Oh Happy Day

I woke up to a new email from Gedese and Alebachew this morning. It's a happy day in the Boster house when we get pictures of this precious family.

Birthdays, Hair and Reflection.

Today my 10 year old daughter and 4 year old son share a birthday. Things worked out perfectly the other four children all had places to be this morning. So, I got to spend a few hours with just the birthday kids. I am so blessed by them.

McKayley turned 10. My first girl in the double digits. She is turning into a creative, beautiful and loving young woman. She is my melancholy child living in a house full of sanguine people. She brings a spirit of quietness and grace to us. When she was 6 she asked to get her ears pierced. Adam and I quickly dismissed that thought and told her when she was 10 she could do it. Age 10 seemed so far away to us and surely she would forget, right? Nope. First thing this morning we went and got them pierced. Awwww..She's growng up! Last night she had her *first date* with her daddy of course. Adam and I are both wanting her to enter her teen years with a strong and deep connection with her dads. Her earthly one and heavenly one. We want her to know she is a princess and how much she is loved. They were both so cute last night. Adam called before coming home to pick her up. He was at the florist and wanted to know if he should buy her flowers. He showed up with a rose and off they went. Hopefully the first of many daddy daughter dates.

Lukas turned 4 today! This kid is as funny as he is charismatic. He creates an audience wherever he goes. He seriously is one of the funniest kids to watch. He is thoughtful and sweet. He was so proud of dressing himself today. It wasn't until we got to the book store did I see what was wrong with his outfit. I'll post pictures-See for yourself! He was so excited to pick out his present. He chose a $2.00 Lighting McQueen car and couldn't be happier. I'm pretty happy about his choice as well.

And hair....
I'm finally after all this time getting more confident in doing Xia's hair. I'm getting pretty quick and more importantly she seems to enjoy it. For the longest time I relied on Gedese for the hair care. Except Xia would scream until she threw up every time she did her hair. Needless to say I feel pretty darn good that Xia doesn't do this for me:)

Finally reflection.
This time last year, I was spending my days and nights in a hospital room with the twins. I was very sick, tired and scared. So were the twins. I had a pregnant stranger(Gedese) living with us. If it wasn't for my husband's cousin Laura and my husband's sister Leah- Lukas and McKayley's birthday would probably have come and went without a celebration. Gedese would have felt alone and isolated. Laura was amazing and planned everything for them. Leah cared for our children while we were in Africa. She planned an amazing welcome home for us. She showered Gedese and the new twins with love. I will forever be grateful for all they did. I love you Laura! I love you Leah!It's hard to believe it's been a year. God has done amazing things this past year. He has blessed me with a quiver full of children, beautifully supportive friends and family to spend our lives with.

You have all touched and helped me through this year.





Xia's first steps in the hospital. She was 22 months old, weighed 12 pounds and was wearing 3-6 month clothes.

Pictures from Gedese

Gedese

Gedese called me today. Many blessings came from this year we had together, but they are not without their struggles. She could use a lot of prayer and love during her transition back into Africa life. She is pretty sick and Christiana is having a difficult time adjusting to all the new faces. Gedese said she is crying and screaming when anyone else tries to hold her. Her relationship with Alex is under strain. Please pray for untity in their family.
I pray the Lord opens a door for me to stop by Ethiopia for a few days when I go to Uganda next month.

A Happy Family

I had a precious gift waiting for me in my inbox this morning. Pictures from Gedese.

Christiana with her daddy.

Looking so grown up.

Together at last.

Meeting her grandma
or in Amharic her "set I yet".

I Miss Them

Perfect Day.

4 Days and 5 Nights

Until they leave.

Where and What?

So what's been going on?

Christiana has her passport! Can I hear a hallelujah? Unfortunately we are having issues with the prepaid round trip ticket from last year. After hours on the phone, a two hour trip to the airport and many tears, we may have to buy a whole new ticket. I'm trying not to get too worked up and pray that God works it all out. Worst case scenario I have to come up with $1500 for a new ticket. God willing they will be traveling home next Wed. This is a bittersweet moment for my family. We are praising God that:
They are alive! If Gedese had stayed in Africa, Alex would be in mourning.
They will be reunited as a family. I wish I could be there to see the beautiful reunion they will have.

I'm also asking for strength to say, "goodbye" to my sister, my best friend Gedese. I cannot even begin to explain feelings I have for Christiana. I felt her first kicks and was there for her birth. I was the first to hold her and see her first smile.

