Follow the Yellow Brick Road...

What a fantastic Halloweek night!



Aunt Tiel went all out...

Our usual pose in front of the tree



We're off to see the wizard!


This little man was not really keen on the picture taking or taking candy from random folk, but he sure looked adorable as the lion!





Skipping down Hickory Street. Too bad it wasn't paved in yellow bricks.


Ok so I know you're all wondering...I am suppose to be Glenda the Witch of the North, but I looked more like a cross between Courtney Love and the Tooth Fairy.

Quite Ellyquent, Part 16

Eden goes to school at 8:15am.

9:31am
Elly: I wish that we had Eden.

Ginny Owens - If You Want Me To

The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to You
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering that Your love put You through
And I walk through the darkness If You want me to

cause When I cross over Jordan, I'm gonna sing, gonna shout
Gonna look into your eyes and see you never let me down
So take me on the pathway that leads me home to You
And I will walk through the valley if You want me to

Yes, I will walk through the valley if You want me to

Natalie Grant - Held

Two months is too little.
They let him go.
They had no sudden healing.
To think that providence would
Take a child from his mother while she prays
Is appalling.

Who told us we’d be rescued?
What has changed and why should we be saved from nightmares?
We’re asking why this happens
To us who have died to live?
It’s unfair.

This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we’d be held.

This hand is bitterness.
We want to taste it, let the hatred numb our sorrow.
The wise hands opens slowly to lillies of the valley and tomorrow.

This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we’d be held.

If hope is born of suffering.
If this is only the beginning.
Can we not wait for one hour watching for our Savior?

This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we’d be held.

Something I Am Learning...

We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.

-Helen Keller

A few have asked what it means that the sidebar states that Esias will not be moved to the transition home. This is an answered prayer because the transition home (where kids with waiting parents are taken) is where the two boys (our son and another little boy) were when they died of the virus. I do not mean to imply that ANYONE at the T.H. did anything wrong- we know they treated our children with utmost care and we are CONFIDENT of this--we just didn't know exactly what the virus was or how it was spread. Our boys were relatively symptom-free when they died, making it difficult for the staff there to know of their dire situation. Jaren had just been to the doctor the day before he passed away. We just wanted to have all the information we could before we were comfortable moving Esias. We have since learned that the virus is also circulating the orphanage, but we see it as a good sign that Esias is in the orphanage but has not gotten ill. We are still very guarded on how we are thinking of things, we know from first hand experience that these "plans" can change at any moment. But we are hopeful that he will remain healthy and that we will be able to get him soon! Please pray for the babies in the orphanage and the T.H. that they would NOT become ill and that the ones who had been sick would stay healthy and grow stronger each day! The names of children that I know are Esias, Savannah, Garrett, and Micah. You can also pray for the O'Connor Family who lost their son two weeks after Jaren died.

SIDE NOTE- Sweet Esias turned 4 months yesterday!!! Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!

Where are we with the adoption process...

Many of you have asked, so here are the answers.

We are waiting for our court date. Our Adoption Specialist in Pella will call us when she has word of our court date (this is what we were waiting for when we heard the news about Jaren). We anticipate the date will be anytime between Nov 15th and December 15th. There is no way to know for sure, but that is my guess. After that, we have to wait and hear if we "pass" court. There are lots of reasons that people do not pass court the first time and the reasons almost never have anything to do with the prospective parents. Usually just weird stuff like people don't show up, the courts don't get to your case, or there is paperwork missing, etc. Sometimes it takes a couple of court dates, sometimes the first one works. After we pass, ESIAS will be offcially a GRIMES! He will legally be our son in Ethiopia. Then, the hardworking Bethany staff in Addis will work on getting an appointment for us to meet with the Embassy there to get his Visa so he can come to America! When we hear of that date, we will know our travel dates. Embassy appts. are on Tuesdays so we will most likely leave a couple of days in advance of that, and be there total about 7-10 days God willing. When we go, we will stay in a guest house, which is a bed-and-breakfast-ish thing run by a local family. We will visit Esias at the orphanage (or wherever he is at that point) each day until we have his Embassy appt. then we can take him with us to the house. We will not do a bunch of touristy things while there, just because we will want to spend as much time as possible with the kids in the orphanage and traveling around to see where Esias and Jaren lived, learning about them through the ladies who cared for them, and visiting Jaren's gravesite at the chapel. I would love to go to the market one day at least to get somethings for our home and for the kids. We might shop a little for the transition house if they need any supplies (if you are interested in donating to them, please let me know). We have a good idea of how things will go based on how things went with other Bethany families, but this process has been a bit of unchartered water for us, so we're not really counting on anything! God is in control, and He will reveal to us what needs to be known when it is time to know it!

