Got Injera?

The latest

2010-04-13T20:22:00.000-07:00

Mom and Anna dressed up for a girls' day out together.

This girl LOVES her own reflection. Her hair twists lasted about five days, with daily changes of the snap beads on the ends.

Ernie and Anna love posing for the new camera. It takes fabulous action photos.

We play lots of "baby doll" in our house. Here the kids are modeling their baby slings, made out of scarves from Ethiopia.

The kids decided to join Dad in his post-run stretching. Anna considers the tutu appropriate for any occasion.

Here we are sharing a homemade Ethiopian meal. We purchased the injera from a restaurant in Seattle.

25 weeks along. Can't wait for July!

Is it wrong to laugh when your kid falls down in the ocean? Is it wrong to make her walk out on her own so you don't get all wet? It is wrong to take dozens of pictures chronicling her misadventure?

I love this picture of Ernie. It captures his beautiful spirit so perfectly!

After a long day at the ocean, the kids fall asleep pretty fast.

Ernie's first short story

2010-04-10T09:06:00.001-07:00

Other news I forgot in the last 2 posts

2010-01-31T09:08:00.000-08:00

The binky is gone. Cold turkey was the only way. We tried cutting off the tip little by little, but she hated that even more than it being gone. As a consequence of taking away the binky, Anna decided to climb out of her crib. The bunk beds are up and Ernie and Anna are now sharing sleeping quarters while the other bedroom transformed into a playroom.

Ernie is doing great in kindergarten. His reading skills are just blossoming! It is such a wonder to see him put together words and actually understand what he is reading. It makes me much more determined to get Anna learning her letters (she knows "A" and points it out whereever we go) so we can move down that path towards reading with her too.

More news to come in a few weeks!

December and lots of pictures!

2010-01-31T08:48:00.000-08:00

*Cooking dinner. Pants are optional. Anna is now potty trained. WOO HOO!

*Mom trying to get a nice picture of the kids together. Ha ha.

*Just goofing around with the new camera.

*Ernie is loving the legos Grandma and Grandpa got him for Christmas.

*The highlight of our Christmas was a visit from Aunt Jen, Uncle Mike and cousins Chris and Emily.

October and November

2010-01-31T08:20:00.001-08:00

*Anna is loving Little Gym. Even better is that she gets to wear a leotard with Tinkerbell on it.

*We visited the train yard at Snoqualmie for the afternoon. Brian doesn't mind going there in the least, since we get to stop at the Snoqualmie Taproom for lunch.

*One set of Halloween costumes from the depths of the dress-up box. Ernie has worn this frog costume at least 3 years. This is the second year Anna has worn the flower costure.

*Pirate Ernie and Knight Samuel enjoying hot cocoa on the hay ride.

*Anna as Tinkerbell. Ernie as a pirate. We also did Pirate Tigger one day.

*Carving pumpkins this year was a blast!

*Enjoying the "corn box" at our new favorite pumpkin patch.

*The kids could not wait to decorate the Christmas tree. It went up the day after Thanksgiving. Ernie was enthralled with the Polar Express train around the tree and spent hours playing with it.

*Finishing touches on the Christmas tree.

* I love so many things about having a little girl. I actually teared up the first time we painted our fingernails together.

Recipe Request #2

2009-12-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

Easy home-made macaroni and cheese ( I double this recipe)
2 cups uncooked macaroni
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp butter

1. Cook macaroni as directed on package. Drain and return to pot on stove on low heat. Stir in remaining ingredients.
2. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is desired consistency.

Recipe Requests

2009-12-21T08:01:00.001-08:00

Guiness Chocolate Cake (thanks Erica!)
cake:
2 cups Guiness
2 cups unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (dutch process preferred)
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream

icing:
2 cups whipping cream
1 pound bittersweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips

preparation:
for cake: preheat oven to 350 degrees
butter three 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch high sides. line with parchment paper. butter paper.
bring Guiness and butter to simmer in heavy large sauce pan over medium heat.
add cocoa ppowder and whisk until mixture is smooth. cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in large bowl to blend.
Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.
Add Guiness-chocolate mix to egg mixture and beat just to combine.
Add flour mixture and beat briefly on low speed.
Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.
Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack, cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.

For icing:
Bring cream to simmer in heavy saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Refrigerate until icing is spreadable, stirring frequently, about 2 hours.

Place 1 cake layer on plate. Spread 2/3 cup icing on top. Top with second layer. Spread 2/3 cup icing on top. Top with third layer. Spread remaining icing over top and sided of cake.

YUM!

Conversations with Anna: (Repayment for having to wake up 3 times last night to soothe her)

2009-12-02T09:48:00.000-08:00

Anna: I think you're wonderful.
Mom: What?
Anna: You're WUUUNDERFUL.
Mom: Thanks, sweetheart.
Anna: You're welcome, sweetheart.

A beautiful Fall day

2009-10-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

Daddy is getting some serious yard work done. Anna is napping. Ernie helped collect leaves and now is creating a waterfall* in the back yard. I just finished dipping said leaves in wax. I am hoping to use them for craft projects with Ernie and if they last, as decorations for the Thanksgiving table.

*waterfall= the hose + the newly exposed rockery uncovered when Dad cut back the foliage in the back yard

We love Fall because . . .

2009-10-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

We spend lots of time doing pumpkin art projects.

We visit the Pacific Science Center when the weather turns cold.

We head to warmer climates to visit with special friends!

We get to wear our fuzzy warm footie pjs.

We jump fully clothed into the sudsy pool we've been using to clean up our summer toys.

Anna's Anatomy Lesson

2009-10-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

Starting to fugure out the differences between boys and girls...

According to Anna:
Daddy have a peanut
Ernie have a peanut
Anna have a bubeyena
Mommy have...a privacy

Kids are hilarious.

Conversations with Anna: Identity Clarification

2009-09-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were wondering who's who in the Frick family . . . this brief exchange occurred at the dinner table one night.

Ernie: I'm me.

Anna: No, I'M me. You're you, you're you, you're you and I'm me.

Ethiopian new year and more hair pics

2009-09-14T11:06:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we celebrated Ethiopian New Year with the local Ethiopian community. For the first time, Anna really loved the Ethiopian food dishes. Both kids love injera.

I think Anna is smiling in this picture, but it's hard to tell.

Anna's first cornrows braided by Mom. You can't beat YouTube for how-to videos!

I am pretty happy with my first try at cornrows. Nine braids took about 45 minutes, 1 dvd, 2 television shows, a lollipop and one binky.

Most of July, August and a little September

2009-09-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

Mama loves summertime! It makes me wish we lived somewhere the sun shines all year long. I love the extra space of the backyard and the kids are so happy playing in the dirt and sandbox.

A new obsession for the five year old (and Dad). Pirate legos!

