The Raymer's Ethiopian Adoption

Our Family Just Keeps Getting Bigger

2011-03-17T14:45:00.001-04:00

Mimi protecting her new babies.

The Boys Reading Great American Literature

2011-02-22T20:25:00.000-05:00

I'm so proud! The 3 boys decided they wanted to be "cool" like Daddy and read what he reads. For those of you who are observant you'll notice that they each have a Calvin and Hobbes book. Perhaps the greatest of all American literature. I'm overflowing with joy.

The Education of Adopted Older Children

2011-02-04T14:30:00.001-05:00

I want to write this as a bit of encouragement to parents who are considering the international adoption of older children. Obviously there are a lot of factors and issues involved in adopting older children that are not as relevant when adopting babies. One issue that is often a concern is how will the older child adapt to English and to the American education system. This concern is true for whether you are planning on having your child attend school or homeschool. Well, I just want to let you know that our 15 year old son, a sophomore in a public school just recently made a 93 on his United States History exam. When you consider that he is still learning English and that just 6 months ago he did not know who Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant were, what he has accomplished is nothing short of remarkable. This isn't to say that it has been easy. It has required a great deal of work but it can be done.

I know that this doesn't address every issue of concern that prospective parents have but hopefully it will encourage you on this one.

The Santa Scheme

2010-12-04T11:16:00.000-05:00

Thursday night we had the official tree lighting ceremony at school. So we went and enjoyed some holiday music while the kids gathered around the tree waiting for the tree to be lit. Soon after they officially lit the tree, the big guy arrived- Santa. Feromsa and Bereket were REALLY excited about this and all of the boys immediately start scheming. They decide that they should all ask him for an X-Box 360 w/ Kinect to increase their odds of getting it. (Mom and Dad had already said no since we already own a Wii and a ton of games.) Joshua told them he wasn't going to see Santa- after all, he is a big 5th grader. So Feromsa went first (somehow he ended up at the front of the line- I'm sure it was his charm!) He asked Santa for the X-Box 360 w/ Kinect and was feeling good. Bereket finally arrived at the front of the line (after giving the advent calendar that was only given away to the first 50 families to the girl in front of him that didn't get one.) He intently spoke with Santa and finally it was time to go home (12 hours at school is a really long time!) So as we're walking out I asked Bereket "So what did you ask Santa to bring you?" Bereket excitedly responds "Toy Story 3 and Toy Story glasses." Feromsa then shouts "WHAT?!?! YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO ASK FOR AN X-BOX!! WE MADE A PLAN!!"

So much for scheming against Santa. ;o)

A Party at Our House

2010-09-28T21:11:00.000-04:00

Hannah and I were at Walmart this evening getting a few odds and ends. I decided that while we were there that I would go ahead and get something for tomorrow night's dinner. Now tomorrow is Wed. and with having church I always like to make sure that Wed. night dinner is something easy to fix. So, for tomorrow I decided to simply buy something that was heat and eat. We went to the frozen foods and I grabbed a thing of Mexican style lasagna. As I picked it up I said to Hannah, "Look we don't even bother getting the 'family size' anymore. We go straight for the 'party size.'" She didn't exactly agree though with my sentiment that, "Without even inviting another soul, every night in our house is a party."

The Noise

2010-09-27T16:01:00.001-04:00

Last night I was tired. I'm always tired on Sunday night. For me Sunday is a work day and I get tired. Last night was no exception. Despite this, I was sitting at the table with my wife, some kids were wrestling, some were arguing with me and mom about, well, I can't even tell you what we were discussing. I can tell you this, the house was loud. There was noise coming from everywhere it seemed. It was sheer chaos and I was tired. Never the less, there was this little smile on my face. Never the less, I wasn't going anywhere. My little house seemed to be just one big crazy loud mess last night and it was wonderful. Even with everything, even with all the noise, there was peace. I love my family. I love my wife. I love my kids. And just between you and me, I often joke with my kids about looking forward to them moving out so my house will be quiet, but really I'm going to miss the noise.

Playstation...bringing brothers together.

2010-09-17T19:47:00.000-04:00

Bonding.

Passing on Works of Faith

2010-09-17T14:31:00.000-04:00

In college I had a professor who said the only real ethical reason to have children is to pass on your faith. Obviously, I would like to be able to do just that with our own children. Of course, Scripture teaches us that faith without works is dead and if the discussion that my children were having the other night is any indication of some of the work they are planning than hopefully it is an indication of the faith they have in God to provide them the ability to fulfill that work. You see, the work they want to do is adopt.

Somehow a discussion began on how many children they were going to have. All but Hannah, who said she wasn't having children (which are words of a moody teenager who is just bothered by the fact that she is greatly outnumbered with 4 brothers but who didn't want to leave the babies in the orphanage in Ethiopia), said that they were going to have children and that they were all planning on adopting. It seems to me that this is a good work of faith to pass on.

With 147 million orphans in the world who need a home, I hope you'll pass it on as well.

To Dance or Not to Dance, That is the Question!

2010-09-16T16:10:00.002-04:00

So we have these birds. They are nice birds and we enjoy having them. Now it should be noted that the Daddy bird really likes Momma bird. When he is in, shall we say, a particularly playful mood he begins to do a little dance to get his wife's attention. When he does this, we often make some comment that has led Feromsa to ask why we don't want Daddy Bird to dance. We've told him that dancing leads to babies. And well, you guessed it, Feromsa is now determined never to dance and he becomes very concerned when his Dad ask Mom to dance.

Ah, to dance.

You Steal My Heart Away

2010-09-10T13:41:00.000-04:00

A Must Read!

2010-08-21T15:36:00.001-04:00

I want to ask everyone to please read the following that was written by some friends that have recently been to Ethiopia and are fellow adoptive parents. My wife first saw this on facebook and asked if I had read it. I said no and then she told me about it. She then said that I needed to read it for myself. I declined. I didn't want to read it. I knew what my reaction would be. I knew how it would sicken me. I knew that it would be extremely difficult. I wanted to do my best to ignore it. I finally read it because I knew I'd want to share it. I'm asking you not to ignore this. Please read. Please pray. Please be prepared to do something for these and the millions of children like them. Here is what Andrea Kidd wrote:

Our first day at our sponsor community called Look Development was amazing. We spent the time handing out care packages from all the families back home who treasure these kids. We, of course could not wait to meet our sponsor children in person. As Isabelle's friend walked through the door, her older sister was holding her hand. This was our introduction to Selam (10) and her sister Abeba (13). As we said hello and began giving Selam her candy and clothes and goodies, we learned what she needed was bigger than anything we could have put in that zip lock bag. They had just lost their only living parent to AIDS, and were living all alone! The 13 year old sister was taking care of them. The look of pain and fear and despair on their faces was indescribable. We knew we would be back in a week, and asked Look Development to help us help them. We left in tears that day hugging the girls and telling them we would see them in 7 days. They asked us to visit their house when we returned.

We learned later in the week that their house was in shambles and was not safe. They had no mattress, no blankets and no food. The window and door to their hut was broken, we agreed to pay for all these things and would deliver them when we returned. Prayers and prayers were lifted up for them and for our hearts to be prepared for what we would see. Nothing could have prepared us, and only Jesus, holding all our hands and holding me up could have gotten us through our next meeting.

At Look, we were shown all the supplies that had been purchased for Selam and Abeba, but there was a problem, anything that had been given to them was stolen. We could not even bring them the basic things they needed, because what they needed was even more basic! PROTECTION.

We left to go see them and where they lived. We drove and drove, down long muddy roads, until we were told we had to start walking. We walked down a thick path that led to their hut. They came running out and I saw smiles from both of them for the first time. You could see they could not believe we had come. Walking up to their house was surreal, part of my mind begged to not have to enter the door, to run away and to never look back. My flesh screamed..... my spirit walked me through their door reassuring me that this was part of our purpose and God was with us.

We stepped into a dark square of a mud hut. All that we could see was an old wire bed frame, covered in clothing.......the clothing of their deceased father and mother. This is what they slept on. Did it bring them comfort? Could they still smell their parents when they slept? On the wall, was a poster of Jesus, and there was a Mesobi (for eating and coking) in the corner. Also a very dirty yellow jug for water.....where did they even get water.....how far did they need to walk.....was it even clean? My mind was racing as the sweat began to drip down my forehead, and I watched a huge spider crawling inches from my face. I glanced at my 2 oldest, for a brief moment wandering if they were o.k......they were, but the looks on their faces I will never forget, as a work was being done right in front of my eyes.

Our representatives from Look were talking with Abeba and asking them how they were. I went weak as they described the nightly scene of drunk men coming to their house and banging on the window to get in. I pictured these 2 beautiful girls huddled together fearing that these men would break in and steal the only things they had, or even worse, steal from their innocent bodies. We told them we would pay for them to move into a new place closer to the Look Development office so they could be safe. They did not want to give up their house, it is the only memory and only thing left from their mother and father. They feared the government would take it away from them. We told them we would fix their window and door and gate, so they would be more protected......I could see Abeba's face changing, she was mustering up courage, she was so sweet and so quiet, but her face told me something was coming........I knew in my heart what is was, and I was paralyzed. She looked at us and asked to be adopted. They want a FAMILY and to be protected and loved. Pete and I barely caught each others eyes, as we had no idea how to respond. Both of us wanted to grab them and run and bring them home and never look back. Pete only said it was a very difficult and long process, and we would do what we could to help them.

We stood outside their house and hugged and prayed over them. I held each of them tight until they cried. They needed a mother's love and protection and the feel of safety, if only for a moment. I kissed them all over their faces and told them I loved them and we would see them again, and help them in the meantime. Isabelle and Johnny begged to give them all the food we had in the van, so we asked them to walk back with us. We walked down that path to the van, praying the whole way. I didn't know until later that night after looking at the pictures that we were all holding hands. Isabelle and Johnny love these girls too, and their hearts were broken and changed that day too.

As we said goodbye and drove away, I prayed to God to show me what to do. It was no accident that we were led here, that we were to see these girls and to learn their story. As I licked my lips I could taste Selam and Abeba. Anyone who has visited orphans knows that salty, dirty smell that the kids have. You look past it, because you care more about giving them love than the dirt or smell they carry. For the first time that taste was so sweet and I didn't want it to go away.

My prayer, is that these girls will be protected, that YOU will be touched by this story, moved to action of some sort, that SOMEONE may see their daughters in these two girls. Last night God told me to write this story and to share it, I pray that I was sent to these two for one of you.

Thank you for reading, looking into the dark and hard places that Jesus sees and begs us to walk with him. I thank you for passing this along to anyone and everyone, and for any step you take to help us help these girls.
I am uploading an album called" Selam and Abeba", please look at their faces and pray for them, and pass this along.

A Long Overdue Update

2010-08-06T14:50:00.000-04:00

Our last blog post told you that we were waiting for a court date, well, we got one. Truth be told, we have had our court date. It's actually been a couple of weeks ago that we had our court date. We flew to Ethiopia on July 18th. We met our son on the 20th and on the 21st a very nice judge met with us for all of about one minute and then said, "That's it." We had to ask to confirm, but apparently "That's it" means, "Congratulations! You passed court! You are now the parents of Abel Raymer!"

So there you have it, we are the parents of a wonderful young 15 year old boy. He is ever the gentleman who is intelligent, kind, and very compassionate. We had the privileged of spending most of the week with Abel. It was a true joy getting to know him. He like his Father (remember, that's me!) enjoys history and he played our tour guide as he took us to some of Ethiopia's museums. Although, this was our second trip to Ethiopia, it was amazing to see this beautiful country, with it's rich history (by the way, there is much more to Ethiopia than just the famine of the 80's) through my son's eyes.

