I have Two 2 Year Olds

In September and October we celebrated Nyah and Haakon's birthdays respectively. They are 18 days apart in age. For some its obvious but to most people who ask us in the store they follow that up with "Are they twins?" I always want to answer yes and say that Haak was just not ready to come out and needed another 18 days of incubation.But I don't. People just don't know what to say and often don't think about the questions they ask. I don't mind the questions at all, I just laugh because of some of the things said.

Anyhow, we sure did have fun getting together with friends and partying with our littles. The amount of sugar that was consumed by each of them was incredible. At each party they got their own little cakes, while everyone else enjoyed cupcakes. Haak was hilarious after the sugar set in. He is a pretty active one as it is and after he had his cake he was so would up! He could not go to sleep for the longest time. We laughed quite a bit as he was laying in bed and kicking his legs and squirming around. We ended up letting him sit up with us for a while and run off some of his energy.

Sunglasses!!!

She loves her glasses, purse and Minnie!

You can't go wrong with Thomas!

Sugar coma to come soon.

I realize at this age they don't fully get the concept of gifts, but I seemed to remember that the boxes and wrapping paper were more fun for the olders (Kynzi and Karston are the olders and Haakon and Nyah are the littles...just in case that slipped past you), but perhaps my memory just isn't all that super (usually the case). They were ecstatic with their gifts. At Nyah's birthday party she got a stroller and a shopping cart with a bunch of play food. That meant there was something to push around for both of them to play with. They were all over the tennis court and we thought about setting them up for a race, but just enjoyed the pure fun moment that they were having.

It's hard for me to remember that they have not always had us as their family. They are just our kids and that is that. Reality is that this was not always the case. It reminds me, when I think of this truth, that there are so many others out there that don't have families. They don't have someone to celebrate their birthdays with their own cakes and a bunch of fun gifts. My heart grieves that reality. I often allow the tears to flow when I am reminded that this would be the case for Haak and Nyah had God not placed them into our lives.

Jeanne-Ann and I have the exact, perfect children for our family. It is amazing. Each of them is so different, while sharing common traits, and I can't imagine life without a single one of them. So as much as this is a post about birthday parties and celebration, I guess it is also a post about how thankful I am to God for how He has shaped our family. To think, 3 years ago I thought we were completely done having children. I thought 2 was our magic number. Even the olders talk about how they can't imagine life without the littles. That makes my heart scream for joy!

Thank you Lord for Kynzi.
Thank you Lord for Karston.
Thank you Lord for Nyah.
Thank you Lord for Kaakon.

I am blessed.

Forever Family Anniversary (1 year ago today we got custody of the babies)

One year ago today (July 12, 2011) we walked into our lawyer's office with a speech prepared explaining why we wanted him to make some calls and visits so we could hurry up the process a bit. We had just left the orphanage after our 2 1/2 hour visit with the babies. After I was done blabbering my long list, he smiled, waited a moment and said, "You can go get them now."

"What?!"

"You can go get them now."

"You mean permanantly?"

"Yes."

"Now?"

"Yes."

"Literally, right now we can go back to the orphanage and take them and never have to take them back there ever again?"

"Yes!"

Tears streaming down my face. I turn to Jeanne-ann and Kynzi and Karston. We scream. Jump up and down and hug. I round our lawyers desk and give him a huge hug! He told me he was going to call and let us know, but because I had called him first to say we wanted to drop by for a visit, he decided to wait to tell me in person.

Here is a video of our "meetcha day." This is actually from the first time we ever saw/met/held Haak and Nyah.

Hoedown Adoption Fundraiser

No, we are not in the adoption process again! Although that may sound romantic to you right now, we are doing just fine with the 4 kids we have thank you. This was a fundraiser for our friends Jeff and Kara Brown. They are adopting twin girls from the DRC (Congo). I think they are now about $7,000 shy of their needed goal to get their girls home. This has been a pretty quick process, as far as international adoptions go (so far).

These dear friends of ours have a story. You can read all about it here. The fundraiser they did was held at the Schillings Barn. GREAT place for an event! There were so many people there they had to use overflow parking about 1/4 mile away at a church! It was great. They had a guy with a sweet handlebar mustache shouting for square dancing. That was a blast!

Nyah and Sam dancing

Eugene Pavlov was there taking pictures with a full western theme backdrop. So fun.

sorry for the blur

There were great snacks and you could also buy jars with Africa on them, some of Kara's mom's famous Hummus. It was such a festive night. I can't believe how much Haakon and Nyah loved dancing. They enjoy dancing at home, but out in public. I love how uninhibited kids are! It was also fun to connect with several old friends I haven't seen in a while.

This sure makes me think of what it was like when we were at this point of the process. We had pictures of Haakon and Nyah, but we had not seen them yet. We longed for the emails that would have the semi-monthly updates with new pictures and information. As hard as those days were, I miss some of that anticipation. It also meant we had not gone away as a family for 7 weeks to Ethiopia at the time. That was something we will never forget!

I talked with Jeff and Kara afterward and we all agreed we should do something like this next year to help raise funds for others who are going through the process. It makes me wonder what else we could do. I know there are plenty of organizations out there that let you apply for grants, but this would be a fun way we could support others we are connected with.

What are some of the best fundraisers you have seen or been a part of?

