First Month Home

Wow, it's hard to believe that Z and Melaku have been here over a month now! It has been such a great time of getting to know each other and bonding.

They have had lots of new experiences, like learning to ride bikes, family game night, and learning the manly art of grilling...

 

 ...to eating lots of new foods like donuts (!) and Dad's waffles...

...to starting homeschool...

 ...to playing on soccer teams...

...to going on their first road-trip/family vacation...

...to meeting lots of new relatives. 

I have been so impressed with how both boys have coped with all these new experiences, with good attitudes, willingness to try pretty much anything, and in general just jumping right into our family life. 

There have been a lot of transitions already their first month here - Justin and Trevor moving to UNC (though thankfully they're not too far away), and Lindsay moving back to New York - so they definitely miss having their older siblings around, and we miss them too. :( Lindsay set Melaku up on Skype before she left, and he loves to talk to her. He's so funny - he yells so loudly to her, even though we told him he can talk in a regular voice. :)

The standard adoption analogy is that when you add children to your family, it's like adding on to a mobile that has been perfectly balanced before -- you'll have swings back and forth as it readjusts to a new balance (actually, that's the case even when you give birth to new kids). I can definitely see how that's true, as we adjust to having two new family members, and they adjust to having a new family as well. 

I'm very thankful for our other four kids, for being so welcoming and loving to Z and Melaku, because their kindness and graciousness has helped the transition tremendously; and especially for Alex, since he is the one still at home now. I have been so impressed with his maturity in handling this, especially since he also had to deal with his best friend moving away right after the boys came here. 

I know there will continue to be swings as our family mobile re-balances itself, but I am so thankful for the grace and wisdom that God continually gives us.

Home!

We are finally home with the boys! (Well, we've actually been home a week now, but I just haven't had a chance to post an update.) It was a good trip, very busy, but we got a lot done.

Some of the things we did:

• Picked up the boys the first day and brought them to our guest house, where they stayed with Trevor and me the whole week.
• Took a trip to Melaku's home village in the Soddo area to see his family and siblings - drove 2 hours, then hiked another hour (though they got a horse for me to ride back!). It was a very special time.



• Visited with Zerihun's family, who all live in Addis - also very special.
• Had our Embassy appointment - everything went well, though after we left the building, they ran after us, calling us back in, and myheart dropped! But they had just forgotten to fingerprint Z, which is the policy if a child is over 14. Did not need that stress!
• Went to the Ethnological Museum, on the campus of Addis Ababa University, which was very interesting.
• Went horseback riding in Solulta, on Entoto Mountain. It was Messie's and Melaku's first time, but they did great. Once our horses all shied when we were passing through a cow herd and a cow jumped up from behind a bush, but everyone hung on. Beautiful scenery, and a fun time, though we got soaked by a rain storm on the way back down.
  
• Had lots of meetings concerning Meseret, arranging her situation. She was able to move out of the orphanage and stay with us at the guest house for a few days, which was nice; then she moved in with her aunt. Since we've been back, she's already gotten her ID card and applied for her passport, and once she gets it will hopefully be able to apply for her student visa soon.
  
(Z and Messie with their older brother)
• Went to the final soccer match and going away party for the boys at Layla, which was bittersweet; lots of goodbyes.

We had a great welcoming party at the airport, which was nice after our LONG (44 hours) trip back.

Prayer Needs

Trevor and I leave today for Ethiopia to bring Zerihun and Melaku home! So excited!!!

We have also had some encouraging developments in Meseret's situation this last week -- I have found a school that is willing to admit her here in town! So, if she can get a student visa, she can come here and study until she graduates from high school, and then go on to college.

In order to get a visa, she needs to get a passport, and to get a passport, she needs an ID card. I'm not really clear on how she gets this, but all I know is that the social worker has been talking to her older brother and older sister, who live in Addis, about helping her to get it (maybe she would have to live with them for a bit? -- not sure), and neither is willing to help her.

I don't know why this is, but while I'm there, I'm going to be trying to figure out how to help her get this ID card. I'll be meeting with the siblings as part of Zerihun's going-away family visit, so I can talk to them at that time, hopefully help them overcome whatever obstacles would keep them from helping.

Please pray for me for favor and open doors! Somehow while I'm there, I would really like to get all these arrangements taken care of, and make sure the process is well on its way for Meseret.

