Goodbye 2009 and Hello 2010

Savannah and Kamby

The boys love it when Alyx gets on the floor.

Precious sisters!

Our littles and our little littles!

Best friends forever!

Is this a handsome boy or what?

I feel as though I may be over thrown someday.

There is not one thing I would change about 2009. It has been an amazing year full of God's grace and abundant life. We feel blessed beyond measure to have all our beautiful children both newly joining our family and rejoining our family (Savannah). I have so much trouble finding the time to keep a blog updated and I am not an inspired writer so that makes it more difficult. I know that many have been concerned for Thad and his health and I do want to update on him. His lungs are clear for the moment and we are no longer giving breathing treatments. He is still very nasally congested but that is just going to take time. He is breathing 10x better now. He has a pretty severe ear infection in his right ear and it has caused him a lot of pain and has been oozing since we got him. He is on a strong dose of antibiotics and hopefully will clear soon. Kamby is doing awesome. She sleeps all night and is a happy, healthy baby girl. Thad is super happy as well despite his health issues. Both babies are eating well and putting on weight. We eagerly await 2010 and what God is going to do. We have no regrets and very much look forward to experiencing Him in the coming year - however He decides we will do that!

Family of 8 picture - Christmas Eve

Ethiopia Part 2

The platters of food at the restaurant that Lee and Alyx went out to.

As if traffic and people were not enough to deal with we had contend with people selling goats down the middle of the roads. Little boys would herd goats across traffic at all hours of the day. A pave alley way down the way from he market we went to. Most are not paved but very rough dirt roads. Again, I called it an alley way because that is what it looks like but it is actually just a road.

Tire shop this is the Big O of Addis Ababa.

The tin shed that the guard who opens the gate gets to sleep in. This is inside the gate to the lawyer's office.
Gate to the lawyer's office.

Lee was amazed at the construction going on. If look closely you will see the scaffolding is curved wood tied together. Woman as well as men work on these and they are on almost all construction.

Our travel group, the Busic and Hallock families. We all had lunch and dinner together almost every day.

Some one's home. The homes ranged from this to apartments to the occasional nice private residence behind a steel gate. They all were right next to each other there is not separate parts of town, at least not what we saw.

Like I said we visited the babies each day and then we would do adoption business and a little sightseeing when we were not with them. The hotel (guest house) we stayed at was very nice but humble. At first we found it charming and then found it a little rugged. We really longed for a shower that had some water pressure other than gravity and that did not scald you and then freeze you in the same second. Lee kept saying "at least we have a shower" so we tried to look on the bright side. Since I was so extremely taxed from the travel, the emotion of the meeting the babies, and from being in Ethiopia I slept great at night and slept long. Lee on the other hand did not. He usually does not require much sleep and with the time difference he was up wandering around at all hours of the night. But since the hotel is locked up inside the steel gate at night and you are not allowed out he was pretty bored. He spent a lot of time playing solitaire by candle light. Poor Alyx could never get on the right time. She was up in the middle of the night every night, wide awake and bored to death. With no TV, computer, or even accessible electricity it made for quite long nights for those that did not sleep. We were fed quite well at the hotel, all meals were prepared for us. They were European food not Ethiopian dishes. For breakfast every day all we got was toast. Except one day we got eggs with our toast and another day we got toast and french toast. We laughed a lot! I learned very early on to stay away from all meat and anything with a questionable sauce. Lee and Alyx ate everything though. Lee made it the whole trip with out even indigestion, Alyx did not. The day we were to leave Alyx spent the night on the bathroom floor with severe food poisoning. When one of our guides came by to check on us she told Alyx, "well, now you can say, I have been to Africa". Alyx did not think it was amusing. Praise God she got it all out and was able to travel home with out being sick. Lee and Alyx went to an Ethiopian restaurant one night with one of the other families in our travel group. They really enjoyed the food and the entertainment. The husband from the other family was violently ill the entire next day. He had the lamb or as the guide said "maybe it was a goat who ate a bad leaf". Again no one was laughing. I opted out of dinner due to fear of getting sick and great fatigue. It was really hard to get around in Addis. The traffic and smog is horrible. I had a constant sinus headache. There are no traffic laws and it was absolutely insane the way the people drive. I was so tense, especially when we had the babies with us (of course car seats are unheard of, we didn't even have seat belts). I was always sure this car trip would be our last. When we were not fearing for our lives driving, we were sitting still while beggars and people surround our car trying to get our attention. Since it was so hot we had to have the windows down. People would surround us asking for money. We tried to give it out but the need was so great. People would mob and just keep coming if we showed any sign of helping and if we were sitting in traffic too long it became very difficult to manage. Every one that we had a personal encounter with was very nice and friendly. As I mentioned we were not prepared for we what experienced so we looked completely awe struck most the time. I will continue more late but I need to get some rest now. My baby boy wakes between 4-5 am and is ready for the day. He goes to bed between 6-7 pm but I don't get there until later. He and Kamby both get up to eat every 3 hours. As soon as everyone is well we will teach them the Brady method of sleeping.

