Busy Summer Days!

I cannot believe it is already July 17!

Gavin is having a great summer and is doing really well in Junior golf and enjoying the time to see Daddy. He has caught on to how to be a big brother and loves it. In fact, yesterday he got Grayson out of his crib, carried him down the stairs and outside to where I was mowing! I told him thank you, but maybe that should be a job for only adults.

Grayson has learned how to army crawl to everything! He is learning the word "NO" now too. He uses his voice in different tones instead of just the basic scream and is starting to babble. He has also learned how to do "soooo big" which is adorable, but I haven't been able to get a picture yet.

Here are a few pictures from this week:

Our pool party was canceled on Wednesday so we called cousin Colton and went to Chuck E Cheese instead!

On the way home, we stopped to get a golf cart ride from Brandon.

Thursday we went to the zoo with friends from school.

Nathan and Grayson love to touch each other.

1st 4th of July!

We had a great 4th of July weekend complete with parades, fishing tournaments, and relaxing in the water (a little chilly but that was okay).

Saturday morning we went to the Grandville parade with Great Grandpa and Grandma, Aunt Wendy and our cousins. Grayson did a great job and wasn't even worried about the sirens!

Our next stop was the cottage for an overnighter. My Dad and I have a friendly fishing competition when I am there. We always say it is based on numbers not size, but I think I lost the argument on this 12 inch bass!

Brandon was able to join us for dinner and I convinced him to where the Baby Bjorn while I fished, what do you think?

Grayson really enjoyed the water and swimming, but we would have to let him sit out on the dock for a while to warm back up again!

Grandpa was a fishing fool this weekend with another bass on Sunday, but he let Gavin count it.

He also caught a pike that was 22 inches, what a fisherman!

Overall, I would say we all had a great 4th of July weekend. As Gavin said after fireworks, "Happy Birthday United States of America!"

Ethiopia

Once in a while people will ask questions about our journey in Ethiopia and what it was like. Today, I had the opportunity to share Grayson and a few stories of Ethiopia with people from Brandon's work. At that moment it takes me back and I realize I travelled to a different country, continent, culture and community... and brought home our son!

I really long to go back to Ethiopia. The people are amazing and the country is the most beautiful place I have ever been. I haven't shared much about the experience on this blog, maybe it is time.

Let me share a few pictures...

Absolutely amazing don't you think? These pictures were all taken on our trip North of the city about 3 hours.

Friends, Anniversary, Sadness

Yesterday was an eventful day.

Gavin, Grayson and I met several other adoptive families at PF Hoffmaster State Park. It was such a great reunion to see people we traveled with. Gavin was excited to know that other families did in fact look like our family too! The picture is of "Big Girum", his sister Rose, "Little Girum" (Grayson), Dawn and myself. We traveled with this family and it was so great to see them again. We will definitely have to do it again some time soon.

Brandon and I also "celebrated" our 11 year anniversary yesterday. I say "celebrated" because we attended a graduation open house with the boys! We are hoping to find a babysitter and enjoy a nice dinner together on Monday night. Brandon is an amazing man and I feel blessed to have him in my life. We really have been together for 16 years including dating, engagement and marriage and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Sadness came at the end of the night. I got a phone call from my father-in-law that my horse was not doing well and in a lot of pain. We waited for the vet to come and they really could not do anything for her. She was colicking and suffering from some neurological damage that we don't understand. After several doses of pain medication, I couldn't watch her suffer. We made the difficult decision to put her to sleep. I think I am still in shock that everything happened so quickly. Gavin and I spent last night remembering the times when we would give her a bath or the day Gavin was riding her down the street and the man asked to buy her.... We may have not seen her as often as we would have liked lately, but she has left a lasting impression and wonderful memories. Today is a sad day....

Bad Blogger!

Okay, I use to get so frustrated with people who came home with children and then suddenly became to "busy" to post! I must apologize because I have turned into one of them!!:)

This is my new renewed commitment to keep things up to date and posted.

First, thank you for all of your prayers and help with my leg. I have a nasty scar, but things are healing very well.

Since I last blogged I had to go back to work for 7 days! It was difficult to leave Grayson with a day care provider, but overall was a great experience for all of us. By the end of the week Grayson was trying to go to Deanna and really enjoyed being with all the children. The best part was He was overjoyed to seem me at the end of the day!

