A Long Overdue Update

This upcoming saturday will mark our 5th week with Luke! I have to say that the time has flown by and he has grown quickly as the days pass. The first two weeks were complicated because we often didn't understand what he wanted and we were visiting the doctor multiple times a week! But he has been getting better and has been getting more and more active.

 Luke had/has a ear infection in just his right ear, pneumonia(which he is over!), he has low iron, and Giardia. At times we still think that his ear is bothering him but we will find out at the next doctors appointment if the infection is still there. The pneumonia was more complicated. Luke did not want to take the medication so my mom was bringing him to the doctors to get shots for it. She was bringing him everyday, so we pulled out our secret weapon. Carrie and Todd Klaasen came over and held Luke down and showed my parents how to give him his medication. It mad him pretty upset but it was something that had to happen! And man were we thankful for the help! After doing this a few times he would take the medication like a big boy and not throw a fit. Since then he has finished taking the medication and has so much energy! Its amazing how active he is when he isnt always tired. He is currently taking medication for his low iron, which he takes without a problem (Thanks again Klaasens!), and is getting healthier! As for the Giardia (a Ethiopian disease with his stool) it has been getting better! I wont go into details but we are definitely making progress in getting rid of that nasty disease.

He sleeps about 12 hours a night and takes a 3 hours nap in the after noon, which seems like a lot of sleep but it works for him! Since he sleeps so long every night, he gets up and eats like a bear. Normally 2 packets of oatmeal, eggs, toast, and maybe yogurt are enough to fill him up. But he is always hungry about 2 hours later! He digs anything that is white bread, buns, potatoes, chips, tortillas, etc. He eats grapes and strawberries but we havent tried much of anything else. (Blueberries were a little but to sour for him! haha) He has eaten chicken but not consistantly, he will eat venison, hotdogs, and bologna. The list goes on and on so we cant complain about the eating! Although the only thing we can get him to drink is water we aren't too worried since he drinks a lot of it! 

Speaking of water the boy loves it! If you ever drive by you will probably see him on the drive way with buckets of water, shovels, and rocks (from the landscaping!). He loves playing with the water and he loves containers more then he loves clothes! As he plays he keeps a eye on mom making sure she doesnt leave him and he talks like crazy. Everyday he is saying more and more. He is really good at repeating what he hears! Mom is still his favorite word though! 

Along with teaching him words, he has learned to give fist bumps, high fives, kisses, wave goodbye, and pray. Mom prays a simple prayer with him before he eats and just recently he has started to join hands with the family around the table, make sure we have our eyes closed and then he closes his and bows his head. He may not understand it but in some ways i think he does. He gets that it is important and we all do it, including him. Its one of those moments that I'm not planning on forgetting. To see that sweet little boy understand something in such a simple way. To hold my parents hands and close his eyes means the world. Its amazing how God works. 

We have fallen so in love with this little boy over the course of almost 5 weeks. He has been such a blessing to us and our family and friends. His giggle and his smile make every day of that long wait worth it! 

I know that we haven't been great at updating the blog but I will seriously try to start updating this consistently. Thank you for all the prayers, support, and gifts that have been helping us through this journey! God Bless!

Love,

Lauren 

Welcoming Home Luke

We made it to Washington DC. Luke did great on the flight. The only real problem we had was one he couldn't  control - he pooped through 3 outfits.

We want to thank all those who have supported us in many ways over the nearly four years since we decided to adopt.  On July 15, 2010 we made a decision to adopt from Ethiopia and began paperwork. Through a long and often frustrating process God has lead us to July 15, 2013 which is the day our son from Ethiopia became ours forever.  Looking back we obviously would have preferred to have this process go much quicker, but we also recognize that God has taught us a new level of patience and reliance on Him because there really was no other options available. 

Because of all your support, it is reluctance that we make the follow request. Based on our intuition and advice from Bethany, we are going to "cocoon" or essentially keep our son to ourselves for several weeks. We feel this is in his best interest. You are more than welcome to be at the airport when we get home from Ethiopia tomorrow

. Brett will be carrying him off the plane and the plan is for him to stay in Brett's arms while at the airport.  You can visit with him at the airport but we will not be passing him around.  Once we are home we ask that you respect our privacy and allow us to lay low as a family for the rest of the summer. 