Thank you!

Traveling soon!

We heard back from the Embassy after the holiday, and they gave us the date of July 28th for our visa appointment. After we got that confirmed, I reserved our flights; we're leaving July 22nd (arriving in Addis the evening of July 23rd) and will arrive back in NC the night of July 31st.

I'm so happy that Trevor decided to go with me; that will be a big help, and great for him to get to know the boys and see what their home country is like. We are going several days earlier than our Embassy appointment to allow time to visit with the boys' relatives and do some sightseeing and shopping.

I am hoping we can spend a good bit of time with Meseret as well. I'm not sure if she's still in school right now, or out on break, but I hope she can come stay with us some. I'm still working on trying to find a way to bring her here; hoping that a local Christian school will be willing to admit her.

The director of the orphanage told me that the boys are so excited, counting down the days till we arrive. :) :) :) Me too!!

CLEARED!

We just got the email today that our case has been cleared by the Embassy, and we can travel to bring the boys home!!! Woohooo!! (and FINALLY!)

The earliest dates available for visa appointments at the Embassy are the week of July 25th, so hopefully we'll be able to travel that week, but we won't have it confirmed till after the holiday weekend. It will probably just be me traveling this time, since flights are so much more expensive now than they were in January; but Trevor may possibly go with me too, using his graduation money to travel to Africa for the first time (everyone else in our family has been except him :)).

We have almost got their room finished -- don't ask me why it's taken us so long :P -- but we recently had some of the kids' friends come and help them paint the room, and when James was visiting last weekend he and Lindsay worked on refinishing a dresser for the boys.

(Below are pictures, with Darren's edits added; he sent these pictures in letters to the boys, showing them what we've been doing to get their room ready.)

Final stage

Still no word that we can travel to pick up the boys (!), but we have at least gotten a couple of updates. Our case was submitted to the Embassy about a week or so ago, and they are reviewing all the documents. In the last week, we have gotten a couple of emails sent from the Embassy to our agency requesting more information to be added to a couple of the documents. They aren't complicated things, thankfully, and hopefully won't take too long to get. Once they get these updated documents, we will get an email from them saying that our case is cleared, and giving us some possible dates to travel.

I know that the boys will be here soon (maybe in July?), but I really do feel like that mom at the end of her pregnancy who is huge and about to bust. Everyone is asking when the baby will be here, and you just don't know. You have pretty much resigned yourself to the fact that he will never come out, and you will probably be pregnant forever. And then it seems like all of the sudden he's here and you can't imagine him ever not being there, being such a huge part of your life.

The boys with letters from us

Darren is going with Alex and Trevor on a father-son camping trip this weekend; I was SO hoping that the boys would be here by now and would be able to go too. And today is Zerihun's birthday, and it's hard not to be with him!

But this encouraged me this morning:

"Do I bring to the moment of birth,

and not give delivery?" says the Lord.

(Isaiah 66:9)

Birth certificates and letters!

We just received the boys' birth certificates! Their names are Zerihun Darren Phillips and Melaku Darren Phillips. In Ethiopia, people take their father's first name as their last name, so I think that's why they give adopted kids their adoptive father's name as their middle name. It is so cool to see the official documents with our names listed as their mother and father.

They put Zerihun's birthday in June 1996, so he is 14, turning 15 next month. That makes him and Alex almost twins, because Alex just turned 15 in May. :) They put Melaku's birthday as February 2001, so he is 10.

The pictures are funny - Z looks mad and Melaku looks like someone scared him right as they were taking it - but I'm just so happy that things are moving along! I think they will be able to submit everything to the Embassy next week, so please continue to pray that there won't be any hold-ups in that process, and that we can bring them home soon!

We also got three letters with some pictures from Melaku this week -- one to Darren and me, one to Lindsay and Alex, and one to Justin and Trevor (not sure why he divides them up that way...:)) -- and I also got a very sweet letter from Zerihun. Here are some excerpts:

Dear Mom,

I am very excited to see you again for the last time and then we will be together forever, but I am praying and waiting for you...If I don't have homework I will write more letters, and I know that you are busy but you are still writing letters for me and for Messi and Melaku. Mothers are always mothers and kind for their son and for everyone and my mom is just like that. And I always miss her and love her. I think I will see you soon. God be with you -

Love,

Zerihun Phillips