Our time in Ethiopia was wonderful and we left with only one regret - we couldn't bring Abel home. We have to wait for the US Embassy to finish their paperwork and then we will go back to Ethiopia for just a few days. This time though Abel will be coming home with us. Which is a very good thing. I don't believe Dottie or I want to go through another day like the last one when were in Ethiopia. At one time or another, knowing that we would have to leave our son for another month or so, we both broke down.

We are hoping to be back in Ethiopia in just a couple of weeks. Of course, this does mean one big thing - money. Yes, we still need money to finish all of this. I know that it seems that we are asking but it's the only way to bring our son home. I'd like to take this opportunity to again ask, if you are able to give anything at all to help with the enormous cost of this adoption, to help us bring our son home, please give now. Again, you can send a donation through the mail using the address to the left or you can give online using the "ChipIn." Thank you for your help and God bless you.


Outside the church on Entoto Mt.


Abel's first ever bite of pizza!


Outside the Natural History Museum

Our Son!

Waiting on a Court Date

2010-06-29T19:55:00.001-04:00

Last Friday, our adoption agency submitted our paperwork to the Ethiopian courts. We expect to hear this week or next our exact court date. I'm guessing July 15th but John is less certain. As excited as we are to finally get there, we are also worried about money. We need approximately $9,500 for this leg of our journey. However, God has shown throughout this adoption that we have no need to worry. He is a big God and He has provided throughout this adoption. The most amazing thing to me is the number of times the money has come from complete strangers. We are in Florida visiting with the grandparents. We are staying with my parents in Chiefland for a few days. This morning, my mom decided to take the boys to the park to get them out of the house for a bit. After wards they decided to stop by Hardees for a milk shake. When they were done, Feromsa went to throw his trash away. A man sitting nearby struck up a conversation with Feromsa asking him about school, etc. Feromsa was quickly joined by Bereket, followed by Joshua and my mom. Mom mentioned how hard the boys had worked, especially since Feromsa and Bereket didn't know any English 2 years ago and she mentioned that they had been adopted and that our family was adopting again. The man quickly gets up, yells to one of the workers. "Sister Rita, I need a witness" and then promptly walked out to his car. At this point, Mom wasn't sure what to do. Before she could decide, the man returned and handed her $55. He said that he was here from California conducting a revival and that they had a concert last night. During the concert they collected an offering for widows and orphans. So he decided to give us a portion of that offering for our adoption.

Now come on people, what are the odds? A man from California just happens to be in Chiefland, FL. He just happens to be holding a revival where they just happen to collect an offering for widows and orphans. The next day he just happens to be in Hardees. My kids just happen to be there even though my kids had voted for McDonalds. My mom just happened to insist on Hardees (even though she never goes against what the kids want.) Then this man just happens to strike up a conversation with Feromsa. Coincidence? I don't think so!

Surprise!

2010-06-20T21:52:00.000-04:00

Our adoption is nearing its final stages. We wait to hear about our court date and to make our plans to travel to Ethiopia. Now a court date means paying to travel to Ethiopia and that takes money - more money than we have. Dottie and I were starting to worry because we have yet to hear if we received any grants and fundraising has come to a halt (there are only so many times you can beg people for money).

As our worries mounted we were surprised Saturday to receive an unexpected donation from a family who has not only already donated considerably, but has also done a tremendous amount of work to help us in our fundraising efforts.

Then this evening there was a knock on the door by a family who were looking for the pastor of the church next door. Now if you are a pastor living in the parsonage next door to the church and someone comes knocking on a Sunday night looking for you, well, you begin to worry. It turns out that this was a family who are friends of another family who heard about our adoption. These people, that we had never met, dropped by to hand us a check to help out with our adoption.

Sometimes, I even amaze myself that I worry at all. Let me just say it, God is good.

Timeshare Points

2010-06-17T14:10:00.000-04:00

A while ago we told everyone about timeshare points that my aunt is selling in order to raise money for our adoption. The points are now listed on a timeshare selling site. If you are interested, or know someone who may be interested, you can go to http://www.buyatimeshare.com/. In the search area simply put in 064951 for our ad. Please help us get the word out on this great deal.

Thank you.

He has our approval.

2010-06-03T17:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we received some pictures and videos of our new son. We would love to share them with everyone but we aren't allowed to do that yet. The pictures and video were shot by some friends who took over to Ethiopia a care package for him. The videos were particularly interesting. In one he was opening a birthday card we had sent. It was one of those cards that plays music when you open it. His face when the music started playing (Celebrate by Kool and the Gang) was simply priceless. The second video was him talking to us (through a translator). I found it amusing that in the short time he had to say something to us he chose to say that 1) he thinks about us much, and 2) that he knows I'm a pastor and that he knows much about God. It was almost as if he was trying to get my approval. Now I'm glad he knows much about God (well, that really depends on what he knows) but I hope he will know that we love him regardless of what he knows. He already has our approval.

It is finally on its way to AWAA!

2010-05-29T21:04:00.002-04:00

After much delay for reasons still unclear, we have finally sent off our dossier to AWAA. Unfortunately, it will be delayed in getting to AWAA because of it being Memorial Day weekend. Never the less, we are very happy to finally have it out of our hands. One thing about adoptions, there are always unforeseen obstacles along the way and you just have to learn to deal with them. In the end though, all the work, all the prayer, and yes, all the money is well worth it.

Here is praying for a speedy court date (oh, and the rest of the money to bring our son home).

Hannah's Nightmare

2010-05-12T21:35:00.001-04:00

Hannah had a nightmare last night. She dreamed that John had decided to become a Rabbi and he was moving us all to Israel. In the dream she was so mad at him for wanting to move us to Israel that she decided to run away. Here comes the nightmare. She was packing and couldn't get all her books to fit in her suitcase and she couldn't stand to leave any behind.

I love my girl and all her books.

Working for a Living and Timeshare News

2010-05-12T11:42:00.000-04:00

Well, I've [John] been working this week in Charlottesville, VA at my friend's bookstore buying back used text books from weary and poor college students who are thrilled to be done with exams. By the way, for the parents who initially paid for those text books it seems that most of your children are planning on NOT giving you the money for selling those books (most will be buying beer). Anyway, I've already received my first paycheck for this new, albeit, temporary job. I'm missing my family and not sleeping well at the hotel (pillows here are worthless) but it is money and you do what you got to do bring your son home. And I should say, that I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the extra money. Oh, and if you are in the Charlottesville area, stop by the Budget Inn on Emmet Street between 10 and 4. I'll be glad to meet you. If you have college kids here tell them to take their textbooks down to the guy at the Budget Inn (not to the guy at the Marathon gas station).

On another fundraising front, I just got word from one of my aunts that she is giving us some timeshare points to sell. I'm still gathering all the required information on this but I do know that it is a good number of points that can be used at many different awesome places. I'll have more on this later as I get more details.

It just seems that everyday, there is something more to amaze me.

Yes- the thermometer is at $0 again.

2010-04-28T18:35:00.000-04:00

Normally people must pay the fees associated with their dossier at this point. However, since we received our referral before our dossier was complete, we had to pay those fees first. We took the amount in our account and applied it to the referral fees. So now, we need the $7700 for the dossier. We have the end date as May 31st but we are likely to send off our dossier next week.

Radio, Money, and a New Job

2010-04-28T07:45:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was one of those interesting days where good stuff just keeps happening. The day started off with me going on a local radio show to be interviewed. The interview itself was primarily about being someone who had moved into Rockingham County. However, mid-way through the interview the topic changed to adoption. I was very pleased with this turn of events and took the opportunity to encourage others to adopt. Having this opportunity set the tone for the rest of the day. And it was a good day.

Later in the day we received an unexpected donation toward our adoption. We have truly been blessed with the number of people who continue to give. We know that without these generous donations we would never be able to bring our son home.

To make the day even that much better, I got a new job! Well, sort of. For one week in May I'll be working at a bookstore owned by a friend of mine. He needs a temporary position filled and has offered it to me (with generous pay I might add) in order to help with the adoption.

Yep, yesterday was a good day. Now let's see what happens today.

REFERRAL!!!

2010-04-22T17:13:00.000-04:00

Well, we have officially received our referral. So what does this mean? Well, it means that once we have our immigration paperwork (which should be anytime now) we can get our paperwork sent to Ethiopia and request a court date. It means that shortly after that we should be traveling to Ethiopia for our court date and then a couple of months after that we will be traveling again to pick up our son. This also means we can now let our son know that we are coming. That he has a family waiting for him.

Of course this also means we need money. With most adoptions, the money is paid in increments. For most families at this point in the process, they would only need to pay the amount for submitting their dossier. For us that would be about $7500.00. Then they would wait for several months in which time they could raise the money that they would need we they accept their referral. For us that is about $4400.00. Then the family would wait a couple of months before they would need travel money which is going to be (for both trips) around $11,000.00. Well, because we have done this in a expedited fashion we basically need $4400.00 today, $7500.00 next week, and $5000.00 about a month later, with another $6000.00 just after that. Bottom line: we need to raise some major money and need to do it now. So, please help. If you've been thinking about helping but were thinking you had time to do so, well, time is running out. Remember that no amount is too small and your gift is giving a young man a family. Thank you and God bless.

Homestudy, etc

2010-04-21T20:49:00.000-04:00

We received our homestudy in the mail today. That means copies will be made tonight and grants will be sent out tomorrow! We should receive our official referral soon. There is just a bit more paperwork that the in country staff is working on. Although I am excited to receive the referral, it's also a bit stressful. Normally when you send your dossier in, you send in a large chunk of money. Then when you receive your referral several months later, you send in another large amount. Well we are essentially doing these two steps at the same time. That means that we need another $12,000 in the next few weeks. That's a lot of money that we currently do not have. However, I completely believe that God called us to this adoption and that He will provide. This adoption has been a big step of faith for us and we are grateful for the many things God has shown us. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue on this journey. We serve a big God and I know that $12,000 is nothing for Him.

Fingerprints

2010-04-13T16:31:00.002-04:00

Today we had our fingerprint appointment. Here is the sign for the building. Not too exciting is it?

Just like before, we took a picture of ourselves in the car. (You can't take pics in the building.) John said the pictures took longer than the fingerprints!

Here we are in January 2008-

Here we are, just 2 years later. Think there will be another picture in 2012?

This is what should happen next:

Rebecca will send our homestudy to USCIS.
USCIS will review our fingerprints & homestudy. Then they will send our clearance- the coveted I171H.
John will take a trip to Raleigh to get all notarized papers authenticated.
Then our dossier will be sent to AWAA in VA.
They will look over it and send it to the US Secretary of State for authentication.
It is then sent to Ethiopia!
Once there it is translated and a court date will be requested. YEAH!

Lemonade for Adoption

2010-04-11T16:26:00.001-04:00

This is Carlie. Carlie is a friend of the family who upon hearing about our adoption decided she wanted to help. So, Carlie went out and set up a lemonade stand. Being a smart business girl, she set up near a country club golf course. At this point she has raised a little over $140.00 and is hoping to raise more.

It is things like this, when you see people who go out of their way to help, who go above and beyond, that truly makes us humble. We are just amazed at what Carlie has done and her lemonade stand has blessed us in many more ways than just the money. Her heart and her efforts are a true inspiration to us all.

Thank you, Carlie.

"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs

the kingdom of heaven.'” Matthew 19:14

In case you're wondering why our thermometer above went down......

