Our Adoption Journey Continues: Yielding to a 2nd Calling!

Celebrating a year since...

2009-11-05T14:11:00.000-08:00

I LOVE November 5th! The LONG awaited for day in which we received our "match" for beautiful Shani Mihret! Here is her match photo taken just 2 days after coming into Holt's care...

And... here she is one year later!

What a happy girl... and we are SO incredibly blessed that the Lord brought this little one into our family!

It's Harvest time...

2009-10-31T19:06:00.000-07:00

And the kiddos are lookin' cute! Here's the cutest train conductor showing off his dimples! :)

And... check out this happy little lady bug!

What a pair!

Cuteness continued...

2009-10-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

Some little cutie's hair is getting long... so someone else has started "playing"... the first result...

What does Shani think? She was ALL giggles!!! (That is... after the hair ties were in place! oh dear...)

Now... as promised... little more walking and talking...

She walks!

2009-09-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

For all her adoring fans... here she is! Big Brother Micah started BIG walking the day after he turned 13 months... hmm... so did Little Sister! Way to go cutie!

Coming soon... an update of other "1sts"!... 1st b-day, 1st pony ride, 1st car! tee... hee...

Adventure Day!

2009-07-26T17:43:00.000-07:00

We took our first "REAL" hike as a family yesterday! We explored a bit of the Tillamook National Forest and found some awesome campgrounds and trails to explore! Micah was a TROOPER! 1 hour uphill with only 2 stops for snacks! Not bad little buddy! :)

Shani, of course, rode in style!!! And was all smiles! She's an outdoor girl just like our boy!

Once we made it back down the trail, we conquered a STEEP embankment and found the COOLEST swimming hole! We weren't prepared for getting wet... but we are quickly learning that to a 3 1/2 year old... whatever clothes you have on... WORK!!!

What is that you are holding Micah? Hmm.... take a guess... and scroll down...

The big AWESOME surprise of our adventure was finding a massive population of pollywogs! Pure delight for Micah!!!!

Baby Dedication & Family Celebration Day!

2009-07-19T20:27:00.001-07:00

We were blessed to dedicate Shani's sweet life to Jesus today at church! Both Micah and Shani did wonderfully up on stage in front of the "big church". Micah was so excited that he got to give Pastor John "knuckles"!!! (Thanks John!!!)

My favorite picture from the dedication... prayer time... 3 heads bowed (good boy Micah!!!!) ... 1 looking up to heaven and talking to Jesus himself I am sure! :)

Look at this angel in her first "full length gown"! We purchased this dress at the leprosy hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a special occasion for Shani! This was it! What a beautiful angel!

Thank you to all our family and friends who were able to share in this wonderful occasion with us! We are so thankful for your loving support, prayers and encouragement and so blessed by this precious life that we have been entrusted with!

I cried at the barbershop...

2009-07-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Ok... I know I have a soft heart... but last night I found myself watching my 3 1/2 year-old transform into a really BIG boy while sitting in the barber's chair. I believe my exact words were... "Maybe a little shorter for summer"... one swoop of "the buzzer"... AND...

... I found myself teary-eyed and looking at David and mouthing the words "I'm going to cry... I need to leave..." Shani and I rapidly excused ourselves for a short walk while the buzzing continued! Ok... he's seriously WAY cute! But I think that was one of the last stages of baby-hood for mommy's little guy!

And the winner is....

2009-07-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

The movin' and groovin' stage has begun! Check out this video... the official taste test!

That's my girl!!!!

1st Trip to the Beach!

2009-07-14T15:26:00.001-07:00

We took our first trip to the beach over the 4th of July weekend!

First stop? Seaside Outlet Mall for some WARM clothes!!! We were dressed for the 90 degree weather in Forest Grove... not the 60 degree haze that greeted us at the coast! :)

Second stop? The Seaside Aquarium!

Shani tried SO hard to grab the fish in this tank. I held her here for about 10 minutes while she rapped on the glass (sorry fishies... it was just so cute!!!)!!!

Meanwhile, big brother Micah was REALLY enjoying the "touch me" bins! His favorite of course was letting the hermit crab walk all over his hand. REALLY... he is ALL boy! I love you my brave little dude!

Next stop? SAND! I call Shani our texture girl! She LOVES to explore all the different textures around her... (Example: she is fascinated where our carpet in our living room turns into the hardwood floor!) So, her response to sand? WONDERFUL excitement and total analyzation (is that a word?)!

Time for lunch! At our family tradition spot! Mo's! Bring on the chowder! Yummy for our tummies! Where's Shani? FAST ASLEEP!!!!!

4th of July Water Fun!

2009-07-14T15:18:00.001-07:00

What are you watching cutie???

Oh! I see... you're looking at the Reece boys having a BALL of fun on the 4th of July! While we didn't catch any major fireworks... we sure did have fun outside in the yard!

Seriously... look at that face! TOTAL enjoyment! tee... hee... How many kids ARE in the Reece family anyway? :) Love you honey!

Prepare yourself to giggle...

2009-05-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

Really... there is nothing more to say!

It's Not Easy Being GREEN... or is it?

2009-05-13T09:55:00.001-07:00

Ok... when I was 3... I don't remember it being so "fun" to be sick...

Fast forward to 2009... let's see... movies in bed... a blue cup for ice water... a green cup for apple juice... cuddly buddies, blankies, and pillows... sign me up (OK... maybe not the sickness... but I'll take a day of relaxation!)!

And what about baby sister... she's zonked out too!

So, what does Mommy do on a "quiet day"... catch up on blogging! tee... hee...

The Blessings of Mother's Day!

2009-05-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

The girls started celebrating Mother's Day on Saturday at a Teddy Bear Picnic Tea at church with Great Grandma, Grammie, Great Auntie Dodo, Mommy & Shani! Shani was escorted to the tea by Pookie Bear (Mommy's special teddy bear from Daddy that he gave her when he proposed over 5 years ago!)

Mommy's Day on Sunday was a special family day that started with a yummy meal made by Micah and Daddy while Mommy and Shani worked on getting pretty for the day...

Baby doll you are drooling too... are you getting teeth like me?

Funny girl!!!!

After breakfast we took a few pics outside before church... Shani tells good stories, doesn't she Micah? :)

During nap-time Daddy and I put together a special Mommy's Day present for the family to enjoy!

Welcome to Fort Rock!

Look! A perfect fit! :)

Ok... maybe the kiddos fit a bit better!

May Birthday Bashes!

2009-05-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

Great Grandpa turned 97 on May 3rd! What a blessing to be able to share yet another b-day with him! Look at these smiles... I remember thinking that his grandchildren (ie. me, my sister & cousin) were his joy... hmm... I think we've been replaced by his GREAT-grandchildren! tee... hee...

I just can't help but think how when Grandpa was born in 1912 his parents probably never imagined that the family line would include this precious girl! God is so faithful to make our families!

Mommy (that's me) turned 28 (AGAIN... tee... hee...) on the 8th... and had fun making cupcakes and a cake with my little buddy Micah! He got to decorate the cake all on his own... it had a nice hole in the middle... but it is amazing how a "little" frosting can fix any boo-boo!!!

And... we celebrated in style at Out of This World Pizza with Daddy & the kiddos! What a wonderful place to be a kid (and a kid-at-heart!!!)

8 months old and...

2009-04-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

What a big month this has been! Shani is doing great and continuing to transition wonderfully into our family!

This month's highlights for her include:

Rolling over from tummy to back!

Eating solid foods! (And growing like crazy!!!)

Sitting up and playing!!!!