Welcome Home

After a long day of running around to almost every corner Addis we finally headed to the airport to catch our 11PM flight home. We got there with plenty of time to spare. It was 8PM and we were checking in. The problem was they didn’t have Haakon and Nyah in the system. My dad had paid for them (you have to pay the taxes for a lap-child). The next 2 hours was spent trying to figure this out. 5 different people worked on it. In the end we paid for a new set of tickets for them and said we would just get reimbursed when we got home.

Haak and I went to our seats in coach (loser) class and Jeanne-Ann, Nyah, Kynzi and Karston took their seats in first class! They were flying on rewards tickets and the return tickets (as we had to change them from Sunday to Wednesday) were cheaper if they flew 1st class! Imagine that! Thankfully Haak and I slept most of the way to Frankfurt.

In Frankfurt we would no longer fly Lufthansa, but we would be on Continental. They could also not find Haak and Nyah in the system. Jeanne-Ann and the kids were booked in 1st class for this leg all the way to Newark as well. After era considerable amount of time they were able to find Haak but not Nyah. Something must be pretty jacked up in their system. Anyhow, Jeanne-Ann mentioned to the lady who was helping us that as soon as we landed in Newark our babies would become American citizens. She said it was really important for all of us to be together at that moment and wondered if there were anyway she could seat me with them. It was too late to use rewards miles and she informed us it would cost 3,000 Euros. That’s about $5,000 USD!!! Just to upgrade. Gulp.

She said she would not promise anything but that she would talk to her colleagues. After about an hour she called me up and said they worked it out so I could sit with my family! Amazing! These seats were AWEsome! They have buttons that you push to raise your legs or lower your back. You can even lay completely flat to go to sleep. A 10 inch monitor with over 200 movies to choose from and TV shows and games! I watched 4 movies. Haha. There was even a built in bassinet for Haakon to sleep in. I could go on and on about the food and sundaes, etc, but I wont. I know what it’s like to fly in loser class and it’s hard to go back there once you have tasted the good life.  :)

Karston Enjoying a movie and a snooze

Nothing like stretching your legs on a flight.

We landed in Newark and our babies became US citizens.

It was a wonderful moment. Then all of a sudden our phones lit up as we could finally turn them on for service after nearly 2 months. I tweeted about landing and the citizenship and made calls to family and then to my surprise, my brother decided to drive down from Albany (3 hours) with his 3 boys to see us! We spent a couple of hours together and shared stories about all of our summers’ happening. It was wonderful.

Fred Armisen from Saturday Night Live and Portlandia even greeted us. What a nice guy.

We then loaded up and got aboard our final flight. I had actually been upgraded to 1st class for this final leg, but the rest of my family had to sit in los...sorry, coach class. It was a full flight and all we wanted to do was to be back home. We finally landed. Jeanne-Ann had opted for the very last row because there were no other passengers in that row so she had it to herself with Haak.

We got off the plane and saw our friends Scott and Marilyn Williams at our gate waiting for us. They were headed to North Carolina but knew we were landing a little before they were leaving. Then we headed to freshen up and put on the babies’ “debut outfits.” We walked the long corridor at PDX and then turned the corner (I had the video camera on my phone going) and we heard LOUD cheers. Over 60 people were there celebrating with us. It was AWEsome and overwhelming. I couldn’t believe it. I remembered when Josh and Bex returned home. Bex had asked me to take pictures and they had a bunch of family there. Family time was first and all of us friends stood back as they hugged and kissed and held the babies. Then it was time for friends.

We did not have “blood” relatives there, but our other family was there. Typically I thrive in these situations. I love crowds and I love people. It was a weird moment for me. I saw Jeanne-Ann walk up to some of her girlfriends with Haak and I sort of froze. I wasn’t sure what to do or who to go to. I honestly can not remember another time in my life where I felt like this. I was out of sorts. It was surreal. I felt like I was floating away from my body and watching from above for a few moments.

Finally someone came to me. (I think everyone was like I was when the Manns came home...we weren’t sure when we could go up and didn’t want to be that first one). Then the floodgates opened. It was hugs and kisses and more hugs. Nyah is very attached to me so she was pretty uncertain how to navigate this moment. Haak goes to everyone pretty easily.

I began to cry. It was here. The moment we had been dreaming of for almost 2 years was actually happening. We were home with our 2 beautiful babies from Ethiopia. Our West Coast family knew how to celebrate and they celebrated so well! It was a real honor and pure joy to be part of. Honestly, it is quite a blur, but there are snippets of that next hour or so that I will never forget. Eye contact before a hug that went deep into my soul and spoke volumes without hardly a word.

I will let the pictures that follow speak for themselves.

Eager anticipation

Thanx to Lisa for most of these welcome back photos she posted on FB.

Sometimes a hug is better than any words expressed.

Our Adoption Support Group!

The whole family!

"Erik. Why have you not been to the office in forever? I have a lot for you to do! Get your butt back in there tomorrow!"

On our garage door when we arrived home.

Thank you so much for being part of our journey. Whether you were there or you prayed for or us or gave us a gift or sent us a note or are a faithful reader on my blog. You have been part of our journey. The crazy part of getting home is over, but this journey and the craziness that goes with it is hardly at its end. Continue to join us, won’t you?

