethiopia

My mom, sis, and I are going to California on Wednesday to see Brandi graduate.  We are so excited and proud of her.  One of the many places we will visit in the short three days we will be there is "Little Ethiopia" in LA.  Apparently, it has the highest population of Ethiopians in the world outside of Ethiopia!  I can't wait.  Here is a paragraph about it:

Little Ethiopia is located in the heart of Los Angeles and yet sprawl it does not. Even Washington D.C.'s acclaimed Adam's Morgan, the unofficial seat of Ethiopian diasporadom, cannot boast of having the same number and variety of businesses on a street less than a fifth of a mile (0.8 km) long. Fourteen Ethiopian-owned businesses - six restaurants, two travel agencies, two markets, one hair salon, one insurance company, one café and one boutique - flank Fairfax Avenue between Olympic Boulevard and Whitworth Drive. Three other Ethiopian businesses on Pico Boulevard - a restaurant, a printer and a grocery store - add to the tally. - Branna Mag - 2002.

Wait Time is LOWER!!

This is such great news.  It is confirmed that our wait time is now lower.  It was 12-15 months for a referral and now it is 6-12 months.  How awesome is that??  I told Kreg we need to get moving on our shots and our funds!!  We are so thrilled and excited that we may get to see our kiddo (s) sooner than expected.  Great, great news!!!

Mother-To-Be

Just got an unexpected present in the mail yesterday.  My friend, Toby, who has also adopted, sent me a shirt that says, "mother-to-be" in amharic.  Such a cool and thoughtful gift.  I was so excited to get it.  I can't wait to wear it and show it off!  We also found out today that the wait time for us may be a little bit shorter than the anticipated 13 months average.  We will find out more soon.  We have a seminar tonight that we are going to called, "The Chosen Family."  I'm looking forward to learning more about how we can be there for our little one (s). 

Down One Adoption Agency

Okay, I guess when it rains, it pours.  I was not aware that at the end of the year of 2009 that Bethany discontinued relations with one of the four adoption agencies in Ethiopia due to unethical practices.  So, there were three, then one got added, now back to three again.  I hope this journey doesn't have too many more major "downs" any time soon. 

Our New Favorite Word

The "word" that warms my heart the most right now is "ewedeshalo" which means, "I love you" in amharic.  Kendal will say it all the time because she knows I love to hear it.  She says it the most right before she goes to bed: "Ewedeshalo mama."    We can't wait to say it to my new little one (s) soon!

Tax Credit Extended

With the adoption of the new health care bill, the Federal Adoption Tax Credit was extended until the end of 2011 and it even increased by $1,000.  This will definitely help us in our journey. 
Also found out that we still will have to go to Ethiopia twice.  We did find out though that whatever the first court date is, is what we will need to attend (many court dates get changed many times for different reasons).  If it needed to be changed, we wouldn't have to keep coming back.  That's a blessing. 

Bad News

Our ride so far on this journey did seem a little too "easy."  We just found out that parents need to be present on their child's court date in Ethiopia as of April 9th.  Well, that would be us now.  I don't know how I could go there and then leave my child (let alone fly back and forth to Africa again).  So now we have so many things to think about.  Do we bring Kendal now and stay?  Do we come home?  I know that in hindsight, anything we are doing will be well worth it but this is hitting us like a bomb.  Without even bringing up too much about the obvious cost (plane, cost of living, missing work twice now) this is bad, bad news.  Please help pray that this too is happening for a good reason that we do not know yet and that our family will be able to handle this big change. 