2010-04-10T18:37:00.000-04:00

When we started our homestudy, we had to pay for it upfront. At the time we didn't have the money so we charged it. We hated to do that because there is a service charge you have to pay with that, but we knew the money would be coming from our tax return soon. Well, the charge never showed up on our card. Since we now had money from the yard sale, etc. we went ahead and used that to pay for the homestudy. Since we still don't have our tax return, we decided to take that amount off until Uncle Sam finally gets that money in our bank. I know- you're probably thinking, "Why is she telling me all this?" It's just because when people are giving you money, I feel you should be very transparent with how it is being used. Hopefully the tax return will come in soon so that amount can go back up.

Dottie

Never Will I Leave You

2010-04-06T15:13:00.001-04:00

Flip Video Camera

2010-03-31T22:32:00.000-04:00

We are having a drawing for anyone that donates to our adoption between now and April 13th. You may donate on the ChipIn or you can send a check (see address to the left.) Just be sure that if you write a check, it gets here by the 13th. Thanks so much for your help. We're getting close!

If you are wondering where we are in the process, here's a rundown of what is happening next.

We have our final homestudy visit this Saturday.
We have our fingerprint appointment with USCIS on April 13th.
We will receive our approval from USCIS 1-6 weeks after our appointment. (We're hoping for closer to 1.)
If we have all the money that is needed once we recieve our approval, our dossier (all the official paperwork) will get sent to Ethiopia.
Once there, it will be translated and a court date will be requested. Once we get to this point, I will update you on what would happen next.

Thanks again for all your help!

The Law

2010-03-28T19:07:00.001-04:00

So yesterday afternoon, we were exhausted from 2 days of nonstop yard sale/stew. As we were packing up, one of the men from the church had a trailer hooked up to his truck that he hauled the gigantic stew pot cooker thingy in. Feromsa decided he wanted to ride home in the trailer. I of course said no. There was a bit of whining, please Mommy, etc. After he finally got in the van, he asked why he couldn't ride in the trailer. I simply told him that it was against the law. Feromsa wanted to know who made the law. Since I was completely exhausted and did not want to go into an extensive government lesson I said, "The police." There was silence in the car for approximately 30 seconds when Joshua decided to pipe in with this. "Actually laws come from the House of Representatives. Then it is passed through the Senate."

Thank you Joshua.

Gotta love that boy!

Humble Motivation

2010-03-19T15:57:00.000-04:00

As we continue to go through the fundraising process for our adoption I find myself thinking about the people who give. It seems inevitable that you begin to consider the various people within your circle of influence. Some people you just know are going to give. Some people you know won't. Some people are a definite maybe and if they do give you aren't surprised. Some people you are pretty positive won't give but never the less you are hopeful that something you say or do will pull at their heart to give. And then there are people who you don't expect to give and you really aren't looking to try and get them to.

What is interesting though, is how many times your assumptions are wrong. You just don't know who will give and to what amount. This week Dottie and I received a very nice, and very unexpected donation. It was one of those donations that causes you to sit down and be in awe for a moment. What I have since found to be most remarkable about this donation is not only how humble we are in accepting it but also how it has motivated us. One day, when this adoption is all said and done and we aren't digging in every hole for every penny we can find, we pray that we will be able to supply a similar surprise moment to someone else.

Really, it is the least that we can do.

I Need to Learn to Cook

2010-03-14T13:02:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, I've been sick the past few days. Well I stayed home from church today. After the boys got home from church, I dragged myself out of bed and started cooking lunch.Upon seeing me Feromsa struck up this conversation:

Feromsa- "Mommy, you can't cook. You're sick. You should go to bed."
Me- "You guys need lunch and daddy is still at church."
Feromsa- "Let me help you."

So Feromsa begins helping me cook lunch. He helped me drain the meat.
Feromsa "This is good for me to learn."

He stirred in the spices.
Feromsa "I learn so I can cook for my children."

He added the cheese.
Feromsa " I so glad you teach me."

It had to simmer for 5 minutes while we stirred occasionally. Feromsa did the stirring and set the timer.

Three minutes into the simmer....
Feromsa "This is hard. Maybe my wife cook for me. I just come and sit down and eat."

Changes.

2010-03-11T14:36:00.000-05:00

Friends, family, and blog readers,

Yesterday we received the news that Ethiopia has changed their policies on adoption. The change that has occurred now states that a family will have to travel to Ethiopia twice in order to complete the adoption. This means that there is now an increase in cost of another six to seven thousand. Our total cost now will be somewhere around $32,000.00.

Needless to say, on a small church pastor and public school teacher's salary we do not have this money. So I am writing to you once again asking for your help. Your assistance will not just add to our family but will literally save the life of the child we hope to adopt.

As I have mentioned before, due to our son's age this adoption must happen quickly. We simply do not have the luxury of raising a little bit of money here and a little bit there. Our greatest fear at this point is that the adoption will be stalled (and worse, stopped altogether) merely for a lack of funding.

As always, any donation is greatly appreciated but I would like to say that I know that there are those in this world who could drop a thousand dollars or more without even thinking about it. I am asking that you read this, pray, deliberate, whatever you must do to find it in your heart to give to save this child. Obviously, not everyone can give a thousand and we just ask that you give according to your means and according to how you feel led.

I wish I could think of something else to say. Something else to describe our feeling of desperation. Something else to describe our appreciation to everyone who helps bring our son home.

Thank you and God bless you.

In His grace, for His glory,
John

Happy Birthday

2010-03-08T22:45:00.000-05:00

I love you! (It's no wonder our kids are so goofy!)

I Can't Take It

2010-03-06T21:13:00.000-05:00

Tonight the boys were watching tv in the living room while John and I were watching tv in our room. After a little bit, Bereket comes in our room.

Bereket- "I just can't take it."
Us- "You can't take it?"
Bereket- "I can't take it."
Us- "You can't take what?"
Bereket- "Sitting"
Us- "You can't take sitting? Are your brothers taking up all the room on the couch?"
Bereket- "I just can't take it."
Us- "So what do you want?"
Bereket- "Popcorn"

He makes me laugh.

Mom!

2010-03-04T20:50:00.000-05:00

So I am on the other side of the house when I begin to hear "Mom" repeatedly. After the 2nd or 3rd time I assume that someone is in the bathroom and they are in need of toilet paper. So being the awesome mom that I am I simply yell back "What?" The only response I get is the repeated "Mom." I finally go to see what all the commotion is about to find my youngest lounging on the couch all cuddled up in a blanket. When he sees me there he looks at me and says "Can I have a donut?"

Really?

"No- you can't have a donut."

Happy Birthday!

2010-03-03T15:12:00.000-05:00

Well, it's that time of year again when I get to contemplate my life. You see next Monday (March 8th) is my birthday. I get to think about the things I'd like to do and, of course, the things I didn't do but probably should have. This year I turn 37. Wow, I'm nearing 40. This could get ugly.

However, there is something that could make this birthday really great. Now I don't normally like to make too much fuss about my birthday, nor do I generally ask for anything. However, this year I'm asking for gifts toward our adoption. Any money for my birthday will go toward this great cause. I'm hoping that this will be a birthday to remember.

Thank you and God bless.

In His grace for His glory,
John

The boys will pay.

2010-02-22T23:04:00.000-05:00

Our adoption requires us to have two sets of fingerprints and background checks. One set is for immigration that cost $830.00 (your donations paid for this - thank you). The other set is for the state criminal background check and Feromsa says that this set of fingerprints cost $30.00. I'm not sure if that's accurate but he seems pretty confident. Anyway, this morning he told his mother that he and the other boys would pay for that. His plan is that they would each give $10.00. Not sure if he discussed this with his brothers but we certainly appreciate his willingness to give and to volunteer others to give.

It's Urgent!

2010-02-22T15:18:00.000-05:00

Earlier today I received an email asking me if receiving the money for the adoption was urgent or if we had some time before the money was needed. My first reaction was to simply say, "No, it isn't urgent." Then I began to think a little more. You see, the reality is that, no, it isn't urgent and yet it is. When you adopt, particularly when it is an international adoption, there are many fees that you have to pay. There is the immigration/fingerprinting fees, the agency fees, the country's fees from where you are adopting, the shipping fees, the fees to have your paperwork authenticated, the fees to order the numerous certificates (birth, marriage, etc.), and so on and so forth. These fees all come at different times and different stages of the adoption process. This is why, in our latest fundraising efforts we focused on the $830.00 that was needed for the immigration paperwork and fingerprinting (which, by the way, we did receive). Now we have to get ready to pay for our homestudy which will be $1800.00. Plus there are physicals for everyone in the family, TB test, state authentication of paperwork, and so on. As you can see it begins to add up.

The question remains, is there an urgent need? Well again, adoption is a process of steps and they have to be done in order and they have to be paid for along the way. This means that our son will continue to wait in an orphanage in Ethiopia until we have everything here done and paid for. In addition there is the matter of his age and his limited time left in order to be eligible for adoption. In realistic terms we have about a year to complete this. In realistic terms it takes about a year to complete this - if you have the money to pay for everything to get it completed.

So is there an urgency to this? Yes and no. As a father who desires to bring his son home, it is the most urgent thing in my world. As a often too proud man who hates asking for help, I'm begging for it now. I wish I could tell you more of the young boy we long to adopt. I wish I could show you a picture of his wonderful face with his bright eyes that reflect such hope and such joy. Then you too would fall in love. Thank you for your help and God bless.

Fundraising News

2010-02-20T17:31:00.000-05:00

A friend of ours has made the following offer to help with our fundraising efforts for our adoption:

FOR ALL CONTRIBUTORS WHO DONATE- YOUR NAME WILL BE ENTERED INTO A RAFFLE FOR A $50 WALMART CARD! PLUS FOR LOCAL TAMPA FOLKS, YOU CAN WIN A FREE PHOTO SESSION A...T THE BEACH OR PARK! COME ON EVERYONE - NOT THAT FAR TO GO TO MEET THAT GOAL! IT IS AT 250 NOW BUT WE NEED 1000!!!! BUSINESSES AND SERVICE INDUSTRY (TAMPA) WHO DONATE CAN WIN FREE COMMERCIAL OR PROMOTIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY!!!!!!!

Donate by clicking on the "ChipIn." Thank you.

On our way...

2010-02-16T15:49:00.000-05:00

I just saw that we got our first donation to help bring our son home. I know that many people may look at say, "$20 isn't quite $25,000." This may be true, but it is a start. For now that puts us $20 closer to our first goal of $830 for the immigration paperwork and fingerprinting.

For the person who gave, thank you. For those who are thinking of giving, thank you. For those who don't have a clue what I'm talking about read our previous post...oh, and thank you too.

God bless,
John

The Cost of Adoption

2010-02-12T23:26:00.000-05:00

Well friends, as you all know we are adopting again. As you may also know (or perhaps you don't), adoptions are expensive. When it is all said and done the whole process cost around $25,000.00. So, let me just come right out and say it, we need your help! During the next few months we will be doing some fundraising through a yard sale, a benefit concert, and perhaps a raffle. Of course, we are also simply cutting back on our own expenses. Obviously we are praying that this will all be helpful. However, when it comes right down to it what we need is for people to simply give.

As I wrote in my previous post, we are trying to adopt an older child and time is of the essence. We really don't have the time to try and get a little here and a little there. The child we wish to adopt is hopeful he will be adopted. At this time, because of legal reasons he can not be told that there is a family wanting to adopt him. For now he is still simply hoping. He has no idea that thousands of miles away, in a little town that he has never heard of, there is a family who loves him and longs to bring him home. At this time, he simply is holding on to a fading hope - a hope that fades each day. Like all the older children in an orphanage knows, his chances for adoption are slim and with each day, as he gets older, his chances become even more slim. As his hope for adoption fades, so does the hope he has for his very future. I wish I could tell you more of what this young man has already faced in his young life but legalities prevent me from doing so. I can tell you that like every young man, he has dreams. Dreams of a loving family. Dreams of a better life. Dreams of being able to serve others with the love and compassion that he has already proven to do.