Our Court Date

Today was the day for us to go to court. This is the day we have been waiting for a long time. It is the date that we have waited for Dove to call us and say “We have your court date. You can go to Ethiopia!” We got up early, had our breakfast and waited for our driver to show up. We took the 15 minute ride to the court house and met up with another couple we had met as they were going to see their kids the other day. We chatted for quite a while and then we were finally ushered in to the building.

There were no words in English so we kind of checked out each floor and kept getting sent away to another floor. We finally found where “baby court” was and walked into a 30x20 room (roughly) and we sat down as more and more people made their way in. We didn’t see any of the other Dove families and wondered where they were. We sat and shared with Brad and Elisa and learned their stories and shared ours.

After about 25 minutes a flood of more people came into the room along with the rest of the Dove families. We were 5 families in all. There were easily 50-75 people in this small room, most of them standing as there were only chairs along the outside of the room. We met our lawyers’ assistant and waited. As we waited we shared and talked with the other families and some other couples who were at our same orphanage from Belgium. The room was filled with about half white people and the other half Ethiopian. These were birth parents who were coming to testify that they were legitimately giving up their rights to their children. What a dichotomous moment. Joy and sadness filled the room at the same time. Tears were welled in eyes all over the room. Some tear because they were making the final legal effort to say yes, they were giving up their rights and some tears because this was part of the legal process to gain custody. The air was thick. Not just of emotion, but it was warm with all the breathing in that little space.

There were signs all over to be silent in many different languages, but the volume kept rising. Nervous tension, I think. After about 45 minutes of waiting and conversation at a peak a woman came in and banged three times on the metal door as loud as she could and there was sudden silence in the room. Whoops.

Our lawyer showed up and said we would soon go in, but we would likely be near the end because there was a big group of us. We all chatted and wondered what the result of each person who came out of the judge’s chambers was. Did they pass court? Did their MOWA letter arrive in time? We studied their faces, but couldn’t tell. There weren’t smiles, nor were there tears. I asked one man what happened and he said they didn’t have their MOWA letter and they were asked about 5 questions that required a yes answer.

Suddenly we discovered that there was some paperwork missing. Not good. Then our lawyer said, “Who is Williams?” Gulp. “That’s us.” He told us that our paperwork was not there, but that his assistant was running back to get it. “No problem.” I did not stress about it, thankfully. Our lawyer went in to the chambers and then came out again, then finally our paperwork arrived. We went in with 2 other couples, while the other 2 couples with our agency waited their turn.

The room was about half the size we were just in and there were 2 tables in it. Behind one were two clerks who were going through paperwork and behind the other was the judge. We had heard about this woman. Everyone said she was very beautiful and soft spoken. Both were true. She asked us if we had met with our children 2 times and if we understood that this was a forever decision. She told us it was important for us to learn as much about Ethiopia and its culture that we could so we could pass on what we learn to our children. Then we were done.

Kynzi had made a beautiful and very colorful drawing that she handed the judge and her face moved from quizzical to delight when she unfolded it. She said thank you and we walked out. We did not pass...there was no letter from MOWA. Our lawyer told us he hoped 10-15 days. We are praying sooner.

WE ARE HEADED TO ETHIOPIA!!!

Wow! I can hardly believe it. It was a regular Friday. What I was doing was a little different. I was working from home. Sitting on my couch with my laptop open. Working on plans for our middle school service project camp that is happening in July. I was going to Karston's annual parent BBQ and so I decided it was best to just work from home and not waste all that time driving. But then...something that would change the way I viewed that day forever.
 
At 10:55 I heard that special ringtone I only have for Dove Adoptions International. I was not expecting it to be honest. When I was waiting for our referral call, I had my phone on all the time making sure I would hear the ringtone. I would even apologize to people I would have lunch with, because I don't like to have my phone interrupt my time with others. I have had my phone on silent plenty these days. I just happened to have it on this day. It rang, and Mercy Me sang, "On the other side of the world, she is just a few days old. A helpless little girl with no family of her own. She is not to blame for the journey she is on..."

Man that song gets me every time I hear it. It has such deep meaning for me now, especially as it is my special ringtone connected to my children!

Anyhow, this was THE call. Well, the other THE call. The one where they told us we had a court date! That's right. You did not read that wrong. We got our court date! June 20th!!! Can you believe it? On June 20th we will be standing before a judge in Ethiopia explaining that we want to legitimately adopt these two amazing children.

I seriously can not believe it is actually happening. 3 weeks from now we will actually be in Ethiopia! They want us there the week before so we have time to visit our kids and meet with our lawyer who will walk us through the process of our court date. It is so surreal. I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around this. I have equated parts of the adoption process to being pregnant before.

* Getting accepted into the process was like finding out we were pregnant.
* Knowing our paperwork was received in Ethiopia and we were on the list was like hearing the babies' heart beat.
* Getting our referrals was like seeing the ultrasound and finding out the gender (plus seeing their actual faces)
* Getting the call with a court date was like going into labor, albeit a very long labor.
* "Meetcha day" (the day we actually meet the kids) will be like the birth, and then they will have to put in the NICU, so they have to stay at the "hospital" for a while and we can visit them and love on them.
* When we pass court it will be like taking the babies home from the hospital.
* I guess passing our Embassy appointment and arriving back in the US don't really fit into the "pregnancy" equation, but maybe that is more like the follow up doctor appointments. ;)

Soon I will be blogging from across the pond and letting you in on the life of us in another world. Our children will be going with us and we are currently planning on staying from court to embassy. We have no idea how long this will take. We have seen people do that in as short as 3 weeks, our friends Josh and Bex Mann did it in 6 weeks and my sister and bro-in-law did it in 3 months. Theirs was an extreme case and is not the norm.

