No More Ethiopia Smell

Gabriella's right ear has smelled like Ethiopia ever since the day we met her. We always thought it was just God's reminder of her birthcountry. Silly us! A few weeks ago, Gabriella failed two hearing tests at school. Both times, the report said that her hearing was fine but inner ear problems were suspected. Hmmm....we never thought the smell was the problem until we took her to a specialist. Since we knew none of her history as far as ear infections and we knew her birthmother had hearing loss, we immediately took her to a specialist at Children's. He looked at it & took a smell of it, and asked us how long it had smelled like that....Oops! We felt pretty dumb! She had a lot of "gunk" in her ear, way down close to her ear drum. He prescribed her some drops and within a couple of days, the "gunk" was coming out & guess what...it smelled just like Ethiopia! We went back for her recheck this week & her ear looks much better. She does have some areas of scar tissue near her ear drum...probably from years of chronic, untreated ear infections. Thankfully, it does not seem to be effecting her hearing at this time. The doctor is going to continue watching her to make sure it doesn't become a problem. We are so glad that now she has access to healthcare that will prevent her from future hearing loss...healthcare her birthmother didn't have when she was growing up. We are a little sad that we can't smell Ethiopia in her ear anymore though. If you've been there you know it's not a pleasant smell, but it was a sweet smell to us b/c it was the smell of our daughter's birthcountry.

Going to the Chapel...

Troy and Gabriella love to play wedding. They are hilarious! They are pretty good at it, too! The kids watch Adonia and Kevin's wedding ALL the time and they've pretty much got their vows and other parts of their wedding day memorized. The rest of us get to participate in their "weddings" and on this particular day, my mom got the priveledge of playing maid of honor and held Gabriella's flower while they exchanged vows and rings.... Fun times!

Stories from Her Little Mind

You would not believe all the amazing stories that the princess has shared with us about her life in Ethiopia! As I work diligently to finish up her life book, I'm struck by the fact that I'm trying to write her lifestory which she already knows in her sweet little mind. It is a daunting task to try to combine all the stories that she has shared into one little book about her....so very intimidating! Two nights ago, we were sitting on the couch in a quiet moment (which, of course, doesn't happen too much in our house), and I asked her if she knew why Mama G & Mama M decided that it was best for her to become part of our family. She then started telling me about how mean the neighborhood kids were to her & her "sister"...how they kicked them in the face & even knocked out one of her "sister's" teeth. Our conversation continued to expore possible reasons, & it eventually led to her telling me for the first time about the day that she went to Hannah's Hope. She told me that they went there two times. The first time, they just went to talk to Almaz & she said that day didn't make her cry. However, "a long time after that" she had been out playing with her friends & some of her famiy was helping to clean up her aunt's home. Then she said her "father" came to vist. I was a little confused because she told me awhile back about when her "dad" (Mama M's husband, who would actually be Great Uncle) died. I questioned her about "father". And she said, "Like Jesus"...I realized she was talking about a priest or elder from their church. After talking some more, we realized that her family had asked the "father" to come by to bless her before they took her to Hannah's Hope. After the blessing, she & the two women who had loved her & cared for her for the first years of her life, walked bravely to Hannah's Hope for the last time together. She said on that day, she did cry "very much". I'm sure they did, as well! I hesitated on whether I would share this...it is very personal, but it clearly demonstrates the love of a birthmother...planning for weeks & then having their religious leader make a special visit to their home to pray a blessing over their child as they prepare to say "goodbye" to her. I'm not sure that I could ever be that selfless...what an amazing, strong woman that takes! Occasionally someone will say, "Oh, she's so lucky to finally have a family who loves her". I think that out of all the stupid comments we have heard, this one bothers me the most! She has always had a family who has loved her very, very much...now she just has two families that love her very much! I am so thankful that the princess is old enough to have so many vivid memories of her birthfamily. I only know them from the short little meeting that we had with them, but through all the stories she has told us, I have grown to love & respect them more & more. Now, off to finish her lifebook (for now, but, of course, I will leave plenty of empty spaces for all the stories that are still to come).... :-)

Doro Wat

When we went to the Ethiopian restaraunt in Nashville over Christmas, we realized that Gabriella's favorite Ethiopian food is Doro Wat. She LOVED it! So, I found a recipe that seemed manageable & decided I would make it for our next get-together with our local Ethiopian Adoptive Families group.

In the meantime, we decided to make a Tennessee version of it one night when we were eating bbq. She loved it! We just boiled her some eggs & put them in a bowl of bbq sauce! It was so cute! Now we have a back-up for those times when she's craving Doro Wat & we don't have any on hand ;-) !

The recipe for the Doro Wat proved to be very tasty, too! I won't lie...the house stunk like crazy & we were all walking around wishing we could plug our noses without offending the princess while she was walking around saying, "Yummy, yummy, yummy!". It definately produces a very strong scent while all those spices & onions are cooking down! The end result is well worth it though!

Here's the link to the recipe! http://www.whats4eats.com/poultry/doro-wat-recipe
I made a few adjustments...I used strips of Chicken breast instead of the legs & thighs. And, for the bere bere paste I found that mixing 3 tbsp bere bere spice with 1/2 cup oil & 1/4 cup red wine yields a little less than 1/2 cup of bere bere paste. Enjoy!

Snow Day

What a fun day we had...after we made it safely home... :-) It was great snow for snowmen & sledding (& watching all the cars get towed out of the ditch on the road below the hill that our house is on). The best part was that I had already made my mother-in-law's yummy lasagna & had it in the fridge & ready to go for dinner before the snow piled up & the day turned into a snow day! The kids (& Nate Dogg) had a blast! When I asked Gabriella if she prayed for this snow, she said she did (remember...she prayed for snow on the night before her birthday, too). The boys are now calling her the "snow fairy". I told her to please tell me the next time she prays for snow, so I can make sure to take it seriously & get the kids home from school before the roads get bad! Oh, and did I mention that this was the first time I've driven in accumulating snow? I was pretty proud of myself! :-)

Things Kids Say...

Troy informed us that he didn't want to take guitar lessons anymore...he "just wants to be a rockstar".

Today, when Siskel, Ebert, & I were trying to get to school to pick-up the other two in the midst of our surprise snow fall, I was asking them to pray that we could make it there & back home. The road between our neighborhood & the school was insane! And, before all the yankees laugh...I wish I had a picture of the car with Ohio plates in the ditch right outside our neighborhood...driving in snow on curvy, hilly roads is not as easy as you might think :-)! Anyways, back to story ;-)...I was trying to explain to them that if we "wrecked", we would be okay...the car might be broke & we may have to walk home, but we would be fine. Ebert looked at me & said, "Mom, we'll be okay. We've got our leapsters!"

More on the surprise snow soon!!! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

No Training Wheels!!!

Yesterday we were blessed with very warm temps & blue, blue skies! The kids rode their bikes & look who learned to ride without his training wheels....Siskel!!!!