And her first tooth is coming in, so this may be the last of the gummy smiles! Oh... sad.... that went TOO fast!!!

Big Brother Micah had his own share of milestones!!! His first trip to Disneyland with Daddy! Wow! Now that's a Boy's Adventure!!!!

And his first fishing trip with Grammie and Papa O. at a wonderful stocked lake newar our home... AWESOME for toddlers and newbies...

Look at the concentration... (on all our faces!!! tee... hee...)

Ahh!!! The CATCH!

And... Every BOYS dream... salamanders! Micah had SO much fun catching these with a net and his bare hands... and he loved showing (scaring) his sweet mommy as well!!!

Yeah Big Brother! You are a great fisher-dude!!!

Easter Blessings!

2009-04-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful start to spring! We've had wonderful warm sunny days mixed with breezy rainy Oregon days! We've had so much fun watching everthing SPRING up in the yard and are working on getting some natural Vitamin D.

Last week at church we had the joy of watching Micah wave a palm branch as the children paraded through the church as we sang "Hosanna in the Highest"!

This week we enjoyed coloring Easter eggs...

Hiding and hunting and enjoying the goods!!!!...

...and celebrating the true reason for this wonderful day... as best said by Micah...

And... looking cute in our Easter clothes....

It was such a joy-filled day at church as well! We love our church family and were surprised to be greeted by so many people we had never even met before! As we sat down for service... and opened the program entitled "Joy in the morning!" we rejoiced in reading the announcement of Shani's arrival to our family! What a fun day!

7 months old & 100 WISHES!!!

2009-03-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

We ALL did it! We just received our 100th quilt piece so we can joyfully begin piecing Shani's beautiful quilt together! Yippee!!! Be sure to check out the quilt blog!!!

Thank you to all who contributed to this beautiful family tapestry and representation of God's love for our precious girl!

Here she is... 7 months old! Happy & healthy!

And having fun with her AWESOME big brother Micah!

The giggle fest!

2009-03-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry that the video shakes a bit... I was trying desperately hard night to giggle myself!

Oh! It is so fun to have a sibling for my big boy!!! In fact, Micah tells us he wants 10 kids in the family... and he wouldn't even mind sharing a room!!! What a sweetie!

We're Home!

2009-03-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

What a tremendous blessing! We are finally in the last stretch of recovering from over a week of "travel bugs" so we are excited to send out our official "We're Home!" post!!!!

WARNING: this is bound to be a long post (with some wording coming straight from my hand-written journal others brand new! tee... hee...) ... so grab a tasty beverage and settle in!

First a few fun statistics...

Total air miles traveled: 17,154
Total flight time: 37 hours 40 minutes
Total # passengers arriving in Addis: 2
Total # passengers arriving in PDX: 3!!!

Day 1 & 2: February 18th & 19th, 2009:
We left our home before the sun came up with Micah in the backseat with Grammie commenting on how dark it was! By the time we arrived at the airport, it was light... bummer... he could see Mommy's tears as she kissed him goodbye. Mommy did quite a bit of begging for a kiss from her sweet boy, but found herself covered in puppy kisses. And, I'm not talking about kisses from his favorite stuffed animal... I'm talking about my sweet boy licking my face just like a puppy would. Well, while it made me a bit crazy at the goodbye, what a WONDERFUL fond memory it gave me each time I thought of him while we were in Ethiopia (which was ALL the time!).

We left Micah with a special letter to open and "read" every day (telling him what Mommy & Daddy were doing that day and how much we loved and missed him, etc.), along with a surprise to open and Hershey's hugs and kisses from Mommy & Daddy.

The best part was that Grammie & Papa O. took video and pictures each day of Micah with his surprises. The video was the best! Each day, he'd open the letter and he would "read" it as follows after a sweet, long sigh: "Dear Micah. Glad to see you. Dear Mommy & Daddy." Then, with a swift toss over his left shoulder, he'd be on to opening the goods! :) I love our boy!

So, we said our goodbyes and began wonderful journey across the world! While we unpleasantly realized that we were in the back... and I mean VERY back of every plane we were taking to Ethiopia, we were pleasantly surprised to enjoy the personal entertainment systems in each seat. Nothing like catching up on 4 or 5 movies on a single flight to pass the time! So, how does one look after such a movie-watching spree? Here's David with Shani's elephant... bright-eyed!!

We briefly met the other family we would be traveling with in Amsterdam (Drew & Lynn from Louisiana). At that point, it was the middle of the night and I was exhausted but excited! By the time we arrived in Ethiopia, we had been awake for almost 2 days and it made obtaining our Visa's, changing currency, and getting through customs a bit... uh... "funny"... no that's not it... well, let's just say we were all a bit delirious by then!

One of the biggest blessings at that point was finding ALL our luggage. Here we are with Drew & Lynn with just one of our 4 carts of luggage! Nothing like traveling light! tee... hee...

The next blessing was meeting Dawit (David), Holt's main driver. What a friendly face to arrive in Ethiopia and meet! Throughout the week he was our virtual encyclopedia (and trusted friend) re: Ethiopian culture, history, the city, you name it!

And, David and he formed a special bond as well. When two people have the same name in Ethiopia, they call each other Mokshe ("mok-shay"). They kindly teased each other all week... When Dawit asked what the English equivalent of the term was... the only thing that David could come up with was "Your my brother from another mother" (a favorite line from the movie Fireproof!)... it brought laughs all week long!

We made it to the hotel and turned our clocks to midnight... easily falling asleep from pure exhaustion and excitement.

Day 3: Friday, February 20th:
We woke up at 4:30 am, unable to sleep even though we had only slept a few hours. It seemed that the streets never fell asleep either - cars with their friendly "hi, I'm here" honks, barking dogs, people chatting away....

And at 4:45 am, we were officially welcomed to Ethiopia and the Union Hotel by a neighbor rooster and "Prayer Man". There is a mosque very nearby and the beautiful chanting prayers come out loud and clear across the area via a loud speaker. We found it to be a welcomed part of the journey and fond memory.

We had plans to have breakfast in the hotel with Lynn & Drew at 8:00 am, so we did a little unpacking and then ventured out to find Kaldi's coffee (think Ethiopian Starbucks), supposedly only a few blocks away. We only made it a few yards past the entrance of the hotel when we decided walking at rush hour was not the best idea - cars jammed the streets and there were people walking EVERYWHERE... and the cars - well pedestrians have NO right of way and there are no sidewalks... and yet it works! And everyone was KIND and friendly! Amazing!

The hotel guards greeted us back warmly and I quickly found myself in front of the best and strongest cup of Ethiopian coffee! I drank a whole pot... which another adoptive mother staying at the hotel informed me told me equated to about 6 espresso shots! Ha! Good stuff!

We had a wonderful breakfast which David had at least 4 servings of!!!!... strawberry pancakes, fried bananas, eggs with veggies & toast. Then we patiently waited the few more minutes for our 9 am meeting with the care center.

We had been told that someone would come over to the hotel at 9 am and meet us, then take us to the care center. By 9:15 we were starting to get antsy... by 9:30, we were calm, but going a bit nutty! Drew called the center and Tamirat came over right away (a small scheduling oops!).

The care center was directly next door to the hotel. So convenient for the families and children! They took us on a tour of the administrative offices, then up to the 1st floor where 6 toddlers sat motionless as Dr. Fikru gave us instructions and rules re: the center. Drew immediately saw their daughter and whisphered, "There she is!" Lynn and Drew couldn't take their eyes off of her. Finally, Dr. Fikru called Miseret (2.5 yrs.) to come and she eagerly embraced Lynn and Drew. It was an incredibly powerful moment to witness and I quickly ushered David to grab their camera to capture those first moments.

