Not 2...but, 3 GIRLS!!

The month of October has been really amazing for our family!  Let me begin by introducing my soon-to-be daughter-in-law Kaylie!  Gabe proposed October 10th and she said yes!  WooHoo!!  His proposal idea was really thought out and planned and totally him!  ....let's just say it had to do with target practicing! 
They are planning a summer wedding.  LOVE this and we are so excited for them!  

October 20th, we passed Ethiopian Court!  "T" and "B" are now official Klaasen's and we long to get them home!  We have all the required documents completed and are waiting for them to be submitted to the US Embassy in Ethiopia to get a date to travel!  (Literally having just completed them at 4am today!...yes, we check our email at all times of the day and night when waiting for international adoption documents and do whatever it takes!) 

Praise the Lord for 3 new daughters!!!

Thank you all for your continued prayers!  What amazing peace we feel.  Our trip went unbelievably well in all ways, thanks to your prayers!  We truly feel them!  Please continue to pray for our girls as they wait.  Days must seem like weeks for them....they do for us!  The girls both long to have families, which was evident by our visits with them.  Although we realize all they must soon leave, it brings me more joy to think about all they will soon gain.  Pray they are at peace about leaving their homeland and adjust well to life with their new family.  Each one of us is so anxious to have them home!  Can't wait for all their "new firsts" here in Michigan!  

Gabe & Kaylie

Literally a minute before meeting our girls for the first time!  =)

Gorgeous Ethiopia!

This day was almost too good to be true!  Jesse totally amazed us in so many ways while on this trip together.  I plan to write about this day in particular later, but will give you a brief description now.  Jesse choose to sponsor a child in Ethiopia, while in Ethiopia!  AND, literally got to meet her 20 minutes later!  Here, she is thanking him =)

Jesse & our guide overlooking the view at Debre Libanos, north of Addis

Mt. Entoto, after court =)

The view from the top of our guest house!

Jesse with our dear friends at the Morning Coffee Guesthouse! 

Jesse tried every food set before him!  Here, he is eating authentic Ethiopian food- which he really liked!  His favorite was shiro eaten with injara.

 

Since we aren't able to share pictures of the girls yet, their hands will have to do!

AHHHH! God is so good!!

WooHoo!  So, so much to update.....first, I need to apologize for not updating since we've gotten back.  Lots of excuses; jet lag, catching up with my kids, laundry, meals, etc...then, repeat....

We literally had entire days without electricity or any kind of Internet in country, so nothing I tried to publish went thru.  I intend to load pictures soon and are they beautiful....meaning our beautiful girls and beautiful Ethiopia.

We were blessed with 4 visits with our darlings!  This is more than we thought we'd get, so were delighted!  We arrived in Addis on a Friday morning and by 5 pm that day we had seen them!  Talk about AMAZING!!  I literally ran to them and hugged them close.  Wow!  All the months of waiting and there they were in our arms.  They took us to their room where we talked thru the interpreting help of their social worker.  They immediately took to Jesse!  They were laughing together and joking around like they knew him forever.  They were a bit shy, but really loosened up quickly and with each visit.  By the 3rd visit, "T" was teasing Jesse and grabbing his baseball cap and telling him it was now hers.  "B" and Jesse had a stuffed animal war and she was joking that her name was Jesse.  :) We found they relied on the help of their interpreter when he or she was with, but really did fine without. They were both unsure of their English around us at first, but that changed quickly and with each visit.  Thinking of when they get home and how much growth in their English language we are sure to see.

Both are very good students and wanted to show us their school books, that are full of little stickers apparently for a job well done.  They are very proud of their school work.  "T" read aloud to us both in Ahmaric and English and is SO stinkin' cute when she laughs and crinkles up her nose!  Every time, without fail!, "B" would start giggling and end up falling over on her bed!  So cute!!  Both have a great sense of humor, as do all the kiddos at their orphanage.

We spent a lot of time with them, but also with their little buddies at the orphanage.  Again, Jesse was a huge hit!  He was loving on all of them.  We joked with them, hugged them, talked with them and spent time just looking in all those beautiful dark eyes and loving them.  Oh, it was better than we could have ever dreamed!

PASSED COURT!

We are officially a family of 9!  The judge approved the paperwork on Tuesday, and the adoption is finalized!

My sweet friend Jennifer! She knows just what I need, just when I need it. She surprised us and MADE blankets for "T" and "B" AND for Jordan and Kyah! They are gonna love them! I am so blessed with having her as a friend and LOVE her little man, Lance! Whom Kyah is betrothed to =)

To my little Pumpkin's

Getting closer!

Since it's really too early to pack, the one thing that I am able to do right now is get our donations prepared!   And oh, is that a fun thing to do! I have had a lot of the stuff set aside for months now, and finally put it in suitcases to deliver to Ethiopia.  Mainly clothing, lots of shoes and bed sheets. My brother-in-law has connections to very inexpensive Children's Tylenol and  Ibuprofen, as well as cold medicines which are all things that will for sure be used in an orphanage setting. And thanks to my friend Chris, we have lots of new packages of children's clothing and many school supplies!  One really cool product that is hand-made locally, are washable feminine hygiene products. I just think these are a fantastic pattern idea and cannot wait to teach the nurse about how they are to be used, handled and washed.  Have a feeling that these are going to be an invaluable product to many women!

At this point, I have three large suitcases containing 50 pounds of donations each.  Can't wait to hand deliver them very soon!

I am "nesting" big-time!  I have most everything in my house organized and gone through. (Even the boys closet -- Yikes!) Doing this feels so good and helps me to release some of my energy and seems like the only thing I am able to have control over and do right now.  I am sure that my other five children will help me keep things neat and organized - hahaha!  Just read a quote that went something like: trying to keep your house clean while you have kids, is like raking leaves in a hurricane.  LOL

My husband, well ... his energy release is building a barn!  He  completed it this past week and plans to have our pastured calves in it this week!  So on top of him working his full-time job and having our calf business -- he built a barn in his spare time!  Over-achiever!  Our boys helped him some, as did family and friends when it was time to pour the cement, but mainly he did it all himself. He is my Mr. Incredible!