Anonymous Gift

Lucas and I now have enough money to pay for our first trip to Ethiopia!

Someone, a very sneaky and anonymous someone, blessed us with money for our first trip (whenever that may be). Both Lucas and I were floored and humbled by this when we found a note on our door that had a generous amount of money inside. Our letter was signed "from God" and we're so thankful that we are loved both by Him and our anonymous donor.

I don't cry often, rarely shed a tear. Ask Lucas- he thinks I have a cold heart (but then I say- hey, at least I don't bawl when flipping through the TV channels and stopping on a clip of a horrible Ben Affleck movie). So thanks to someone for helping clean out my dried, dusty tear ducts this week- which I'm sure can only be good for my health and heart. A friend once told me that she never cried about much until she became a mom. I must be practicing.

Thank you, thank you.

Love Ethio food!

Lucas and I have had the chance to eat a few more meals at Ethiopian restaurants in the last couple of months. We had Ethiopian at Nyala in Fort Collins with Lucas' fam. We had a great time showing Rick and Claudia how to eat with their hands and were happy to have Lucas' brother Barry join us! I found some of the pictures (from my phone- sorry about the quality):

A traditional version of an Ethiopian place setting

While Nyala was good, we discovered our FAVORITE Ethiopian restaurant in Denver this week: Queen of Sheba (at Colfax and Quebec). This is by far the best quality of food we have had yet. Our Wednesday night rotating dinner group decided to take a break from cooking this week and head out for a new food adventure. It was Doug, Hayley, Rob and Stephanie's first time with Ethiopian food. Of course Lucas and I were so happy to teach everyone about our new love of this food. A sweet older Ethiopian woman runs the place, and was very happy to explain the dishes and let us try samples of the Tej (sweet honey wine) before we ordered it. The Tej was more effervescent and Sake-like than at other places, which I liked. Also the Sambussas were amazing and all the meat and vegetable dishes were spiced extremely well. We will be taking people here from now on to introduce them to the food. There is also an Ethiopian market (Merkato) next door where we can buy Injera- the spongy sour bread used as a utensil to eat- when we finally cook some of the dishes from our cooking class.

Lucas and I had a chance to get away to the mountains last weekend where the weather was perfect and the aspens were changing colors. Very relaxing after a hectic work week. 

Grandma Dolan writing her memoirs on her special Chinese red desk in her cabin sun room.

enchanted forest

Family cabin in Bailey, CO

Mom and Sari

Josh and sister Sarah

Happy Fall!

2 months waiting

Here we are at 2 months since we have submitted our dossier. Nothing new to report, except we're waiting, waiting, waiting. But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy (in no particular order):

• Planted and landscaped one of our front flower beds with my dad.
• Said goodbye to my Grandpa Tedford. Rest in peace.
• Rode the oldest carousel this side of the Mississippi. 

• Kicked butt at trivia. Lucas and I play with various friends at different bars and restaurants.We have won 3 weeks in a row at Moe's BBQ. It's pretty fun and we win food and drinks! www.geekswhodrink.com
• Celebrated Claudia's birthday with fancy cocktails, a rooftop dinner, and some music.

• Hung out with my good friend Trina who I haven't seen in ages.
• Had dinner in Longmont with Lucas's family and brother Gabe who was visiting from Portland, OR.
• Attended 3 weddings: Eleanor + Kevin, Jason + Becky, Megan +Jeff

• Lucas is now playing in all his bands again. He's had 4 shows and 11 practices.
• Went to a rock n' roll BBQ at Larimer Lounge to see our friends in Snake Rattle Rattle Snake play. They're getting pretty big these days.
• Played putt putt golf. I sunk this shot, by the way.

• Played Blue Rhino in the park.
• Helped our friend Kat move into her new place.
• Saw my Uncle Mike, visiting from Brevard, NC
• Walked the Poudre River trail with Claudia while Lucas went on a Triumph motorcycle ride with his dad.
• Went to La Loma (sorry we went without you, Lane) with Lucas' mom, Nick and Jon.
• Hung out with my good friend Sarah who I haven't seen in ages.
• Received the most adorable quilt (#1) made by my mom. Awaiting quilt #2!