Then two nannies came down the stairs with our babies (Lynn & Drew adopted sibling girls!). Meskerem, the head nurse, held Shani and our love for her at that moment was so intense... like reaching out to hold your baby after just giving birth. We "oohed" and "aahed" and then I reached out to take her into my arms. She came easily and cuddled right in. She was so much smaller than I'd expected, but so strong and wonderously content! David held and kissed her like a proud daddy! Within moments I heard him say the precious words, "I love you sweetie."

We spent the next 2 hours holding Shani and playing with the other babies and toddlers. Our two most memorable moments: (1) After a big feeding of cereal, Shani cuddled right into my chest and fell asleep while I rocked and sang to her our children's bedtime song "I Love You Best". Knowing it was naptime, I tried to put her down in her bed, but she woke and cried... needing me, right?! :) We spent some more time cuddling and then it was time to go! Which leads us to memorable moment (2): We tucked Shani into bed and as I rubbed her tummy she gave us our first BIG smile. We melted. What a miraculous start! Needless to say, I was teary-eyed having to say good-bye for the day.

We went back to the hotel for lunch. Drew and I both had traditional Ethiopian tibs with injera. It was much spicier than in the states and set my lips on fire! Although the "Cajun-loving Louisianan"didn't have any problem! David had a huge filet mignon for $5.00. Tasty food!

After lunch we had 45 minutes before we were to meet up again, so we headed to our room for a quick cat nap. Mind you, our room was on the 3rd floor of the building. Taking into account that Addis is at approx. 7,000 foot elevation and they don't have elevators, and with the first floor really on the second floor... we traversed many flights of stairs and were breathing heavily each time we got to the top of the stairs! So much for Wii Fit! tee... hee...

At 2:00 pm we met Dawit at Holt and arranged for him to drive us to the Holy Trinity Cathedral. (Holt had set aside the time for us to go to a bank and/or visit a shop or two... but our group opted for this extra tour!). One of the Deacons of the church gave us a wonderful, historical tour of the church - the 2nd most important place of worship in Ethiopia. From the moment we all stepped into the church, and took off our shoes, as Moses did, to respect the Holy presence of God; we were ALL astounded at the stained glass, paintings (phenomenal dome!), statues; everything! And what was so beautiful to me was how the deacon effortlessly described each item of interest in relation to Ethiopian history and through scripture. It was truly the best tour I have ever been on.

Next we visited the museum of the church which contained ecclesiastical elements, crowns and robes of previous Emperors & priests, hand-written bibles written on animal skins in Ge'ez, Hebrew, Arabic and more; orthodox crosses and much more. It was another amazing display of cultural and spiritual history.

The drive to and from the church was fascinating, sad and a little nerve-wracking. Dawit told us that there are over 3 million people living in Ethiopia and only 200,000 cars. People litereally cram into taxi-like buses that seem to fit 12 passengers plus the driver and his colleague. The diesel fumes from all the vehicles cramming the tiny streets was a bit intense. As you travel, you drive on roads similar to American highways,then in an instant, the pavement ends and you are bumping along on dirt. We saw herds of sheep along the road, donkeys, chickens and a random cow here or there just meandering through the streets. And, again, it seems to be there are no "rules of the road", no lines on the pavement, no merging rights, and yet... it works!!!

One of the most clear examples of the mix of extremes came when we were told that we were driving one of the poorest areas in Addis with 20-30 families sharing one "restroom", houses seemingly made out of tin just slanted against each other for support. Then at the end of that very street sat the Palace of the Empereor - just as you'd imagine - huge, immaculate, beautiful landscaping, security everywhere.

Jet lag was hitting us all, so when we returned to our rooms we crashed for another hour. Drew & Lynn decided to have a "date night" exploring the city a bit more and David and I opted for a quick dinner a tthe hotel then settled in for the night. David was fast asleep by 8 pm... I shortly thereafter.

What an amazing day! To meet our daughter and fall completely in love with her and to learn and witness so much of her birth country, it's beautiful people, culture, history and spiritual life! Thank you Jesus!

Day 4: Saturday, February 21st

We woke up at 4 am after almost 8 hours of sleep! What a treat! I've decided that the rooster who crows day and nihgt is immitating "prayer man". :) This morning the chanting began around 4:45 am, but since we were already up for the day, it's a nice, welcoming sound!

We experienced our first power outtage this morning, starting just before 6 am and lasting until just about 1/2 an hour. Then we spent the next hour trying to get an outside phone line to call Micah. When we finally were able to make the call, they weren't home. It is now so much easier to understand how difficult communitcaion can be. I miss Micah and his sweet hugs and puppy dog kisses so much!

When we went to the care center at 9 am, we found all the toddlers outside in the courtyard with Dawit and the 2 security guards and one of the nannies. Meseret grinned and ran to Lynn & Drew. It made us ALL beam with joy! David and I walked upstairs and found Shani in her bed waiting for us. Immediately, she needed her diaper changed and the nannies let ME! Although I was a bit nervous with numerous eyes watching me (tee... hee... ), Shani made it easy! She smiled and cooed the whole time.

When we came out to see David, she smiled at him and then we heard her first GIGGLE when David was making silly sounds to her! What joy! We went outside to join the toddlers and had such fun watching them excitedly blow bubbles. I was able to talk more with Dawit and was so touched by how he was lovingly interacting with one of the children. He looked at me and said, "I love this one..." along with some other touching words. I nodded then had to turn my head away as I was so touched I could not help but cry. These children are ALL so loved. God's presence is so apparent.

Then at 10 am, it was time for Shani to have cereal. They asked me to feed her and I was a complete failure! Cereal went EVERYWHERE and she was not happy! Finally, one of the nannies saved me and took over. I sat there in awe of how much food they put on each spoon, how quickly they fed her and that she ate the entire bowl! The funniest part when I was feeding Shani was when the two nannies kept speaking in Amharic and giggling. They are all so incredibly sweet, but I can't help but wonder what they were saying about my feeble attempts! tee... hee...

After lunch at the hotel, Dawit picked us up and too us to the National Museum. It was a four story building filled with Ethiopian histroy. We saw everything from replicas and originals of "our ancestors" dating back over 4 million years ago (with the exception of "Lucy" who is currently in Seattle), to articfacts from each of the Emperor's reigns, to beautiful traditional and modern artwork.

Then we headed to the grocery store where we picked up some Ethiopian formula, cereal, Ethiopian coffee, and Coca-Cola Zero (Diet Pepsi... where are YOU????).

We headed back to the hotel for a MUCH needed nap! Then at 7 pm, Dawit & Tamirat picked us up and took us to the Crown Hotel for a traditional Ethiopian dinner and tribal dancing. Everything from the traditional hand-washing ceremony (which we all quickly followed up with Purell), to the food, the company, the atmosphere, dancing and traditional coffee ceremony complete with popcorn, was fabulous!

I'm in awe that God has brought us to this amazing place, to meet these amazing people! We are so blessed and feel so honored to be chosen by him to be Shani Mihret's Mommy & Daddy!

Day 5: Sunday, February 22nd

We started our day off with another yummy breakfast at the hotel. Even though we won't see Shani today, we will have a wonderful time in her birth country. Dawit & Tamirat intended on taking us to an international English speaking church. We all asked if we could go to a more traditional Ethiopian church so they took us to Dawit & Dr. Fikru's family church - Gospel Light Church. It was wonderous! While I felt slightly uncomfortablesince they took us to the only seats left in the building in the FRONT row that was the only reason (I'm just not a FRONT ROW girl!). The worship was like nothing we've ever experienced... so passionate, REAL and ALIVE! While we understood none of the words, it was as if God had opened our eyes and ears to true worship. David and I were both teary-eyed and emotion filled.