* I just had to take a break from writing this post to emergency clean Anna's room. This is the second time she has taken off her diaper after pooping and trying to put it in the diaper genie. The first time she did it right before we were leaving to take the kids to Grandma's so we could fly to Vegas. Yes, Vegas was awesome.

Yep. My kids are brilliant. That's them sitting in the wagon next to the sprinkler.

Blowing out candles at their shared birthday party

A new hairstyle

We vacationed at Sunriver and loved every minute of it! This pic is at the entrance to the lava cave. Anna's assesment of the "laba cabe": "It's dark in here. I don't wanna go down there. Look, Mommy, a big rock!"

Three precious boys enjoying the spoils of the vegetable garden

Grandpa is a favorite around here. He is nice and calm and Anna always enjoys a quiet minute with him. Of course I think she has conned him into singing to her. Not really something to remark upon, except that she had him going for about 15 minutes straight.

A visit to Kokeb restaurant with other families with Ethiopian kiddos

Ernie's first day of kindergarten was Wednesday.

This picture does not do justice to how unbelievable LOUD it was in our house at this moment. Brian is playing guitar, Ernie is wailing on the saxophone, but Anna has not quite figured out the flute.

Early July

2009-07-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

We had friends over to play in the water one hot afternoon.

Haeli and Ernie had a blast on the water slide.

Early on the morning of the 4th, we hiked up to Denny Creek Slippery Slabs. http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/denny-creek Check it out. It is the perfect hike and picnic/playspot if you've got little ones. We had so much fun!

Ernie braves the chilly, chilly water. It was so cold it hurt!

It is almost impossible to get a pic of these two where they are both smiling!

Ernie loves to climb. He was so excited on our trip up to the slabs. He kept telling us how much fun he was having.

I got them both to smile in this picture. Dessert helps.

We had a great time decorating Ernie's birthday cupcakes together. Dinosaurs . . . surprise, surprise.

Ernie turns five. Oh my goodness! I love five. He is so self sufficient. He's fun to talk to. We have a great time together.

Ernie is getting more creative playing with his sister. She's becoming useful. I had to snap this picture when I saw that Anna was actually pushing him around the yard.

May/June update

2009-06-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

Anna:
*Is talking like crazy. She sounds so funny repeating phrases that Ernie has said. "My tummy hurts really bad." "No thank you." "Oh please. Oh please. Oh please." "I don't like this part." "I don't like it anymore."
* Knows all the words to and will sing over and over "Bingle Fells"
* Knows all the words to various dinosaur songs
* Is starting to propel herself around in the pool while wearing her floaty swimsuit
* Sang the words "green anaconda" over and over again in the locker room at the pool today, to the great amusement of everyone present
* We've tried a few new hair styles. I like the one that pulls her hair back from her face in braids.

* Likes smores almost as much as her brother

Ernie:

* Finished pre-school last week. Sigh.

* Is reading more than ever. He is not enthusiastic about sitting down to read a book, but likes to read signs etc. He did sit down and read "Hop on Pop" to Anna, who listened very patiently.

* Is swimming on his own without a life jacket this summer.

* Displays a smore-induced stupor

* Is not giving up dinosaurs anytime soon. This is him "acting out dinosaurs."

*Is participating in his first organized sports team. He has joined the swim team and here is a pic of his climb up the blocks for his first race ever. There is nothing cuter than this little boy in his team jammers.

Brian:

* Made a beautiful cedar potting bench for the back patio.

* Constructed his own kegerator to cool and dispense his home brew. Yes, you can now have hand-crafted beer on tap at the Frick household. This month's choices: Red Hook ESB clone from the Frickin' Brewery or Wild Cat IPA from Snoqualmie Taproom and Brewery.

* Plays co-ed softball Friday nights. He really enjoyed the kids' cheering at the last game. Anna: "Hi Dada. Hi Dada. Hi Dada. Hi Dada." Ernie: "Go Daddy go!"

* Is very excited that fishing season has started.

Noelle:

* Has started the season selling pottery at the farmer's market. I have 5 Saturdays left this summer.

* Is counting the days until the Rock 'n Roll half marathon. I'm ready. I ran 12 miles yesterday.

* Talked Brian into watching "Twilight" with her last night. Loved it! I've read the first two books, and am planning on saving the next one for our trip to Las Vegas.

* Is thinking "This was a really long update. How long until I write the next one?"

Sweet Clara

2009-05-19T20:36:00.000-07:00

Ernie and Clara enjoying the festivities at the Spring Performance

Running off into the sunset together

Preface to Ernie's converation with Dad tonight: Ernie has a baby doll that sleeps with him everynight. He named her Baby Karen years ago.

Ernie: Dad, I gave Baby Karen a new name.

Dad: What's that?

Ernie: Baby Clara.

Dad: When did you re-name her Baby Clara?

Ernie: Well, when that beautiful girl walked into my class.

Sweet Ernie.

Unsolicited Parenting Tip

2009-05-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

Got monsters? Got Febreeze? Or should I say "monster spray"? Many a night has found me frantically drenching Ernie's bed, closet, underneath the furniture, in the hallway and in the dresser drawers with Febreeze, all in the name of warding off monsters at bedtime. The biggest benefit? Ernie's room no longer smells like Little Boy. Wait, I mean, the biggest benefit is that Ernie is no longer whining about going to sleep. Wait. Let me try this again. The biggest benefit is that Ernie is no longer scared of monsters. Right?
Disclaimer: I did not come up with this idea myself. I blame it on my sister-in-law, Jen, from whom I am reasonably uncertain I got this tip.
One of these days (months) I will write a real update on the Frick family.

Another brilliant hiding spot

2009-04-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are a little hide-and-seek obsessed. Can you spot both kids hiding in this picture?

Another use for that old mattress

2009-04-15T15:04:00.001-07:00

Prop it up against the couch. Play hide and seek. If I can't see you, you can't see me.

And you thought YOU were having a bad hair day

2009-04-04T21:09:00.001-07:00

What's Happening

2009-03-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

Here's the update for you fans of the Frick clan.

* Anna is really talking these days. She has several phrases she repeats throughout the day. Sometimes even at appropriate times. Today the litany went something like this:

"let's see, let's see,

excuse me, excuse me, excuse me,

singing, singing, singing (said anytime there is NOT music playing, aka a gentle request to Turn On The Music),

oh man, oh man, oh man (new today),

I did it!

walk around, walk around, walk around"

* Brian went to Ernie's preschool parent/teacher conference. The teachers just love Ernie and had only great things to say about him. We've decided to send Ernie to a private, half day kindergarten. We just loved the classroom, teacher, and the fact that he'll be attending with his good friend Patrick, with whom he's been friends since they were babies.

* Every night at dinner everyone answers the questions: What was the best part of your day? What was the worst part? Anna said her favorite part was "hie an see, papa," which translates, "playing hide and seek with Grandpa."