So here we go. We are launching on a new chapter. It's exciting. It's thrilling. It's scary. It's unpredictable. It's breathtaking. Sitting completely in the hands of God...it's good.

Join us, won't you? Now...where is that to-do list?

An Update

A lot of you have been saying, "Hey, we haven't heard an update in a while. Did I miss something?" No, you have not missed anything. I haven't made any updates because there really haven't been any updates.

Basically our agency told us that when we accepted our referrals that we would get notified about a court date in 4-7 weeks. We are in our 5th week! Ugh! The upside is that we are closer than we ever have been before. (duh). Our summer plans are on hold. We don't know when we are going, but every single day we are praying for Haakon and Nyah. We are praying for health (we think Haakon has the chicken pox and Nyah already had them last month). We are praying they know they are loved. We are praying every day that they are held and cared for well at the orphanage.

We invite you to pray with us on those things too. Would you also pray for a court date soon?! :) We have been praying for some friends too. One family has been waiting for 10 1/2 months for their referrals! We waited 7 months, 3 weeks and 2 days. Another family is adopting from Rawanda and have been waiting super long for their referral as well!

So here is to waiting. Kids: we are coming soon! Love you!

An Ethiopian Welcome Home Experience

On Friday we finally got to do it. We met Mercy Mann in real life for the first time! We have skyped with her several times, but this time we saw her, we held her, we kissed her! It was awesome! But let me back up a little and then get back to here.

Josh and Bex Mann invited us to Starbucks to tell us that they were planning on adopting from Ethiopia. Jeanne-Ann and I were kicking each other under the table. You see, just that morning we were having our first major conversation about the possibility of adoption and here God was using some dear friends and their journey to move us forward on our journey too. We have walked together closely on this road of adoption and it has been truly amazing. We have walked through the joys and the sorrows of all that is adoption together. These have been some amazing friends. God has truly blessed us with a bunch of amazing friends and family to support us, encourage us and pray for us along the way. I know many of them are you my dear bloggy friends. Thank you.

We have gone back to that same Starbucks for all of our (the collective our) celebrations along the way and added Chipotle to the date as well. It has been a fun tradition. When they headed over to Ethiopia I had a deep sense inside that we were "with" them there. I felt like I was experiencing it alongside them. Bex is an incredible writer and I love how she blogs. I learn so much of what it means to be a great blogger/writer from her. (I'm working on honing my skills Bex...thanx.) Her ability to be so descriptive and detailed has made it feel like I was there. Sidenote: I would say my sister Nina has done the same as she is also an amazing writer! Both have moved me to tears and to deep laughter.

We have also been able to skype with them along the way. We got a tour of the guesthouse they stayed at (perhaps our future temporary home) and get to meet Mercy and see her in all her digital goodness. Often those skype video calls would include my sister Nina, Wes and their 2 kids Alex and Eliana. What a thrill that has been for us. Our kids are at the same orphanage as Mercy was at. That's only ONE degree of separation folks!

So when the call came last week that they were actually coming home hot tears of joy streamed down my face. It is hard to fully describe how I have been living vicariously through these 2 families as they have been over there. Nina and Wes are still over there as they have hit one issue after another. We are praying that they are able to come home this week! Would you join us in praying for that to happen? Read more about how you can help them financially get home here. They have been there since Early January!

They boarded the plane and stopped in Amsterdam and San Francisco before they finally landed at PDX. Several of us met at YoCream for some frozen yogurt yumminess before we finally go to the airport. With friends and family all in one area we anticipated their arrival with greatly. The buzz was fun to listen to. We had made a huge poster and the Unwins (I think) brought American and Ethiopian flags for the kids to wave. Bex had asked if I would take pictures when they arrived and I was quick to oblige.

Everyone waiting with baited breath.

We stared as far down the corridor as we could of concourse A, knowing that their flight had finally landed and Bex had tweeted "Home."

A simple one word tweet drenched in meaning.

After what seemed to be an eternity, we finally saw them and everyone began to cheer and shout! They were home! It was real. The friends kept their respective distances and allowed the family to be the first greeters. There was some hesitancy at first as no one wanted to overwhelm them until Liz (Bex's sister) said, "Forget this!" and charged right at them full force. Soon we all got our hugs in and I won't lie...it felt good. This is family.

The Family...all together!

When Jeanne-Ann was holding Mercy Bex said, "You are now touching someone who has touched your babies." I lost it. That surreal moment will stick with me for a long time. I was suddenly transported to a building filled with children whom, for one reason or another, don't have birth parents that can care for them, and I missed my kids. I have not held them yet, but I know I love them. Deeply! Soon my sweets, soon...Pappa and Mamma and your sister and brother are coming to bring you home. Soon.

One of my favorite pictures of the night.

