The latest...

Amos and Kalee were taken to the embassy clinic as scheduled on Friday. Bloodwork was done but their physical exams were not completed.

We haven't gotten a good explanation why.

Hopefully they can be seen for an exam early this week, the results will be forwarded to the embassy and our agency will produce a copy of their biological mother's death certificate.

The embassy tells us that as soon as they have those two things, they can schedule our appointment for the visa exit interview.

(That means Drew or I will need to get on the next do-able and available flight to Monrovia!)

Good news/Bad news

It's only Tuesday, but it's been an up and (mostly) down week so far when it comes to our adoption.

Good news: Amos's and Kalee's biological father interviewed well and "passed" the questioning at the US Embassy on Monday.

Bad news: For reasons as of yet unexplained, our agency rep did not take Amos and Kalee to the meeting, so the bio father and the boys have to return to the Embassy tomorrow for another round of questioning.

Bad news: The boys' physicals have been postponed until Friday.

Bad news: Neither our agency, nor the Embassy, can produce the boys' biological mother's death certificate. It exists, or at least once did, because it was presented to the Liberian judge before our court decree was issued in 2008......but......no one can find it. It will have to be reissued.

Bad news: The Liberian government is requiring an additional step before they will sign off on clearance letters for Amos and Kalee to leave the country. They are requiring that we submit the results of our criminal background checks directly to them. This is in response to the beating death last week of a Liberian girl adopted in 2007 by a family living near Sacramento.

Good news: No skeletons in our closets! Other than a few (err.....several) speeding tickets on my part, Drew and I check out squeaky clean. We've already emailed our files to all the necessary parties.

You know that expression, "So close and yet, so far away...."?

I'd say that pretty well sums things up from here.

Big sigh.

Adoption news

We got really encouraging news on the adoption front yesterday.

After several weeks worth of waiting for corrections, our new and improved case history was delivered to the US Embassy on Tuesday.

The boys' birth certificates and passports (issued three different times to get them right!) were delivered to the Embassy Thursday.

The boys' biological father is scheduled to appear at the Embassy for an interview on Monday the 22nd.

Then, Amos and Kalee will have a physical with an Embassy doctor.

Assuming every thing goes according to plan, and DNA testing is not required by the Embassy....

...it might not be long now.

Stay tuned!

Snow Ball, 2010

Brant and his friend, Emily Kait, had a big time at Calvary's winter dance Saturday night. It was rescheduled from January 30th because of all the snow and ice here, but sounds like it was worth the wait.

Brant said he definitely chose the right date. Emily Kait is really outgoing and has had years of dance training which meant he had someone fun to dance the night away with.

I think his actual words were, "I got my groove on.......oohhh yeah." Then he showed me some of his moves.

The next morning, Brant woke up sore and complaining from dancing all night long.

Took me all the way back to 1980 when gangly David Moore and I went to Carmel Junior High's Christmas dance. I couldn't even hold a pencil, I was so sore from snapping my fingers.

Good times. Good times.

Snowbound!

Happy 254th, Mozart.

Check this out! Will got to portray Mozart tonight at his school's celebration of Mozart's 254th birthday. There was a big faculty concert followed by a cupcake & punch reception where Will and his friend, Hannah, dressed as Mozart's wife, Costanza, worked the crowd.

Thanks to the students in the wig and makeup studio at UNCSA, I actually think Will really resembled a young Mozart.

That high forehead helped.......don't you think?

Prayer answered; Wish Granted

Drew got exactly what he wanted for his birthday.

We got the word late last night that our agency social worker in Liberia was holding our case history. He had it in his hands---the report for which we've been waiting 18 months.

The information in it is all correct and the document is signed, sealed and ready to be delivered to the US Embassy.

Things are finally moving.

A birthday wish.....

Drew says all he wants for his 42nd birthday is a signed case history from the Ministry of Health in Liberia.

I'm hoping and praying he gets his wish.

Pix from Liberia

I have uploaded photos from our Liberia trip to Snapfish. Check them out and let me know what you think!

Click here to view photos

This Will make you smile, #4

I have found that one of the annoying things about international travel is having to deal with the metric system. I thought the whole world had given up on using it at about the same time the US did.....sometime after 1976 when I finished 4th grade math.

But no......not so! We had to do lots of conversions, especially when it came to figuring out the temperature and ultimately, at what point our brains were going to cook in the Liberian heat.....but alas, that's another post....