Ethiopia Part 1

Our first day meeting Thad and Kamby, outside in the orphanage garden.
The kids at the orphanage just loved Alyx and the girls wanted to have their pictures taken individually with her.

The kids loved taking goofy pictures and then looking at them on the screen. They especially loved Alyx videoing them.

Inside the guest house at the toukoul (orphanage) the first time we met Kamby.

My baby boy!

My baby girl!

Daddy and son meet.

Although finding time to blog is very difficult, it has been most difficult deciding what to blog. It is easy to show our babies and our new family of 8 but I have no idea how to put into words the heart wrenching sights and sounds that are Ethiopia. We were definitely not prepared for what we experienced while in Addis Abbaba. We opted not to leave the city just for health reasons and cost. But what we experienced inside the city was more than enough. All the people that served us were the most gracious and friendly. The diversity of people within the city amazed us. Among the crippled, poor, and children in the streets were very well dressed, well off people mixed right in. It wasn't like we drive to a nice area and then a poor area, every area is poor with some nice buildings and such every so often. We arrived Sunday afternoon and were taken to our hotel then immediately to the toukoul (orphanage) to meet the babies. We kept thinking that we were turning down alley ways but it turns out those are the roads. Everything is behind a steel gate and someone has to open the gate to let the cars in. Our beautiful babies responded very well to us the first day. We spent about 2 hours with them, they smiled and laughed and never cried. We visited each consecutive day until Friday when we checked them out of the toukoul for good. I will post more on our trip and the babies later when I have more time. Right now, at home, they are doing well overall but battling illness. Thad has rsv/bronchialitis w/ an ear infection and Kamby has an ear infection and cold. They are sleeping and eating well and in very good spirits.

Whew!......We Made It!

After a grueling 40 hour trip we are home with the babies. Everyone is doing great and praise God he gave us sleepers! The babies have slept the majority of the trip home and then again once we got home Sunday night. I will post more soon and pictures but for now I have to sleep.

2 More Days and 3 Years Ago

Kambyri Senait "Kamby" 5 months old

Thaddeus Joel "Thad" 8 months old

We leave in just 2 days to pick up our babies. Excitement and fatigue do not do just description to our feelings and state right now. We can not wait to see them and meet them especially with new, beautiful pictures such as these. With so much to do to get ready and with all the emotion of leaving Graci and Dax behind it is quite exhausting. I have never been good with leaving my kids. I don't think Savannah went to a camp by herself until she was in her teens. It is definitely not my strength. I am thrilled Alyx is going with us. Anyway, it is almost here and we excited to bring our babies home before they get any bigger or cuter!

Everybody is always sure that Kamby is the older baby. But in fact Thad is. He is small but weighs consistantly about a pound more than Kamby. They are about the same height. Thad suffered more illness when he was younger and his birthdate was actually readjusted according to his size and development. Since both babies are abandonment cases there is no 'real' information on them and it is speculated by the people that found them and the medical personel that see them.

Feng Kejia soon to be Gracely Jia Brady-Nov. 30, 2006

This is a day late but it was three years ago that we anxiously received our referral for our beautiful baby girl in China.



Graci Jia - Nov. 20, 2009 - 3.5 years old.

God's Amazing Provisions!

