As We Grow

The FIRST Team Birthday in Angola!

2011-08-03T00:30:00.001-05:00

We all thought or said last year, “my next birthday will be in Angola…” In February of this year, we said, “surely we will be able to celebrate our birthdays in Angola.” Then we celebrated 8 Angola Team birthdays in 8 weeks (there is a high birthday concentration in April and early May) in…Portugal…again in Portugal! Then we started telling Efesson he would be the first one to have a birthday in Angola, and finally we were right!

We celebrated Efesson’s birthday on July 19th.

In the morning, Tio Nathan took Efesson and Biruk to the Porsche dealer in Luanda to “see the race cars.” Then he took them to walk on the beach for a little bit and then to Bob’s Burgers, a local fast food chain, where they got lunch, their faces painted, balloons and some time on the play place. Here are the before and after pictures, you can see the pictures of their outing with Nathan here. What a great tio!

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In the evening we celebrated with Reese’s Pieces Brownies, a candle in the shape of the number 6, friends, and presents!

The candle sparked a little while I was lighting it (notice the faces) and the flame was huge! Yes – we bought it in Angola.

We got to skype with the Campbells!

It’s official, Efesson is a Benfiquista!

Fun story: When Robert and I were in Portugal in 2009, Robert decided he would be for the Braga football team (who was in the lead at the time, but wasn’t one of the larger, more popular football clubs). He decided this mainly to create friendly banter (also useful for Portuguese practice) between him and the men at Church, especially because Braga kept beating their larger, more popular clubs (allowing for more friendly banter). Robert bought a Braga T-shirt and everything. The Reeses (A Benfica football club family) gave this cachecol (scarf) to Efesson, who is a self-proclaimed Benfiquista, for his birthday. Knowing that story, Robert’s face is priceless in this picture!

Saying Goodbye to Portugal

2011-08-01T11:26:00.001-05:00

First, an Angola Update: Temporary Living

We’ve been in Angola for over three weeks now. We will be living life here in a temporary way for a quite a while. Right now we are living with the Evanson family. When we arrive in Huambo, in the next week, we will be staying in a home and riding in a car that is not our own. After Robert gets back from his trip to Namibia (to send off the temporary visa and get a permanent one) on Wednesday, we will head to Huambo for about 10 days before (at least) Robert turns around and comes back to Luanda for a conference for the church group that we work with here, Igrejas de Cristo em Angola (ICA). After that we should be free to start settling in a bit more. I am looking forward to the day when we can begin to settle in, but right now I am happy and thankful to have friends who are willing to let us share their homes, allowing us to take this process more slowly.

Next, Saying Goodbye to Portugal

Our last days in Portugal were well spent. The goodbyes were hard, and, yes, I cried, but they were done well. Our last Sunday, the team provided a breakfast for the church and the church sent us off with a prayer and a song from the kids.

We were able to celebrate the 4th of July at the home of our friends, the Mullins, with our team and the Neves family.

Saying goodbye to Kevin and Angelina Mullins

We even got everything packed a day early and were able relax and enjoy our last day in Portugal! On our last day in Portugal we drove two hours to Coimbra, Portugal to experience a little of rural Portugal life and say goodbye to our friends Carlos and Ana and their baby, Salomé. That evening we took the boys to see Cars II in Portuguese, which was a fun movie to see in that environment because of all of the poking fun that was made at Americans in foreign lands (we definitely know something about that)!

Saying goodbye to Carlos, Ana, and Salomé.

On the morning of our flight, we got up, got ready, and then a caravan of friends took us, and all of our stuff to the Airport! Our friends from IBP - Gary and Terri Camlin, the boys teachers and Classmates - Nuno, Marta, Sara, and Fifi Fonseca, the Campbell family, and many friends from Church joined us at the Airport to send us off.

Terri Camlin, the boys English Teacher, and the boys before leaving IBP.

The boys and the Fonseca girls at the Airport (note the abundance of baggage).

Efesson and Alex Campbell saying goodbye.

Family Angola Email Update - July 23 2011

2011-07-27T05:14:00.001-05:00

I am going to start posting a link to our family email updates here on this blog.

Here it is!

Update – July 23, 2011

The Blessing of Family Away from Family - Part 2

2011-07-20T04:15:00.001-05:00

We lived at the Instituto Biblico Português in Santo Antão do Tojal, Portugal (about a 40 minute bus ride to Lisbon). Here is a link to a photo gallery of the campus. It was a great temporary home for our family. When we first moved there Nathan and Jordan lived there with us and all of us shared a kitchen. Over the 14 months that we have lived here we have watched many people of many different nationalities come and go. There have been many whom we thought we would leave behind one day who ended up leaving before us! Each person that we met is part of the kingdom of God and God has brought each one to Portugal for a unique reason.

Linda Jordan (pictured in purple in the picture on the right) is an American going to Huambo, Angola (the same town as us) with Wycliffe bible translators. She previously spent 6 years in Ethiopia with the same organization. God knew what he was doing when he brought Linda into our lives, don't you think? She has been such a special person for the boys to talk with about Ethiopia. She patiently answers ALL of the questions that Efesson throws at her! We can’t wait to see her again in Huambo!

Regina Dos Anjos (pictured in blue at our Thanksgiving dinner ) is a Brazilian with a heart for missions. She was in Portugal to study at the University. She was always smiling even though she was tired from all the hard work she put into school and church. We were so thankful to have her at the team retreat in November to help by watching over the team kids.

Marques Mente, a student while we were there, (far right) is now a graduate of IBP and he works with one of the local churches. He is always very busy working for the Kingdom of God in Portugal.

Urs and Esther Buff (left) are Swiss-German and have spent their lives as missionaries in South Africa. They came to Portugal to study with Eunice so that they could communicate better when in Mozambique, teaching people about children's ministry.

Carlos and Ana Freitas (right) are students at IBP, a young Portuguese couple who is fluent in English. They were some of our best language teachers. They even began reserving one day a week to speak to us ONLY in Portuguese. Carlos is an expert in making Portuguese deserts and he had the desire to learn to make pizza, chocolate chip cookies, and cheese cake, so, of course, we traded recipes. He also spent a lot of time with Efesson on the campo (field) helping him to work on his football skills. Carlos and Ana moved back to Coimbra, Portugal and had their baby girl, Salomé, in May. We were able to meet her a couple of times before we left for Angola.

Christian (German) and Marlise (Swiss) Schlötterer (the couple on the left at our shared kitchen table) are also student's of Eunice's. They left about a week before us to go back to Germany and Switzerland before heading to Mozambique in September. They are a very sweet couple and we have enjoyed having them around to talk to and laugh with. Fun fact: Christian makes cakes from scratch with no recipe and when one is gone it is time to make another!

Senhor Pestana and his wife, Dona Fernanda, (both pictured with the boys below) are the nearly retired caretakers of IBP. Efesson and Biruk love spending time with Them around campus. They are Efesson and Biruk’s Portuguese grandparents. Donna Fernanda even shed some tears when she said goodbye to the boys last Friday.

Those are the residents that we spent the most time with, but there are plenty of others who were around from anywhere from one day to two months, not to mention the IBP staff and students that we spent time with day to day. We have so many memories of IBP. Even though we sacrificed some privacy by living in a small apartment with only two rooms and a bathroom and sharing a kitchen with other residents, we have been greatly blessed by the relationships and the huge yard for the boys to run and play in!

5 Days in Angola

2011-07-13T09:11:00.001-05:00

We are staying with the Evanson family in Luanda, Angola. They are an American embassy family of six. Efesson and Biruk are having a blast playing with their youngest two girls, Jesse (age 7) and Grace (age 10).

Robert has been out with the guys and Jordan accomplishing items on the “to-do-before-moving-to-Huambo list” and researching options for things like cell phones, internet, bank accounts, container shipping, vehicles, etc. Tomorrow they will meet with church leaders.

I stay at home with Katie and the kids. We have also been out of the house walking and riding in the “candongueiros” (blue and white public transportation vans) to go to church, visit the grocery stores, and to visit the embassy, but mostly we stay home doing laundry, cooking meals, caring for children, and apparently, blogging (more than 2 posts in a week is practically unheard of on this blog). I am going to complete the “Thankful for” posts that I started in Portugal and keep you updated on what is going on in Angola…at least until the reliable internet is gone!

We are in Angola!

2011-07-11T08:47:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Angola on July 9th at 4:30am with every single one of our bags, a place to stay, and a ride for us and all of our bags! We have had so much come together for us in the three days we’ve been here, including a call today that Robert has his residency visa ready for him in Houston, TX! We are thankful to God for the smooth transition that we have had so far.

Here we are about to board the 8.5 hour flight from London, England to Luanda, Angola.

The Blessing of Ireland

2011-05-08T17:19:00.001-05:00

In July 2010, we had a good reason to leave Portugal after being there for three months (Don't know what I am talking about? Just ask me about it), so we went to Ireland for a long weekend.

It was rainy while we were there, but we walked all over the place (my feet haven't hurt like that in a long time!) and saw a good part of Dublin.

Ducking out of the pouring rain at Dublin Castle.

Efesson doesn't know it yet, but he is keeping a list of all the famous places where he has run. Here he is running at Dublin Castle.

Having a good time at the playground at St. Stephen's Green.

Efesson celebrated his 5th birthday in Ireland (note the button pinned to his shirt), so we took him to jail on his birthday.

Also, while we were there we visited the Ranelagh Christian Church that some new friends in Portugal (who once lived in Ireland and ministered at that church) told us about. While we were there we met Scott and Denise Karnes who are a part of a mission team in Dublin, Ireland. Scott just happens to have been a campus minister and the University of Arkansas (I feel like I should say something like "Go Hogs!" here even though I am not actually from Arkansas and I can't recall that I've ever watched even a single down of a Hogs game) while some of our dear friends were going to school there and participating in the campus ministry. Talking to Scott and Denise about the mutual friends that we have brought tears to my eyes, it was the next best thing to actually seeing those friends!

Denise, being the amazingly hospitable person that she is, invited us to stay with them the next time we came to Ireland. So, naturally, we became facebook friends, and when I knew that we would need to take another trip (3 months later) to Ireland, I messaged her. Isn't that just how it works these days?

Our second trip to Ireland was in September 2010. We stayed with the Karnes family and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! I went to Ireland planning on taking a picture of our family with the Karnes family or with them and their teammates in Dublin, but I was having such a good time that I didn't.

This time our family explored the town of Howth, just outside of Dublin, two stops away from the Karnes house on the DART. Here we are hiking there.

Later that week we took a train and a bus to the Cliffs of Moher. On the way we stopped at Bunratty Castle (eh...it was ok).

Efesson was able to get some running in at the Cliffs.

Also that weekend we all had colds with sneezing, runny nose, and coughing. Here Robert catches Biruk in the act (of a sneeze that is). As you can see I wasn't expecting to be sneezed on while posing for this picture.

Check out those cliffs!

The Burren lunar landscape a little ways away from the cliffs (Efesson was asleep on the bus).

Sunday we went to church with the Karnes and that evening we had dinner with their team. We love the Dublin team! They have a beautiful story of how God brought their team together and they are truly showing their northern Dublin community the love of Christ.

The blessing of Portuguese School for E & B

2011-05-06T09:15:00.000-05:00

In September 2010 Efesson and Biruk began school at the "Cantinho do Ser e do Saber." In English that is the "Little Corner of Being and Knowing." When they started they were the only two boys in a group of 7 students and after Christmas break there were 11 students (4 boys)! The boys have 7 Portuguese and 2 Australian classmates. Their teachers are Nuno and Marta, a wonderful, Christian couple who truly love the kids, teaching, and have a heart for Evangelical Christian Education in a country where there is little. Nuno and Marta are pioneers and they ventured out in faith to start a private Christian school with the minimum number of kids that they needed.

Here I am with the boys on their first day of school.

