FRIDAY FUN-draiser!!!

Tomorrow night we will be headed downtown to our local coffee shop/church/music venue for an

adoption fundraiser for our dear friends

The Lorenzen's- (to bring home Nyenna & Titus)

It should be a great night of music, connecting with friends and probably a little dancing!!

Heck, you know the Liberian kiddos will be shakin' their booties!!!

Osobie and Fatu are going to be sporting their Liberian outfits and they couldn't be happier!! We even had an evening of "trying it on" just so they could see what they would look like tomorrow night!! I'll post again soon and give ya all a little update on our lives and post some photos from the fundraiser fun!!

Please continue to pray with us for these guys and
Praise GOD with us because our friends who had been fighting to bring home their kids are bringing them home this weekend!!!
I just checked out their blog!!! The McBride's

A story from Uganda

Okay,...so I wrote this blog and then I realized... hmmm...if people don't really know Jeff and I, whoever reads this could think I'm really bragging here about how we say YES to GOD, like we're some super-spiritual amazing Jesus followers....yes we are Jesus followers, but well, what I have to say is,... yes we do say yes to God but believe me there have been many times where we totally screw up and miss what God had planned for us because we didn't say yes to Him. So... I just wanted to clear that up... okay so now I'm just sounding nerdy...
Anyway, this is a great story of.....

What happens when we say YES to God!

So….as much as I want to share every cute and funny detail about our kids, I just have to share this story because it’s so flipping cool how God moves and works in the smallest decisions people make.

Two years ago, my husband had a work project in Northern Uganda, a small city called Arua. It was a 2 month gig, so we packed up our things and headed over to East Africa! This was going to be our second trip to East Africa and we couldn’t wait to get back.

Jeff and his team were out in the bush setting rat traps and collecting rats. (Jeff is an epidemiologist and specializes in plague research- fleas on rats carry plague-the reason for trapping rats, and it’s kind of fun!! I got to help out and come along with the team quite a bit). They worked in the same villages for the 2 month period which enabled them to get to know the people of the village. There was a young boy in one of the villages that would always run after Jeff and his team. Actually, he hobbled after them because he had a bum leg. It was swollen, oozing and in need of some serious medical attention. The boy's family lived miles away from town and would never be able to get him to a clinic or hospital because of lack of time (they were farmers), money and transportation. So, Jeff and his team decided to take the boy and his mom into town to the hospital and skip a half a days work in the field. They picked me up after he had been admitted to the hospital and we went to visit him. Now mind you, a small African hospital is NO place even the sick want to be, so I do not think the mom and boy were very happy about being taken there, even though they knew it was the only way they could get help.

Fred with his cane, bag of food and his new outfit Fred and his family, me and Jeff's coworkers

We found the boy’s (Fred Enchonee) mom, in the cooking area with the rest of the families. (oh, Enchonee means 'God with us' in their language). Family members have to cook and care for their sick loved ones the whole time they are in the hospital which also means they usually sleep on the floor underneath the hospital beds on mats. They have to bath them, care for them and feed them as there is no hospital care given by nurses or staff to anyone. After I met Fred and his mom, Jeff and his team went back into the field and I stayed with them in the hospital. I will never forget the stench of the hospital as I walked in, and never forget that each time I went to the hospital after that first time, I started to fall in love with the smell!!!!!!!!!! Yes, you read that right. I can’t explain it other than the Lord. I remember thinking, Wow GOD you can even do this? Cause me to LOVE the smell that would usually cause of person to want to vomit. It was a stench so strong but somehow it grew to be a stench of love. It was truly a God-thing… that allowed me to be where God wanted me to be to share His love with his hurting children. How is this possible? How could I look forward to spending all day in the most depressing, scary, lonely, and terrifying place in Arua? It was only the Lord. I spent the whole week with Fred, bringing them food from the market and drawing on paper and pencil together. I spent the day in Fred’s room where 2 other little kids were also staying. Florence and little girl named Tuesday had been in a car wreck. Florence, probably about 8 years old lost one of her eyes and Tuesday, 6yrs old, had broken too many bones to count. This wasn’t the worst of it. Tuesday had lost both her parents in the accident and Florence had lost family members as well. So here I sat, day in and day out, trying to bring some joy to these little lives who had experienced more loss and pain than I had in my entire life. I did get smiles from all the kids and a touch of laughter when the pain wasn’t too bad. It’s truly amazing what you can do with paper and pencil. Fred and I drew self portraits and in every picture he drew himself with one regular leg and one fat leg. After a couple trips out of town to another clinic to get x-rays, we finally spoke to the surgeon and the x-rays revealed that Fred had broken his leg probably over a year ago and the tibia was decaying inside his leg. If nothing was done, more than likely he would have lost his leg. He had a serious infection rocking but also had a sliver of new bone growing in the middle of his leg. Unfortunately, our time in Arua was coming to a close so we had to make a plan for Fred to be able to make his surgery within the month. We prepaid for the surgery, all medications, transportation, and food. Would you believe it all cost around $300!! Then we prayed that the men we left in charge would follow through with all the appointments and escorting Fred and his mom to and from the hospital.

