Merry Christmas

Hi Everyone,

It's been a long time since I've updated the blog... sorry but life is a bit crazy now with a teen in the house.... ;) Henok is doing wonderful and is VERY excited about the Christmas holiday and getting to open a bunch of presents. He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa!

(Henok and His first Christmas Ornament)

The past few months have been very good. Henok started school at a local private Christian school in September and has loved every minute of it. We were led to believe that it would probably be good to keep him home schooled for a while, but for Henok that was not the case. He needed and thrives on the constant contact with other kids. That socialization has really began to develop him in ways we could never have imagined.(First day of School)

His grades have been surprisingly well considering he was a bit behind the other kids in his class. The school has adjusted his curriculum to be at the level he needs to be, and he is doing great. In math he has already moved up one grade level in the last few months. His teachers tell us that he has such a great enthusiasm for learning and stops at nothing to do well. For us, this doesn't come as a surprise. We learned fast that Henok was very competitive and loves to learn new things.

His current passion is for Chess. He just learned how to play during this first semester in school and now he is very good. For the first few weeks we would play I would beat him because he would make small mistakes that gave me an advantage. Well, now, I'm lucky if I ever beat him. He takes his time and studies the board looking at all of the possible moves and how they effect my play. I would put him up against anyone and bet that he would win 3 out of 5.

(Playing Chess with Uncle Fred)

He and 4 of his Ethiopian friends played their second season of Soccer with our local city league. These kids range from 12 to 14 years old, but decided that they wanted to play in the 15 year old division. They won all of their games (except for 1 tie), and won the division championship! It was such a wonderful thing seeing these boys play. Soccer is really their only past time in Ethiopia and I can tell you that they are all very talented. Henok has improved tremendously from last season and his scoring goals almost every game. I don't think I've seen a happier group of kids.

(Division Champions!)

Well, as we prepare for the new year, we look forward with hope that some unanswered prayers will be settled. For the past 5 months we've been in the process of trying to adopt 2 more children from Ethiopia. One is a young girl (approx. 15 yrs. old) named Mesti, and the other is a little boy named Mastawal (about 3 yrs. old).

We've recently found out that neither of them are available for adoption. Mastawal is already in the process to be adopted by a German couple, and Mesti is too old for adoption. Finding out this news has been very heartbreaking for us, however, we know that God has a plan for us and our family. We are looking into the possibility of bringing Mesti to the US on a student visa so that we could have her her for the remainder of her high school years, and then possibly into her College years.

We understand that there might be some remote possibility of legally adopting her here after she turns 18, but we are in the beginning stages of finding out what's needed to make that happen. We love her very much and are not ready to give up yet. Please pray that if this is Gods will, he will make the path known.

For Mastawal, it's bittersweet. Henok loves this little boy very much, and wants him to be his little brother. We will have to find a way to let him know soon that we will not be able to adopt him. As for the family in Germany, we wish nothing but the best and hope that someday we could establish some contact so that Henok and Mastawal could continue their relationship as the years go on.

(Henok and Mastawal)

Well, we are preparing for a very happy first Christmas with Henok. We are going to Renee's Aunts house and will spend Christmas there with the family. I will have the camera ready for all the fun events and hope to post some pictures of that soon after the first of the year.

(Henok in his Runway Pose at the School Christmas Program)

From our Family to Yours, have a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Until next time...

In His Service,

Matthew

Funny little quirks...

Hi everyone,

Renee has been begging me to post this for a few weeks, and I finally have some time to post it now. A little background... From having Henok with us the last 7 months, it's easy to see that he is a normal kid, and he is all boy. He makes all the funny noises that young boys make, including all the one's that irritate you intensely. His favorite is to bark like our Basset Hound, Buford. This really drives his Mother insane as it makes Buford start barking, which is just crazy loud.

From being aroundhim and interacting with Henok during this time, I noticed that when we are out in public, and we both go to the restroom at the same time, Henok will always wait for someone to open the door for him after he has finished washing his hands. On several occasions, I have witnessed him trying very intently to use his foot to open the door to get out of a restroom if no one else if around to open the door. Obviously, he doesn't want to touch the door handle because he noticed a lot of people not washing their hands.

So, last month we were on vacation in Galveston and we drove into Houston to visit with some relatives. We went to dinner at a Cajun seafood restaurant named Papadeaux's. After we were seated and our orders placed, Henok and I get up to go to the restroom.