We are now enjoying summer vacation with a lot of activity. Gavin is involved in junior golf and just finished T-ball. Grayson is learning how to relax and "go with the flow". Gavin has had three episodes of poison ivy and so we became eco-friendly poison ivy killers and bought two baby goats! Yep, I said it, we have Bella and Edward as a part of our family and they LOVE to eat poison ivy. Gavin has a great time giving them a bottle each night too.

My next post will include pictures too, I promise!

OUCH!

Well, I don't very often post about myself! Yesterday was a once in a lifetime event though (at least I am praying that it is). I was trimming our cherry tree standing on a ladder in the back yard yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful day and I love doing things outside so this was not an unusual event for me. The problem with yesterday is that I lost balance on the ladder, fell off and impaled my leg about 4 inches with a 1 inch diameter metal stake! I will spare you all of the gory details and the pictures, but needless to say I was taken in the ambulance to the hospital (first time in my life).
Today I am in a lot of pain and it is difficult for me to take it easy and relax especially with two very active little boys. My mom was at the house today and my mother-in-law is coming tomorrow. The doctors have put me on strong anitbiotics and pain meds and are concerned with infection sooooo walking to the bus stop is out of the question at this point.
Please pray that I have patience because I am already going stir crazy!:)

Happy Birthday Gavin!

I cannot believe it, but Gavin turned 6 yesterday! We had a very busy, but fun filled weekend.

Gavin has been doing a little testing of the boundaries lately, as if to say mom and dad do you still care? He lost a few privileges on Saturday when we were cleaning the house and all of a sudden I had my old Gavin back! It is amazing how much kids crave that structure and security. The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday he was happy, respectful and Brandon commented that it seemed that his "voice" was back.

Grayson is doing amazing. He did well at the party, but was definitely tired after all of the commotion of five boy cousins running around. He has slept in the past two mornings until 8:30 and goes to bed about ten. He has also found his voice in the past two days. He is doing much more cooing, along with the smiles. We had our second doctor appt. on Thursday and he has gained weight, he is now 14 lbs and in the 3rd percentile! The doctor commented on how happy and alert he is! We have started him on some solid foods too.

Enjoy the pictures of the weekend activities:

Gavin's new baseball gear

It was a Star Wars theme party and boy did he get a lot os Star Wars stuff!

Grayson just hanging out and enjoying all the people

First Outing

I need to post about our travels to Africa, but please understand that it is difficult to put into words. The trip had a lasting impact that I will not forget.

In the meantime, we had our first outing! My mom invited us to go to Fredrick Meyer Gardens to see the butterflies. The day was beautiful and both boys did wonderful. Grayson is so much like Gavin as a baby, he goes with the flow of the day, sleeps when he can and eats on schedule!

Grayson smiles all the time too! His eyes smile first and then his whole face lights up. Check out the picture...:)

Okay, sorry I don't know how to change the direction!

Doctor and Update

Grayson slept through the night the past two nights, YEAH!!!:)

We went to the doctor on Tuesday and he weighs 13.9 lbs and is 24.75 inches long! The doctor said that he is not the percentile scale yet, but at least he is gaining weight. We went on Wednesday for all of the bloodwork, stool check and urine sample (that was interesting). They are all standard procedure for international adoption and we will have the results next week at our next appt. Gavin had a really hard time when they drew blood because he doesn't like to see someone hurt his little brother. He actually started crying and had to step out of the room!

I will try to post pictures tomorrow, but for now I have to go and make a bottle!

Home!

We are home.
We are adjusting to our new time schedule, actually waking in the middle of the night!
We are loving this new life.
We haven't had time to post pictures.

My brother made a u-tube video you can check out on his blog: www.mattdewitt@blogspot.com

Please excuse the hair, dirty clothes, lack of make-up. The trip home was an experience to say the least!

I will post more later...

Thank you.
Brandon, Julie, Gavin and Grayson

Coming Home

We spoke to the kids this morning from Washington. Their flight from Ethiopia was 1 1/2 hours delayed and this made their wait at Washington shorter. That was great, however, they knew the process at Immigration could take 2 hours and they wanted the extra time at this stop. Grayson has been an angel. He is sitting in his Baby bijourne on the front of Julie. At one point they were literally running thru the airport to get to their flight for Detroit and he just giggled away. Oh to be a baby. Mommy and Daddy are frantic but life is a blast!!!! Julie says he is so much like Gavin. He never cries, loves everything, and sits so quietly and patiently.

