The Story of Us

New Blog

2011-08-17T14:24:00.002-06:00

Well, we have finally made the switch from blogger over to wordpress. Now it is so much easier for me to keep info organized! I was able to import all the posts from this blog to the new one, so not much has changed except the site address.

It is...http://www.joshuaandlydia.wordpress.com/

I won't delete this blog for awhile yet, but all of our postings will be on the new site.

Happy Reading!

Estes Park

2011-08-09T06:59:00.004-06:00

Last week we got the chance to spend a weekend in Estes Park with my whole family (except my brother and sister-in-law in France). The mountains were beautiful and we spent a lot of our time hiking and biking.

Colorado

2011-07-12T08:34:00.004-06:00

After a hectic week in New York of sorting through a years wroth of mail, getting our car back on the road, and throwing a big wedding shower for my sister-in-law, we left for Colorado via Indiana.

For the last three weeks, weh ave been spending lots of time with family and meeting with some of our friends and supporters. The kids LOVE being with their cousins...they are busy running around and playing with each other from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep. And we have a gorgeous Colorado summer to enjoy as well! We have been hearing reports of very cold weather in South Africa, which makes us enjoy the sunshine here even more!

My sister and brother-in-law and my darling niece got in late last night from Seattle and my brother and sister-in-law from South Carolina arrive tomorrow and then we are all headed up to the mountains for the weekend!

Traveling With Kids

2011-07-01T13:23:00.005-06:00

I am sitting in New York as I write this. We arrived a few days ago very dirty and weary from our 2 weeks in England and France with all three children still intact. Since we had to fly through London to come back to the US and Lydia's brother and sister-in-law are helping to run a church retreat center in France this year, it was a good opportunity for us to see a bit of Europe and not spend too much money doing it. We did get to see some amazing things and we certainly made many wonderful (and not so wonderful) memories!

Here are some of the things we learned:

1. European cities are breathtaking
2. European cities have lots and lots and lots of stairs...everywhere
3. Children don't like climbing the aforementioned stairs even when you are already carrying all of the luggage and the stroller
4. The cities are also very dirty places, especially when your kids decide that it is fun to crawl along the metro floor and lick iron gates
5. If you don't take your child to the bathroom immediately they will pee all over the train station floor (the upside is that with so many people around no one cares or notices)
6. Driving in France is very calm and enjoyable (except in Paris)
7. Driving in England is not so calm or enjoyable.
8. If you exit from a British roundabout in the wrong lane, you will get honked at
9. If your three-year old says that his stomach hurts while you are driving through the French countryside, it means that he is going to throw up all over your rental car
10. When your six-year old touches a painting at the Musee Louvre, you will get yelled at...alot
11. When your six-year old steps off the sidewalk into a bike lane in London, you will have to reassure the girl who hit him that it really wasn't her fault and that he will be fine
12. A written contract is not a guarantee that you will have a place to stay
13. All McDonalds have free wi-fi, which is a good place to go to find another place to stay at 9 pm
14. If you can't stop eating all the amazing French food, you will gain weight
15. European cities have great playgrounds
16. The publics toilets are not so great
17. Family vacations involve a lot of suffering and a lot of great memories!

The highlights of the trip were riding to the top of the Eiffel Tower (Liam), the mummies at the British Museum (Serra), riding on all the airplanes, trains, and buses (Kamu), spending time in the French countryside (Lydia), and exploring a medieval castle when no one else was there but us (Josh).

June already?

2011-05-31T00:10:00.002-06:00

I have been really bad about posting lately! In two weeks we are headed back to the states via France and England, and there is so much to do before we leave…birthday parties, kids club, Bible studies, Taco Thursdays, car repairs, hair cuts, packing, the list goes on and on. I am a little too in love the post-it note function on my desktop…my screen is now completely covered in to-do lists!

Here are some pictures from the month of May. We sent out a newsletter a couple of weeks ago. If you didn't get it, sign up on the right-hand side of this page for future updates!
Liam at soccer practice (he is in the orange sweatshirt)

A family hike to Blyde River Canyon

Josh's trip to Swaziland to take part in a church training seminar

Dinosaur Park!

Camping in the beautiful lowveld

Raindrops…er, maggots….keep falling on my head

2011-05-02T08:31:00.001-06:00

We happen to live in this incredibly beautiful place. We are close to all the conveniences of town but are surrounded by gently rolling hills and orchards and nut farms. One of the positives of this location is being so close to nature, but one of the negatives is also being so close to nature! Winter is here and the cooler weather is driving all animals to find a warmer place to live (aka our house). We have recently found several cobras on our porch and property and a rat family moved into our ceiling (which not only resulted in poop all over everything but also a large owl landing on our tin roof right over our bedroom at regular intervals during the night and then frantically scratching with its claws trying to find purchase on the slick surface). It is not fun sharing your home (and your food) with rats, especially noisy ones that chew through Tupperware containers and make lots of loud noises when you are trying to sleep. After several week of daily sweeping up poop and wiping rat pee off of shelves, I reached my limit. It was on!

We tried a mouse trap, from which daddy rat easily ate all the peanut butter and then disdainfully kicked it off the shelf. We tried a big metal trap, from which daddy rat easily ate all the peanut butter while evading the pressure spring. Out of desperation, we finally put out rat poison, which daddy rat carefully carried back to the nest to save for the cold winter months ahead.

We had officially despaired of ever evicting our unwelcome tenants, when Liam came rushing in to the house declaring that he had seen the rat climbing into the house on an exposed pipe and had whacked it down with his "monkey stick" (the big stick that he carries when patrolling our property with Jenna for thieving monkeys). Josh and I came out to investigate and did indeed find the rat lying on the ground looking pretty near death (from poison, most likely, not our son). Josh got the shovel out and finished him off (naturally I made sure all the children were safely ensconced in the house while he did it).

We were out for most of the next day and when we got home, we noticed a nasty smell emanating from the kitchen. Apparently, mommy rat had also bit the dust. By leaving all the windows open and overdosing on air freshener, we were able to brave our way into the kitchen. Unfortunately, we couldn't get into the ceiling and knew that we had several weeks of this smell to look forward to.

And by the way, there was still a nest of baby rats in our hall ceiling who filled the air with eager squeaks every time we were nearby.

Surprisingly, the horrible smell dissipated after just a week or so and the squeaking and shuffling in the ceiling went away as well. Finally, we were victorious!

We were happily adjusting to our clean, rat-free house when Josh walked through the kitchen and said, "what's this stuff on the floor?" I came over to investigate and we realized we were looking at about 30 maggots busy squirming their way into other parts of the house. We looked everywhere and couldn't figure out where they were coming from, when to our horror, we realized they were dropping out of the ceiling! Apparently, they had finished up with the dead rats and were in search of more food. We spent the rest of the day sweeping up maggots and carefully examining the floor before walking anywhere. The low point was when Josh was looking up at the ceiling and pretended that he had swallowed one…he thought it was funny but I was not so easily amused!

And yesterday we heard more squeaking from the ceiling in the hallway. We apparently won the battle, but not the war. The saga continues….

Happy Easter!

2011-04-25T00:35:00.003-06:00

After weeks of cold, cloudy weather, we woke up yesterday morning to clear blue skies and a glorious sun rising over the mountains. It was as if all of creation was celebrating the resurrection of our Savior! All day was absolutely gorgeous. At church we focused on worshiping Christ and meditating the meaning of his death on the cross.

When we got home, Josh created an elaborate scavenger hunt for the kids to find their Easter baskets, which was so much fun! There are no plastic eggs here to hide. Most families here will do an egg hunt with chocolate eggs instead, but we decided to just do the baskets.

After a well-deserved nap for everyone, we had an early braai with our neighbors and some other new friends out on our deck to enjoy the end of such a gorgeous day. It was a lovely time!

Our House

2011-04-17T06:42:00.004-06:00

For those of you who have expressed interest in where we are living, here are some more pictures of our property. I am going to try to get some more pictures of our local community as well soon.

One of our not-quite ripe lemon trees

Our vegetable garden

Jenna, our ridgeback

Our little car

The front porch on our house

another view of the front entrace to our house

Playing in the back yard

Happy Birthday Baby!

2011-04-17T06:30:00.002-06:00

It is hard to believe, but our baby is now 3 years old! It was a long time coming according to him…since his sister's birthday in January, his favorite phrase has been, "I can't wait until my birthday comes!" And now that it is over, he keeps asking when his next birthday is.

He requested a lion birthday, so he got a lion cake and lion-themed presents to his great joy. He got presents and pizza on his actual birthday, which also coincided with kid's club at church, so he got birthday cake and lots of treats there, too. The next day we had all of our neighbors over for dinner and birthday cake.

Bulembu

2011-04-02T02:11:00.002-06:00

As I said in the last post, while we were in Swazi, we stayed at Bulembu, an old mining town that is now run by Bulembu Ministries to house, educate, and care for over 500 children who have been orphaned because of the HIV/AIDS crisis. While many of the staff are volunteers, the town is completely self-sufficient with its own farm, timber company, honey enterprise, and tourist lodge. According to a policeman we gave a ride to (he is stationed in Bulembu and his wife teaches at the primary school), they expect to house over 2,000 orphans from birth to age 18 by the end of next year. It is a really great place and we enjoyed our time there. While many of the scars remain on the hillsides from the days of mining, it is a lush and beautiful place full of happy children.

Check it out at www.bulembu.org!

The Kingdom of Swaziland

2011-04-01T05:47:00.006-06:00

Earlier this week we had to leave South Africa to renew our visas. We are quite close to three borders, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland. Since Swaziland is the closest and the only one that is free, that is where we headed. Since Swazi is bordered by South Africa on three sides, I kind of expected it to be like South Africa, but I was definitely wrong. It is its own distinct and incredibly beautiful country full of people who are proud of their land and of their king (…and his 13 wives!). According to mapquest it should only take us 1 ½ hrs to get from our house to just across the border, but it didn't take into account the formidable mountain range in between! We drove up and up and up some more, thrilling the kids, who were happily hanging over the sides of the road to see the clouds below us. Despite the lack of civilization, we didn't see too many animals…only a few baboon families and some random cows.

We gave a ride to a logger who was on his way home. He was very nice even if he did smell like he had been working far, far away from running water. All of the guards at the border crossing were very nice and low key. We realized why it wasn't a very busy crossing as soon as we entered Swaziland and the road turned into a lot of potholes with a few feet of tar here and there! We stayed in the small town of Bulembu immediately across the border, which is a deserted mine turned into a village for orphans (see more info in my other post). We really enjoyed our brief vacation of sorts, including a very harrowing drive to the town of Piggs Peak on a dirt road that hugs the top of a mountain range and is used by tractors to pull out cart loads of logs (pictures us heading up an extremely steep one-lane dirt road with a 100-year old tractor coming down pulling a homemade wooden cart piled 14 feet high with logs teetering precariously back and forth with a mountain wall on one side of us and a sheer drop off on the other…enough said, right?). We stayed in an old miner's cottage turned into a guest cottage with pear and guava trees in the yard. It was even chilly enough light a fire in the fireplace and roast marshmellows, which was of great excitement to the kids!

We got new visas at the border without a problem (except Y, that is…we never noticed that for some strange reason she was given a visa for twice as long as the rest of us) and even had time to hit McDonalds in Nelpsruit before heading home.

A Place To Call Home

2011-03-16T00:38:00.004-06:00

Man, it feels good to be able to settle down again after this last year of moving all over the place!We now have a house, and a dog, and a garden, and a church, and great neighbors. We got the kids bicycles as late Christmas presents and they are spending hours each day cycling in circles on our driveway. Here are some pictures of our house. We spent the weekend moving in and are still getting settled. We are using someone else's furniture as well, which is nice because it gives us some time to get our own, but also kind of stinks because it is definately not my taste!

Kruger National Park

2011-02-23T23:25:00.007-07:00

We have been pretty busy getting settled here in White River, but yesterday we were able to spend the day in Kruger, which is just a few minutes down the road. It was well worth the $$ to get in ($50 for our family). We spent most of the day driving around and looking for animals with a few breaks in between at some different camp sites. It was hard for the kids to be trapped in the car all day (the only protection you have out there from the animals), but they LOVED the animals...most of them came right up to the car or were right next to the road since they are pretty used to cars going by...what a cool place!

We saw so many different animals. The only one we didn't see that we were looking hard for was a lion. We saw the other four out of the Big Five (the most dangerous animals in Africa)..leopard, water buffalo, rhino, and elephants...plus lots of impala, monkeys, giraffes, hippos, baboons, etc...we had a crazy list by the time we left.

White River

2011-02-23T23:23:00.003-07:00

We left Johannesburg and drove out to White River on the 18th. Some friends who live out here have kindly opened their home to us while they are traveling until the end of March. Their home is wonderful and we have been busy familiarizing ourself with the area and with the different outreach opportunities here. We definately love it here! Here are some pics of the incredible house we are staying in!

Yabeserra turns 4!

2011-02-14T03:42:00.004-07:00

Serra had a low-key birthday right after we arrived in Joburg. She requested a strawberry cake and had a good time opening her presents. We promised her a big party next year, so hopefully we will be settled down by then. It is hard to believe that my baby is so grown up...her legs keep getting longer and longer!

Update from Johannesburg

2011-02-13T07:05:00.006-07:00

We have been back from Zimbabwe for about three weeks now and have been staying at a mission guest house in Johannesburg. We have officially completed our commitment with YWAM and are taking some time "off" to look into other long-term options and to prayerfully consider our next step. We are also enjoying spending time together as a family and getting to know the missionary community here in Johannesburg and spending time at a couple different local churches. For those of you who are on our mailing list, we will be sending out a newsletter soon with a lot more info about our time in Zimbabwe and the ministries we were involved in.

For now, here are some pictures from while we were in Gweru in the southwest part of Zimbabwe....

Banana grove in our yard

nap time

playing in a guava tree

the borehole...our source of water when the town water wasn't running, which was most of the time

taking a walk with the neighborhood kids bringing up the rear

washing clothes

drying clothes

the house we stayed at about 20 minutes outside of Gweru

the center of Gweru

beautiful Zimbabwe!