Now I will tell you that we are applying for many, many grants. However, we know from our previous adoption that you simply can not rely on getting these grants especially within the time frame that we are facing. Our last adoption we did very little, if any, fundraising. We simply paid as we went along and when there was nothing left we borrowed and used credit. We are really hoping not to have to do this but are willing to do whatever it takes.

If you would like to help, you may do so by clicking on the "ChipIn" at the left of this blog. Of course, you may also send a donation through mail. Just email us if you need our address.

We want you to know that we greatly appreciate every donation made. I'm sorry to say that with your donation you will not be receiving a t-shirt, a tote bag, coffee or a cd. What you will get is the knowledge that through your gift you will have a hand in forever changing the life of a child. You will be helping to give this child not just a future that he would otherwise not have but you will be helping to give him hope. You will be giving him a family who will forever love him. You will be giving us the wonderful opportunity to share our love with another beautiful son. For this we can never thank you enough.

God bless you,

John and Dottie

A Big Announcement Several Months in the Making

2010-02-05T18:37:00.000-05:00

Many of you may recall my blog post several months ago in which I discussed my disgust at the idea that because of the expense of adoption, a child faced the very real possibility of not only staying in an orphanage but, perhaps even worse, the child would soon age out of the orphanage and be released to fend for himself with little hope for his future. Of course, merely lamenting the problems of the world does not change anything. For things to change, people must be willing to act. To that end, after months of prayer (and a great deal of struggling with just how much I'm willing to live by the faith I preach), Dottie and I have decided to act on behalf of at least one orphan in the sea of orphans. We are going to adopt the child who I posted about earlier.

I realize that many may have questions about his decision so let me anticipate and to answer them now. Most likely the 2 most frequent questions will be along these lines: Do you really need another child? (For those who are counting this will make 5.) & How are you going to afford this?

I'd answer the first question just by simply saying that this is not about our "need" to have another child. This is about a child in need that we are called to help. We are not called to adopt every child in the world but we know that we are to follow through with this adoption. As with most any calling, we don't have all the answers. We simply have to be obedient to what we know that God has called us to do.

To the second question: well, we don't know exactly. However, let me give you this analogy. Say that a child of yours finds themselves in the middle of an emergency. They are in desperate need of your help. What would you do? Would you sit around and simply say, "Well when we have all our finances together and we can help you with no sacrifice on our part, then we'll get back to you." Or would you do all that you can to help your child? I'm not suggesting that you would neglect your other responsibilities, but you would make it a priority to find a way to help your child. Right away I know there are those who would say, "But he isn't really your child. He is a child you are just wanting to adopt." Here is where I must vehemently disagree. Again, this is something we are called to do. God had placed it on our hearts that this is our son. Our son is facing an emergency. His life is facing a crisis and as responsible parents we must do all that we can to help him and bring him home. We are doing this by faith that our Father in heaven will provide by whatever means He chooses.

Finally, I would like to say that this has personally been a challenge to my faith. But as I have become obedient to His call I have found the peace that has come with every major life decision that I knew He was calling me to. We go into this journey admittedly with some, I wouldn't exactly say fear, but with wonder as to how it will all work out. We also go into this journey with great joy. It is an amazing blessing to follow the Lord in his command to care for the orphan. We are in love with our new child and long to bring him home.

Sometimes I forget but we must never do that.

2010-02-03T15:15:00.000-05:00

Last night we received a picture that was taken in January, 2008 at the Kid's Care Orphanage in Ethiopia. In the picture, sitting side by side, were 2 boys who in 6 months would become brothers and would become our sons. Seeing the picture struck me with overwhelming force. In January of 2008, I didn't know that these 2 boys were alive and they certainly had no idea about me or Dottie. In January of 2008 they were just 2 more forgotten orphans in a sea of orphans. In January of 2008 they were just 2 boys wondering what would happen next? Would they be in the orphanage forever? Would they have a family? Is there any hope? In July of 2008 everything changed for those 2 little boys. They were no longer in the orphanage. They now had a family. They now had hope.

I sometimes forget that my 2 boys were ever in an orphanage facing a future of great uncertainty. I often forget, except in a very abstract way, that there are still little boys and little girls who are sitting in orphanages today, just like my 2 boys were in January of 2008. Sometimes I forget but I, make that we, must never do that. But simply remembering does no good if it does not move us to act. Let us not have a child waiting in the orphanage.

Dream Home

2010-02-01T17:50:00.002-05:00

Some friends of ours just bought their "dream" home. This got me to thinking about my dream home. Over the years I've pictured different dream homes. Often a room with a pool table was involved. Often lots of land with the view of the mountains in Wyoming, Colorado, or Montana was an important part of the dream. When I was much, much younger I often said that my dream home would have nice guest house that my parents would live in - this has not been part of the dream home scenario for a LONG time. Today, my dream home would be very simple: one large room with one large kitchen, off this main room would be one hall way going in one direction and one hallway going in the other direction, down each hallway would be rooms - many rooms, obviously throw in a several bathrooms and a good size laundry room with 2 washers and 2 dryers (both of which would most likely always be going), and NO carpet to have stuff spilled on.

So, if you put just a little bit of thought into it you may understand why this is my dream home and why we would need so many bedrooms as well as such a large laundry room. And if you understand why this is my dream home and if you know of one that is available (oh yea, available for virtually no cost) then just let me know.

Thanks - John.

For Kendyl

2010-01-17T19:51:00.000-05:00

Twice during church it was urgent that Bereket tell me something.

First time- "Mommy, I soooo hungwee" (That happens every week.)

Second time- "I miss Kendyl."

I sure will be glad when he can see Kendyl again.

Good Answer!

2010-01-15T19:27:00.000-05:00

This week has been an interesting week. All 3 boys have been grounded from the TV and video games.

Joshua has been grounded from both television and video games lately because he has still has yet to learn his multiplication tables. Now, understand that this is the same boy who can read a bunch of cheat codes for a video game and remember them all. You see, the reason he doesn't know his multiplication tables is not because they are too hard but because he hasn't actually sat down to learn them.

Anyway, tonight he was practicing them and every five minutes or so he would come and say, "test me." I'd ask a couple of questions and he would miss one. With it being Friday night (the night the boys get to stay up and watch TV) he, as well as the other 2 boys, were very anxious to get ungrounded. We told the boys that if Joshua learned his multiplication tables then they would all be free to watch TV. Feromsa went right to work on this very important task.

After a little while of Feromsa quizzing Joshua they asked me to test him again. Their exact words were, "Ask him any question." So I asked, "What is the meaning of life?"

Joshua, without any hesitation answered, "To praise God and bring Him glory."

Needless to say, the boys are now watching TV.

Haiti

2010-01-14T16:35:00.002-05:00

You know your hubby is a good daddy when.....

2009-12-25T14:43:00.001-05:00

he makes you Dora underwear for Christmas just because your 6 year old thought Mommy should have some!

Coffee Experiment Comes to an End

2009-11-08T16:35:00.003-05:00

Well, my 21 days of a cup of coffee have come to an end. Here it is now day 22 since this experiment began and, well, I still am not a big coffee fan. However, I do no longer find it to be completely repulsive. I can drink a cup. I can even enjoy a cup to a certain extent. More importantly, this experiment has given me the opportunity each day to have a moment to remember the over 14o million orphans that are in the world today. With each cup of coffee, as that first sip would hit my tongue, I would have a moment of, "Why am I doing this?" The answer would then hit me hard and I would pause to do the greatest thing that I could do for the orphaned. I would pray. I have tried, in talking about this experiment to others, to stress this time of prayer and reflection that came with each cup. I have tried to stress this aspect because so many would get lost in the details of the experiment with thoughts of, "Can't you just give money?" "Can't you just buy something else?" "Why does it have to be coffee?" To answer these questions I would point you to the discipline of fasting. In fasting one "suffers" the consequences of not eating in order to use this time to pray and to reflect on God. In fasting one learns to use the hunger pains as a call to go to God for the nourishment that the body seeks. In many ways this experiment has been a fast in reverse. Here I actually ingested something that was not particularly pleasant to me and in so doing I would be called into prayer. The practical benefits of drinking fair trade coffee that supported farmers and buying coffee that had proceeds going to orphan care became secondary items to the greater impact of daily spending time with the Heavenly Father to ask for His care of the fatherless.

Now, here I sit, with a cup of coffee. I'm preparing to watch a simulcast with my family for Orphan Sunday. I encourage you to have a cup and to pray for the orphans.

Coffee Experiment - Day 9

2009-10-26T20:25:00.002-04:00

It's happening - I'm beginning to actually "need" a cup of coffee. Still don't really like the taste though.

I press on.

Coffee Experiment - Day 6 and 7

2009-10-24T16:21:00.002-04:00

Well, the coffee experiment is going quite well (despite my wife's post yesterday). I wanted to say too that if your church regularly serves coffee on Sunday morning that maybe you could buy from one of the organizations that sells fair trade coffee and has the proceeds going to orphanage care. The other day I mentioned one of those: http://gobena.org/.

There are two others that I'd like to mention:

http://www.saintscoffee.com/

and

http://www.landof1000hills.com/

Thank you for continuing to help care for the over 140 million orphans in the world today.

Coffee is Disgusting

2009-10-23T20:27:00.002-04:00

This is Dottie and I hate coffee. I loathe coffee. Even after spending months mentally preparing myself to drink the really small cup of coffee at the coffee ceremony, I still couldn't get it down. Totally disgusting!

This whole coffee experiment...I just can't do it.

But this.....

http://www.divinechocolateusa.com/

I can totally get behind!

Coffee Experiment - Day 5

2009-10-22T20:45:00.002-04:00

Today I drank my largest cup of coffee yet. Not exactly the big mug from "Friends" but never the less it was a large coffee cup. I also made this cup stronger than my previous cups. Which brings to mind a question: how do you make your coffee? The coffee I have says two tablespoons per cup and I'm not quite there.

Everyone knows by now why I am doing this coffee experiment but I have had an unexpected bonus to this. With each cup I drink I notice that I am very conscious of why I am doing this. Each cup provides for me the opportunity to stop, to consider the orphans of the world, to pray for them and to ask myself in what other ways can I be an advocate for the children.

Coffee Experiment - Day 3 and 4

2009-10-21T16:43:00.002-04:00

Well, yesterday I never got in my cup of coffee. I had planned on having it last night but I was out late and did not want to have a cup right before bed. So, today I'm going to drink 2 cups. I just finished my first and honestly it was not that bad. Perhaps, I'm actually getting used to this stuff.

I have been asked, why I don't just give money to an orphanage? Why drink the coffee? You must remember that the coffee that I'm buying is fair trade coffee. This means that when buying fair trade coffee in which the profits go toward an orphanage I am accomplishing two things at once. The orphanage gets the money but the farmers in Ethiopia are earning a living. This is one of those, give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, teach him to fish and he can eat for a lifetime deals. It is great to support the orphanage but if we can also support the economy of an impoverished nation then perhaps the day will come when there are less orphans.

So, drink coffee, support an economy, and provide for the orphans.