We are proud to announce ..............

Robin is making an announcement ...........Brett and I are proud to announce we have chosen a name for our youngest child -  Luke Terefe Diepenhorst.  We will be boarding the plane tomorrow at 10:15am and arriving at 7 am Ethiopian time (that would be midnight our time).  Please pray that our flight goes smoothly and we are able to get sleep.  Shortly after we get in Ethiopia we will be going to pick up Luke from the orphanage.  We have been praying that this change for him is not too much.  We will try post some pictures on Monday.  God has blessed us with another child and we can't wait to see what all He has planned for us.  Please remember we are all orphans and children of God.

They're gone....

They left our sight at about 8:50, after looking in the gift shop for a cord that my dad wanted for his glasses, and having breakfast at the aiport. We said our goodbyes and they got in the line for security.   We walked away knowing that the next time we were altogether we would be a family of 6. It wasn't easy we all wanted to go back together back to Ethiopia, Africa together. They have arrived safely at the Washington Dulles Airport. Hopefully now picking out a name for "nameless" a.k.a little "t". Yeah, Mom if you are trying to log into the blog Grandma likes the name Isaac. Yeah and sorry if there are no updates from my mom doesn't have it quite down yet ( blog steps) and it doesn't help that if she is using the computer in Africa when she gets there ( which will be @ 12:00 give or take on Monday) , blogger settings are in Amharic.   

Dates and Times

So a week from today he will be in my parents arms forever. They will pick him up from the Hilawe  orphanage.  Then they have a Embassy appointment at1:00 which is when then sign  papers and show they have him. Some point in the time he will have a doctors appointment there. They will be waiting  for his visa which they could get at any time on Thursday. They will arrive back in Grand Rapids a week from Saturday at 2:10 give or take. Right when he stands on U.S. soil he is a U.S. citizen. Anyone who wants to come to the airport is welcome this is your chance to see him. Little T's suitcase has been pack for almost a week.  

We passed.... again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So there was a little confusion with the U.S. Embassy. They cleared us not knowing that my parents fingerprints were expired, even though they redid them but Bethany didn't send them. Somehow the mistake was found and yesterday we got news that we would have to wait til they were sent digitally to the Embassy. They got them to Embassy but they were already close for the day yesterday. Praying that we would get the news today, and we got it. On Monday the 15 of July my parents will be picking Terefe. And the 16th is the Embassy date which is when they have to show they have little T and sign paperwork. And on the 17th is exactly 3 years since we told our family we were adopting clueing them with the flowers of Ethiopia, Ethiopian coffee, and the #4. Now on this day three years later my  parents  will be holding him in our arms. God is good and we are blessed. We love you little  T. 

He's commin' home 🏠

We passed Embassy today! Now we have submitted dates to Embassy and the chose we which better for them. Then probably monday we will firgure out when my parents are going to Africa. We. are. Blessed. beyond words and can't wait to have little "T" home.  Also I have to clarify that his orphanage didn't close its just that Bethany is no longer partnering  with them.  We will update soon 

Submitted to Embassy

Our application has been submitted t the U.S. Embassy which now has to be approved by them. Once is is approved we will be notified and they will start working on his VISA. Also a week from yesterday he was moved to a different orphanage because his old orphanage, Help For the Needy, closed due to funding problems. Now he is at Hilawe he has new nannies and no kids from hisold orphanage moved with him. It was very sad news to us but it is for the better. His old orphanage was in conditions that no child should live with. Also the Klaasen's got their daughter Kyah from this orphanage, so we have seen pictures of it and its really nice.  Can't wait to hold him in our arms again and are so blessed through this journey. 