Then an angel (ok... it was an usher) delivered to us eahc our own electrical personal translator for the sermon. The sermon was about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. How it is the wind and the fiery passion the Lord gave us in His grace. I found it completely ironic how the pastor talked about "What would our church body look like if the Holy Spirit was living and active in our lives?" It WAS!!! He also spoke of how God intends for us all, each nation, each person to let the Holy Spirit lead us, drive us, and inflame us with passion... all united for His sake. It was AWESOME!

After church we went to the Kariftu resort in Debrezeit about 50 kilometers outside of Addis. It is kown as the nicest resort in Ethiopia. For $25 US, you can buy a day membership which included a wonderful meal, swimming and kayaking. David and I opted out of swimming as the pool was chilly, but did enjoy a wonderful excursion kayaking. We saw 5 or 6 different species of birds (Ethiopia is known for it's amazing bird species!) including some that reminded us of pelicans, king fishers, falcons & ducks.

It was wonderful to be there, yet my heart wanted to be with Shani and I missed our sweet Micah greatly! What an amazing journey this has been. We bought a beautiful silver cross pendant at the resort in remembrance of the presence of God we witnessed today... although in my soul, I know I'll never forget.

Having pretty much been "vegitating" all day, we finished our day with a walk to Kaldi's with Drew & Lynn. (For those of you traveling with Holt, it is worth the walk!!! Go out of the hotel and turn left. Walk past the care center up to the main road. Take the foot bridge over the top of the big road. At the bottom of the foot bridge head in the opposite direction of the car traffic... and walk to the next over-head foot bridge. At that road turn left... Kaldi's will be on your right). Kaldi's is truly an Ethiopian Starbucks. Everything resembles Starbucks... from the green circular emblem, to the uniforms of the workers... the only difference is that along with yummy coffees they also serve food ($2 burgers & fries, sandwiches, etc.) and ice cream! Another nice treat!

Day 6: Monday, February 23rd:

Today was the day our hearts had been preparing for the past two years! Today we took custody of Shani full-time!

We went over to the care center at 9 am again, we were emotionally overwhelmed to see the arrival of 15 new children from Addis (primarily toddlers). I cannot begin to describe how beautiful these children are, how lovingly cared for, how beautifully behaved... and how LOVING they are. Their own displays of love proved to us that in order to love they have been shown love. You see this in Addis for yourself and I am convinced of it in Durame (Holt's care center in the south) too. We cuddled and played with every child we could, but our time was never long enough. The nannies and staff... we thought they were busy before the new arrivals. They were even busier now, but never too busy to love on the babies, lovingly feed, clothe and play with the toddlers... LOVE ABOUNDS!

We did a bit more paperwork in preparation for our Embassy appointment the next day... then it was time to go "home" to the hotel!

Just before we were taking Shani Mihret out of the care center for the first time, a little one came over, kissed my name tag and kissed the baby. Truly, LOVE ABOUNDS!

We spent most of our first day together cuddling, napping and eating! Good times! tee... hee... Shani adapted and slept wonderfully. Thank you Jesus for this precious gift!

Day 7: Tuesday, February 24th:

Unfortunately, I woke up not feeling well today and it only grew worse as the day progressed. We left the hotel at 8:00 am for our appointments at the U.S. Embassy. The car ride is still a blur to me as I spent the ride doubled over and sick. Nice, eh? However, the on the plus side, I don't think anyone has ever made it through the security check points of the Embassy faster than me! I think they were radioing ahead saying "Let the green American woman in!!!" I had one destination in my mind and once I reached it, it was only then that I panicked that I had no idea where I was, who had my baby, where my purse or paperwork was! Never fear, trusty and faithful Dawit was waiting for me and Holt's social worker had sweet Shani!

Our appointment went easily (thank you God!!!) and Shani officially was released into our care and able to return to the United States with us! Just two more days and we'd have her Visa and Passport in hand!

Day 8: Wednesday, February 25th

At 9 am we returned to the care center for the most wonderful farewell party for our children. They took our children upstairs and dressed them in traditional Ethiopian clothing.

They had a beautiful traditional coffee ceremony prepared, balloons, cake, popcorn and tables set up for all the toddlers to join in the fun! I continue to be amazed how ANYONE can get 15 toddlers to sit quietly, compliantly, and sweetly for any length of time... let alone an entire party!

The party began and ended with prayer and the parents and staff giving thanksgiving for the lives of the children and the role of each person... giving glory to God. I really lack the words to explain the beauty and amazing meaning of this time. It is something that will radiate in my heart always... forever touched by the LOVE our daughter was shown and the LOVE that remains for her there. We may have brought our daughter home from Ethiopia, but I feel as though we have left family behind.

That afternoon, we returned Shani to the care of the nannies one last time (for a love-fest I am certain!!!) to enable us to go shopping to bring home a bit of Ethiopia with us. They first took us to the Bethseda Leprosy Hospital where we were able to see first-hand how some of the textiles were made. Thank you God for your beautiful provision! We were able to purchase many textiles (scarves, blankets, pillow cases, tablewear, doilies, etc.), several hand-carved wooden crosses, and "yarn" animals here. Then we were taken to a couple of souvenier shops where we were also blessed to find beautiful silver orthodox crosses, a traditional coffee set, a beautiful hand-painted nativity on animal skin, baskets, and more.

Day 9 & 10: Thurs. & Friday, February 26th & 27th:

We spent most of the day organizing, packing and re-packing... and then realizing that we had a bit more room... David and Drew headed off to find Ato's Basket shop... (at the VERY end of the same street as Kaldi's). David did a great job finding a few more baskets and Drew... well, he came back with a carved wooden bench! (tee... hee...) and knives in sheaths? for his boys! tee... hee...

Leaving was so hard... especially when we arrived at the airport and Dawit couldn't find a parking spot. Our goodbye to him had to be so quick that it made my heart physically ache. Our luggage was headed in one direction and he stood on one side of security, us on the other. We ran back and gave him quick hugs turning back in tears.

Thus began the 2 day flight journey home... praise the Lord, though Shani did not like taxi-ing... she slept nearly 15 hours of our 18 flight hours! Truly THANK GOD!!!

We arrived back in the U.S. the day Shani turned 6 months old... God honoring my hearts desire to have our daughter in our arms by the time she turned 6 months! We were greeted by Great-Grandma, Grammie & Papa O., Auntie Do Do, our WONDERFUL Holt family friends (The Schmidt's & Williams'), Kathie (our social worker) and good friend Jeannie & mom. The biggest blessing was seeing our BIG boy Micah! I was overwhelmed in seeing him... truly, joyfully, overwhelmed. I'll never be able to describe what it was like seeing him for the first time again. My boy... proudly wearing his "Big Brother" t-shirt! I could have hugged him all day!

Finally, we are a family of 4! Thank you Jesus for your loving-kindness in making this dream a reality!

Off we go!!!

2009-02-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

The jumping (dancing, prancing, spinning around til we can hardly stand) for joy continues!!! We just found out that we have to be in Ethiopia in 2 weeks!!!! No way! :)

So, for those of you who responded saying that you would pray for the paperwork backup to be cleared... it worked! Ahhhh!!!!! Crazy! God is so good! He is answering our hearts desires that we have our little one in our arms before she turns 6 months old! She will turn six months on the day we'll return from Ethiopia! Ahhh!!! Did I just write that??? God is SOOOOO faithful!

