Melkam Gena! Merry Christmas!

Today is Ethiopia's Christmas Day and is also Dan's birthday! So, Happy Birthday Dan and Melkam Gena to all our Ethiopian friends!

Yesterday, January 6, 2011, we finally re-adopted Esias in the State of Iowa and his name went from Yabetse Daniel Grimes (the name given to him by the Ethiopian courts) to Esias Tesfaye Grimes! You might remember, Tesfaye was his given middle name in Ethiopia, but after our court date (finally) passed over there, they name the child like this: First Name, Father's First Name, Father's Last Name. So now, and forever, he is ESIAS TESFAYE GRIMES! Esias=God is Salvation, Tesfaye=My Hope. Perfect.

The court proceedings were quick and painless. The judge was friendly and warm to us and eased any of my fears (I was nervous). The girls sat in with us and did great. Our friend Craig Nierman represented us and was excellent to work with. We celebrated by going to Village Inn for breakfast and then the Science Station afterwards (because Eden was missing school we thought we should do something halfway educational!).

Apparently my Christmas post disappeared into the Blogger Abyss. I posted it the day after Christmas and it has yet to appear. Not sure what happened but I will repost as soon as I can.

Somehow I missed it!

Somehow amidst all the craziness around here, I forgot to mention a very important anniversary- the day Yabetse Tesfaye became Yabetse Daniel Grimes, our boy! Confusing, I know, since we call him Esias Tesfaye, but that is his legal Ethiopian name until further notice.

Happy Court Passing on May 4th! After 6 tries, you became our son! And not a moment too soon!

Ok, Shadley is done with her little tantrum.

Sorry people. I have had a bad attitude. I am better now.

Romans 5:1-4

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. "

Here are the lemons:
1. Some of the clothes we bought for Jaren were going to work for Esias, but probably won't now. Dangit.

2. Esias will be 8 months old when we get him (though this is still young for international adoptions, we heard about him when he was 3.5 months old).

3. We have two more months without a son and he has two more months without parents.

Here are the ways I am turning them into lemonade:
1. Now I have more time to eat better, get some more sleep, and keep up my exercising.

2. I have two more months to spend focused on Eden and Elly.

3. Dan and I have more time to pray for Esias (which I confess, I have not been doing as I should be).

4. We won't be traveling through DC during the inauguration, which would have been CRAY-ZAY though cool.

5. We won't be in Ethiopia over their holiday (Christmas is January 7th there) and more tickets should be available.

6. Esias won't come home in full-fledged cold and flu season...and it might be a little warmer. The poor guy lives near the equator now, it would be a huge slap in the face on the way from the airport to the car! This will give him some time to work up to the -20 degree Iowa winters.

7. We have some time to save some more money and apply for more grants.

8. When we finally get him, he will be ours forever, and no one will make us wait ever again!!

This sucks the biggest suck it can suck.

Maybe Monday**updated with pics

We are back from the farm and there was no news waiting for us in the old inbox. This is not a huge surprise, we assumed that the BCS offices would be closed for the holiday. Dan said to me on the drive home, "I'm not prepared for bad news, I am only prepared for good news." In other words, he really doesn't think we didn't pass. It's a weird spot to be in, because I don't even feel like we can pray for it, since it's already happened! I hope we hear on Monday and that it's good news--that Esias is now a Grimes and we can expect a travel call in a few weeks. Yippee!!!

While in Clarinda, we visited my grandparents on Christmas Eve, my parents Christmas morning (we stayed with them), my Stanton side on Christmas afternoon...we celebrated Marcus' 2nd birthday on Friday and then the Grimes-Hughes side on Saturday! Wow, am I exhausted and so full I don't want to touch food again for a month. Dude.
Christmas Day at my mom and dad's...


The kids had to wait until the parents were ready...much like the torture I endured as a child :) We had to line up by age and come down the stairs together, wait til dad got a picture of our faces, and then we could go open presents!

Eden's a big girl now, she got Love's Baby Soft perfume in her stocking!

Nia asked for two things this year, a mermaid tail and a gerbil. Check out her fancy homemade tail!

Littlest Pet Shop Game was a crowd pleaser.

Elly got the not-so-scary version of Baby Alive. Much cuter than the one Eden requested in '06.

"Tonettes" as my dad calls them are always in abundance...

Marcus' Second Birthday Party!

Since when did she get so grown up????

Since when did she become so ornery??? Just kidding :) No I'm not. Yes I am. Just kidding, just kidding, just kidding.







Happy Number Two, Buddy!!! We love you!

Court Date Explained

There seems to be a bit of confusion about what the court date actually does...we will not be traveling over Christmas. The court date is done in Ethiopia and a Bethany representative (an Ethiopian man named Milkiyas) goes to court on our behalf and accepts the parental custody of the child for us. That is, if everyone shows up and the court runs as it should. Just like in the States, sometimes government appointments don't always happen as scheduled for various reasons. So, December 24th Milkiyas will go to the court appointment for us and hopefully that day Esias will become Esias Grimes! After that, we wait again (I know, more waiting) for our appointment at the Embassy. Once we hear about that date, we can book our tickets and get ready to go. There is typically about a month or so between court date and Embassy date, though that is a rough estimate. Embassy appointments are always on a Tuesday. We will have a one or two week notice to travel. Clear as mud?

Milestone

Today he would have been ours. But instead, God made him His. Love you still, baby boy, my Jaren Mikiyas!


We have not heard of a court date for Esias as of yet. I am hopeful it will come soon, but I am not driving myself crazy. I have learned the hard way that God's timing is not always (or very rarely) my timing. I trust His timing!