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.