T

No pictures or videos of T. I am thinking we won't get pics until we go get him. Darn!

O

Obsi is said to be very nice. He enjoyed the pictures we sent. The one taken from the helicopter really caught his eye! He is taller than we would think, guessing his height to be at 5'6". His english is good. He was told that he will go to the same school and church as M and N. He seemed relieved! He has a great smile and seems to be out-going. He joked around with M, N and some other boys.

(side note here: M & N will be adopted by friends of ours who go to our church)

I had bought Obsi some clothes, but they will not fit. I told Seth, he would have to share his clothes until we get Obsi his own stuff. Seth was great about it. Seth is 5'6" so Obsi should fit into all his jeans. I then asked Seth if he could pack clothes for Obsi when we go pick him up and he will! He just asked that we buy Obsi is own boxers and socks...of course! And he asked if he could keep his favorite basketball shorts for himself. Everything else is open for sharing! I love it when the boys have that attitude of sharing.

Obsi has a best friend he will leave behind. This friend wrote a note to the director, Sue, that he would like her to find him a family like O, M & N are going to. It seemed that this friend will be very lonely when O, M and N go home. There are two other boys already on the "Waiting Children" list that are part of that group and they will also get left behind. There must be some families in this area that would adopt these three boys? It would be so cool to have all six boys together in America!! They are all really nice boys who have dreams of a future and a hope and a family.

I was joking around with Angela who works at Celebrate Children and told her I was going to make posters of these three boys and hang them all over our church, hoping someone would be willing to adopt them. She said she would have to talk with Sue on that one. I had to tell her I was kidding....I know I can't do that! Sure wish I could!!

T

T is very quiet and is learning English. Because Pochi, who is the orphanage director, was still in the US, communication wasn't easy. There was no one at the ophanage who could translate. In interacting with the other kids, he seemed very kind and tender. He was shown on a map where he will be living, but not sure if he understood. He is reported as being a very cute boy.

We haven't received any pictures or a video yet. The last pictures we have of him are from June of '09. The video was from March of '09. I look forward to seeing an updated picture.

Word on "O"

This is what I just heard:

February 2 at 9:13am
Just heard from L! .....She said of all the boys she met in Kam, she would have picked our 3! Your O and our 2 boys are good friends with Al & Te. there is another very nice boy who is very good friends with your O. Sue is going to post him when she gets back. He wrote Sue a note asking if she could find a family like N M & O's he would be very thankful.

She spent allot of time with our boys and said that O is very tall for his age. I will let her fill you in more. Hopefully if they can manage the home coming exhaustion you will have pix tonight!But I am sure tomorrow at the latest

But L said the boys M,N & O are friends with are all good boys, very much alike and all good friends. They are happy when one of them gets a family.

We will not have a court date this week. Obsi's paperwork is still not done! Grrrr....

I just have to sit back and wait...and wait... I will put it in God's hands to provide a home for Al, Te, and O's friend. I am going to request that He finds them a home in Manitowoc County! Yes, I will tell God what is best.... It would be so awesome if we had all six boys near each other. I am sure God knows that!

Just for the record...I posted this on FB a few weeks ago:

8“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.

“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.

9For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so my ways are higher than your ways

and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
That would be from the book of Isaiah, Chapter 55 and I do believe it.


Until later, Happy waiting with me!!!!

Friends going over to meet our boys...

I am excited that our friends, who are adopting 3 children from Ethiopian, are going to Addis on Monday. This trip of theirs is the next best thing to me going. They will be at both ophanages where our boys are located. They will have my video camera I just UPS'd to them. They will get to know the boys, live and in-person. They will get to hug them for us. They will take pictures and bring them pictures of our family. The one very far away from Addis, "O", who speaks great English, will be told of our family and where he will be living and going to school. He will know that two of his fellow orphanage mates will be very close to him.

We will have them experience the personalities of our boys. Their feet will be measured so we can bring proper fitting shoes with us when we pick them up. Hopefully we will know what size clothes they wear, rather than guessing.

This family is flying out Monday, Jan 25th and getting back on Tuesday, Feb 2nd. They live in Wausau so I am thinking that her parents will bring us back pictures and our video camera with the much anticipated footage. Oh, I can not wait!!! The mom and dad (grandma and grandpa of the 3 ET children)....have a huge interest in all this because they are the ones bringing "O's" two orphanage mates (M&N) here, to live near "O". They will be just as anxious to get their pictures and also meet their grandchildren....so I will give the best report I can when they are back .

Until then...we have a biometrics appoint on Monday...then we get our I-600a processed and will receive our much needed I-171H. We can't pick up our boys without that!

Where We Are At

"T's" paperwork is in hand. "O" has been at the orphanage a long time and needs to have his paperwork redone. It will take a few weeks. Then we go to court. We will get an embassy appointment after we get our 171H. If we get fingerprints on January 25th, we might have our 171H by the end of February. Embassy appoint should be end of March. We pick the boys up before their embassy appointment because we all need to be at that appointment.

We have friends traveling to both the orphanages our boys are at the last week of January. We will get videos and pictures of those visits. I made photo albums for both boys that will get delivered to them. They will be told about us and "O" will learn that two of his friends will be coming to a family from our church. Those albums included many family pics I took over Christmas.

"T's" mother is very sick. She has a large lump in her breast. The folks at "T's" orphanage have been looking out for her and they would like to get her to Addis to see where her health is at. I was hoping to travel to Ambo to meet her but it isn't looking good. We do have a really nice picture of her that I will get made up for "T" to have and to remember her. She is a very beautiful woman.


"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8,9

I know the timing will all work out.

My Boys and Grandson