Our updates will indeed be less frequent as we are now in full-throttle packing mode! Praise the Lord!!!!

It's Official!

2009-02-04T14:35:00.001-08:00

Our sweet baby girl is legally ours! Jumping for joy? You bet!

We received the call from Holt today while I was in story-time at the library with Micah! I gave the librarian an "I HAVE TO GET THIS!!!" look and ran off to answer it! They said that we passed court and I had to contain all of my emotions! Imagine that! It was WONDERFULLY painful! :) tee... hee... God is SO good and has such a sense of humor! (By the way, the librarian was DELIGHTED with the news... and why not? She was the FIRST to know! tee... hee...)

They said that paperwork is a bit backed up right now, so it may be at least week before we know our travel dates (these are dependent upon when our Embassy appointment is set in Ethiopia). We are just so thrilled that our precious baby girl is truly ours now! Thank you Jesus! Praise the Lord!

Thank you for all of your prayers and loving inquiries! It's time for thanksgiving and a celebration!!!!

Counting down & lovin' new pics!!!

2009-02-01T19:55:00.001-08:00

Last Friday we received a wonderful update on our cutie... not to mention beautiful new pictures! We even received a few pictures of the Christmas celebration they had for the children this year! What a treasure! We won't be able to post pictures until after our Embassy appointment in Ethiopia, but trust us, she is a doll!!!!

Well... it is now 7:00 am on Monday morning in Ethiopia... so we are literally a day away from our court date. We are praying Ethiopia time! :) Please join us on the next 30 hour prayer journey!

More updates to come soon!!!

Quilt!

2009-01-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it's not THE quilt you've all been waiting for... we're still trying to gather about 10 more squares to reach 100!!!... but I wanted to make something for our baby girl... something that we could take with us to Ethiopia one day very soon and keep her wrapped up in it through the transition home!

Here is just a snippet of it being enjoyed by Micah's "Baby Shani"...

This was a fun project for me... I'm not sure what I enjoyed the most... the quiet time alone (knowing "my boys" were having a ball together eating and playing at Out of This World Pizza! and also working on Potty Training (yippee!!!) which I've determined that only two dudes can really appreciate!); joyfully crying as I thought of all the things to come having our daughter in our home, the long journey we've been on to bring her home, and the millions of thoughts of when it will all finally take place; or was it the memories of two wonderful women who have shaped my life that filled me with the most joy as I laughed to myself (and sometimes outloud) when my "perfect" 4 1/2 inch squares somehow turned into rectangles, when yet another "square" of four squares simply didn't line up, when I tore out yet another seam... :)

You see, I experienced one of those times, where you suddenly become thankful and truly appreciative for the gifts God has given others and which you in turn have then been blessed BY! My Grandma Lois and my mom Michelle are simply amazing seamstresses. You name it, they have likely sewed it... and to a beautiful perfection! Growing up, I was blessed with the most beautiful home-made Christmas and Easter dresses... and my family of Cabbage Patch kids had a wardrobe that was simply unbelievable! Sitting down at my sewing machine I was simply flooded by their example in my life. Not just of sewing (which is one of the least of things passed down to me!!! I was simply too much of a Daddy's girl that loved to do "guy stuff!" to sit down and learn to sew!)... but the beautiful legacy of what it means to be a role model to your children... to provide love and warmth, safety and guidance, nurturing and self-sacrificing. Thank you Mom & Grandma!!!

While my quilt isn't "perfect"... I'm reminded that God's love is. And, just as I long to wrap my arms around our baby girl in the warmth of this blanket, I take comfort knowing she is already in His hands, lovingly touched by His presence every day.

Court date!

2008-12-29T09:49:00.001-08:00

Praise the Lord! We just received news that our court date in Ethiopia has been set for February 3rd! We all just did a happy dance in our kitchen (after I got done screaming for David to come in and read the e-mail with me!!! tee... hee...)!!!

What happens next? Our agency represents us in Ethiopia at our court date... once the judge finalizes the adoption we travel within 3 to 6 weeks to finally have our baby girl in our arms.

Prayer request: That all the paperwork and anything that is required for the case to pass court is in place by February 3rd and that the judge indeed passes us on the first go around! And, continue to pray for our precious one as she continues to grow and develop!

Reflections on 2008

2008-12-24T15:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve 2008:

What a miraculous year this has been! While I sit here listening to the snow finally begin to melt (we've had over 29 inches fall in the last 1 1/2 weeks!) I'm struck at how God has moved in our family's lives this year... how His timing never failed us... how His provision was always perfect. Indeed, this past summer, we had tensions of selling our home and buying our new home in a declining economy, all the "what-ifs" and "when's" of an international adoption, and the daily loving and training of a wonderful toddler! But, God, through His grace, took us in His arms and carried us as only He can.

When we would get just a "wee overstressed" this past summer, David would dream and pray about Christmas. He envisioned us in our new home, our old house sold (though he never expected a simultaneous close!!! Praise the Lord), sitting by the fire watching the snow fall (really, though, we didn't need over 2 feet of it!!!) with our precious baby girl in our arms. At the time, I giggled at his childlike faith... I love how he forever trusts in his Abba (Daddy) Father. Well... God is indeed faithful to give us our hearts desires... Yes, at this time we are only blessed to hold a picture of our precious one in our hands, but she indeed is here in our hearts and a part of our lives daily. We all long to have her home. Baby girl, it will be soon! Micah reminds us that "God has a timer and He knows."

December 11, 2008: An update!
We received an update on our precious little one today! While again, we can't share much... she has been healthy!!!... (Thank you Jesus!!!) and they report she is "a smiley one". Oh how we love hearing that news!

We continue to wait for a court date. Please pray that indeed this will come soon!

November 5, 2008: It's a girl!!!
We are overjoyed looking into the eyes of the 2-month old beautiful baby referred to us today! We can't share much at this time, besides our complete excitement and joy in seeing God's hand move to bring our family together!

Next step: We will receive a court date in Ethiopia at which our agency will represent us. Once the Ethiopian court has approved the adoption, an Embassy appointment will be set and we will be approved for travel!

Please pray that we will receive a court date soon... that this precious baby may grow and thrive in the loving hands of Holt's nannies... and that our hearts will be at peace until we have this blessing in our arms! What joy!!!

2008-04-24T15:19:00.000-07:00

April 22, 2008

Dearest Family & Friends,

Today (April 22, 2008) is a day of celebration for the Reece family! We are celebrating God’s amazing faithfulness, His perfect timing and His unfailing provision for our needs and the fulfillment of the dreams He has put in our hearts. Today we are celebrating an amazing turn in the road of the journey of adoption that He has led us to!

We have not updated our adoption blog since our paperwork was officially logged-in in China and many of you have lovingly inquired as to when Emma Mei is coming home. Thank you! We love that she has already become a living part of your hearts and will one day be loved by your loving embraces!

As we began the new year of 2008, adoptive parents waiting for their Chinese babies were informed that the “wait time” would be lengthening. In fact, parents whose dossiers were sent to China in the spring of 2006 have been notified that their expected wait time is another 2+ years. As you know, our dossier went to China in the fall of 2007, another 1 ½ years behind that group. Accordingly, we may be waiting another 3-4+ years for Emma Mei to come home. This news has indeed been shocking and a bit heart-breaking. I once agonized over the thought of waiting 2 years to hold our daughter in our arms. Now, we wait in complete uncertainty as to when we may go to China.

