Dawit's Arrival

Hello! So sorry it took me a while to blog about this. Dawit arrived last week and he is such a cutie! It was so exciting seeing him come home. For those of you that are unfamiliar, the airport arrival is super exciting. It's like a big welcome home party right there in the airport. We can't wait until you all can come see the boy's arrival!
Dawit has adjusted so well and his sisters are in love with him. As you can see from the pics, his sister was very insistent on giving him his bottle. For those of you who don't know Dawit's story, it is such a miracle that he is here. He was very underweight in the orphanage because he was premature and had a cleft palate. The nannies did not know the correct way of feeding him, so he was not gaining any weight. Thankfully, a doctor from the states was able to see him and brought some special bottles for babies with a cleft palate. He has been thriving ever since! It has been very inspiring to see Dawit come home.
Brittney and James were able to get some great pictures and video of the boys. We can't post them here, but would be happy to show them to you in person. They are getting so big! The Armstrongs said that they had just gotten up from a nap and were very shy. Chera told them thank you for their things we sent. It's very surreal to watch them opening the gifts that we sent.

Please keep our boys in your prayers!
Donna

A random bunch of information

Hello Everyone. Donna here. We haven't blogged in a while, there hasn't been a great deal of change to report. Thankfully, the Ethiopian official has been replaced. The replacement is new to the position and moving very slow. We have also found out that there are some issues with Chera and Kenenisa's paper work. This needs to be straightened out before they can go before the court. Please pray that all of this will be fixed soon. I know it has taken a while to bring our boys home, but God's plan in becoming very evident through all of this.

On a very exciting note, our friends Brittney and James Armstrong are in Ethiopia right now picking up their son Dawit. While there, they are going to spend some time with Chera and Kenenisa. We sent some things with them to give to the boys. This was the first time we did this. We sent each of them a toddler friendly truck, a squishy soccer ball, stickers, crayons, a coloring book, a t-shirt and some suckers. Sounds like a lot I know, but everything fit into a gallon sized Ziploc bag. We can't wait to hear from the Armstrongs on how the boys are doing.

One last thing. We would like to ask your prayers for a sweet little girl that has been on our hearts. Our agency director Susan met Hiwot, who is nine months old, in September. When she met her, Hiwot had a very high fever and was unresponsive. Susan immediately took her to the hospital. The doctor told her that Hiwot was hours away from dying. Little Hiwot was severely dehydrated from Rota Virus and a sepsis infection due to severe diaper rash. Ironically, Hiwot means life in Amharic. She has recovered from her illnesses, but could have some cognitive and physical delays from all she has been through. She has been on our hearts for the past few months. We have been praying for her and have contributed to some of her medical expenses. She has been through so much in her short life, but God has consistently taken care of her. I know he has an awesome plan for her life.

I will blog again this week when I here news about the boys from James and Brittney. I may even post a picture of sweet little Dawit Armstrong!