The school is just out our kitchen door. We get up in the morning, we get the boys dressed, and we go have breakfast. At 8:30 the students arrive and the boys walk out the kitchen door and through this curtain to school. I listen to the kids sing the school song (written and composed by Nuno and Marta) and then I go about my morning.

Here is Marta telling the kids a story (in Portuguese) about the Portuguese vowels. Efesson is now reading in Portuguese, accomplishing kindergarten and first grade math concepts, and the school English teacher has begun to teach the students to read in English.

Here are the original six students with Nuno, Marta, and their other adults who put time in to the school (English teachers, Bible teacher, teacher's aid, and support -all equally important roles).

Efesson and Biruk understand a lot of Portuguese and they are speaking more and more each day. It reminds me a lot of watching them learn English. One of Biruks first Portuguese phrases was "já está" or "all done" which was one of his first phrases in English 18 months or so ago. Nuno is amazed at how much Portuguese they have come to understand in such a short period. They like to quiz mommy and daddy on the words that we know and I think it wont be long before they are correcting us.

At Christmas time, they performed some songs for their Christmas program. Here is a (15 minute) video of the performance. Take the time to watch a little of it, you will get a kick out of Biruk doing his own thing up there while the rest of the kids sing their hearts out!

We were able to host an "Ethiopia Day" for the Cantinho in March. We did a presentation for them, demonstrated the Ethiopian tradition of throwing your tooth on the roof (he threw both of his top front teeth at the same time), and served them Injera, an Ethiopian lentil dish, and popcorn.

The teeth and the kids.

Efesson throwing his teeth on the roof!

Everyone loved it and showed their support for Efesson.

The food.

During the presentation.

Efesson and Biruk E their Cantinho friends and teachers and we pray for them as a family most every day. This school has been a fertile environment in which our boys can thrive. They have grown in knowledge, in confidence, and in character with the help of the blessing of the Cantinho do Ser e do Saber!

The blessing of family away from family - Part 1

2011-03-23T09:00:00.003-05:00

Our team is definitely a family away from family. Efesson and Biruk have Tios (Uncles) and Tias (Aunts) who love on them, play with them, and model a Godly life for them. Around the holidays we are especially thankful for our team family with whom we can have fun with at Halloween, commune with at thanksgiving, and rejoice with at Christmas.

Here are a few of our families favorites pictures of us with our team family!

We celebrated Halloween on a day when Baba (Robert) was in the US, so it was nice to have other family to celebrate with! Here we are Skyping with him before the party.

E & B with their made-by-mommy fire hats!

All the kids in their costumes!

The trick-or-treat action - the Campbells happen to have 5 trick-or-treat friendly doors in their apartment, so the kids were able to go door to door trick or treating!

For thanksgiving we were able to celebrate with our team family and our Instituto Biblico Português (IBP - the bible school where we live) Family...more on the IBP family in another post...stay tuned!

I cooked my first Turkey, Irene.

Here is 4 month old baby Sophia with the finished product so that you can see just how big Irene was (7kg = 15.4 lbs).

It was a great meal, but we made the mistake of letting our guests eat first before the team. The guests sat at one table and the team sat at the other. Note to self...

Laura had a great idea and got recipes for some of Nathan's favorite holiday foods from his mom. She sent me the recipe and I made this Shoofly Pie for him. Note the beautiful spread of pies behind Nathan.

And last but not least who can forget team Christmas? This was our THIRD ANNUAL team Christmas! That's right we've been having team Christmas for 3 years now and we aren't even in Angola! If you want to refresh your memory, or you just plain don't know what Angola Team Chtistmas is all about, check out our first annual and second annual team Christmases.

The youngest opens their present first! Sophia gets a handknit hat and toy mouse from Jordan.

Sophia makes a "Best Buds" picture frame magnet for Stephen. She dipped her pinky finger in black paint and printed it on the frame to make wheels for a choo-choo train!

Stephen made me greeting cards with his little footprint on them. Each card has a special foot-related bible verse on it!

I made Katie a "Parabéns" banner. "Parabéns" is said when it is someone's birthday or any other congratulations need to be said. Katie will be able to use this a lot in Angola, both for her family and for her friends there!

Rusty is famous for signing his name at the end of his emails with something funny like "Rustberrymuffin" or "Rustafarian," so Katie made him a list of all the ways he has signed his name over the years...it is over 100 ways! Here is Rustalooloo reading the list to us.

Rusty made Robert a bulletin board our of recycled wine corks (that he got from a cork recycling bin here in Portugal).

Last year, at the second annual team Christmas, Danny wrote a song for Robert. So, this year, Robert drew Danny's name and wrote a song for Danny. He recorded in parts using Garage Band and played it for the team. It is to the tune of "American Pie" and it is called "Ode to Edsel or the Day I Realized." FYI - Edsel is Danny's middle name.

One of Danny's priceless reactions to the lyrics of the song.

Danny spent countless hours making Nathan a detailed map of the city of Huambo where we are going to live in Angola.

Nathan sewed Efesson a marble mat! The whole team agrees that Nathan, out of all of us, comes up with some of the very best gifts!

Efesson made Alex a Pick up Sticks game!

Alex used snail shells from eating snails at the cafe to make Jordan a picture frame and some magnets.

Biruk made Laura some wreaths with Pinecones and Chestnuts that he found in Portugal.

Laura made Eliana a "Quiet Book." Here are a couple of pages that Ellie can use to learn how to zip a zipper and to play tic tac toe.

Ellie made Biruk a "Best Buds" photo magnet with a picture of the two of them at the aquarium. She used her fingerprints to make little fishies on the border.

Grato por Portugal (Thankful for Portugal)

2011-03-22T15:08:00.000-05:00

It has been hard to keep up with blogging! Our life in Portugal keeps us busy! There is so much to share about our time in Portugal that I decided that I would blog a series of posts related to the events, people, places, etc., from our time in Portugal that we are most thankful for. It will be a good way to summarize all that has gone on during our time here.

Our visa paperwork is slowly wading through an ocean of red tape on it's way to Angola. So we are in a time of reflection of our time in Portugal and anticipation of our time in Angola. We expect...well...hope...that we will be in Angola sometime in the first half of 2011. Please pray that we will receive visas asap!

Montserrat, Spain - December 2010 Family Vacation

Celebrating 1 Year!

2010-10-23T17:54:00.003-05:00

One year ago today Robert and I walked into a small classroom in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and met Efesson for the first time. I'll never forget the way he laughed and the big, long kiss that he gave me that morning.

A little while later we walked into a playroom full of toddlers and saw Biruk for the first time. I'll never forget the big, beautiful smile that was on his face when he saw us. He knew exactly who we were.

Our first family picture was taken that day.

Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa

2010-09-07T03:45:00.005-05:00

A trip to the zoo is not complete without seeing Robert's favorite animal, the rhinoceros!

Alex, Efesson, and Biruk had a blast together!

We all rode the cable cars where you can get a great view of the animals in the zoo!

We watched the bird show, the dolphin show, we rode the cable cars, and we saw some of the animals in the park. We will be back again soon!

Efesson's 5th Birthday Party

2010-09-06T11:11:00.012-05:00

Efesson turned 5 years old on July 19th. We celebrated his birthday with a team party at the end of August after Alex and the Campbells had returned to Portugal and we found the time to celebrate as a team.

Here is a picture of Efesson's race track cake. I've tried to upload this picture horizontal about 10 times, but it just wont work, so here is a sideways picture of it.

Singing to the Birthday Boy!

Blowing out the candles.

Efesson and Eliana checking out the presents.

A Bicycle T-shirt just like Biruks!

New church shoes.

Sunglasses for everyone!

The following Tuesday we went to the Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa (also in celebration of E's birthday) with the Campbell family. We now have zoo passes that are good until the end of the year!

A Minha Vida em Portugal (My life in Portugal)

2010-07-08T16:55:00.000-05:00

Here are some Pictures from our last two months in Portugal! It is hard to believe that we have been here for a longer period of time than Robert and I were here last year. This place feels more like home this time, I guess!

The day after we arrived in Lisbon, with the team in our teacher, Eunice, in her studio.

We continued our family's pizza and movie night tradition and now we invite Jordan to join us!

Biruk turned 3 years old the day we arrived in Portugal and we celebrated his birthday a couple days later with the whole team.

All of the team kids in their Ethiopian clothes!

Alex and Efesson are now living just a short bus ride away from each other and they love it!

Our first field trip (this stay in Portugal) was to Sintra to see the Palácio National de Sintra.

Our team at the Palácio National de Sintra.

Biruk eating (and loving!) snails. Efesson ate them after pressure from everyone around the table and did not enjoy them...but he did enjoy the attention!

We went on a team outing to the beach! Here is Steven enjoying the ocean for the first time!

Girl's class! Eunice says that we have more fun than the boys!

While you had your memorial day weekend, we also had a long weekend in Portugal, so we went to Coimbra, Portugal with the Reeses.

Eliana loves her friend "Hep!"
"Hep" is what Eliana calls Efesson. She Calls Biruk "Bouk" and she calls Robert "Yabow"

Biruk at Portugal dos Pequenitos in Coimbra, an amusement park of sorts with kid sized versions of many palaces, buildings, etc. in Portugal.

Here we go 'round the mulberry bush! We also enjoyed eating the mulberries!

We enjoyed hiking in the Bussaco Forest in Luso, Portugal near Coimbra.

Luso, Portugal is known for their mineral water springs. It flows freely from fountains and springs in the town.

Our second field trip to Cabo da Roca.

Hair cuts!

Outside the church where we watched the Portugal vs. Brasil game during the group stage of the World Cup. Everyone is wearing their Porugal colors (some while supporting the Colorado Rockies at the same time!).

Efesson looking good with his haircut (enhanced by some accessories).

For our second team outing we rode the trolley in Lisbon to the Jardim das Estrelas.

Our Trolley.

Efesson enjoyed climbing with Tio Danny and Daddy.

Jordan and Robert pushing the kids on the swings.

Check out my Facebook album for all these pictures and more!

Cabo Da Roca 2009 and 2010

2010-07-08T12:05:00.002-05:00

Cabo da Roca, September 18, 2009

Cabo a Roca, June 18, 2010

One year ago: The Call

2010-07-07T11:35:00.007-05:00

One year ago today, July 7, we received the phone call. We received a referral for brothers, Efesson and Biruk Yilma and we saw these 4 pictures...

At the time we had just made plans to go to Portugal for two months and we were a little worried about how that would interfere with the adoption process! I guess things worked out!

The boys have been home for over 8 months now.

Robert's First Father's Day!

2010-06-20T16:05:00.005-05:00

I put together this little video of the boys for Robert for Father's Day. I didn't prepare them very much before making this video, so it captures them in the middle of a normal day and it captures their personalities very well.

Efesson is our star performer; he's confident in front of the camera. Biruk is a little more timid (in my first attempts at filming this video all Biruk would do was sit in silence with a glare on his face), but when he gets comfortable he can be just as excited as Efesson. The video is cute with some funny moments throughout (for example the boys kept talking about a sunburn that Robert got last month) if you watch long enough you can see Efesson singing an Ethiopian song and Biruk singing his favorite Bible song.

Happy Father's Day!

The Life and Times of the Meyer family em Portugal

2010-06-15T16:07:00.000-05:00

We've been in Portugal for just over one month and we are settled into a routine...

We live at the Instituto Biblico Português (IBP) in Santo Antão do Tojal (we'll just call it Tojal). Follow that link and you can see some pictures of the place. We have a small two bedroom, one bath house and we share a large kitchen and living space with Jordan and Nathan who also live at IBP (the six of us are currently the only residents). Although our sleeping quarters are small, we have the whole campus to enjoy. It has a large soccer/basketball court, a playground, a beautiful, shady lawn, and utilities and wi-fi are included in the rent! We share the place (with the exception of our kitchen) on weekends with church groups who come for retreats, but we are usually not home except in the evenings on weekends. This summer there will be groups staying on campus for weeks at a time.

