Middle names, revisited

We did it! We finally agreed on a middle name for each of our daughters! This is not an easy task with 2 adults and 3 teenagers tossing ideas around!

John and I agreed on names and made it official....then we told Faven and Diborah. We were a bit nervous about this because, if you recall from a previous post, Faven was set on Beyonce for her and Rihanna for Diborah. We did not choose these names. However, when we told Faven and Diborah their new names, they both smiled and LOVED them!

So, now, I introduce to you....

Faven Faith and Diborah Noelle Simmons!!!

After we told Faven her name, she repeated it several times. Then, Nathan started teasing her and calling her Fay Fay. Now Faven will say..."Faven Faith....Fay Fay". She is so proud of her new name!

We gave Diborah the middle name Noelle because her 'gotcha day' was just 4 days before our Christmas day. She also loves her new name, but has a hard time pronouncing it!

There is only one problem...now Emma wants to change her name! We told her that her middle name is her grandma's middle name. Her solution: change grandma's middle name too!

Pictures of 'The Fam'!

Here are some random pictures of my awesome family! (o:

















In this picture, Faven is giving Emma a kiss. We arrived home late at night after Emma had already gone to bed, but Faven couldn't wait until morning to meet her!

















"The girls" snuggling with their daddy (or should I say...bobby!)
















Emma, Diborah and mommy. Yes, I have my hands full!!
















Don't you just love this group? Nathan, Faven, Kayla, Diborah and Emma. Not sure where Derek is....I think he's staying far away these days!

This is Faven, ready for her FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! You can't tell by the picture, but she was VERY excited about going to school. She still loves school! Her only complaint is that her face gets cold at recess. She wore a scarf today!

This is a picture of the 4 sisters with their handsome brother. Nathan was all dressed up to go to Hollyball--a formal dance where the girls invite the guys. Where is Derek?!!

My 4 gorgeous girls hanging out at Derek's basketball tournament. Emma and Diborah are striking a pose!

This is the first day I let Diborah wear her hair 'down'. I decided I love her hair this way. We haven't braided it since!

My 'twins' hanging out at home with mom while everyone else is at school. They have so much fun with each other during the day. They will be great friends!

Busy?!

I have enjoyed getting to know so many people through blogs who are also adopting (or have adopted) from Ethiopia. Since we've been home, I have felt a bit disconnected from this part of my life. We have been extremely busy! We have not only dealt with lice and ringworm (ewww!), but enrolling in 1st grade and preschool, doctor's appointments, lab appointments, and, not to mention basketball tournaments, 20th anniversary (what?...that came and went a bit unnoticed!!!). We have been BUSY!! But, I have to say, I miss blogging! I miss my blog friends!
I appreciate the encouraging words!! Keep them coming!
I will say this....I love my new family! I think of those still waiting and those who have recently traveled often. I wish you all the best!! God Bless!!

More pics from Ethiopia

I posted yesterday about meeting the girls. Since I was on my laptop, I was unable to post pictures, so I thought I'd add some today for you to enjoy. Maybe soon I'll be able to download some home pictures with the entire family!

Meeting the Girls

We arrived in Ethiopia at around 8:00am on Sunday, December 21st. I was nervous about the whole airport thing....getting our visas, going through customs, getting our luggage and exchanging american money for birr. It was really very easy for us--went smoothly.
We got a ride from Tafesse to our guest home. He told us that Ryan and Abby Brown would come to the guest house after church and lunch to take us to meet our daughters! Yippee!! I must have been extremely exhausted because then I laid down and FELL ASLEEP!! Crazy, huh?! Who could sleep, knowing that the meeting they had waited a year for was only hours away? Well, John, Kayla and me...

We woke up with a few moments to do some unpacking....then, it was time. Ryan and Abby walked us to the foster care home where we were to meet Faven and Diborah. Then, Ryan left to go and get the girls. It seemed like it took forever for him to walk through that door with them!

When they finally did arrive, John, Kayla and I went to hug them. They were very stiff and scared(that was to be expected!), but I think they recognized us from the photo albums we had sent. We were not prepared--we didn't have any toys or candy to bribe them, I mean, to win them over. Kayla came to the rescue. She took off her necklace and gave it to Faven--score! I took off my bracelet and put it on Diborah--oh yeah...another hit! Then, I brought out the camera! They could've been entertained with that all day! After about half an hour, Ryan said, "Well, we're going to go now. Stay as long as you want." What? They're ours? We can just take them back to the guest house with us? After all this time, it seemed too easy!

They attached to Kayla and I right away. John had to wait a while and work much harder for their affections. Kayla was Kayla, I was mommy (wow!), and John was...bobby!! (o: We thought that bobby must be a common term of endearment for daddy's in Ethiopia. We asked Ryan, Belay and others from Ethiopia and none of them had any idea why the girls called John bobby. How funny! They still call him bobby today!

We took the girls with us everywhere. They went to restaurants, the Hilton, the zoo, the market, the grocery store, the orphanages. They were a little intimidated at first. I'm sure they were experiencing so many new things even in their own country. They loosened up after a while and were not afraid to talk to other adults who talked to them. However, they made sure that we stayed close by at all times. We learned important Amharic words and phrases during these outings...words for come, do you like it?, water, potty, good job, more. It was great for bonding!

One of the hardest days for them was the day that we visited the foster care homes. I think it was confusing for them to go back. They were trying to make the transition to being a part of our family...maybe they thought we would leave them?