More Random Pics

2011-01-08T06:26:00.002-07:00

Here are some more random pics...I am trying to get a bunch posted before we leave for the bush! Josh eating some roasted corn we can buy from guys on the sides of the road...it is really good but not at all like sweet corn..it is the kind of corn we use to make popcorn so it is chewier (they call it maize here)
taking a break after walking all over the city
the trees that line the streets here are absolutely beautiful...they are called Kakaracha trees (I am sure that it spelled completely wrong) and have huge red flowers in the spring.
Liam has instantly taken to bargaining with a passion...in fact, he bargains for everything whether we need it or not, which is quite dangerous...several times I have found him making a deal with a seller about some random item and I have to nicely let them down! Here he is showing off some items that he got for free since the lady was so impressed with his skills! (she really knew that once she gave free things to my kids, that I would feel obligated to buy stuff from here and it worked...Happy early birthday, Carson!)

Christmas pics

2011-01-06T07:33:00.004-07:00

thanks Nana and Papa for the new watches! our stellar christmas tree made from wrapping paper Christmas Brunch

stockings and goodies from Lolo and Lola!

some pictures of Harare and beyond

2011-01-05T05:24:00.004-07:00

The YWCA where we are staying

Playing in the park across the street from the Y

Our team

Liam walks off into the bush for the very first time and comes back 5 minutes later with this skull...we think it looks like a crocodile, but it could also be a giraffe

Harare Pictures

2011-01-04T08:28:00.001-07:00

Where to Begin?

2011-01-03T10:00:00.002-07:00

First off, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I meant to post on Christmas Eve or Day, but never got around to it…the 15-minute walk to the closest place where we can access the Internet definitely hampers my blogging!

Since my last post, our team has finished the lecture phase of the training program and we have begun full-time outreach, which we will do until the beginning of March. We are in Harare until the 10^th, after which we will be moving on to a much smaller town with even less opportunities to get online, so our posts will probably be few and far between. For the past week, we have spent most of our time at a local orphanage and a home for street children. We have also been heavily involved in the Sunday services of a church here in the city, which has been a good opportunity for everyone to get some experience with teaching, sharing testimonies, and running children's meetings. At the orphanages, we have been helping out in any way that we can, whether that is cleaning, hoeing the garden, or caring for the children so that the nannies can take a break. Over the New Year's holiday weekend, most of our team is staffing at a Christian camp just outside of the city including Josh. I stayed back in Harare with the kids to give them a bit of a break from the demanding schedule and having to constantly be around so many people. I have been working 40 hours a week (by walking across a city park to the Crowne Plaza hotel and getting online in their coffee shop) and then coming back to care for the kids, shop and cook for 40 people (I am not doing it all by myself, there are four of us in charge of food, but this past week was my responsibility), and take care of anything that needs to be done (such as washing all of our laundry by hand…if there is running water). Josh has been taking care of the kids while I work and then spending the rest of his time in meetings and ministry. Thankfully, the project I have been working on is finished and I am taking a leave of absence from my job for the rest of the time we will be in Zimbabwe. I am definitely looking forward to a schedule that is a bit easier to manage!

To be completely honest, Josh and I have struggled with wanting to leave several times. However, we do believe that God has called us here and has a reason for us being here, whether that is so that we can minister to a particular person/s, because of lessons that we need to learn in our own lives, or both! We do feel like we are having a crash course in leadership and discipleship/mentoring, particularly in such a cross-cultural setting (we have 13 different nationalities on our team plus the African cultures that we are living in).

I do want to say a big thanks for all the encouraging notes we received after my last post. It means a lot to know that so many people love us and are praying for us! Difficult as this time may be, we are growing spiritually by leaps and bounds and our world view is widening quickly. I am really thankful that we didn't come to Africa and immediately jump into ministry right away. This time with YWAM has been an invaluable lesson in ministering effectively in Africa and in strengthening some of the weak areas in our lives so that we can have more of an impact in the lives of others!

For those of you who don't receive our newsletter, after our time here in Zimbabwe is over, we are planning on returning to South Africa. However, instead of heading back to the Cape Town area, we will be traveling east to White River, a small town just outside of Kruger National Park, where we will be volunteering with Ten Thousand Homes, an organization that provides a family environment, education, and vocational training for orphans. We have made a 3-month commitment as we want to be able to meet the staff and see the ministry first hand before making a longer term commitment.

Please continue to pray for us in the following ways:

For continued health and safety as we will be working for 2 more months in a country that is in the midst of political and economic upheaval.
That our time here will be well spent and that we won't allow our own feelings, frustration, and discouragement to hinder what God wants to accomplish through us
For huge amounts of wisdom as we counsel and mentor many of our teammates.

The prayer of a righteous man availeth much

2010-12-18T07:07:00.002-07:00

We have been here in Zimbabwe for 4 days now and I think that it is safe to say that they have felt like the longest days of my life. Our times has been and continues to be extremely challenging.

most of the team was sleeping on a cement floor in a rundown office building with two unflushable toilets for about 30 people and an outdoor shower (but no running water). We have since upgraded to the YWCA in the city, which has a kitchen and regular power and running water. The rooms are still pretty sketchy (especially the mattresses), but they have a very nice garden outside for the kids to play in and I can walk to nearby hotspots to get some work done.

The first day we were here, Liam pulled a metal grate down on top of himself and split his head open, which meant spending a day in the hospital. He is doing fine now. I just checked his stitches this morning and they are healing nicely. It hasn't slowed him down at all, although it made a nice dent in our pocketbook!

Despite all of the frustration and the fact that everything is the exact opposite of what we were told when we were in South Africa, we like Zimbabwe a lot. The people here in Harare are so considerate and thoughtful. They speak beautiful English and the city has more of a small town feel. It is a bit more tropical than South Africa and the gardens are so gorgeous. We have really enjoyed the time we have had getting to know the staff members of the church we are working with. At this point, I haven't had a good night's sleep since we left Worcester this past Sunday, so once things settle down a bit more, I am sure I will be in a much more positive frame of mind! The kids are doing beautifully with the constant changes to their schedules. They are learning quickly to nap when they are tired and to eat whenever food is put in front of them since they don't know when they will get more.

Please pray for us that we will be gracious and forgiving when we are feeling otherwise and that we will be flexible. We do not want this time to be wasted in our own lives as we seek to be more Christ-like in all that we do and in the lives of those we interact with on our team and in the community.

See Ya, Worcester

2010-12-11T05:50:00.004-07:00

Early tomorrow morning (4 am, to be exact) we will be saying goodbye to beautiful Worcester and heading off to Zimbabwe. AFter 16 or so hours on the road, we plan on stopping for the night in Johannesburg and then driving another 12 hours on Monday to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Most of our group is taking the bus the entire way, but the three families will be driving.

We will be in Harare until January 11. During that time we will have further training by CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) and will be involved in outreach in local orphanages, hospitals, and churches.
We will then head Southwest to the city of Gweru until the end of February. There we plan on hosting a kids camp and a youth rally, as well as installing two boreholes and hosting other types of outreach in the very rural area of Chivi.

We plan on having Internet access at least while we are in Harare, so we will try to keep posting updates as we go along.

We would appreciate your prayers for the following items:

1. Group unity - We have a large group with a wide range of cultures and ages. We will be living and working together very closely for an extended period of time.
2. Safety - We will be traveling long distances both to and within Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is also currently very unstable and can be quite dangerous.
3. Impact - We want to use the short time we will have in Zimbabwe to make a lasting impact on those we come into contact with.
4. Health - It isn't easy traveling and living in unfamiliar countries with young children. We would love it if we could all stay strong and healthy, especially our kids.

Borehole Update

2010-12-09T11:11:00.002-07:00

Since beginning fundraising for one borehole, our awesome group has raised enough for more than two! Check out our group blog, Hope 4 Chivi, to find out more information and to see our video, which was put together by Tabita's brother in Latvia.

More Meat, Anyone?

2010-12-09T01:43:00.007-07:00

South Africans definately love their meat. So much, in fact, that they seem to want everything else to taste like meat, too! Here are a few meat-flavored items that I have seen on the shelves at the grocery store...

We even have three stores within a 15-minute walk that sell nothing but biltong (jerky) from a countless range of animals!

So all you meat lovers, if you are looking for a nice vacation spot, this is the place to be!

Merry Christmas Zweletemba

2010-12-06T02:19:00.007-07:00

Every week since we got here at the end of September, our group has been spending Wednesday afternoons running a kids club in a very poor neighborhood here in Worcester. Since we are leaving for Zimbabwe in a week, we had our last meeting on Wednesday with a special Christmas party.

Word quickly spread that there would be goodies and gifts, and over 600 kids showed up! I am suprised that they all fit into the church building. Just passing out thre treats at the end took a good hour. There was lots of singing, a skit about the birth of Jesus, and Veggietales, of course. Never before have Y and M blended in so well! I was honestly afraid to let go of their hands in case I couldn't find them again.

The poverty was overwhelming (including the smell of so many unwashed bodies). There were several kids whose faces were painted white and we just thought that it has something to do with the festivities, since our group was busy decorating all the kids with face paint. On our way home, we learned that the kids with the white faces had chicken pox. So instead of keeping them at home, the practice is to paint their faces so everyone stays away from them. Too bad we didn't know that beforehand! I was a bit worried that all of our kids would catch, but everyone seems to be fine.

It was so much fun to bring joy to their faces as we shared about the true meaning of Christmas and to give them what may be their only Christmas present this year.

Cape Town

2010-12-02T23:43:00.005-07:00

We didn't get a long weekend of gorging and relaxing for Thanksgiving, but we were able to spend Saturday in Cape Town, which was really nice, since up to now we have had very little time to do any sight seeing and will be leaving for Zimbabwe soon.

There is a university there that is interested in having Josh come on staff as a counseling professor, so he went down on Friday to visit the school and then I came into town on Saturday with some other people from our training group. Josh and Thando, a friend who is from Cape Town, planned on taking the train into town, but they made it to the train station (which is just across the road from us) at 4:45 a.m., just in time to watch the train pull out of the station without them! They walked down the road a bit and were able to catch a ride with a trucker. He also picked up a family that had missed the train, so it was quite a cozy ride!

I have to say that I loved Cape Town as much as I thought I would. It is such an eclectic mix of different cultures with a very European feel. It is right on the coast, so it is surrounded by gorgeous beaches. After spending some time in the city, we headed down to the southern suburbs to do some penguin viewing.

We went to Boulder Beach, which was gorgeous in its own right, but is also home to the only group of penguins on the continent of Africa. Apparently they showed up several years ago and no one know where they came from or how they got there...it was fun to see them in the "wild" and the kids had fun splashing in the water (it was cold!) and playing in the sand.

Thanksgiving African Style!

2010-11-29T10:29:00.008-07:00

On Thursday evening, our base threw a big Thanksgiving bash...since there are so many different cultures represented here, they pick a different holiday from each country and America gets Thanksgiving! They went all out and the kitchen staff did an amazing job...I don't know how they did it, but they made the best turkey I have ever eaten!

It was sad to be away from our family, and we were a little short on snow, but we still managed to have a pretty good time!

I'm glad that I didn't have to do the cooking for 200+ people!

Before

During

After

We finished off with a little drumming and dancing to help burn off all those calories we just consumed!

Clean Water For Christmas

2010-11-21T23:45:00.002-07:00

On December 13th, our team will be leaving for outreach in Zimbabwe for 80days. We will be involved in many different ministries in the city and the countryside, including hospital, prison, and orphanage work, a Bible camp for kids, and a week-long youth rally. We will be spending some of our time in a small village called Chivi.

Chivi is in a very dry area; it only receives a little rainfall throughout the year. The children of Chivi usually wake up at 4:00 am to walk for about 2 to 3 hours (about 5-10 km) for clean water. Then some also walk to school afterwards which can be another long walk.

They are sustained by community boreholes (water pumps) that were drilled by NGOs (non-governmental organizations), but they do not provide enough water to sustain the entire population. In addition, some are no longer functioning properly, which has led to contamination. The areas that are in need of boreholes are mainly schools and residential areas.

We would like to raise enough money before we leave for Zimbabwe to dig a new borehole. Boreholes that are manually operated are the best option since Chivi is in a rural area and there is no electricity. The cost for supplies and installation is USD 7,000. The borehole that we are trying to raise support for will provide water for at least 50 families. The average number of children in one African family is 4 to 5, so if we make it happen, we will be providing clean water for at least 300 people.

Think of the huge difference this would make in the lives of so many people! Would you consider taking part in this opportunity? This would be a great Christmas project for your family or church. If you would like to make a donation, please send a check to 7759 Ridge Road, Gasport, NY 14067 (made out to Josh Rich; please write "borehole" on the memo line). You can also make a donation with your credit card or bank account via Paypal (our user name is wtibard78@yahoo.com).

We need all the funds for the borehole BEFORE we leave for Zimbabwe, which means that we need to receive your donation by December 10th.

Liam's Birthday

2010-11-19T06:50:00.003-07:00

Here are some pictures from Liam's birthday party that I have been meaning to post...enjoy!

Latest Newsletter

2010-11-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

Here is our latest newsletter...for some reason the pictures aren't loading properly, so I will have to figure that out...

J'Bay

2010-11-11T03:46:00.003-07:00

Man, are we worn out! Jeffrey’s Bay has been a nice change of scene, but I think we are all ready to get back to our comfy beds in Worcester. We have one more day here before we head back, so we are trying to squeeze in a little more beach time before we go.

The kids have had a wonderful time playing on the beach and in the very edge of the water, but it is still Spring here and the water is cold, the current is strong, and it can get very windy, especially later in the day. J’Bay is a popular surfing town…Billabong has a factory and shops here, and they host a surfing competition here every year in August. Apparently, at that time of the year, the waves get up to 40 feet high!

I think we expected our schedule here to be a bit more laid back, but it has actually been more packed than usual. It seems like Josh is always in a meeting or out on outreach and I am trying to take care of the kids and work at the same time. Internet here is astronomically expensive and unreliable, so trying to get work done has been really frustrating for me.

