We're coming to get you Carys Tsehay!!!!!

Dear Miss Carys,
Early this morning (1:47am) we received the email from the embassy that our case has been cleared and we are free to go back to Ethiopia and bring YOU HOME!! I can't believe this day is here. You were 5 1/2 months old when we first met your sweet face through a photo. You are now 10 months old! Too long, however, we are beside ourselves with joy. Your absence has definitely made our hearts grow and we long to be with you. Can't wait for you to meet your sister and brothers! They have been talking about that day for a year and a half now. Aaahhhh, it's almost here! We're coming Carys, we're coming!
Love, Mommy & Daddy

***side note***We have yet to book our tickets- have been playing around with some on hold the past few days, but now just trying to find a 9 day stretch for Luke to leave his job is the challenge. We'll keep you updated! Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

Just what my heart needed!

Tonight we got the BEST surprise in our inbox. Our hearts are longing to bring you home Carys. I think about you all the time. I wonder if you are happy, sad, or if you even remember your Mommy & Daddy's faces. A traveling Mom just recently got home after meeting her adorable little boy. He is at Carys' orphanage and I got the opportunity to hold and play with him when we were there. She was able to reciprocate for us and love on Carys just recently. Oh how thankful I am for these traveling families. I just LOVE seeing new pictures of her and hearing about her spunky little personality from others.  Carys and her BFF Eden are often seen playing together in one of their cribs. We had the privilege of traveling with Eden's Mommy & Daddy and we are just thrilled that both girls are coming home to West Michigan together. How AMAZING is that!? Anyways, here was the photo we were sent tonight. I was SO excited to see her HUGE smile and bright eyes. Oh how we miss her more and more everyday.

Praying for good news in our inbox in the morning. We were told we would know whether or not we were cleared by the U.S. Embassy on Monday morning.....although, we have been told that day after day so I'm not holding my breath. I have faith that God is going to bring this little one home real soon though!

PS. The little white onesie she is wearing over the long sleeve shirt was Aria's(-: I had brought along all of Aria's clothes that I thought may fit her while we were apart. They even get put on the boys(-:

Pray, pray, pray.....

Well today we received some good news and some bad news. The good news is that our court documents were corrected already and will be taken to the embassy tomorrow. They will either "clear" us on the spot, and if not, we should have our travel dates sometime this week. I'm not getting my hopes up though.

The bad news.....Ethiopian government shut down 15 orphanages today. One of them was Enat Alem in Awassa, where Carys is from.  Once these kids are cleared for referral, they are sent to the capital city, Addis Ababa where they stay in the Enat Alem transit home until their new parents come to bring them home.  Unfortunately, the government came to the orphanage in Addis today (where Carys is currently at) and TOOK all the kids that were originally from EA in Awassa who's adoptive families did not yet have a court date. We are praising God that Carys is still there, but fear for the future and grieve for those dear friends that may have lost their referrals. Please lift them and their sweet little ones up in prayer. We are praying that God moves mountains and answers the prayers of His people. We boldly come forth and pray that He keeps these little ones safe, comforts them and brings them to their forever families soon. We also pray for Carys right now-please Lord, let her come home SOON.

Adoption is hard

I once read a fellow bloggers post who stated just how hard adoption is. I kind of shrugged it off thinking it can be only as hard as you can make it, right? Not true. It is hard. In every single sense. And most things you have absolutely no control over.  Probably reason # 550 that God lead us down this path(-:

Today we received a note from the U.S. Embassy that there are some inconsistencies on the court documents dates.  We noticed this yesterday when trying to add her to our health insurance that there were several different dates on there. Because Ethiopia's calendar is so far off from ours (months and years-it's 2003 there right now) I just chalked it up to their silly dates and sent out a note to our agency. Well today we find out otherwise, and that it is indeed inconsistent. Our agency is looking into it for us and I'm impatiently awaiting what our next steps will be. I'm worried that if this is something the court has to correct, it could take forever and they close in a few weeks for the rainy season. Trying not to let my mind go there and would appreciate your continued prayers on getting Carys home SOON. Mama needs her girl home NOW!