Mercy meets some of her new friends.

It's official. This little one is an American!

This was a good day. A really good day.

Names?? Yes, our babies have names!

Names are a difficult thing. They are an important thing. It has been said that your name is your favorite word in any language. Your name is you. It is who you are. When I came to look at the job at Salem Alliance 14 1/2 years ago, I asked for a picture directory of the students. There were about 80 at the time and when I spoke to the middle schoolers that weekend part of what I did was line them all up and try to say all their names. I got about 90% of them right. It was amazing!

I work really hard to remember people's names. I know it's important to them. I even ordered one of those late night infomercial Mega Memory packets a bunch of years ago. Honestly, it has helped me a TON! I am way better at remembering people's names than I used to be. Now my friend Jeramy Williams (no relation) is the master at this. When he shares stories about people he always uses their first and last names. He knows who these people are. I try to know more than just names too, I want to know people. I want to know their stories. That's why I think it's important to really focus on the person you are talking to. Making eye contact and engaging in the conversation.

I am starting to veer off topic a little bit, so let me turn back to where we started. Names. What's in a name? A rose by any other name would still smell so sweet...or something like that. When Jeanne-Ann was pregnant with our first child we were settled on the name Brittain. We had a friend in college with that name and we really thought she was cool and loved her name. When she was born, we both immediately said, "She doesn't look like a Brittain." That was a weird moment. I never thought that could be real for babies. So for a couple of days we just said "her" and "she" a lot.

We finally settled on Kynzi Anike. We loved it. It fit her. It was perfect. Jeanne-Ann and I talked a lot about how we would spell her name, but I made an "executive" decision when she was still "under the influence" of the pain medication. (insert smile here) Karston Thomas also went nameless for a while. After some back and forth on how we would spell it we finally named him. We worked really hard at choosing the right names for them.

That brings us to today. You have read that we are adopting 2 kids and we just got both of their referrals this last week. We have been talking about names for a long time. I got us both an app for our phones that we could look up names. Jeanne-Ann has been doing a lot of research on names and their meanings. She looked for names meaning "chosen." As we looked through the names we found several that made the possible list and some that just made us laugh. Can you imagine our kid being named Flavia? Can you say, "Flava Flav!!?" Now, if that is your name or a loved one I am sorry, I am not laughing at them, it is just not a name that fits with us. Other favorites in that list...Mustafa (almost Lion King), Nazarite, Vala and Waljan.

Another meaning we have talked about is "purpose." There were only a few names on this list, but one name that we loved was one we had already talked about. How cool is that? That being said, we have talked about a LOT of names over the last year. It kinda drives me crazy, but Jeanne-Ann loves to talk about it. ;) The kids have given names and we will use them as middle names, but we are giving them these names.

And now for the reveal.

Our son is Haakon. This means chosen. God chose this child for us and we chose him. You may feel a bit confused as to how to say it, so let me help you. Hawk-en, or if you want to say it the Norwegian way, Hawk-awn. We will nickname him Haak or Hawk. A little history on this name and part of why it jumped out at us on this list. After we told our parents about it my mom emailed me some things she knew about this name. Some of these things we knew already, like it is the name of the former King of Norway and the current Crown Prince of Norway. Now for my mom's email.

Did you know that in 1994 the olympics were held in Norway.  It is the olympics where everything went perfect. There were no weather delays. Perfect sunny days with perfect temperatures. (it didn't hurt that Norway did so good:):)). Crown prince Haakon lit the Olympic flame and the mascots were Haakon and Kristin. Yeah for Haakon. Beautiful name with lots of history. 
One  from old history is Haakon den Gode. He was known as the king who tried to deal with conflict by being good and not using weapons. He also became a believer in Jesus and spread that to the people who to this point in history only believed in the old Norse gods like Odin 

Our daughter is Nyah. This is a name we have had for quite a while. We talked about it, loved it, threw a bunch of other names into the mix and kept coming back to it.

I googled Nyah and found out a few things.

Nyah is a town in northern Victoria, Australia.
The following names are baby names related to Nyah and are suitable names for brothers and sisters of Nyah: Boys - Amare, Dakarai, Daktari, Daniachew, Danso, Demissie, Diallo, Diji, Donkor, Dume, Jabari, Girls - Shani, Zula, Both genders - Damisi, Kamari, Makena, Nalo

I love it! I love her! I love them!

There you have it.

We Got Our SECOND Referral!!!!

I was sitting in my office today and planning on heading out to our adoption agency to deliver the biggest check I have ever written. It’s the referral acceptance check. I know we didn’t have the second referral, but I did not want the check to be any hindrance at all for the next part of the process. I was planning on leaving at 11:30, but a few things kept coming up and it was delaying my departure.


Again, Jeanne-Ann and Babe are the same people.

I got my jacket on and was almost ready to go out the door. Then all of a sudden, at 12:31PM, the phone rings with that special ringtone that will forever hold very special meaning to us. It was Tami at Dove! She said she had another referral for us! Gulp! I asked if Jeanne-Ann was on and she told me she could not get ahold of her. What?!?! I told her I was putting her on hold and would try to call her and conference her in. She didn’t answer her phone? 3 calls...NOTHING! CRAP!!! I got online and found the number to the school and told Debbie at the front desk I HAD to talk to Jeanne-Ann. I knew it was between morning and afternoon classes so she should be free.

