Does the Journey ever really end?

Since today is National Adoption Day we thought that would be a perfect reason to enter a new blog entry. We had originally planned on stopping "this" blog when we came back from Ethiopia, instead creating "Adventures with Mawerdi" as a way of starting the next capture in our journey. However we keep coming back to this blog...we have been shocked to see frequent views of our blog from Ethiopia, there have been over 300 views from Ethiopia since we got home! It is surprising because most Ethiopians are prevented access to Blogger, either way it makes us smile. We hope people in Ethiopia see how happy and thankful we are for this amazing family! We have also received several emails from various travelers and adoptive families. It is funny how a personal blog created to document our journey would peak the curiosity of strangers. It truly is a small world out there!

Therefore, for a variety of reasons it has been decided that this blog. "Our Journey of Love", will continue in some form or another. We can't predict how often we will update this blog, however there are just some events that justify documenting. Our love for Ethiopia and for Mawerdi continues to expand more than we could have ever hoped or imagined. We know that we are lucky to be parents of this precious girl, we are thankful for our family everyday.

So what are the recent highlights?

We have since learned how to make Ethiopian food after attending an Ethiopian cooking class with other adoptive families.

Mawerdi tried injera for the first time at the 

Enkutatash celebration!

She truly did love it!

We also signed up to sponsor a very special girl through Children's Heaven, providing school and necessities for a year. This was always our plan from the beginning, continuing to give back to Ethiopia even when our daughter came home, but once again we were surprised at how much this decision has effected our lives and how we thinking about necessities.

We finally completed the re-adoption process in the State of Oregon which provides Mawerdi with an Oregon birth certificate! Despite the annual post placement report we provide Ethiopia until she is a teenager,  we can finally say that we are all DONE with the adoption paperwork, it is finally complete!

She lights up our lives and lives of all around her! She is a funny, curious, sweet, smart girl with a precious spirit, she is a special little girl!

We continue to keep our love for Ethiopia alive in our household and plan to return in a few short years. When we started this process we had hoped for an ongoing connection with Ethiopia, however we had no idea the opportunities we would be given on a regular basis to give back to Ethiopia or just being able to spend time with friends reminiscing about Ethiopia.

Mawerdi is truly our angel!

By adopting a child and helping them reach their potential, 

they help us

reach ours. An adopted child is not an unwanted child; to the contrary.

They are a child who was searched for, prayed for, cried for, begged

for; received by arms that ached, making hearts full. Love is meant to be shared." 

~ Author unknown