It has been nice to see a different part of South Africa and see what YWAM is accomplishing here. There seems to be much more of a race divide here between the whites, blacks, and colored (anyone of mixed race), and even though this is a tourist town, there is huge need among the local communities.

A very dubious playground next to the beach...the kind of place where you expect your child to impale themselves at any moment!

Climbing on rocks

A giant jellyfish that was washed up by the tide

Liam, Tahillah, Ju-Won, and Junior found a snail and decided to eat it for lunch...boys!

What We Saw On The Way...

2010-11-08T23:19:00.001-07:00

...to Jeffrey's Bay

Cows
Horses
Sheep
Baboons
Ducks/Geese
Ostriches
Burro
Dogs
Antelope

Oh MY!!!!

The Birthday Boy

2010-11-04T06:01:00.003-06:00

On Monday, Liam turned 6! I was hoping to just have a small family celebration, but he had already been to enough parties here on the base to insist on having one of his own, so we went all out...decorations, cake, gifts, the whole kit and caboodle. Here you don't open your gifts in front of everyone at the party. Instead you take them home and open them privately, which I think is much nicer. Here is Liam with some of his gifts...pics of the party to come soon!

Josh used crepe paper and balloons to create a web over Liam's bed when he was sleeping. Liam was thrilled when he woke up and had a grand time thrashing his way out of it. I forgot to take a "before" picture, but here it is "after".

Coughs and Fevers

2010-10-23T04:22:00.002-06:00

I left the US with a head cold and since we arrived here in South Africa, we just cannot seem to shake sickness. We are living in a very close community where everyone shares everything, including every germ under the sun (especially the kids). And for us, all the bugs going around are brand new, which makes us even more susceptible.

Melekamu stayed home from preschool all week with a nasty cough and a fever. On Thursday, Yabeserra started to cough, too, but was otherwise acting fine. About an hour after she went to bed we noticed that she was moving around and moaning so I went over to check on her and she was burning up. According to our ear thermometer she had a temperature of 104 F, but according to the regular thermometer, she was closer to 106F!

Because of Melekamu's febrile seizures earlier this year, we have every imaginable type of fever-reducing medicine, so we quickly gave her a double dose of acetiminophen and took her pajamas off to try to cool her down. We were really worried for an hour or so, but then she started getting cooler and was responsive to us the entire time. Three hours later I woke her up again to take her temperature and give her more medicine and she was down to under 100F. By morning, her temp was completely back to normal and she has been fine since (except the nasty cough).

I was really suprised at how fast the fever came on and how fast it went away. I am so thankful that she is feeling normal again. Please pray for all of us that we can shake these colds and function at 100% again. We have a very demanding schedule, especially Joshua, and it is difficult to keep up with everything when all we want to do is crawl into bed and sleep for the next month!

Outreach and Work Duty

2010-10-21T01:15:00.004-06:00

Part of living at the center here in Worcester is work duty every day! We all take turns cleaning the shared areas of our building and then have other assignments as well. This is the almost finished project that Josh has been working on in one of the many courtyards (the property used to be a hospital so there are random corridors and courtyards all over the place).

The shorter guy is Marvin from Cape Town, who is also in Josh's class, and the taller guy is Heinus, their work supervisor from Brazil. Once they saw that Josh could swing a hammer, he was quickly "promoted" to supervisor whenever Heinus isn't around.

Some super cuties from our weekly outreach in a nearby slum area. It is hard to believe that such sweet kids are exposed to starvation, HIV/AIDS, gang violence, physical and sexual abuse, and alcohol and drugs on a daily basis.

Mamma Mia!

2010-10-13T06:11:00.002-06:00

We have now been in South Africa for two whole weeks! They have been so busy, though, that it feels like a lot longer. This past weekend a Ugandan staff family left for the US for a training opportunity and we were offered their room, which is such a blessing. It is about twice the size as our original room, has a sink and lots of shelves, and since it is on the second floor, we can actually open our windows for some fresh air and to enjoy the mountain view.

Our camera disappeared during our move up stairs so once I find it, I'll take some pics of it. After what feels like a million trips to various stores to find all those little things that are so necessary to life, we are beginning to feel a bit more settled (even though I know we will be packing up again in December). The kids are not used to having so many people around and definately have moments of feeling overwhelmed, but they are generally doing really well. They have picked up all sorts of foreign terms from the other kids on the base...they now call me "mamma mia" courtesy of an Italian speaking family down the hall from us. I think it is kind of cute! The other day I referred to Liam's teacher as Auntie Margaret (I pronounced it "Antee Margaret") and he quickly informed me that I should be saying "Ahhn-tee Margrit" instead.

I am between work projects this week, so I have been able to sit in on Josh's classes and am really enjoying it. This week they are being taught by the director of Ten Thousand Homes, a wonderful ministry in Northern South Africa for HIV/AIDS orphans. This weekend or next, we are planning on heading into Cape Town to meet with some staff with another mission organization to get a better idea of outreach opportunities here in South Africa and in other African countries. Please continue to pray that we would have teachable spirits and be open to the leading of God as we seek his direction.

Some Pics of Worcester (pronounced "Voorster")

2010-10-06T03:02:00.007-06:00

I finally got my camera out! Here are some pictures from the last few days....

The pool and soccer field on the base

This is few minutes walk from the base away from the center of town

Liam and some of the other kids sliding down the hill on cardboard boxes

Our building...our room is right behind the tree

A birthday party for Zoey, a little Zimbabwean girl who lives across the hall from us (our kids are behind the girl in the pink shirt)

Y and M wanted their picture taken, too!

We Made It!

2010-10-04T03:30:00.003-06:00

After three flights, 11 suitcases, 8 carryons, three very tired children, and 30 hours of traveling, we made it to the YWAM base in Worcester, South Africa very early Thursday morning. We got set up for Internet later than day but then the system was down all weekend, so I am just now getting a chance to get caught up with email and send out a quick update.

We started out this morning with a base-wide worship time. Let's just say that I have never seen such enthusiasm for worshipping God so early in the morning. Everyone's faces were just glowing with love for God and there was more than a little dancing in the aisles (I honestly don't think that Africans can worship without dancing!). What a way to start out the week! Right now Josh is in class and all three kids are at the preschool, which is about 30 feet from the building we are staying in. I can hear Kamu yelling at another kid, so who knows what is happening over there...at least they are well supervised! I am in the middle of laundry and cleaning up our room a bit.

Yes, you heard right....we are all sharing one room! We are in the family dorm, which is a very old, rather rustic building. Each family has one large room and a shared kitchen and bathrooms down the hall. I have to admit that I was discouraged by the accomadations when we arrived. I was hoping for our own bathroom or at least a couple of rooms, but now that we have settled in, I have to say that I am actually thankful for the lack of space. Many of the other families are African Christians who have chosen to live here in order to be involved in ministry and it is humbling and an honor for us to be living alongside them.

There are actually 30 different nationalities on the base and TONS of kids running everywhere of all size, shape, and color! Our kids blend right in and are having a grand time with their new friends from all over the world. No one gives our mixed family a second glance. However, yesterday we walked to the mall for pizza and to do some shopping and we were stared at everywhere we went. I would say that two-thirds of the people at the mall (which is actually pretty ritzy and pricey) were Afrikaaner, and they looked at us like we were crazy to have black children. Hopefully we can be an example everywhere we go of different races being able to live together equally and in harmony. I am struggling with the different approach to discipline here. I am a Westerner after all and I firmly believe in ignoring my child if they decide to throw a fit in public (and for all of you who know our daughter, she can throw a pretty impressive fit at the drop of a hat). However, everywhere we go here, there are concerned grandmas watching how we interact with our children. If I let her cry or say a stern word to her, they start moving in to take over. I have resorted to picking her up and trying to calm her down instead. I just hope that I am not teaching her that crying will help her get her own way...

I am ashamed to say that I have not taken a single picture since we left NY. On the airplane I discovered that the camera battery was dead and just managed to charge it, so I will do my best to post some soon!

Visas are Here!

2010-09-20T06:53:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that our visas have arrived and we are good to go! Now we only have to finish packing and the million other things on our to do list....

We also found out this week that we get to spend next January and February helping with an outreach in Zimbabwe, which should be lots of fun!

Thanks for praying!

Dreisbach Vacation (Down Home Kentucky)

2010-09-18T13:20:00.009-06:00

Last month my side of the family was able to get together for a week. Now that our family has grown so much, it is really difficult to find a place to hold us all! The decision to get everyone together was pretty last minute and we ended up at my Uncle Peter's FFA Training Center in Kentucky. Now I have to admit, Kentucky is not the first place that comes to mind when someone says "vacation," but it ended up being a perfect spot for us. We had the whole place to ourselves, which meant plenty of rooms and private bathrooms for all of us, a pool, a small lake, and everything else that can normally be found on a camp property.

Since I am usually chasing after my three kids, I rarely get a chance to get my camera out. Thankfully, there are several talented (and child-free) photographers in my family that more than make up for my lack of opportunity. However, it also means that I don't get the pictures right away, which is why it has taken so long for me to post them here.

Visa Update

2010-09-09T17:44:00.002-06:00

We are leaving for South Africa in 18 days...2 1/2 wks...and no visas in sight. We did get a call from the South African consulate in NYC yesterday, however, informing us that after painstakingly following the directions provided on their website, the forms we filled out were the wrong ones and that original documents were required, not photocopies, thank you very much.

I get VERY nervous when I have to send all of our identifying documents to the same place via the postal service. I live on pins and needles until I know they have arrived at their destination...after completing an international adoption, I know exactly how much time and money it would take to replace all of those documents.

They already have our passports (I had a mini heart attack putting all 5 of them in the same envelope and handing it over to the Fed Ex guy who kindly explained that they didn't insure documents)....is it really necessary to also require our original birth certificates, marriage certificate, and adoption court papers from Ethiopia and Colorado?

Nevertheless, we overnighted them to the consulate today, so let's hope that they are as efficient as they claim! With non-refundable tickets already purchased for 2 weeks from now, not having our visas is beginning to make me very nervous....

Thankfully, God (and not me) is in control!

a day to myself

2010-09-07T06:53:00.003-06:00

I happen to have a birthday coming up. My 31st to be exact (yesterday my older sister was kind enough to remind me that I will now be IN my 30s, not just 30 anymore). To be honest, at this point of my life, I am not minding birthdays too much. The 20s were rough...never enough money, never enough sleep, and way too much work. There is still way too much work, but I get paid a little more and I am definately emerging from the fog of raising babies!

Josh asked me the other day what I wanted for my birthday and I couldn't think of a thing. Of course, there are lots of things I wouldn't mind having, but at this juncture of our life, what's the point? We have gotten rid of pretty much everything we own and packed away most of the rest. What is left is going to South Africa with us and with our bags limited to 50 pounds each, I don't have any room for more stuff.

So I thought about it awhile and came up with the perfect gift...a day to myself. I can't think of the last time that I had an entire day to myself...a day that was completely child free and where I didn't have to talk to anyone else unless I wanted to. Josh was happy to comply and even did one better...he took all the kids to visit a state park a few hours away the night before, so I got a bonus free evening.

I also recently read the book, Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. I really didn't find it as wonderful as everyone seems to think it is. I actually had a hard time finishing it (although I very much enjoyed her later book about marriage, Committed). However, in both books, I appreciated her thoughtful and often historical perspectives on social and cultural norms. In Eat, Pray, Love, Gilbert mentions the fact that while Western cultures are becoming increasingly isolative, we don't know how to be alone in a positive way. If you see someone eating lunch by themselves in a restaurant, we wonder what is wrong with them, especially if they aren't doing something to help them avoid eye contact such as reading a book. I think that solitude, even in the midst of a crowd, can be very emotionally and spiritually cleansing.

So what did I choose to do on my day off, you may ask. Did I take a hike and enjoy God's creation? Did I go on a spiritual retreat? I have to admit......I went to the mall. I know, I know...how American and materialistic of me. But if you know me, you also know that I hate shopping. I can only go about 20 minutes even in Walmart or a grocery store before feeling like I need a nap. In my opinion, spending a whole day shopping is a mild form of torture.

So, why the mall? It was the only place here in New York that I could think of where I could break out of "mom mode" and focus completely on myself. And I thoroughly enjoyed it! I discovered that shopping can be fun when there is no hurry and no one else to shop for. I shopped only for myself (and even bought a few things that weren't on clearance!), ate at my favorite restaurant (P.F. Changs in case anyone was wondering), and watched a chick flick all by myself.

It was wonderful...I came home refreshed and energized and ready to be a mom and wife again.

I think I may have started a new tradition!

The Countdown Begins...

2010-08-27T09:09:00.001-06:00

We are leaving for South Africa in 28 days! Click HERE for our last newsletter before we leave.

2 years down, forever to go!

2010-08-25T07:21:00.003-06:00

Saturday was our 2nd official Gotcha Day! On that day 2 years ago we walked into the Sele Enat and Hope for the Abandoned orphanages and saw our Y and M for the very first time. And here they are today with their older brother...I know I am their mom and a little biased and all....but aren't they simply wonderful??????

Summer in NY

2010-08-03T09:34:00.009-06:00

We are unexpectantly spending the summer in New York, so we are trying to make the most of it. Here are some of the fun things we have been doing....there is nothing much better than summer in New York!

eating ice cream

going on carnival rides

berry picking

archery
dressing up

hiking/exploring

geocaching
canoeing

and the fun continues...

Quick Update on Kamu

2010-07-29T19:02:00.004-06:00

Kamu is doing really well! He saw another pediatric neurologist at the Children's Hospital in Buffalo a few weeks ago, who was very encouraging. He said that at this point everything points to his seizures being febrile, which do not cause any damage and is something that he should outgrow by the time he is 6. It is scary for us knowing that he will most likely have more before then, but it is encouraging to know that there are no indications of epilepsy or any other neurological disorder.