But, God’s timing is perfect and while we sometimes think we have His plan all figured out, we are finding that sometimes (actually… most times) He has a surprise up His sleeve for us! So, in the first three months of this year, we began a new prayer journey to seek what God would have us do during this time. Would He have us wait for Emma Mei or did He desire for Micah to have a sibling before he reached elementary school age? Did God want us to have two children or would He bless us with a third child? If so, would He call us to have another biological child or gift us with another adoptive child?

In February, we met with representatives from Holt to discuss all the options available to us. We knew without any doubt that God had called us to pursue adoption from China. We could not give up waiting for Emma Mei. But, our hearts were not at peace just waiting. What about the other options? It is said that when God closes a door, He does so in order to open another. The more we prayed, the more our eyes, minds, and hearts became focused on one, single option. All the others simply drifted away.

We shared our hearts with only a few people, enlisting them in prayer for God’s will and direction to be CLEARLY known to us. Sometimes He makes His will known to us through clanging cymbals, other times through soft whispers. He encouraged us with several “soft whispers” of confirmation, but this was a huge leap of faith that David and I were facing. As we’ve said before, with Micah, I (Shana) had to take a leap of faith and trust God to help me through a healthy pregnancy. With Emma Mei, God took David on a journey of faith to bring him to peace at His calling for us to adopt. Now, He was asking us to link arms and hearts together as a couple and with Him to bring us a third blessing without ever experiencing being parents to two! He was calling us to adopt a third child…. this time from Ethiopia!

Shocked? Confused? Slightly bewildered? Delighted? If you are feeling any or all of those emotions, that’s ok! I think David and I both did at first as well. In fact, even after receiving many confirmations, it took a clanging cymbal to bring me to have the beautiful peace He wanted to grant me in this decision.

You see, we first strongly felt this calling on February 21st, 2008. That night, after spending time in prayer about His direction for our family, we thought it would be fun to look at African baby girl names. We looked through the list in the baby name book and “Shani” (pronounced “Shah-nee”) came to our attention. When we looked at the meaning of the name, we looked at each other and smiled, knowing that God had just provided another confirmation. In Swahili the name Shani means “Marvelous, Wonderful & Adventure”. In Hebrew it means “Lily”. And, in Irish it means “God is gracious. Gift from God.” What was the confirmation? When we were pregnant with Micah we had two girl names picked out. One was Emma, which even then was always reserved in my heart for a Chinese daughter. The other was Lily Kristine! The meaning of my name, Shana, is “God is gracious. Gift from God.” just like Shani. At that moment, our hearts began to fall in love with a little African girl named Shani Kristine.

David’s faith in God’ plan for us never faltered after that very moment. It took another month of seeking and letting God move in my heart until I fully realized the beautiful plan He had for our family. I was sitting in church on Easter Sunday listening to our pastor talk about Christ’s compelling characteristic… that He is Victorious! He overcame the world to save us. He endured the cross, but He rose again. He conquered death to give us new life! I felt convicted as He spoke softly into my heart… “You, Shana, aren’t letting me be victorious. I’m trying to bless you with my plan for you, but you are too worried about the world. You are too concerned about “what ifs”. You have fear. In me there is no fear. I have overcome the world. I really am in control! I want only the best for my children. I know you do too.” I knew He was right! I knew He wanted us to adopt from Ethiopia, to bless and be blessed by a little one who needed us as much as we needed her, to be blessed with three children… but, still, a part of me kept wrestling with Him. No use doing that, He always wins in the end… Praise the Lord!

The following morning, on David’s drive to work, he knew I’d been struggling and he prayed that God would give me a VERY direct confirmation of His will. Here comes the clanging cymbal… I was exhausted from “wrestling” all night and loaded Micah into the car to go through the Starbucks drive-through. I hear a cheerful voice say “Good morning! Welcome to Starbucks. My name is Shani. How can I help you?” I laughed out loud! Shani? I thought I was losing it… I really needed caffeine and quick! I composed myself enough to make my order and then drove up to the window. After apologizing for my laughter, I asked what the name of the girl taking the drink orders was, and the teller said, “Her name is Shani… isn’t that unusual?” I replied, “Yes. It is absolutely beautiful!” I drove away thanking the Lord for His direction, humor and the clanging cymbal. So, later that day, March 24th, 2008, we made the call to Holt and joined other families who are now in dual country processes. While we wait for our precious Emma Mei to come home from China, we will be bringing home another daughter, Shani Kristine, from Ethiopia!

So, let us tell you a little about Ethiopia and Holt’s work in Ethiopia (much of the information is direct from Holt’s website). Despite its rich history and agricultural potential, Ethiopia (with a land mass just less than twice the size of Texas) has an estimated 4.3 million homeless children. While poverty is a widespread problem in Ethiopia, Holt never considers poverty alone to justify international adoption. Children needing adoptive families may have lost one or both parents. Some have been abandoned, and others become homeless due to social/cultural conditions that present extreme hardship.

Most of Holt’s adoptable children come from an area south of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Holt’s staff there receives children into care, performs initial evaluations and provides immediate medical treatment and nurturing. At the same time Holt assesses the child’s birth family and counsels them about the decision to relinquish their child for international adoption. Where appropriate, Holt offers assistance to enable the birth family to remain together. Holt also provides shelter, counseling, pre- and post-natal medical treatment for some birth mothers.

When Holt determines that international adoption is in the best interest of a child, they transfer that child to their new child care center in Addis Ababa. This center provides an attentive environment where children are lovingly encouraged to thrive and develop. Holt tests each child for HIV and other illnesses prior to referring them to a prospective family. The children receive excellent care from a caring staff, which includes a pediatrician, a professionally trained childcare supervisor and around-the-clock caregivers.

Where are we in the process? Well as I said earlier, today is a day of celebration! Today we are celebrating that we shipped our completed dossier to Holt’s International office in Eugene, Oregon. That’s right, in just 28 days since notifying Holt of our decision, we have started and completed all the paperwork necessary to adopt from Ethiopia! As you know, it took 6 months for us to complete the paperwork for China, so we are ecstatic to have completed another “paperwork journey”.

Now, we wait. How long? Well, the Ethiopia program is one of Holt’s newest programs, so timeframes are still fluctuating. The website states “Families typically receive a referral 3 – 6 months after Holt receives a family’s dossier.” We are not expecting the “match” to happen that quickly as there has been an influx of families interested in Ethiopia, but we have been given hopes of traveling to Ethiopia by next spring (perfect timing to use David’s much deserved sabbatical) and then in God’s perfect timing, hopefully to China 2 years after that.

Another interesting thing is that unlike China, where the government will be matching us up with a child in care from one of many orphanages, in this case, Holt will be matching us up with a child in their own care. They will make the referral themselves and then The Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Ethiopian Court reviews the translated dossier, child information, and referral acceptance information and legally approves the adoption. Once the adoption is approved by Ethiopia, Holt’s in-country staff will obtain our child’s birth certificate, passport, and set an appointment for a final medical checkup and embassy appointment. At that point, we will be invited to travel to Ethiopia to meet and receive our child, Shani Kristine!

Let us close by saying, “Jesus loves the little children”. He truly does. He created them to love them. When others tried to push them aside, Jesus reached out and held them, listened to them, and loved them unconditionally. “Red, brown, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.” Our prayer is that each of our children are loved for the hearts and precious lives that God has given them, the unique characteristics and heritages they’ve been blessed with and that they in turn see themselves and those who love them as precious. “Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

What a “marvelous, wonderful adventure” this will be as we continue the journey to adopting our next “Gift from God”, Shani Kristine.

Blessings One & All,
Shana & the boys (David & Micah)

**********************************************

Celebrations throughout the journey!!!