Tojal is a small town with character. There is an aqueduct that runs through the town, old buildings, and cute little elderly Portuguese people. Each day the "bread man" drives his truck up the hill past IBP, honking his horn. On his way back down the hill you can wave at him to stop so that you can buy fresh bread or pastries. Robert has enjoyed exploring the area even more on his bike. He now has a favorite cafe called "Os Arcos" and has become friends with the owners (good for practicing Portuguese).

Right now our classes are Monday through Friday. Robert is in a class with Danny and Nathan and I am in a class with Jordan and Katie. This way we are grouped with people who are in a similar place in language learning and it keeps child care covered for us and for the Reeses. Robert has the kids while I am in class and I have them while Robert is in class.

Class usually consists of conversation, using as much Portuguese as we can, going over homework with out teacher, Eunice, and reading/translating a book or newspaper articles together in Portuguese. It has been easy for me to get back into the swing of Portuguese and I can see that I learned much more than I thought I had when Robert and I were here last year! I am much more confident in my language skills, therefore I am having more conversations in Portuguese...especially if I am out with the boys by myself. Then it seems like EVERYONE wants to talk to me :)

In the evenings/mornings (depending on when we have time) we work on our homework assignments and complete other every day tasks making meals, laundry, etc. We share a small washing machine with Jordan and Nathan. I usually do a load of laundry each day and we hang our laundry out on the line to dry.

We take public transportation everywhere we go. There is a bus stop about two blocks from IBP. By bus it takes about 20 minutes to get to Eunice's studio, 20-45 minutes (depending on whether or not you get a direct bus) to get to the metro station, and 15 minutes to get to a grocery store. The trip from Tojal to the church consists of the 20-45 minute ride to the metro station, followed by a 20 minute ride on the metro, and a short, 4 block walk to the church. Efesson and Biruk love riding on every form of transportation and they are even beginning to argue over who will sit by the window!

Efesson and Biruk loving their first Metro experience!

On Mondays we have team meetings. Sometimes they are in the afternoon, after all of us are out of class. Other times they are in the evenings and we have dinner together as well. It is truly a blessing to have out team all together in one place to plan for our work in Angola. It beats email and weekend-long meetings hands down!

Thursday nights we head into Lisbon for a prayer meeting at the Igreja de Criston Lisboa. It has been great to be with our friends at the Lisbon church once again. It truly feels like we never left and I think that they will always be one of our (MANY) church families that we miss so much when we leave!

On Fridays we rotate between a team fellowship and devotional at the Campbell's home and guy/girls nights out. For example, a few weeks ago the guys took the kids while the girls spent time together making tortillas and watching Emma. When guys have their nights out the girls are doing a "bible class" with the kids.

Girl's Night! - Eating homemade tortillas (in our kitchen at IBP)

Bible Class - rise and shine and give God the glory glory!

On Saturdays we rotate between team outings (to the park, beach, etc.) and date nights for the couples on the team. For example, one weekend the Reeses watched all the kids while we went with the Campbells to see Robin Hood and to have dinner at Chilis. Robert and I watched the kids last week and I gave all five of them baths and got them ready for bed!

Beach outing - Robert and Rusty playing futebol with Alex and Efesson on the beach.

Babysitting for Date Night - Eliana and Biruk, bathed and in their PJs, watching Alex and Efesson in the Tub.

Everywhere we go we have opportunities to listen to Portuguese, read Portuguese, and communicate in Portuguese. It is exhausting at times, but we are enjoying it, and it is great for language learning!

This is our life in Portugal!

Adoption Timeline

2010-06-01T16:19:00.000-05:00

I wanted to remove our adoption time line from the sidebar of this blog, so I am archiving it in this post...

10.30.09 - Arrive home with Efesson and Biruk
10.23.09 - Meet Efesson and Biruk
08.21.09 - Passed court!
07.21.09 - Tentative court date given - 08.21.09
07.07.09 - Referral received!
06.20.09 - Waiting 13 months
05.20.09 - Waiting one year!
04.20.09 - Waitinng eleven months
03.20.09 - Waiting ten months
03.19.09 - Re-fingerprinted
02.20.09 - Waiting nine months
01.20.09 - Waiting eight months
12.20.08 - Waiting seven months
11.20.08 - Waiting six months
10.20.08 - Waiting five months
09.20.08 - Waiting four months
08.20.08 - Waiting three months
07.20.08 - Waiting two months
06.20.08 - Waiting one month
05.20.08 - Dossier approved by CHSFS - Officially waiting!
05.19.08 - Dossier arrives at CHSFS office
05.15.08 - Dossier sent to CHSFS
05.12.08 - I-171H received in mail
05.07.08 - USCIS approval
05.06.08 - Adoption study approved
04.22.08 - First draft of adoption study sent to CHSFS
03.28.08 - Part two of application sent to CHSFS
03.05.08 - Met with Social Worker to complete the adoption study interview
02.15.08 - I-600A to USCIS and fingerprints taken
02.10.08 - Home study
02.04.08 - Part two of application arrives
02.01.08 - Application received by CHSFS
01.29.08 - Application sent, home study appointment set up for February 10th
01.24.08 - It's official! Decided to adopt from Ethiopia

Free WiFi in the Denver airport = I can post just before we get on the plane!

2010-05-03T20:00:00.003-05:00

We board in about 30 minutes. Robert has gone to get his last American Diet Coke (the flavor is a little off in Portugal and he says he's giving the drink up when we get there). The boys are looking out the window and charming the ladies sitting next to me by saying things like"bye bye Suburban" and "Biruk two, Biruk three in May."

We are all very excited to see all of our friends, who will be our family in Portugal, in less than 16 hours (not just our team, but our teacher Eunice, our church family at the Igreja de Cristo em Lisboa, and our friends the Gentrys whom we met this past summer!).

The ladies sitting next to me keep asking me questions about where we are going and what we will be doing when we get there. Now they now know that we are going to Lisbon for language school and then on to the mission field in Angola and they know that the boys came home just six months ago from Ethiopia. They are impressed by the boys language skills, and they tell me that the boys are beautiful. As I tell our story, I realize that our story is a little (ok, a lot) out of the ordinary but, more importantly, we are blessed.

We are blessed to have traveled so much in the last eight months, we are blessed to have these beautiful, flexible boys, we are blessed to have so many dear friends waiting for us in Portugal, we are blessed to have support from the states (our friends and family support us and we have the financial support we need), and so much more! We're boarding!!

You'll be hearing from me again in PORTUGAL!

6 Months Home!

2010-05-01T11:24:00.012-05:00

Yesterday, April 30, 2010, marked six months from the day that we landed as a family of four in the Little Rock Airport.

Our boys have gone from this (over 10 months ago, when we received our referral):

To this (over 8 months ago, when we received our social report):

To this (over six months ago, the week we met them):

To this (at our recent Ruple Photography photo shoot):

The transition has been easier than we ever expected! We have truly been blessed by God. I wrote the following in our adoption testimony to Shaohanah's Hope, an organization who generously gave us a grant for the adoption of Efesson and Biruk, "...looking back on the process and the wait, we can see how God has been at work. We have two boys who seem to have been created to be missionary kids -- they are outgoing, they love meeting new people, they are flexible and they love going places with us..."

We began the past six months cautiously, ensuring that the boys would someday attach to us and learn to trust us fully.

After our first trip away from home (to Castle Rock, Colorado for Thanksgiving and then to Austin, Texas for a team meeting) the boys were confident that our small house in our hood in North Little Rock was home and they celebrated each time we pulled into the driveway, returning home.

We have made many many other trips since then and out boys have slept in over 14 different beds in the last six months! This is not usually recommended for newly adopted children, but the boys have shown us so many healthy signs during out travels, that we continue to take them everywhere with us! The boys talk about the friends and family that they have met all the time! People like Grandpa Martin, baby Lincoln, Uncle Josh, Aidan, Kyleen (and her dog!), Dixie Dog, Uncle Steve, they talk about the entire Angola team (they can hardly name one without naming everybody else - including future member, baby Sophia), Grandma, Grandpa, Baby Luke, Tony Ton, Grandmomma, Granddad, Uncle Clay, Uncle Greg (which could mean my Uncle Greg or Mr. Greg from Silver City), Molly, Mr. JB, Ms. Amber, baby Penny, Canaan, Josiah (Biruk calls every blond toddler Josiah), they even talk about Eunice, our Portuguese teacher (who Efesson calls "Annie" because the name Eunice is not quite stuck in his head. If you describe an time where we met someone and the people whom we met, Efesson will usually remember.

The boys are so flexible about going places and doing things with us! They love to know what we are doing next. Efesson wakes up nearly every morning asking us what we are going to do that day. He can even keep track of what we are going to be doing for a whole week! For example, he is really looking forward to Monday when we board an airplane headed for Portugal!

It is amazing how comfortable the boys are. We have recently begun to talk more and more about their home in Ethiopia. These conversations have been very positive and they have made Robert and me very excited for the day when Efesson has enough of the English language to talk about Ethiopia in more detail.

How have Robert and I been doing over these past six months? We are learning a lot about how to potty train, how to get a child to eat their food (or simply try a bite of food), how to keep your kid in bed during nap time, how to get your child to behave in church, which form of discipline to use with each particular event, and when to hand the task over to the other parent because you are about to go crazy. More importantly we've learned the best spots to tickle, that we need to start training Efesson to be an Olympic runner, that Biruk benefits from a good pep talk here and there (in order to ride on the marry-go-round, pet a dog, take a bath, etc...), that Efesson can make some pretty incredible noises, that Biruk sometimes needs a little time in Mommy or Daddy's arms after a nap, that these boys love every form of transportation known to man, and that they are up for just about anything, especially if you tell them about it ahead of time!

We know that things may not always be this easy, that issues may arise over time, and that we have many difficult conversations ahead of us. In this season of our lives together, we are thankful to God for giving us these little guys who fit our family's lifestyle so well.

What do you do when you loose a tooth?

2010-04-24T22:30:00.000-05:00

We learned that Efesson had a loose tooth in March. He worked on it all month and on March 27th, in the San Jose Airport, while waiting for our airplane to depart, Efesson lost his third bottom tooth (the left lateral incisor).

The very loose tooth just before it came out.

Proper pressure applied to the site, tooth on napkin in hand.

The future home of an adult tooth.

Efesson had been preparing us for what was going to happen when his tooth fell out. He used his greatly improved, but still limited English to tell us that when his tooth comes out he will throw it on the roof of the house and the moon will come "down, down, down" (using exaggerated hand motions) to get it and the moon will have something to do with getting the adult tooth back into Efesson's mouth.

That day in the airport a row of people at our gate celebrated Efesson losing his tooth with us. One lady told me about a book called Throw Your Tooth on the Roof that she had just read to her first graders without knowing what Efesson had been telling us about his tooth! So, I checked the book out from the library. It is a book full of "tooth traditions from around the world" as the subtitle states. Throwing teeth on the roof is a much more common tooth tradition than the tooth fairy!

A couple of days after we got home from California we went outside to perform the "throw your tooth on the roof" ceremony. We knew that Efesson, even though he has a pretty good arm, would not be able to throw his tooth on the roof. So we made him as tall as possible by placing him on the ladder and filmed the event. Here are three videos that I took of the event with our Flip It...enjoy!

Wichita 2009

2010-04-08T22:20:00.003-05:00

The Final Christmas 2009 blog entry...

Christmas in Wichita

We arrived in Wichita the week of Christmas and set out to find and purchase a real Christmas tree to decorate with Efesson and Biruk. At our second (or maybe third) store we bought one of the last two trees. It was a little barren on one side, a little dry, and its top branch jutted out sideways, but it was ours and it was ONE DOLLAR! Yep, that's right folks, if you happen to take one of the last Christmas trees that Lowe's has the week of Christmas, you will get quite the bargain!

Here we are decorating our tree...

Adding some flair to the top.

Uncle Clay (my brother) arrived in Wichita late one night while the Efesson and Biruk were sleeping. They had seen his picture in their photo albums ever since they arrived in Ethiopia and they were excited to meet this guy! A quick note about the photo albums...everyone pictured in those photo albums is quickly recognized and welcomed into the lives of E and B.

