Ethiopia

And then there were 4!

Wow! We have been home for more than a week now where has the time gone? First I must apologize to those that have pointed out our duty to keep you informed on how things are progressing here at home. Here goes... We are sorry for not updating since June 21st.

Life has been pretty hectic since coming home. Reuniting as a family after 12 days apart was rough and beautiful. Rough b/c most of us were crying at the airport a tearful reunion. We noticed the greatest differences in Kiara our two years old. When we left she was barely uttering sentences and upon our return she was stringing long sentences together. She looked like she had grown a foot while we were gone. This is just a perspective thing (since we were used to carrying and holding Ezra so much). Kiara just giggled uncontrollably when she first met Ezra... She kept saying his name and then laughing. she still does this every morning when she sees him after waking up. It's an accurate reflection of how we all feel. Giddy that he is finally home (it is still so unbelievable that he is now home).
All the girls just absolutely love him. Yelissa and Tianna are so good with holding him. Ezra is at peace with them (finally some brown faces for him to connect with after all those white faces being all up in his space).

Jet lag has been a killer. I had no idea it would be this bad. Those first few days were pure hell. By 4 o'clock our brains began to melt and our eyes rolled into the back of our heads. Of course that was right at what we affectionately call "4 oh freaking clock!" The time our kids are absolute bears after school just prior to dinner. Chris and I would share looks across the room indicating we did not think we would survive. I am glad to be able to report that jet lag eventually ends...

For the last week or so we have been sequestering ourselves and keeping things fairly low key. Family has come by to see Ezra and some close family freinds bt for the most part we are just home alone these days working on attachment with Ezra. Its been nice to focus on end of school activities and making a slow incremental adjustment to work at New Life. (Heading to work while Ezra is napping etc) This is all about to change tomorrow as we head to our annual Harambee Adoption Camp. A week long cultural camping experience with 60-70 other families that have adopted children of African Heritage. This is our 9th year going and we are super stoked. We are super grateful to the VanHuizen family for letting us use their trailer and offering to drive it out to Penticton for us what a huge gift that is... We will be gone for a week. This will hopefully give us a more relaxed opportunity to bond with Ezra in a holiday setting. The nice thing about the camp is that the people get the whole attachment process and will keep their distance and let us just do the whole attachment thing.

4 kids is VERY different then 3 kids. It feels like our family is complete and full. The journey has been insane but when we look at our now complete family we know it was worth every effort.

Thanks for following the blog...
For those of you that are part of the New Life family you'll hopefully get to see Ezra at Church on July 11th.
For those that are far away from Abby we hope we get to see you soon.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers well wishes, comments and support on this journey!!!

We will keep up the BeugelBlog (on a less consistent basis)
Time is much more valuable and elusive it seems with a family of 4, but we will do our best...

A final word: HUP HOLLAND HUP!!!

June 21st

June 21

Well we had a nice leisurely day at the Frankfurt Sheraton. A short
walk across the sky bridge gives us access to all the airport
restaurants and STARBUCKS!!! Still the worlds best caramel machiato is
found only in Ethiopia the birth place of coffee. Hmmm good...

Today we fly Frankfurt to Vancouver 10 hours and five minutes. We
leave at 7:40pm June 21st and arrive in Vancouver an hour and 5
minutes later... 8:45pm June 21st...
Dang that sucks!!! JET LAG here we come...

We are looking forward to just being home with the girls. For the last
few days we keep saying to eachother oh Yellie would love this or
Tianna would probably do this... Every time we see a picture of an
elephant we mimic Kiara and her animated dramatization of an
elephant... Hmm it's time to head back...

Ezra and Koen sent time watching soccer a great father son bonding
time. Ezra after a week of being with us has gotten increasingly
louder and more boisterous. We keep wondering why our children get so
loud and active... We have determined that it's probably related to
Koen's personality ;)

Well a few more hours to kill and off we go...

See you all soon...

Koen Chris and Ezra

Ezra in his first airplane!!!

Ezra sitting in an airplane baby basinet
These things are awesome!!!

Koenraad

June 20 (Fathers Day)

My first fathers day with Ezra and also my first fathers day without
our girls...

Homeward bound...
But first a run in with the German Bundes Polizei!!!

So apparently we do have to get a transit visa for Ezra... This we
discovered after being whisked away from the German border check point
by an officer of the airport border patrol.

After being told a number of times while we were in Addis that we did
NOT need a visa for Ezra we decided I should check it out at the
German embassy first hand. After showing up they told me I did not
need a visa for Ezra. I even tried to convince him that I did, but he
said if we stayed in a hotel in the airport we wouldn't need a visa.
So we changed our hotel reservations.
As it turns out you really do need it... We sat for two hours in a
white room with two locked doors while German officials decided what
to do with us... The options were:
1: Let us wander around in transit ie: no mans land (just like the
movie: Terminal with Tom Hanks) and not let us into Germany... no food
or hotel
2:Take two hours to get a transit visa fast tracked...

