Anyone Hungry??

In following a theme of celebration- we want to share ours with you. It was quite a project, but so worth it in the end!

We had been talking for quite some time about celebrating and documenting certain milestones in our adoption journey. Getting on the waiting list was one of those BIG milestones & we had decided quite a while back that we would celebrate by learning how to cook a traditional Ethiopian feast.  It was quite a learning experience but I think it turned out great! We got to share the experience with some close family and everyone was so brave to join us in this new culinary adventure. Eating from a communal platter only using your hands & even "friend feeding"  :)   Noah especially loved the feeding mom & dad part. He is such a sweet helper at heart.

The weekend-long project included:
Doro Wat- (chicken dish, the national dish of Ethiopia)
Yebeg Tibs (lamb dish)
Miser Wat (red lentil stew)
Kik Alicha (split peas & onion puree)
Quosta (cooked greens)
Tikil Gomen Alicha (veggie dish)
Ethiopian Tomato salad
Tej (Ethiopian Honey Wine)
Ayib (Ethiopian Cheese)

All served with Injera, which I did not make, but instead I ordered from Washington D.C.
One project at a time.

Ended the meal with freshly ground Ethiopian Coffee. YUM.

Here are a few pictures from the night!

Exploring raw honey for the Tej

so. many. onions. (this isn't even all of it)

full stove!

teamwork!

We did it!

A few brave souls
Thanks Mom for learning with me and opening your home for the feast!

A Time to Celebrate!

Hopefully the first of many posts that focus on celebration. You know, sometimes the process of adoption is so painfully slow (especially when attempting to adopt debt free) that we are just not sure how to "update" the blog when there is little to no update to be had. So, my apologies dear family and friends for lack of writing over the long, cold winter. The winter kind of felt like an adoption stalemate- nothing moved. Nothing happened. Nothing I could do.

This week however, this week is different.  Beautiful. Overwhelming Gratitude. Relief.

First of all, now that we have called our parents and siblings I can share that we are finally  OFFICIALLY family # 74 on the waiting list!! Feel free to throw confetti & set off fireworks at your earliest convenience. :0)  This is a huge milestone for us. When the email came in I just sat on the couch and stared at that # 74 like a piece of fine art at the museum. It looked stunningly beautiful to me. 

Getting to the waiting list basically means the dossier was completed, sealed by the Indiana Secretary of State, then traveled to Washington D.C. where our little (ahem- huge) pile of papers partied for a while with the Department of State & Ethiopian Embassy. Then when everyone put the stamp of approval on things it went to our agency in Michigan.

The waiting list is fairly long, and things tend to move slow. There really is no way to estimate a specific timeline from here, but our best guess is 15 to 18 months until we receive a referral. We shall see, it is in God's hands and His perfect timing. Between now and then, we just keep loving the family we have here and now and continue praying for the addition to our family in the future. Oh, and I need to clear out our home office & move it to the basement. You know, so in a year and a half it can look like a bedroom again. If you have seen our home office you know it just may take that long (HA!)

So, celebrate with us! Give hugs to people you love, raise a toast to all of us making it one more step on this journey of life. 

Thank You for your encouragement and support!

Much Love,

Amber

P.S. If anyone can tell me how on earth I can make the family picture smaller on the blog....PLEASE help a sister out.  I wanted a small banner up top of our family, not a full page poster. LOL