*Ernie has a crush on his friend Clara at school. According to his teachers, the feeling is mutual. One day I asked Ernie what he did in the gym at school. He said he ran around. I asked who he was running with. He sheepishly relied that he was running around AFTER Clara. I asked him if she knew he was following her. As an answer I didn't get any words, but I did get eye-rolling and a devilish little grin.

* Anna is starting to ask "why?" What I want to know is: Why is this happening already?!?

* Dinosaurs are quickly eclipsing trains in our house.

* Anna is starting to sing her ABCs. She actually is pronouncing some of the letters and it's very clear what she is singing.

* Here are the latest pictures:

What to do with an old mattress

2009-03-04T08:21:00.000-08:00

Put it on the floor for jumping practice. Don't forget to put the keyboard's demo music on full blast for maximum jumping enhancement.

Of course we don't need any fancy music making machines. We can make noise just with our hands!

And totally unrelated to mattresses or noise . . . Ernie is practicing his picture taking prowess. He's just old enough not to completely break the camera when he touches it.

Just pictures

2009-02-25T08:30:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how big she is getting.

Anna fell asleep like this the other night. Her legs are crossed and going up the side of the crib. We have a whole mess of funny Ernie sleeping poses, but we're saving them for a slideshow at his wedding or highschool graduation party.

Digging will never go out of style at our house.

The kids are sporting their Valentine's outfits

Yes, we're still here

2009-02-12T15:36:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, but we're still here. The past month I haven't taken many pictures, but we've enjoyed lots of family time. Yep, I missed posting on the big day that was Anna's anniversary of coming home. I guess that has been my biggest hurdle in getting back to the blog. I know I was supposed to post lots of cute photographs of our first day back and then some from a year later, but really, the time just got away from me. Since my last post, we've enjoyed Christmas and New Year's festivities, birthday parties, a trip to Leavenworth for skiing, Quest, the Big Show, visits from out of town family, the Festival of Lights and both Brian and I have been carving out some time for a little extra exercise.

Ernie is really starting to read. He's been reluctant to spend any time actually reading himself, so I took a cue from the potty training handbook, and motivated him with a few m n m's each time he read a book. Nothing like a little bribery to get your kid reading. I wonder how long I'm going to get use such a small reward for such a huge accomplishment!

Anna is talking like crazy. Some days, she'll walk up to me a spout off entire sentences in baby babble, then look at me expectantly or waggle her eyebrows at me. She is using too many words to count. And she has just refined the word milk from "mup" to "milt." Its hard for me to believe she is speaking better than some kids her own age when she had a 4 month deficit of English to begin with. It makes me think they must have really been talking with her when she lived at House of Hope, even if it was Amharic.

The festival of Lights, Ernie's preschool winter performance, is definitely deserving of its own post, so I'm going to delay a little until I can get Brian to create a video for me. There's just no way of describing it that comes close to seeing actual footage from that night. Here's a teaser: Brian was laughing so hard that the camera was shaking as he tried to capture Ernie singing.

Here are some pics to enjoy:

Ernie on the podium at the Big Show

Brian, Anna and Ernie goofing around as usual

Anna enjoying the view in Leavenworth

Hair Update/ Blackmail for later in life

2008-12-24T06:59:00.000-08:00

The frohawk. Mr. T originated it . . .

. . . and Anna rocks it!

The Nativity Story at OUR House

2008-12-16T15:00:00.001-08:00

Oh, no! There's been an accident at the stable! Baby Jesus is missing! The livestock have been overturned! The Holy Family and friends are nowhere to been found!

Never fear! Baby Jesus has been reunited with his loved ones at his new, improved lodgings. There's nothing like a miniature Fisher Price barn to shelter the beloved Christ Child.

Update

2008-12-15T06:48:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed Thanksgiving in Leavenworth with family. It felt so great to get away and relax with our loved ones.

The whole family after decorating the Christmas tree. We were clever this year and didn't put up any breakable ornaments. Anna has no interest in the tree whatsoever.

Ernie loves decorating!

Anna loves carrying around ornament boxes!

Yesterday was a day we won't soon forget. Even before we got out to the snow, Anna managed to get herself in trouble. Brian and I realized at one point that it was very, very quiet in our house. That's always a bad sign. B and I quickly checked around, but didn't see Anna. I then checked behind closed doors, and found Anna in the downstairs bathroom, having a grand time splashing in the toilet. I won't tell you the details, I'm sure you can imagine the lovely scene. Anna got a bath before heading outside with us.

Ernie really loved the snow. We went to the park to sled and now that he is such a big boy, he got to ride down the hill by himself. One time he almost ran into the metal post for the basketball hoop, but was blissfully oblivious (that's our boy!). Brian instructed him that next time if we was close to running into the pole, to just roll off the side of the sled. On his next run, he got to the bottom of the hill, slowly continued across the basketball court on the sled (it seemed like in slow motion, but was probably about a walking pace) when suddenly I hear a high pitched shriek and see Ernie slowly rolling off the side of his sled. I love the drama that unfolds in his imagination. His sled didn't even make it to the pole, probably because it was about 20 feet away when he rolled off, and it wasn't pointing at the pole anyway. If you ever need a laugh, just have children. Our house certainly has more than our share of cereal bars ground into the carpet, but we also have more laughter than we could ever hope for.

Anna didn't like the snow any more than she liked sitting in the wet sand at the beach. In fact, she refused to move or take any steps in the snow. She looked like this the whole time we were outside.

Art time!

2008-11-22T15:52:00.001-08:00

Glitter glue is 3 dimensional in our house- how about yours?

Christmas Cards that make a difference!

2008-11-20T07:32:00.001-08:00

Here's a great idea! You are going to buy Christmas cards anyways, so why not support Ethiopian women that would otherwise have a difficult time taking care of their families. This project provides the women with a living wage and you with beautiful, handcrafted Christmas cards. What a wonderful way for you to honor Anna and her homeland this year! Check out Jimma Banana Art for more info.

On another note:

Thanksgiving is coming up. What were you doing last year? We had a great time joining in the huge festivities at Aunt Traci and Uncle Tyler's house. We found out late that day that Anna's first court date was not successful. We waited a few weeks to find out that her second court date was a success. By December 16th, we were on the plane, traveling over 30 hours to meet her. We feel so blessed this year to celebrate Thanksgiving with her in our arms, along with Ernie and our extended families. We've so much to be thankful for!

The biggest thank you

2008-11-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

We feel so fortunate to have had such a smooth road to Anna's adoption, and owe so much of it to those who supported us. Thank you again to all who gave emotional support, wrote references, babysat Ernie, gifted baby items, prayed, painted, decorated, and in so many other ways made our journey such a blessed one.