Therefore, when E and B woke up the next morning, they were ready to meet Uncle Clay. So, we called down the laundry shoot and the vents "WAKE UP UNCLE CLAY! COME AND PLAY WITH US!"

Granddad helped.

Finally, Uncle Clay came out to play!

And those boys LOVE playing with their Uncle Clay!

Here are some pictures of us opening presents with the Martin side of the family...

Efesson tying "baby Lincoln's" shoe. Baby Lincoln is my cousin Andrea's son. The boys learned to call him that when they first met him in November, it sounds something like "behbeelinkin" and is said very fast. Lincoln is not much of a baby anymore (he's walking, learning to talk, and he is a pro at animal noises) but he is to my boys :)

My cousin Jeff throwing Efesson up into the air!

How much longer to I have to wait to open these presents?!

Efesson's digital camera from my Uncle Greg and Aunt Toby. He learned to love taking pictures with an old cell phone at Greg and Toby's house, so they helped him develop his hobby :) If I had posted this earlier, I would have shared some of Efesson's shots from this night, but sadly he found the delete button on the camera :(

Biruk reading a book with my cousin Alison.

Christmas with the Houseman family. Good BBQ, reading Luke 2, & "dirty santa" gift exchange.

The Houseman side of the family welcomed Efesson and Biruk with a supply of art supplies for us to take to Angola with us and a cake that Efesson accidentally stuck his finger in because he didn't know the pretty yellow icing was gooey. Check out my cousin Laurissa's face as she watches him experience the cake!

A final Merry Christmas until this December (you have 8 shopping months left)!

Colorado November 2009

2010-04-08T18:57:00.000-05:00

I have a complex. I have to write about old events on this blog before I can write about new, recent events. This is a problem when my two new children are doing very cute, blogworthy things! So get through these next three posts about Thanksgiving and Christmas 2009 and you will get to see some fun stuff!

A video of our time in Colorado last November...

Team Christmas 2009

2010-03-20T23:08:00.017-05:00

You might remember the Angola team Christmas tradition we began last year. Here are the pictures from our 2009 team Christmas. We celebrated at the end of the team meeting that we had in Austin, TX at the beginning of December.

The Gifts.

First, Alex opened a train painted by Eliana (and Katie).

Then Nathan opened hot cocoa mix and chocolate dipped spoons from Alex.

Eliana received this awesome "Elliephant" from Tio Nathan that he made out of a sock! Nathan sewed it himself! I think the team has unanimously decided that Nathan has come up with the most creative gifts so far (see the cutting board he made for Jordan last year)!

I embroidered this "Angola Mission Team" tote for Laura.

Laura made a visual journal for Katie. She tore pictures out of magazines and creatively pasted them onto the pages of a blank journal. It turned out very cute! This is a picture of a dandelion split over two pages.

Katie painted a train for Efesson (with help from Eliana).

Alex and Efesson had a great time playing with their trains together!

Efesson made a cover for this Lisbon Moleskine Notebook for Rusty. Complete with helpful phone numbers and other information that we learned while we were in Portugal.

Rusty made a alphabet train puzzle for Biruk.

Biruk made a cover for a Lisbon Moleskine Notebook for Danny.

Danny wrote a hilarious song for Robert, you might have seen the video of it on facebook. If not, let me know and I'll help you find it. If you know Robert well, you will laugh very hard.

Here is a picture of Robert as Danny sings him the song. The whole team thoroughly enjoyed the concert!

Robert made Stephen a football.

Stephen made Jordan a Christmas tree hand towel (with some help from Mommy and Alex... Alex's thumbprints are the ornaments on the tree).

Last, but not least, Jordan made me this fun bag!

Merry Christmas (in April :)!

Photo Shoot

2010-02-08T16:41:00.001-06:00

Just over two weeks after the boys came home from Ethiopia, we went out to our friends April and Brent Ruple's photography studio and April took some family pictures for us. It was a frustratingly difficult experience for me. You see, Robert and I have this theory that because there were cameras at the care center in Ethiopia (taking pictures of the boys and the other children for their social report and their lifebooks), the boys don't particularly like having their picture taken (we noticed this both in Ethiopia and since we've been home). On top of that Efesson was distracted by everthing and Biruk was an emotional mess that day. In spite of the difficult shoot, April, with her incredible talent, managed to get several great pictures of our family. Here are ten of them...

The boys have become much more comfortable with the camera these days. They can hold still long enough to get their picture taken and they will even smile for the camera!

Our First Three Weeks Home Slideshow

2010-01-30T20:02:00.000-06:00

Here is a three minute slide show of some of the pictures we took the first three weeks the boys were home...

Airport Pictures by Ruple Photography

2010-01-30T19:14:00.009-06:00

I should have quickly posted all these pictures soon after we returned home from Ethiopia. Instead, I am posting them exactly three months to the day that we walked off our airplane and into the Little Rock Airport....

Our friend and teammate, Jordan (a.k.a Tia Jordan...remember Tia is aunt in Portuguese), was there to meet us and our friends Brent and April Ruple (they own their own photography business, Ruple Photography) were there to take these photos...

The flights were for the most part, uneventful. The boys enjoyed pushing the brightness buttons on their TVs more than they enjoyed watching movies. They slept well and Biruk was only "that kid" (you know, the kid crying on the airplane) for one hour during the flight from Amsterdam to Memphis (from the moment we had to put on our seatbelts to the moment we finally took off). The rest of that flight he laid down in his seat and was quiet whether he was asleep or not. The most traumatic part of the journey home was our six hour layover in Amsterdam. Biruk was over-tired and easily upset. At one point he cried so hard and so loud that he vomited all over Robert and himself!

My Favorite Pictures from Ethiopia

2010-01-14T20:25:00.005-06:00

This is our first picture as a family.

This is a picture of Efesson and Biruk cutting the cake at the going away ceremony that the CHSFS Ethiopia team hosts for the kids. The oldest children going home get to cut the cake. It was a very special ceremony. All of the kids Efesson's age were there and they (including Efesson) performed a couple of songs for all of us. They have a prayer for all of the families, Robert was able to say a prayer and then a prayer was said in Amharic. They also have each of the kids dip their hand in red paint and place it on a piece of paper that will go into a book with the handprints of adopted children past and future.

Flashback to Ethiopia

2009-12-29T22:00:00.000-06:00

Here are the long awaited pictures of our time with the boys in Ethiopia. These are the pictures that we and the members of our travel group took of our free time with the boys at the CHSFS guest house. Our agency was thoughtful enough to film and take pictures of our first meeting with the boys, so we didn't have our camera at those particular moments. The following pictures are of our precious play time/get to know you time with Efesson and Biruk.

There was a cozy coupe at the guest house for the kids to play with and, as you can see, Efesson and Biruk got a lot of use out of it each day that they came to the guest house to be with us.

We took the boys up to our room in the guest house to read some books and explore where they would be sleeping in a few days.

Me holding Biruk on one van ride back to the care center from the guest house.

Robert's first diaper change!

Biruk's pants falling down was a common finding due to the fact that every pair of pants that I brought for him was too big!

Erin and Megan, two CHSFS volunteers, loving on our boys. These girls were a fountain of valuable information and care deeply for all of the children at the care center.

The day that we were to leave Ethiopia, the guesthouse staff prepared a traditional coffee ceremony for our travel group.

Here is our travel group, kids and all, with the guest house staff after the coffee ceremony.

These are the adults from our travel group. We had an unusually small travel group. We traveled with one other couple and a CHSFS social worker who would escort one little guy home to his family. It was truly a blessing to have a small travel group!

Here is one final picture to make you smile. This is Robert and I the night before the boys were fully in our care dancing with one of the dancers at the Yod Abyssinia restaurant. This is the only time that Robert has ever danced with me...

Ethiopia In Ten Pictures

2009-11-29T16:15:00.002-06:00

As I was going through my pictures, I couldn't help but think that they just don't do Ethiopia justice. We have pictures of monuments and attempts at taking decent pictures through the windows of the vehicles that we traveled in, but these pictures do not capture what it was like to be in Ethiopia. I think that these ten pictures will give you a small idea, but you are going to have to go to Ethiopia to understand what I mean...

We stayed at the Biruk Bed and Breakfast off of Bole Road in Addis Ababa. The owners of the place were very hospitable and we also met a friendly Canadian couple while we were there. It was the perfect place to stay the two nights before we went to the CHSFS guesthouse for adoptive parents.

This is Robert and the tour guide who volunteered to show us around Addis Ababa (he was very nice and we didn't mind tipping him for his "volunteer" work). They are standing in front of a staircase that was built by the Italians as a symbol of Fascist domination, one step for each year Mussolini held power. The "Lion of Judah" (a symbol of Ethiopia) on top was placed there as a monument to Ethiopia's independence from Italy. It is located outside of the Ethnological Museum (in what was once emperor Hale Selasse's palace) on the Addis Ababa University campus.

Our second day in Ethiopia was spend with some leaders from a Church planting movement there. Here is a picture of Robert in front of one of their church buildings with six generations of Christians. See my previous post for more details about this experience.

We drove past this place every day on our way to Biruk's care center and Efesson's school. Here one can buy a goat and even have it slaughtered right here along the road. We often saw people walking through the streets of Ethiopa's capitol city with their herds of goats, cattle, or donkeys. A single cow was often found grazing in the middle of a roundabout near this place.

Coffee is a big deal in Ethiopia. The reason why we took this picture is pretty obvious.
Man, there is something so familiar about that sign!

When I went to Tanzania, Africa in 2005 I was amazed by the landscape! I remember staring out the window the Land Rover for hours and hours as we drove from Dar Es Salaam to Chimala, entertained by the beauty of the land and the daily lives of the people. I felt the same way about the Ethiopian landscape. The daily lives of the people are especially beautiful--children walking to and from school in colorful uniforms, people washing clothes in a stream, people outside their homes, livestock, crops, people and their donkeys carrying water from one place to another, and oh so much more. Here are a few shots taken through the window as we drove through the Ethiopian countryside.

Sharing food with new friends. This is a mesob table with the Ethiopian food that we shared with our travel group. We shared this meal together the night before our children were oficially in our care. We ate and enjoyed the traditional dance show at a restaruant called Yod Abyssinia. Robert and I truly enjoyed our travel group! We had an unusually small group with just one other couple adopting a toddler boy and a CHSFS social worker coming as an escort for another little guy. We experienced so many indescribable moments alongside these people and they will forever be in our families thoughts and prayers.

Blog Email From Ethiopia (posted late due to being unable to post it in Ethiopia)

2009-11-16T16:25:00.005-06:00

Hey all! Sorry this isn't a post about recent happenings within the Meyer household...BUT! I promise that it is coming! We no longer have internet at home, so it is much tougher to keep up with. Stay tuned, I will at least try and get a couple of pictures posted soon. - Teague

October 23, 2009 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -

We arrived safely in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday evening and headed to the Biruk Bed and Breakfast (nice name, huh!?). We walked all over Addis Ababa (Robert estimates that we walked about 15 miles) the first day, just taking in our surroundings. We also visited the Ethnological Museum located in the University of Addis Ababa. Wehighly recommend that museum. It explains a good deal of Ethiopian history and culture. There was even a small exhibit on pottery fromthe region where Efesson and Biruk were born.

We spent day two with an Ethiopian Church Planting Movement. Prior toleaving for Ethiopia we made plans to travel about three hours outsideof Addis to see the church planting that is being done in a southern region of Ethiopia. We met three different church families, one of which has six generations of Christians (meaning a friend reaches out to a friend who reaches a friend ... times six). It was a very informative experience and we will be using what we learned as we develop a strategy for mission work in Angola. It was also wonderful to look at the beautiful Ethiopian landscape and watch the people as they went about their daily lives. What you see looking out the windowof your vehicle as you drive through Ethiopia is indescribable.

