My 2 Ethiopian Girls: August 2010

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Tigist - A montage about our daughter's adoption from Ethiopia

Enjoy ...

Friday, August 27, 2010

Lisa Wills Sings "The Way I Am" by Indrid Michelson

I recorded this song, how fun is this ... I did my own background vocals.

I recorded a song 24 years AGO in a studio that cost a lot of money and it sounded nothing as nice as this one!

THE WAY I AM sung by one of my favorite artists, Ingrid Michelson.

Have a listen and tell me what you think,

Brandon Turns 15. Happy Birthday Handsome Guy!


March 22nd, Brandon turned 15. Here is Tigist, Brandon & Evan. Brandon invited a few friends to go to a huge trampoline place where you literally bounce off walls. I hope he had a great day.

Of course we had to drive to the Lamborghini Dealership to touch, see and smell these puppies.

Our favorite color

Can you imagine driving in this baby?

So close, yet so far from owning one.

Tigist was such a big girl about the birthday party being about her big brother and not her. She was very excited for him to have a birthday and cake and prezzies.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Back in March Photos

I tried to post these back in March, but here they are now

Thank God for this yard sale snow blower, it is the bomb for clearing our property.

I love popping my head out the door during the day or right before I go to bed. I say g'nite to the day and take a deep breath in of this incredible air that smells so fresh and crisp...especially in this Mile High City.

Living on a corner, you need to clear the front, the corner and all along the side. So sometimes we just keep on going and do a bunch of neighbors. It's good exercise and gets you all warmed up.

Hard to imagine this was March when at the moment I have the fan in the living room on high cause I'm hot.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

When Life Gives You Lemons ... Make Limoncello!

The Limoncello is now in process. The rinds of 10 large lemons are swimming in a liter of rocket fuel. This is 190 proof Vodka by Everclear. They will soak for 5 days, shaking them only once a day. Then the simple sugar added then sitting another 24 hours, then another 24 hours in the freezer. So you know Wednesday night we're checking out the goods ... wanna come over?

This is the adorable Luigi and Francesca. They allowed me to stay in their Rome apartment as well as their Tuscany 13th Century Monastery home. They are in Santa Fe at the moment exploring the gorgeous middle America. They call me and tell me how they are doing and they are truly having the time of their life. They come back here to Denver on Sept. 1, 2, 3 & leave on 4th back to Rome. They are absolutely life-long friends, for sure. I just love these guys.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

I'm baaaaaaack!

Hey y'all,

I haven't posted in so long, life has been messy, and busy, and unexpected, and much expected. But I look forward to expanding on it all very soon.

I had tried to post pics back in March, but blogspot has done something funky and it doesn't seem to be as easy as it used to be. I'll be looking into that.

Even now, it's acting up with my typing.

But, for now, I'm off to my travel writing class with a Denver University Professor.
Then, tomorrow, I shop for my ingredients to make my home made Italian Limoncello liquor. (Nancy, I must drop off a bottle to you when it's done in 10 days, and Brandon wants to hang out with Ben)
And I'm doing some very exciting things in my life as of late.
More later, miss you all. Just don't forget about me...

Lisa

Welcome to our Site ... This is our Journey of our Adoption from Africa and our Life in Denver.

This journal (blog) is about adoption, our change of life from California to Denver and our little girl who we have adopted from Ethiopia. Our daughter came home to us after 9 months of tons of paperwork and she has come home to us on August 18th, 2008.

I highly encourage you to post comments at the end of any post if you'd like. I update every few days, so sign up to be emailed each time I post something new. It's a great way to keep updated.

So far, this has been an amazing journey. The adoption process is more "stuff" than you can imagine leading to what has been an incredible change in our lives. This journal is from my heart to you the reader and to our daughter whom we just recently met. It is also dedicated to the biological parents of our adopted girl who may or may not be alive. I do know that Tigist was placed in a safe place to be found by police, who then took her to an orphanage. In doing so, they saved her life! I applaud her Mother and/or Father's courage in the decision to offer their child a life full of opportunity. They decided to put her up for adoption by relinquishing her in such a way. This is such a touchy subject, yet very personal to both the biological parents and us. We will always honor them in the lives of our daughter...they will never be forgotten! That....I can promise.

Where we are in the adoption process....

We picked Tigist up in Addis Ababa August 9th, 2008. She is home, healthy and very happy!

We passed court on June 23rd 2008, traveled on July 31st, met Tigist on August 9th, and arrived home on August 18th.

What has changed is that we are not adopting two girls, which is what we started out attempting to do, but ended up with one amazing little 2 yr. old. Just another reminder how this process can be so unpredictable.

Why does our blog title says 2 girls...well, we sponsor a very sweet 12 year old girl in Ethiopia and have adopted another. So even though we weren't referred 2 girls as was the plan, the title coincidentally still applies to Our 2 Ethiopian Girls! One here, one there! We eagerly await the letters and pictures Fatuma sends us and we send letters and photos too.

The meaning of the Ethiopian flag

(adapted from a Yahoo group web posting and Unicef-Ethiopia)

Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world, and the only African country that has no history of colonization. Upon their independence, many African countries adopted the colors of the Ethiopian flag - green, yellow and red - that became known as the Pan-African colors.

The official flag of Ethiopia consists of three equal and horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands.

The significance of the colors on the Ethiopian flag are interpreted to have a connection to the Holy Trinity, as well as the three main provinces of Ethiopia. The red stripe stands for power, faith and blood. The yellow strip symbolizes peace, natural wealth and love. The green stripe represents the land and hope.

The yellow pentagram on the blue disk, also known as the National Coat of Arms, is a symbol of the current government; it is intended to reflect the desire of the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia, as well as of its religious communities, to live together in unity and equality. The star represents unity of the people and the races that make up Ethiopia. The five rays on the outside of the star represent prosperity, and the blue disk represents peace.

My 2 Ethiopian Girls

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