Cya soon

 ( this was supposed to be posted on monday) We visited little T for the last time today.  We were put in a bedroom with just him.  Where we showed him how to color with a crayon. He figured it out pretty quickly but wasn't too interested.  So instead he just held them, have them to us , or put them all back  in the box. He was also into the plastic zoo animals that Grandma Kalkman sent with us. At first he did not want to be carried or held by mom but then realized how nice it was. The rest of us got to hold him for a short time. We were there in the morning and stayed till the beginning if his nap time. We got the chance to give him his lunch which was rice with chopped up carrots. The first few bits he enjoyed, then he started to spit it rice out. The nanny even tried  feeding him and he did the same. Mom held him and he fell asleep on her.  Almost all of us cried  but you shouldn't be  too surprised.     He had a cold so that is why  he wasn't too hungry. This trip we have had a total of at least  7 hours with little T. It didn't seem near that much buy they told us we would only he to see him for a hour and 45 min. It was a bittersweet goodbye but we know we will see him in not long. We fly out on Tuesdaynight at 10:15 ( Ethiopian time ) so 3:15  Michigan time.  We will arrive at the GR airport at 2:30. We are not ready to leave Ethiopia at all.  Definitely can feel your prayers on the other side of the world. So blessed beyond words ! 

Abel

Abel is our guide from Bethany for this trip. He is a native Ethiopian and  he was born just outside of Addis. He and his wife, Hannah, meet at Bethany and they both still work there. They recently had a baby girl Eliana ( 9 months old ) He is with us whenever we leave the gate of Morning Coffee. He is our translator and our traveling guide in Ethiopia. Abel is a very busy man constantly running around with adoptive families and he seems to always need to charge his phone. We are very blessed to have a great guide and someone who cares so much about what we are trying to do.

Abel went to the University of Ethiopia and majored in history. Before he worked for Bethany he would do tours about the history of Ethiopia. He has also written a book called, 'Ethiopian History for Dummies'. Abel did the history part of our cultural training.

Court!

We have officially passed court! God is good! Thank you for all the prayers!
Love,
The Diepenhorsts

Second Time With T

Wednesday

(We learned that we were saying Terefe wrong, it is pronounced tear-e-fah.)

We got up this morning with same jet lag from the 7 hour difference. We have been taking some pills for sleep because its hard to sleep with the dogs that bark all night long. We had some of Birtukans breakfast and got into a Toyota van with Abel shortly after. Today we were going to Bethany to talk to a lawyer about court and to talk to Hannah our social worker.  The lawyer ( whose name I am not going to try to spell) talked to us about the process and questions that we would be asked at the court/embassy. Afterwards we talked to Hannah who from memory was able to tell us about Terefe (the power was once again out). She also was able to give us a picture of when T was a baby. It was over all a very successful trip to Bethany. 

This time we walked through the lines I tiny clothes without Abel or Hannah. We walked into the room it was silent. A nanny turned to us and asked us what child we were looking for. She headed behind the door marked 'please do not touch' to go get Terefe. As the nannies were walking in and out a young girl we had meet on a trip before came out onto the carpet with us. She was going to b adopted by a you g couple out of Philly who did no have any other kids. And boy are they going to have their hands full. She was pleasant at first laughing and playing with a red ball we had brought and gibbering in Ahameric. She also counted1-10 in English. Towards the end of our visit she had thrown many fits and bitten Hunter many times.