We enter the restroom, and there is one other man just finishing up and walking over to wash his hands. I finished up before Henok and washed my hands and was able to make it out the door without having to touch the door knob. (It was an actual round door knob, instead of the half moon handle you normally see.) I made sure that he saw me not touching the door knob as I slipped out. I waited there just on the other side of the restroom door to see how he would handle it. About 30 seconds go by and I hear a faint "Dad..." come from the restroom. A few seconds later, I hear a more desperate "DAD!!"

Let me tell you, this place was very loud from people talking, and I could hear him pretty clearly... lol By this point, I'm starting to laugh at the situation and decide I better open the door for him. Then, all of a sudden, there is a loud kicking sound on the round metal door knob. I lost it and started laughing . I said in a stern voice, "Son, please hurry up!". I hear 2 more kicks to the door knob and then he says, frantically, "Dad, can you open the door?"

Laughingly, I said, "Son, just turn the door knob and open the door." And he replies, "No. I can't." hahaha So, being the good father I am, I opened the door and find him in this half roundhouse kicking position fixing to kick the door knob again. He stopped as I opened the door and we both began to laugh as we head back to our table.

Well, that's about it, but I though it was funny and wanted to share it with everyone. Henok is doing very well now. He started school last week and is LOVING IT! I think he's just happy to be out of the house after being there all summer.

Take care and I'll update again soon. Maybe some pictures or video....

In His Service,

Matthew

Business as usual

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to make a quick update to let everyone know that we are doing fine and nothing major to report. Henok is doing really good, and is learning alot. His English is very good, but still needs some work.

We are waiting to hear back from the school we want Henok to attend to find out if we are eligible for a scholarship of some sort. We really want him to go there but the money is an issue. Please pray that we will get enough to enroll him this year.

Well, guess that's it for now. I will try to get some new pictures updated here soon. Henok is growing like crazy and up to 83lbs. Until then, take care and God Bless.

In His Service,

Matthew

Pleasant Surprise...

Hi everyone,

As I was going through some of the hundreds of data CD's and DVD's that populate my workspace at home, I found a DVD that had a backup of all the pictures we took while Henok was here for his first trip to America!

I don't even remember making a backup of these pictures, but thank God I did. We were sure that these memories were lost forever because of our computers that were stolen back in March.
We are so grateful to God that we have these pictures back, and very happy! Once again, all praise and glory to our Father and God!

Henok just finished up his first season of Soccer. They did really well. Henok scored 5 goals in the last 3 games and we were very proud and excited for him! He is looking forward to the next season already, and Renee and I are looking forward to some nice rest from the 4 nights a week soccer schedule we were one for the last 2 months... ;)

Otherwise, all is well and we are doing good. We had our first post-placement meeting about 2 weeks and that went well... Henok is growing at a very good rate. He's up to 75 lbs, and plans on consuming mass quantities of Hamburgers this Summer so he can be even bigger for the Fall soccer league... ;)

Well, I'll wrap it up for now and say goodbye.

In His Service,

Matthew

Rough couple of weeks

Hi everyone,

It's been a rough couple of weeks for us here. On 3/31 our house was burglarized. They took 2 of our computers and my new TV/Blu-Ray DVD player as well as some of my mothers wedding jewelry, but most of all they made us feel unsafe in our own home.

Just a few weeks after Henok arrived, he was scared that thieves would come so we installed some alarms on his windows. That made him happy, but still he was just terrified of the thought that there could possibly be someone who would come and violate our home. He actually had to sleep in our bed for a few nights because he was so scared. We reassured him that no thieves would come, and even if they did, God would protect us. Now this happens, and he is even more frightened than ever now.

Well, we are moving past this at a remarkable place. Some things will be replaced with insurance money, and some things... well, some things can never be replaced. The only copies of the videos we took while we were in Ethiopia were on my computer that got stolen. We had probably 150 movie clips that we took while there that are probably gone forever.

Luckily, about 2 weeks before the theft, I made a DVD of the 1400 pictures we took while in Ethiopia, so at least we still have those. This whole thing has made me realize just how careless I had become about our security and safety. I just thank God so much that Renee and Henok were not in the house when they came.

However, in all this, we are still safe and God is still taking care of us as he always has. In all things, we will give Praises to our God. Good or Bad.

Until next time...

In His Service,

Matthew

Learning the Ropes

Hi Everyone,

Well, I took a bit of time off from the blogging to enjoy having Henok home. I'm sorry I haven't posted any pictures or videos from our trip, but time on the computer has been very limited since we returned.