Family Night

I can't believe I didn't put this on here earlier.  Two weeks ago we met with Ryan and Tami Beld who have adopted two children recently from Ethiopia.  Their names are Meselech, 10, and Bazuno (sp?), 4, who are the sweetest children you have ever seen.  The highlight of my night was when I asked Meselech to go through a book we got Kendal to learn Amharic.  We pronounce things so different here than there so I was interested in seeing how she pronounced words in the book.  She went through their whole alphabet, which is extremely difficult, and through the whole entire book with us.  She got to the last page and the last phrase was, "ewedeshalo" which means, "I love you" in amharic.  She started singing a song about it.  Ahh, so beautiful.  I almost cried.  She asked if she could teach us a game before we left.  It was just using rocks.  You throw them upand catch them and do all sorts of very quick things with them.  She was REALLY good at it.  Kreg was amused at me trying to attempt the same motions.  It made me think about what they have (or don't have) in Ethiopia - rocks.  That's about it.  I could tell she was so excited to show us though.  I can't wait to go get our little one (s).  God definitely has a plan for us and it is great.  I pray that we get a call that surprises us a lot sooner than we expect.  I also think that our child (ren) are alive right now and hope that they are being taken care of and loved.  They are at least thousands and thousands of miles away whether they know it or not.

Gojos Ethiopian Restaurant

We went out to eat with Tim and Sarah who are adopting from Ethiopia as well.  Our dossier's went to Ethiopia on the SAME day believe it or not and we didn't even know that.  The food was actually awesome and I would go back in a heartbeat.  The "injera" which is what makes up most of the Ethiopian diet was so good.  It makes me happy that I can eat the food there!  The food overall was spicy and flavorful.  So good.  The owner and his daughter of Gojos took our order, made the food and served us as well.  Such a cool place. Oh, by the way, you don't use utensils!  You take the injera and scoop up the food instead of using a fork.  I asked for a fork for my salad and got "booed."  I definitely recommend this restaurant if you're looking for something different.  Kid friendly too.

Go Ethiopia!

Good luck to Ethiopia's Robel Teklemariam, the one and only Ethiopian in the Vancouver Winter Olympics.  He is competing as a cross-country skier - yep, no snow in Ethiopia but he practices just outside the capital on roller skis.

Our Dossier was Sent to Ethiopia!

We just found out today that our dossier (all our paperwork) was sent to Ethiopia on Friday!  I was off on my timeline but I'm so glad I was wrong (for once).  Our "wait time" now starts............they estimate about 12-15 months for a referral and then 2-4 months before traveling to Ethiopia.  Everyone seems to think it will be a shorter time than that so we're praying that you're right!  We are so excited.

Thank the Lord!

Okay, for some reason our template got erased but now we're back in business.  This just made my day.  I thought I was going to have to start over!  We just met another couple last night who are adopting from Ethiopia, talked to a girl whose sister works there and know someone who is there right now!  The world is getting smaller and smaller.  Our friend, Jill, who is there right now, may possibly meet our child (ren).  They go to our church and her daughter is in Kendal's preschool class.   I know the Lord is watching over her while she's there to educate and be with the orphans in Ethiopia.  We will be there soon!

Does anyone know how to fix our blog??

I'm not sure what is going on with our blog.  It was working perfectly then all of a sudden the background is gone and the links and posts don't work.  Does anyone know why??  Help please!  :)

Dossier is IN!

Kreg and I got our fingerprints in the mail on Wednesday (early!!) so Friday I got them notarized, went to the Secretary of State and got 28 state seals put on our paperwork, went to kinkos to make four copies of our whole dossier and then over to corporate office to hand deliver everything. Our dossier is DONE!! This will be sent to the Ethiopian embassy then back to corporate and then to ETHIOPIA! It will take a few months but it's so relieving to have this paperwork done. Ahhh......

Great News!

I copy and pasted this memo from Bethany Christian Services about another adoption agency becoming available in Ethiopia. This will hopefully make our "wait time" shorter! How awesome is this!?!?

As we start the New Year, the Ethiopia team would like to acknowledge the Lord’s blessing during the past year. We would like to let you know that the Ethiopia program has expanded through our partnership with local agencies in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopia Country Director, Ato Mekonnen, signed an agreement with a reputable orphanage in November 2009. The orphanage is called Help for the Needy. Help for the Needy Development Association has branch offices throughout Ethiopia.