They are anxious to get home now. Everything is on time at this point but it will be close at Detroit to get to the plane for GR Flight 1010 with Northwest. There is a flight later if they miss this one, but we are still planning on a 4:21 pm arrival in GR.

Gavin can't wait. For all of you coming, he has made a great big welcome poster for them and wants you all to sign his poster. You won't be able to miss him. The little guy with the shirt that says "I'm the Big Brother and a picture of him and Grayson on the front.

Only a couple of hours now. See you at the airport.

Sandy

He's here!!!!!

7:am EST time (Ethiopia 3:00 PM) Julie & Brandon went to the orphanage to meet their son. It is a very short process after 18 months of waiting. They changed him out of 3 layers of his orphanage clothes and redressed into his new clothes. Julie was very concerned about what size to bring. Fortunately he is just barely into 3-6 months sizes and that is what she guessed. He is very tiny. After a brief chance to meet, hold, & dress him, they got to ask the caregivers how to comfort him. Julie said "what do you do so I can make him the most comfortable?" They answered in broken English, "who, little Girum? He never cry, he good baby, always happy baby. Big smiles. "

That was as many notes as they got on him. Out the orphanage they went and back to the hotel to get acquainted with their new son. I called Julie at 9:30 am EST, they had him for about 90 minutes and if it is possible to feel a smile through the phone lines,I think I could feel it. She said " oh, Mom, he is just PERFECT. He smiles, and smiles, and smiles. He always wants to suck on something, his first 2 fingers, his toys, his blanket or anything he can get his little hands on. Brandon plays pee-a-boo with the blanket over his face and he acually giggles and coos. She was sooo happy she could hardly stand it.

At 7:00 pm tonight they called again. It was 2:00 am and guess who decided to be hungry. I am sure this is one of many nights that they will be getting up to feed him. They were very anxious to talk to Gavin. I am happy to report, although he didn't go to school today due to a diagosis of strep throat, he is on meds and is doing much better. She said,"we told Grayson Gavin had all kinds toys that he could suck on and his big brother would be glad to share." That got a shocked reaction from Gavin. He hadn't thought about a baby brother really wanting his toys. He quickly reacted " mom, I will share some of my old toys but not all of them." Gavin has always been good about sharing but being a big brother is going to be a whole new story. He faithfully prays for Grayson every nite and every meal, but there is no sense of reality. Three days to go for the arrival. We will hear from them again on Saturday morning when they get to Washington DC. I will update the blog to make sure anyone who wants to be at the airport for the arrival has the latest info.

Thanks for all of your support.

Calls from Africa

Julie & Brandon sent us a number today to call them. It was 11:30 at night Sunday night. So far, she says the country is so much more beautiful than she ever imagined. Everything is very green and the number of types of flowers and trees is amazing. Upon arrival they found themselves exhausted and it was hard to get used to the higher elevation. Julie says there are mountains all over. They went for pizza Saturday night with their group and believe it or not Brandon actually ate it. He has said all along he was going to live on protein bars. From the start of their trip, their host has picked Brandon to be a leader with the group. When he receives the calls from Alemu, he then updates all of the families and gets them organized for their outings. This has been a great distraction from the lack of amentities. Although they are in a "version of modern" hotel, there are certain things that are not quite the same. The bathroom in particular.

Today they were taken by a driver to a couple of museums that helped to explain the proud past of Ethiopia and it's people. Julie was amazed to see all of the Christian artifacts. Actually the whole city has crosses everywhere you look. They spent some time shopping and Brandon discovered he is a natural born shopping negotiator. He had others amazed at his talents and they were able to get some great things. They were treated to a traditional dinner and native dancers where they were offered either Ethiopian or International cuisine. Julie stuck with International "chicken kabobs" and they were good. Brandon bonded with a protein bar. They were asked to sample some kind of Honey wine, which was warm all the way down.