• Went to the hugest antique mall at the Brass Armadillo. Luckily they had maps so we knew how to get out. You'll be seeing Christmas gifts coming your way with some re-purposed items from here.
• My poster on Ending Childhood Hunger in Colorado got accepted and I'll be presenting it at the American Public Health Association Conference at the end of October.
• Ate Ethiopian food with Lucas's parents and brother Barry. Sadly, the pictures were erased. 
• Watched a candle-lit Sweet Tooth Meat Tooth (our friends Doug and Hayley's musical side-project) performance under the stars in the "germ garden" next door to Kitty's South.
• Had the tree in front of our house removed. By order of the city.
• Had our lawn, or maybe I should more appropriately say weeds, cut down by my dad with a mega mower. By order of the city.
• Fixed my vacuum cleaner with my bare hands and a screw driver.
• Lucas got in a minor car accident and now has regularly scheduled chiropractor appointments.
• Survived an earthquake....?
• Hung out with my Uncle Dan and lovely cousin Jackie, visiting from Martinez, CA

• Had a few happy hours with good friends.
• Hung out with my cousin Jared and his adorable family, visiting from Kansas City, KS
• Talked about how to eat healthy on a budget live on Channel 4 News.
• Continued our beloved Wednesday rotating dinner night with friends Doug, Hayley, Robbie and Stephanie.
• Helped my sister design flowers for a wedding or two. 

Happy Ethiopian New Year!

Melkam Addis Amet!

Today is the Ethiopian New Year, called Enkutatash (en-koo-TAH-tash). I thought I would give a little history/culture lesson today since we don't have any new info while we're waiting for our babies.

Most of Ethiopia still follows the Orthodox Julian calendar. Unlike the Western or Gregorian calendar, the Julian year has 12 months of 30 days each and an additional 13th month with 5 or 6 days (depending on Leap Year).

Meskerem is the first month of the Ethiopian year. The first day of Meskerem, New Year’s Day, falls on our September 11 this year. Ethiopian New Year is a time to express hopes and dreams for the future.

Enkutatash marks the end of the rainy season in Ethiopia, when fields bloom and the spring begins. The literal meaning of Enkutatash is the “gift of jewels”. This is in reference to the gifts the Queen of Sheba received after her expensive journey to visit King Solomon in Jerusalem. The first day of Meskerem also marks the commemoration of Saint John the Baptist.

In Ethiopia, people celebrate New Year by placing flaming torches of dry leaves and wood in front of their houses on New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Day, the people attend church, dressed in traditional Ethiopian attire. Historically, people would send flowers to mark the occasion, but greeting cards have become more popular. Villagers celebrate with singing and dancing.

Lucas and I plan to celebrate this holiday once our children are here. Creating new traditions with family is something we've always been excited about. So, if you get yellow flowers on September 11th from us, know that we're including you in the celebration. At the end of the rainy season and on New Year's day, yellow daisies bloom across the wild fields surrounding Addis Ababa called Yadey Abeba, identical to our Tickseed Sunflower.

We'll also go out for ET food, as most restaurants will stay open late for feasts and dancing.

On the 10th anniversary of the terrible events that happened at the Twin Towers, although we'll never forget, we're now ready to embrace and celebrate a new culture that will be a part of us very soon.

no worry

HABAKKUK 2:3

If it seems slow, be patient!
For it will surely take place.
It will not be late by a single day.

Not much of an update...

But our dossier is on its way to Africa!

Dossier Submitted!

Well, it's official. We have submitted our dossier, and a whole lot of money (!!!). This is what we've been working on for the past 3 months. We took a little longer than anticipated, with Luke's 3 knee surgeries and all, but we're finally done!

Our dossier consists of paperwork that tells everything about us (from family photos, a study of our home and relationship, medical records, blah blah blah) each notarized, then given the state seal, all in triplicate. Lucas and I both had a HUGE sense of relief when we completed the final organizing and stapling of papers:

So now what? Our precious precious stack of papers will make it to Washington DC sometime early next week, and then forwarded on to Ethiopia. Sometime during this period, we'll officially be put on the wait list for a little boy and a little girl! (related or unrelated, both under 24 months)

And now, the real waiting begins.