We choose the latter...
2 hours later we were on our way into Germany... With our son who
slept through the whole ordeal (thank you God!)
After locating our suitcases which of course were abandonded at the
carousel while we sat in no mans land... We arrived at our hotel...
Which was a welcome sight!!!

What an exhausting day!!!

Ezra travelled so well. Ethiopia airlines gave us a bulk head seat
with a baby bassinet which Ezra loved...
We did too...

The first leg of our return trip is done...
It was very eventful...
Let's hope tomorrow is less eventful and a bit more straight forward...

We'll be home soon..

Ezra in his big boy chair

June 19

June 19

Today Kids Link (Orphanage) set up a shopping day for us. Our driver
Solomon picked us up and brought us to a blind and disabled persons
hospital. There they had a gift shop with some excellent crafts and
Ethiopian souveniers. We then drove to the top of Entoto mountain at
9500 feet elevation. (just 500 feet shy of mount bakers elevation) the
views of Addis were beautiful. The rest of the morning we spent
travelling around Addis collecting the typical Ethiopian souveniers
one might expect...

We spent the night packing by candle light because power got shut down
in Addis. Apparently we are lucky to only have had this incovenience
once. It happens quite regularly we are told...

We got an early nights sleep because tomorrow we are heading HOME!!!

We can't wait to see you all

Koen, Chris and Ezra

June 18

Christine finally enjoying the worlds best caramel machiatto.
And we both enjoyed a complementary massage at our guest house... Ahhh
the life...

June 18

Eye Contact?
Maybe just eye to big nose contact...

June 18th

June 18

Just two more sleeps till we leave Ethiopia. We have had Ezra for a
whole week now and it already feels like so much longer that we have
been together. This is good... Already we can see him making big steps
in attachment and physical development: when we got him he was not
keeping his headlevel with his body when we pulled him up from laying
to sitting. Now he does so with ease. Last week he was not able to
support his weight very well on his legs (standing position) Now he's
a little pro and can hold himself up by grasping my fingers and
standing without support... He loves to cuddle with us after bottles
and makes good eye contact... We are able to soothe him when he cries
(the cry is so faint and small it's actually pathetic in a cute way).
It has been a great week of bonding with Ezra but we are ready to come
home and be united with our girls. It is their turn to bond and make
connections with their new brother... What joy fills our hearts to
know our girls will gush with love for thier little Esue-yay...

This country is beautiful!!! If our girls were with us we might never
leave this place it has made such an impact. I now know what people
mean when they say "once you go to Africa you already know you are
coming back".
TIA This Is Africa... The birthplace of our son...

Just a quick addis fact before I sign off for today. Last week
Christine asked me if I was feeling winded and out of breath every
time I walked the 3 flights of stairs to our guest room. Trying to act
macho and tough I said "not really". Even though I felt pooped each
time I got to the top. I thought it was just jet lag or poor sleep
patterns that were to blame. Then I read in our travel guide (thanks
Lonely Planet) that Addis Abeba actually sits at 7600 feet elevation
(above sea level). That's actually quite high up. Vancouver is at
exactly sea level. That means the air in Addis is much thinner than in
Vancouver and we Canucks get winded faster than the locals here.
Yesterday when we climbed the stairs to the fourth floor of the
compassion office we north Americans were exhausted while the
Ethiopians just giggled to themselves while we panted away. This is
why the Ethiopians and Kenyans win the Sun Run most years. BTW... The
ethiopians say the only reason the kenyans win is because they train
here in Addis to get the same advantage. They train on Entoto mountain
just north of Addis. When we drove up there we saw them training. The
Ethiopian runners are lobbying their government to stop allowing
foreigners to train in Ethiopia. Now I dont feel so bad for being out
of breath after 3 flights of stairs... I need to get back in shape.
It's my summer resolution. It's also Ezras he has a few pounds of baby
chub to trim off. LoL!

Koen and Chris

June 17

A day with Dawit. Today was a very special day. Today we got to meet
Dawit Getnah our Compassion sponsor child. We had arranged to meet
him at the compassion office today. Two days ago we found out that
another couple from our guesthouse had made the same arrangments. So
we all went to the compassion office together. Dawit (Ethiopian for
David) has been our sponsor child for two years... He is ten years old
and lives in Dire Dawa. Dire Dawa is a full days drive from addis
abba. So he took the whole day to travel yesterday and will spend a
whole day bussing back tomorrow. Dawit travelled here with a comassion
chaprone that works in his project. We spent the morning at the
Ethiopian National Museum in Addis we got the whole guided tour making
our way through ancient artifacts the tall tales of evolutionary
findings in Ethiopia (known as the cradle of humanity) and art
history. We met Lucy in the archeology exhibit. Lucy is a package of
bones belonging the earliest humanoid 3.1 million year old
"apparently". Actually we met Lucy's replica cuz Lucy is actually on
loan to an exhibit in New York... Go figure you travel to where she
was found she's actually in our neck of the woods?!?!?! If the real
thing looks like the replica I would not waste my money trying to get
a peek... Sorry evolutionists Lucy is not in my family tree...