We met Efesson and Biruk today. This morning we spent nearly two hours with them both. They were excited to meet us (Efesson especially) and we had a wonderful time playing outside with them. There were no tears until we were preparing to leave ... then the boys had a colossal meltdown. Efesson and Biruk stay in separate houses and were only together this morning for our meeting. They did not want to be separated from each other as we were leaving, and there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. After about 15 minutes of this heightened emotional state, Biruk settled back into his daily routine and Efesson begrudgingly agreed to return to his house for lunch.

This afternoon, I was able to spend another hour with Biruk while Robert spent an hour with Efesson in their separate homes. They're both delightful boys. Goodbyes were much easier in round two.

Tomorrow we will see them both together again for a couple hours in the morning. We hope their separation anxiety will decrease.

Am I REALLY Flying to Ethiopia Tomorrow?!

2009-10-18T21:37:00.006-05:00

Just a quick synopsis of our time back in the states...

We flew home on Monday, October 12th and when we arrived at our home that evening we found that there was a ridiculous amount of mold all over our belongings, so we did some unexpected cleaning and went to bed. The next morning I woke up at 3:30am and couldn't sleep, so I got up and cleaned. I cleaned until lunch time and Robert and I went out to lunch with some friends. After lunch Robert, got a hair cut (so that he would look more like the pictures that we sent to the boys) while I went to Walmart to buy a few things for the boys. That evening we went to Silver City Mentoring and then out to dinner with friends. On Wednesday morning I cleaned the house and packed until we went over to a friend's house for lunch. Also, that morning, we put our moldy couch and recliner on the curb and they were gone in less than 30 minutes (a plus to living in the hood)! After lunch we borrowed a mini van to pick up a new used couch from a local church and took it to the house and Robert got a new driver's license. We returned the mini van and I went to Target to spend some gift cards on what we still needed for the boys until it was time for life group. We had dinner with friends after life group, then I stayed up until nearly 2am to finish packing. The next morning we drove to Nashville for a team meeting.

How many future adoptive mothers do you know who can clean the entire (moldy) house, go shopping for all that she needs for her children in Ethiopia, pack, and do all that other stuff in just TWO DAYS! I need some props...comment below :)

I forgot how much fun field trips can be!

2009-09-24T11:45:00.001-05:00

Once a month Eunice takes her students on a field trip. This month we went to Belém. We ate Pasteis de Belém , visited the Monument to the Discoveries, visited the Jeronimos Monistery, and then had lunch together. After the field trip, Robert and I stuck around to visit the Monistery's Cloister and the Tour de Belém.

Here are a couple of group pictures...one of us in the elevator and one of us in front of where they make the real Pasteis de Belém.

Monument to the Discoveries

Inside the Monument to the Discoveries you can watch a really great film about the history of Portugal. I highly recommend it!
Here is the group before the show.

From the top of the Monument to the Discoveries there is a great view of city.
Here is the Jeronimos Monistery,

the Tour de Belem,

and the compass mosaic at the foot of the monument.

A more detailed look at the Jeronimos Monistery. It is a very interesting building!

The Tour de Belém.

This rhinocerous is found on the Tour. I guess the Portuguese explorers were impressed by the rhinocerous!

One month from today...

2009-09-23T10:15:00.006-05:00

...we meet the boys!

Here are a couple of excerpts and some pictures from each of their social reports for you to enjoy...

"Efesson is a happy and smiley little boy. He has a beautiful and bright smile. Though he is a bit shy, he likes it when somebody gets close and plays with him. Once he is close to somebody, he always gets excited and runs to hug and kiss that person."

"Biruk is a sweet little boy though he usually wears a serious face...He enjoys wrestling with bigger children or his nannies playfully. When they play with him, he babbles and laughs out loud."

Castelo means Castle in Portuguese

2009-09-23T07:00:00.002-05:00

On a Wednesday during the first weeks that we were in Portugal we went to the earlier class block (9:30-11:30) and then headed into Lisbon to look around before going to a Bible Study that evening. We visited the Castelo de São Jorge or Saint George's Castle and the Sé Cathedral.

Robert was looking at his map to find the castle while we were standing in this square and I said, "you mean that castle up there?"

Here is a view looking down at that Square from the Castle. There were some great views from the Strategically placed Castle.

Roberto e Jorge
(Robert and George)

This is the Sé Cathedral.

This archeological dig is located within the cloister of the cathedral. Can you find the Roman store or the Islamic dump?

Check out this website for the answers and for more information!

Our First MONTH in Portugal!

2009-09-15T10:20:00.000-05:00

Here is a little about our time here in Portugal. I have broken it into four sections: Language learning, where we live, Food, and The Church. Being immersed in the language, the people, and the culture has been great for our language learning, hopefully you will be able to see that as you read a little about our first month here…

Language learning. We go to class for two hours each day, Monday through Friday. We spend the first part of class time going over homework. Usually when we go over homework we read it aloud and translate what we have written. As we read our homework aloud, Eunice (pronounced ay-ou-niece), our language teacher, corrects our grammar and helps us to pronounce things correctly. We often find ourselves being corrected because we are using the Spanish (in Robert's case) and French (in my case) accents that we developed in high school. We are also learning to put the right emPHAsys on the right sylLAble. We have also started meeting with Eunice individually for an extra 30 minutes/day Monday through Thursday. I meet with Eunice on Tuesday/Thursday and Robert meets with her on Monday/Wednesday. This allows us to get some individualized teaching.

I truly enjoy having Eunice as a teacher! She really knows her stuff (she has been doing this for 25 years now!). She is conscious of where we are weak and works with us to strengthen those areas. She does a lot of talking in Portuguese throughout class time and encourages us to talk with her in Portuguese so that we can become more comfortable speaking in Portuguese. Having seen a lot of people come through her program, she has a lot of insight and good advice to share with us. The time and attention that we get from her is quality.

Where we live. We live and go to school in a town called Loures. We are staying in a two bedroom apartment with one bathroom, a kitchen, and a Living room. The apartment is a ten minute walk from the school. Near the school there is a small produce market and a butcher were we purchase fruits, veggies, and meat. The produce is very inexpensive, yesterday I purchased 5 large carrots, 6 pears, a head of cabbage, and 2 tomatoes for less than 3 Euros!

From our apartment Robert and I can take a 20 minute walk to a mall called “Loures Shopping” where we can eat in the food court, go to a Wal-Mart-like store called Continente, or see a movie. We have found that seeing a movie here is extremely reasonable. It is about 5 Euros per person to see a movie and when you get your tickets there is a coupon on each ticket for buy one ticket get one free the next time you see a movie. So from now on both of us see a movie for a total of about 5 Euros! We learn Portuguese from our movie watching experience because the movies have Portuguese subtitles or are dubbed in Portuguese.

Food. In four weeks you can try a lot of Portuguese food and you can practice your Portuguese while doing it! We have eaten Bacalhau which is dried, salted cod that they rehydrate and cook "365 ways" our travel books says. Eunice told us that people were given food stamps for Bacalhau during the war and that is why there are so many ways to cook it (it is the ground beef of the Portuguese). It is not our favorite fish, but it is good. Let’s see…what else have we had to eat… we ate grilled sardines at a sardine festival one Saturday night, we have had some awesome frango with piri piri (grilled chicken with hot pepper sauce), we have tried bitoque (meat served with a fried egg on top), and much more.

Below a picture of me enjoying a sardine and some Portuguese Reggae at the sardine festival.

We are not always found eating Portuguese food. We confess that we have eaten at McDonald’s more than once. We find that McDonald’s tastes much better in Europe (we rarely eat at McDonald’s in the US) and how would we experience the TOBLERONE MCFLURRY if we didn’t eat at McDonalds? We also found some good Pizza at a restaurant called Telepizza.

We eat meals with people from the church on Wednesday and Thursday nights and last Sunday we experienced our first Lisbon Church of Christ Potluck! The people from the Church are from Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, as well as other countries, so we have had Brazilian beans and rice and African Funge (a doughy substance made of corn served with food in the same way you would serve rice), among other things.

We have also enjoyed some Portuguese "sobremesas" or desserts. One of our favorites is the famous "Pastel de Nata." A Portuguese cream pastry that was originally created by monks from the Jeronimos Monastery. They have been produced and sold since 1837 under the name Pastel de Belém. We went with Eunice and her other students to Belém where we visited the Monastery and ate Pastel de Belém topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar made from the original recipe, they are pictured below. More about that Field trip in another post…

The Church. From day one we have felt very welcome at the Lisbon Church of Christ. As I mentioned earlier, it is made up of people from all over the world and there are several people who can speak English. We meet with the Church at least three times a week. On Wednesday nights we go to a home for singing and Bible study, on Thursday nights we go to prayer meeting, and on Sundays we go to Bible class and worship. We have also experienced their youth group meeting, dinner in the Minister’s home, and I went to a baby shower this past weekend.

All the time that we spend with the church has really been beneficial for our Portuguese. We spend a lot of time listening and trying to figure out what they are talking about and we sing songs that we know in English in Portuguese (which is good for our vocabulary). Each week we feel like we understand more and more of what we are hearing. Everyone at church is very encouraging regarding our language study. It is an environment where we can be comfortable practicing our Portuguese. Beyond Portuguese practice, we have been immensely blessed by the friendships we have formed with our Christian brothers and sisters here!

P.S. Update on the blankets for the boys: Blanket #1 is put together and blanket #2 is on its way! Here is what I have left to do: (1) Put blanket #2 together (2) Knit boarders on both blankets (3) Sew backings on both blankets.

Below is a picture of the pieces of blanket #2 laid out over blanket #1.

We meet Efesson and Biruk in 39 days!

"Little Boy" Shower 8.2.09

2009-09-02T17:20:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from our "Little Boy" shower that we had just a few days before we left for Portugal. Thank you so much to all that ladies that helped make the day so wonderful!

Andee Cone organized the shower. Andee and her husband Jimmy are Leaders in the Silver City Mentoring Program. The Cones also go to Pleasant Valley Church of Christ and at one time they were a mentoring couple in the bible class that Robert and I attended at PV. We love Andee and Jimmy and it was very special, an honor really, to have Andee host our shower!

Here is Andee pinning a corsage on me.

Amber Mullins, Kelly Hovater, Jennifer Crow, Jessica Ray, Krista Cone, Courtney Hirscheider, Angie Haustein, and Dawn Nahlen were also Hostesses. I am very thankful for the relationships that I have with these ladies and for the work that they put into this special day!

The shower took place at Silver City after church, so that both our Silver City Church Family and our Pleasant Valley Church family could attend. Here are a few pictures from the shower. My only regret is that I did not get a picture with all of the hostesses! What was I thinking?

Two yummy cakes to welcome and celebrate each of the boys!

So many thoughtful gifts.

Including, but not limited to....

Awesome froggy backpacks from the Ruples!

Handmade Ethiopian flag blankets from the Mullins!
This is the only picture I have of them right now, hopefully you will see a picture of the front soon! They are AWESOME!

Here is the bag from the gift (hammer toy and little boy underwear:) Dee Dee and her girls Tayla and Tayonna gave us. Dee Dee worships with us at Silver City and has begun calling us "Momma" and "Daddy" when she sees us at church.

This is Ariana, she wanted to be held for most of the shower...

...and I did a lot of the holding. We are looking at the Ethiopian flag blankets in this picture.

Colorado Team Meeting

2009-08-22T06:50:00.014-05:00

As we prepare for mission work in Angola, our team has made it a priority to visit all of our supporting congregations as a team. This month we went to Colorado Springs, Colorado to visit Nathan's supporting congregation, the East Side Church of Christ. We were there from August 6-13th.

We had several days of meeting together as a team where we made many important decisions. We made decisions about homeschool curriculum, team mentors, and when we want to arrive in Angola (among other things). As long as visas work out in a timely manner, we hope to be in Angola in October. After some very productive meeting time, we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park for some fun!

Here are some pictures from our team meeting in Colorado...