Henok is doing very well and is adjusting to his new surroundings and learning the ropes of being a normal kid. His English skills have grown exponentially since we returned. He already had a very good vocabulary, but he is easily 10x where he was before we got home.

We are currently home-schooling Henok and that is going well. He is learning so much. We are thinking about enrolling him in a local christian private school for some "enrichment' type classes; computers, spanish, physical education, music, etc... For now, it would only be a few days a week in the afternoon to help get him used to being around other kids. He does very well at adjusting so I don't think there will be any problems with that.

He is playing soccer with a team here locally, along with 3 other Ethiopian children that were adopted at the same time. It's amazing how athletic these kids are. They run circles around the other kids and they love every minute of it.

I really will try to put some pics and maybe some video up from our trip, but no promises.. ;)
Take care and check back soon for more updates.

In Christ,

Matthew

Settling in nicely

Hello.

What a crazy and exciting time we are having. Being new parents surely has it's challenges, and we are seeing that clearly now. Henok is doing well, and adjusting to his new Home. He was VERY excited to be in America, and even more excited to be a new American!

Our church had a Welcome "shower" for Henok on Sunday, and that was great! He received so many cool gifts and many gift cards. Henok was so excited, and is enjoying playing with all of them!

I was finally able to get the pictures from Ethiopia downloaded to the PC late last week. My memory card is new, and the card reader wouldn't recognize the new memory type so I had to buy a new card reader. All is well, and the pictures and video clips (all 1400 of them) are all safely on my PC now. Sorry I don't have any ready to post yet, but I will try to have some up soon.

You know, it's a real blessing when God gives you exactly what you asked for. We wanted a beautiful, wonderful, healthy and energetic young child, and that's exactly what we got. Again, I have to thank God for the amazing gift he has given, and for his faithfullness in all things.

In His Service,

Matthew

We're Back

Hi everyone,

Sorry for not posting while we were in Ethiopia. For some reason, I couldn't get any internet connection (even the "high-speed" connections) to pull up the blogspot website.

However, we have made it back safely and our little man is doing great! He was so excited when we landed today. He is happy to be an American! Well, we just got back home and we are very tired from the 2 day trip, so I will update later with more info and pics (once I download them from the camera)... ;0

Thanks for all the encouraging words and prayers. God has truely answered our prayers!

In His Service,

Matthew

Small problem...

Well, I guess it was inevitable that there would be some problem at some point. We've come this far without any real isssues, Thank God!

We heard from Mary @ Gladney today. Due to some backup issues with MOWA getting some paperwork completed, our Embassy date was pushed back a week from Jan 16 to Jan 23.

In terms of problems, this is a pain, but not that major. We had to push our departure back by 3 days and there was a small change fee involved with changing Henok's plane ticket (mine and Renee's changes were FREE!!) So now, we will return from Ethiopia on Jan 27, instead of Jan 24.

Hopefully, we will be able to stay at Addiskidan another few days, otherwise we will have to find another place to stay the last few nights.

All in all, we praise God that this was such a minor problem. It really could have been worse.
Well, take care and I will update everyone soon.

In His Service,

Matthew

It's a Boy...

He's is officially our Son.... The court date went through perfectly and we are now the proud parents of our sweet little Henok!!!!

Next: We leave for Ethiopia on January 13th! I'll update soon.

In His Service,

Matthew

One more day...

Well, our court date is just 1 day away, and we are really anxious and nervous about it. A few of the families in our area that also adopted with us had some paperwork problems that delayed their court date (totally throwing off thier travel plans).

Please continue to pray that everything will go well with the court date tomorrow and that Henok will finally be ours! Also, please pray that our fears and anxieties will fade away as we rely on our Faith for strength and comfort.

As expected, we are running around like frantic chickens without heads trying to get everything in order before we leave for Ethiopia on the 13th. Trying to get all the last minute details ironed out is very nerve-wracking. However, we know that it's all worth it in the end when we have our sweet little Henok here with us Forever!

On a side note, I wanted to take a second to thank everyone that has been a part of this Adoption with us. First and foremost, I want to give thanks to God for bringing this amazing little boy into our lives. To our families, friends, church family, new adoptive family friends, Gladney, and each and every one of you that have laughed, cried, and prayed right along with us at each step; Whether you know it or not, you have been a big part of God's plan to bring this child into our life. No matter the contribution you made to this adoption, you have helped bring Hope to the life of a young boy who didn't have much Hope. Thank you from the bottom of our Hearts.

In His Service,

Matthew