One for the Ages

Today we spent time with new friends on the terrace overlooking Addis Ababa. It is an amazing view from six stories up. You can see into some of the local houses and small complexes; dogs and kids running around chasing chikens and trash. A neighbor takes great care in her garden, working ervyday to make it perfect for her family's small crop of vegetables.

There was a standoff of sorts today between Malakai and Dustin. Christy went up to the terrace to talk with friends. Dustin stayed behind to feed Malakai. In the midst of the feeding, Dustin could hear noises coming from Malakai's southern region coupled with grunts, squinted faces, and snickers.

The stage had been set for the ultimate showdown. Granted this was the first of many matches in this amazing adventure, but this match had been brewing. This macth was one for the ages.

I will spare you the details of the match that made any UFC fight look like a playground tussle, but like any man who tells a story of struggle must announce the victor. Was it Malakai the rookie? Was Dustin the 11 year vet to retain the crown? No, it was the poo that beat them both.

Party of 6

Well, it's official! We got Malakai today! It was a pretty spectacular day for more reasons than one. To start off some people in our travel group organized a trip to a Christian sponsored school at a city that is about 2 1/2 hours south of Addis Ababa. We went in a van with two other couples and got to see some amazing countryside in the Ethiopian Rift Valley and tour the school compound. It was so awesome to see all the kiddos there, what they are learning, how the school is providing education and food for the kiddos and how adorable they all are!! We got back to our guest house by about 3:00 and by 3:30 we were off to the care center to go pick up our kiddos. Two of the families got their kids yesterday and three families got theirs today. We picked up Kai and he was all smiles and we had a peaceful ride back to the care center. He had a little bit of milk and a bath then we went down for dinner and then Kai took a bottle and went to sleep about 8:00. So far, so good. The only thing that is a concern is that he has a rash all over his face. Most of the spots look to be in the healing phase except for one. The nanny told us that he has been to the doctor twice and was prescribed "some cream" that we have been using. I hope it works, whatever it is. Tomorrow we are doing paperwork for embassy and hanging out at the guest house. It will be nice not to be so busy.
Yesterday we were able to immediately go to the grocery store for a few items and then do a little souvenier shopping, mainly replacing the wooden Ethiopian cross that our beloved dog, Ollie chewed up! We also went to dinner with another couple from DC at a place called The Beer Garden. It was a lively place and we enjoyed some Ethiopian food and beer.
We appologize for how long it took to post. The guest house is mostly fantastic, but the internet service is sketchy and this is the first time we have actually been able to access the blog. Thank goodness for my husband's expertise in IT! We also have not had much success skyping, so we haven't been able to talk to the kids, which is hard. Okay, I better post before we lose access. Love to you all. Thanks so much for the prayers and we will blog again just as soon as possible!
Christy

A See Ya' Later Post

Hi Everyone,
Today is our last day at home for a while. It will be filled with the busyness of packing and making final plans to ensure that things run smoothly, both here and abroad. We will definitely be doing lots of snuggling today, as well. We leave tomorrow morning (Friday, the 18th). Our flights are to Newark then to Frankfurt and on to Addis. We will arrive in Addis on Saturday night about 9:15 p.m. We are staying at a guest house called the Yebsabi Guest House. At the last minute, we were able to book a suite type room that has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a shared kitchen and living space. We're going to be sharing this arrangement with the Kniseley family, some folks we met from North Carolina when we were traveling for our court appointment. They are adopting 2 little boys around 2 years old that are in the same care center as Malakai. It will be a room full of little boys! The other factor is that a bunch of kiddos at the care center currently have chicken pox. I beleive Malakai is on the tail end of his infection, but may have a secondary rash type infection on his face that will need to be treated. One of the Knisely boys is just coming down with them, so we hope to make him comfortable and healed up before they have to travel home. There will be 3 other families that we traveled with to court that will be going to embassy at the same time this week and we are all staying at the Yebsabi, so it will be so much fun to see everyone again! We also have the opportunity to meet the Compassion International child that we sponsor! I'm so excited to meet her. That will be Thursday of our trip. We were told that Malakai can't come to the project site, so I'm really hoping that an acceptable solution is at hand. We leave Addis on Saturday night 11:35 pm and fly to Frankfurt and on to Newark and then Denver. We land in Denver on Sunday the 27th at 8:00 p.m. We would love prayers for safety, safety, and more safety! On top of that, prayers for health, a smooth embassy proceedure, bonding with Malakai, healing for Malakai's rash, a safe and smooth trip to visit our Compassion kiddo (Rehima), peace and and safety for our kiddos and the grandparents back home, and a little bit of fun! Thanks everyone for your love, prayers, and support! We'll try to update the blog as often as we can! We'll see you soon!