Kamu doesn't seem to have suffered any long-term damage from the seizures. He is growing like crazy and learning something new every day. A year ago we were worried that he would never figure out how to talk and now we can't get him to stop! He talks and sings all day long. He is busy trying to keep up with his brother and sister (who he is quickly outgrowing!) and figuring out the potty training business, which he has caught on to very fast!

Here he is trying to be just like his daddy!

It's That Time Again

2010-07-23T05:55:00.003-06:00

The last time we renewed our passports was right before our wedding...how is it possible that it is time to renew them again?!?!

(by the way, make your own passport pics at www.epassportphoto.com and then print them at home or order them from any local store that has a photo center...at 20 cents for a 4X6 photo, you get 5 passport pics...I have been using this for years)

My Boys

2010-07-15T06:23:00.001-06:00

Beads and Braids

2010-07-15T06:14:00.003-06:00

Here are my two latest attempts with Yabeserra's hair...These last few months I have been so lazy about doing it nicely. She has been spending so much time in the pool or ocean that everything I do immediately gets frizzy and tangled. I put the beads in a few weeks ago and they didn't hold very well. Every morning she would come to me with a handful of beads that had fallen out! Clearly, I need to learn how to do that better.

After watching an instructional video on how to do corn rows a few days ago, I attempted these. It really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but notice that I did give up about a third of the way in and put the rest in a puff!

Changes

2010-07-08T06:26:00.002-06:00

Right now I am sitting in Western New York, enjoying the view out the window of lush gardens and flowers. This is definately a nice time of the year to be here, but you may be thinking, "wait a minute...I thought they were heading to Texas for training with Mercy Ships, not going back to New York."

That is what we thought, too, but a lot has changed in the past month. We had originally planned to begin training in Texas at the beginning of June but decided to wait until the next class in September because we hadn't had enough time to build up enough support to cover some of the related expenses. We were very disapointed but really tried hard to focus on God's timing, not ours. Soon after that, Kamu went into the hospital after suffering two seizures. If we had followed our original plans, that would have happened while we were literally driving to Texas. How thankful we were that we were still in Naples, where we had someplace to stay and friends to help out with Liam and Yabeserra.

Then, a few weeks later, we got a call from Mercy Ships that changed everything. They told us that the director of the mental health program was leaving Mercy Ships and because of this and some funding issues, they had decided to close the program. This meant that Josh's position had also become nonexistent. There are not many agencies (mission or otherwise) that have a focus on mental health and counseling, and we joined Mercy Ships because of their dedication to that type of ministry.

So we found ourselves essentially stranded on our way to Texas with a van stuffed full of our belongings. But how thankful we were that we had decided to postpone training. If we had followed our original plans, we would have already completed the move and signed a lease on a house in Texas. At least we had not made any financial commitments and were able to return to New York, where we arrived yesterday evening after a VERY long drive!

This has been a very difficult month for us, but it has also been an opportunity for us to see the hand of God in our lives. Although there have been times of frustration and discouragement, we are both trying to stay focused on God's plan for us, not our own. Since it has become clear that Mercy Ships was not the right path for us to take, we are truly thankful that God closed that door now instead of further down the road.

So what now? where do we go from here? we are essentially homeless and can fit just about everything we own into (or on top of) our lovely minivan. We do not believe that God brought us to this place just for us to have to settle down and furnish a new home while we wait to see what we should do next. So we have been prayerfully considering other options and ministry opportunities in Africa.

We are very seriously considering an option where we would leave for Africa in just a couple of months (more information coming soon!), but before we make any decisions, we are going to have Kamu tested to (hopefully) rule out more serious reasons for why he had his seizures. Either way, we need to know what caused them so that we can make a wise decision about our future.

Please pray for us as we go forward that we would seek God's will for us and that he would guide us.

A Visit From Aunt Rose

2010-07-02T08:45:00.004-06:00

My sister Rose stopped off to see us for a couple of weeks on her way to visit a friend in Costa Rica. We had lots of fun and spent ALOT of time at the beach!

Welcome to the World Tirzah Rose!

2010-06-19T18:54:00.003-06:00

Last Friday (3 weeks early!), my little sister gave birth to the newest addition to our crazy and often dysfunctional extended family, sweet Tirzah Rose.

Here she is with her proud parents. Welcome to the family!

Seizures

2010-06-12T08:10:00.004-06:00

Last Tuesday, Melekamu gave us quite a scare. Okay, let me rephrase...it was easily the most terrifying day in our lives. Mid morning he started to act fussy and felt a little warm. He didn't want to eat lunch, so we gave him some Tylenol and put him down for a nap with some milk. He slept for a very long time and woke up much cooler and clearly feeling much better. Liam and Yabeserra were begging to go to the pool, and I thought that Kamu might enjoy me holding him in the water.

We were in the pool for maybe 15 minutes and I remember thinking that I should probably take him back inside since the water was much warmer than I expected for the early evening. He was in my arms with his head on my shoulder and I thought he was dozing off. All of a sudden, his whole body started convulsing, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he made weird moaning noises. I have to admit that I completely freaked out. There is nothing that can prepare you for a moment like that. Thankfully, Josh was level headed enough to take over while I ran out to the street and waved someone down so that I could borrow their phone.

By the time the ambulance arrive, Kamu had stopped seizing and was unconscious. I rode with him in the ambulance (in nothing but my bathing suit and a towel, of course...emergencies never seem to happen when you are fully clothes) and thankfully he woke up when the EMT stuck an IV in his arm.

They took some bloodwork in the ER and we had to wait several hours for the results. The Van Slykes came and picked up Liam and Yabeserra and kept them for the next couple of days for us (thank you, Josh and Erica!) By the time the results came back, Kamu was very tired but was acting like pretty much his regular self. The doctor said he had had a febrile seizure, which while very scary was very common and caused no damage. They put him on an antiobiotic just in case he had a bacterial infection and told us to give him tylenol and motrin to keep the fever down.

They discharge him and we headed him home. It was already after 10 pm and he was so tired. As soon as we got back to our place, we gave him some Tylenol, which he promptly threw up. We gave him a quick bath and as I was holding him in the towel, he had a second seizure. Thankfully it was shorter than the first, but just as scary. I immediately ran with him to the car and we headed back to the ER (this time I was shoeless...I had taken a quick shower and thankfully had decided to put shorts and a tshirt on instead of my robe!)

One febrile seizure is considered normal, but having two within 24 hrs is considered abnormal and therefore requires hospitalization. We moved to the pediatric wing around midnight, where they monitored his fever and generally kept an eye on him in case he had another seizure. Kamu had a great time being the center of attention. I had the lovely job of entertaining a two-year old attached to a bunch of machines and stuck in a hospital bed! Thankfully by the second day, he was able to spend most of his time down the hall in the play room or being pushed up and down the hallways in a mini race car by yours truly!

He was discharged on Thursday since his fever was staying down without medication. However, the hospital was unable to determine why he had the seizures or what caused the fever so they referred us to a neurologist, which we saw this past Friday. He was very optimistic and said that it is most likely febrile seizures and that he just happened to have two in a row. However, he recommended that we get more testing done once we are done traveling to rule out other possible causes. There is definately the possibility that he has some genetic neurological disorder that we know nothing about.

Melakamu has been fine since then, although we have turned into ultraprotective hyper parents...we just can't help following him around and taking his temperature 50 times a day!

Many of you know that we had originally planned on being in training in Texas right now. However, our support wasn't coming in quite as fast as we needed it to, so we decided to wait for the next Gateway class in September. We were very disappointed, but if we had gone with our original plans, this would have happened while we were traveling and we would have ended up at a hospital somewhere along the way without any support base or place to stay. So what originally looked like God wasn't providing for us turned out to be His way of meeting all of our needs!

Here are the kids hanging out in Kamu's hospital room...

100th Post

2010-05-26T17:44:00.002-06:00

I can't believe we have reached this important milestone in any blogger's life...the 100th post! I am being a little sarcastic, but it does amaze me that we have found that much to talk about. Josh and I are both notorious introverts. Our activity of choice is to spend a quiet evening at home reading. Just the idea of socializing makes me want to take a nap!

We started this as an adoption blog just before we left for Ethiopia to pick up our Yabeserra and Melekamu in August 2008. 2 1/2 years later, our blog has had over 14,000 visitors...so I guess there must be someone out there who is interested in what we have to say!

What we thought was a major life changea in an of itself ended up being just the first step of an incredible adventure! During those 10 days we were in Ethiopia, Africa stole our hearts and here we are preparing to move there long term.

Of course, with three little kids and all those possessions "necessary" to live in the U.S. (a house, two cars, etc..), a move like this takes time, especially when all volunteers with Mercy Ships are required to raise their own financial support. We have successfully gotten rid of all (okay, most) of our possessions and are in the process of moving to Texas, where we will be working at the Mercy Ships International Operations Center until we have enough financial support to leave for Africa.

How blessed we are that God is using us to touch the lives of others! How honored we are to be able to make our lives count! If I could pick a theme for this time of transition we have been experiencing since beginning this blog, it would be to reflect on the hand of God protecting us, providing for us, and guiding our every step.

Here's to the next 100 posts! Hopefully by that time, we will be writing these posts from the coast of West Africa!

We Just Sent Out A New Update...

2010-05-14T14:03:00.001-06:00

Read it HERE

Road Trip!

2010-05-12T06:58:00.006-06:00

Right now we are in South Florida, having survived our trip down the East Coast! We had several very positive meetings with pastors and had a great time catching up with friends and family! Thanks to all the good folk who fed us and gave us a place to sleep...Tim and Amy Bouffard in Central PA, Reid and Katrina Anderson in Susquehanna PA, David and Amy Estes outside of Camden NJ, Michael and Felicia Oland and Charis Storms in Washington DC, Hans and Jenny Dreisbach in Greenville SC, and Josh and Erica Van Slyke in Naples, FL.

We also had a great time getting together with the Dreisbach clan and hanging out with Scotty and Kerry Anderson.

I was usually too busy wrangling kids and luggage to get the camera out, but here are a few pics from along the way.

Visiting the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC

Playing miniature golf with Hans and Jenny (notice my children's superb skills, especially Kamu...he favored the technique of laying down on the green and dropping his ball in the hole).

Hiking at Paris Mountain State Park with Hans, where we used to go when we were kids

And finally.....Florida!!!!!

We Made The Paper!

2010-04-27T12:20:00.003-06:00

Click HERE to read about us in the Lockport Union-Sun and Journal!

Disclaimer: there are a few facts in the article that are not 100% accurate (e.g., we are hoping to live on land nearby the Africa Mercy for each field service as opposed to actually living on the ship), but the reporter got the general gist of it all!

See Ya, New York

2010-04-24T07:27:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow morning, we are leaving here bright and early for our Gateway training with Mercy Ships. It doesn't actually start until June, but we will be taking the next 6 weeks to visit with churches, family, and friends along the East Coast. Josh and I will be in full-time training from June 12-July 12, and then Josh will do additional training in Togo and Benin for three more weeks (thankfully, Mercy Ships is allowing us to take turns doing the Africa training so that we don't have to fly all three kids over as well...I will do that portion of the training in October or next January).

We would appreciate your prayers for the following:

1. That our trip will be safe and hassle free.
2. That the time we spend with churches, family, and friends will be rich and productive.
3. That the final details will be ironed out for our plans after our summer training (see below).
4. That we will have around 60% of our monthly support by the end of the summer (see below).

After our summer training, we are planning on staying in Texas where Josh will work at the Mercy Ships International Operations Center until we leave for Africa. I would continue to work part time from home to supplement our support as it builds up. However, a few days ago we learned that because of tax laws, we need to have at least 60% of our support before Josh can begin working at the IOC (if you want a more detailed explanation of why, shoot me an email). Right now, we are at approximately 15%, which means that we need another 45% to come in (around $1500/month) in order to begin serving with Mercy Ships in August. It seems like an overwhelming amount to raise in the next 4 months, but it is only 15 more individuals commiting to $100 per month. Please pray that we will find people who are passionate about bringing God's love to Africa and would like to partner with us!

Beauty or Life?

2010-04-11T19:20:00.007-06:00

This last weekend, I went to NYC with my mother- and sister-in-law for a girls weekend. I hadn't been to the city since college, and we had such a great time. We walked all over the place and ate lots of great food! We got to see a show (In The Heights...it was fabulous) and spent a day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I think the time at the Met was my favorite part. I love art and it has been many years since I have had uninterrupted time on my own to be silent and undisturbed in a place filled with such beauty. As I strolled through the different rooms, I was struck by the amount of money and manpower it must take to preserve and display such exquisite art. Artistic expression is such a vital part of what it means to be a human. We use our creative abilities to convey all that is good and wonderful and hopeful in our lives whether it be through art or song or dance or even what we say and do every day. We also use art as a powerful medium to exhibit the suffering and struggles that so often go hand in hand with our hopes and dreams.

Art and music hold very meaningful places in my life. I personally feel that they are vital to being alive. Regardless of your circumstances, there is always a place for artistic expression. Take, for example, the poem by Dan Pagis, "written in pencil in the sealed railway car," which I have always found very moving:

here in this carload
I am eve
with abel my son
if you see my older son
cain son of adam
tell him that I

Even in the darkest hours of life, we humans inexplicably search for a beautiful way to express what we are experiencing. Art is important, and I firmly believe that is worth every penny that is poured into its display and preservation.

But as I stood in the museum surrounded, overwhelmed even, by the superb quality of the paintings and sculptures, I couldn't help but think of the thousands of people who die every day from senseless violence, starvation, lack of clean water, or treatable medical conditions such as benign tumors (which in the developing world are far more deadly than cancerous growths). Do we value the preservation of life as highly as we value beauty? It takes many millions of dollar to fund a museum, but where are the millions of dollars to give life to those less fortunate than ourselves so that they can have hope for the future?

I have been reading "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn. It is an eye-opening call to arms to fight the oppression and margianlization of women throughout the world. After being at the Met and pondering this issue, I reached a point in the book where the authors state: "Philanthropists and donors traditionally haven't been interested in women's rights abroad, giving money instead to higher-brow causes such as the ballet and museums. There could be a powerful international women's rights movement if only philanthropists would donate as much to real women as to paintings and sculptures of women."