More Cute Ellyness

(in this last one you can tell she is about to do something ornery)

Oh Elly. She is my little challenge of late. Though the end of the week this week showed LOTS of improvement. Either Elly is learning from her constant time-outs and other consequences or suddenly she just does not have the urge to be as naughty. Who knows. I will not have so much pride as to think I affected her behavior with my discipline methods! For several days in a row, she was in trouble more than she was out of trouble. I much prefer to have fun with her and not be the disciplinarian, but I am not one to shy away from the challenge, either. Consistency is the key, I realize, though as a flawed human being who can't possibly be perfect, being consistent is not possible! But I will do my best and we'll make it through :) She is super fun to be around and I enjoy her so much. Sometimes all that energy just bubbles over into orneriness!

Eden's Special Day!

Aunt Brynnie treated Eden to a day at the nail salon...she got a professional polish and decorations on her toes and nails. It is really cute on her. She also got a new Build-a-Bear (despite me always telling her no!) because that's just what aunts do :) You can see, she had a great birthday.

Reunited and it feels so good...

Snuggle time...

Tickle time...



Playing in the baby's room, the new favorite play spot.



More snugglin'.

Dress up...

Work it, Ells.

We had a fun time being back together as a fam of four. Daddy didn't make it many pics because he was behind the camera, but you get the idea :) Does anyone else wonder if Elly ever takes a bad picture? She is always ready with the "camera smile" no matter how we try to catch her off guard! I call her Little Kelly Ripa.

Elly, singing: If I see a caaa-noooon, I don't touch iiiiit!

(translation: canon=gun, she's been talking about this since Disney on Ice)

Flashback Friday...six years ago this weekend!

I remember seeing her for the first time, we didn't find out her gender. I was so excited!


This is for any of you pregnant people (Kelly!)...you wanna see how enormous a nine-month preggo belly can be? Here you go!! This was me, six years ago almost to the day, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the precious bundle I had named "Elijah" who then turned out to be "Eden Lily"!! Pay no attention to the stack of dirty dishes in the background! I couldn't get close enough to the sink to wash them! Thank goodness I had a dishwasher during my second pregnancy :)


Oh how precious you were and are, my love, my Eden Lily!


Since October 26, 2002 you have made me smile each and every day! I love you sweetheart! You are beautiful inside and out.

My Big Girl

Eden's birthday party at school was today! She was so excited to wake up for her special day at school! We took chocolate mini cupcakes for her classmates. I can't believe she'll be SIX on Sunday! What a big girl she is.

Begrüßen Sie Hausvati!

Weird German toy...2 Euros

Chocolate Liquor Candy for wife...4 Euros

Falling asleep with your kids in the bottom bunk after being awake for 24 straight hours...Priceless.

Dorothy and Lloyd...

Have you ever seen a cuter couple? I can honestly say I have not. Look at these two kids. They are so adorable. I must say I think I have some good genes :)

Thanks for everything, Grandma and Grandpa! We love you!!!