Fred's x-ray,...broken bone and the small thin new bone
growing in the middle of the picture

Jeff (hubby), Me, Tim and Fred's family

This was 2 years ago! Well, Jeff made his trip back to Arua this last October. He worked in the same villages. On the first day back to Fred’s village, a not so little boy came running after the work truck. It was Fred!! Without a cane and without a limp!!!!!!!!!

He brought Jeff to his hut to see his family so they could all thank him for what they had done. Ugandan’s are the most hospitable Africans I have met. They danced, celebrated, cheered and cried together! They gave Jeff a chicken to take home. Of course both Jeff and I know that Fred’s family in no way can afford to give away a chicken, but we also learned that the best gift we can give to Ugandans is to accept theirs! Fred pulled on Jeff’s shirt asking, “Where is Katee?”, “Where is Katee?” Jeff realized he was asking for me!! Fred’s mother told Jeff that for several months after we had left for the states, Fred would run to the road waiting for us to come down the road in the work truck. What a special little boy, and what an amazing testimony of God’s love for him. One decision led to a life change for one little boy. If Jeff and his work crew had not taken Fred to the hospital, his life would have looked so different. Without surgery, Fred would have had a bleak future. He wouldn’t have been able to walk to school or work in the fields with his family. Unfortunately there are many young men in Uganda that live a life of laziness, causing trouble, and drinking. Part of the problem is the lack of employment opportunities and when you factor in physical limitations, it could have been a rough road for Fred. But GOD knew the plans he had for Fred, plans for a hope and a future. We are so blessed to have been able to see God’s hand working in the lives of one family in Arua. We feel so privileged that the Lord let us see what happens when we say YES to him and His kingdom!!

Fred- today...without a cane and without a limp!!!! (although his leg is still a little bigger than the other, but works just fine).

Jeff and Fred in all the photos!!

I know Fred looks sad in this photo but he's not...Ugandan's seem to think when you take photos one must always look very serious. I'm sure you can see this in the photos of the family up above.

Sweet sounds to my ears!!

Who needs a bigger house, new cars, and fancy clothes…..

When you have been given the best gift ever… our two little Liberian children. I have never had a child, never given childbirth but I have heard and seen that it can be the most painful experience ever!! What I have also been told is that as soon as that baby is in your arms all the pain, all the weight gain, all the days filled with morning sickness is forgotten in a flash. I think I am beginning to understand a little bit of what this is like. The joy and blessing Fatu and Osobie bring into my life have almost completely washed away the pain and hardship we endured to bring them home. Just the other week we were working on an alphabet puzzle listening to worship music. One of my favorite worship tunes is on the Enter the Worship Circle #1 album. (oh yeah, if you haven't heard the Enter the Worship Circle albums, first, second and third circle, I would highly recommend them).

It goes a little like this..

You are beautiful my sweet, sweet song

You are beautiful my sweet, sweet song

You are so good to me
You heal my broken heart
You are my Father in heaven

You ride upon the clouds
You lead me to the truth
You are the Spirit inside me

You poured out all your blood
You died upon the cross
You are my Jesus who loves me

You are my Father in Heaven

You are the Spirit inside me

You are my Jesus who loves me

You are beautiful my sweet, sweet, song
I will sing again

As the kids were putting the puzzle together they both started singing….

You are beautiful my sweet sweet song!!!

Over and over again.

I told them it was mama’s favorite song and they just kept singing. For 6 years I’ve sang that song. I remember when I first heard this song I felt like God spoke to me about what MY SONG would be. Everyone has their purpose, their cause, their fetish, their skill, talent, career, that thing that drives them, in essence, their song! I think for the longest time AFRICA was my song. I SO longed to go and once I went; I knew it was where God had called me. I lived, breathed and dreamed Africa. What I realized after having to put Africa down, again and again at Jesus's feet is that Africa could not be my thing. My thing,… my song would be JESUS. At least that’s what I want my life song to be…simply Jesus.