Bringing change to the lives of men, women, and children is exactly what we are heading to Africa to do. To join the frontlines of a war that is stealing life (and with it hope and beauty) from so many. We believe that God has specifically and uniquely created each one of us and that every person has a purpose and a calling on this earth. Every life counts!

A person on another continent does not matter less that we do simply because they are thousands of miles away. This world that is so full of sorrow and bitterness and heartache can be changed one life at a time. If I can be a part of saving one physical life, thereby giving them an opportunity to experience God's unconditional love, then my life has been worth living.

At the same time, we have no idea what our future will hold. Saying goodbye to everything that is familiar and moving your family to another part of the world is extremely scary. Will you join with us as we head into the unknown? Will you pray for us? Will you partner with us financially? (You can do so by clicking on the link on the right hand side of this page.) We cannot do this alone. We are eager to go, but need you to be walking alongside us with your thoughts, prayers, and financial support.

We have been deeply touched and incredibly encouraged by the friends and family who have already pledged to support us monthly, but we need many more in order to meet our needs!

Here I am taking a break in a quiet spot at the Met

Happy Birthday Melekamu Ephraim Mulumebet!

2010-04-09T12:58:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, my baby turned 2! He brings us so much joy and laughter and is a constant reminder to celebrate the little things in life. He is truly a treasure!

One day old

2 years old

Goodbye Chevy Cobalt (Metallic Blue)

2010-04-09T06:29:00.002-06:00

You have served us well. We bought you when we arrived in Colorado fresh from Mongolia and you have weathered the last 5 years with us problem free. We have been through three cross-country trips, countless weekends in the Rockies, little dirty feet climbing all over you, and an entire year of three car seats in your back seat (which required body slamming both doors at the same time!).

You survived a garbage truck sliding into you on our icy cul-de-sac, some thoughtless person ramming their Walmart grocery cart into your side, and an oblivious old lady who parked too close and scraped the paint off your doors; yet after a wash and wax, you still look brand new!

Best of all, you were kind enough to sell for more than your blue book value!

Here's to you, old friend!

Easter

2010-04-08T08:45:00.004-06:00

We had a beautiful Easter with glorious weather and lots of good food (including 3 pies and a cheesecake!). We started out the day by talking with the kids about the importance of the resurrection and ended with an Easter egg hunt, a killer game of kick ball with four generations of Riches (our team lost but we also had the oldest and youngest players!), egg spoon races, and a birthday celebration for Melekamu, Clint, and Tricia.

Happy Spring!

2010-04-02T05:54:00.002-06:00

Yesterday it was 80 degrees outside! It was so wonderful to spend the whole day outside when it was still snowing a few weeks ago! It is hard to believe that we will only be in NY for three more weeks. I took work off this week because we have so much to get done before we leave. We have spent the week packing and sorting, being interviewed by the local newspaper, spending time with friends, swim lessons, dying eggs, getting our car ready to sell, selling our car almost immediately (yeah!), and doctor visits and shots (I forgot how painful tetanus shots are). Tomorrow we are having dinner with the Szareks, another family just down the road from us who is getting ready to join the Africa Mercy, and then we have Easter and Kamu's 2nd birthday!

What a week!

We are also now set up in Mercy Ships system. You can visit our support webpage HERE.

O Canada!

2010-03-23T17:20:00.005-06:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy going to Canada? It is so clean, everyone is always so nice, and best of all, they have all sorts of yummy treats that we can't get here in the states, like ketchup chips, kinder eggs, and Tim Hortons (I know we have Tims in NY, but I swear it doesn't taste the same)!

Last weekend we made a quick trip to Montreal to visit some old friends of ours, Amar and Elena and their darling Sofia and Thomas. Our kids immediately hit if off, which made for a VERY nice weekend for us adults. It was so much fun to relax, see some sights, and stay up late talking! We thorougly enjoyed spending a few days in such a multicultural city and hearing languages other than English being spoken!

Typically, I didn't manage to get pictures of much other than my children...I really need to get better about that or this blog is going to be really boring really fast!

Its Official!

2010-03-08T05:43:00.002-07:00

After many months of waiting (which ended up being much longer than we expected), we are now officially Mercy Ship staff! We are so excited to have been given the go ahead to start raising our financial support. We have a very busy couple of months ahead of us with trips to Denver, Montreal, Ohio, and Florida (with many stops along the way). We are working hard to get all of our support raised by June, but the timing is in God's hands.

We plan on moving to the International Operations Center in Texas in June, where Josh will be helping to oversee the stateside portion of the Mental Health Program for the rest of the year. And then, God willing, we will be leaving for Africa at the beginning of 2011!

We just sent out our first newsletter. You can also see it HERE. If you want to be on our mailing list to receive future updates, click on the newsletter link on the right-hand side of this page. And as always, you can reach us at jandlrich@hotmail.com

sugar is sweet...

2010-02-15T08:22:00.003-07:00

...and so are you!

Swim and Scuba

2010-02-12T06:02:00.003-07:00

Its Friday morning, and I am sitting here with my warm cup of earl gray tea. I only have a few hours of work left for the week and then I have the whole weekend to relax (which is rare...I usually have to do some work on Sat or Sun). I haven't posted in awhile, but that is really because I don't have much to say.

We are still waiting on final answers from Mercy Ships. It is frustrating, but I know that they are very busy with getting the field service to Togo fully staffed (the ship arrived there just a few days ago), and we are at the absolute bottom of the priority pile since Josh will be filling a newly created position, not one that has been vacant and urgently needs to be filled so that the ship can function. I am HORRIBLE at waiting, so this continues to be a trying and stressful but valuable learning experience for me.

I have been working more than full time for the past two months, and I will continue to be this busy until at least the end of March. It is a good opportunity to save up some money for our future travel expenses, but I cannot wait for a break! For those of you that don't know, I work on a project basis with very strict deadlines, so sometimes I have to work lots of hours but after a project is over, I usually get a couple of weeks off.

The kids have all started swim lessons at the YMCA in Lockport. Liam is doing very well. He has always been terrified of deep water..it wasn't until a year ago that we could even coax him into the "big" pool instead of the wading pool. He hung onto his teacher for the dear life for the first lesson, but he has quickly caught up with the other kids in his class and is learning all sorts of different strokes and kicks. Josh and I have been taking Serra and Kamu to the baby class, and they both act like we are trying to kill them the entire time! It must be because they are from a land-locked country! We are really trying to get Serra to swim on her own so that she can join Liam's class (she is old enough), but she is having none of it!

Josh also started scuba classes this week, which is three hours twice a week for three weeks. I have wanted him to get certified for years (I got certified in college), so he decided to do it before we left for Africa. That way we could take advantage of opportunities to dive when we are in different countries. However, between the kids swim lessons and his dive class, he is worn out!

Right now we are still tentatively planning on heading to Texas at some point in May for the rest of the year, with several stops to see people down the East Coast and an extended stay in Florida to visit some old friends. We'll make more definite plans once we get more definite answers from Mercy Ships!

Yabeserra Turns 3!

2010-01-31T16:48:00.005-07:00

Today we celebrated Yabeserra's third birthday. She has been eagerly looking forward to this day ever since Liam's birthday last November. For the past several weeks, she has been waking up in the morning and quietly singing the Happy Birthday song to herself...two days ago, I overheard her trying to get Kamu to sing it to her, too! So we tried to make it a special day for her and keep it pretty low key at the same time. I made a special cake for her and we got her the one thing that she has been asking for for months...a Wonder Pets backpack.

It just hit me that we have already celebrated two birthdays with her. It doesn't seem possible that she has been with us that long...I love that we have moved past the "newly adopted" phase into the phase where we feel like we have been a family forever! She has brought so much joy to our lives and has blessed us in so many ways. My heart aches for her birth mother, who must have beeen thinking of her daughter this past week. I wish that she had never had to give Yabeserra up, and I feel so honored to be given the chance to fill such big shoes!

Here is the earliest picture we have of Yabeserra from right when she entered the orphanage at around 1 years old.

And here she is today with her Wonder Pets birthday cake!

Just For Fun!

2010-01-19T12:31:00.004-07:00

What To Say?

2010-01-10T14:24:00.004-07:00

Josh and I dragged in at 1:30 am this morning from Dallas after our week at the Mercy Ships International Operations Center in East Texas. After a nice long nap with my favorite cuddler, Yabeserra, I can again think coherently (well almost, anyways)! This week has been such an amazing, affirming time that I am struggling to put into words how it has impacted us.

For those of you who aren't familiar with our plans, we are in the process of heading long term to Africa with a Christian charity called Mercy Ships. They operate the world's largest hospital ship, whose 450 crew members provide life-changing surgergies and other medical treatment, along with community health education, agricultural training, and mental health training/education. The actual role/s we will be playing is still a little up in the air (we are waiting for some paperwork to be processed and should have a better idea of what, how, and when in a few weeks). However, we know now without a doubt that this is a fantastic organization! We love their mission to serve the forgotten poor regardless of race, religious affiliation, or disability and how they approach this calling. We are so excited to be part of an organization that daily strives for humility, honesty, and servitude as they seek to follow the example set by Jesus when he made the lame to walk and caused the blind to see.

Once we receive official acceptance in a few weeks, we will begin raising support, as all Mercy Ship volunteers are required to pay their own way. We would love for you to join us in this journey and will provide more details as to our specific positions soon (Joshua will be working with the mental health program but a lot of details still need to be worked out)! In the meantime, we are busy compiling a list of everyone who we think would be interested in receiving our newsletter. If you want to be on that list simply click on the link on the right. And as always, you can reach us at jandlrich@hotmail.com!

A Christmas in Pictures

2009-12-31T15:02:00.006-07:00

Train Ride With Santa

Cutting Down the Christmas Tree

Decorating Cookies

New Pajamas

Presents!

Holiday Festivities and the Beginning of a New Year

2009-12-31T11:30:00.005-07:00

After our 911 call and visit from the sheriff, we had a pretty calm Christmas. With the exception of Melekamu serenading the entire church with a rousing rendition of Old McDonald Had A Farm (he especially loves the e-i-e-i-o part) when he was supposed to be singing carols during the Christmas Eve service, Liam getting so carried away when playing Wii boxing that he threw up, Yabeserra eating a tube of Smurf strawberry-flavored chapstick, and a trainful of kids who were supposed to be taking a picturesque ride with Santa but were instead in tears when they got an eyeful of a fully gutted deer strung up in a tree through the window (welcome to hunting season in Western New York), we had plenty of peace and goodwill and LOTS of cookies!

On Christmas Eve, the kids changed into their new PJs (thanks Lolo and Lola) and chose one present to open. They put out cookies for Santa before heading to bed. Then, per Rich family trandition, we ate strombolis and watched "White Christmas" before wrapping presents and filling stockings. On Christmas Day we opened presents with the kids in the morning and then ate a glorious grease-and sugar-laden breakfast. We managed to summon ourselves out of a stupor in just enough time to get dressed before sitting down for another meal of gluttony. Then we spent the afternoon opening all the grown up presents and finished the day off with "A Christmas Story," the best Christmas movie of all time!

On Saturday, we got together with the Parlier side of the family and on Sunday, we managed to make it to church (although I am not sure any of us could remember what the sermon was about) and spent the evening with some other family friends. While everyone else has had the last few days to recover, I got back to work bright and early Monday morning!

We have one more family get together with the Rich side of the family this weekend, and then Josh and I are heading to Texas for our week-long Mercy Ship's orientation! We are so excited, although I am a little disapointed that the weather is only going to be in the low 50s. I was hoping for a little more warmth after a very cold, damp month in WNY!

We are enjoying the time we have to be with family, but it has also been hard to focus on the here and now. We get very tired of feeling like we are "in limbo" between the past and the present. Overriding all is our burning passion for Africa and our desire to just be there already! So many nights, I dream of Africa and all the beauty, joy, and heartache that it encompasses. We have so much to look forward to in 2010....so many firsts....new jobs, new homes, a new language, new countries, a new school, etc...And we are ready for all of it!

Twas three nights before Christmas...

2009-12-22T10:34:00.006-07:00

...and all through the house, all the creatures were discussing politics.

That's right, I broke the #1 rule of the Rich family household and entered into a political discussion with Terry, my father-in-law, who is passionate about all things political. Once I got going, not even the death looks from Josh or the attempts at mediation from Yvonne, my mother-in-law, were enough to shut me up. And boy was I going to pay for it...

While all of us adults were in the kitchen having a knockdown dragout discussion (it wasn't all that bad, really...there were no voices raised abnormally high or insults being slung)....my wonderful children, who have been enamored with their grandparents' home phone since we arrived (they are amazed that it doesn't look like a cell phone), decided to take advantage of our distraction and punch in that number that their kids shows are always talking about....911.

Liam came running into the kitchen saying that Yabeserra was touching the phone in the living room, and I ignored him thinking that they were just harmlessly punching all the buttons. Yvonne went to check on them and came back into the kitchen a few minutes later, saying that the kids had been talking to the sheriff's office for a full minute. They asked her if things were okay becuase they could hear arguing in the background!!!! She assured them that everything was fine and apologized for bothering them. I must say that shut us up in the kitchen!

About 15 minutes later, after we had all moved on to other things around the house, we hear a knock on the door and open it to see a policewoman standing there who had come by "just to make sure everything was all right." She came in, stuck her head in all the different rooms, and talked to each of the kids for several minutes. Talk about embarressing! Thankfully, Yabeserra had enough presence of mind to walk into the room carrying baby Jesus from their nativity and proudly showed it to the policewoman! And shockingly enough, all three children were calm and well behaved enough to convince her that we really were okay!

I think we are all sufficiently humiliated and have all learned our lesson...if you must talk politics, make sure the phone is unplugged!