A minute later Jeanne-Ann was on the phone and I conferenced her in with Tami. “Oh no!” Jeanne-Ann cried when she heard it was my voice on the line. That meant Dove did not call her, but it must be about the referral. So we had to find out information over the phone. No running home and getting the kids out of school this time. We wanted to know the gender and age and a few other things before we got off the phone and looked at pictures, etc.

IT’S A GIRL!!!

I am going to have another daughter!!! I can’t believe it. Wow! Amazing. Kynzi has been praying so hard for a little sister and of course we would have been happy with a boy too, but soooo excited we have a little boy and girl.

I am walking on air right now! My heart is so overwhelmed with love for these two beautiful children that will be mine and Jeanne-Ann’s forever!

After I got off the phone with Jeanne-Ann I jumped in the car, headed to the bank to get a cashiers check and then drove to Dove. Once I arrived Krista saw me through the window of the office and greeted me at the door. There were most of the people from the office ready to hear all about it. I obliged and shared the story about our two kids! What a fun moment to get to share with the people who are pretty invested in our journey from a totally different side than most people we know.

I headed home and when I arrived Jeanne-Ann had told the kids we were going to do something. I think Kynzi may have had an idea, but she was trying not to let on. We set up the computer and Jeanne-Ann said she wanted us all to look at our son again, but when I opened the screen they saw their new SISTER! Kynzi screamed and jumped up and down and then proceeded to dance all around the room as Karston watched and said, “Cool!” Then it was time to connect with the grandparents and other family members as quick as we could. We could not keep the lid on this one for too long.

We went out with some friends to Green Apple frozen yogurt to celebrate. We wanted to celebrate both of them, but decided this round should be a little less expensive. Haha. We love getting to celebrate with others and love that you get to be a part of our journey, whether you are a great and close loved one or a blog “stalker.” You are part of our journey. Thank you for your encouragement and your support. We now will dig our heels in for the next waiting period, which we have heard is harder than the first one. I can understand because now we know who they are and we love them already. We just want to be with them and love on them and have them home with us. With a face and a name and two real human beings tied to our dreams, we long to hold them in our arms. It looks like it will be 3-4 months before we leave for Ethiopia.

My sweet, beautiful chosen children...I love you. I long for you. I have been praying for you every single day of your life! I can’t wait to hold you in my arms and snuggle you and love you an kiss your faces! We are coming...as soon as we can.

Want to read about our first referral? Click here.

Names to be shared soon. Keep your eyes open.

We Got Our First REFERRAL!!!!

Finally! We have been waiting and waiting and waiting some more! I can't believe that yesterday, February 25th, our life was forever changed!  After 7 months, 2 weeks and 3 days we have a REFERRAL!!!

And now for a play by play of my day (even minute by minute).

I got a text from Michelle saying that her and Brian were headed to the hospital in Portland to see Lisa, who is one of our high schoolers who has cancer. They swung by the office to pick me up and we had a great visit with Lisa. She is an amazing girl. She spoke at DYC last weekend for part of our Saturday morning session and got crazy applause from everyone and then we all gathered around her to pray, much like the way they prayed around us Sunday morning. You can read more about that here if you missed that post.

When I woke up Friday morning I was thinking through the day and wondering if we would get our call. I knew I had a premarital counseling appointment with Eric and Chrystal at 2 and thought, "If we get our call today I may have to reschedule that appointment." As we were headed back from the hospital I suggested we go eat at Moe's and Chele, Brian's wife, was going to meet us there.

We were on I-5 and crossing I-205 when all of a sudden my phone rings. Not just any normal ring, but my special ringtone! (MercyMe's Won't You Be My Love) AND it said Dove International Adoptions on my screen!!! I know my face had a crazy look of shock that Michelle saw in her rearview mirror. I answered and said hello. It was Tami. She put me on hold to conference in Jeanne-Ann. As she did this I pulled out my Flip cam that I have been keeping in my jacket pocket for the last 2 months and started recording. I wanted to capture every moment. I have been practicing this moment for months in my mind. It was out so fast that I think I actually beat Brian to the punch of recording as he had pulled out his iPhone to record it too.

Screen capture from my phone. BTW, Babe and Jeanne-Ann are both the same person. Just in case you were wondering.

The video is pretty uneventful as I just sat in shock and listened to what was happening and tears started coming.  We told Tami we didn't want to know anything except if it was a boy or a girl. The rest we would wait to find out together with our kids when we all got home. Michelle pulled up to the office and her and Brian  went in to "run interference" as I grabbed my laptop and shut things down in my office. I was not ready to tell anyone until we had all seen the pictures together as a family. I ran out to my car and just said "see ya" to Mike and Lisa.