After a few minutes the older kids appeared just outside the room wearing there blue and white uniforms from school. They smiled when they saw us and rushed to find some clothes to change into. The kids appeared moments before Terefe did. One of his favorite nannies was carrying him. She was petite with bright brown eyes and black curls that framed her face. Her bright white teeth appeared as she talked to Terefe. She lowered the boy down to the floor and he looked at us without much reaction. ( which is normal because he hasn't had much time to attach to us) The nanny was saying his name coaxing him towards mama. He was reluctant at first looking at the nanny for a while and the turning around he slowly walked towards mom. Taking one last look at his nanny he turn bending his bottom towards mama's lap. Moms face lit up as he snuggled closer with the passing time. He would sometimes respond to his name. But most of the time he has his two fingers pushed back in his mouth to almost his knuckles, as if he was hoping that his teeth would pop through. (Terefe has 4 front and bottom teeth, two in the back left and one in the back right) His nanny says that he has not been fussy with the the new teeth growing in. We also gave him a small white and black cow made of soft rubber that would vibrate when the ring in the back of it was pulled. When we first placed it in front of him the kids gathered around watching what we had brought today. (The day before the kids had a hay day with the camera and video camera) Mom pulled the string for the first time making the cow vibrate in his tiny hands. A small smile appeared to be growing. Fortunately, that was not the last time we would see him smile that day. He continued to play and chew on the soft rubber, occasionally pulling the ring back with his teeth or fingers making it vibrate. We also brought with us a bear that Baarmans had given us, even though we couldn't leave it, it was a huge hit with the kids. They loved how soft the bear was and squeezing the bear so that it would say the instructions aloud in English. We also brought gift bags that we could make a hand and foot print of T's with. The foot went without hitch but he didn't like it we did his hand. We also brought suckers for the kids (which they absolutely loved!) I was holding Terefe when he was eating his and I got sucker stickiness on my arms, face and clothes. And he was drooling because it tasted so good, and man was he adorable! After a while the nanny came out with a red cup of warm milk for Terefe. He started kicking his leg and as I was setting him down he reached up for the cup. Temporarily forgetting about the sucker he started to chug down the warm milk, some of it draining down. The front of his froggy shirt. As the time passed we played with Terefe and the kids. We sang 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' and 'Jesus Loves Me' and all the rowdiness in the room stopped as the kids turned to listen to us sing even though they could not understand. After we had stopped singing the small girl from before grabbed the Ethiopian flag off of the bare shelf of toys. She started to sing what we are assuming the National Anthem as she danced around on the carpet.

The visit with Terefe could not have been better! He was talking to us and pointing. He cuddled close when we held him, and he was smiling at times which was more the enough. But towards the end of our long visit he started to hum. Hummed little things that we could barely hear much less understand but they were beautiful. 

That night we went to a traditional restaurant with Abel and another couple ( adopting a 9 year old from the waiting list ) to have dinner. Before entering the main part of the restaurants we were patted down and followed Abel in. The inside of the restaurant was decorated traditionally and he waiters/waitresses were also dressed traditionally. We order inejera and had many of the stews (dips) with it. The inejera is sour and not my favorite. We watched the dancers for a while and then headed back to Morning Coffee.

Meeting Terefe

Tuesday (Robin)

 The door opens and my heart beats faster,tears  stream down my face.thank you God he's beautiful and thank you for bringing us to this moment. His hair is cut short so that his scalp shows through, and his eyes and bigger and browner in person. He wore a dark blue tee with basketballs on it and brown plaid shorts. He is amazing. The nanny explains who we are, " momma and papa", she says to him. I just want to run up to her and grab him but I know that wouldn't be fair to Terefe.We brought bubbles and a ball for the kids and Terefe to play with. Slowly, I started to stroke his arm and kiss it (I still think this is a dream)  Terefe sucks his two fingers down to his knuckles and hugs the bear the Baarmans gave us. The kids, nannies, and Terefe likes to listen to the instructions that the bear would say aloud. The older kids at the orphanage where jumping all around blowing bubbles and kicking the ball.(When we enter the orphanage the old children greet us with hugs and hand shakes.....oh I could take a couple of them home with me)Terefe doesn't miss anything  and loves to watch everyone and everything that is going on around him.Lots of pictures and videos were taken! Our first but not last visit was for about 2 hrs.

Tuesday - we arrived at the airport early in the morning, it had long night and the day ahead seemed really long. After getting our bags, visas, and going through customs we walked out into the pick up area. There was a large group of people with cards and flowers waiting for people they knew. We moved off to the side with our mountains of baggage and started searching for a person who was looking for us. Minutes started to pass and by that time two different women had come up to us asking if we wanted to use their phones. We tried calling and we were simply told that our ride was on the way. The women kept asking if we wanted a taxi and we couldn't figure out how to tell them that someone was coming for us. One of the women told us that the doors are closed to visitors after nine. Looking around at the doors we saw soldiers guarding the exits and entrances. A few minutes later a man on the outside pushed a paper against the window, it was Abel. We were so excited to see him. The thought of being lost the first few minutes on African soil was terrifying. Abel apologized  for being late and grabbing one of our bags we followed him out into the parking lot of taxis. It felt so good to sit down and not be on a plane! The ride to the orphanage was something I will never forget. Seeing the people, animals, stores, markets, new buildings, and atmosphere so unique. Abel our guide told us that we would be seeing Terefe that afternoon.