Anyway, as we were leaving Liberia and waiting to check our bags at the Monrovia airport, I noticed that the scales the agents were using displayed kilograms not pounds.

Worried that our bags might weigh too much, I turned to Will and said, "How do we convert pounds to kilograms again?"

"Okay, Mom....you first divide by the temperature in Hong Kong. Then subtract the number of characters in the Greco-Roman alphabet. And finally, invert that number, reverse the first digit with the second-to-last and multiply by π. Got it, Mom?"

"Errrr........yeah. Got it, Will."

Home again....

Well....Drew, the boys and I are back from Liberia after something like 30 (gosh-awful) hours of traveling. We got in late last night......slept like rocks.....and I'm hoping that after another good night of sleep tonight, we'll all get back to feeling like ourselves.

It was an incredibly bittersweet trip. Bitter because it was so very hard to leave Amos and Kalee behind after spending the week together as a family.....playing on the beach....singing and laughing together....eating together around a big table every night. Both boys cried as we packed up their things and loaded up the car at the house we were renting. And both cried again when we said our goodbyes at the orphanage.

The trip was sweet, though, because we made incredible progress toward finalizing the boys' adoption:

-Just prior to our trip, the State Department announced that the US Embassy in Monrovia was moving ahead in tandem with the Liberian government to process adoption cases like ours that already have valid court decrees.

-On December 22nd we had a very positive meeting with Consul Steven Harper at the US Embassy where he confirmed the few remaining steps to complete our case.

-On December 23rd we met with two key members of the Liberian Ministry of Health who agreed to complete our case history. In fact, while we were there last week, MOH staff tracked down and interviewed the boys' biological father and visited the boys' mother's village to confirm her death and other necessary details.

All this to say.......Drew and I are oh-so-cautiously optimistic that the case history will be written up and complete in another few days. Having the case history will allow our adoption to quickly proceed to the US Consular's office where DNA testing should confirm that our boys' biological father is in fact who he says he is......and then....visas will be issued for Amos and Kalee to come to the United States. If every thing goes smoothly (and I hesitate to even write this) the process could be complete by the end of January.

After my first visit in August, I said goodbye to Amos and Kalee not knowing when I'd see them again. I didn't know what was going to happen with adoptions in Liberia or when things would move forward.

This time....I said goodbye without such a heavy heart. I left being able to say that Drew or I would be back for them very soon. I could tell Amos and Kalee that this long, painful wait is almost over....that it won't be long now until they can come home.

This time when I waved to them and said, "I'll see you soon," I really meant it.

Please continue to pray with me that God will make it all so and that He will see Amos and Kalee safely home to us.

Merry Christmas from Liberia!

Leaving on a jet plane....

Despite the snow all along the east coast, we are heading up the road (with 500 lbs of luggage) to Washington, DC where we hope to catch our flight to Brussels this evening and then go on to Monrovia, to arrive late Monday.

There are a lot of variables at play and we are not sure whether we'll actually be able to fly out or not. Don't know if Dulles will be open.....whether Lufthansa will cancel our flight.....or whether we'll even be able to make it out of our driveway, much less up the interstate to get to DC.

But......after talking to our travel agent (twice) we don't have many other options other than to try to make it and then see what happens.

I'll keep you posted!

That's my girl.

Have I told you about my niece, Sophie?

Blogworthy if ever there was such a girl.

She came home from China to my sister and brother-in-law in 2003.

She is all kinds of cute.

And smart.

She takes ballet. And tap. And Chinese. And all sorts of other stuff that make my head spin.

I love that girl. I could dish her up with a spoon. Except when she cries. And then I don't know what to do with her.

Having her around satisfies my occasional need to buy something pink. Or to do foam crafts. Or to talk paper dolls. Or to try on various headbands just for fun.

The boys love her just a little bit, too.

Make a wish!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

sweet, sweet WILL.

Will (aka "Dubya," "Willby," "Someone Thrilling" or our "Spare Heir") turned 14 fabulous years old today.

We are celebrating down at Topsail with steaks and the traditional M & M cake.....what else??

If you look closely at the frosting, you'll see where Will either licked it or swiped his finger through it.

He's not saying which.

("I won't yell at my son on his birthday. I won't yell at my son on his birthday. I won't.....")