They are busy packing up to get ready for the journey to the Blue Nile. They were happy to find out that rather than stay in a village they have found the group a hotel. The Blue Nile area is pretty undeveloped and Brandon wasn't sure how much adventure he was up for. This would not be a typical camping trip. None the less a hotel was good news. Julie says the people are very friendly, but the sights of poverty are difficult to see. Even though the city is modern for its country, you don't get away from seeing poverty on just about any street.

The next time we can here from them will be on Tuesday evening when they return to the city. They were so glad to hear Gavin's voice. he asked them if they were in Africa yet and did they see the lions. They haven't seen lions, but at night the wild dogs from outside the city come in to hunt through garbage. She said you can hear them fight out side.

Unfortunately, Gavin has been sick all weekend and that made it hard for them to hear that news. We are laying low this weekend and praying he will feel better in the next 24 hours. He seems to be better today, so give it another 24 hours and he will be back to pestering his Grandpa again.

That's it for now,
Sandy

Update on Their Travels!

This is your new friendly reporter Sandy De Witt, Julie's mom. I have been given the task to post the details of their travels as they come in.

We received a call around 8:00 pm Thursday night. They had safely and uneventfully arrived in Washington DC. They will be meeting a few other couples that will be taking Ethiopian Air. The first thing Julie said was, Mom you have to tell the Physics students that all I could think of as we took off in the airplane was inertia and momentum. She told me you would understand because she is such a science geek. They spoke with Gavin for a few minutes. Frankly, Gavin is doing well and was not even all that interested in talking. My how quickly they forget. Brandon was unable to get any international phone service, but they are told a phone might be available through their host once they arrive.

Thanks for all of your prayers and interest.

Today is THE Day!!!

I am sitting at the computer knowing that we have 1 hour before we leave on this journey to our son. All I can say is "YEAH!!!"

Gavin did great this morning and is so excited to stay with my parents. He and Grandpa have a secret shopping trip planned for Friday and that is all her could talk about this morning. All I heard was something about peanuts and ice cream...:)

Several people have asked about our travel schedule and return flight plans, so here it is:
*Leave GR at 3:00, arrive in Washington and sleep overnight
*Leave for ET at 10:30 on Friday morning and arrive on Saturday morning.
*Saturday and Sunday we will be doing excursions around the city.
*Monday we leave to travel north of the city to Blue Nile Bridge and Gorge, as well as the Debre Libranos Monestary. We will stay over night in that area. (If you have time Google this, it is incredible)
* Wednesday is "gotcha day", we will pick-up Grayson
* Thursday is the Embassy appointment
* Friday we will pick-up Grayson's passport/visa and head home at 10:15 pm
* Saturday we will arrive in Washington at 7:55 am
*Saturday afternoon we will fly Northwest 2561 to Detroit and arrive 2:20 pm
* Leave Detroit at 3:28 on Northwest 1010 and arrive in GR at 4:19.

We welcome any friends and family that would like to welcome us home and meet Grayson. Please remember that it will be an emotional time for all of us and I apologize in advance if I don't talk with each person individually. Be sure to ask Gavin about his adventures with Grandpa too!

Thank you for continued prayers for safety.

Generosity

When we give a gift to someone we give freely and willing. We wish to bless the other person we are giving to. This week we have been on the receiving end of the gift giving.
I must admit sometimes it has been difficult because I feel like I want to give something back too.
God has opened my heart to accept the gifts as they are given, a way to bless our family in this time of need.
Generosity this week:
* Friends at school had a cake reception and gave gifts and donations to the orphanage.
* My Aunt and Uncle from Oklahoma sent gifts for Grayson, the orphanage and a sweet baseball mitt for Gavin (thanks guys he loves it).
* My brother met us to fit a new car seat in the car and payed for the new car seat too!
* My sister-in-law called to donate an outfit.
* My grandparents and parents donated 48 onsies to the orphanage.
* A lawyer donated his time to finish our trust this week.
* My Aunt pulled strings to complete our new life insurance policy on time.
* My students held a surprise shower for me on Tuesday, with a lot of help from the team teacher (thanks Krista)
* Cash donations from friends

Above all of this we have been blessed with prayer and words of encouragement.
Words cannot express how grateful we are.
I thank God for each and every one of you.

Plugging away!

