Thursday, November 6, 2008

New pictures and a DVD!

We received a surprise this week. Someone had made a DVD of all four of our children back in August, while they were still in southern Ethiopia, before they were moved to the main foster home in Addis Ababa. So, it was just a bit outdated but what a delight it was to watch their sweet faces in action!

We were encouraged and surprised that their life there in Soddo was different than we had expected. They show them playing in a court yard with a soccer ball, eating something that looked like macaroni with a SPOON (we had heard that Ethiopian children only know to eat with their hands so we were impressed with that). And, they filmed a scene where Daniel, our 5 year old, was holding up flashcards with letters and American words on them as the other children recited the letters and words in English. I'm not sure how much of that will stick or translate into real communication with us once we get them, but it was much more than I had ever expected.

And best of all, both twins were all smiles! I guess I had worried that our babies would not have the same tendency to smile and interact with people as my biological babies did at that age(or at least not at first) but you could tell that these little ones were quite used to interacting with people and smiling and giggling.

I wish I could post the DVD here but because we are not permitted to share any pictures or specific information about our children until after our court date in December, you'll just have to wait until then... : )

5 comments:

Dorinda said...

That is cool! And so exciting. Do the older kids know they're being adopted? Just curious :)

B said...

They will know about us after they receive a small photo album of us (which I am working on right now). We're really excited about that. That is the ony thing, incidentally, that we can send them. No toys, clothes etc. I thought that was interesting, but I guess they work hard to keep things fair among the other children.

cbpaschall said...

How wonderful! What a journey you have ahead. Our good friends' son is from Soddo area. Our little guy is from the northern region of Tigray. Can't wait to see your kids' faces and for your court date to go through so they are officially Brown children!!!

Melinda said...

I just found your blog from the new ET yahoo group. I think your story is amazing and I can't wait to follow along as you bring home 4 new kids! We have a court date for our 9 year old from ET on Dec. 5th. We have had her refferal since April so lot's of delays in our case. She will make number 5 for us, but 2nd one adopted from ET.

Karen said...

How thrilling! :) I bet that DVD just means the world to you! I'm so excited for you and praying that things continue to move forward for you guys to head out there SOON! Do you know if they've gotten the photo album from you guys?