The support and love did not end with Anna's arrival. Our most recent blessing has been that stemming from the website Celebrating Adoption. Through this service for recent adoptive families, we found an amazing photographer Cindy Yen, who donated her time and beautiful photographs to our family. There are so many great things I could say about the experience, but just take a look at these pictures to see what happened.

So today we just want to thank Cindy for these beautiful photographs. If you are an adoptive family, rush to the Celebrating Adoption website. Many professionals are waiting to photograph your wonderful family. And if you have kids, check out Cindy's website. We absolutely love the pictures and can't wait to get them framed up on the wall!

Final note: Anna's re-adoption was finalized on Friday! Hooray!

Warning- Bragging Mama Ahead

2008-11-02T20:45:00.000-08:00

Hey, everyone. I just wanted to share what a brilliant boy we have! Ernie is learning to read and loves to spell things out. We've been forced to abandon our super sneeky method of spelling out words we don't want Ernie to hear. We're on to spelling backwards. Can anybody say M A E R C E C I ? He's only four, folks. What happens when he's twelve?

Anyways, here's a pic of Ernie in the bath the other night. He wanted to write the word "water", and this is what he came up with.

He's our little smarty pants.

Pumpkins

2008-10-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know I love anything to do with pumpkins. Here's a retrospective of our little pumpkins at the patch.

Ernie visits the giant pumpkins at the fair when he is 2 months old.

This is the first of four consecutive years Ernie has visited the pumpkin patch with Haeli. They are 1 year old.

Ernie searches for the perfect pumpkin at 2 years old.

This year Haeli brought along her little sisters Tori and Lily(not pictured). Ernie brought along Anna. This is the same face I got at the beach when Anna was sitting in the wet sand. Haeli and Ernie are four years old now!

Sweet brother and sister

Laundry

2008-10-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the laundry list of Frick life.

*Brian got a new job. This is the big happening I alluded to in our last post. He'll be commuting down to Tacoma, making his day a little shorter. Of course there is good and bad with every decision (he'll be doing "exciting" actuary things, he'll be traveling a little more), but overall we're very happy with the new changes to come.

*Anna is walking! She started off slow with just a few steps for a few weeks. She's now thrown off the shackles of crawling and insists on walking everywhere. She walks around now just for the fun of it! Check her out:

*We spent the weekend in Seaside, OR. We had so much fun in the ocean and sand. Yes, I said ocean. For those of you out there with little boys, you know what I'm talking about. Yes, I said ocean. Yes, its October. Yes, it was 55 degrees. Here's the family on the way back from the beach: (Ernie immersed himself in the ocean from his neck to his toes. Mom rescued him and got wet up to her knees. Anna scoffed at the idea of entering the water. Dad skillfully avoided the cold water by tending to Anna.)

More pics of Seaside:

Ernie on the swings

This is Anna sitting on the wet sand. She is not happy. I took about 6 pictures of her looking anywhere but at me. She finally looks at me and this is the expression I get. She's getting pretty good at her withering look.

The kids are dry back in the room with Grandma and Grandpa.

Feeding Time

2008-10-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't resist commenting on Anna's newest development, trying to feed herself. Ernie is now in on the action and loves to feed Anna from a spoon. The second pic here is Anna feeding herself. She wants to do it so bad that its difficult to get any food in her. So my newest trick is to let her hold a spoon while I'm feeding her. When she finally figures out how to get food on her spoon its going to be a big mess!

More to come: Pics from the pumpkin patch, update on Anna walking! and big changes for the Frick family

Anna at the Dinner Table

2008-09-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

We get this almost every night. Check out the youtube link of Anna showcasing her evil genius laugh, her silliest faces and some of her best words.

Peace!

September?!

2008-09-19T20:24:00.001-07:00

Here it is the middle of September, and I can hardly believe our summer has come and gone. August was pretty lazy about delivering our best month of sunny weather, so Septmeber actually made up for it last week. We celebrated the gorgeous weather at the new Tukwila spray park. Sadly, we're back to our traditional Fall drizzle today.

Anna really enjoyed the little jets of water spraying out of this hole.

Ernie ran around filling his Lightning McQueen shoe with water.

In a peaceful moment of sibling play, Ernie and Anna bear-walked around the park together.

My sweet kids.

Hair

2008-09-05T08:35:00.000-07:00

Anna arrived into this world with a full head of straight hair

(Thanks Jenni and Jim for the photo)

Our little baldie in January

First ponytails in April

Big hair . . .

. . . by Ernie

More poof in the July ponytails

Anna's first single ponytail gone awry

Party Recipes

2008-08-27T15:47:00.001-07:00

Here are a few recipes friends are asking for these days. We had the hamburgers at Anna's b-day party this year and have served the Black Bean Salad at previous gatherings.

Tropical Hamburgers, makes 4 patties
1 lb ground beef
4 oz crushed drained canned pineapple
3 oz medium cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp Yoshidas marinade
fresh ground pepper
1/2 C bread crumbs
1 egg lightly beaten
just enough chicken broth to make it mixable (about 1-2 Tbsp)
mix all ingredients together to make the patties

Black Bean and Cilantro Salad
3-15oz. cans black beans rinsed and drained
1 C fresh frozen or canned corn kernels
1/4 C fresh tomatoes diced
1/4 C red bell pepper diced
1/4 C green bell pepper diced
1/4 C red onion diced
1 tsp jalapeno pepper, minced
1/3 C olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice, about 1 lime
1/4 C fresh cilantro, minced
salt and pepper to taste
In a large bowl, mix black beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers and red onion. Drizzle with oil and lime juice: toss. Sprinkle with cilantro. Season to taste. Serve at room temperature.

"Car" Camping

2008-08-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

I admit it. I love camping. And when I say "camping", I expect the whole world to know I'm talking about what others might refer to as "car camping." I've heard rumors about this so-called camping where you heft a backpack for miles, forego showering for days or weeks and cook all food over an open fire. Give me a Jeep stuffed full of camping stoves, bulky sleeping bags, gallons of milk, kites, air matresses, buckets of food and kids' bicycles. Give me a campground with groomed sites, a nice heavy picnic table, grimy coin-operated showers and toilets accessible round the clock. I am a happy car camper.

This past weekend we dragged our friends, the Johnson's, along for a wild, kid-infested weekend at Ocean Shores, a campground visited by both Brian and I as kids. Check out the Johnson's blog to follow their amazing journey to their adopted baby girl in China. Thank you, Samuel, for providing my favorite moment of the weekend. It wouldn't have been the same if you hadn't stood at the edge of our campsite holding a shovel in the air and growling at our neighbors.

Take note, readers. Today is the epic day I will attempt a Got Injera first: a slide show chronicling our sandy weekend.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A few thoughts about the weekend highlighted in the pictures:
* It took Ernie virtually no time to jump right into the ocean. He had this sort of innate drive to then roll in the sand on the way back to the campsite.
*Smores are yummy. Save the dark chocolate for the moms and dads.
*Digging a big hole in the sand equals hours of entertainment.
*Flexing your muscles does sometimes look like the chicken dance, if you do it like we do it in our house.
*Superhero underware substitutes nicely for pants.
*Camping in the rain is no fun. I highly recommend packing up BEFORE it starts raining.

