Day in Awassa, ET

We had a great day today! Fun breakfast buffet with interesting pancakes, but great eggs with peppers in them!

Then we stopped at a coffee farm...saw what coffee looks like when it's growing on the tree--little green berry-like things---growing in what looks kinda like a small rain forest. (Dad VH--we'll try to bring you some ET coffee home!) Coffee trees surrounded by "false-banana" trees...kinda like walking in the middle of a tall corn field! We got to go into the farmer's home--a large mud and straw hut where there's a fire pit, some benches, and where all the animals sleep next to the people. We sure are humbled---how can we complain about dirty carpet, hard beds, or our water not getting hot enough quickly enough?!? So many of these people have bare mud/dirt floors, no actual beds, cook over a fire, have no running water, and sleep next to their goats and cows.... the world is not fair... We are reminded of how materially blessed we are, but it's pretty hard to be ok in your heart when you see this... The world is not right...it's not the way it's meant to be...

Probably 40 kids clamoured and fought to be around us--I had brought a big bag of candy and they were all yelling and screaming and pushing to get some...Alemu made them sing and dance and tried to get them to stand in a line, but we still just got mobbed! I think they like candy just like the VanderKodde boys and VandenHoek girls do!

After the coffee, we visited EVADO orphanage--got to see the place where our boys stayed---met 2 of the nannies and the director. We brought a soccer ball and bubbles for them to play with us and then to keep--kids LOVED both of them! We tried to get some sense of Abraham, Yisehak, and Abenezer's personality, etc. from the nannies---it sounds like Abraham REALLY watched out for and loved on his baby brothers. That warmed our hearts! :)

Our afternoon adventure was a "hippo tour"---we road in rickety little wooden boats on pretty rough water, with a little 15 horse motor, in a thunderstorm, way across Lake Awassa (huge lake!) to get pretty close to these massive hippos. Dad Busscher, you would have LOVED having your Whaler, we said!!! To both of our moms--we all wore something that looked like a life jacket and we tried not to get hit by the lightning! :) All you could see of the hippos was their heads; they were swimming in about 10-15 feet of water, but it was still a cool experience! We tried to get a lot of pics...and someone please tell our Abby that we are all safe and nobody got hurt! :) Pretty wet and windy ride, but we laughed and said how we wished we had our boat our there!

Enjoying the macchiatos (coffee drink)--that would be Doug; and the pineapple juice--that would be Kate. Trying to eat mostly authentic food wherever we go, but trying not to get sick---Alemu just barely kept us from eating raw ground beef today (we thought it was just really finely diced tomatoes!--dumb Americans!)

Played Wizard tonight with Nathan, Amy, Joel, Doug, Kate (me)--someone, please be proud--I actually came in second place (beating Joel & Doug)!

Anyway, pray for safety tomorrow as we drive back to Addis Ababa in a very cramped van and interesting driving conditions! We're heading to take showers and wash some nasty mud and gross lake water off of ourselves! :)

Safe Travel and Heading South

Thank you all for your prayers over the last few days. We could not have asked for better traveling. All of our flights were on time and all of our luggage come along with us. We could feel your prayers covering us as we have also adjusted quickly to the 7 hour time change and have had plenty of rest.

Today we went out to a small local shopping mall and found a nice restaurant that served really good pizza lunch. Then we headed off to a couple of museums and learned a ton about ancient Ethiopia history and culture.
Fun Fact of the Day: when a man was ready to marry he first had to JUMP OVER 12 COWS!

Tomorrow we head south to Awassa for lunch and Dilla to visit the boy's mom. We are very much excited about the opportunity to learn more about her and her family. Please pray for wisdom tomorrow in having questions that are translated clearly and that we retrieve information that brings peace and encourage to the boys as they grow up in a different family & culture.

Sunday we are headed to the EVADO orphanage in Awassa where the boys were for a few months. We are really looking forward to finally getting to play with the children here (side note: I did have a little boy in the plane rub my hair over and over as I tried to sleep... he quit when the seat belt sign came back on but not before I got a chance to tickle him a few times).

Anyway... I need to head to bed, we are headed off early tomorrow and you all know how great of a morning person I am :)

THX again for your continued prayers... grace and peace to all of you from AFRICA!

~douglas

Tears at Bedtime...