Hearing Fatu and Osobie singing and worshiping Jesus…that is worth more than new cars, a bigger house and fancy clothes, …

My prayer is that their life song would be Jesus too.

PLEASE STAND WITH US IN PRAYER FOR OUR FRIENDS
THE LORENZENS
&
THE McBRIDES

These families have been waiting and fighting to get their kids home for WAY TOO LONG!!

Gone for the week!!

Hey guys...it looks like I won't be able to keep up on my impressive blogging schedule for this week. We have some medical stuff we have to deal with, doctors appointments and such, so I'm just giving you all fair warning that my next update will not be until next weekend. In the meantime... here's some fun photos to look at!!

More photos from rock climbing... just practicing some under hangs with papa
THE LIBERIAN TINKER TOY ALL-STARS BAND!!!

Alphabet game! ... did I mention they LOVE school
(home school that is) !! good thing eh?

Please remember to pray for our dear friends

the Lorenzens!

GAP worthy sand flies

Okay, so now that I'm really starting to blog on a weekly (maybe one day, daily) basis, you are going to start seeing how nerdy I really am. Also, what hit me just now is that for the past year I have been blogging about waiting & waiting for our kids to come home and battling in our adoption. The last couple months before the kids finally came home there was nothing fun, exciting or funny to blog about! Boy, I miss being able to just BE and be a goof!! I know you are all dying to know what the heck Gap worthy sand flies are right? I have been laying awake at night brainstorming catchy odd titles for our blog!! Can you see my nerdy self coming out now? I just left the "and" out of the title so I could suck you all in to read my blog! Just kidding!!

Gap worthy~
So, remember my last post where I proudly displayed my first attempt at flat twists?? Well, I took them out the other night and I was even more pleased with the style Fatu's hair took on after the flat twists came out!! Here's what it looked like right after I took it out...Oh, I should also probably share that the nannies at AOH told me that Fatu's hair was "THE WORST" kind of hair to have. In her report it said that her hair was like wire!! I am telling you, it really is!! I worked on other kids hair while I was in Liberia and actually got the hang of cornrowing a bit, but once I touched Fatu's hair, Oh MY!! It is like a wiry sponge! So... this is why I am so stinking proud of myself for being able to do something with her hair that actually looks good!It was SO easy to take out the twists. Once you start to unravel them at the end you just un-twist as you go and you end up with these super cute wavy/curly tiny dreads that almost look like short extensions! I was loving it!! I grabbed the camera snapped a couple shots and thought to myself, "This is so super cute, I should send in some photos to GAP and see if she can get in a couple ads or something".... THEN came my biggest mistake, ladies take note of my mistake,... I decided to put some product in it so it would stay for a few days. I proceeded to spray the Carol's Daughter Leave-In-Conditioner in her hair and within seconds her hair had turned into puffs!! If any of you out there ever eat Cheetos (I know they are horrible for you but every once and awhile I have to break down) well, there are the crunchy Cheetos and then the Cheetos Puffs. Well, Fatu's hair went from Cheetos crunchy ( super cute) to Cheetos Puffs, not nearly as cute. I was so mad!! So, if you do the flat twists in your daughters hair and take them out, do not spray moisturizer in it, use some kind of gel or loc butter to hold the cute wavy strands. It took me 2 1/2 hours to do the flat twists to begin with but in reality I got 1 week and almost 4 days out it! Not so bad!

Sand Flies~
Jeff landed in Entebbe, Uganda safely, but without his bags. He has called and said he's doing just fine other than the fact that he is smelling to high heaven! Can you imagine flying for 2 days to Africa in one outfit and tromping around hot humid Uganda for days without a change of clothes. I know he's got to be a sight for the Ugandans. The last time I talked with Jeff he informed me that he had been attacked by sand flies. On one of our mission trips to Uganda, this very same thing happened to two of the girls on our team. The sand fly is also referred to as NO-SEE-UMS because you can rarely see them. The sand fly is basically invisible, doesn't make a noise, is about a quarter of the size of a mosquito and much faster. By the time you feel them biting you, they are gone. They swarm into your room at night by the hundreds, maybe thousands?? The girls on our team a few years ago woke up and screamed because they were covered in what looked like sawdust. Piles and piles of sand flies in everything!! The mosquito net can help, but they are small enough to get through the holes in the net. So, this time, Jeff had an invasion of sand flies!! He didn't sound too put out, but then again Jeff is my disease-rodent guy. He is working in Uganda doing Plague research, trapping rats and playing with their fleas !!! What's a few sand flies in your toothbrush and ears!!

Some cutey pics of the kids!