By the way, here is a link for some fair trade coffee that helps support orphans: http://gobena.org/

Coffee Experiment - Day 2

2009-10-19T20:05:00.002-04:00

Well, here I am sipping another cup of coffee. I'll be honest day 1 did not go very well. I actually did not finish the whole cup. Every sip made me have a bit of a gag reflex and by the time I was half way through I was just nauseous. To make matters even more complicated, I had trouble preaching my Sunday night sermon because of the nasty taste the coffee had left in my mouth. So you can probably understand that I was not exactly thrilled about drinking today's cup. But here I sit drinking this cup and so far it has not been too bad. I did make it a little less strong this time and I did break down and add a little Splenda. I wouldn't say that I'm enjoying it. I'm far from actually desiring a cup of this stuff but I'm still trying. I just keep thinking - this is for the orphans.

Coffee Experiment - Day 1

2009-10-18T15:37:00.003-04:00

Ok, I hate coffee. However, for years I have wanted to like it. Mostly I have wanted to like it because it is (unless you go to some fancy, over priced place) relatively cheap. Often, such as at every pastors' meeting I go to, it is there for free. So I have wanted to like coffee because I'm generally a cheap person. Unfortunately the taste of burnt water has always over-ridden my desire to drink this stuff.

Then we adopted these two boys from Ethiopia where drinking coffee is second nature. I thought as a good Father I should have coffee in the house because the boys would like it. I figured if I was ever going to buy and make the stuff I should at least be able to drink it. Unfortunately, even the desire to be a hero Daddy who makes coffee simply could not bring me to even tolerate the stuff.

Then the other day I saw a bag of fair trade coffee from Ethiopia. I thought about this for a while and began to consider that if I can help my fellow Ethiopians (yes, I consider myself part of the Ethiopian family) simply by drinking coffee, well, then that my just be worth it. To take it a step further there is a good chance that where our Compassion child (that is the child we sponsor through Compassion International - compassion.com) lives, her mother could possibly be employed by a coffee farm. Now, we are dealing with something on a much larger scale. This is no longer about being cheap, or even being a "cool" Dad, this is about helping out the widows, the orphans, those who without the ability to produce and sell their coffee would be in poverty. I have also found a fair trade coffee in which the proceeds go toward orphan projects.

So now here is my plan: I am going to drink at least 1 cup of coffee a day for 21 days (it is said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit). It is my hope that at the end of the experiment I will actually enjoy coffee. Coffee that I can drink and know that in doing so I am helping the people of Ethiopia and the orphans of the world.

Going now to make me a cup. Let's pray I can swallow the stuff.

Brotherly Love

2009-09-20T18:22:00.002-04:00

Ever since Joshua had his birthday in April, Bereket has let us know (almost daily) that he wants a cake with Dora, Diego, baby jaguar, monkey, etc. Well Feromsa's birthday is on Tuesday. Tonight I asked him what kind of birthday cake he wanted. (I was referring to vanilla/chocolate.) He turned and said "I want birthday cake with monster eating Dora."

Brotherly love- nothing like it!

Sometimes I just don't understand.

2009-08-24T16:11:00.003-04:00

This weekend we had an all day VBS at church on Saturday. So, when we got up Sunday to go to church Feromsa wondered, "Why we go to church today? We lived there yesterday!"

With that as a backdrop you may understand why I was quite confused when Feromsa, on the way to get his haircut, continued to ask me, "Hush-for-Sunday?" I was assuming he was trying to say something about the great deal of time we had spent at church this weekend.

Finally after several more attempts at getting me to understand "hush-for-Sunday" he decided to describe this mysterious "hush-for-Sunday." Apparently a "hush-for-Sunday" is ice cream with chocolate on top. You may know it better as a hot fudge sundae.

Use your head, boy.

2009-08-20T23:19:00.003-04:00

So in our last post I showed how wonderful and insightful Feromsa can be. Well here is a quick post to reveal that he is also just another goofy 7 year old.

The other day Feromsa was doing something that was not all that bright (he was trying to close the fridge door without closing the drawer that he had opened). While he was struggling to accomplish his task I looked at him and said, "Feromsa, close the drawer. Use your head, boy."

To this he thoughtfully replied, "I can't think all the time."

Nice Mommy and Daddy

2009-08-18T20:33:00.002-04:00

If you need a reason to consider adoption, particularly to adopt older children, I submit the following two stories that are brought to you courtesy of Feromsa:

1. Out of the blue Feromsa began to discuss being at Kids Care Orphanage. In this discussion he made this comment, "In Kids Care I pray, 'Please give me nice mommy and nice daddy' and now I have nice Mommy and nice Daddy!"

2. In another discussion about being in Kids Care Feromsa offered this observation, "The big kids know that people don't want them. They want the little kids. I was scared I too big."

I don't think any commentary is necessary.

"Why you get me?"

2009-08-16T15:27:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago I was looking at pictures of picking up Feromsa and Bereket in Ethiopia. Bereket saw what I was looking at and asked, "Why you come to Ethiopia to get me?" I told him because we love him and wanted him to be with us and live with us. Since then he has continued to ask either me or Dottie this question time and time again. He isn't asking because he doesn't know the answer. He keeps asking because he likes to hear the answer. Every time he asks and we answer, he just smiles. Guess what, every time he asks and I answer, I smile too.

Adoption Legislation

2009-08-15T21:36:00.002-04:00

I know that lately when you hear anything about legislation it is all about health care but I'd like to take a moment to alert you to some legislation that has been introduced and is now in committee that needs your support. These bills will be helpful to orphans, adoptive parents and to children who are adopted. The following is from the Center of Adoption Policy. Please read and then please contact your representatives letting them know that you support this legislation.

July 15, 2009. Legislation: CAP Supports Three New Bills Before Congress. CAP Supports the Foreign Adopted Children Equality (FACE) Act (S. 1359; H.R. 3110). This bill will give U.S. citizenship to internationally adopted children as of their adoption, rather than, as now, when each child comes to the United States. It will restore citizenship to internationally adopted children who were not covered under the Child Citizenship Act or whose position was jeopardized by the 1996 Immigration Act. It would also confer on foreign born internationally adopted children of U.S. parents all the rights of biologically born children of U.S. parents, including the right to become president.

CAP Supports the Families for Orphans Act (H.R. 3070) which is designed, in the words of the bill itself, "To encourage the development and implementation of a comprehensive, global strategy for the preservation and reunification of families and the provision of permanent parental care for orphans, and for other purposes." This legislation will create a new U.S. diplomatic and economic initiative to support existing families and to provide permanency for unparented children. It will replace the current decentralized and sometimes contradictory, government efforts with a consistent, pro-active approach led by a State Department Office of Orphan Policy, Diplomacy and Development. For the first time the development of a continuing strategy to ensure that all children grown up in permanent, loving families of their own would be part of the State Department's responsibilities.

CAP Supports S. 1376 which will allow adoptive parents to obtain their child's immunizations in the United States after travel, which is standard international adoption procedure for Hague countries. It also conforms the age requirements for siblings adopted internationally to a consistent standard.

To contact your representatives and senators, please go to http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml or http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

Day 3 of the WV Trip

2009-08-05T12:10:00.014-04:00

Ok, so I've been a little busy but I'm finally getting to Day 3 of my trip to West Virginia with the boys.

We woke up early on Saturday morning, packed up, checked out and headed toward our first stop for the day which was a nice little overlook of the New River. We were only here for a few minutes. Our time here would have been a lot less but Bereket had to go KaKa in the very nasty port-a-potty. Where is the gallon of hand sanitizer when you need it?

Anyway, we left there and headed to our next stop. In the town of Talcott, WV there is a grand statue dedicated to John Henry. I had made sure that the boys saw a video on John Henry before we visited the statue. Of course we also listened to the Johnny Cash song, "The Ballad of John Henry." By the way, if you don't know who John Henry is then I'll just let you google him.

We then continue our journey by visiting Pipestem State Park. This was a highlight for the boys. This state park has an aerial tram that takes you down the mountain to the Bluestone River. They loved the tram. It was very exciting. Once off the tram we went and explored the Bluestone National Scenic River. Joshua and Feromsa were having fun with "boat" races. The boats were large pieces of tree bark. Meanwhile, Bereket was "spearing" something in the river with a large stick he found. For all the time we had spent at rivers on this trip, this was the only one that one of the boys fell in. Joshua went down but fortunately it wasn't real deep so he just got a little wet.

After taking the tram back to the top of the mountain we left Pipestem State Park and headed home. On the way home we stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch (this is a bit of a Raymer family tradition to stop here on the way home from a trip). We left there and traveled on. In the van the boys were watching Superman 4 and hardly noticed the tunnels that we went through this time.

Admittedly, we were all getting a little tired and were looking forward to being home but we had to make one more stop. We had to pay respects to Andy and Opie in Mt. Airy (aka Mayberry). I love this town. We stopped to see the statue and to look at the Andy Griffith memorabilia collection. Driving through the historic downtown area of Mt. Airy Joshua asked why they kept the place looking so old. I simply replied, just because they wanted to. He then asked, "So, this is how things looked back in the 1990's?"

We finally left Mt. Airy and made our way home. It was a great little trip. We saw a lot of beautiful places, historic places, and even a couple of statues. The boys watched 3 Superman movies and one classic Don Knott's movie. I love these trips where I get to see and experience new places but what really makes them great is sharing these trips with people that I love.

West Virginia Trip Day 2

2009-07-27T00:18:00.007-04:00

Friday morning began early and after a not so great breakfast at the hotel we began to make our way to the falls at Hills Creek in the Monongahela National Forest. The drive took considerably longer than I had planned. However, I was delighted by the mountains. The morning was a cloudy, foggy, misty morning. The smoke of clouds rose up out of the trees of the mountains like wistful, angelic beings dancing up into the clouds. It was amazing watching them leave the trees to only disappear into the sky. The boys didn’t notice because they were watching Superman 3.

We finally arrived at our destination and enjoyed the morning exploring. The trail to the waterfalls was largely made up of stairs. Lots and lots and lots of stairs. Joshua decided that he wanted to collect some river water and then would add more river water to it from other rivers we would see on our trip. He brought a little water bottle and filled it about half way. He then preceded to show his water to everyone we met on the trail.

We left the waterfalls and went to the nearby Cranberry Mountain Nature Center ran by the Forest Service for lunch and a visit. While sitting outside having our lunch, a small group of seniors came walking by. Feromsa, the ever talkative one, began a conversation with one of the ladies. She asked how come there were only boys in our group. He quickly told her that Mommy and Hannah were home spending money.

The boys loved the nature center because they were able to see live snakes and turtles. However, the biggest highlight for them was an exhibit where you stuck your hand in a box and tried to guess what you were feeling. Their excitement at this must have been contagious because they were able to get grown men who had rode in on their Harleys to join in on the fun.

Our next stop was at Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park (yes, this is another Civil War battlefield). This was just a quick stop to climb a lookout tower and then we were back on the road again.

A little over an hour later we were at the Sandstone Falls on the New River. The boys especially liked this site. Not only did they have another opportunity to play in some water but, and this was a real special treat, they saw two dead fish floating in the water.

After Sandstone Falls we began to make our way to Grandview Park Overlook on the New River. This wasn’t a long trip but it was long enough for all the boys to take a quick nap. Grandview Park was a particular highlight for the boys. Here there is a short trail that leads to a “cave.” Really it is just a large crevice in an even larger rock. The crevice is about 30 feet long and at points is only about 3 feet high. For the boys it was one of the most amazing things we had done on the whole trip.

Our 2nd day ended with dinner at Wendy’s and the boys watching Shark Boy and Lava Girl. This night I shared a bed with Joshua. He unfortunately was not much better to sleep with than Bereket. Once again a pretty restless night while the three boys slept soundly.