One piece of advice that our social worker reiterated to us several times when we began the adoption process was to celebrate each step in the journey. This 2nd journey has been relatively quick, but we have had to fun celebrations so far and look forward to many more!

April 21st, 2008: Paperwork Journey Complete!

We celebrated completing all the steps of our dossier (with the exception of state certification which happened the following day) by going out to dinner as a family and finding the perfect first baby doll for Shani!

David also surprised me that night with a sweet "Thank You" card for my part in completing the paperwork... and he'd also purchased an adorable outfit for our little girl! Our first girlie outfit!!! So CUTE, so lavendar, bows & all!!! tee... hee... (This coming of course from a mommy of a TRUE BOY!!!... have we told you lately how much Micah LOVES bugs, dinosaurs, and puddles??)

April 26th, 2008: Girls Weekend Away - Who is the Stowaway?

Girls weekend away in Sisters, Oregon... I (Shana), my mom (Michelle), aunt (Debbie) and best friend (Jeannie) headed out for a fun weekend with just the girls! Little did they know that by the end of the trip a secret would be revealed to them!

We headed out snowshoeing on Saturday morning and after reaching a good spot for lunch, I presented each of the girls with a set of flags representing the country in which each of their children were born. Each flag was labeled with their children's names.

My mom was the first to take her flags and "plant" them claiming a successful journey! :)

My aunt got a kick out of putting hers in a tree, as that would be the most likely place her kids (uh... her two dogs... Tanner and Thunder) would enjoy!

Jeannie place her three flags for her two boys Austin and Carson and for Baby #3 on the way...

Then I handed my camera to mom and asked her to take a picture as I "planted" my flags. Everything was quite "normal" as I planted the American flag for Micah and then the China flag for Emma Mei. Things got quiet as I planted a third flag, the flag of Ethiopia. Mom sweetly and quietly said, "What's that?" Debbie was off quiet aways and nearly yelled, "What's going on?" They began guessing what country the flag represented (Greece? no... It starts with an "E"... Egypt? no... )and it was then that they realized I was telling them we were adopting another child!

You hear of people having "Mountaintop Experiences"... this one will always remain such an experience for me as my "sisters" celebrated with me a very carefully kept secret that had been hidden in David and my hearts. (Jeannie was privy to the plans however as she was one of two references we had to have to complete the paperwork!... lucky girl! And, what a blessing to me!)

As we sat down for lunch, I then read them the letter that is posted above. And, then began the "name game". Each of our children's names was attached to the flags with little alphabet beads. I laid out all the letters of Shani Kristine all scrambled up, and they began guessing which letter came first, second, etc. until they had the name.

Then, I brought out Shani's doll. Everyone had open arms to hold her, but none so loving as Grammie's! :)

The hike out was a blast! All of a sudden I felt like a dam had burst wide open and I could tell them everything about the process, the wait, our anticipated travel in Ethiopia... EVERYTHING! And, the Shani doll?... she had a good view too!

The journey begins... the decision to adopt...

2007-10-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

Our story begins before David and I ever met. You see, ever since I (Shana) was a little girl, I have had a desire in my heart to adopt a baby girl from China. At the time, it seemed impossible for me to ever have my own biological child due to my type 1 diabetes, so I excitedly looked forward to the blessing of adoption. God's plans are perfect though and in His ever-abounding grace, he allowed me to bear a son, our first miracle child, Micah David Reece, on January 17th, 2006. What a blessing he continues to be in our lives every day!

David and I agreed that we wouldn't begin conversations about "adding to our family" until after Micah's 1st birthday. At the beginning of the year, we began praying together and individually as to what God's plan for our family was.

But, let's back up the story just a little so God can receive the credit He deserves! Before meeting me, David had never considered adoption. And, frankly, before marrying David, we had long discussions about how at that time I was not comfortable promising him a biological child. We knew it was God's plan for us to marry, so we both went forward in faith knowing His love between us would carry us through the years.

Just ten months after our wedding, God softened my heart incredibly and gave me complete peace about trying to have a biological child (as only God could!). David had always had peace in that area but knew it was God's plan at that time when and we received confirmation after confirmation from friends, family members, pastors, doctors, and complete strangers! The next month, God confirmed our decision and we were pregnant!

The pregnancy was a full-time job, but a total blessing! God kept me safe (in fact, I am healthier now than pre-pregnancy) and He gave us a very healthy, active baby boy! I will never forget the moment though when we found out that we were going to have a boy... (besides my silly expectation that the whole world would stop turning, that blue balloons and confetti would fall from the ceiling at the ultrasound technician's words)... I remember having tears in my eyes and looking at David's own teary eyes and saying, "It's a boy!" My next words were, "God is confirming that we can adopt a baby girl!" David smiled and nodded in agreement in the awe of the moment!

Back to the "adoption story"... we knew that if it were God's will for us to have another biological child, He would carry me through another pregnancy. However, neither one of us felt that resounding peace we had before. Our prayers became more and more directed and in March, we began to receive very clear answers (that again, could only come from God!). The first weekend in March, I had traveled to Springfield with Micah to visit my family while David worked on Micah's 1st year video. On that visit, I waded through a bunch of old scholarship applications and essays I had written in high school. By re-reading them, I realized that God had given me so much more than I had ever dreamed of, a husband who truly loves the Lord and is my best friend, and our miracle baby boy... just top the list! Suddenly, I felt total peace that God's plan was for us to adopt, but that this was a decision that David must come to on his own. I couldn't pressure him into it. We had to agree totally. God could do just that...

A few days later, on March 8th, David lay in bed sick all day. With nothing else to do, he prayed constantly all day! God had been softening his heart towards adoption throughout our entire relationship, but that night, He made it clear to David that it was His will for our family. Trusting in what David felt God say to him, while I was showering that night, David went downstairs and wrote on a note: "March 8th, 2007 - Decision to adopt a baby girl from China". Then David went back upstairs and prayed one more prayer.

You see, in the Bible in the book of Judges, to be sure that Gideon understood God's promise to him, he laid out a piece of fleece and one day he asked God to make there be dew only on the fleece and all the ground around it dry. In the morning, he found it to be so. The next night, Gideon asked God to make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew. The next morning he found it to be so, and Gideon knew that God would do just as He had promised Him. David's final prayer, was similar to laying out his fleece. He prayed that he would know if it was truly God's plan and not his own desire by the initial reaction I would give to him upon hearing his decision. You see, we had not spoken about it directly for nearly a month and the last time we spoke I had told David that I was "open" to having another biological child. He truthfully did not know what my reaction would be.

At the same time David was praying this prayer, I was in the shower "talking with God". I clearly felt God saying that I needed to say to David, "Do you remember the first time God confirmed to us that we were to adopt" and then relate to him the time when we found out Micah was a boy. But, just a few days prior I had definitely heard God telling me NOT to bring up adoption, to let David lead on this and let God work on his heart alone. I took a LONG shower. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to tell David. That night I lay in bed SILENT. David too was SILENT.... not our normal routine. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer and said the words I felt God had led me to say. "David, do you remember the first time God confirmed to us that we were to adopt?" David was silent for a few seconds and then said, "What did you say?" I nearly beat myself up thinking... "He's not even listening... what am I doing... You told me to be quiet Lord, why did I speak?" But, David wanted me to repeat it for another reason. My words were the perfect answer to his prayer... more perfect than he had even prayed for. That night, David told me that he believed God wanted us to adopt a baby girl, from China. Through tears, tears of joy similar to those I shed when David proposed to me, we saw how God had moved us both to the same decision, at the same time.

Our decision to adopt was finalized... March 8th, 2007.

