Blessed beyond imaginable....

 

Found this written on the chalk plaque in Tsinat & Bethlehem's room.  Seriously brought tear to my eyes to see in writing what they feel in their hearts.  Precious words from my precious girls!

People are constantly asking "So, how's it going?"  Truly, it is going far better than we ever dreamed!  Yes, we've had our up and downs, tough days, struggles, etc...however, overall we have been blessed beyond what we deserve!

Why did God choose me to be Tsinat & Bethlehem's adoptive mom?  They literally could have been placed with any family or never placed at all.  It just floors me that they are home with us and a part of our family!  It was a long wait and yet, it seems like they were always with us.  I recall saying those exact words after Kyah joined our family.  How God orchestrated my family is truly beyond imaginable and I am beyond blessed!! 

We have overcome a lot and know we have a lot to overcome.  The girls miss.  They miss Ethiopia.  They miss their friends.  They miss warm Ethiopian weather.  They miss Ethiopian school.  They miss their caregivers.  They miss everyone around them speaking Amharic.  They miss eating injera every day.  They miss....    We pray with them often and, in a much less profound way, miss too.  Ethiopia is so amazing and the birth place of 3 of my precious girls.  I truly love it there and can't wait to return!  Our recent trips were fantastic and we enjoyed each moment of it, even the long flights to get to that beautiful country!    

Wanting to remember these times while Gabe still lives under our roof!  We have lots of laughs together and LOVE when Kaylie, Gabe's fiance, can join!  Can't wait for wedding happenings!  Knew we raised a smart kid and so glad he picked her!

OK, I know I look 8....but MY daughter did this for me!!  =)

Daily breakfast with 3 teenagers, at 6:30am, drinking coffee ("bunna" in Amharic), eating scrambled eggs with berbera and, of course, Tsinat playing some sort of card trick to impress Jesse.  haha!!

Another airport picture, welcoming home our newest 2.  I looked at this picture closely the other day, and noticed how Kyah literally melted into her new sisters arms!  We get told frequently how well our kids all get along.  I've been taking notice of that as well.  Again, blessed beyond....

Hanging out with our friend, Frehiwot, who was welcomed home a month after Tsinat & Bethlehem.  LOVE how God is working in bringing home their friends from Ethiopia!

Kyah and her friend, Luke, enjoying a snowy play date at our house.  Just before I snapped this photo, Luke slipped her arm around Kyah's shoulder.  =)  They look like little models!  As Luke would say "they are cutie-pa-tooties"!!

Both girls have swimming as part of their PE class.  Since Tsinat was curious how we could swim in Michigan with all the snow and cold temps, we thought we would have a family swim day at the Hamilton Pool!  They never knew there was such a thing as an in-door pool and were amazed....and jumped right in!  The are brave and swam well in the area where they could touch and we all had a blast!  Guessing they will both be pro's by the end of the summer with all the swimming we usually do at our pool!

 

These are the beauties I get to see every day, just because I said "yes" t

o God.

Beautiful Home-Coming!!

Bethlehem and Tsinat welcomed home their friend, Salem, on Saturday!  She's in the green and looks amazing for just traveling on a long flight home!  Our girls were surprised to see 2 other friends, who they had NO idea were also living in West Michigan, at Salem's Home Coming party!  There was LOTS of screaming when the girls got together!  Kyah tried to fit right in - haha!  God has some pretty big plans here with all their beautiful Ethiopian girls all being adopted in West Michigan.  Can't wait to see what it is!!  

Our God is an Amazing God!

Straightened hair on our snow-day!

First day of school ... with their protector :)

This pretty much sums up our Beti!!

Merry Christmas & 4 weeks HOME!

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!  What a totally incredible Christmas was had this year!  Many times, I would just sit back and observe my family.  Listen to what was being said or sung, either in English or Ahmaric...THAT is truly beautiful and music to my ears!  Watch what they were doing, how creative they all are and how they were including one another.  LOVE that we are all together this year!  How my heart sings Glory to God for the gift of His Son and for allowing my girls to be home with us forever!

There are traditions that we do in America that I am becoming aware of since trying to explain many things to our new teenagers.  Many, to me, simply don't make sense and I have to tell them "I have no idea why we do this, we just do."  So, I am rethinking a few things and simply doing away with them to make life simpler and less complicated.  However, I also like to create new ideas and traditions.

My moms name is Linda, whom we call Gramma Linny.  My middle name is Lynn.  Jordan's is Jacklin. Kyah's is Gracelin Marie.  And I really wanted to continue the "Lin" tradition somehow for our girls middle names.  So, introducing:

Bethlehem "Beti" Emeylin Klaasen!

 

Tsinat Rahzlin Klaasen!

Our beautiful crew, plus Kaylie, on Christmas Morning!!

Thanks for "Taking Time to Pray!"

I looked back at my blog from 11-19-15, just less than a month ago, and re-read my words of pleading for prayers "that the Embassy would respond Friday and grant us a date for next week!"

Not only did the Embassy respond with approvals, but after receiving a call from our social worker on that Friday, Nov. 20 at 9:30am, we literally booked tickets and left that same day at 2:30pm!  I had our girlies packed already, and completed packing for Todd, Jordan and myself, finished tasks around the house, made emergency lists for kids staying home and was literally floating on adrenaline!  It truly didn't "hit" any of us that we were finally on our way until about half way across the Atlantic.  LOL!  It was such a rush and we played it over in our heads for well over a year.  Ahhh!!  Love how God worked all of this!

We landed in Ethiopia at 7:30am on Sunday, made it thru customs and were transported to our guesthouse. We changed and drove immediately to pick up our girls for church and lunch.  Our girls found out we were coming on that Sunday morning....they didn't have much time to process either!  Although they both were quiet (except for many giggles during church! =) the day with them was amazing!!  We brought them back to their orphanage for their final night there and we headed back to our guesthouse for some much needed rest.  Honestly, they must have thought we were such duds.  We all tried to put on our best face, and although we were really thrilled to be there with them, we were whipped and needed sleep!  

Monday morning, Nov. 23, 2015 a.k.a. our girls official "Gotcha Day" we arrived early and took our girls with us forever!  Teary eyed just thinking of that day!  Our whole trip was simply the best, but driving away from the orphanage with them next to us .... a dream come true!!

Thanks to you all so very much for your prayers to bring our girls home!  YOU are a very important part of these adoptions!  YOU are a huge part of this!  God listened to your prayers!  Thank YOU so very much on behalf of these 2 beautiful girls that I have the privilege of calling mine and tucking in each night!!