Robert being the task master and Katie, team secretary, taking notes.

Nathan and Rusty concentrating.

I work on my knitting projects, it helps me listen :)

On Friday evening the team was able to surprise Robert with tickets for all of us to go to a Rockies game! We had been secretly emailing about it months in advance :) I had been sick on Friday, so I wasn't at the meeting. Robert picked me up after the meeting to take me to "dinner with the elders." When we got to the church, the team was waiting for us, dressed in purple, black, and Rockies or baseball themed clothing. Alex was shouting "we're going to a baseball game!" over and over and Nathan told Robert that we were no longer meeting with the elders. Then he asked Robert, "Do you want to go to a baseball game?" Of course we all know the answer to that question! I handed Robert one of his Rockies T-shirts that I had packed for him and we were on our way.

Here is a picture of the sun setting over the mountains, Laura's favorite part.

Robert and me at the game. I am turned funny because I am hiding the bruise that I got from hitting myself in the eye with the car door on the way to the game. I had quite a day...sick to my stomach all day and a shiner!

It was Alex, Eliana, and Stephen's first baseball game! What a special thing to share with Tio (that means uncle in Portuguese)) Robert!

Go Rockies! Or as Alex says it "Go Wockies!"

Sweet sleeping Stephen. All three kids did great at the game!

Rocky Mountain National Park!! I love this place because I have so many memories of going here with my family as a kid.

Check out the view from our camp site!

Making S'mores.

We went on a hike to lake Hiayaha. On the way we saw Nymph Lake.

The ladies on the hike. Sadly, Jordan couldn't join us for the hike, she had to go back to work.

Alex and Danny were the first ones to lake Hiayaha!

Check out this awesome picture of the lake that Robert took!

Having a picnic lunch at the lake!

All the kids slept on the way home...

We passed court!

2009-08-21T11:15:00.005-05:00

We received an email from our agency specialist this afternoon (Portugal time) stating we passed court! We are officially Efesson and Biruk's parents. We also received "social reports" on each of our boys. The social report is a written social history complete with pictures and information on the child's adjustment, temperament, sleeping, feeding, development, and more!

Meet Efesson and Biruk!

We praise God for these boys and we look forward to the day that we meet them.

Portugal - Here We Come!

2009-08-13T20:20:00.005-05:00

Robert and I are currently sitting in the Denver airport waiting to board our flight. We will fly from Denver to London and then London to Lisbon! We will study Portuguese for 9 weeks, returning home to North Little Rock on October 12th. Please pray for us!

Court Date!

2009-07-23T22:00:00.003-05:00

The following is from the email we received today:

"We received word from Ethiopia that you have a tentative court assignment of August 21st. Yay:) Please note that court dates can get delayed for a variety of reasons such as power outages, the judges schedule, or if the judge requests additional information. I’d say most cases do make it through the first time, but just so you are aware that there is a possibility that it could get delayed. Please let me know if you have any further questions."

After we make it through court I can post pictures of the boys!

For now, here is a picture of the gifts that we sent to Efesson and Biruk this week. We were able to send each of them a gallon bag of items. We sent them laminated pictures, an 8x10 picture of Robert and me together and 5x7 pictures of each of us individually along with a photo album with pictures of us, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and our mission team. They will also get two cars apiece, a ball, and an outfit.

I had to double bag to make sure everything stayed intact!

Q: What are you going to do now that you have a referral? A: We're going to Portugal!

2009-07-23T15:45:00.003-05:00

Prior to receiving our referral, Robert and I had already been planning to go to Portugal for two months in order to get a head start on language learning.

Here's why: Throughout the "waiting for a referral process" the estimated time for receiving a referral became an unpredictable moving target. Our mission team established January as the target month for leaving the states to go to Portugal for language study (remember that Angola is a former Portuguese colony). Robert and I realized that due to the adoption we would be considerably behind the team in leaving for Portugal and therefore we would be behind the team in language study. So after discussing it with out teammates, we made the decision to go to Portugal. We figured that we would get caught by the court closure, so living in Portugal during the court closure would not be a problem.

We began to make plans to go to Portugal from August 13th through October 12th. We bought our tickets on the morning of July 7th and that afternoon we got our referral. Funny how that worked out! We weren't sure how the referral would affect our plans for Portugal.

It turns out that we are still able to go to Portugal. Our agency is hopeful that those who received a referral last week will make it through court before it closes. The Ethiopian courts are now estimated to close at the end of August (that's new, exciting information for the Ethiopian adoption world). If we pass court by the end of August we would be scheduled to travel about 6-8 weeks later in mid to late October.

What could be more perfect than spending two months living in Portugal with my husband while we wait to meet our children! It will be one last adventure for the married couple without any kids and we'll get a good amount of the Portuguese language under our belt. Just what we need! Here is our language teacher's website.

I will be leaving my full time position at the hospital for a "zero based" position. "Zero based" means that when we get back to Arkansas, I will work when I am able to and when I am needed at the hospital. It will be the busy season, so I should be able to to work full time hours. Robert will be staying home with the kids.

We will be leaving for Portugal in less than one month and between now and then I have about four days free (where I am not out of town or working). We have a lot to do before we leave for Portugal, including preparing for two little boys! We have been waiting for all of this to happen for so long and now it's happening! Bring it on!

We Know Who They Are!

2009-07-11T12:26:00.001-05:00

We were having a particularly busy day at work on Tuesday, when I felt my my phone vibrate in my pocket...

3:01 pm - I take a look at the number, a 651 area code, and think to myself that it might be our adoption agency. We were not expecting a call before the Ethiopian courts close for the rainy season and our agency recently started checking in with waiting families by phone, so although I feel a quick pang of "what if" excitement, I try not to let myself get too excited.

3:23 pm - I go into the break room at work and listen to the message. "Hi Teague, this is Amy from Children's Home Society and Family Services. If you could give me a call back as soon as possible, that would be great 651..."

3:30 pm - I call Robert and ask him to call Amy back. Robert doesn't get a hold of Amy when he calls back, so he leaves a message.

4:14 pm - I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I look and see that Robert is calling back and my heart starts racing. I know that he is either calling about the Angola Mission information dinner we were hosting later that night or about whatever Amy called about (what if?).

"They have a referral for us" he says calmly. "Do you want me to get the information or are you able to do a conference call right now?" I reply with, "hold on let me tell my coworkers what I am doing. I'll call you back." I walk briskly to the nurses' station and had this conversation with a few different people: "we just got the call, the referral call" What? "We are going to find out who our babies are! Is it all right if I go in the break room and listen to this conference call?"...Of course they were cool with that.

4:16 pm - I call Robert back and we have a conference call with Amy. I sit in the break room at work and listen to her tell us about our siblings under four. They are boys! Efesson, who is about to turn four years old this month and Biruk, who turned two years old in May. Efesson is the Amharic (the Ethiopian language) rendition of Ephesus mentioned in the Bible. Biruk means "Blessed." We love their names!

Needless to say, I did not function very efficiently at work after that. My coworkers, who have watched me wait all this time, were eager to share the excitement with me. Thankfully, I had already planned to leave the hospital one hour early to go to the Angola dinner, so I only had to make it about an hour and a half before I could see and hold my husband.

So, we got "the call" 13 months and 17 days after we submitted our dossier. We officially accepted the referral yesterday July 9, 2009 at 2:47pm. The emotions we have been experiencing are indescribable. Here are a couple of pictures of Robert on the phone officially accepting the referral and a picture of Robert and me on that day.

Now what?

We wait a little more. Our agency is hopeful that families who receive referrals this week will pass court before the court closure (which begins sometime in August). After we pass court they estimate about 8 weeks before traveling to Ethiopia to meet our boys.

So stay tuned to find out when we are scheduled for court and be praying for our family in the meantime!

Any Adoption News?

2009-06-16T21:00:00.002-05:00

With all this traveling we are constantly updating family, friends, and other people we meet on where we are in the Adoption process. Here is the update for the blog world...

We have been waiting almost 13 months for a referral. We are number 15 on the unofficial list. The wait time for siblings is difficult to predict. What we know is that the most recent sibling referral was given to a family who had waited 17 months and several sibling referrals were made in the month of May. Technically, we could receive a referral any day.

The Ethiopian courts close during the rainy season (late summer, early fall). During that time referrals will be given, but families who receive referrals during and prior to that time will have to wait for the courts to reopen in order to get a court date. You do not travel to Ethiopia until you "pass court." So, the court closure puts a little kink in things and will delay travel.

We look forward to knowing who our children are. We wait patiently, knowing that God is at work in this process. I am making good progress on the blankets for the kids, I have started sewing one of them together! I'll post pictures soon :)

I Didn't Realize I Was Such a Bad Blogger!

2009-06-16T20:44:00.000-05:00

So...I guess this is an update on where we've been the past three months!

Since my last post Robert and I have been to Tuscaloosa Alabama, Dallas Texas, Bay Area California, Malibu California, Dallas Texas again, a stop in Shreveport Louisiana, Katy (near Houston) Texas, and Castle Rock Colorado. We've traveled for team meetings, to a Missions Resource Network Dinner, to visit my family, to the Pepperdine Lectureship, to a church planting workshop, to visit friends, to meet with a potential supporting congregation, to visit Robert's family, to watch a dear friend get married, and so much more. We go home to work and to do laundry and then we are traveling again! My friends at work are amazed at the way Robert and I travel and they are always asking me where I will be traveling to next!

So, I guess I will pick a few pictures to get this blog up to date!!!

We had a great time at a cabin in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a fun and relaxing team meeting.

Here is sweet Eliana Reese and her Tia Teague (Tia means aunt in Portuguese).

This is the Angola Mission Team in beautiful Malibu, California for the Pepperdine Lectureship where our team presented "New Strategies for New Fields in Africa: The Case of Angola."

We went to Colorado to go to our dear friend Heidi Springston's wedding. Heidi snuck up behind us at the reception and gave us this big hug, Jenn Green was quick to get this fun picture! Here we are in our first picture with Mrs. Heidi Treibel (her husband, Dustin, is there in the background).

While in Colorado, we went to Idaho Springs with Robert's Parent's and Grandma for some AMAZING Beau Joes "Colorado Style" pizza.

We are truly blessed to be able to travel so much and see so much!

Sibling Adoption Article

2009-03-19T19:58:00.003-05:00

Check out this article on sibling adoption...

I really enjoyed reading this article. It explains some of the the pros and cons of sibling adoption and gives a decent summary of what is going on in the international adoption world right now. Enjoy!

Why Angola?

2009-02-11T11:56:00.000-06:00

Here is a video that Robert and I (mostly Robert) created to use as we spread the word about the needs in Angola. Like the title says, It gives a good picture of why we are going to Angola. Robert spent hours and hours working on it and We think it turned out pretty good for a homemade sideshow! After you check out the video, you should check out our family's website. On our website you will find a link to Robert's blog, a link to my blog, a link to the team website, our newsletters and information packet, and information on how you can be a part of our support team.

A New Tradition

2009-02-07T18:14:00.010-06:00

We had our last 2008 Christmas celebration on January 30, 2009. This was the first Christmas that we celebrated as a mission team. Several months ago we drew names from a hat for a Christmas gift exchange. The Rules: The gift can either be handmade or you may sell something to obtain money or (in the case of our children) earn the money for the gift.

We began by having Alex choose which present should be opened first...

Danny had Robert's name! Robert received three different jar cookie mixes and some freshly baked cookies (made by Katie)...

Then it was Robert's turn to give a gift to....Eliana!

Robert hand sewed a baseball for Eliana! Aren't you impressed?? It has dual-purpose purple stitching that represents both the Colorado Rockies and Eliana's favorite color!

Eliana made (with the help of her mommy) a gift for Laura...

Thank you cards with a baby footprint (Ellie's) on them. Laura is pregnant with her second child that we fondly refer to as Baby Dois (Dois means two in Portuguese). The thank you cards will come in handy!

Laura drew Teague's name...