Benin 2009

2009-12-15T13:39:00.004-07:00

The Africa Mercy left Benin last week for some R&R and to get some repairs done on the ship in the Canary Islands. During the 10 months that it was docked in Benin, this is some of what was accomplished:

33,851 eye evaluations and other treatments
13,174 oral health education
10,175 dental patients seen
7,083 pairs of sunglasses distributed
5,689 pairs of reading glasses distributed
3,521 cataracts removed
1,161 general surgeries
996 reconstructive and plastic surgeries
794 dental hygiene patients
570 other eye surgeries (pterygia and stabismus)
231 orthopedic operations
154 obstetric fistulas repaired
185 cleft lip and palate repairs
119 church & community leaders trained in mental health
50 prison officers and workers trained in mental health
28 patients received palliative home care
25 oral health teachers trained
23 local agricultural trainees
19 mental health workers trained
19 families trained in wound care
18 community eye field workers trained
10 agricultural staff trained
6 Burkitt's Lymphoma patients received palliative support
2 local surgeons trained
2 local eye surgeons trained
4 local surgeons trained in fistula repair
2 dental assistants trained
1 hostel constructed for agricultural college
2 church leaders conferences attended by 602 attendants
12,000 people watched the Jesus Film

In a recent letter, Don Stephens, the Director of Mercy Ships, said, "The reason our work is so transformative is we are doing much more than just treating a medical condition. Many of the patients we treat have been living lonely lives as outcasts due to their physical conditions. Onboard the Africa Mercy they are showered with love and treated with respect. For many they are experiencing the love of Jesus in action for the very first time."

My Hair Mousse Causes Cancer??????

2009-12-14T10:31:00.005-07:00

The other day my sister-in-law showed me Cosmetic Database, a website that evaluates all the ingredients in hair and body products and rates them on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst for us.

Curious, I typed the different products I use for myself and my children into the search box and guess what I found out? My hair mousse (Tresemme Flawless Curls) caused cancerous tumor formations and damage to the brain and nervous system when tested on animals! And my facial lotion (Dove Deep Moisture with SPF 15) can cause cancer, mutations, damage to my reproductive organs, and catch this...it is toxic for skin!!!! Go figure!

I had already switched to Aveeno lotion and face wash, both of which scored 2 out of 10 (with zero being the best), so I will keep using them until they run out, and then I will search for more organic, skin-friendly options that won't cost me an arm and a leg.

However, my best purchase by far has been Dr. Bronner's Magic 18-in-1 Hemp Pure Castille Soap made from organic oils, which ranks as a zero.

Target sells it, where it cost $13 for a pint bottle that will last us at least 6 months (if not longer). I haven't discovered all 18 uses but so far have been really pleased with it as a replacement for regular soap, body wash, and shampoo (I was scared to try it on my hair, but it works just as good as regular shampoo, if not better). I have noticed that my skin isn't nearly as dry, and Josh is happy with it, too, and he is normally super picky about his shampoo.

I tried it as toothpaste, and while it worked well and tasted okay, it had a distinct soapy aftertaste...I don't think that I will be doing that again!

I am going to try it in the washing machine...the company's website says that it works, so here goes!

You Know Your Child Needs A Pet When....

2009-12-07T12:05:00.001-07:00

...he has adopted an orange exercise ball, pushing it all over the house and giving it bowls of food and water, explaining that it is his kitty who has no legs so it has to roll around like a ball.

Nice Pictures of the Kids

2009-12-05T06:39:00.009-07:00

While we were in Indiana, Bekah gave me some pictures of the kids that the photographer took at their wedding in June. They are so precious that I have to share!

Step 1 of Heading to Africa: Move to New York

2009-12-01T14:16:00.005-07:00

A week ago I probably would have told you that completely emptying out our house, packing up a moving truck, and managing to leave the house clean could never have happened. I have decided that there is nothing worse than moving, especially when you are trying to decide what you absolutely need to keep for 5+ years down the road. With the invaluable support of Matt and Sarah and Hans and Jenny, we managed to make it happen (we would have been in big trouble without them...it was especially helpful to have a sister who preferred to buy stuff from me instead of packing it for me!)

After two very long days of me driving the van and Josh driving the moving truck and towing our car, a very sketchy motel, and the never-ending fields of Iowa (thank goodness for NPR!), we made it to Winona Lake, Indiana, where we stopped to spend the weekend with my sister Rose, my brother Paul, and my sister-in-law Bekah. The weather was pretty miserable the whole time, but we did get out once for a short walk by the lake and some very yummy bagels. It was really great just to hang out and let our kids tear someone else's house apart for awhile!

We pulled into Josh's parents early Sunday morning and have been slowly unpacking and sorting (I naively thought we did all that before we packed everything up but apparently that job is never done). We are feeling pretty settled and are just about ready to put Africa on the back burner for the next few weeks and start celebrating Christmas! I like to have all my shopping done by October but this year I haven't set foot in a store for a very long time...I need to get my butt in gear.

Here are some pictures of Indiana

September/October

2009-11-11T09:11:00.008-07:00

Wow, where has the time gone? Does life ever slow down? These have been a few crazy months! We started September off with a trip to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and Wind Cave National Park with Matt and Sarah and the kids. It was really fun, although the trip home through Wyoming was pretty dreary. We spent the next few weeks sorting, throwing away, selling, and organizing our stuff in preparation for putting our house on the market. For the rest of the month, we had to keep the house spotless while people came to look at it, which isn't easy with three little kids. We basically made them spend the waking hours in the front yard or at their cousins' house!

October kicked off with more showings, but we finally got a good offer and spent the rest of the month packing and working. Liam celebrated his 5th birthday on Halloween and Yvonne, my mother-in-law, flew out for the weekend as a suprise. The kids loved every moment that she was here!

Now our time is full of more packing, working, and meeting up with people to say goodbye. I can't believe that after 4 years, we only have a few more days left in Colorado! I am starting to get sad about leaving. I'll talk more about what is happening next with us in my next post. Until then, here are some pictures of these last few months.

South Dakota

Mount Rushmore

Devil's Tower

The Original Cabela's!

Halloween and Liam's 5th Birthday

Liam's Indiana Jones Lego Cake

Building Legos

Indiana Jones and the Princess

The Princess and the Frog

Slumber Party!

8 Years

2009-10-23T09:35:00.006-06:00

This Monday marked 8 years of marriage for Joshua and myself. I must say that when I said "I do," I had no idea of what I was getting myself into! Marriage has been the most stretching, character forming, defining, and rewarding thing that I have ever experienced. We have both learned so much about mutual honor and respect, serving and supporting each other, compromise (we're still working on that one!), and choosing to love. We were good friends before we fell in love and I can proudly say that 10 years after we first met, we are still best friends as well as lovers. There is no one I would rather spend my time with!

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root of the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

So here to us! May the next 8 years be as wonderful as the last!

This is us soon after we started dating.

And this is us at our wedding a year and a half later. Don't we look like little kids?

Typhoon Ondoy and How You Can Help

2009-10-19T10:18:00.011-06:00

On September 25, Typhoon Ondoy hit the Philippines, the country where I grew up and which I will always consider as my "home." When we were kids, we loved typhoons...it was always so much fun to run around in the rain and try to walk into wind that would literally blow you backwards. There is nothing like playing cards by candlelight or toasting marshmellows over the gas stove during a power outage. However, Onday was not the kind of typhoon that offered a bit of fun. As of October 9, 337 deaths have been reported and it caused landslides and record flooding (20 feet!!!!) in and around Manila.

My parents and other missionaires were caught in the middle of this and are now busy trying to offer aid to those around them. The streets are still underwater and people are using homemade rafts and boats to get around. As most filipino homes are only one story, hundreds of thousands of families (an estimated 15 million people) lost all of their food supplies and possessions. Local churches are struggling with the loss of all of their Bibles and libraries. Here are some pictures that my parents have sent over the last few weeks. Many of these scenes are from Cainta, where I spent my middle school and high school years. The damage is unbelievable!

Here is a recent email from my parents:

We are in the midst of what is being classified as the worst disaster Manila has ever seen and has covered more than 80% of the city, aside from the other extensive area... Last Saturday the flood and typhoon waters hit with a vengeance affecting nearly everyone here in one way or another. I know that many of you have seen the scenes on the news and all is true and even more. CNN and BBC seem to be reporting that 2 million people are affected which is so strange, given that Manila is a city of 20 mill and 80% is some 15 mill....+ the folks living south and north of the city. Imagine the million++ of vehicles that were caught in the deluge, abandoned, dragged, tumbled and smashed by the waves of water.....it is a HUGE car cleanup business now...inside and engines torn down, cleaned and reassembled for the 'fortunate' ones. ...the others discarded with no insurance as this falls in the 'act of God' clause.

The areas right around us are said to be some of the most affected. Fortunately, we are in some older townhouses built on the side of a hill so no flooding -- but our roof leaked, so the water came in thru 2 ceilings, causing such damp conditions in the crawl space that strange 'upside down' plants and mushrooms have been sprouting out of the cracks where the ceiling meets the walls.... Around the corner, a missionary's teenage son was home alone, when the nearby river became blocked with torn up trees and diverted to the road beside their house, sweeping huge chunks of wall and debris down the street while the original river swirled around the other side and knocked down their lower back wall..... Around the other corner from us, the same river, running some 15 feet higher than usual, burst over the main road, pushing down the perimeter wall of the golf course, taking a car with it and tore a huge swath thru the golf greens making a mini grand canyon of sorts, spreading all the squatter garbage over the area.

The waters reached over 3 meters high at street level in the nearby subdivision of Riverside and six feet deep inside those homes , located on what is considered to be higher ground! These waters were not just mud and sewerage but diesel and sump oil from a nearby business which has now covered everything...black goo on all the animals, plants, cars, walls.... Nearly every car in that subdivision was covered by over two feet of this 'water' and is beyond repair. Tenants were stranded in their 2nd floors for more than 48 hours, many bringing the squatters in, sharing what water and food they had rescued..

Our power was off for days, still no internet... We were so thankful to have water for awhile but as soon as the power came back on, the water stopped for the next few days! Today, we have both power & water but still no internet or phone.

How You Can Help:

1. Send donations. Find a Balikbayan shipping center near you (try http://www.manilaforwarder.com/ or do an Internet search for "balikbayan"). They will give you a big box with no weight limit that you can mail to the Philippines for $100. Items needed are clothes and blankets, sanitation and first aid kits, stuffed animals and toys, school supplies, books of all kinds, Bibles, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

2. Send a Balikbayan box that is already packed with food items for aid centers in and around the Metro Manila area at http://www.forexworld.com/.

3. Send money so that missionaries and relief workers can provide food and other basic necessities to those in need. You can send it through my parents (contact me at lydiarich@hotmail.com) or send it through the following aid agencies:The Philippine Consulate, UNICEF, World Food Program, and The Philippine Red Cross.

4. For other ways to help, visit http://www.google.com/landing/typhoon-ondoy.html.

An Update on our Darlings

2009-10-17T11:48:00.005-06:00

I just realized that it has been a really long time since I have posted about daily life and the kids. Things have been so busy that I don't even know where to start! So for you grandmas out there and anyone else who is interested, here is what is happening with each of the kids:

Liam continues to exhaust us on a daily basis with his boundless energy and inquisitive mind...seriously, I don't know how kindergarten teachers keep up with multiple 5 year olds! He is turning five in two weeks and is eagerly anticipating his Indiana Jones Lego birthday party. It will be his first real party with actual friends as opposed to just family and he can't wait!

In the spring he was accepted into Global Village Academy, this awesome language-immersion charter school just up the road from us. We have not had the intention of putting our kids in school, but GVA teaches just the way I would and even uses the same curricula I would choose. They even serve all organic food! The only problem was that Liam's birthday fell a few weeks after the cut off date for Kindergarten here in Colorado and since GVA is publically funded, he was required to take an IQ test and score in the 97 percentile (basically genuis status) to be admitted early.

Well, I am proud to tell you that he scored VERY high and tested at the second grade level, but he did not quite hit the 97% mark. I was really disapointed that he couldn't take advantage of GVA, but in the meantime our plans for Africa have solidifed and we will be leaving CO soon, so it has all worked out for the best. In the meantime, we are working with him at home on math, reading, and critical thinking. We are using 1st grade materials and they seem to be just right for him now. Josh is also teaching him chess and we plan to get him involved in music and French. At this point, we are more concerned with developing his mental reasoning and processing than we are with actual content.

Yabeserra now proudly tells everyone that she is 2 1/2 and spends most of her time following Liam around and copying everything he says! He doesn't seem to mind since he is so happy to have someone to play with. She is learning her colors and shapes, how to count to 5, and how to do puzzles. It may not sound like much, but it is pretty challenging for her. Since her vision was so impaired during her first 2 years, it is taking her longer to figure out her colors and how things go together. She loves to color and dance. I am looking forward to next year when we can put her in a dance class! At her check up last week, she weighed in at 10% and her height is 50%...it is really amazing since she wasn't on the charts at all a year ago! I would say that she is about 80% potty trained. Everyone says that girls are easier but she has taken much longer than Liam did, mainly because she could care less! It has taken a great deal of mini marshmellows to get this far!

I am afraid that Melekamu will always be refered to as the baby, but already he isn't happy about that! He is busy, busy, busy all the time working hard to keep up with his sister and brother. He is still small, at 10% for weight and height. After we gave up on him ever talking, a month ago he finally decided to branch out beyond his two words (bye-bye and eat) and is now learning multiple new words every day! He is up to two word phrases, his first being "I stinky"! I must say that I am a little disgruntled that he will freely say "love you, dada" but will only say "love you, mama" if Josh instructs him to! He certainly loves his Daddy! He has discovered trucks and balls and has fallen in love. You will rarely see him without a ball in his hand and if he drops it while we are in the car, he will scream his head off until someone picks it up for him! The joys of an 18-month old!

So that is what is happening with the kids. I will try to post some recent pictures next time I walk past the desktop in the basement!

The Frehiwot Wondye Memorial Run

2009-10-05T08:32:00.004-06:00

Children's Heaven of Ethiopia is a wonderful organization. We are sponsoring some of the girls who are in the race and hope that you will do the same! Let's overwhelm these girls with support and show them that they can in fact make a difference!