Day 5- Leaving Awassa

Our room at the Haile Resort (for all you families traveling-opt for this place!)

Today was a day of travel.  We woke up early, grabbed breakfast and loaded in the van. I'll admit, I was a little sad to be leaving the Haile Resort- I actually had a hair dryer here and a real shower! It was wonderful! Alemu wanted to take us to do a little "Sidama" shopping.  This was the area where our girls were born, so we were excited to collect some items  from their home village. I really wanted to purchase some things for Tsehay that I could give to her on special occasions in her life (birthdays, graduation, wedding) We stopped at a few places where I purchased some cute sacks/purses in the Sidama culture fabric for all of the kids, 2 Sidama blankets (one lovie), a handmade purse, hand painted zebra tables (these took some persuading Luke that we COULD fit them in our luggage and they are oh so cute), 2 hand carved Ethiopian cross pendants and 2 wooden masks for the boys.  We also bought her a few adorable hand made traditional Ethiopian dresses that we'll be sure to use for a photo session.

Showing us the blankets made from Sidama fabric

Everything was made right there-check out those sewing machines!

Then Alemu wanted to show us a "typical" market in the South before we left.  Oh.my.gosh.  Luke and I have never seen anything like it.  Mud lined the roads (it rained last night), kids were filthy, people were sloshing around in mud and there were people EVERYWHERE selling everything from raw coffee beans to plastic bags.  There were many children trying to sell something, anything they had. They were visibly malnourished and I had a very hard time even looking at them.  Since I had given away all of my goods, I found myself whispering to Luke to give them some money. Once again, we broke the "rules" and Luke discretely handed them money as we were walking back to the van.  To see their faces light up was worth the whole visit. Right then and there, I vowed if I ever go back to the South again, I will be much more prepared.  Many of my "light up a childs face" gifts never made it until we got back into Addis tonight)-:

The market in Awassa

It was a LONG trip back to Addis. We stopped off for lunch at an "African Resort". It was in the middle of the desert near a lake! There were little ones adorning the "path/drive" to get there and our driver threw out our empty water bottles to them- you have never seen smiles SO big.  I scoured the van for all of our water bottles and started tossing them out the window.  It was like Christmas morning and I made sure I took a few more full ones from the resort to throw out the window on our way out. Pretty sure the whole van was annoyed with me by that point.  The food at that little resort in the middle of nowhere was amazing. It was owned by a man that was half Italian/half Ethiopian and he knew how to make some delicious Italian food. I dreamed about the wood fired pizzas and the best spaghetti I had ever eaten for days afterwards.  We completed our embassy paperwork by this little lake and it was a nice break to the long trip.

A little guy we threw a water bottle to

SO much paperwork...glad it's almost over.

Luke double checking everything

We made it home and are all exhausted (literally from the exhaust of the oil guzzling cars and vans). An entire day of dodging animals and people are under our belt.  We grabbed a quick dinner and are heading to bed. We can't wait to see Tsehay tomorrow! I wonder if she'll recognize us?

Typical image in front of our vehicle traveling 50+ mph

9 months old....

A family traveling last week sent us this sweet picture of Carys and I just had to post. I noticed in this photo that she has another tooth popping through! We also received word that our paperwork was successfully submitted to the US Embassy last week. They sent us her new birth certificate and passport. It melted my heart to see her cute little innocent face on such an "official" looking document. Right now her name is Tsehaynesh Lucas Nieuwenhuis....ha ha! She's going to love that when she gets older, but we have no say in that. It's customary for Ethiopians to give their children the first name of their father for their last name. So, when she gets to the states, she'll be given her "girly" name. We also received word this week that her metopic suture is open. Although we are still not in the clear until she is examined here in the states by "our" doctors, this was a huge positive sign and we are so grateful. We miss her more and more each day and are so grateful for the families traveling who are keeping us updated with photos. We hope to know this week whether or not we have been "cleared" for travel, and if so, expect to return in a few weeks to bring her home! Hang in there baby girl, we'll be there soon!