Birthday's, Giardia, and Goodbyes!!!

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!!

Well, it has been quite a busy few days... okay so I guess it's been a week since my last post! Thanks to my friend Brandi who is keeping me accountable to blogging!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Brandi, I actually need a reminder. I think I'm still adjusting to being a mom of 2 little energizer bunnies!
Last night I was in bed by 9 pm and here I sit at 9:37pm with heavy eyelids! Wow... and I use to be the most productive at night. If caffeine didn't keep my mind buzzing till all hours of the night I would be sipping lattes at 7pm so I could at least finish the book (There is no me without you) I've been reading since October!

Okay so we celebrated Fatu's 4 th birthday this past week. Since Jeff was heading to Uganda, again for 6 weeks we bumped up her party so her papa could be there! Her official birthday we think will be January 12th. My sister and Kojo went all out and made her day! Fatu donned play hair extensions, jewelry, a princess dress and ballerina shoes. She is such the diva already! She was definitely the princess for the night.

We started traveling down the road of doctor's visits these last couple weeks and the kids did great. Whenever I talked about a doctor they would always scream "They'll choke me!!!" What we figured out is that CHOKE means they will get a needle poked in their arm. Well, as much as I wanted to tell them, No honey, the doctors will not Choke you... I knew that they knew exactly what would happen at the doctors. Luckily our doctor sent us to the express lab for the blood work so they still like their doctor. We have some medical issues we are working through right now and we are trusting God will help us (and the doctors) navigate through them with wisdom and discernment. The funny thing is Fatu and Osobie think medicine is "SO SPECIAL". They love taking their vitamins and so far are doing great with taking their medicines. We have been battling colds and flu's for several weeks on and off but from what other moms have told me, this is pretty normal for kids in general. Oh how I am longing for summer!!!

Jeff left for Uganda yesterday for 6 weeks. Osobie was in tears and I was depressed. It seems like he has had to travel at the most inopportune times. I think this next season might be a bit more difficult than the last 2 months. Osobie and Fatu have attached and bonded so well with us. They have been almost "angelic-like" in many ways. They have had a pretty easy and peaceful transition into a new life, world, friends, culture and family. It has been so good that I wonder if they will start to grieve once they realize that this is it! They came home around the busiest time of the year filled with festivities, gifts, family visiting and fun activities. Once the reality sets in that real life is not a full time roller coaster ride, I wonder if their grieving will increase. We have had some beautiful and interesting talks about their Liberian families and we pray for them every night that they would come to know Jesus. I can tell that this brings them much comfort and peace from their expression of relief and smiles on their faces. But this also has started some tears and sad days. In all honesty, I feel much better about them crying and expressing sadness because through grieving God can bring healing. We do not want them to close off and stuff their feelings, so their tears, although hard to experience with them, are welcomed.

Each and every day I find myself staring at them, still in awe and wonder at what God accomplished amidst such a messy adoption process. What a joy! What a gift from God we have received. I just pray that I would be the mother God has called me to be to these children, my children, HIS children. I pray that we would first and foremost point our children to Jesus. I pray that Fatu and Osobie would grasp how deep and how wide God's love is for them. And can I just say, as a new momma.... I LOVE my kids!!!! My favorite line from today was...."Momma, da trees are dancing". ( It was a windy day). :)

The crew!!!!!

Kojo's lookin' good eh??

We all had to take a turn with the extensions!!!
My first attempt at flat twists!!.... 2 1/2 hours later!!! They actually looked okay!! We just got our first shipment of Carol's Daughter products so I can't wait to start using them! They smell yummy!!

Our family pic before Jeff left for Uganda!!! I have a new "do". I made an appt with my stylist who is also my great friend and she cut and dyed my hair!!! I always tell her that she keeps me cool!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hope you all had a wonderful New Years!!!!
It is so exciting to enter into a new year with our two wonderful children!!
I will post an update on them next..but for now just some fun photos!
We already went rock climbing twice
and took a trip to the zoo for a fun night of lights and animals!!!
It's starting out to be a great 2008!!

Kojo, Osobie, Fatu --lil' triangle of love

ZOO LIGHTS- down in Denver Colorado...

Momma, Papa (we love being called this!!) Osobie and Fatu...yes..we were all freezing!!

FATU--with "Uncle Jack" climbing to the top of the rock wall

OSOBIE-- his third time to the top!! This boy can climb and LOVES IT!!

KOJO-- climbing the wall with Uncle Jeff!

Fatu LOVES to cook with momma!
Boy are we blessed by good eaters!! Yup, we are cooking up some squash and zucchini!!