This Will make you smile, #3

Will was sitting next to me at the Orphan Sunday concert the other night. We listened as things got going and the broadcaster in Nashville announced the program for the evening. She rattled off the laundry list of performers and speakers:

"With us tonight, Jim Daly from Focus on the Family.....Dennis Rainey of Family Life....and from the Christian Alliance for Orphans, Jedd Medefind!"

Will leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Jedmedefin?? Isn't that the new cholesterol drug?"

Orphan Sunday, 2009

Yesterday was Orphan Sunday in the United States. Did your church acknowledge it? Did you know there even was such a day?

I got to be part of logistics planning for a local "live-stream" event here in Winston-Salem. Steven Curtis Chapman, Geoff Moore, some guys from Focus on the Family and the Christian Alliance for Orphans all spoke and performed "Live from Nashville" and the event was carried via satellite all across the country.

Attendance here at the local event was dismal. Maybe 25 people showed. All the radio spots and FaceBooking and Twittering and emailing didn't bring people out.

I won't lie to you; I was so, so disappointed.

Drew and I alone invited 139 families. One of them came.

You know....

I've been thinking about it and I'm not sure why people didn't come out. Maybe it was the beautiful, warm weather or because it was a school night. Maybe turnout was low because the Carolina Panthers were on tv.

Or maybe....it was because people find thinking about the world's orphan problem too difficult......too overwhelming.....too uncomfortable. Maybe people think that they aren't gifted or called to serve that way. Maybe folks think that "someone else" is handling the 140 million orphans that live in our world.

The thing is........it seems to me that the Bible couldn't be more clear about how to walk in God's will. Praising God and serving Him by caring for the orphaned and widowed and poor seem to be exactly what we are ALL called to do.

He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow,

and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. (Deut. 10:18)

A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,

Is God in His holy habituation.

God sets the solitary in families;

He brings out those who are bound into prosperity. (Ps. 68: 5-6)

Pure and faultless religion is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress. (James 1:27)

"But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (I John 3:16-17)

If I'm reading even just those Bible verses right, I get the idea that we can't call ourselves Christians and say we love God if we aren't caring for widows and orphans and showing needy people around the globe the love of Christ.

I don't think we can serve God and be selective about it. His call is so clear. Being the hands and feet of our Saviour must mean doing the tough stuff....the overwhelming stuff.....doing the stuff that challenges us and makes us feel uncomfortable.

And doing it in His name, to His glory.

Baby, we were born to run....

I got to see Bruce tonight.

Our 14th date.

And I have to say, it was just as special as our first time together.

That sweet man sang every song on the Born to Run album from start to finish.....plus "Bobbie Jean," because that's our song.

He laid off the whack political ramblings. He was only mildly jealous that Drew was there (singing every word to every song, loudly in my left ear).

Bruce made it a night to remember and at the end of our time together, we caught eyes and said our secret goodbyes.

Until next time, Boss. Until next time.

This Will make you smile, #2

The house got a little too quiet tonight so...... I started looking for the boys.

Drew was watching Game 1 of the World Series, Jay was reading in bed, Brant was practicing guitar......

Will was working out on the tread mill.....with a sleeve of Oreos in one hand.

Adoption update...

The last couple of weeks have been pretty stressful as far as the adoption goes....hence my lack of posting.

On October 2, I contacted Senator Richard Burr's office (again) and while his staffer would not agree to contact any Liberian government officials, she did make an "official" inquiry to the US Embassy in Liberia on Drew's and my behalf. On October 9th, we received a letter from Senator Burr saying that the US Consular in Monrovia indicated that "the Liberian moratorium would not be lifted....until sometime after January, 2010."

Three loooooong, sad months away.

On October 7th.....there was an announcement made on the State Department website saying that, despite the moratorium, cases would be processed for those with "full and complete" adoptions. I immediately confirmed with our agency director that our Liberian court decree does, in fact, make our adoption full and complete.

I felt hopeful for a time.

Until....our agency director cautioned, that, even with our court decree--- even IF the Minister of Health completed a case history (the very LAST piece we need)---and even if, the US Consular issued visas for the boys, there is still the possibility that Amos and Kalee would not be allowed to leave Liberia because of the moratorium!

What circular craziness. It doesn't stop there.

