One year home!!!

To our dearest friends and family—

As we come to the ONE YEAR anniversary of bringing our boys home from Ethiopia, we truly stand amazed at God’s faithfulness over the past year. And as we think about it, we realize that in most of the ways that God helped us and provided for us was THROUGH YOU…so we humbly and gratefully wanted to just say a huge THANK YOU!!!!! In all honesty, we know that none of this would have been possible without you; we spiritually, emotionally, financially, mentally, and physically would not have made it without all of you. The past year (and even longer) has not been without its tears and struggles, but one thing is for sure: God knew that we would need people to go through this journey with us, and we constantly stand in awe of how incredible a family and group of friends that we have been surrounded by!

As we look back, there are sooooo many ways in which you have upheld, supported, carried, and walked with us over the past year…like…the friend who helped start the whole thing 3 years ago by asking the question, “What’s stopping you?” after our talk about adoption, and then proceeded to hand over a check when we frankly said it was because of the cost to start the process… the incredible pasta dinner fundraiser that went way beyond our wildest expectations in so many ways…Daniel, for the greatest food ever!...the cooks, dessert-bakers, photo-takers, cleaner-uppers, dish-washers, and everyone else who played a part…family & friends to not just babysit, but love on the girls while we were gone…prayers that carried us safely to and in Ethiopia—and home again…Maria & Joel for selflessly traveling with us and unconditionally loving us and the three boys we picked up…the tons of people and hugs at the airport (a memory that will be imprinted forever in my mind b/c it was exactly what God knew I needed to sustain me after a grueling 34-hour trip)… Jess & Rock who “rescued” us that first night home…people who brought meals so that we didn’t have to cook for 29 days straight!...people who came over constantly to just do our dishes, help get kids in baths, then listen to us cry exhaustedly on the couch—and still love us!...friends who came during the days to fold laundry, clean, and play with kids while we made phone calls and paid bills…the scores of diapers that were bought for us…the people who simply brought over cookies, then sat on our couch after the kids were in bed so that the two of us could take a walk together and talk…the garden at Brenda’s where we could pick produce, but not have to do the labor—what a blessing!...the new van that works so wonderfully for the 7 of us…people who still invite our family over even though it’s a lot more chaotic with 5 children…clothes that were bought or handed down for all of the kids…the girls from the “west side” Bible study who challenged & helped me (Kate) grow as a mom & as a wife this year…Doug says for the people who shared beers with him and just gave encouragement :)… the Mars Hill adoption group—what would we do without a place to vent that ‘adoption rage’ and have so many who know exactly what we’re going through?! ... and soooo many more prayers, advice, encouragement, hugs, and shoulders to cry on that are too numerous to count---THANK YOU!

We PRAISE God for miracles and near miracles over the past year: for coming home as we expected—all together—when it didn’t look like that was going to be a reality during those anxious last few hours in Ethiopia dealing with the Embassy; for three little boys who were taken from everything they knew in Ethiopia…across the world to America where they are smiling, happy, social little kiddos who seem to fit right in!; for HEALTH, after lots of rounds of ringworm, the parasite giardia, Hepatitis A, and the scariness of what diseases could come home from Africa; for a son whose only English was “airplane”, “mommy” and “daddy” one year ago…to being able to easily communicate with pretty much anyone and even attend first grade!; for Abby willingly and selflessly giving up the title of “oldest” to her new big brother…and doing so with a gentle heart of care & love; for two screaming, flop-on-the-floor tantrum-throwers when things didn’t go their way…to two adorable twins who are getting pretty good at please, thank-you, and praying to God; for the molding and changing of Sofi’s heart as she was abruptly ousted from “youngest” to “big sister” with some not-so-easy-to-love little brothers who stole a LOT of attention for a long time…to now being such a big helper with the twins and finding it’s kinda fun to have playmates; for a son who, before lift-off in Addis Ababa, went through the entire backpack of toys that were supposed to last for the 30-hour trip to the USA because of his huge attention deficit…who didn’t like books, who couldn’t focus on one activity for literally more than 5 minutes for the first few months…to now finding great joy in listening to books and learning to read them, to fitting in in first grade, to enjoying playing games and doing activities as a family!!!; for two scared little twins who, in seeking security, would cling to anyone (including many strangers in the airports and grocery stores) and didn’t care at all for mom & dad…to running at full speed, screaming and giggling “Daddy!! Daddy! It’s Daddy!” when Doug walks in the door, and loving lots of hugs and kisses from mommy & daddy; for the bonds of love and family and attachment that have been forged and continue to grow between the 7 of us; for feeling that our family has gone from ‘’not gonna make it”…to barely hanging on…to surviving…to “hey, we can do this!”…to actually thriving! (Oh, it’s a great feeling!!!)

And those are just some of the miracles that God has allowed us to witness and take part in just in the past year! We thank you for your prayers and continual love for all 7 of us…and even more, we are thankful for your friendship that has rode that rollercoaster of ups and downs, joys and tears, fears and dreams with us. Philippians 1:3 only begins to tell it right: “I (we) thank my (our) God every time I (we) remember you!” We love you more than words can express and are definitely privileged to have you in our lives!

With all our love,
Doug, Kate, Abraham, Abby, Sofi, Cody & Austin VandenHoek