4 Boys, 3 Days, 3 National Park Units, 3 State Parks, 1 National Forest, 2 Statues, and Countless Memories (West Virginia Trip Day 1)

2009-07-26T15:39:00.015-04:00

So I decided to take a trip with just my boys to visit West Virginia. We left early on a Thursday morning for the 3 hours to our hotel. It would not take long for the memories to begin. Our journey would take us over the Blue Ridge and our first stop would be at Lover’s Leap Overlook on Highway 58. Our drive up the mountains was one of continual and thick fog. At the overlook we were above the fog but it still was sitting heavy in the mountains below. The boys just thought that it was amazing that we were above the clouds. Only an hour into this trip and the excitement level was high.

The excitement level soon did tamper off as the curves of the road up the mountain got the best of Joshua. Fortunately, we were able to find a place to pull over and stop before Joshua refunded the sausage biscuit he had for breakfast. When it was all said and done he looked at me and said, “Wow, I feel better.”

It was not long before the excitement grew again. This time it was for the first of 2 tunnels that we would be driving through on I-77 going through the mountains of Virginia. I believe that the word I kept hearing from the back of the van was “awesome!”

Around 11 we made a quick stop to check into our hotel. It was amusing to see that Feromsa is still fascinated by elevators. His excitement over riding the elevator took me back to riding the elevator at the hotel in Ethiopia. A year later, and there are still those things that are so common place for most of us that these young boys from Ethiopia still find amazing. Another example of this was Bereket’s thrill at seeing that our hotel room had a TV.

We left our hotel and headed for our first real stop: Carnifex Battlefield State Park. Here we saw a snake, had lunch, and of course, we saw a cannon. We also used this stop to visit Gauley River National Recreation Area. The battlefield is adjacent to the river and Joshua, perhaps to his regret, asked why they would have a battle on this mountain right next to the river (by the way, this was a battle in the Civil War that helped pave the way for West Virginia to become a state in the Union). History and military strategy lesson was quickly given.

Our next tour stop would find us at our first of many stops along the New River Gorge National River. We stopped to see the famous New River Gorge Bridge which is the 2nd longest single arch steel span in the world and the 2nd highest bridge in the country. We began this stop at the top of the gorge just under the bridge. From here we could look down into the river where the boys noticed a kayaker rolling his kayak. Once we were on the bank of the river Feromsa asked a kayaker if he was the one we saw going in the water. He wasn’t but he was happy to roll his kayak to the cheers of three boys. Before we actually got to the bank of the river where the boys talked to the kayaker and played in the water, we stopped on the old bridge to take some pictures. This bridge is narrow, old, and the road part of the bridge is made up of wood planks. There was nervous laughing while standing on the bridge and a car driving by would make the bridge rumble.

After playing in the New River (which according to scientist is actually the 2nd oldest river in the world – I just mention that for the irony of the name and not to make any Creationist friends mad nor to say that I agree with the scientist) we started to look for a place to eat dinner. Joshua scanned the horizon for a place to eat and suggested we eat at the first place he saw – Hooters. After driving around a little we ended up at CiCi’s Pizza.

Day one ended with us at the hotel. The boys attempted to go swimming but considering the high for the day was in the mid-seventies, the water was just too cold. That lasted all of about 10 minutes before they couldn’t take anymore. Back in the room we spent the evening watching the classic Don Knotts’ movie, The Incredible Mr. Limpet. For those who don’t know, in this movie Don Knotts plays a character who turns into a fish. Feromsa did not seem too bothered by the fact that a man could turn into a fish but simply could not understand how a fish could talk underwater. After the movie, everyone quickly fell asleep for a restful night. Unfortunately, I was sharing the bed with Bereket who felt it was necessary to lay on my side of the bed all night. Several times throughout the night I had to pick him up and lay him back down on his side of the bed. He, of course, slept right through this.

Our Car Ride Home

2009-07-22T23:46:00.002-04:00

Today we took Bereket to the neurologist. We were told that at one time he had seizures and has been on medication for them ever since. Well after many tests the doctor thinks that he no longer needs the meds. So we will be weaning him from the medication over the next 3 weeks. Please be praying that he doesn't have any troubles coming off the medication and that he no longer has seizures.

On the ride home Bereket wanted to make sure that Daddy and I understood what would be going on when school started. It went something like this:

We go to school in August.
Mommy go to school.
Bereket go to school.
Hannah go to school.
Feromsa go to school.
JoTo go to school.
Daddy no go to school. Daddy stay home.

Now repeat about 5 more times.

That was our car ride home.

Phone Calls with Grandma

2009-07-21T22:09:00.001-04:00

So, Joshua loves to talk to his Grandma because she is one of the few people in the world who will listen to him talk on and on about video games. Problem is that if one boy is talking to Grandma all 3 want to talk to Grandma. Joshua's solution - hide in the bathroom.

Feromsa's Hometown

2009-07-19T14:53:00.004-04:00

Ok, so we did not get anything posted yesterday because, well, nothing really happened yesterday. Kind of one of those lazy summer Saturdays. Being that today is Sunday which means church and Sunday afternoon naps, there what be much going on today either. So I thought today I'd share with you a picture from Google Earth. This is Feromsa's hometown of Shambu in Ethiopia. It is considerably bigger than we thought.

Paperwork and more paperwork

2009-07-17T21:14:00.002-04:00

Well, there is no picture today because we spent most of the day working on more adoption paperwork. We finally got around to doing the re-adoption paperwork. Yes, when you adopt internationally you have to re-adopt your children in the US. I guess the US government feels that a decree from another country doesn't mean anything.

Anyway, it took us two trips to the courthouse to get things done but they are done (at least for now.) I must say, it is days like today though that I find myself thankful for living in a small town in a small community. Both times at the courthouse we were in and out (faster than ordering food at Taco Bell.)

July 16, 2009

2009-07-16T13:50:00.004-04:00

Well today was our last post-placement visit with our social worker. Rebecca has been a great help throughout our adoption. It is quite funny to note that on our first visit with her we cleaned the house from top to bottom even hiding laundry over at the church. Today we took out the trash and quickly vacuumed. Even though this was our last visit we still have much paperwork to do. It seems we will always be in the process of adopting our boys.

With each post-placement report we have to measure and weigh the boys. We discovered that since their adoption Bereket has grown 2 and a half inches and has gained 8 lbs. Feromsa has grown 4 inches and has gained a whopping 16 lbs. No wonder we are always buying new clothes.

July 15, 2009

2009-07-15T17:34:00.007-04:00

Since we got home from Ethiopia a year ago, Joshua and Feromsa have been pretty much inseparable. Don't get me wrong, they do have the occasion fight about something really important like who's turn it is to pick out the Wii game. Joshua has not been so excited with Bereket but that is starting to change. This is where we found Bereket and Joshua this morning. Joshua is showing Bereket how to look up game plays on YouTube. Joshua has just recently embraced the role of big brother. That's not to say he didn't love his little brother, he just thought he was pretty much annoying and that's about all. Now he is starting to enjoy showing Bereket "big kid" stuff.

This afternoon we decided to go through the boys' shoes. I can't understand how 3 boys can accumulate over 50 pairs of shoes. (Oh wait, I'm their mom. I know how that happened!) We ended up getting rid of about half of them. Now to conquer the play room.

July 14, 2009

2009-07-15T00:12:00.003-04:00

(Insert cute picture of Feromsa skating here if John had not forgotten the camera on the back porch!)

Tonight was christian skate night at the local rink and since the kids have been bugging us to go "shading" we decided to go. Well it wasn't nearly as much fun as we thought it would be. 2 of the boys would hardly get onto the rink and the music was more in line with preschool kids' songs. Never the less, Feromsa skated quite a bit and everyone did enjoy the trip to McDonald's afterwords to get hot fudge sundaes. Strangely enough, everyone except Hannah would like to go skating again. Kids are strange that way but we love them.

July 13, 2009

2009-07-13T22:08:00.002-04:00

Today was a rough day for the boys. They got to go swimming at the Y but after they got home they learned that Hannah and I (this is John writing) had a fun filled day in Greensboro. We had gone to the bookstore where Hannah traded in some books and got some new ones. We then (and this really got the boys upset) went to Cold Stone Creamery and got some wonderful ice cream. Afterwards, we went to yet another bookstore where Hannah got more books. We followed this up with a visit to a pet store looking for a new bird cage for Hannah's finches. Finally, we went to Sam's Club and loaded up. Of course, all she cared about there was looking at a $730 camera. I told her to get a job.

After we returned home Hannah got to mow the grass. She had been wanting to do this for a while. We were concerned about letting her do this because she has a tendency to walk into walls. Fortunately, she and lawn mower both survived.

July 12, 2009

2009-07-12T20:06:00.002-04:00

We love our trampoline!

July 11, 2009

2009-07-11T11:03:00.002-04:00

Hannah multi-tasking: playing Wii while talking on the phone.

July 10, 2009

2009-07-10T15:05:00.001-04:00

Bereket and Daddy beat Mommy at Alphabet Go Fish 17-9!

July 9, 2009

2009-07-10T15:01:00.001-04:00

Blackberry picking in the backyard.

Gotcha!

2009-07-08T23:32:00.002-04:00

It is hard to believe that a year ago Dottie and I were in Ethiopia and on this day we went to the transition home to pick up 2 boys who forevermore would be a part of our family. I remember that we had met Bereket and Feromsa the day before and had been able to spend several hours with them. However, that day we had left them to stay at the transition home. I also remember that when we were leaving the transition home Feromsa was having a really hard time understanding why he was not going with us. On this day though we were going to get the boys and they would be going with us. Oddly enough I don't remember too much from that day. The whole week in Ethiopia seems such a blurr. However, I do not think that I will ever forget that first night in the hotel room. There in the bed next to mine and Dottie's was a little bed being shared by 2 wonderful, loving boys who were ours.

And now here we are a year later. Wow! Time really does go by so quickly. In the past year we have seen these boys grow in so many ways. We were all amazed at how quickly the boys attached to our family. It many ways it seemed as if they were always apart of this family. The love they have brought to this household simply can not be measured. We have also been amazed at how much they have grown. Physically, they have literally grown out of their clothes several times. The changes in their personalities as they have learned to speak better English and as they have become more comfortable is simply mind-blowing. Feromsa had always been a very talkative boy from day one. Bereket on the other hand was a very quiet boy - until recently.

In this past year the boys have met and fallen in love with their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. It is a testament to the caretakers at the orphanage that Bereket who lived at the orphanage for nearly all 5 years of his life is so wonderfully affectionate. Both boys freely give their affection to their new and extended family.

Also, in this past year the boys have swam in the ocean, hiked the mountains, have fallen in love with french fries, Coca-cola, Sprite, Yellow Sprite (Mt. Dew), Wii, swimming, trampolines, and Wal-mart. They have played soccer. They have gone camping and want to go again! In the past year, Feromsa has tried hard to understand how Jesus can be dead one day and then alive the next. Bereket has tried hard to understand just how a mirror works. They have picked apples, blueberries, and have personally eaten enough bananas to keep Dole in business for years. They have been amazed at the "magic" van (it has automatic opening doors). And in the past year they have been nothing short of one of the greatest blessings to this family.

We can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Passing Court...One Year Later

2009-06-10T15:57:00.004-04:00

It was a year ago today that we received a phone call from AWAA telling us some very unexpected news. We had seen how things were going and we had resigned ourselves to not getting through the Ethiopian courts. This was our first time trying to get through court and it seems that most people did not get through until their second or even third try. There was always some piece of paper not signed or just missing or something. So as our first court date came we had simply thought of it as a dress rehearsal. We were quite surprised to find out that this was not a dress rehearsal and that we had indeed been granted by the courts of Ethiopia to be the parents of two wonderful boys whom we had never met but had fallen deeply in love with.