Happy 1st!

2008-08-19T17:52:00.001-07:00

The big day came and went so fast. It is hard to believe our little girl is one! Here are some pictures and a list of the amazing things Anna can do.

*Can moo when we ask her what a cow says. Sounds like "boo" when she says it

*Grunts in her interpretation of a dog barking when we ask her what a doggie says

*Dances when she hears music

*Knows how to get Mom and Dad's attention when Ernie is bothering her- often cries disproportionately loudly to the crime

*Has four teeth

*Just figured out how to grind said teeth against eachother

*Says "ma ma ma" when she's angry

*When asked to say "ma ma ma" smiles sweetly and says "da da da" then laughs

*Loves climbing the stairs, playing in water, reading books

*Eats almost anything, but has rejected mandarin oranges and yogurt consistently

*Lights up when Dada comes home from work

Birthday pictures:

It has been a LONG time

2008-07-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, we're still here. Blogging has been on hiatus since all the other things we do have been getting in the way: sleeping, eating, taking care of the kids, sleeping. I've also started selling my pottery at the Farmer's Market this season, and have been busy pottering around in the garage at night. We've really been all over this summer. Our family vacation in June happened at Disneyland and included my parents, brothers and their families. The 15 of us had so much fun! Brian and I took a weekend trip to Las Vegas. I hardly know what to say about this trip. I could definitely do that again.
In July, Anna and I traveled to St. Louis for the CHI Reunion 2008. We got to meet many of our Ethiopia program friends. It was great seeing some of the little ones we met in Ethiopia with their new families: Mari, Elias, Yohannes. It was so fun to meet the babes that were there before and after us: Hudson, Sofia, Elijah, Mamush, Micah, Ash.

Anna (in red) chills with Mari, Micah and Ash

Anna was at HOH with both Mamush and Mari

Our Ethiopian family

Anna and Sofia really hit if off.

Newest Pictures

2008-05-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

*Anna's first taste of injera- She liked it!

* She liked the taste of her big toe, too!

* Learniing to crawl isn't as easy as it looks. Sometimes your leg gets stuck underneath you. Hardwood floor and carpet are also pretty tasty.

*The kids at play on a warm day.

* Ernie's skin color analysis: Anna and Grandpa Dave are "brown." Mom, Dad, Ernie and Grandma Lois are "light orange."

Anna Update

2008-05-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

Anna is getting ready for swimsuit season!

Is it possible her belly is getting bigger?!

Anna is modeling her new towel.

Here's the big news- Anna broke her arm last month. She had the cutest little pink cast you've ever seen. We're thankful to report she got the cast off yesterday and has healed wonderfully.

Spring Pictures

2008-04-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

Its been a crazy April weather-wise. Last Saturday was almost 80 degrees and today snow showers are threatening. Here are some pictures of a dry afternoon we spent out in the front yard this week.

Family Resemblance

2008-04-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

You've all seen the pictures of our beautiful brown baby Anna. And the ones of lily white Mom, Dad and Ernie. So imagine our surprise after meeting her in Ethiopia, when the staff told us they fondly referred to Anna as "the white baby." Not only that, the nurse assured me, they probably won't even be able to tell in America that she's adopted. As further evidence, the nannies insisted that Anna looked just like Brian. Hmmm . . . We think they might be on to something.

2 Things I forgot to share in my last post

2008-04-01T11:03:00.001-07:00

Shoes

and headbands

This post will attempt to answer the following question: DO I ENJOY HAVING A GIRL?

2008-03-31T15:25:00.001-07:00

This is where we keep the dresses

Easter Dress

Another Easter Dress

The most fabulous party dress

When asked by my friend Julie, "Why isn't Anna wearing a dress today?" I replied, "Because Dad dressed her this morning."

3 months

2008-03-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

Anna LOVES bath time!

Dear Friends,

Its been three months since we returned from Ethiopia. We thought we were bringing home a petite little Ethiopian baby, but have since realized that the 5 pounds she has gained here has vaulted her into the 75th percentile for her age. Wow.

The most common questions we get still are: How is she adjusting? How is Ernie adjusting? How is she sleeping? The answer to the first two still are: just fine, just great. And as to the sleeping question, we can tell you that she sleeps from 8:30pm to 6:00am perfectly, and sometimes even sleeps until 7, when she wants to make her mommy really happy.

Anna's latest developments include kicking her legs furiously and pushing her tushy up in the air while on her tummy. Her favorite game is sitting in her high chair, grabbing a toy from the tray, shaking it, biting it, banging it and then throwing it over the edge to hear the satisfying crash of plastic on hardwood. She has tried lots of different veggies and fruits, and is happy to eat them all, as long as bites of green beans are punctuated with bites of applesauce.

This month's new rule: No picking up your sister

Bro and Sis playing rocket ship

Anna in the Paper

2008-02-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

Noelle and Anna headed to the Sundiata Festival at the Seattle Center last weekend. The festival is a huge annual celebration of African and African-American culture. While they were there, they met a 105-year-old man named Otis Clark. A reporter for the Seattle Times happened to be nearby, and Anna ended up with her picture in the paper...

Here's a link to the picture on the Times website (if you want to see the caption), as well as the article about the festival in general.

Here's the Frickin' Update you've been waiting for

2008-02-05T14:08:00.000-08:00

Here my babies are having their tummy time. Ernie continues to be a super big brother. When he climbs out of bed in the morning, the first place he goes is to Anna's room. Forget Mom and Dad- "Where's Anna?"

Anna's baptism was just beautiful. Here she is with Mom, Dad, Godparents Aunt Steph and Uncle Paul, and Godparents Mike and Debbie. Our friend Bill ran a video of the baptism to the giant screens in church so everyone at Mass could get a first hand view. We decided to have Anna fully immersed for baptism, and as Brian lowered her down into the water, a huge gasp went up from the congregation. She was covered in water up to her neck, and then Father Ed poured water over her head.

Here's Ernie performing at the Big Show for his last class at Little Gym. Mom, Dad, Anna and Grandpa Ken attended.

I'm just loving having a 3 year old. I usually get to run the spinner for Twister and I can't stop laughing as Ernie tries to get all his limbs in the right places. We'll skip the pics of him running the spinner and me twisted up like a pretzel.

She's an angel- isn't she?! In this pic she's smiling up at Grandpa Dave. Anna continues to adjust to her new life well. Being only 5 months old, and with a new family in a new country, everything is new to her. She was not at all impressed by falling snow. She did however, find the waitress at the Ethiopian restaurant fascinating. As soon as Anna heard the Amharic language, she couldn't keep her eyes off the waitress. It was just beautiful to see.