A Post From Lori

DEAR FRIENDS of the MORRIS FAMILY:

Hello everybody this is Lorisa Smith, a friend
of Christy and Dustin!

I have taken on the job of gathering some friends to bring Christy and Dustin (and kids) some suppertime meals for when they return home from ETHIOPIA with Malakai
on Sunday March 27th!!!

Christy agrees meals would be a welcome relief
after traveling exhaustion, adoption joys and stress, and helping
their new baby boy adjust to a new time zone and a new life!!
Not to mention, working furiously on bonding and attachment too
and "loving on" their other 3 kids!

Christy agreed that every other day on M, W, F, and once on the weekend
would be wonderful! I'd like to line up 2 weeks, and perhaps 3 if we have
enough families who would and can bring them a meal.

Start date:
Mon Mar 28
Wed Mar 30
Fri Apr 1
Sun Apr 3
Mon Apr 4
Wed Apr 6
Fri Apr 8
Sun Apr 10
Mon Apr 11

If you would like to bring them a meal,
please email me with a date (and an alternate date in case the one you want is taken)
and your phone number. I'll email you back to confirm your date!

Thank You!!

Lorisa Smith
email me: hisfam@hotmail.com

****ALSO EVERYONE WATCH FOR INFORMATION ON THE****
OPEN HOUSE WELCOME HOME PARTY FOR MALAKAI
HAPPENING SOMETIME SOON AFTER HE ARRIVES
HOME AND THEY ALL GET A LITTLE REST!!!

Confirmed and Travelling

We received the call last week that the embassy has all the paperwork it has required and it looks acceptable, so we were given an embassy date of March 23rd. It has been a whirlwind of buzzing around trying to make flight and guest house arrangements. We had difficulty booking a flight to the East coast since it is spring break, so we will have to travel a bit earlier than planned and stay one day later to get the flight through Frankfurt. We leave this Friday the 18th of March and we will be home next Sunday the 27th. We were able to book a 3 bedroom villa with a living room and kitchen at a brand new guest house. We are going to be sharing the villa with another travelling family, so it will be nice to have the company. Hopefully things will go well with Kai and he won't be up screaming all night keeping the other family awake! I'm sure most of you know by now that Kai has a mysterious rash and we think it is contagious, because other babies in the orphanage have it. Please pray that we are able to figure out what it is and be able to treat it properly. Also, of course, that Dustin and I won't get it or bring it home to the kids. We'd covet your prayers for safety, bonding, and health. We will be updating the blog with pics as soon as we have them! Love to you all!
Christy

Embassy Submission

All our paperwork was submitted to the US embassy 10 days ago to ask for permission to travel. We were informed that the embassy is requesting more documentation for our case (this is very common). The document they are requesting is called a "life history" and it is basically a document that would testify as to the character of the person who found Malakai. I find it a little ridiculous to be requesting this document since Malakai was found by a police officer that was held in such high regard that he didn't even have to show up for court to testify about our case. Also, what if they find out he is not such a stellar person? What happens then? It is basically another hurdle since our agency will now have to find a representative to travel to his region, find this police officer, and gather the appropriate papers and then resubmit our case to the embassy. With all that being said, that was the good news of the day. Our coordinator called on Friday and said she did not have a copy of our updated homestudy. After extensive digging through a very large adoption file, I found the paper and got it to her. She then called back and said that the fingerprint expiration dates from the first I 171-H do not match from the updated I 171-H! She called the USCIS immediately and they said the only way to fix the problem was to write them a letter and request that it be changed (which could take weeks). She said that this was unacceptable since it was their mistake (a typo basically) and that she would make some phone calls on Tuesday. I'm really praying that the paperwork mess can be resolved and corrected soon and that it would not delay our travel if we get confirmation from the embassy. Also praying that our agency would have enough staff and resources to get to Sidama and gather the documents they need and get them resubmitted to embassy quickly. It is discouraging to feel like you are making great progress and then to have these obstacles pop up all at once. Please pray for quick resolution and that Kai would be home with us soon! I'll keep you all updated.
Christy

The Little Man

Since we have officially passed court, we can now post pictures of Malakai. You can click on the pictures to the right and a larger window will open.