"God, thank you for Alan and Sunny and their dog. Do they have a dog?" --Elly during bedtime prayers

"Mom, can you wub my ducky's haiw?" --Elly at bedtime

The following conversation happened today between Eden and me, when we got home to find a defrosted freezer and water all over the floor:
"MOM! I thought you said we could open the birthday cards when we got home!"

"Well we were going to, but someone messed with the buttons and turned the freezer off so now I am cleaning up the wet mess all over the floor instead."

"Oh...good point."

Edenisms Part 25

One of my favorite things about Halloween time is not the pumpkins, the fall weather, or any of that. It is the fact that my eldest cannot for the life of her remember Frankenstein's name. She says Lincoln-stein, Blinkinstein, and my personal fave--Lichtenstein.

Antsy.

Today I am so antsy! Antsy for my schedule to get back to normal (Dan's been gone and today I am watching two boys aged 1 & 2) and antsy for Esias and the other babies to be out of harm's way. Isn't it funny how I desires change as situations change? Before we knew about Jaren, I just wanted him home with me. Then we heard about Esias and I wanted him with me. Now that I am so scared of him getting sick, I don't really care where he is I just want him safe.

For You, Rachel.

Rachel over at Bardwell Central is chiding me for more descriptions of Esias. So here you go:

We only got one measly picture of Esias. With Jaren we got two, so I was bummed that only one not-that-great face shot showed up in our inbox on Referral Day. He has his hands in front of his mouth partially blocking a view of his mouth.

He has dark, mocha skin that looks shiny and I am told he will need a good moisturizer! His eyes are dark black-brown and they are that really beautiful almond shape and HUGE. He is not looking at the camera so I can't tell for sure but I know they are gorgeous. He has a sweet medium sized nose, right in the middle of his face of all places!

His has is still baby hair, so it is fuzzy and goofy, like old man hair. He does not have much hair, just some on top. It's sort of in a mohawk thing. Brynn recommends a good fade once the hair grows in :) She's my haircare guru.

His ears are just peeking out from the side of his face, and they have the slightest little curl at the top- like I see some of the babies from Ethiopia have. Super sweet.

Does that help, Rach?

More Elly Antics...

She is singing "Double Me, Double You"

as she makes a "W" with tinkertoys.

Entertainment abounds in the Grimes Household.

Now she is singing "Majesty," a worship song from the radio...

Elly's Song from the Potty

I'm so glad my dad is my dad!

All the letters are strange to me! Strange to me, me, me!

Prayers

We heard today that another boy who was with Jaren in the orphanage and transition home is now with him in Heaven. I don't even have words to say, my heart aches for baby Quinn's family. Please pray for them.

Pumpkin Patch!

We went to the pumpkin patch with Brynn and Marcus today. Dan had the camera, so I didn't get any pics, but B did so I will have to upload them later.

We had a fun time- the farm was buzzing with people so it was a little hectic but it was nice and sunny and the kids had fun running around. I love the fall weather! We started the corn maze, but some "close followers" sort of ruined our experience, so we just walked around a little and then went to Casey's like good small town Iowans :)

Elly/Nia/Edenisms

I was sorting some papers today and found a piece of paper where we had written down what the girls thought of Grammy's hospital visit:

Tiel:
Why is Mimi in the hospital?

Elly, age 3 yrs. 1 month
Because she feels not very good and they will make her feel better with a band-aid.

Nia, age 3 yrs. 9 months
She has a little rock in her body. She's gonna get the rock out to feel better.

Eden, age 5 yrs. 11.5 months
Because she has a kidney stone in her body and it's causing an infection.

(We thought it was funny to see the level of understanding at their various ages)

My Boys.

Two things struck me today.

1. I love Esias more and more each day.

2. I will never kiss Jaren's sweet little lips.

It is odd how you can simultaneously feel joy and sadness, sorrow and hope. I love both my boys.

Miracle on Hickory Street.