Baby, its cold outside

2008-01-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

Its a chilly 24 degrees today. Good thing we've got the coolest baby wear to keep warm. Anna is modeling her baby leg warmers for you all in this picture.

Anna Update

2008-01-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

*Anna slept 8 hours in a row last night! Hooray!

*Our little piglet has gained 2 pounds over the last 2 weeks. WOW.

*Ernie can't get enough of his baby sister. When she wakes up from a nap, he runs upstairs to see her. When Grandma suggested she take Anna home with her, Ernie cried.

*Brian is back at work full time. So far things are going well. Ernie has played mud factory in the back yard the last few days, which keeps him busy while I'm tending to Anna.

*Anna can sit unassisted for up to a minute. She is a constant source of amusement to Ernie, especially when she falls over from a sitting position.

Our Trip Part III

2008-01-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

Our last 2 days in Ethiopia were bittersweet. It was a glorious gift to be able to travel home early to spend Christmas with Ernie. But of course it was difficult to leave Ethiopia, Anna's homeland, especially knowing we wouldn't be traveling back soon.

*Friday was Mercado day! This is the largest market in all of Africa, a huge maze of alleys and shops. We only saw a tiny fraction of the market, which included clothing, textiles, carvings, instuments, spices, grains, beans, produce, live chickens, plastic Christmas trees, baskets and coffee. It was visually overloaded with stuff. It was hard to take in everything that was going on around us. At our first stop, we entered a small clothing shop big enough for about 6 people and started to pick out some pretty garments for Anna to bring home. It took maybe 10 minutes to pick out what I wanted. Then the bargaining began. Almaz, the wife of CHI's Ethiopian coordinator, went back and forth for about 5 mintues with the owner of the shop. There was lots of words, lots of shrugging, hand gestures and eye rolling. As the negotiations abruptly ceased, Almaz looked at us, shaking her head, and said "no" and then gestured for us to follow her out of the store. So I'm thinking this is our big ploy, pretend to walk out and the shop keeper will call us back in a give us a deal. No. The whole process happened at 3 more shops. Enter the shop, pick out some clothes, barter, "No," walk out. Store #5 was the winner, and we left with 4 dresses for about 30 US dollars. Our driver gave us some side commentary on the negotiations, saying that we would probably pay 4 times as much as any Ethiopian if we weren't there with Almaz. The rest of the negotiations that day seemed a little calmer and quicker. We ended up with some great finds. My only regret is that I didn't spend more time just looking at the people and atmosphere and drinking in the feel of the market. Since we were in Ethiopia such a short time, much of it felt like we were just floating through it, only able to process such a small amount of what was going on.

Man carrying matresses on his head at the market

Baskets displayed at the market

* Our last day in Ethiopia we spent the morning touring museums. It was great to hear more about Ethiopian history and culture. Of course, much of what we had already learned was from the Ethipian people themselves. They are very proud of their country and history. It was wonderful listening to Tsegay talk about the warmth of his people and the richness of his culture.

* We left HOH about 7pm after an afternoon of packing and saying goodbye. One nanny cried as she said goodbye to Etagegnehu. Even in the airport, and Ethiopian worker assisted me with Anna's big messy clothing/diaper disaster as Brian worked out our trip with the airline.

*The trip home lasted 36 hours. Addis Ababa to Khartoom to Frankfurt to Washington D.C. to Seattle. Next time I'll pay anything to make that trip shorter. Surprisingly, Anna didn't make the trip exceptionally harder, I just think that much travel is difficult no matter what. If anything, Anna distracted me from my own discomfort. We arrived home about 10pm on Sunday night. I went to the emergency room at 5am for traveling sickness and dehydration. Brian came down with a nasty cold that week and it took a week before we had Anna switched to our own time zone. And I still think it was easier than with Ernie.

Anna in Action

2008-01-05T08:53:00.000-08:00

Here's some video we shot of Anna while we were in Ethiopia (warning - if you do not like cute babies, don't click play!)

Hooray for sleep!

2008-01-04T08:40:00.000-08:00

* Today is Brian's first day back at work. Our little angels slept until 6:30 and 7am. Hooray for me! I don't know why, but life adjusting to kid#2 is so much easier than #1. I feel more rested, happier, more easy going, more energetic and all around more capable. We'll see at 6pm if I am still feeling this way.

The sounds of Ethoipia. Someone mentioned this on our CHI yahoo group the other day. Here are some that stand out from the House of Hope.
* Rooster crowing. Not just in the morning, but all night.
* Rock music about 8am from the neighbors.
* Peaceful chanting from the mosque down the street 5:30am.
* Snarling, fighting, howling dogs all night long, especially if you stay in one of the smaller rooms at the front of the compound.
* Children laughing and playing. What better sound is there?
* "TA-goo". A long, drawn-out, high-pitched call to Anna every time we ventured out of our room. Esentially the nannies saying, "Come visit me!"
* Have I mentioned "Dinner is ready"? Music to my ears!

Embassy Day

2007-12-30T20:09:00.000-08:00

* The whole reason we are in Ethiopia the week before Christmas- our Embassy appointment. It went so smoothly, it was barely memorable. But man did it feel good when he said "This visa has been approved." The best thing about the embassy appointment was Anna's most fabulous party dress and the after party snapshot.

* Thursday also featured a visit to the orphanage where Anna started out. Her Ethiopian mom brought her to the orphanage at 2 days old. It was bittersweet to visit and know that we wouldn't get to meet her first mom- she had disappeared shortly after relinquishing Anna. We did get to learn a few tidbits about her mom, and felt so fortunate to have a photocopied picture of her. We also figured out the reason behind Anna's Ethiopian name, Etagegnehu, which means "I found a sister." We were puzzled at first because in our referral, it said that Anna did not have any siblings. Our coordinator in Ethiopia told us that a child might be named Etagegnehu because the mom is young or doesn't have any sisters of her own. We learned that Anna's first mom was both young and was an only child.

Our Trip Part II

2007-12-29T06:04:00.000-08:00

Today I don't have the patience for paragraphs, so here is a laundry list of more of our trip.

* We were thrilled to participate in our first coffee ceremony. This takes about 2 hours and begins with the roasting of the beans. Here the cook is fanning the fire that the green coffee beans are roasting over. The cook brings the pan of roasted beans around for everyone to smell before the next step. After roasting, the beans are ground with a mortal and pestal and then boiled over the fire in a hand made coffee pot. The final product is served in tiny tea cups and is thick and dark and so tasty! They always served us 2 cups. I was surprised that we were served this coffee EVERY DAY after lunch while we were there. It is so much work, something we would never do here. Tsegay said that Ethiopians do this every day (usually after breakfast) and sometimes twice a day. Needless to say, life is much slower in Ethiopia.