I haven't blogged for awhile-So where have I been?
For Valentines day my hubby sent me on a 40 hour getaway. It all started with a party that we attended together in St. Louis for Evander Holyfield.(I didn't know but he's a 4 time world boxing champ)
Then the following morning I flew to Phoenix by myself. My best friend from High School picked me up in the cutest Little Cooper car. It was perfect. We hiked Camelback Mountain, where I thought I might meet my maker. Then Natasha treated me to Sanctuary Spa. It was more blissful than I could have imagined. The next morning we had a lovely breakfast and went to the art museum and watched 1000 journals. The night was topped off by meeting two amazing blog friends, Kim and Jen. We laughed until it hurt. I thank my God for the time for fellowship and renewal. I learned so much and came home with a fresh perspective.
Thank you my love! Adam you rock!
Here are some pictures. Natasha has the rest.

Every Single Day.

I think Gedese is extremely excited about going home. Her bags have been packed for weeks!
10 months without her husband and family! Sometimes I forget her home is in Ethiopia. She has become a member of our family and I think of our home as hers. This makes it easy to lose perspective sometimes. The emotions I feel are new and very conflicting. Maybe one day I'll be able to fully grasp and put words to everything I have experienced this year. Last week was a hard week filled with unsettling feelings(doesn't help I get my period every 2-3 weeks now). I was so blessed to be able to call upon a few of my closest friends to help sort things out in my mind and spirit.
We are waiting for an original document from Ethiopia signed by Alex giving his permission for Christiana to apply for a passport to come in the next few days. Once we have this paper hopefully Christiana will get her passport and they will be set to travel in a few weeks. When they were set to leave in March, the plan was for me to fly back with them to help and at the same time lay in some ground work for our organization. Well, now that they are leaving a lot sooner, I will be unable to travel back with them. There is a slight chance Gedese will be stopped at immigration and detained due to her expired Visa. After talking to our attorney I have the whole shebang documented and written down for her to carry with her when she travels. Hopefully if she encounters any problems they can be solved quickly. I'm debating if I should at least fly to the Dulles airport with them.

Christiana continues to grow cuter every single day. We continue to fall deeper in love with her and Gedese every single day. The twins continue to amaze me every single day. Xia is letting go more and more every single day. Every single day is a new adventure in our house. I'm learning to embrace every moment for what it is. A moment and a gift.

Yeah, It's Going to Be Hard

to say goodbye.

Not Today

It turns out Alex was out of town trying to make money. We got a hold of him on Saturday. We now know his birthday! We went to the passport office this morning with our hopes up and heads held high. But today was not the day. Apparently we need the original motorized form from Ethiopia that Alex had signed. Thank God I know someone in Ethiopia right now on a mission trip. She will bring the original form back with her. Thank you Erica. If you get a chance stop by her blog and give her some love.

Race Against the Clock

What a crazy week or so. The ticker keeps ticking. Only 7 days before Gedese is legally suppose to leave, in reality a totally different story. Where did I leave off last time in this continuing drama that is my life?! Oh yeah, the government sent a letter after 4 MONTHS!!!!!! that they denied her visa extension and she has to leave within 30 days.

Well....

We went almost two weeks ago to try to get a passport for the baby...only to be told that dad(who is in Africa) needs to be there or have notarized a statement giving his permission for Christiana to apply for a passport. I explained dad lives in AFRICA! Apparently that doesn't count. He needs to be dead to be exempt. After a week I got Alex to go to the the embassy in Ethiopia get the paper signed and notarized, only to be turned down again because I don't have his birth date! Again I explained he was born in Africa and his birth date is probably after the second full moon following the harvest. I asked if I could make one up told I would go to jail. Then I called our senator to be told there's nothing they could do. Tried to call Alex to get legal birth date (no Gedese doesn't know it and that is another story) Alex then goes missing. We have tried for over a week, finally got a hold of family today after Gedese has been up 4 nights worrying that he is out of town possibly working. We now know he is not dead (insert sigh here) and now are waiting for his return to Addis. We called his mom who does not know his birth date either.(Don't ask) I have since then, thanks to Jenny (my girl! I love her, we traveled to Ethiopia to pick up our kids together, she also paid for Gedese's airplane ticket) have contacted an immigration attorney who can't help our situation, but at least provided insight. So what's now? We wait it out! Hope Alex shows up. Pray Gedese doesn't get deported and oh yeah, PRAY!