I don't have much to post except that we are leaving in 10 days for Washington!!!! Grayson's room is full of luggage and clothes, although nothing is in the luggage yet.
I did want to mention a few things in this short post.
First, I wanted to thank Rob, my student, for making the pictures for Grayson's room and managed to make a full size R2D2 for Gavin too. I appreciate your artistic ability!
Second, we were blessed with an anonymous gift last week. It was given with a letter that simply asked for us to bring home treasures for our boys from Ethiopia. I don't know who you are, but thank you. You have blessed our family.
Well, until next time...

D-U-N done!

When Gavin is done doing something he will spell "D-U-N" and then say done! That is how I feel about the Grayson's bedroom. We are D-U-N! We added the final touch with a rug tonight and now that is one more thing that I can check off the list.

Gavin was such an incredible helper in the whole process.

Above is a picture of the new crib. Did I mention we were able to get that for free due to a manufacturer defect in Gavin's old crib? God blesses us even with the details!


This is a part of the bedroom. Thanks to one of my students for drawing the vehicle patterns for me and all I had to do was trace and paint!

This rug and lamp was the finishing touch that we added tonight. A few books on the shelf and it should be just right...

New picture!

We have a new picture of Grayson! The original picture I posted was our referral picture when he was 2 months old. This picture is at 5 months old. We don't have any new measurements, but last we were notified he is 9lb 9oz and 22 inches long.

Such a cute little peanut don't you think?

Okay, now I am distracted from my "to do" list that I posted earlier this week. I must get back into my clothes search in the attic! :)

Travel Date!

My friend just e-mailed me today and asked if I had a travel date yet. I did change my ticker on the top, but realized that I forgot to post our plans (sorry Tracy)!

We will be leaving for ET on March 26 and arrive back in GR on April 4.

Last weekend we spent finalizing travel plans and buying our gifts for travel. This weekend the goal is to unpack some of Gavin's baby clothes and see what we actually have in Grayson's size and season. We also have a goal to get all of our travel documents notarized. After this weekend, I will be working with a long term sub to set-up arrangements for my classroom. I know I have several things to do after that but I am not sure how it will all get done... Still praising God for the opportunity though! :)

Family of Four!

We are officially a family of four! God performed miracles this week and we passed court on our first time!

Welcome Grayson Girum Roby to the family.

God, Master of breakthroughs

We prayed as a congregation today. Favor in adoption. The devil is on attack. He wants to rob my family of our joy and keep us apart.
Pastor was speaking to our family today...
"Decide to stand against the devil and God will stand with you. God will bring victory."
"The devil/situation may be a giant to us, but not to God."
"God is the master of breakthroughs. When a situation seems impossible it is his speciality."

We will stand up and pray for a breakthrough!

Congratulations!

Great baby news in our family! Brandon's sister had a little baby boy on Tuesday night. We welcome Haiden Christian into the family. He was 7lb 7 oz and is 21 inches long. Cameron, older brother, is adjusting well. Gavin's comment, "I will be a better big brother than Cameron because I am older!" Wow, he is protecting his role already. :)

One step closer...

Brandon and I went for our shots on Monday! I must say that my arm still hurts from that Tetnus booster. It will all be well worth the pain when we bring our little guy home.
I am going to start calling him "G" on the blog until we announce his name, when we pass court.
We did get new pictures of G yesterday. He is definitely growing and still definitely very cute. We don't have any new measurements at this time, but at last report he was 10 lbs and 21 inches.
Keep praying for February 25!

Lack of Posts

I apologize for the lack of posts lately.
I am thankful that we are in the month of February, the month of our court date.
I am hopeful that we will get some new pictures of our little guy soon.
I am believing that God's timing is perfect and we will get to travel soon.
I am appreciative of the love and support you all offer are family.
Thanks for stopping by:)

Growing...Yeah!

We have an update on our little guy and it is good news!! He is now 12 weeks old and weighs 9 lbs 4 oz and is about 21 inches long! Although it is not the size of a typical American child, he is growing.
We were so happy to get this report because today is Christmas in Ethiopia. Merry Christmas little one, we hope to see you soon!

New Understanding

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Thank you God for a court date.

I have a new perspective! Isn't it great that God has patience to teach us lessons over and over and over again... We have moved a step closer to bringing our little guy home and if things all go well it looks like we may be traveling with a pretty large group of people who all live in the area. What a great opportunity:)

Please pray that we ALL pass court the first time.