Selamnesh's Story: Were Here!!!!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Were Here!!!!

The trip was pretty much non-eventful. Wonderful flights, The flight attendants were great, nice and accommodating, great food, and 5 families adopting from our group. So the time went faster than it could have. Every time we turned around we were being fed great meals with Cheesecake!!! Security went great, non-eventful. In the morning we will meet Sahara for the first time. We got our social report tonight and what great pictures!!! I will share photos as soon as I can............. As for now it's almost midnight and we haven't slept for more than a few hours in the last two days. So ta-ta for now from Ethiopia!!!!!!!

2 comments:

Christy O said...: Hooray!!!!!! Glad to know that all went well. And tomorrow is the big day!!!! Cannot wait to hear more!!!
Love to you all!
Christy; September 25, 2008 at 5:40 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm eagerly waiting for pictures of the whole family together!; September 26, 2008 at 5:06 AM

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Why Selamnesh?? Why not Sahara??

So often we go into a situation with our minds made up. We did!! We chose the name Sahara in a Walmart store. Lauren came up with it months before we ever sent in our first application. She was going to be Sahara!!

And she was Sahara...... until we met her, her nannies and her beloved birthmother Bizunesh. I could barely pronounce her name Selamnesh. But after hearing everyone call her by her birth name. How could we change it?? How selfesh would that be?? Her name is the only thing her birthmother can give her, how could I be so cruel as to take that away from her??

Bizunesh and I sat for 30 minutes with 2 translators exchanging our dreams for her beloved baby girl. I could only understand 1 word she would speak.......Selamnesh. The way she said it will ring in my ears for the rest of my life. God changed my heart that day on the bus ride home.

A legal name is just that. How many Henry's, Richard's, Barbra's or Catherine's do you know that use their legal names?? My daughter's name is Selamnesh. Most of the time I call her sweatheart.

About the process

They tell us that the process to adopt a child from Ethiopia is about a year. A referral is when they match you to a child. They get a grouping of children, and then try to match a family to the child's needs and the families requests. They take a lot of care in this process. What a wonderful blessing they are giving both us as families and to the children. The dossier is the file that you collect information and recommendations about your family and submit them to the agency. The time frame from submitting the dossier to referral is about 6-9 months. Our process took 5 months. Then you wait for a court date. Then you wait for a birth certificate. Then after the birth certificate comes in correctly, you get a travel date. With our agency, you stay a week. They show you around the area, possibly meet the birth parent or relative. And spend time getting to know your child. You stay at a guest house with a full time cook, and driver. I couldn't ask for a more wonderful agency. Alexa, I owe you so much thanks!

Selamnesh's Story

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Were Here!!!!

2 comments:

The Family

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Why Selamnesh?? Why not Sahara??

Journey to Selamnesh

Ethiopian time

Our Adoption Agency

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About the process

The process

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