We turned of the main road on to a pothole covered gravel road. We were so close to him. Every corner we took made my heart pound harder and harder in my ears. The Toyota van came to a stop in front of a blue and orange checkered gate. I remember following Abel through the gate and ducking underneath the lines of cloths. The clothes were so small.  We took a left were the clothes ended. I could hear the television, smell the dampness on the ground, and the old brick walls on either side of the path. We took another left into the the room with a big carpet. The kids turned towards us. They ran over shaking our hands and smiling. Hannah, Abel's wife and our social worker, told the nannies that we were hear to see Terefe. The nannies went behind the swinging doors to go get him.

- Lauren

Last few minutes in the US

May 19 - After getting up around 5 to do some final packing, Grandma and Grandpa Diepenhorst arrived to take us to Gerald R For airport in GR. We went through security without a hitch. The flight lasted around 30 minutes and we arrived in Chicago to meet our flight to Washington around 9. We spent the day as tourists downtown Washington. We walked around and saw the Washington Monument which sadly was under construction! We also saw the WW II Memorial, the reflecting pool, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Smithsonian Castle and Gardens, and Lincoln Memorial. Afterwards we returned to the Embassy hotel.

May 20 - As of right now we are sitting on the airport as people are sitting to drift into our plane. We will be flying from Washington to Rome (refill on gas), and then to Addis. The flight will take around 13 hours, an that means when we arrive it will be 12:30 am for us and 7:30 am for the people in Ethiopia. It's going to be a long two days!

We will update with more details tomorrow!

Packing.....

This is what we have slowly been doing for about week. Making sure we having everything we need and other donations that we are giving to the orphanage.  End result; We have a total of  8 suit cases mixed with our clothes and things we are giving away. We are so thankful to the family and friends that have donate things to take, prayers, and support. In about 11 hours  we will  boarding a plane and flying out of Grand Rapids to Chicago then to Washington D.C. and there for the rest of the day. Then the next  morning at 11:00 we will depart  for our 13 and half hour plane ride. Will update shortly after we arrive.

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers day to all the mother out there. One week from today we will be leaving from Grand Rapids  to travel to Chicago then to Washington D.C . have a night layover there then to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We are ecstatic about finally meeting little T  and getting to know him for a whole 105 mins., its heat breaking to know we only get to be with little T  for that short of time. But we are beyond blessed to go as a family to meet our little T. We are so blessed for all the prayers and support. Hope you all have a great day with your family.

Its Time for Africa !!!!!!

We got our family court date to go to Ethiopia and the date is the 24th of May which is a Friday.  21 days til we arrive to the beautiful land of Ethiopia. We need to be the in country 48 hours piror to the court date.  My family is so stoked to finally get to meet T-man. God has blessed us in so many ways through our adoption process. Thanks for all the prayers and support we are so blessed. There aren't words to explain my familys feelings and beyond blessed  to meet  our little t.  

Guardian Court Passed !!!!!!!!!!!

According to Bethany, the guardian court meeting went well.  Now we are waiting for MOWA (Ethiopian governmental agency) to write a letter to the African court.  Once this letter is received and accepted by the court, we will get a court date for our family to go on our first trip. Heres a gift we got from one of our amazing  and talented neighbors, thanks Pam!

It's Tomorrow.........

Terefe's guardian court date is happening tomorrow. This is the  last step to getting our date to go. Right now the VanDams are in Ethiopia on their first trip  visiting Tizi  and will have their court date a day after Terefes.  Its exciting to know that things in the adoption world are going well. Can't wait to hear about their trip and can't wait for both of our families court dates. Please pray that all goes well  and can't wait to fill in all of these boxes..............