THE FREHIWOT WONDYE MEMORIAL RUN
PLEASE SUPPORT 65 OF OUR GIRLS WHO WILL RUN 10 KM TO RAISE FUNDS FOR OUR PROGRAMME

Dear Friend of Children's Heaven,
I am writing to tell you about a special initiative that we're launching to remember a very special girl and raise much needed funds for Children's Heaven.
In June, one of our girls took her own life after an argument with her mom. Frehiwot Wondye's death shocked us all, especially the other girls, her “sisters” at Children's Heaven.
We wanted to do something positive in Frehiwot's memory and asked our girls if they would like to run in the Great Ethiopian Run. We expected about 20 to participate – to our surprise and delight, 65 girls have said yes!
So we've launched the 'Frehiwot Memorial Run' which is part of the Great Ethiopian Run, a 10km race through the streets of Addis Ababa on November 22nd.
This run is a way for the girls to mourn together and pull together during this challenging time.
Over 75% of the girls in our program are hoping to participate and would love your sponsorship as they take up this heart-healing and physically challenging endeavor.
$20 can sponsor one girl for the run and you can sponsor as many as you can. To sponsor securely online and to learn more about Children's Heaven of Ethiopia, go to http://www.childrensheaven.org/frehiwotondeemorialun4.html. Please, please be generous. It would be a very fitting tribute to Frehiwot if we raise enough money to help many more girls who are living in poverty in Addis Ababa.

I thank you in anticipation for your kind and generous support.
Yours sincerely,
Hanna Fanta

Where We're At and Where We're Headed

2009-09-29T12:24:00.005-06:00

It was almost exactly four years ago that we left Mongolia and moved to Colorado so that Josh could begin his counseling graduate studies at Denver Seminary. In that time, he managed to graduate with honors (which is no small feat when you have a small overactive child and a working wife!), we bought our first home, I have established a great career that I can take with me wherever we go, and we added two more babies to our family through Ethiopian adoption. I often catch myself thinking about how much time we have "wasted" here while we were waiting for God to reveal the next step He has planned for us, I have to remind myself of all that we have accomplished. There has to be some reason that I can barely stay awake after 9pm!

After the 2 years we spent in Mongolia, we have known that we would be heading back overseas but we had not idea how, where, and for how long. When we started researching adoption last spring, God led us to Ethiopia, which was suprising. Africa had never really entered our thought of our future plans...in fact, although my grandparents had been medical missionaries in West Africa and my father was born and raised there, I had no real desire to ever visit. I am embarressed to say that I knew nothing about current events on that continent. Like most other Americans, I found the suffering so overwhelming that I turned away and instead sought more "managable" needs in other parts of the world. Drought, famine, starvation, HIV/AIDS, genocide, and civil unrest are not pleasant topics, especially at the magnitude seen in Africa.

But on August 21, 2008, we stepped off a plane in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and hours later, two little African darlings had stolen our hearts forever. We quickly discovered that Africa as a whole had also taken root in our hearts. We saw that taking on the responsibility of an African child meant taking on responsibility for their heritage, culture, and continent. By signing those papers, we were committing to a life that would always be connected to Africa, to its beauty and awesome majesty, to its sorrow and suffering, and to its struggles for peace and economic stability.

In March of this year after much thought and prayer, we decided that God was calling us to move to Africa full time. We started researching NGOs and mission agencies, trying to figure out where our training and experience best fit with the current needs. We narrowed our choices down to a few very promising possibilities, but it wasn't until we discovered Mercy Ships (http://www.mercyships.org/) that we instantly knew it was the organization for us. Mercy Ships operates The Africa Mercy, the largest non-governmental hospital ship in the world. They dock in different ports around the African coast (they typicall stay in a country for about 1 year) and provide free medical care to all who need it. The ship houses up to 450 volunteers and includes a state-of-art hospital, with an ICU and OR. They operate dental and outpatient clinics off the ship and are involved with mental health, medical, and agricultural trainings in the community. Since they only stay in a country for 6-12 months, they are 100% focused on training and mobilizing the local medical professionsals and the church so that they can continue to offer these services after the ship has moved on.

The Africa Mercy is in need of a Mental Health Local Church Educator, so in August we applied and indicated that we were willing to join the ship as soon as they needed us (provided that we had enough time to raise our financial support). We waited a long time for a response (the majority of the ship's crew is short term volunteers, so their HR department processes over 1,000 applications a year), but were eventually told that while they wanted us to join them, there was no current family housing available. The ship only has 25 family cabins and the mental health team is only alloted one of those cabins, which is currently occupied.

We were very disapointed, since we were 100% convinced that God had called us to this ministry. After a few days of more prayer and deliberation, we realized that God was still calling us to join the Africa Mercy, but in His time, not ours! So we are stepping out in faith and beginning the required training and raising our support so that we will be ready to go when housing become available.

We had a humongous yard sale last Friday and made almost $1,000 in about 6 hours! It was pretty amazing, since it is so late in the year. And as of yesterday, our house is officially for sale (check it out here). We are praying that it will sell fast! The longest a house has been on the market in our neighborhood over the last 4 months has been 21 days! It is awful trying to keep the house spotless with three grubby little kids!

As soon as the house sells, we will be moving the rest of stuff to New York, close to Josh's family, where we will stay until we are ready to join the ship. We plan on heading to Texas for the first part of the Mercy Ship training in January and then Josh will probably join the mental health team in Togo for a few weeks at some point in the spring. We will likely finish the training next summer and then hopefully we won't have much longer to wait! We are stepping out in faith, knowing that God provides for those He has called and that He is faithful!

Your prayers and support would mean so much to us as we begin this new journey with our three little kiddos in tow. We are full of anticipation and excitement but are also more than a little terrified! You can follow along with us on this blog...we will provide more details as we know them!

For more information about Mercy Ships, visit www.mercyships.org. There you can watch videos and read articles on their recent work in Benin. In 2010, they will be working in Togo and South Africa.

Fly Away Children

2009-09-17T12:29:00.003-06:00

Last night I watched this short video on unethical/illegal adoptions in Ethiopia. It was sobering, to say the least, and caused Josh and I to think back over our adoption experience and the information we were given very carefully. Thankfully, our children don't fall into the category of being falsely "advertised" or taken from mothers who wanted them and would have kept them with a little financial assistance (such as job training, school fees, etc.). It is heartbreaking to see how much harm can be done by people/organizations who aren't truly focused on the good of the children.

I think the message of this video goes beyond choosing an agency carefully. While that is incredibly important, it is also important to think long and hard about why you are adopting what type of child you want to bring home (truly orphaned, abandoned, and/or relinquished and why). Adoption is not simply about providing a home for a child in need...its ramifications go far beyond that one child and have a lasting effect on his/her community and country.

If you are considering adoption or are in the process, WATCH THIS!

http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/

(Select "Fly Away Children" from the menu on the right.)

Going Back Home...An Adopted Boy Returns To Ethiopia

2009-09-12T12:23:00.003-06:00

I saw this post (read it here) on another adoptive mom's blog and I thought that it was such a beautiful and touching story. How wonderful that a boy adopted from Ethiopia would have a desire to return and minister to other orphans. I pray that my children will share this same desire to impact their birth country when they are older.

My answer to whether international adoption is a worthy use of our time and money

2009-08-31T07:09:00.007-06:00

Recently, a friend whom I have known for a very long time left a comment on my blog about the wisdom of international adoption. I have put a lot of thought into my response...after all, a thoughtful question demands a thoughtful response! I should warn you, however, that my response is long, and if you are going to read it, please make sure you read all of it so that you can understand my whole take on this issue. Thanks!

Hi there Lydia,You've got a great blog, and I read your adoption story with interest. I just read Peter Singer's The Life You Can Save, where he has an interesting perspective on international adoption. He argues that it is better to keep children in their culture, with their birth family. Instead of spending large amounts of money on international adoptions, wealthy people (relatively speaking, aren't well all?) from the first world should support programs that alleviate poverty in the third world and allow impoverished families to provide for their families. I'm curious to know what you think of this (and I ask in the most respectful way possible), given the fact that Yabeserra's mother wanted to keep her but was unable to due to her poverty.

My response: I think that this is a very fair question and it would be a lie to say that most (if not all) adoptive parents have not wrestled with this very issue. I have not read the book you mention (although I am going to see if my library has it) but from your description, it very much sounds like I agree with the basic principle being expounded upon. Of course it is ideal to keep children within their own country so that they can benefit from all that that brings, including family ties, language acquisition, cultural identity, etc. And we should ABSOLUTELY all be taking part in helping to make this happen.

However, there are an estimated 50 million orphans in Africa, which comprises a third of the estimated amount world wide. According to an article published in The Economist just this week, there are not enough adults to care for the children of Africa, let alone provide for their emotional and spiritual needs. When I use the word "care," I am referring to a warm body who can provide enough food to keep them alive and some kind of roof over their head.

The article goes on to state the following:

"One African in two is a child. The numbers are such that traditional ways of caring for children in extended families and communities are breaking down. In southern Africa, as a result of HIV/AIDS, an increasing number of families are headed by children. A recent report by the African Child Policy Forum, an advocacy group, says there are now 50m orphaned or abandoned children in Africa. It thinks the number could rise to 100m, meaning misery for them and more violent crimes for others.

Millions of children already live rough in towns and cities. Prostitution and death await the poorest girls. The boys take to glue and crime. Africa has the highest rate of child disablement in the world. Some think 10-20% may be disabled, a staggering number, but since they are rarely seen in clinics and schools that is hard to verify. Paediatricians suspect some are killed in infancy—not Darwin’s natural selection but the dispensing of an extra mouth to feed. Physical stunting is probably rising.

Throughout Africa the burden of disease weighs heavily. Between them, malaria and HIV/AIDS account for about a third of the continent’s 10m deaths each year. In the ten years to 1995, more than 4m Africans died of AIDS and many countries have ten times as many people living with HIV as have died. Most are between 20 and 59. So HIV/AIDS is damaging that very section of the population—working-age adults—on which the demographic dividend depends."

Here in America we believe that everyone should have an equal chance at life and that every child deserves so much more than the basic necessities to simply stay alive. We believe that every child deserves at least one parent (ideally, two parents) who will love them unconditionally, provide safety and stability, meet their spiritual needs, and continue to love and mentor them throughout their adult lives. Not every child in America receives this by any stretch of the imagination, but we work hard to achieve this and pour millions on dollars into state programs designed to meet these needs. However, it seems to be a generally pervasive idea that making sure that the children in Africa receive clean water and enough food to eat is sufficient, as if they don't need or deserve as much care and attention as American children. In reality, we don't even spend the time or money to see that they receive these necessities. America notoriously contributes less to international aid than most (if not all) of the other "first-world" countries based upon their national income (I think American is somewhere at 0.01%, while countries like Japan and Norway are at around 8%, but I haven't read that statistic for awhile).

I think I can safely speak for all of us who are Christians and have chosen to adopt from Africa when I saw that we DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THIS IS ENOUGH! We believe that EVERY child is created in God's own image and is as important to Him as we are. I place a pretty high value on my own life and expect those around me to do the same. In Matthew 22: 36-40, Jesus says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

These children deserve everything that we provide for our biological children here in America. They deserve a home where they can be nurtured, protected, and loved. They deserve parents who will help heal their broken hearts, mend their physical ailments (whether it be long-term effects of malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, or a physical disability), and teach and encourage them to soar. These children have suffered far more in their short lives than we will ever experience. When so many children are dying so far away, it is easy to see them as simply a large group of people instead of individuals; to address the needs of a large group we focus on future plans, thereby forgetting the individual children who are suffering and need help TODAY. They each have souls and are precious in the eyes of God. EACH OF THEM COUNTS! While I value my own life, I am called by my God to place more value on their lives than I do on my own.

International adoption meets the immediate need of providing for the children who have already lost their birth families. Regardless of how wonderful an orphanage is, it is no replacement for a family for each and every one of the children who live there. We have been told many times by child development experts that it takes a child twice as much time to catch up with their peers emotionally, intellectually, and developmentally as they were institutionalized. So while our youngest, Melekamu, was only in the orphanage the first 5 months of his life, he is still suffering long-term effects.

In answer to the issue of removing them from their culture, I am a firm believer that a child's birth culture and heritage are vital to their sense of self as they grow into adults. Before we made the decision to adopt from Ethiopia, we had to decide if we would be able to provide that for our children, white and middle classed as we are! We came to the decision that we would be able to do that sufficiently, as well as expose them to the richness of other cultural heritages and traditions. Here in Aurora, CO, Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia) is the second most widely spoken language. We have a huge Ethiopian community, including a large Ethiopian church about 3 miles up the road from our house. We belong to a church that is extremely racially diverse and is a huge advocate for adoption. When we go there, we are only one of hundreds of racially blended families. In addition, we made the commitment to return to Africa long term with our children to ensure that they are comfortable with their own language and culture. We want them to be able to easily assimilate back into their culture if they ever decide to return as adults. We plan on raising them to love their country, honor their heritage, and to desire to help their fellow Ethiopians.

That being said, I myself was removed from my birth culture and grew up in another country (albeit raised by parents who were also from my birth culture), and as an adult, I feel that the benefits of that upbringing FAR outweigh the negatives. I feel fortunate to have been raised in such a way that I was exposed to a variety of language, countries, and cultures from an early age and do not feel that I missed out on anything important by not being raised as an American. I truly feel that I am a world citizen and pray that my children feel the same way as adults. I do not believe that our God views us by geographic and racial boundries. International adoption is one of many ways of bringing his global family together and forging bonds that will bridge those ridiculous geographic and racial gaps that WE have created.

By removing our children from their birth culture, I don't think we should feel that we are robbing them of the background they "deserve." In fact, we are widening their horizons in such a way that they will grow to be adults with a much broader understanding of humanity and a variety of cultures, religions, and languages. In our world today, which is rapidly shrinking due to the evolution of technology and modern transportation, this can only been seen as an asset. In an article written by a woman adopted from Taiwan, Mei-Ling Hopgood states, "I realize that adoptees will all come to their own view of culture and adoption, but I imagine many international adoptees and children in multiracial families share this wider, more global view of themselves. Our blended family backgrounds, beliefs, and practices - as diverse, complicated, and dissonant as they might seem - are as authentic as any. We are another version of the immigrant story, with a culture is just as rich as the one we might have had." In a way, international adoptees are "third-culture kids," just like all of us who were raised in a variety of cultures and subsequently created our own culture and sense of identity.