Dawit had a great time and knew lots of things about Ethiopian culture
to his chaprone and our surprise... He is a bright young boy who stood
facinated by what he saw and heard about his country. It turns out
many ancient artifacts were found right where he lives.

Dawit has the biggest smile EVER!!! He was handsomely dressed in the
outfit he got with the birthday money we sent him brought Compassion.
He was so proud when I told him he looked "conjo" handsome.

After the museum we went to an American style retaurant where he
couldn't wait to sink his teeth into some pasta. As we learned this
moring the pizza, pasta and gelato shops are left over influences from
when those brash Italians tried to colonize Ethiopia... To no avail...
After pasta was a big chocolate sundae. It was great to watch him eat
it. He ate it so fast that he gave himself a headache... He was
panicing About the brain freeze. We then went to buy his mom a nice
scarf and him a soccer jersey and his own brand new soccer ball. We
all had a great time together. The best memory was Dawit just playing
with Ezra in the van and begging to hold and play with him in the
restaurant. Ezra loved the time together. He cooed and giggled
continually... Dawit could not get enough of Ezra either.

It was good to see the face of the boy stuck to our refridgerator.
Money gets taken out of our account each month and we get letters from
the guy but sometimes I'll admit I wonder if the kid in the picture
gets any of it. Today was a day that I was able to see the fruit of
the Compassion organization. Not only in interacting with Dawit (who
is healthy and passionate about his oppertunities at his project) but
meeting a compassion worker who was sponsored as a child has obtained
a university degree and now works for Compassion as a ministry
coordinator... These children are real!!! If you are not already
sponsoring one or two children I can't tell you how cool it is to know
you are making an impact in one life on an ongoing basis...

Dawit knew our family situation and wanted more pics of our family...
We gave him a couple pictures of our family. I think he valued them
more than he did the soccerball his jersey and the ice cream. As Chris
and I were looking through the pictures of our girls and bragging
about our girls at home we really began to realize how much we miss
them and how much we love our three girls... We've said to eachother a
number of times today that we can not wait to get home and hug them
like crazy...

It feels like something big is missing...
WE LOVE YOU girls!!!

Koen and Chris

Ethiopian baby bottle (still used in some regions)

Koenraad

Dawit and Ezra

Koenraad

June 16

The Journey to Nazareth
Nazareth Ethiopia that is...

Today we went to Ezras birthplace. It is called Adama it is also
called Nazaret (Nazareth). It is a two hour trek from Addis along a
bone jarring hiway where our talented driver dodged In and out of
traffic to avoid the really smelly diesel trucks and the cows, donkeys
and goats that constantly cross the hiway at random. T.I.A is what the
local folk tell us... "This Is Africa"!!! Indeed this Africa. After
today we are done with day long treks to the country side... We arrive
back home exhausted... Literally the diesel exhaust is enough to make
us sick...

Today was worth every effort:
Nazret though only 100 km away has a very different climate than
Addis. It is very dry and hot. The landscape looks desertish and very
barren... Nazaret has a more city in the county feel with it's horse
draw carts and buggys, horses, donkeys and goats EVERYWHERE we also
saw a couple camels. Nazaret also has those minature three wheeled
mororized taxis... They are the same kind we see in Thailand (took-
tooks) or in India (tap-taps). Nazaret is a busy commerce center as it
is along a major north to east Ethiopia route. This is just a breif
description of Ezras birth town.

Our first stop was the Saalem orphanage where Ezra spent his first 4
months. We met Saalem a young Ethiopian woman who started the home 3
years ago. She gave us a tour and we got to see his crib in the baby
room. Each crib covered with mosquito netting. Saalem then accompanied
us to the nazret hospital to meet Tsedale the nurse who cared for Ezra
the first two days of his life. She immediatly recognized him and
asked to hold him (infact she took him and held him for the rest of
the visit) She was happy to see him so chubby and healthy because when
she saw him last October she did not think he would survive. This is
why she choose the name Esuendale meaning: As God Has Said.
She chose that name then because she knew that whether Ezra lived or
died it would have been "As God had said"...
Wow!!! We had no idea of this part of Ezras story... Both of these
women are Christians and we see the hand of God on Ezras life. Ezra
means "God is my help".
It was a very special & emotional visit...

To finish off the visit we went for lunch at the Merrcii restaurant.
the Candians ate the injera with bean paste (yum) while the Ethiopians
ate hamburgers with fries (go figure)...

It was an emotionally exhausting and totally God ordained day!!!
To answer the age old question:
Can anything good come from Nazaret?
Yes!!!

Koen and Chris

Ezra

Here is Ezra during the car ride holding on for dear life while he
sleeps...

Who needs car seats when you have moms finger...

Fun with daddy

Deep thoughts...

June 15

Tummy time...

Sent from my iPhone