Cute Picture

As I have mentioned before, we are not allowed to post pictures of the kids until they pass court in Ethiopia. Since there are no close ups of the babies in this picture, I am able to post it. Hiwot's crib is the one all the way to the right. She is fast asleep. The pink paper on the wall is a picture we sent her with our picture, her picture and a message that we love her. Just thought it was a fun pic to post. Hopefully soon we will be able to post pics that show her beautiful, giant smile!

On another note, they boys process is still uncertain and we are in great need of prayer. A friend is making a prayer calendar for us. We need a few more people to complete it. The goal is to have a person for each day of the month. If you would like to participate, email Jen at jbrunig@hotmail.com. Feel free to tell friends and family that may like to be part of the calendar too.

Anniversary

Three years ago today I married the man of my dreams. The past three years have been more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. Happy Anniversary Justin!

Chera and Kenenisa

As most of you know by now, we have recently found out that a mistake was made and Chera and Kenenisa were never filed for court. There was a mix up with our last name. We are basically in the same spot that we have been in for a while. Their files are not complete and we have no idea when this will be fixed. If you remember, we found this out in November. An employee of the orphanage was doing paperwork incorrectly and this effected Chera and Kenenisa as well as many other children. This was a huge letdown for us, but we have faith that our boys will be with us soon. Thankfully, we know that they are safe, happy and taken care of. I am so thankful that we have had so many friends who have seen them and spent time with them. At least through all of this waiting I am not anxious about their well-being.
On a positive note, we are hoping to hear something about Hiwot soon. She has been filed for about 2 and a half months now and that seems to be around how long its taking for everyone to receive a court date and pass. I am working on Hiwot's room today, hopefully I can post some pictures of my progress soon!

Hope Orphanage

While the Hanels and Wilkersons were in Ethiopia, they had the wonderful idea to tape their trip to our children's orphanage. Although they used the same agency, their kids were in another orphanage. We love learning as much about our kids as possible so we were so happy to see this. Towards the end of the second video, they pull up to a tan, apartment like building. This is the orphanage! Our kids are in there! It is reassuring that the building looks very nice. We have only heard good things about the quality of care Chera, Kenenisa, and Hiwot are receiving.
Since I can't post pictures of the kids, I am so happy that you can all see this! Thank you so much Hanel and Wilkerson Families!!!

Welcome Home

Last night night we were able to attend the airport arrival for 2 friends coming home with their beautiful children. First, Melat and her family came home and later, Bereket and his family came home. Bereket's parents Mike and Emily are friends of ours at church and sent the email that I posted in the last blog. Both families were so wonderful and spent time with our kids. It makes it all so much more real. Both Melat and Bereket's journey to the US have been problematic. Their families ran into so many road blocks through out the process. Now they are home with their forever family!
Emily said that the kids are doing wonderful. It sounds like Chera receptive English skills are pretty good. As Emily talked to him, he translated for Kenenisa. Emily said that Hiwot is progressing and should be sitting up soon. She is such a miracle baby, even the smallest progress says so much. Here are the pictures of the airport arrival. I can't wait until you can all come see us come home with all of our kids!


The Hanel Family!


This is my "try really hard not to hysterically cry face."


How cute is this guy?

Information about the Kids

Our friends Emily and Mike are currently in Ethiopia picking up their 2 year old, Bereket Isaac. Here is part of an email that she sent out:

We finished our paperwork and went to another orphanage to deliver packages to the Brown's kids and a few others. It was a 20min car ride that was extreemly bumpy.. I can't believe the tires are still on thecar! We were taken into the orphanage and to the baby room. It was the nicest baby room I have seen this week in an orphanage. The walls were white and clean and the floors were wood. We were not allowed to wear our shoes in the room as the babies spent some time on the floor. Iwalked over to the crib that held Hiwot. Donna& Justin- she stared up at me with her big beautiful eyes and smiled. She smiles on command and she she kicks her legs and will hold on to your finger. She can also grasp a pen. She follows items that are in front of her and she seems to know her name because when you say her name she smiles. She cannot sit up on her own yet but she will be there in a few weeks I think. She has two teeth coming in so she keeps her hand in her mouth. If you leave in month or two I would say that she would be a 18 to 24 months in clothes. The easiest thing is to bring dresses and leggings. They had a 4t dress on her and it was huge. On all the kids I got their feet and hands traced.

After we left Hiwot's room they made us go in a room and wait while they went and got Chera and Kenenisa. Chera came in first and he was a delight. He was all smiles and nodded at me as I talked to him. He smiled really big when he tried the sandals on (they fit). I showed him the stickers and put one on his shirt. He shook his head and took the sticker off and put it on his forehead. :) I showed him the pictures and he just wouldn't stop smiling. He thought it was funny I traced his foot and his hand. 4/5 or 5t should fit him in clothing. He is on the taller side but is skinny. Kenenisa came in at this time and was a little hesitant. Chera was able to understand what I was saying and sounded like he was translating to Kenenisa. He will be such a big helpt to you! Kenenisa's shoes are too small (I would say the next size up). He wanted his stickers on his forehead and he immediately asked me to unwrap a sucker. I would say he is 3t in clothing.
- I cried leaving them. I know they are in good hands and the staff are really nice but it broke my heart that you aren't here with us. They are so beautiful and you will be such proud parents as they are really sweet.

New info on the boys

I am absolutely horrible at this blogging thing. We have good news about the boys for a little while, and I still haven't shared it here. If I have seen you, you already know about this, but we have a lot of family out of town. A couple of weeks ago, we found out that all of Chera and Keneisa's paper work has been complete and they were filed for court! Better yet, they were filed on the same day as Hiwot. We were not expecting this at all. Since November, we knew that there was an issue with their paperwork. We had no idea what it was or when it would get resolved. When this happened, the orphanage had found out that some of the other kids were actually un-adoptable, so we had a fear that an issue similar to that would come up. This was an amazing blessing for us. Especially since they were all three filed at the same time. Ethiopia is so un-structured, we really didn't have any hope that they would go through the courts at the same time. It is not definite that we will get them at the same time, but it is looking possible now.
In an earlier blog I mentioned changes in the Ethiopian process. To sum it up, Ethiopia is now requiring parents to make two trips. One trip will be at the court date and the next will be 3-10 weeks later when you pick up your child. The details and effective date of this new law has changed a great deal over the past couple of months. At this point, it looks like anyone who has not been seen by the court before May 9th will have to make two trips. There is no way to know if we will have a court date before then or not. They seem to be trying there best to get as many people through as possible. If one or both of us does have to travel twice, we will deal with it. Everything happens for a reason. Please keep us in our prayers, we would love to have a court date soon!