I am not going to lie, I may have broken some laws on the way home. Except for a few times when the "fast lane" was only doing 62 in a 65!!! Don't these people realize I had a small window to get home? When they called Jeanne-Ann, she had just finished up with her morning Kindergarteners and had about an hour break until her afternoon Kindergarten class would show up. I would get less than 30 minutes with my family until school was done. I had to get home fast. (younger readers, please don't do as I did. Obey the law. Don't speed.) After crossing over a limit that may have had an 8 and a 5 in it I finally made it home. :)

Jeanne-Ann had picked up Kynzi and Karston from school and they were home waiting for me.  We hugged and then opened up the computer to see the email with the pictures and information. Kynzi and Karston videoed us as we opened up the email and then we videoed them as they looked. There, right in front of our very own eyes was our beautiful baby BOY! I am going to have another son!!! He is amazing! I can't even believe it. He was born October 4th, 2010 and is almost 5 months old now.

Jeanne-Ann and I have already laughed at ourselves because when we got the call, I was crying and she did not shed a tear. Not that she is not overjoyed, we just respond differently to things. The really funny part is that as we were videoing Kynzi and Karston it is clear what cloth they are cut from. Kynzi is me...all the way. Karston is Jeanne-Ann...all the way. That is clear from the video as you will see. Karston thought it was cool, Kynzi couldn't hardly breathe in between her sobs of sheer joy.

After we looked at the 2 pictures of our son (we can not share pictures until we have legal custody, so it will be quite a while for that. Sorry. =) We called all the Grandparents. Three phones, all on speaker, and 4 Grandparents on the line ready to hear the news. There was a lot of screaming and tears of joy. At one point I said, "OK, all grandparents have to be quiet. No questions until we are all done because you are all talking at the same time and you are all getting confused." It was actually quite humorous. So we told them all the information about their newest grandson, and then emailed  pictures to them. Our son, like Kynzi and Karston, are quite fortunate to have loving Grandparents like this. Thank You Jesus for them all!

After everyone was home from school, we needed to get a hold of the rest of the family members so we could start getting to the point of making this all public. I know how hard it can be to hold onto exciting news, even if it isn't directly your own news. We talked to Jeanne-Ann's siblings in North Carolina and Guatemala and to my siblings in New York and Ethiopia. We called Nina and Wes on their Ethiopian cell phone (they are over there with their twins, Alex and Eliana, waiting to bring them home). They got on Skype and we video chatted with them to share the news. Then they ran up to get Josh and Bex and Mercy on the camera so we could share with them. What a fun moment that was!! It is crazy that we live in a time where I can get on my laptop and SEE them and TALK to them in ETHIstinkinOPIA!!! Sooo fun to share this with great friends and family and especially with them actually being there. We are hoping that they will be able to go visit our son soon!

Then off to Outback! We had a celebration meal with a group of our dearest friends. It was amazing to sit in a restaurant and feel like the 15 of us were the only ones there. Even though it was packed, it felt very intimate. We laughed, we cried, we ate, we thanked Jesus. It was so good. God is good.

So there you have it. I am blogged out...my fingers are tired of typing. I'm tapping out for this post. I will update you when we get our next call. I will post the videos later. I need to go do some running/training with Karston and I want to get this post out right away.

You might be wondering about our 2nd baby...we are too.  Hopefully we will hear soon.

We will share our little boy's name in a later blog post.

It was quite a day. We are thankful. We are overjoyed. We are ready for our adventure to begin...or continue...

Top 10 Memories of 2010

Top 10 Memories of 2010

* Getting accepted into the adoption process

The beginning of the year started us off with our acceptance of this process. We were told there would plenty of "hurry up and wait" moments throughout the whole process. They sure were right. (actually end of '09, but the beginning of the year)

* Eating Sushi in Japan - ewww (link to a blog post of this?)

I wanted so badly to like sushi and when I had a day in Japan I thought I should probably try some sushi when I was in Japan. I have not had good experiences here n the States. Then I tried it there. It was AWFUL!!! I almost threw up in the restaurant.

 *LIFE Conference (2 from here) - Doing the Flash Mob Dance at a baseball game (insert video here)

I got to do the upfront fun stuff before the main sessions started and it was so much fun. Alongside with my co-host Kate, we got to do a flash mob dance at a baseball game with 7,000 people! Check out the video that shows we got on TV too!

* LIFE Conference - breaking the world record of rock, paper, scissors

We broke the world record and it was so fun. 7,000 plus people participated in this and it was crazy to watch all of them take their turns and narrow down to our final 2.

* Getting on the list (July 8)

We were at LIFE when we got the word that our dossier (paperwork) landed in Ethiopia. When we shared it with a group of people there was this intern, Nate, who shared with Jeanne-Ann and I that he was adopted and how amazing that has been for him. We bawled as he shared his story. So good!

 * Camping with my son
This was a trip that I will probably never forget. We still talk about it and how awesome ever piece was. It was seriously significant for the both of us.

 * Taking my kids fishing
We got to go several times this year. Although we have not done super well with catching anything, it's still much fun. I think this summer I need to take them to Detroit Lake. 

 * Our Trip to Vancouver for the Olympics
A last minute trip that literally we decided the morning of to do. Meeting Russian and Norwegian Olympic athletes was so cool!

* Christmas Break - family time galore! Games, etc.

We played so many games and just hung out and laughed. I LOVED that! TWO WEEKS!! I need more of that. We all need more of that. Phase 10 rocked our faces off!

What are your best memories from last year?

I won an iPad!

Well, MANY of you jumped on to help me with my latest video competition. I am sure there will be more to come in the future. Haha. I really enjoy doing it and winning is fun too. You are too kind to jump in and support me in these crazy endeavors of mine. Thank you! It was a close battle to the very end. The video that came in first was really awesome and honestly way more deserving than mine as far as good videos go. I "liked" that video myself.