The card on the gift bag said "An easy dinner for a new mom...just add a salad! I hope it will help to have this on hand after you return from Ethiopia." She made jar soup, jar cornbread, and of course jar cookies! The Meyers cleaned up on jar cookies! Thank you Laura for such a thoughtful gift!

I had Alex's name and I made him a book called "Alex's first Portuguese Words" using pictures from our survey trip.

Alex made a gift for Katie. Pine cone ornaments!

Katie drew Rusty's name. Rusty received a book of Portuguese phrases (made by Danny)...it has phrases that Rusty would say as well as phrases that Rusty would find useful. I am bummed that I do not have any pictures of this! We were all too busy laughing as Rusty shared these phrases aloud! Just picture Rusty holding a small orange book boisterously reciting phrases like "I'm a big man" in Portuguese! Thankfully, we do have this on video.

Alex liked to help everyone open their presents.

Rusty sold some of his books to get Danny a book on his Amazon wish list...to bad the bookstore where Rusty sold the books did not have one single book from Danny's list! So Rusty gave Danny a little cash to buy a book on his list as well as a handy business card holder for his missionary business cards!

Well all of those gifts went in a circle, leaving Jordan and Nathan exchanging gifts! Here is what Nathan got Jordan...

What in the world!? Mineral Oil?? Just kidding...the mineral oil is for your brand new, hand made, cutting board that is in the shape of Angola! All the other girls on the team were jealous!!

Last but not least, Jordan made Nathan a photo album for all the great pictures that he takes! Look how happy he is!

It was a great opportunity to give a creative, meaningful gift to a teammate as well as a great opportunity for fun and laughter. Just think what it will be like when we have been on the mission field with each other for several years!

A Glimpse of the Holidays

2009-01-24T11:36:00.006-06:00

Typically the young married couple has great trouble dividing their time between families during the holidays. We do not experience that great trouble because Robert grew up with Thanksgiving being his family's major holiday and I grew up with Christmas being my family's major holiday. Therefore we spend Thanksgiving with Robert's family and Christmas with my family. For that we are truly blessed!

Thanksgiving:

Robert went to Colorado early this year while I stayed home to work. We were apart 8 days! I made it to Colorado the day after Thanksgiving and we enjoyed about 5 days in Colorado together. We got to see some snow and we had good time with family and church family in Castle Rock. Here is pretty much the only picture we took while we were there...

This is a picture of us with Jeff, Tabitha, and Timmy Cole. They are dear friends of ours. Robert is wearing a sweater that I knitted for him...it is the first sweater I have ever knitted.

Christmas:

Christmas eve I was able to get off work at the hospital early (10:30am!) and Robert and I got in the car to drive to Wichita, Kansas where I have spent every Christmas of my entire life! My Grandparents live there. Again we had a great time with family. Here are a few pictures from our time in Wichita...

The Family

The newest member of the family, Lincoln. The first Grandbaby on the Martin side of the Family. He is wearing a bib I made for him.

Grandpa has Wi-Fi!!

My favorite gift...a HUGE spool of alpaca yarn from Peru!

One last picture of sweet baby Lincoln on a cowboy-print blanket that I made for him. Thank you Steve Martin family!

Great Smoky Mountains: 08.24.08 - 08.30.08

2008-10-16T17:19:00.028-05:00

The following is a recap of our trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park with my parents.
It took place almost two months ago!!

Day 1

We left after Church at Silver City, driving to Nashville to pick up my parents and then to our cabin in Gatlinburg. We arrived after midnight.

Day 2

The first thing we had planned for the morning was to go get some breakfast at a local restaurant. Then we planned to go get groceries in order for us to pack a lunch. After that we would go on a hike....however...our plans changed...

It rained all night and it was raining in the morning.
As we drove down the steep hill from our cabin to town this happened...

There was nothing Robert could do...we were driving under 10 mph, the wheels were turned with the curve, and we just slid over the side. The road was slick because it hadn't rained in several weeks, so water on top of oil and chemical buildup led us to this. The poor guy drove his in-laws over the edge into the trees.

So, we called a towing service and were out and safe and sound at the restaurant for breakfast
in about one hour!

Here is Robert in the car as it was towed.

The rest of our day consisted of breakfast, grocery shopping, leaving the car for a few hours with the mechanic, walking around Gatlinburg while we waited for the repairs to be done, going the visitors center, a short nature walk near the visitors center, and dinner.

Here are Dad, Mom, and Robert on the nature trail.

Day 3

The headlines the next day...

In the morning we took a drive on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
and we stopped at this old church.

While we were there I followed two older couples into the woods
and took some pictures of these deer.

While my parents and Robert went to see the church, I stayed in the woods. The people I was with said they had seen bear droppings and that they thought there might be a bear around because the deer were acting skittish.

I am glad that I stuck around because I was the first to see a bear! The picture below is the closest I got to getting a picture of them. They are in the very center of the picture...in the background just to the right of that tree in front.

Maybe you can see them better in this closeup...

We also went on a short hike to Grotto falls. We hiked in our ponchos in the rain.
We were soaked by the end of the hike.

Momma and me under the falls.

Day 4

We drove the Cade's Cove Loop Road to the Abram's Falls trail head and hiked to Abram's falls, pictured below.

It was once again a rainy hike!

Day 5

Family picture at the beginning of our hike to Chimney Tops.

This was one steep hike!

It looked like it had cleared up enough that afternoon in order for us to get a good view, but by the time we got to the top the mist rolled in...this was the best view that we got!

Here is what the Chimney Tops looks like from the ground.

On the way back to the condo (where we stayed for the last couple of nights of the trip) we all saw bears! A momma and three cubs crossed the road in front of us!

Day 6

We began early with a hike to Clingman's dome tower...the highest point in the park.

Mom and dad start the ascent.

Here we are at the top.

Acting silly on the decent.

Our second hike of the day was the Alum Cave Bluff trail. This was a beautiful hike! All the way up there was something pretty or interesting to see!

Why the trail has the word "cave" in its name.

Picnic lunch at the top.

The view.

Day 7

We drove home, dropping our parents off at the airport in Nashville. While in Nashville Mom and Dad went to the Parthenon while Robert and I had lunch with our friends from Harding, Adam and Jocelyn Rollins. We stopped by the Opryland Hotel to kill some time.

The End.

New York City: 9.11.2008 - 9.13.2008

2008-10-16T17:06:00.002-05:00

Robert and I went to New York City over one month ago! We went to see both the Yankees in their last season at Yankee Stadium as well as the Mets in their last season at Shea Stadium. We also went to visit our friends who live in Brooklyn--Steven and Jennie Baird. It was Robert's first time in New York, but not mine--It brought back several memories of sightseeing and baseball games from when I was a Kid. Here are some pictures from the trip!

Day 1

We flew into NYC on September 11th. We watched the memorial going on on TV before we boarded our plane in Atlanta. It was an interesting day to arrive in NYC.

When we arrived in NYC we entertained ourselves until the Bairds got off work.
First we went to the UN for a tour.

Then we walked downtown, ate at the Carnegie Deli, and saw Times Square.

That evening Steven and Jenny walked us to where we could see this view
of the September 11th Memorial.

Day 2

The next day we got up early to catch the first ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

After some more walking around downtown, we met Steven and Jennie at Shea stadium...
...but sadly the game was rained out

Day 3

We slept in and then took the subway to Yankee stadium.

I was a huge Yankees fan in middle school when I lived in Connecticut, so being at Yankee Stadium brought back a lot of memories!

I was excited to see that the grounds-keepers were still dancing to the YMCA at the 7th inning.

In spite of fact that the Mets game was rained out Friday night, Robert was able to trade in our tickets for tickets to the 3pm game on Saturday (which had become a double header). So we went to the 1pm Yankees game and then we took the subway to Shea and caught the last three innings of the Mets game and the complete second Mets game. That is a total of about 9 hours of the day devoted to baseball--Robert was in heaven!

Knitting is a great way for me to keep my hands busy when watching baseball!

Here is a picture of us with Steven and Jennie at the final Mets game.

Update!

2008-09-16T21:22:00.008-05:00

We have been back from Angola for over two and a half months now. We have now had time to process the trip as a team and as a team we have decided (by a unanimous decision) on a location for our future mission work. We will be living and serving in Huambo, Angola (pronounced Wuambu). Eventually I will post more about the city of Huambo. For now you can see where it is on this map and refresh your memory of our time in Huambo on the survey trip with the pictures here.

As far as the adoption goes...we are still on the waiting list. We do not know exactly where we are on the waiting list, we only know that there are about 289 total on the list. However, there is a forum on the CHSFS website that maintains an unofficial, password protected list. Families who choose to may be put on the list. They say that your place on the list is about twice as high it would be on the official list. We are currently number 65 on the unofficial list (see adoption timeline on the sidebar for updates on this), which means we are approximately number 130 on the official list. Basically this list gives us an idea of whether or not things are moving along in the adoption world. At this point in time the courts are closed in Ethiopia for the rainy season, but referrals are still being given...slowly. CHSFS is now saying that the estimated wait time has increased to 12 months...a relatively longer wait from the original 6-9 months when we started the process. CHSFS is hopeful that the wait time will shorten as referrals speed up. I am hopeful that 12 months will be the worst case scenario.

School has started for the Silver City Church kids. Last moth we had boxes and boxes of school supplies in our extra bedroom. Back on August 2nd we had a back to school event for Boone Park Elementary (a school about 4 blocks from our house). Pleasant Valley Church of Christ in Little Rock raised funds to provide school supplies (exactly what is on each child's school supply list) for every student (about 460) at Boone Park. At the event we had food, games, and each child found out that all of their school supplies would be in their classroom on the first day of school. The event was a great success about 90 children from Boone Park were there with members of their family. The event was a great success!

Mentoring started at Silver City this week and Robert is heading that up once again. He also has a small group of boys coming over each week to do a more in depth survey of the Bible. These boys are coming by choice and they may even have to do homework! We are looking forward to watching these boys learn and grow during this time.

We have enjoyed a couple of weeks of vacation in the last month. The last week in August we went to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee with my parents. And this past weekend we were in New York City visiting friends, seeing the sites, and of course watching the Yankees and the Mets. Stay tuned for pictures and commentary of our adventures!

Why we are adopting...

2008-08-21T22:08:00.001-05:00

I have been meaning to post this since the beginning of this adoption process, but I wanted to be able to really sit down and express why we are adopting siblings from Ethiopia and how Robert and I came to that decision.

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How we came to the decision...

Robert and I had talked about adoption in the past (even before we were married) as a possibility that we wanted to consider in the future. Then one day in January, I was thinking to myself, what if we adopted now? "Now" meaning first, before we even consider having biological children. We were at a conference and one of the speakers was simply challenging us to meet a need--that's what triggered the thought. I thought about it for a couple more days and researched it a little on the internet, then I brought it up to Robert. I wanted to find out what the needs are in the world of adoption--my thought was that I want to adopt now if it is truly needed.

Robert was on board with looking into it, so we did. It is amazing how many opinions there are out there on the subject of adoption. There are countless programs and organizations out there! At one point I was completely overwhelmed by them all, frustrated, and ready to give up on the idea. There are so many requirements, it costs a lot of money, there's a ton of paperwork, and there are so many choices. Robert was my encouragement during this time. He helped me to look at the process with optimism again. Knowing that he wanted to do this as much as I did in the beginning gave me new energy to pursue it.

Looking at websites and information packets from agencies got old quick. Everything blended together and started to look the same. It was difficult to see where we fit in the world of adoption. We were leaning toward international adoption (possibly Ethiopia) with one agency, but I needed a recommendation--a more personal look into adoption.

Robert and I were blessed to make contact with a couple who had very recently adopted from Ethiopia using CHSFS. This couple was much like us prior to making the decision to adopt - young, more than likely capable of having biological children, and choosing to adopt now. Hearing their personal story was so helpful. We met them for lunch one day in order to learn from them about their experiences with adoption. They were straightforward about the challenges that they faced throughout the process, the challenges that they still face, and he challenges that they will face in the future. They had books to recommend, a beautiful story to share, and so much encouragement to give!