It seemed quite a remarkable thing really. A judge in Ethiopia, whom we had never met or spoken to, based on some paperwork filled out mostly by other people whom we had never met or spoken to, made a grand decision that forever altered the lives of Dottie and I, our children at home, and two boys in Ethiopia who were now, by the decree of this judge, Raymer boys. These two boys were now part of our family and Dottie and I were now their parents. On June 9th of 2008 Dottie and I were the parents of 2 children. Now comes June 10th and suddenly we are the parents of 4 including a 5 and a 6 year old boys living in Ethiopia.

One phone call, our family grows by 2 and in less than a month we would be on our way to Ethiopia to bring them home. June 10, 2008 was a remarkable day!

Feromsa Scores the Winning Goal of the Championship Game May 09

2009-05-30T22:01:00.001-04:00

An update of sorts

2009-02-23T21:00:00.008-05:00

Christmas-
Feromsa got a camera.

Bereket loved the light up necklace MeMaw and PaPa brought from Disney.

Loved opening presents.

New video games.

Every year everyone gets an ornament to represent the year. John's said "Our Family- Made in the USA with Ethiopian and American parts."

Bereket's said "Proud to be an Ethiopian American." (or something like that)

Feromsa's was an American eagle.

Hannah's was a Twilight ornament.

Joto's said "When I grow up I want to be a video game character."

I made cookies with each of the boys.

This was just a goofy picture of Bereket.

Sorry!

2009-02-08T21:12:00.001-05:00

We have become bad bloggers. We will have an update soon- as soon as John gets the pictures from the external hard drive.

He's a funny little boy.

2008-10-05T14:58:00.004-04:00

Bereket had a big day Saturday when he got to go with his Mom to Goodwill and spend a whole dollar. His item of choice was a stuffed lion. To make things even more exciting his Mom bought him his very own bicycle helmet. Now the boy can not ride a bike but he does like to walk around pushing a bike. Interestingly enough, he seems to have grown quite attached to his new helmet. It rarely comes off his head.

Feromsa's Birthday in Pictures

2008-09-26T19:56:00.009-04:00

The Next Million Dollar Idea?

2008-09-26T19:50:00.003-04:00

Joshua is always trying to figure out some way to make money quick. This is his latest idea. If you can read the signs they say "Pet- 1 cent." They were trying to get people to stop at our house so they could pay one cent everytime they pet the cats. Needless to say, they didn't have anyone stop.

It's Official!

2008-09-26T18:51:00.004-04:00

We're bad bloggers! OK, now on with the massive update.

In a nutshell- everything is great! The boys eat anything that is put in front of them. They are quickly picking up the language. In fact, I have done a few double-takes to see who was talking. The biggest problem we have is teaching some common sense items. For example, if there is no toilet paper in the bathroom, that does not mean there is no toilet paper in the house. So no, you should not just pull your pants up without wiping! The toilet seat is also an issue. Bereket likes to stand and do his business with the toilet seat down. However, when he needs to sit to do his business, he lifts the seat. Nice. John is finally gotten into the swing of homeschooling although some days are better then others. (I was a little concerned when I got home from my first day back at school and John met me in the driveway!)
Here are some specifics on the kids.

Hannah-
She started 9th grade and homeschooling is more work than she thought it would be. She didn't imagine that she would be learning about nuclear reactions! She has done a great job being a big sister. Yes, she does get tired of the boys at times, but during those times she retreats to her room for some quiet time.

Joshua-
He is now in 3rd grade and has learned that he likes poetry. He is still obsessed with video games but doesn't play nearly as much as he use to. Now he goes outside and plays with his brothers. He thinks Feromsa is amazing. He is especially impressed with Feromsa's athletic skill. It's like having a his own live superhero. He was getting irritated with Bereket but since I pointed out to him that Bereket was just trying to be like him, he is much more understanding.

Feromsa-
He just celebrated his 1st American birthday. We enjoyed a traditional Ethiopian meal. (Thanks Susan! We finally ate the injera and the yummy stuff you made that I can't remember the name of! You did a great job. The boys were really excited about it.) We have since learned more about his life and Ethiopia. It seems that he was once kicked in the head while milking a cow. He has started soccer and loves it. He is really good too! Since we have been home, he has grown 2 inches and gained 5 pounds!

Bereket-
He is plugging along. He is quiet and likes to watch everyone. He is very loving! I get kisses all day- John gets them sometimes ;) When we picked him up he had a terrible ear infection. We already knew that those were chronic for him and that he had some hearing loss. After some awesome drops from our doctor and a couple trips to the ENT- his ears are completely healed up and he only has very minor hearing loss. We will be going back to the ENT soon and they may decide to put tubes in his ears. We are still trying to get him speech services - hopefully soon. He did see a speech therapist for testing and we were actually quite surprised at his comprehension of English. He may not be able to communicate in English real well but we know that he does understand us. We are still waiting to see the neurologist. If we don't hear from them on Monday, there may be a very grumpy mom calling them. (For those of you wondering....Bereket had seizures as a result of meningitis as a baby. He has not had one in 2 years, but he has also been on medicine during those 2 yrs. We'll see what happens.) By the way, Bereket has grown 1 inch and gained 1 pound.

Overall the whole family is doing well. It has been amazing how quickly the boys have adjusted. Perhaps our biggest problem is that we had traveled quite a bit right after we came home from Ethiopia and now the boys don't understand why we aren't going somewhere everyday! Feromsa thinks that at any moment we should be going to the hotel. We must answer the question "Go?" at least 20 or 30 times a day. (I guess they didn't get out much in Ethiopia.) It also seems quite amazing how it seems that these boys are simply our boys and that they are part of this family. There really isn't any thought that those are the two new, adopted boys. They are just 2 more children in addition to 2 other children making up our little family of 4 children, 2 adults, lots of noise, lots of activities and lots, and I mean lots of love.

Feromsa started soccer

2008-09-11T18:20:00.003-04:00

He's actually pretty good!

Yes, we're still alive.

2008-09-11T17:59:00.010-04:00

I will try to catch up on what we've been doing over the past month. At the beginning of August, the kids and I (Dottie) went to Wilmington to attend my friend's wedding. (No I am not crazy enough to take 4 kids on a trip by myself! My parents met us there.) On our trip we....

-went swimming
-visited a battleship

-and an aquarium

-and the wedding of course!

Apples anyone?

2008-08-07T20:56:00.003-04:00

We went apple picking today. It was a first for all of us. We had a good time and hope to do it again in late September. We also bought some peaches- YUMMY!

Family Reunion- Montreat, NC

2008-07-27T17:04:00.013-04:00

We had a family reunion this past week with Dottie's family. We weren't sure if we should go or not but since we were only 3 hours from home we figured we would give it a try. We are glad we went. The boys were awesome and everyone had a great time!Dottie's family

Hide and seek was a big hit. This is Devin attempting to hide on the stools under the table.

(All 6ft. of him!)

Do you see the little person on the rock? That's Kendyl (Devin's sister).

The kids went to the Cradle of Forestry. They loved washing the laundry! (See above and below.)

Family picture at Linville Falls.

Our kids

Joshua on the top of Chimney Rock.

Kendyl and Bereket

Joshua and Kendyl

Feromsa and Kendyl

Hannah and Kendyl (Kendyl likes to take pictures)

Bereket, Hannah, and Feromsa

John breaking the rules!

Feromsa

Everyone at dinner- all 18 of us!

Bereket and Uncle Dennis

Bereket

All the grandkids. Yes, Dottie is in the picture. Our kids are actually the great- grandkids.

Dottie was the only grandchild until she was 18!

Well we did adopt them!

2008-07-19T18:48:00.003-04:00

Brotherly love is such an amazing and wonderful thing. Brothers stick together through thick and thin. A brother will always have your back and not turn against you. This of course is all just a fantasy.

Here is the reality. Earlier today our now oldest son (who has taken his new role as big brother to mean that he is the informer on all things his younger brothers are doing) came to inform us that one of the boys had made quite a mess in the bathroom. We acknowledged him and then asked what he wanted us to do about the matter. He said, "Well, you need to clean it up."

"Maybe you should clean it up" was his mother's reply.

His response, "You clean it up. You adopted them."

Our Boys Learn to wii Box

2008-07-18T14:15:00.002-04:00

Our boys are adjusting to America. One of their new joys is to
play on the wii. Boxing is a big hit.

Finally a stinking video!

2008-07-16T01:26:00.002-04:00

Well, it has only taken me a few days to figure out how to get this thing on here but here it is: The first time we met Bereket and Feromsa.

A few more pictures from the trip!

2008-07-15T23:33:00.006-04:00

Well for some time now I have been trying to load a video on here but me and youtube just don't seem to be getting along. Not sure what I'll do about that. But in the meantime I thought I'd leave you with a few pictures from the trip.

This first one is from the infamous coffee ceremony at the transition home.

This is Feromsa showing us that he likes Tootsie Rolls.

Bereket just smiling.

Since they don't have a blog: here are the Ords and their new son.

This is the boys first night at the Hilton!

View from our room.

Bereket's head nanny is giving him a necklace before he leaves.

Feromsa enjoying some music on the plane ride to America!

First breakfast with new sister in America!

...more than just 2.

2008-07-14T21:46:00.002-04:00

Well I suppose I should take a moment to update this blog. I’m trying to put on here a short video of us meeting the boys for the first time but I’m having issues with that at the moment. Hopefully I can get it on here before too long.

Anyway, on with the update. Since I last wrote, a whole lot has happened. Let’s see, I think I last left you with the fact that we passed the US Embassy appointment on Wed. afternoon. Afterwards, we had dinner that night at a nice restaurant, Top View, that was on a mountain overlooking the city. We returned to the hotel for yet another restless night on the beds that are so hard I am sure they are fashioned out of some medieval torture device.

Thursday was a very interesting day. In the morning we visited Kids Care Orphanage where both the boys had stayed. This was particularly special to Bereket as he had lived here his entire life. His nannies there were thrilled to see him but were even more thrilled that he was finally getting a family. We stayed at the orphanage most of the morning passing out gifts and playing with the children. Of course we also had to partake in another coffee ceremony and I’m sorry but coffee is just nasty. We really had a great time here. The kids were all just wonderful and many of us all quickly found a child that given the opportunity we would have gladly taken with us. It’s also amazing to see how happy these children are. In their short lives they have already suffered so much and they have so little but in their hearts there is a sweet, peaceful joy.

After the orphanage we went to have lunch and I noticed that I wasn’t feeling particularly well. The next 24 hours would find me either on the toilet or in bed. You got to love it.

Apparently while I was lost to the world my wife and kids had a great dinner and then spent most of Friday morning and afternoon shopping (lots of shopping). Later, with me still not feeling great we packed up and headed for the airport. At the airport we said our final good-bye to the incredible Robel and began the great journey through airport security. It was a bit time consuming but all in all it wasn’t really that bad. Had I been feeling better I probably would thought it all rather easy. Once we had our boarding passes it was time to sit back and wait. The boys needed dinner so we went to one of the restaurants in the airport. We quickly learned here that Feromsa simply does not like anything that is not spicy and he especially hates French fries. I, of course, ate nothing. Also, in the airport you quickly begin to realize that on the plane ride home you will have lots of company from others who have been in Addis picking up their newly adopted children.