**********************************************************************************
The journey continues... paperwork!!!

Just four days after God confirmed to both of us our decision to adopt, we attended an informational meeting at Holt International Children's Services, Inc. in Portland. God quickly confirmed to us that we were to take this journey with this agency.

From their website: "Holt coordinated one of the first international adoptions from the People’s Republic of China... and continues today to significantly improve the opportunities for the abandoned children in China to have families. Holt’s orphanage “Baby Care Unit” and foster care programs have dramatically improved the care and health of abandoned children. Because of Holt’s commitment to integrity in adoption and extensive programs serving other homeless children in China, Holt has a strong, long-standing relationship with the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA), the government agency that oversees every China adoption." Most importantly, the agency was aligned with out faith and our hearts!

Then began the paperwork!

I recall throughout the summer people asking us, "What's new?"... our answer... "Not much." Or, "What have you been up to?". Our answer, "Not much." You see, we had decided as a family to only include a very few people on the news of our plans. We wanted to treasure the decision in our hearts and then share our news once the paperwork had been completed and on it's way to China!

In reality this summer we were in the midst of a LOT of paperwork (as you can see from our timeline at the right)! It was indeed a journey, but as we prayed over each piece of paper as we filled it out and then went through three layers of notarization/certification (and I became a FedEx expert shipping documents all over the United States!), we saw God's hand throughout the process. When my own attempts at perfection failed, we were reminded that this can be a great challenge for even the most organized of folks! And, we were reminded that God's timing is perfect. So, any delay we may have encountered was due to God lining up our paperwork for the perfect child He has called to be a part of our family!

The "paperwork journey" began on April 3rd when Holt accepted us as one of their adoptive families and we began preparing for our homestudy. This "paperwork journey" will indeed continue until we bring our baby girl home, but on September 28th, 2007, our dossier (the name for the collective final adoption documents) was shipped to Beijing. It is currently being translated by Holt staff in China and will then be sent to the CCAA at which point we will receive our log-in date. Once we receive our log-in date, the waiting begins (although in our hearts, the waiting has indeed, already begun!). Essentially, we are in a long line of prospective adoptive parents waiting for baby girls to be given into our care. The current estimated wait to be matched with a child is 23 months from your log-in date. This could fluctuate throughout our wait. While the wait will be lengthy, we know God will give us comfort and patience and many memorable months to share with Micah!

How will we be matched? Our understanding is that once our log-in date is at the front of the line, all of the files of the parents in that group are gathered together with the files of the available babies. The matches then occur as photographs are reviewed for "family likenesses" and homestudies are analyzed for family similarities (a baby seems to respond to music = a family who enjoys music as a hobby). I often picture myself holding a tiny baby girl, but then I can't help but giggling thinking of the Chinese officials looking at David at 6'7" and myself at 5'10" and placing with us the largest baby girl ever to be adopted! Tee... hee... Once the matches are made, we will get a call from our social worker who will say "Are you sitting down?" and the very next day receive a photo of the prospective child, our baby, and her paperwork. It will then be another 7-9 weeks for travel arrangements to be made before we can officially have her in our arms. You can be sure that as we learn more about this next part of the journey we will send an update!

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Celebrations throughout the journey!!!

One piece of advice that our social worker reiterated to us several times was to celebrate each step in the journey. As a family, we took this to heart and have had a LOT OF FUN in doing so!

May 5th, 2007: Girl's Day Out! Tea Time at Ruthie B's

On May 5th, I shared an unforgettable Mother's Day Tea with my mom, grandma and aunt. We had already shared the news of the adoption with my mom, but this was to be a very special surprise for my grandma especially and, my mom didn't know that I had a couple other surprises for them all up my sleeve! :)

Here we are at Tea Time at Ruthie B's in Springfield, all decked out in our hats and sipping our tea! It was extra special in that I was able to reserve a room with a black and white motif that had all kinds of China Dolls and other Chinese decor. After we had picked out our hats and began enjoying our tea and our first course, I handed out the "Girl's Day Out" programs.

First on our agenda was "Story Time". We each took turns reading one page of a boardbook called "I Love You Like Crazy Cakes" and then passing it around for the next person to read. The rules of storytime, however, was that no one could ask ANY questions until story time was over. This was especially hard for my Aunt Debbie! :)

Here is Grandma reading. In short, it is a very sweet story about a woman who longs to have a daughter and adopts her precious baby in China. After story time, we obviously had a wonderful time talking about the journey that we were just beginning at that time!

It was then time for "The Name Game"... subtitled... "How well do you know your own name?". I had made up cards with each person's first, middle and last name on one side of the card and the meaning of each name on the back side. I'd show one card, and they would try to guess who's name it was based on the meaning. It was fun to make guesses and realize how special each of our names was!

Time for the surprises!!! On the agenda next was "Special Guest Appearance - Just who is that hiding under the blankie?". I had arranged with the ladies at the shop to bring over an antique white wicker crib with a baby doll wrapped in a pink blanket. So, as we were having dessert, and everyone was reading their Mother's Day cards I had given them, the ladies surprised us at just the perfect timing! We had a little one with us, and by the way they ALL reacted, you would have thought it was a real baby! They actually almost fought over who got to hold her the most!

So, just who was it? I had color coded the name cards and asked Grandma for the card that did not match her other two cards (Mae) and asked Mom to do the same (Michelle). I used those two cards and then added a third (Emma), to then tell these special ladies the name we felt God had led us to name our little girl. Emma Mei Michelle Reece. (See the column on the right for more information regarding the meaning of her name.) It was, indeed, a very special time for us all!

Finally, to end our wonderful time together, we searched the large antique selection that the Tea House encompassed until we found the perfect little tea set to share with Emma Mei one day. Thanks Mom for such a wonderful keepsake!

May 8th, 2007: Home study paperwork submitted to Holt International

This was a GREAT day! What Mom wouldn't love celebrating a big step like this on her birthday??? God gave me a very special gift this year, by lining this up on my birthday!

September 3rd, 2007: Celebration of I-600A Application Approval

What does this mean? It means that the United States Department of Homeland Security authorized that we can bring a child (our baby girl) into the United States. This is another major step in the process! We were actually in Seattle celebrating the Reece kids' birthdays, so David and I had an adventure together while Micah stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.

We ate authentic Dim Sum at the Imperial Garden... yummy! We were both quite adventuresome, but still opted for all "cooked" selections!

After our meal, we explored the Great Wall Mall in Kent, WA. In remembrance of this time we decided to purchase a heart-shaped "Lucky Bamboo" plant. It now sits on our fireplace mantel as a reminder of how blessed we will be to have this precious one in our family!

September 28th & 29th, 2007: Celebration of our dossier being shipped to China!

I am very blessed to me married to an extremely thoughtful husband. On Friday, September 28th, our dossier was shipped to China. That night, when David returned home from work, he brought with him a dozen beautiful roses. And, as though God was blessing his efforts, the name of the roses he found was "Emma"...

He also purchased a small Demdaco angel entitled "Celebration - In Joyful Anticipation". She now stands next to our special bamboo plant watching over it's growth and reminding us of our special angel to come!

On Saturday, we took an excursion to the Chinese Classical Garden in downtown Portland. It was a little chilly that day, but the rain held off as we explored the beautiful serene spot in the midst of the busy city! Micah's favorite part by far were the beautiful Koi ponds!

We look forward to learning more about the beautiful Chinese culture and adding Chinese traditions and experiences to our family's lives. God created us all so uniquely and put so much beauty upon this earth! We can't wait to explore the new land that He is calling us to be a part of through the miracle of adoption!