It was that day, January 24,2008, that we became convinced that we would make the decision to adopt from Ethiopia using CHSFS.

We are not adopting because it is trendy or because we want to rescue a child from whatever situation they are in. We would be honored to be parents of children who need parents. We have found that there truly is a need for people to adopt.

Why are we adopting from Ethiopia?

In the beginning, as we researched international adoption, we were simply drawn to adoption in Ethiopia because we meet the requirements for adoptive parents for that country. Ethiopia has a government that supports international adoption and the agency that we are using has a strong Ethiopia program.

Also, we love Africa! We have been to other countries within the continent of Africa and we plan on spending a significant amount of time in Angola, Africa doing mission work there (as if any of you who have read this blog didn't know). We look forward to being a multicultural family!

I recently read the book There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene and it opened my eyes to the need for adoption due to things like AIDS and famine leading to a shortage of adults to care for their children. Here is a quote from that book that really touched me:

"'Adoption is a last resort,' I would be told in November 2005 by Haddush Haleform, head of the Children's Commission under Ethiopia's Ministry of Labor, the arbiter of intercountry adoptions, 'Historically, close kinship ties in our country meant that there were very few orphans: orphaned children were raised by their extended families. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has destroyed so many of our families that the possibility no longer exists to absorb all our Ethiopian orphans.
'I am deeply respectful of the families who care for our children," he said. 'But I am very interested in any help that can be given to us to keep the children's first parents alive. Adoption is good, but children, naturally, would prefer not to see their parents die.'"

This book has magnified Ethiopia's present need for adoption for me personally. It also sets the bar high for Robert and me. We are challenged to help keep Ethiopian parents (and adults in general) alive. I have been doing a lot of praying and thinking about this lately. My prayer is that Robert and I help meet Ethiopia's needs alongside our children.

Why are we adopting siblings?

"You're adopting siblings?!" That is what most people say to us when we share our news with them--especially those who do not know exactly how crazy we already are! It is a big step for first time parents to adopt siblings!

We basically feel that if one child is going to rock our world, why not adopt siblings? There is a need for siblings to be adopted, which is the main reason why we made this decision. Another benefit is that in the future I believe that it will be comforting for each of our kids to have a sibling that is experiencing some of the same feelings that he or she is having.

We recognize that siblings will add new challenges to the adoption experience...and it is a little weird to think that if we are adopting siblings under the age of four that at least one of them might have been born before Robert and I were even married!...but we are excited about the adventures before us...whether we are blessed with infants, toddlers, or preschoolers we are looking forward to meeting these children where they are in life

***

We have already overcome many challenges that have come with this Adoption. We recognize that God has already blessed us with an incredible amount of support from friends and family, He has blessed us financially, and our faith continues to increase as he guides us further in this process. We continue to seek God to guide us through the challenges to come.

And now back to...Angola in Pictures V: Malange & back to Luanda

2008-08-01T08:35:00.004-05:00

You are in for a treat! These are some of the prettiest pictures of Angola yet!!

Africa's second largest falls, the Kalandula waterfalls.

We took a hike down to what we thought would be the base of the falls.

We encountered some mud on the way down.

This ended up being our view, pretty, but not what the guide led us to believe.

All clean. Check out that Rainbow!!

Receiving a gift from the church in Malange.

Co-pilot Teague on the way back to Luanda.

Back in the Luanda Traffic.

Our last Sunday in Angola.

An Angola vs. Uganda Football game. Ask us about this adventure sometime!

We flew home a couple of days later. The end!

Three years and Counting!

2008-07-31T15:36:00.004-05:00

We celebrated our 3 year anniversary, yesterday, July 30, 2008.

Angola in Pictures IV: Huambo & Luena

2008-07-12T13:10:00.011-05:00

Huambo

Huambo is another very pretty city. It is one of the largest cities in Angola. It has very little missionary presence that we know of.

This is a place where women make and sell dolls to support themselves.

Robert and I bought these four dolls for the children that we are adopting from Ethiopia.

This is an outdoor market.

Huambo has a large park in the middle of it.

***
Luena

Luena is located near the boarder between Angola and Zambia. It is home to a small Church of Christ made up of Angolan refugees that returned to Angola from Zambia after the war. Here are some pictures of the church service in Luena.

Danny teaching Bible Class.

Robert Preaching. I can see Alex, can you?

Rusty praying. Alex is in the spotlight again...how cute :)

Jordan held this baby and hummed hymns with this woman for a long time after church. Jordan has a way with bridging the language barrier through her nonverbal communication.
She has an amazing gift!

Meeting with church leaders.

The kids.

Teague says smile and points to both her cheeks, so the kids smile and point to their cheeks.

Teague realizes these kids are going to do anything she motions for them to do for the picture.
Do this she says as she raises both her arms in the air.

Angola in Pictures III: Lubango...where we found reliable transpotation

2008-07-12T11:40:00.008-05:00

I hope that you are all enjoying the pictures! This next bunch is in Lubango. Lubango is a very pretty place and there are many missionaries that live there. It gave us a small taste of what missionary life is like outside of the crazy capital city.

***
Jordan and I had the opportunity to visit a mission hospital.

Below is a picture of Jordan and me in our scrubs. Jordan scrubbed in for the first surgery and I observed and asked Dr. Foster, the full time doctor at the mission hospital, questions and documented what we learned from him. Check out this link to learn more about Centro Evangelico de Medicina do Lubango (Evangelical Medical Centre of Lubango).

None of the following pictures are graphic...just in case you were worried!

Jordan assisting in surgery.

The front of the hospital.

Inside the hospital. Everything is clean and new. The hospital is barely a year old now.

This is Rosa, the head nurse. She received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from a school in South Africa. She was a great resource to Jordan and me. Rosa talked with us about the needs that she saw in Angolan health care. She shared with us that many of the nurses there were nurses just to have a job and an income. It was rare to have a nurse that is motivated by his or her desire to be a light to the sick people of Angola as Jesus was a light to the sick that he encountered. Rosa strives to teach nurses to be a Light and a servant to others.

Alex with Uncle Wop later called Uncle Robit inside the missionary compound.

Christo Rei - there are three of these statues in the world -
one in Brazil, one in Portugal, and this one in Angola.

The stairs to the top.

In the provincial cities one of the most efficient ways to get around is by Mototaxi.

Yes, that is a Colorado Rockies hat! Robert kept track of all the MLB hats, jerseys, etc. that we saw while in Angola. I just happened to get on a Mototaxi with a driver who had a Rockies hat on--it was a special day for this baseball fan!

This is the plane that we took to the last 4 stops of the trip. It is flown by pilots from Missions Aviation Fellowship (MAF). "Charlie Golf Whiskey Oscar Hotel" as Brent, our pilot, would say over the radio. Thankfully the airplane was much more reliable than the taxi or the bus!

This is all of us in the plane. Gary is in the back giving us instructions...
such as the location of the "sick sacks."

Co-pilot Robert.

The view.

The in-flight entertainment.

Angola in Pictures II: Visualizing Road to Benguela and the Road to Lubango

2008-07-11T08:19:00.013-05:00

Remember this post? Well, here it is in pictures...

This is the first picture taken after our bags flew out of the taxi cab. As you can see Robert was the first to the bags :)

And here he is bringing the bags back.

The Angolan in the background of this picture below (he's in the black shirt carrying more bags)
is the famous mystery passenger a.k.a. the mechanic!

The first stop to cool off the radiator. There is Silva (our driver) leaning inside the taxi.

We all got to do a little exploring. I think Alex loved exploring the most!

Here is just a small taste of some of the beautiful scenery that we saw on our way.

Robert took this picture in downtown Benguela. School children in Angola wear these lab coats.

Benguela is on the coast. Here is Alex having some fun by the ocean.

Here is Rusty preaching for a small church in Benguela.
...and don't forget Charles our trusty translator!

After church we spent some time with the church in Benguela.
Here is Robert talking with one of the church leaders.

Danny and Rusty speaking with other church leaders.

Some of the women of the church in Benguela.

Me with some of the children at church.

Katie, me , and Jordan inside the church.

Group picture of us and several of the church members outside the church.

The girls and Fifi. Fifi is a dressmaker. We are standing in front of posters of the different patterns she can make. She made us each a dress similar to the one she is wearing in this picture.

Here are some of the events on the road to Lubango.

This is our bus broken down on the side of the road
where we waited several hours for a replacement bus

This is me inside the bus.

This is Jordan singing Christian songs with some of the friends we made on the bus.

Here are some of the people we sang with to pass the time.

Here is our replacement bus with a flat tire a mere 9 minutes after we got back on the road.

Angola in Pictures I : Getting there and first impressions of Luanda

2008-07-08T22:04:00.012-05:00

Our first flight was out of Memphis out of this Gate. The plan was Memphis to Chicago and Chicago to London and London to Luanda, Angola.

Sadly, the plane did not make it off the ground. We were rerouted to Amsterdam then Amsterdam to London then London to Luanda.

***
When we arrived in London we had enough time to take a bus to Richmond, walk around the town, get fish and chips, and ride back to the airport. This is Jordan, Danny, and Me in Richmond. Jordan and I were pack mules carrying our backpacks all over town!

This is Shoprite. The Angolan Walmart. We stopped here on the way to the guest house in Luanda to buy groceries.

This is a bunch of us inside the famous taxi...you know the one with the leaky radiator and the crappy wheel bearings...nice seats, huh?

This is Robert preaching using his famous accent :) Charles is translating what Robert says into Portuguese.

We sat on stage during church...these are the kids that stared at us through the window behind the stage.

After church the children mobbed around Alex. Many of them had the opportunity to shake his hand it was through this experience that they learned that the white does not rub off. Alex is saying "big hole" and pointing to a rather large hole filled with trash.

Taking a picture of some children and then showing them the picture on the screen provided endless entertainment. I am sure many of you have had similar experiences before.

These photos commemorate the memory of Jordan's camera.

Take a picture of one kid doing something fun.

Another kid gets in on the fun.

ANOTHER kid gets in on the fun...this one is in a fun outfit as well!

Then all the kids get in on the fun! Cute aren't they?!

A scene from outside the taxi window.

Trash. Everywhere.

This is the market outside of the guest house.

See the feet? Babies are carried on their mamma's backs. This was a common thing to see...to feet peeking around mom's waist.

Chickens like the trash.

Luanda traffic. See all the taxi cabs?

Cute. Alex with Auntie Jorgen (Jordan) and Uncle Mafan (Nathan).

Marginal de Luanda.

Government buildings are pink.

More to come. Hope you enjoyed part I!

One More Email

2008-06-21T13:05:00.003-05:00

Hey all,

I suspect this will be our last communication from Angola. We are once again in the capital city, Luanda. We will spend our last week here meeting with several leaders and missionaries from different church groups and exploring the cost and conditions of living in Luanda.

Over the past week we spent a couple days in Huambo - perhaps the second largest city in Angola - where no missionaries are currently working. The city was affected heavily by the civil war that ended in 2002 and is rebuilding quickly.

We flew from Huambo to Luena - a smaller provincial capital - where we spent two days with a group of Angolans who became Christians in Zambia while fleeing the war. They returned and began worshiping together, but have faced many difficulties in a country that now seems strange to them. We worshiped with them on Sunday; Danny and I both delivered messages to the church (two sermons in one service!).

From there we traveled to a third provincial capital, Malange, and spent two days there. Our team took a much needed day to relax and recuperate; several of us were sick and we were all very tired from our travel (thankfully, we recovered quickly from our sicknesses - I suspect a strange looking sausage was the culprit in my case). We also spent a few hours with the small ICA congregation there.

Keep praying for us as we finish out the final week of our research trip. We are still excited about the door God is opening for us here, but we do miss all our family and friends back home (and good old fashioned cheeseburgers!). We look forward to sharing more with you about all that we have learned.

In His Service,Robert and Teague