The plane ride home was, well, it was long – very, very long. Luckily the boys did sleep quite a bit and when they weren’t sleeping they were entertained by the head phones and music. I must say Ethiopian Air does like to feed their passengers but I gladly would have given up dinner at 12:00am for a lights out airline and some sleep. For a good part of the flight Feromsa was headlining in the back of the plane. He was talking and talking and talking and the people around were intently listening and laughing. We have no idea what he was saying but it must have been one great story. By the time the plane landed in D.C. we were thrilled to be back home. It took exactly 2 hours to get through security, immigration, and customs but it was really quite painless. For those going after us my suggestion for you at this point is to just follow the crowd. Oh, one little bit of confusion we did have was that at Addis that asked if we were checking our luggage all the way through to Raleigh and we said yes. Well, they are tagged for Raleigh but everyone coming into the country had to claim their luggage in D.C. to go through customs. Anyway, we got through all of this and then learned are connecting flight was delayed an hour. We had one last lunch with the Ords (great people – well, Sarah is nice enough but that Bob guy is just strange) and then tried desperately to find some way to entertain the boys until our connecting flight. We also tried desperately to keep them somewhat quite, which wasn’t easy every time they saw another plane and they would leap with excitement.

We finally arrived in Raleigh and the boys were able to meet Joshua, Hannah, and both sets of grandparents. We also were greeted by some fellow AWAA adoptees (the Shmidts who hopefully will be traveling soon). After another 2 hours and a stop for dinner we were finally home. It is good to be home.

The kids, all 4, have adjusted well. Bereket is terrified of our dogs. Not sure what that is about. They all enjoy playing outside on the new swing set. Feromsa is especially impressed with the Nintendo wii. He loves boxing on wii sports. So far bed time has not been a problem. We have had some issues with Bereket getting up way to early and not wanting to go back to bed but this just may be a jet lag kind of thing. Bereket will eat just about anything, while Feromsa has been a little picky. They do love fruit of just about any kind but especially bananas. I think they eat about 4 or 5 a day.

It certainly is different in our house. What a drastic change 2 new boys have made. It is much louder. A little more crowded. A good deal messier and even though, as my family has so aptly noted, I am a little grumpy today because I’m just a guy who needs alone time and I haven’t had any for about 3 or 4 weeks now and I don’t see any on the near horizon, I wouldn’t change a thing. For one thing has also changed here – the love in the room has grown by much more than just 2.

A very long update!

2008-07-09T10:15:00.001-04:00

It is early Wednesday morning (July 9th) and we just
got up from our first night with the boys. Yesterday
was just an amazing day and one in which no words can
really describe. Never the less, I will try to convey
some of all that went on.

The day began innocently enough with a nice breakfast
at the Hilton and then Robel (by the way did I mention
he is not just an incredible guide but an amazing man)
took a few of us to the "supermarket" around the
corner of the Hilton. We then met the rest of the
group for shopping at the post office. I know you are
thinking, "the post office?" Well, there really
aren't addresses here so places are described by the
largest building near them. The shopping area was
across the street from the post office. We had some
fun bartering for goods. I talked a guy down from 600
birr to 220 birr for a carving of the crucifixion.
After shopping we had lunch where I had a BBQ burrito
– good stuff.

After lunch it was on to the transition home to pick
up our boys. We arrived at the home with gifts for the
nannies and the children. The next hour or so was
just sheer chaos. Imagine Christmas with over 30
people most of which are children. It was exhausting
but it was great!

The older children sang songs for us while we
participated in the coffee ceremony (thanks Roger for
drinking my coffee). Then it was time to get ready to
go. This was the hard part. The nannies love our
children and they all hugged the boys and Feromsa's
favorite nanny began to cry. Even Feromsa who was
very excited to leave was now showing signs of
trepidation. Despite all of the emotions Dottie and I
were holding together. We boarded the van and Rachel
came running around to tell us that the man who had
cared for Feromsa for 2 years before coming to the
orphanage had arrived to say goodbye. We got out to
meet him and that was about all I could take. We lost
it. How do you thank this man who found our son
abandoned and had cared for him the past 2 years?
After a very emotional meeting and brief discussion we
got back into the van. However, before getting on the
van I had to collect myself for as Dottie said, "you
will scare the boys." It was a beautiful moment of
blessing and sacrifice.

In the van Feromsa asked, "Daddy have peace in his
heart?" I didn't know what he said but once again
Robel came to the rescue. By the way, I have asked
Robel to come back to the States with us to stay for
about 6 months but he has refused my offer.

We made it back to the Hilton where the boys are
fascinated by the "Lift" or as you and I would say the
elevator. In the room, the boys were into everything.
Looking at everything, jumping on everything, playing
with everything. Feromsa even spit off the balcony
(it's a thing all boys everywhere do). They also love
to just flip through the 20 channels on TV. It
doesn't matter what is on they just like to see
everything. They especially loved the computer.
Seeing all the pictures on the computer is truly an
amazing thing.

We had dinner at the Hilton and the boys did very well
at the restaurant. The transition home often takes
the older children out to lunch after church on
Sunday. As dinner was wrapping up we had to have
Robel explain that we were going to go back to the
room to take baths. Again, did I mention that Robel
is great? I missed bath time because of paperwork
that had to be done but from Dottie's report it was a
good time. When I got back to the room the boys were
nice and clean, in their Spider-man pajamas and ready
for bed. It took a bit to get settled but once we got
the room dark they were soon snoozing away.

It was just an amazing day that was all sort of
surreal. I have noticed that I have started talking
in broken sentences with a foreign accent. I don't
think hearing "Daddy, come" in a strong African accent
will ever get old. The boys are full of energy and
love. They are excited to get to America and meet
their family. All in all, this whole experience is a
gift from God.

This morning we got up early, took showers, did
medicine, got dressed (pray the clothes we brought
fit) and went to breakfast. The boys apparently like
yogurt, apples, and hard boiled eggs. Feromsa noticed
the receipt printer and said, "Daddy, MasterCard?"
Great the boy knows very little English but MasterCard
he knows. We walked around the beautiful Hilton
grounds for a little while, had an interesting
experience in the public restroom as Bereket wanted to
see who was in the stall next to him. All the workers
at the Hilton love talking to the boys. Of course all
the conversations are in Amharic so we have no idea
what they are talking about. They all seem very
pleased that the boys have been adopted.

It is now 8:30 and we have 4 hours until our US
Embassy appointment. It's raining so the pool and
playground are worthless. I guess we will just sit in
our room and watch 20 different TV channels for about
30 seconds each and then keep flipping. Oh and did I
mention that the boys have little concept of throwing
things in the garbage. Most often it is just thrown
on the floor in the room, in the hall, in the
restaurant and wherever we may be. This is something
we are already working on.

That's all for now. We'll post more later.

Update: I have waited to post this so that I can wait
on buying more internet time. Besides everyone who
would read this would be in bed right now so I'll wait
until you're awake. Anyway, I just wanted to let you
know that we hired a taxi (AWAA approved) and went to
buy new shoes for the boys. In the lobby of the hotel
there is a display showing items that are on sale in
one of the stores. Feromsa let me know that he wants
a cell phone and a digital camera. Materialism exists
everywhere.

Another quick update: After a good long wait at the
US Embassy we got right through with no problems. I
have to admit I nearly cried (again) when the lady
said, "You're done."

John R. Raymer
http://revraymer.blogspot.com/
http://raymersadoption.blogspot.com/

two more pics...

2008-07-07T16:38:00.000-04:00

Ok, sending pics from here really takes sometime so
here are two more for tonight and then it is bed time
for this "old" man as our AWAA Yahoo Group seems to
think that I am.

One is the picture Feromsa took of his favorite nanny.
See today's actual post for why this is particularly
funny. The other is of me picking up Feromsa (one of
many of times during the few hours we were there).

John R. Raymer
http://revraymer.blogspot.com/
http://raymersadoption.blogspot.com/

Trying pics again...

2008-07-07T16:28:00.000-04:00

I'm going to try doing two pics at a time and see if
that works.

The first is from the Alert Hospital we visited. The
other is Dottie with the two boys right after we got
them.

John R. Raymer
http://revraymer.blogspot.com/
http://raymersadoption.blogspot.com/

Update from Ethiopia

2008-07-07T15:23:00.000-04:00

Well here is our first blog update from Ethiopia and
there is a lot to tell. Because I'm emailing this in
I'm not sure how the pictures will turn out but maybe
you'll understand the pictures by what I write.

To begin with we had one long plane trip here.
Everything went well. No problems on the plane but man
it was long and there was just no way to sleep or get
comfortable. I am not looking forward to the plane
ride home. For those of you coming after us, getting
your Visa and getting through customs really isn't
that big of a deal. And Robel who is our guide is
amazing!

We arrived in Addis last night (July 6th) got a quick
bite to eat and went straight to bed. We had
breakfast this morning at the Hilton. Then we went to
the Fistula Hospital. If you don't know what fistula
is then go look it up now. Go ahead; the blog will
wait while you educate yourselves.

Ok, now that you are educated I'll continue. We
weren't allowed to take pictures at the Fistula
Hospital so there are none. However there is a
documentary on the place called A Walk to Beautiful
that you can watch. I was most taken by the fact that
many of the women there would not look at you. For so
long they had been told that they are basically
unworthy to live or to be a part of society. It was
amazing how they would begin to smile when you simply
acknowledged that they were worthy of talking to.

After visiting the Fistula Hospital we then went to
the Alert Hospital for Leprosy. There is a picture
here of one of the women at the hospital. Those there
work at making crafts and other items to sell for the
Hospital. We bought several items here including a
traditional Ethiopian shirt that I can't wait to wear
to church.

Next we had lunch (pizza – that was fantastic) and
then we went to a place for coffee (gross) and ice
cream (deliciously wonderful). We then did a little
more shopping and it was off to the transition home.

We went through the infamous green gate into the
transition home and two boys came running out to me
and Dottie. Big hugs! Big "Mommy" and "Daddy!" Big,
huge, massive blessing! And then, well then the boys
noticed we had a camera and a video camera and we lost
them. Bereket took the video camera and spent much of
the day videoing. Feromsa took the camera and took
many pictures. There is one in particular of his
favorite nanny. I'm guessing that the picture shows
why she is his favorite. Honestly though, about half
of his pictures are of the floor or are out of focus.
Never the less, he had a good time.

The transition home was overwhelming. The boys loved
taking us everywhere to see everything. They loved
being picked up and twirled around. Feromsa is much
more talkative and energetic than we were expecting.
Constantly wanting to play. Bereket spent much of the
day taking videos (we are afraid to watch the video).
However, toward the end of our time at them home
Bereket decided to cling to me. A couple of times a
plane flew over head and he would point and say,
"Daddy." I would say, "Yes, me and you on plane."

As we began to leave the transition home for the night
Feromsa understood very well that we would be back
tomorrow to get him but Bereket did not. It was
heartbreaking to see him trying to get out of the gate
while Feromsa held him back. We had Robel explain to
him that we would get him tomorrow but it didn't seem
to have much of an effect on him. Robel finally just
told me to leave and he was right. Otherwise we would
have been there all night.

After leaving the home, we went to a traditional
Ethiopian restaurant where we had a gourmet meal with
live entertainment and a bottle of locally made honey
wine for nine people. The cost $50.00. Amazing!

Anyway, that is a brief update of the happenings for
the past couple of days. We'll put more on later.
Now it is time for bed.

P.S. If you have a referral and your kids are at the
transition home – your kids are beautiful.

John R. Raymer
http://revraymer.blogspot.com/
http://raymersadoption.blogspot.com/

We're On Our Way

2008-07-04T21:11:00.002-04:00

...well almost. We planned on taking 2 suitcases- we ended up with 4. We could have squished everything into 3 suitcases but that put them on the border of the weight limits! John is currently at Wal-Mart. I think it is our one millionth trip this week. He was getting everything ready for the computer and found that the power cord was broken! At least we found out before we left. Please keep us in your prayers this week. Thanks! John and Dottie