Today, our director emailed to say that another adoption agency was being allowed to move forward with 7 adoption cases. She was thrilled; she suspected the Liberian government was finally feeling some pressure from stateside inquiries. An Addy's Hope employee was on his way to the Minister of Health's office to inquire about getting case histories completed for those of us with court decrees.

I spent the afternoon feeling encouraged---perhaps the State Department announcement was correct after all.

A little while ago.......another emailed arrived from our director. Apparently, no one at the Minister of Health's office knew any thing about case histories being written.....for anybody. She's going to follow up on the rumors and try to get to the bottom of it all tomorrow.

So, tonight.............as I head to bed......I'll pray again that God will keep Amos and Kalee safe and well until Drew and I can bring them home. I'll still seek God's will in this thing.....I'll try to discern what He's trying to teach me....what He has in mind for me and Drew to do.....how we might encourage other people to adopt. I'll ask God to show us what He would have us do to help the Liberian people.

I'll thank God, too, for all of you who are keeping us Dixons in your prayers. I'll thank God for those of you who have asked how you could donate to the orphanage because you want the children fed. I'll thank God for the people I've never met who have left voicemails and sent notes of encouragement because they've heard our story or seen our name on our church prayer list. I'll thank God for all of you who ask about the adoption because you are interested. And I'll thank God for all of you who don't ask because you are afraid it might be too hard for me to talk about.

Because, on days like this......it is.

This Will make you smile.....

Will and I were coming back from his high school a little late tonight.....windows rolled down, just catching up and sharing our days. Kit was snoozing in the back seat.

I noticed how clear the skies were above us and the falling leaves swirling on the road. I had forgotten since last year how great a wood-burning fireplace smells.....

I said to Will, "Don't you just LOVE fall? The crisp air, the leaves changing, the smell of....."

He interrupted,

"Arson.....yeah....nice."

My life with a bunch of yahoos....

Soccer Balls and Baby Dolls

Jay and his best friend, Josh, partied in their traditional Labor Day style to celebrate their 12th birthdays today. This year, they asked their guests--all buddies from their travel baseball team---to bring toys for the orphans at Addy's Hope.

Their Canes teammates came through in a big way and Jay and Josh collected 11 soccer balls, 2 footballs, 3 Tonka vehicles, a remote-control car, 15 Matchbox cars, 10 baby dolls and 5 Barbie dolls. Yahoooooo!

In between some fierce dodge ball matches and plenty of fast-paced basketball at the old high school gym, the partygoers also put together nearly 50 treat bags for the Addy's Hope kids. Josh's mom and stepdad very generously donated all the loot for the bags and each one included a pack of crayons, a tennis ball, stickers, markers, tissues, a toothbrush, party favors and noisemakers......plus PLENTY more to show the kids in Liberia that some one here in the US is thinking of them.

Our family will look forward to taking every thing over when we travel next.......but in the meantime, thank you Canes friends for your wonderful generosity and for remembering the children of Addy's Hope in Monrovia.

Our own.......Captain Underpants!!

Thank you to every one who contributed to Brant's "Undies for Orphans" drive. All tolled, he collected 782 pairs of kids underwear for the children at Addy's Hope in Liberia! He and I were able to take about 500 pairs (100 lbs!) over when we traveled in July and will take the rest when we go back to pick up Amos and Kalee.

Who knew there were so many Disney Princess underwear options for girls! Amazing.

You know, collecting "panties and briefs" (as the Liberians say) wasn't a glamorous project, that's for sure. Brant could have collected school supplies, or flip flops or toothbrushes or myriad other things for the kids, but he saw a need and decided to go out on a teenage limb to fill it. Thank you for supporting B as he grows and stretches and learns how to be the hands and feet of Jesus here on earth.

Who can believe.....Jay is 12!

Jay set his alarm for 6am and got us all up early to celebrate his big day before school!

Babe was really, really happy with his new Nokona catcher's mitt, a few other trinkets AND the above-pictured box of taco shells. Will apparently dared him to put those on his birthday list--

just "to see if Mom is paying attention."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY BOY!

I love the smell of pencil shavings, Part 2

Today was Will's first full day of class as a freshman in the high school program at the UNC School of the Arts.    There are only 11 other 9th graders, only about 100 kids in the high school altogether, so Will has very small academic classes.  After two weeks, his music classes will start and he'll study privately with his cello professor and also take part in a studio group with other high school and college students. He can't wait....