DENIED

Gedese's application to extend Visa until March has been denied! We applied months ago and just now found out she has to leave within 30 days or face deportation.

Please pray it all comes together! We still need a passport and visa for Christiana!

Sorry for the non-update. Christiana is home. She is doing much better. Thank God she was here! She went through a battery of tests. Everything from a spinal to nose swabs. After 3 days it was determined she had a really bad cold. Her pulse oxygen dropped to %60, thus requiring oxygen.

Christmas Eve at the Hospital

I just got home from the hospital. Christiana was admitted tonight on Christmas Eve. I have no idea how long she will have to stay there. Please uplift them in your prayer and thought.

Walking a Fine Line

This Christmas more than any other I am completely aware of the fine line between consumerism and blessing those you love. Sometimes ignorance is indeed bliss. Not only do I have my recent trip to Africa and your stories and blogs to remind me of what our true priorities should be, I also have a daily glimpse of the realities of this world when I look not only in the twins eyes but also those of Gedese and Christiana. Every day when I struggle with the selfish desires of my heart, I see 9 people that I love beyond words. When their demands are greater than my ability at the moment and can't help but to think about what the demands of the twins parents are like at the same moment, or the demands of Gedese's family. I am again humbled and ask God for strength and thank Him for giving me perspective.
Having Gedese and the twins here are like having a built in consumermeter. Do I really need a box of macaroni? Wouldn't it be more cost effective to make my own? Should I pitch the shirt with stains? Or wouldn't be better to maybe dye it? Do my kids really need more clothes? Isn't 4 pair of pants per kid enough? Do their clothes really need to be washed after wearing it once? I think just by having them here I have saved thousands on needless purchases. The thing is- I'm not really a shopper. We spent the greater part of our marriage without much-and now that we have I could do without. I really think starting our marriage and family out doing without was the biggest blessing. Sorry a little side tracked. Okay, but here's the thing. I love to give. I really do. I love to find needs and fill them. I would rather go without shoes if it meant I could give them to someone. (Lest you think I'm a saint- I should mention my desire to give is selfishly motivated-It makes me feel sooooo good! I love it!)
Sometimes the consumermeter that Gedese provides irritates me though. Like for Christmas.
I know my kids could live without gifts but again I love to give. So there is my quandary, the fine line between consumerism and blessing. I thought I did a pretty good job at this. My kids get three presents. One from us, one from the boys and one from the girls. However when Gedese heard this- I got a deep sigh followed by a tsk tsk and a never in Ethiopia talk. We have a lot of these. Then I started to think- Maybe I have crossed that line. My desire to bless really has become the transcending into consumerism at Christmas. I know people who don't gift at Christmas. I admire that, I really do, but my nature is to give. So here I am again walking that fine line.


BTW- thanks for all the prayers- I am feeling better. I'm on some crazy antibiotics. Diezel is a trooper. Other than his noisy breathing, you wouldn't even know he's sick. Xia on the other hand-Wow! night after night up crying. High fevers, cough, and throwing up. Christiana is holding strong. We continue to suction her out before every feeding and check her temp. She is at 99.8. So we get to stay at home.

If I don't post again before Christmas-
Merry Christmas! May the Lord's blessing pour upon you and your family.
Thank you God!!!!!! For sending your Son to die for me.

Still Here.

Online is down again.
using hubby's laptop.
Diezel has pneumonia again. Pretty bad. Around the clock breathing treatments. He's still at home with us (no hospital). Christiana is getting sick as well. Praying to make it through tonight without any ER visits.
I slept most of the day so I could take the night shift to watch over Diezel and Christiana.

Shock.

Even though I knew this day was coming, I'm still in shock. The first wave of Gadese's medical bills arrived. Over $14,000 thus far. I think a mistake was made. I will go next week and speak with the hospital. I know God will take care of it all. I'm just a little shocked.

Steroids and Surprises

Adam surprised us and came home a few days early. I was so excited to see him, I could have cried. It was perfect timing. I had been up all night with coughing toddlers, and I had a fever with aches all over. He took one look at me and sent to back to bed. Thank you Lord! The next day Diezel's breathing got pretty bad. He ended up at urgent care. He is on steroids, breathing treatments and antibiotics. He went back to the doctor today. His pulse Ox is still hovering around 93%, not bad, but not great either. Christiana is still on her antibiotics and continues to improve everyday. We are just so thankful to have Adam home!