That of course means I got second place! Second place was an iPad. They are in Germany and asked if I wanted to wait for it to be delivered or if I wanted the money in paypal. Now, if I am honest, I was VERY tempted to get the iPad...but we were planning on selling it anyhow so getting the money without the hassle of selling it is awesome! Straight to the baby fund!


Now for last minute Christmas items...thankfully I was up late last night wrapping gifts while I was refreshing my video, so most of it is done. I LOVE Christmas!!!

QUESTION: What's your favorite Christmas song?

You might remember this little nugget from a couple of years ago.


Here is my video and the winning video. Remember, the contest was with appventcalendar.com so the song is about the free apps they are giving away.

5 Months

My how time flies. A year ago Jeanne-Ann and I had just made the decision to move forward in adoption process. A year and a half ago I wasn't even thinking about it! Now we have been on the waiting list for 5 months. If you are new to what I am talking about, let me explain.

In December we submitted our application to Dove International, then we took a bunch of classes, filled out a bunch of paper work, got fingerprinted, did more paper work, waited a lot here and there, had in-home visits and finally sent off our dossier (all our paperwork that said we were approved to adopt) to Ethiopia. On July 8, our dossier landed in Ethiopia. That is when we started on the waiting list.

That was 5 months ago today. They say the average wait is 4-6 months. Some have waited for just over 6 months and 3 weeks, some have waited just shy of 3 months. We are smack-dab in the middle of the "average." Typically I don't like to be average in anything. I am an all in type of person. We would love to be VERY AVERAGE on this one. So if we got the call today, I would not be upset. :)

Ever feel like the thing you want is so close you can almost taste it, but for some reason you can't quite grasp it? I feel ya kid.
(FaceBook friends click here to see the video below)

Adoption Raffle (lots o stuff) Help Bring Our Babies Home!

RAFFLE IS OVER!!

If you have been following our story for a while, you know that we are in the process of adopting 2 babies from Ethiopia. If you are new to the blog, welcome.

The process of adoption has been an amazing one. We are so excited to grow our family to 6! Two days from today will mark 5 months on the waiting list! WOW! Our pray is that we will get our referrals for our sweet children this month! Wouldn't that be amazing? I think about them all the time and I don't even know who they are yet. It is a strange thing. A year ago I did not think we would actually be moving forward on this… Not until God grabbed my heart and totally and radically turned it around. You can read more of our story here.

Today we are starting a Gift Card Raffle. We have been doing all kinds of fundraisers and we are trying to get creative in how we raise money for our adoption. Being that it is Christmas time, we thought that maybe you would want to take a chance on winning some gift cards to give away as gifts (or to shop with). So really you just MIGHT be doing a little Christmas shopping by supporting our adoption. Below you can see what we are raffling off.

Raffle tickets are $10 each or 3 for $20. You can get as many as you like. So, for example, spend $40 you get 6 raffle tickets.

After doing the math we realized that if 200 raffle tickets are bought we would receive $2,000 towards our adoption and that would cover the remaining amount of $ we need to have at our time of referral!!! That would be amazing! If we make anything over that amount, it would go towards our travel expenses to Ethiopia.

EXTRA TICKETS:

If you get at least one ticket there are other ways you can get extra tickets for "free."

1) If you post about it on your FaceBook status with a link to our blog post you will get a free ticket. (tag me by typing @erikwilliams as you post it)

2) If you blog about it on your own blog you will get another free ticket. (send me a link with your blog post in the comment section)

Just to be clear: donate $40, blog about it and FaceBook it TWO TIMES and your grand total is 8 TICKETS!! Or donate $60, blog and FB and you get 11 tickets! Those are pretty good odds. There is no limit...the only limit is you...haha.

Now for the goodies:

We will raffle off everything you see in the picture below (plus a few items not pictured). The way we will raffle them is in groups. There will be 5 total raffles and if you do not win the first round, your tickets stay in the pot for the other ones. You could win several things if you have multiple tickets in the drawing.

Bundles:

1) "Techie Bundle" - $50 Amazon and $50 Best Buy. $20 Starbucks (just added)

2) "Mall Package" - $50 Macys, $20 Christopher & Banks, $25 Starbucks

3) "Restaurant Bundle" - $25 Olive Garden, $25 Red Robin, $20 Texas Roadhouse, $25 Jamba Juice

4) "Local Package" - $20 Ike Box, $20 Bible Book House, Wash, Cut & Style by local Hairdresser (this will go to someone from Oregon); $25 Broadway Coffeehouse (just added)

5) "Music Galore" - $70 itunes, 1GB iPod Shuffle

Just click the donate button at the bottom of the page and put in your desired amount. (if you are local you are more than welcome to give us cash or a check)

The raffle will end at 5PM PST on Friday, December 17, 2010. We will then go live on camera at www.erikwithak.com where you can watch us draw names. This should be VERY exciting!

ps. There may be more things added as we go on.
UPDATE: We got $25 to Broadway Coffeehouse gift card and $10 to Starbucks.

Thanx for your donation!!
(FaceBook friends click here so you can click on the donate button)