* Much to Brian's delight, Anna took immediately to napping on Dad's chest. This is one of Brian's talents in life. God certainly made him perfectly for rocking a baby to sleep.

* We called Anna by her Ethiopian name while we were in Ethiopia. Mostly just because that's what everyone else called her. The first thing we asked when we got to Ethiopia was how to pronounce her name. They told us it was difficult to pronounce even in Amharic. So here goes: Etagegnehu, etta-GAIN-you, or etta-gen-YOW, or e-TA-goo for short. Don't be surprised if you here us saying TA-goo in a high pitched voice. Thats an even shorter form of her nickname.

* The staff at HOH told us how serious Anna is, and how difficult it is to get her to smile. But we found a sweet little girl that smiled when we paid her attention and called out her name. The staff attributes this to her finally being united with her family. We'll take that, even if it is just flattery!

* The HOH staff were amazed how much Anna looks like her dad. They were polite and said it was the eyes that made them look like family. We all know it's really the lack of hair.

* Ethiopians don't take their babies out in public until they are about a year old. We got double stares since we were white carrying a black, nearly newborn baby.

* Hooray, Anna slept until about 3am last night, only waking up for feeding, not to play with Mom and Dad. After spending a few hours awake, she is back asleep.

* Ernie asked the other day when Anna was going back to Ethiopia. Not out of malice, or jealousy. He was just wondering.

Pics

2007-12-28T00:47:00.000-08:00

I just got done with my last post and realized I hadn't posted any pictures. So here are a few.

Mom after rocking Anna to sleep the first night

Tuesday morning, Dad making Anna smile

Nanny Latai, giving Anna a bath

Our trip Part I

2007-12-28T00:10:00.000-08:00

Anyone notice at what time I am writing this post? Midnight . . . what other time is there? I can't wait until its unusual to sleep from 5 to 11pm and then spend a couple hours catching up on chores before going back to bed! Right now we are still trying to flip Anna's schedule, although we have found it pretty easy to get back to US time ourselves. However, it seems that around 11pm is morning in Anna-land. Good thing she's cute and smiley when she wakes up!

So here's the first installment of our time in Ethiopia. We arrived in Addis Ababa about 10pm on Monday night. We were driven to House of Hope, the transition home where Anna has been staying for the vast majority of her life. We were brought to our room to deliver our things and then brought to the baby room to meet Anna for the first time. We walked in and there she was in her nanny's arms. Wow! She looked just like a baby. Of course, being Mom, I got to hold her first, and passed her on to Dad later. It was easy for us to fall in love with her, but she held out a little on us. That first night she wasn't really interested in looking at us. She came around the next morning as we bumbled our way through feeding and dressing her, and getting ourselves ready, too.

We spent most of Tuesday at HOH, just getting to know Anna. We took a short ride out to tour the city. HOH is truely a home away from home. At times, I was convinced it was even better than home! Where else do you get to stay in a nice cozy room, have someone cook your meals and clean up after? My favorite phrase that week was "Dinner is ready." A close second was "Pancake or omlet?" It was easy to see how much everyone at the HOH loved Anna. We had to practically arm wrestle the nurse for the privelege of feeding and holding her! It was very cool to see everyone there pitching in with the little ones. It would have been unusual if a toddler wandering through the courtyard didn't meet with smiles and hugs from the guard, cook, coordinator and various nannies. I was pleased to see that boys everywhere are the same. Rowdy, loud and fun! We had many opportunities to play and sing and run with three little boys staying at HOH. It made me smile seeing Anna so interested in the boys. I couldn't wait for her to meet her big brother.

More later, bed is calling.

Noelle

Home!

2007-12-24T13:02:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

36 hours of travel and 2 lost bags later (thanks United), we made it home! Due to some schedule changes, we got back a couple of days early, so we get to spend Christmas morning at home instead of on an airplane. It was an amazing trip - more details in the days to come. Time to rest...

Brian, Noelle, Ernie, and Anna

Ethiopia Update

2007-12-19T00:57:00.000-08:00

Hello friends,

We just wanted to drop a quick line to tell you all we made it here safely, and that Anna is as wonderful and perfect as we expected. We have mostly been taking it easy so far, hanging out at the House of Hope and getting to know our new daughter. Anna does everything you would expect a 4-month-old to do. She enjoys watching everything going on around her, likes her tummy time, wakes up Mom and Dad in the middle of the night, spits up quite frequently. Everyone here says she is very serious, but we've gotten a lot of smiles out of her in the last day. I guess she was just waiting for her mom and dad to get here from America...

Brian

Leaving Tomorrow

2007-12-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Tomorrow is the day! We leave at 7:30 AM (thanks for the ride, Dad), and arrive in Addis Ababa Monday night. We will be back in the evening on Christmas day.

I'm not sure if we will be able to post while we are over there, but we will do our best. Thanks for all your support in this journey - next time you hear from us, we'll have met Anna!

Travel Dates

2007-12-05T14:53:00.001-08:00

Hi friends,
We've got our Embassy appointment confirmed for December 20th. This means we are leaving the 16th or 17th and returning Christmas day! Merry Christmas to us!

Talk About Labor Pains

2007-12-02T22:48:00.000-08:00

Okay, no real labor pains for this family, but we've gone through mountains of paperwork, a marathon of waiting and still face 30 hours of travel with an infant to arrive home. When starting this journey, I didn't know that our adoption "labor" would also take a more literal meaning: the nearly interminable labor of making my first quilt! I'd like to place the blame fair and square on Courtney, who last year showed me the most beautiful quilt made by her sister. Inspiration is a dangerous thing. For the last three months I've been slaving away my evenings and nights quilting like a mad woman. After all my complaining, I asked Courtney if she thought I was crazy for even considering making another quilt for a friend. "No!" she said, "That means you're a Quilter!" I didn't see that one coming.

It's a Girl!

2007-11-30T09:26:00.000-08:00

Great news! Our court date in Ethiopia was this morning and everything went smoothly, so we are officially (finally) Anna Etagegnehu's parents. Which means we can post pictures! So here she is:

We're not exactly sure yet when we will be traveling, but it looks like it might be the week before Christmas, arriving home on Christmas day. More info as we get it...

Conversations with Ernie

2007-11-24T23:10:00.000-08:00

Part 2: The birth of Jesus?

Setting: In the car on the way to visit Grandma and Grandpa

Ernie: Dad! God and Jesus are in my heart!
Dad (proudly): That's right!
Ernie: ...and when they were tiny babies, they lived in my tummy.
Dad (getting confused): ok...
Ernie: ...and then they were born!
Dad: How did they get out?
Ernie: Through the door.
Dad: What door?
Ernie: The door in my head.
Dad (confused): Then where did they go?
Ernie: To Jerusalem!

What do they learn at Sunday School?

This episode of Conversations with Ernie was brought to you by the letter L and the number 2.