Saying goodbye to our GIRLS is going to prove to be the hardest thing yet...this is not fun! Abby AND Mommy cried at bedtime tonight... Girls are super excited to be getting brothers, but getting sad that we will be leaving them tomorrow. Even Sofi wanted to be cuddly all day today! Prayers needed that we will have good hugs, kisses, prayers and goodbyes tomorrow without lots of tears... :)

Long list of prayer requests...

...and we would SO loved to be covered in prayer! Sooo, here are some things that we would appreciate you bringing before God on our behalf:
1-for the boys' hearts to be open to Jesus
2-travel safety as we head to Ethiopia
3-quick bonding and attachment in our family
4-Abby & Sofi's patience, acceptance, adjustment to their new brothers
5-PATIENCE!!! (now and forever!)
6-quick learning of a little Amharic (for us) and lots of English (for the boys)
7-peace and comfort for the boys' birth-mom
8-love to grow in all of our hearts and knit us together as family
9-for Abraham's grieving heart at leaving his birthmom, country, and everything familiar
10-complete HEALTH for all the boys--no lice, scabies, parasite, worms, HIV, etc.
11-for protection for all of us from malaria, the heat, the altitude while in Ethiopia
12-for our suburban to keep running to carry all 7 of us when we return! :)
13-physical, emotional, spiritual protection for the boys while they are at the orphanage
14-decisions (eventually) as to where to send each of our kids to school
15-unity and growth in our marriage through this sometimes-difficult journey of adoption
16-once home, that filling out all the massive amounts of paperwork for health insurance, life insurance, adoption finalization, social security numbers, citizenship will go QUICKLY, EFFICIENTLY, SMOOTHLY
17-that the trip to Ethiopia will be a JOY, that we will see the beauty and fun that God created in the country that our boys are from
18-anything else that God lays on your hearts to pray for us!!! :)
16

BIRR!!!

Thanks to the Zoet and Buikema families for some birr--that will be helpful for when we get to the airport in Ethiopia and need help carrying our MANY, MASSIVE suitcases! :)

FLIGHT ITINERARY!

We should be arriving in Ethiopia on Thursday night April 15th--7pm local time...(FYI-Ethiopia is 7 hours AHEAD of Michigan time!)

Coming HOME:
WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO COME TO THE AIRPORT IN GR TO BE THERE WHEN WE COME HOME! Feel no pressure, but your faces will be a most-welcomed sight, and we would love to introduce you to our 3 sons! Here is the current plan:

SATURDAY NIGHT APRIL 24th - ARRIVING INTO GRAND RAPIDS, MI --6:38PM--UNITED 7449--(FROM CHICAGO O'HARE, FROM WASHINGTON/DULLES)

United Airlines phone number to check flight--1-800-241-6522

Can't wait to tell you all about our travels!

Getting Ready to Leave...

Soooo, this is the beginning of our blogsite...nothing really special here, but we HOPE to be adding to it over the next couple weeks!

We leave at 12:38pm on Wednesday from GrandRapids to head to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to pick up our THREE BOYS!!! Abraham, Yishak, and Abenezer---HERE WE COME TO BRING YOU HOME TO OUR FAMILY!!! Can't wait!!!

Bags are mainly packed (let's pray that the airline scales are the same as PakMail's scales...'cause that's where we took 'em to have 'em weighed!!!) Let's see: SIX large suitcases, computer bag, 2 well-packed carry-ons, and 2 big backpack/kid carriers that we hope to check at the gates! CRAZY!!!! Thanks so much to people who have done this: the Buikemas, the Hulsemans, the Volks, the Jenkins, the Zoets, the Deters--and SO MANY MORE who have given us lists of advice.... we have made MULTIPLE trips to Meijer and Target to pick up last minute essentials (who knew how much formula, diapers, and over-the-counter drugs we needed to bring?!)...

We are getting super excited...I think for me (Kate), I have finally turned the corner (not completely, but starting) from just fully petrified, chaotic, and panicked to "ready to do this" and beginning to feel at peace. AND to be actually LOOKING FORWARD with eager anticipation for our trip and for our boys to come home. So THAT is a good feeling!!!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who is PRAYING...we know that we cannot do this without God's grace, mercy, faithfulness, goodness, provision, and protection; and we can feel so many people praying those things for us, our girls as they stay home, and for the boys who will be joining our family! Thanks for reading our blog--we HOPE to be able to update it while we are in Ethiopia... We love you guys! Thanks for loving us so well!