Being that UNCSA is an arts school, a wacky mascot is a complete given......so let's hear it for the Fighting Pickles!    

Will and I spent all day Friday and most of the weekend in various orientation meetings with riveting topics like:  "H1N1 and YOU,"  and "Don't get in a Pickle---Be Safe on Campus."  I'll spare you all the pickle puns.....though they sure were CUKE!

Anyway......if you don't know Will, can I just tell you that he is one neat kid?   Most days I'm amazed that he is my child.   He composes music and loves words.  He draws and paints and reads like crazy.  He writes and re-writes story after story.   He thinks and wonders and asks loads of questions.   Will requires very little sleep and when he does sleep, he dreams.  In color. Or in Spanish.   

Will makes me laugh and laugh....especially at the end of the day.

My prayer, and I hope yours too, is that Will will grow and thrive at UNCSA; that he'll perfect his art and play and write beautiful music to the glory of our God who created him.

Country roads and a family reunion

   

Liberian "small-small"

One of the things that moved me most during my visits to Addy's Hope was seeing the way the children shared with each other.    Despite living in the most desperate of circumstances with very little to eat and almost nothing to play with, every one of them is willing to give up some of what they're given to any one else who needs or wants it.

I was able to shop at a small, US-style grocery store in Monrovia on my second day there.   I didn't realize then it was going to be my only shot at buying what we needed for the week, so I didn't put much thought in to any sort of meal planning.    I bought a few staples--bread, rice, peanut butter, saltines, pasta, canned tomatoes---and splurged on a package of chicken breasts, a small bag of frozen peas & carrots and some pricey kiwis and apples.     At the last second, I noticed a small freezer case holding some M&Ms and a few chocolate bars.   I tossed a couple of KitKats into my cart, thinking Brant might need a sweet treat during the week.

Our days started following a pattern and at the end of each visit to Addy's Hope, Brant and I would walk out to the car with Amos and Kalee as the other kids clamored around to say goodbye.  They'd hold on to our arms and hands through the car windows until Mark would yell something that would send them scurrying off.    

Amos's friends called to him,  "A-mah!  Bring chocolate!"

Kalee's buddies yelled without fail,   "Ka-deee, bring me a car or a Jeep!"   

The girls would grin and shout,  "Baby doll for meeeeee!"

Charles always asked for a wristwatch.

Early in the week, this didn't worry me---I was careful not to make any promises, but I thought for sure I'd get out again to do some shopping and maybe find some things on their wish lists.   After a few days, I'd seen enough to know that toys were not to be had and the only chocolate anywhere around was back in that freezer case on United Nations Rd in Monrovia.

Brant and I talked about what to do.  My sweet boy offered up all four of his KitKat bars....but I fretted still.    Chocolate is a hard-to-find luxury in Liberia because of the expense.  The kids at Addy's Hope rarely, if ever, get it because the heat and humidity make it hard for parents and visitors to travel with.    There was no way we could give a few kids chocolate without giving all 50 kids some.

I prayed for a loaves and fishes moment.....and on one of our last visits at the home, Brant and I took the candy bars over to share them the best way we could.   I tried to have confidence---I had seen Pedelia, the school teacher, divide up impossibly small things during the week.  She'd broken off bits of her own boiled peanuts and even split Smarties candies into halves (!) so each child could have "small-small" from a parent care package.

Turns out I had nothing to worry about.   My long-distance friend, Carolee and I had chipped in a little money to buy bananas for the kids and Pedelia arrived with those just as I was unwrapping the chocolate.  The children were thrilled with one ripe banana each and danced around excitedly as they ate.    Then Pedelia used a sharp knife to cut the KitKats into tiny, bite-sized pieces and passed them out. 

I've never seen any one, of any age savor a bite of food with complete self control the way those kids at Addy's Hope did that chocolate.   They nibbled on the corners.....licked carefully around the edges.   Some held their little bite in their mouths without chewing while it melted.   They sucked on their fingers afterwards in case a bit lingered.  

There was no bickering, no squabbling.   No complaining about portions.  Nobody took the babies' shares.   There was no expectation for a second piece........or that there'd ever be any more.   

There was nothing but complete contentment and gratitude for what they had been given.     

God's lesson wasn't lost on me and Brant.  We heard him, loud and clear.