By far, THE most difficult day for them was the day we visited their birthmom. Another confusing event, I'm sure. After this meeting, they became very whiny and clingy. We were all supposed to go to Kolfe and Kechene orphanages that afternoon, but I stayed back at the guest house with Faven and Diborah while Kayla and John went to visit the orphanages. I tried to put them down for a nap, but they fought over who would get to lay next to me. Easy fix, right? I would just sleep in the middle! That didn't work, either. They just fought over which way my head should be turned! No nap that day!

We continued to love on them and reassure them that they could not/would not get rid of us! We grew to love them during the week we were in Ethiopia, but longed to take them home to join the rest of the family. We showed them pictures of all their family that they would see often in Great Bend. Before we left, they could name each one of them and were sooo excited about meeting them.

Meeting our girls and getting to know them--what a moment in time to remember forever!

After stalking blogs for the past eight months of our adoption process, I sort of knew what to expect to see in Ethiopia. In other words, there weren't too many surprises.
We saw the sadness and devastation of too many people, not enough jobs, and diseases without health care. We saw crazy construction, even crazier traffic (Belay said the traffic laws are merely suggestions!), horrible air pollution, goats along the highways, donkeys used for labor, mothers begging in the streets, children begging in the streets, homeless, lame, and crippled. We took our fruit snacks to distribute to those on the streets and sidewalks, but I almost felt guilty handing a mother with her hungry little baby one small package of fruit snacks. I knew what to expect, but it was still hard!

We had a wonderful driver--I think all of Gladney's drivers are wonderful! Eyasu(sp?) was ours. He wasn't a tour guide, but I knew he was watching out for us at all times. I could tell he enjoyed Faven and Diborah and was willing to help out with them when needed. He was even very patient and kind when Faven vomitted ALL OVER his back seat only minutes before we had to stop and change a flat tire. John, Kayla and I really liked Eyasu.

We stayed at a wonderful guest house as I have mentioned before. I read alot about Ayat House in other blogs and was thankful we were able to stay there. From Wagayu and Zimmet, I learned that I like having my bed made daily, coffee prepared for me each morning, my clothes washed, dried, AND ironed (yes, even our underwear and socks got ironed!), and a familiar face to go back to at the end of the day. Ayat House is within walking distance of the Gladney foster homes. We were also able to walk to a nearby restaurant which had delicious fruit smoothies for the girls and a playground.

In Ethiopia, we learned... how to bargain at the marketplace, not to count on internet service (we tried the Hilton daily but internet was down the entire time we were there), not to count on having electricity, not to let the guys/paparazzi at the zoo take your pictures unless you want to pay $2.00 per picture, Faven and Diborah are afraid of ALL animals (lions, cats, dogs, monkeys), spider monkeys that roam free at the zoo like Fanta soda (one tried to steal Kayla's!), we don't need more than 3 outfits, and we like eating with our hands.

However, our most valuable experiences in Ethiopia included meeting our daughters(obviously!), meeting our daughters' birthmom, and visiting the children at the orphanages, most of whom do not have forever families. We were able to visit Kolfe, Kechene and Kebebetsehay. These children are special. They are beautiful and funny and smart. They have had to deal with unspeakable experiences in their lives--experiences that we can't even imagine having to deal with. It is so overwhelming! Yet, they still have a smile for their visitors. They each deserve a family just like Faven and Diborah...just like Kayla, Nathan, Derek and Emma. They deserve parents who will love them and will give them food and clothes and hugs....
I would encourage anyone traveling to Ethiopia to visit these children. Spend some time talking to them and giving them hugs! They love visitors (and they love pictures!)!

I will forever cherish the time I got to spend with Faven and Diborah's birthmom. I will share more about that in another post.

A few pictures

The least important part of our trip was our stop in Rome, but, nonetheless, I had to post a picture.....
Can you guess where we are?! (o:

This picture was taken December 21st, the first day we met our two beautiful daughters! Aren't they precious?!

This was taken the day we had our embassy appointment...

We stayed at the Ayat Guest house (shown in the picture). I would highly recommend staying there to anybody traveling to Ethiopia!

Sisters.....Kayla was a huge help in Ethiopia! They sure love their big sis!


So many things to blog about, but so little time! Maybe someday I will be able to share more about our experience in Ethiopia!! Until then, enjoy the pics!

I promise to post pictures soon! We took a new camera to Ethiopia with us and we're trying to find time to figure out how to download them.
The girls are adjusting....We've had some very trying times, but that is to be expected. I have 3 little girls whose lives have been turned upside down, it may take a while for them to accept that. I have to daily (hourly) remind myself of this and pray for more patience!
Emma is showing signs of letting her new sisters into her heart. She speaks jibberish, which in her mind is amharic. I'm just happy that she translates what she says into English for us! (o: She actually has picked up a couple of words from Faven and Diborah.
We have a doctor's appointment for the girls today. Faven wants to begin school tomorrow. I think she's ready! Her teacher also taught 2 of my other children AND she attends our church. I know God worked this out for us!

Names...

When the Wolfe family came back from Ethiopia with their three teenage children, they let them choose the name they wanted. My husband and I thought that was a great idea. We thought we'd give it a try with our 7 year old, Faven. We decided to keep their first names and asked her what middle name she would like to have. SIt didn't take long for her to decide that she wanted her middle name to be Beyonce and Diborah's middle name to be Rihanna. Hmmmm.....wander where those names came from!
What do I do now? I'd love to get your input!!