Ok, have you ever had one of those moments where the love of God was so tangible? Obviously through the last few weeks He's been hard at work in our hearts, comforting, giving us peace. But today something amazing happened. It makes me wonder how anyone can deny God.

I woke up late (oops) and stumbled out of the bedroom- actually out of Elly's bed because of nightmares and such and was sort of in a daze. I saw a pile of mail on the counter- Dan must have brought in yesterday's mail when he started the car this morning. I sift through it-- nothing that special EXCEPT the package from a friend from the boards (yippee) and if it wasn't taped up to high heaven I would've opened it first... thanks Jill....

...Then I saw a weird white envelope...with only the words "Dan and Shadley" typed on it and it was taped up pretty good too. I opened it up, and saw a piece of paper with Isaiah 58 on it...cool, very cool, since we have read that verse over and over and think of it as our adoption verse. Then as I opened it further, a stack of money fell out. MONEY. SERIOUSLY. one thousand dollars. Who does this??????? Does God have a type writer??? It was amazing!! It was a miracle. God has provided for us in so many emotional ways lately and that is SO enough for us, and then HE provides (Jehovah Jireh)-- for our materials needs too!!!! He is AMAZING. and REAL. Wow. I am in shock.

The first thing I said was, "God, what are you doing??" And then I laughed! Then I called Dan!

I do not want to know who did this. But whoever it is, you are a saint and you will be rewarded in Heaven. God bless you.

Dan was already at work so the girls and I talked about it. Eden said, "Well, that's how you get the proof!" Sometimes, the words that come out of that girl's mouth are little miracles in themselves!

And this is so ridiculous that I haven't thought of this, but Esias is the Greek word for Isaiah...miracles. Miracles, I tell you. Thank you Jesus.

Tag!

I've been tagged by Lori & Tara. Thanks guys for making me feel like a cool kid :)

Here are seven weird facts about me. It's so hard to choose, since most facts about me could considered weird :)

1. I am a baby names obsessed freakazoid. I need to find a new hobby since our quiver is probably full or almost full :) I get really nosy and bother pregnant/adoptive moms about whether or not they have a name picked out and if they have considered using Nymbler.com.

2. I fell down the stairs so much as a child my parents quit running to the scene to check on me. They would just wait to hear the sounds of me getting up.

3. Apparently I say "didn't" and "couldn't" and "shouldn't" weirdly...and I make no distinction between the words "bull" and "bowl." Of course, I think I say it correctly.

4. I. LOVE. BABIES. It's going to be a problem. They are fantastic.

5. When we're all together, my sisters and I will always end up together in a room with a full length mirror poking and prodding each other and comparing each other's bodies and saying, "No! Mine is so much worse than yours!" It drives my mom nuts. No part is left out.

6. I'm totally nonathletic but extremely competitive.

7. My sister named me when she was 3 years old, she called me Shadley and my parents thought it was cute, and it stuck. I have read of one Shadley who was a boy (he was in the newspaper) and I have seen it as a last name, but I have never personally met another one. Though I know they exist, because my friend Holly had one in her class!

I tag:
1. Melissa D.
2. Andrea G.
3. Emily W.
4. Laura McC.
5. Rachel B. (she's preggers! congrats Rach!)
6. Margaret W.
7. Kim N.
8. Jill B.

You're it!

I wanted to add that Elly's name pick did not make the cut, she wanted to name him Broccoli. And we all have been calling him "Ya Betcha" because his Ethiopian name sounds a little like that :)

We have a NAME!

We finally figured out a name for our little bunkin, who I am referring to as Little Biscuit.

His name is.......


ESIAS! (eh-ZIE-us)
God is my salvation...

We will keep his Ethiopian names as well and use them as his middle names. We found out today that his name means "Sorrow and Hope." How sweet is that. There is so much significance to it.

Baby Boy

Here is the sweet little ear of the yet-to-be-named Baby Boy Grimes! He is presh!!! Seriously.