As I said before, international adoption specifically provides for those in immediate need of a family. There are other ways to provide for orphans in the long term that would allow them to remain in their own cultures and receive the same or more love and nurturing they would receive in adoptive homes. Without having actually read the book you mention, it seems that it falls more into this category. We can contribute our time and finances to provide training, education, and the infrastructure necessary to provide homes for orphans and to enable struggling families to stay together. This is a long process and we should be working hard to make this a reality. However, until this becomes a reality, there are still millions of orphans who need forever families, so the need for international adoption is not going to disappear anytime soon. Let me also say that setting up "group" homes in their birth culture where 10-15 children are raised by a house mother, while far better than growing up in an orphanage, is still NOT a replacement for a parent for each child! I do not think that we should risk the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development of a child that comes from having a family of their own simply to keep them in their birth culture. And the reality is that with so few healthy adults to care for all the children, group homes are currently the best possible scenario. When given the choice between unconditional love and culture, I will choose love every time.

I cannot speak for the general international adoption community, but the Ethiopian adoption community is overflowing with wonderful compassionate people who have opened their hearts and homes to children and also devote much of their time and money to ongoing projects in Ethiopia, ranging from orphanages and hospitals to sponsoring children and contributing to agricultural development projects. It is virtually impossible to adopt a child and then walk away from his/her birth country. As an adoptive parent, I am overwhelmed by the blessings I have received from my children and their birth country. Every time they run into my arms, I think of the millions of orphans who do not have homes and still need our help. It will be a beautiful day when there is no need for adoption. From a realist's perspective, I don't think it will happen anytime soon, but at the same time, we should be working as hard as we can to try to eliminate this need.

Specifically regarding our daughter, Yabeserra, it breaks my heart that her birth mother had to give her up due to being a single teenage mother in a society that would not feed her, allow her to work, or give her a place to live. Many children are given up here in America for the same reasons, and we often agree that adoption is better for the child if the birth mother is young and incompetent, living in a questionable environment, and possibly addicted to alcohol or drugs. In our culture, we see the consequences first hand of children raised in homes where verbal, physical, and/or substance abuse happen every day. Just spend a day at your local high school! We do not know anything about Yabeserra's mother except that she could not provide for her. If provided with the opportunity, she may have been a dedicated, hardworking mother or she may be mentally unable to care for a child. Who knows? What we do know is that her mother did give her up and if she had not been adopted, she would have spent her life in an orphanage. Regardless, we are raising Yabeserra with love and compassion for her birth mother, and as soon as it is feasible, we hope to reunite them (although she will always live with us, we hope that they will have a strong relationship). We do not feel at all threatened by the thought of sharing her with her birth mother. In fact, we feel that it will make her life richer and more meaningful. I know that teaching your child how to straddle the gap between their life with you and a relationship with her birth parent can be very tricky; we hope to succeed by following the example and learning from the adoptive parents who have done the same before us.

I hope that somewhat answers your question, although I may have raised more questions then I answered! If there is something that needs clarification, just ask. My answer is certainly not complete, as there is much that can be said on this issue from both perspectives. One of the biggest lessons I have learned over the past few years is that every single situation and every single human being has a unique solution. Just as God created each of us to be completely unique, our struggles and journeys do not fit into neat boxes. Life is complicated and messy. People are messy. Civilizations are messy. Governments are messy. Therefore, the body of Christ is messy. We each come to God in our own way and He speaks to us all in a way that we can hear and understand. We do not have the magical solution to solving the problems of poverty, starvation, and orphans. We simply endeavor to make a difference in the life of one child at a time, knowing that every child is precious in the sight of God.

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you." Isaiah 55:1-3

Steamboat Lake State Park

2009-08-27T09:21:00.006-06:00

We managed to squeeze in one last camping trip (with the exception of Mount Rushmore over Labor Day weekend) up to Steamboat Lake State Park. Since this will most likely be our last summer in Colorado, we have been trying to hard to see as much of it as possible before we leave!

We had a great time, even if Melekamu did throw up all over his car seat on the way there (he did that last time, too, so I have a feeling we have a motion sickness issue) and we forgot all of Liam's clothes because he wanted to put them in the car all by himself and then promptly left them in his bedroom behind his door. He had to wear his sister's clothes around the campsite (he wouldn't let me take any pictures otherwise I would be saving them up for blackmail later on) and the same outfit everywhere else, including swimming in the very muddy lake.

We saw lots of wildlife, including three owls that hunted directly around our campsite. It was very cool to watch them circling and swooping all around us. After it got completely dark, we heard one catch a mouse and its death cry after the owl took it back to its nest!

We did some hiking, swimming, and boating. Josh attempted to fish, but nothing seemed to be biting. On the way home we stopped in Steamboat Springs for lunch and walked around the downtown area for a bit. I think that it is my favorite out of all the mountain towns we have visited. It is a little more down to earth and not nearly as touristy as the ones closer to Denver, even though I don't think I could live there...I think the winter lasts for about 10 months and then you get some grass and sunshine for the other 2!

Rose is so enthusiastic about hiking!

Playing in the sand by the lake

A sweet, but short-lived brotherly moment.

Its our gotcha day!

2009-08-22T14:18:00.008-06:00

It was exactly a year ago today that we walked out of the Sele Enat and Hope for the Abandoned orphanages in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with our Yabeserra, who was 21 months old, and Melekamu, who was 4 months old. And what a year it has been! Adoption has changed our lives in so many ways, all for the better. It has been an incredible experience of learning about the capacity of the human heart to truly love and has deepened our understanding of God's love for us as he chose us before the beginning of time to be adopted into his eternal family.

To be honest, most of this year is a big blur. Adopting a baby and a toddler at once has been challenging and overwhelming, to say the least, but so rewarding at the same time. Sometimes I get the feeling that deep down inside, Yabeserra isn't 100% sure that we will never leave her, but other than that, it is like they have been with us forever! They are OURS in such a beautiful and wonderful way. I love just looking at them, and I am constantly showing them off to others. I am just so dang proud of all three of my kids and feel so blessed to be their mother!

When we sent in our application to International Adoption Net on March 27, 2008, we knew we were making the choice to forever change the path our lives were taking, which has happened in so many more ways that we could have even imagined! It was our adoption that was the first step to opening our eyes to the overwhelming need of the millions of Africans who struggle daily with poverty, starvation, and disease and has ultimately led us to giving up our life here in America and moving to Africa fulltime (more to come on that soon!).

So while today marks our first anniversary together as a family, it is just the beginning of the amazing things that God has in store for us! How fortunate we are that we listened to God's calling for us to adopt and that he led us to Ethiopia.

Our lives will never be the same.

Here are the pictures we received when we accepted our referral on May 28, 2008:

This is when we met them on August 21, 2008:

And this is Yabeserra Evangelaena and Melekamu Ephraim a year later, August 2009:

Awkward Family Photos

2009-08-03T08:21:00.002-06:00

I just spend a hilarious half hour perusing this super funny blog: http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com. Here are some of my favorites.

Swing Time

2009-07-28T15:03:00.003-06:00

Melekamu would happily spend all day in a swing if we let him. The other day I went inside to get something and came back out to find him swingin like this, not the least bit upset! Naturally, I took a picture before rescuing him!

Goodbye Crib

2009-07-03T08:09:00.004-06:00

The day has finally come that Liam, my oldest but still my baby, has outgrown his toddler bed. We have kept him in it as long as possible because our kid's bedrooms are pretty small, but lately there have been many times when we have gone in to check on him when we are getting ready for bed and half of him is hanging off the bed or he is all twisted up in a very uncomfortable position.

So because of this and because he and Yabeserra like to keep each other up all night (I swear they have a pact to wake up whoever falls asleep first...I have walked past their room many times and heard in a quiet whisper slowing growing to a yell, "psst..Liam...are you asleep? Wake UP! WAKE UP!) we have decided to move Melekamu in with Yabeserra and give Liam the baby-slash-office room all to himself.

So rather than taking the crib apart, moving it to the other room and putting it together again for the last few months that Melekamu will need it, we decided to get rid of it and put him in the pack'n'play until he is ready for the toddler bed.
Thanks to craigslist, we had it and the changing table sold in three days to a very pregnant, very young couple who clearly couldn't afford to spend much more. Why else would they be buying a 9-year old crib and changing table with missing screws for their first baby? I ended up digging around in the garage and giving them a bunch of my other baby stuff on them (baby monitor, bath tub, johnny jump up, etc..). The mom was practically in tears as I kept piling stuff in her arms.

When we were pregnant with Liam, our friends and church family overwhelmed us with baby stuff. My kids still have clothes they never wear and I have baby blankets that have never been used..not once...I couldn't imagine being so young and not having that community of support surrounding with me with love and generosity. How else can you survive parenthood???? I am really thankful that God brought that couple to our house so that I could be my own little baby shower for them! How awesome that I could pass on all the gifts that were so generously given to me to someone who could be blessed by them!

It took a whole day of cleaning my junk out of the office and the baby's closet, but Liam finally has his own, big boy room, and he is so thrilled about it! He refuses to let any of us come in and play, and he keeps shutting himself in there and rearranging all his stuff. This morning he solemnly came to me at 7am and said that he needed to go "work" at his new desk! If only that dedication to cleanliness and schoolwork would last for the next 15 years!

Father's Day Camping

2009-06-30T14:35:00.004-06:00

For Father's Day we went camping to Eleven Mile State Park outside of Colorado Springs, which was new to us. We booked one of the backcountry sites, and I think we got the best one. Besides a little vomit (okay a lot) on the way there, a little rain (okay enough to trap us in our tent with our hyper kids for way too long), and lots of fishing (although no fish were caught), we had a great time! We broke in our new canoe and enjoyed the beauty of the mountains. This is Kamu throwing up on the way there. After awhile, I gave up trying to clean him up and took pictures instead! King of the Hill
I told Josh to look manly.
With all the rain, it was COLD!

Paul and Bekah's Wedding in Winona Lake, IN

2009-06-24T08:29:00.001-06:00

Who needs Elitchs?

2009-06-24T07:36:00.003-06:00

Joshua's Ghetto Water World

Zucchini

2009-06-24T07:32:00.002-06:00

This morning I spied some dewy blossoms in the garden. That means that from now until the end of the summer, a new foot-long zucchini will appear everytime we turn our backs on the garden! We will be eating it fried, steamed, boiled, baked, and sauteed! Last year I planted two zucchini plants and ended up with enough to get us through the winter. This year I planted six...hmmmmm

Vacation so far...

2009-05-31T20:46:00.004-06:00

It is almost 11 pm here in New York and oddly enough, I am not the least bit sleepy...of course, it may have something to do with the extra large serving of strawberry shortcake that I just polished off or perhaps the fact that I have been sleeping in every morning while Terry and Yvonne have been getting up with the kids, getting them breakfast, and even changing their diapers! At this moment, life is pretty darn good, even if I am a few pounds heavier from eating all the great Western New York-style cooking that I haven't even had to make for myself...

We have had such a great time hanging out with family and friends, running around outside, fishing, riding trains, taking long walks by the Erie canal, and of course, playing board games! And my kids have only broken a handful (or two) of items too irresistable not to touch around their grandparent's house. Thankfully they haven't gotten their mitts on the antiques...model trains are replacable, but heirloom glass is not...

Every time we head East for a visit, I am amazed at how green and lush everything is! People don't even have to water their vegetable gardens around here! In CO, I have to water mine at least once, if not twice, a day. And the grass is actually soft! Even the best-kept lawn in CO is made up of poky grass...definately not the kind you want to lay down on.

Today we went to church and our kids had a grand time being fussed over by everyone. Yabeserra regally allowed her grandparents to carry her around while she was swarmed by admirers. Liam spent most of his time hiding out by the snack table and snagging chocolate donuts. Only the baby was loyal to me and refused to be budged from my arms! At least someone loves me! I did have a moment of feeling my age when I realized half of the worship team was in Josh and my fourth-grade Sunday School class not so many years ago...but clearly, it was more years ago than I thought!

On Tuesday we are packing up and heading to Winona Lake for my brother's wedding. The kids are going to be heartbroken to have to bid farewell to a constant state of being spoiled, but the thought of spending another week with lots of other people who will be dying to dote on them will surely cheer them up...

Professional Photographer I Am Not

2009-05-20T11:54:00.003-06:00

Over the past couple of months I have really slacked in the photo-taking department. One of my summer resolutions (My memory is so bad these days and our lives have become so busy that I am resorting to seasonal, as opposed to yearly, resolutions!) is to get the camera out and take more pictures! I only have about 1,000 pics of Liam's first year...I know Melekamu is not going to accept the excuse of me being too busy as a good reason for why he doesn't have any baby pictures!

A few days ago the boys were in the backyard, so I grabbed my camera and thought I would take a few pictures. Melekamu clearly isn't used to me telling him to sit still and smile. As you can see from the pictures, he wasn't too thrilled about the whole process. And I didn't even include the ones where he is attempting to poke Liam's eye out with a stick!

Our New Loan

2009-05-20T07:47:00.003-06:00

On Monday night we signed all the papers for our new mortgage. I am still amazed that CIT/Veriquest reduced our mortgage by $22,000, waived our prepayment penalty, and covered all the closing costs so that we could refinance into a loan without an ARM and a much better interest rate (think 6 points lower!!!). Our monthly payments is now $300 less than before. That is a lot of extra money every month! And we were nowhere near to not making our monthly payments or going into foreclosure. We simply wanted to refinance before our ARM kicked in.

I highly recommend Prime Lending if you are trying to refinance and your current mortgage is upside down. We worked with Diana Craft and she really went to bat for us. It took them about a month to get our new loan worked out (underwriting kept turning it down and Diana kept reworking the numbers until they finally accepted it). The whole process was shockingly hassle free...they even sent a closing agent to our house for us to sign all the papers!