Court news

2007-11-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,
The last few days have been a rollercoaster for us. On Monday we heard the news that our court date was scheduled for Tuesday. We were in shock because most people so far had gotten about 2 weeks notice before their court dates. We waited until yesterday to hear the disappointing news that the court date had to be rescheduled because they could not locate Anna's birth mom to finalize the adoption. The good news is that having our date rescheduled really isn't that uncommon and our new date is November 30th. We're still not sure when we will travel. I think its unlikely to happen before January. I hope we'll have great news to share with you next weekend.
Noelle

Lucky us!

2007-11-11T16:41:00.000-08:00

Hi, friends. There are no further updates on our court date. We are still waiting to hear when we will travel and it seems pretty unlikely that we'll get to go before Christmas.

We are excited to bring Anna home and introduce her to you all. We feel so blessed to be a part of this adoption and have difficulty expressing how thankful we are to have a baby brought into our home this way. Stop and listen the next time you hear someone tell adoptive parents what a great thing they are doing for a child- I bet you'll hear the parents turn it around and say how lucky THEY are. For us, adopting Anna isn't about saving a child, it's about building our family and following God's plan. As I've told many of you already, Anna needs a family and we need a baby, so we see bringing her into our family as a win-win situation, not an act of charity. We are just happy to build and grow our family as God intends. Please keep us and Anna in your prayers.

Conversations with Ernie

2007-11-10T21:28:00.000-08:00

A new feature on the Frick blog...not necessarily adoption-related, but guaranteed to tickle your funny bone. Or your money back.

Part 1: Ernie contemplates the Mystery of the Holy Trinity

Scene: Ernie and Dad are sitting in the living room on a typically gorgeous Northwest afternoon (it was cold and rainy).

Ernie: Dad, you're my father.
Dad (wondering where this is going): Yup, you're right.
Ernie: And I'm your son!
Dad: Very good, kiddo.
Ernie (thinking hard): And Mom's the...Holy Spirit!
(Dad just shakes his head - if only it were that easy).

This episode of "Conversations with Ernie" has been brought to you by the letter H and the number 6.

Anna's Room

2007-11-05T21:23:00.000-08:00

Anyone reading this might know I love to paint and decorate. They might know I love babies. Might they have guessed that painting and decorating a baby's room is just heaven for me?! At long last, I've had the chance to decorate a baby girl's room and it was so much fun! My friend Dianne came over and we spent the day tracing and painting fairies on the walls. Here's what we came up with.

Early in the day

A is for Anna

E is for Etagegnehu

Baby Girl has a name!

2007-11-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

We've finally decided on the name Anna Etagegnehu. "Anna" meaning "grace of God." Etagegnehu is the name given to her by her birth mom.
We don't have any updates yet on when we'll be traveling, but we are still hoping to go before Christmas. It will be January at the latest.
Look back soon for pictures of Anna's finished room. Dianne and I spent all day yesterday painting fairies, and I only have a little bit of work to do to finish up the room.

Work Party

2007-10-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, we had a little work party to get our little girl's room ready for her arrival (still no word on the court date...being patient is hard). Some selected images are below. I have also created an album on Picasa if you want to see the rest of the fun. Oh, and Noelle wanted me to point out that the room is not all the way finished yet - she is planning some further decoration on the walls.

Before:

During:

Sorting Clothes and Toys:

After:

Why adopt? Why not domestic? Why Ethiopia?

2007-10-17T23:52:00.000-07:00

At some point you've probably wondered, what led the Fricks to adoption? Speaking for myself, the simplest answer is this: never in my life have I felt so clearly God's call to action. I know that I am here on earth to take care of God's children, no matter how they come to me. Earlier this year, Brian and I both felt that if we had even an inkling that adoption might be an option, we had a duty to at least check it out. So we started by going to an information meeting with Children's Hope International last January, and were instantly intrigued. For us it wasn't really a question of domestic versus international adoption. We just found an avenue to adoption that seemed like it would work for us. In looking at all the programs CHI had to offer, we were immediately drawn to Ethiopia. It fit our timing the best. We were ready to be parents again as soon as possible! And once we had chosen Ethiopia, it was easy to fall in love with the country. Have you tried the food? I can't say I'm adventurous with foreign cuisine, but eating at Lalibela in Seattle was a new and wonderful experience. What further caught our attention about Ethiopia was its ancient Christian roots, rich folklore tradition, passionate love for children and its prominent role in the AIDS crisis. There are an estimated one million AIDS orphans in Ethiopia alone. I cannot even fathom what these numbers mean. And although our own baby girl's story is not directly influenced by AIDS, we feel inextricably tied to the Ethiopian experience of poverty, AIDS and orphans. Want to read about the world from which our baby girl is coming? Check out Melissa Fay Greene's "There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children." Who knows, maybe you'll hear God's call, too.

What's Next

2007-10-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

So the obvious question is "what's next?" Now that we have our referral, how do we go about actually getting our daughter home? Well, unfortunately for our nerves, it requires more waiting and patience (something we do not have in abundance right now). At some point in the next few weeks, there will be a court date in Addis Ababa, at which we will officially become our daughter's parents under Ethiopian law. We will not be at that hearing - we have granted power of attorney to someone who works for our agency in Addis, who will appear on our behalf. At that point, we will be able to post pictures and other information about our baby girl.

After that, more waiting happens (insert Jeopardy theme here). A few weeks later, we will have an appointment at the American embassy in Addis to finalize our baby's visa and other travel documents. Both Noelle and I will be traveling for this, and we will be in-country for about a week. Then all we have to do is figure out how to get an infant through 24 hours of travel...

Big News

2007-10-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

This seems to be an appropriate time to make our first post on our adoption blog - we got our referral today! That's right, after months of paperwork and waiting and stress, we now know who our new daughter is. This morning, our contact at our adoption agency called with the news that we had been referred a seven-week-old baby girl. We don't have much information about her right now, and we are not allowed to post pictures or too much personal information about her until the adoption becomes finalized in Ethiopia, but we will be posting more about her as we know it. She is as beatiful and perfect as we expected.

It was a wild day. Noelle was on her way back from a physical therapy appointment when she got the call. As soon as she got home, she told me everything she knew (which wasn't much), and then we spent the next half hour refreshing our email accounts waiting for the documentation from our agency. We finally received a picture, some basic background information, and the results of blood tests, etc. that were done in Addis Ababa a couple of weeks ago. Of course, we spent the rest of the morning on the phone with family and friends, telling them about the new addition to the family.

Our baby is now at the House of Hope, a transitional home in Addis Ababa that is run by our agency, so we know she is being loved and cared for. It sounds like we will be traveling within the next three months to pick her up. In the meantime, we have lots of work to do to get her room ready and prepare for her arrival. We'll be using this space to post updates, pictures, and more information as we get it and are allowed to share.