It is not the fact that God provides that keeps amazing me. I know God provides, He says He will, He always does, and I am completely confident in that. What keeps me in awe is His creative ways of providing. I know He does it so there is no doubt that He should receive the glory and praise. And that is what I want to give Him for continually calling us and then making a way for us. God is good!!! What has inspired this writing is a funny story about the IRS. Now over the past couple of weeks as we have prayed for our trip and a way to pay for it we have received several checks in the mail. These have been random, unexpected, refunds or reimbursements. None of which we have asked for or that we even knew we were entitled to. The funniest is the day we received two certified letters from the IRS. We were not home so had to wait to the next day to pick them up at the post office. That means we had a day to worry ( I mean pray) about them. Lee goes and picks them up to find out they are collection notices that we owe money and penalties and late fees. We found this odd for two reasons, one, we can't find where we owe them money and two, we have been praying for the money to come for our trip. So we started praying for God to provide for our trip and the IRS bill. So, Lee called them to find out what was up. The outcome was nothing short of divine. They said, sorry Mr. Brady, there has been a mistake. Apparently someone hit the wrong button you do not owe this but it is being refunded to you. A check will arrive in the within the next two weeks. We apologize for the inconvenience. The call ends and Lee is completely blown away. God is amazing, creative, funny, faithful, and 100% looking out for us!

We Are Off To Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Kambyri Senait 4 months old Thaddeus Joel 7 months

After many grueling days of travel planning and me agonizing over how to go and not leave the littles, we have finally booked our flights. We leave on Friday Dec. 4 and return on Sunday Dec. 13. This is much longer than I wanted to be gone but Africa is FAR!!! I thought we could run over there and be back all in less than a week. It cannot be done. If you would like to pray and follow our family as we travel here is our itinerary:

Dec. 4 - Leave Phoenix midday and fly to New York

Dec. 4 - Leave New York late night and fly to Dubai
Dec. 5 - Arrive in Dubai lat evening and spend the night in Dubai
Dec. 6 - Leave Dubai in the morning and fly to Addis
Dec. 6 - Arrive in Addis late morning, get through airport etc. then check in the guest house
Dec. 7 - MEET THE BABIES AT THE ORPHANAGE
Dec. 8-9 -Visit the babies in the morning and afternoon, sight see, and take care of adoption business
Dec. 10 - US Embassy appt. to get their visas
Dec. 11 - visit with the babies, etc.
Dec. 12 - Leave Addis WITH OUR BABIES TO COME HOME! leave in the evening
Dec. 13 - Arrive in Dubai early a.m., leave Dubai later morning, arrive in San Francisco mid afternoon
Dec. 13 - Leave San Francisco and arrive home at 6:40 pm

Lee, Alyx, and I will be making the trip. Savannah and the littles will be having a ton of fun having overnights and lots of play dates with their friends and family. Please pray for them while we are gone, especially Graci as she is the one most likely to miss mommy a lot.

Pray for Layla!

Layla Blakely - 6 years old

I have the link to Layla's caring bridge site on this blog. Please visit and pray for this precious child. We met Layla while were staying at the Rondald Mcdonald House during Savannah's hospital inpatient treatment. She captured our hearts with her beautiful bald head, her charming and mischievous smile, her constant laughter, and her incredibly positive outlook on life. She just amazed us! Layla is 6 years old and has had multiple surgeries to remove cancerous tumors. They have all been extremely life threatening and she has undergone numerous rounds of chemo since she was 4. After her last surgery in August when a very large tumor was removed she was hoping for good news on her follow up. Instead, two weeks ago it was found that she has many spots of cancer on her liver and now it has moved to her lungs. As a mother, my heart breaks for Nicole, Layla's mom. Please join us in praying for this family and especially precious Layla.

Every Mother Should Have a Son

Our Son!
This is kind of random but always on my heart. Many people told me for years, when I just had girls, that every mom needs a son. I thought, 'why'. Boys are hyper, dirty, bad mannered, and over all can be gross. Well, let's just say my feelings have changed immensely. My son is the most affectionate, caring, sweet, loving, funny boy I have ever met. I may sound a little bias but it is just because I am so in love with this little boy. God continues to amaze me with His desire to give us the desires of our heart even when we don't know them ourselves. The picture above prompted this post. Is it just me or is this little guy's smile intoxicating? Don't you just fall in love with him - I did!

Our Quiver is Full....or so we think!

Kambyri Senait

Thaddeus Joel

We received news today that we cleared court in Ethiopia. We have been granted custody of Thaddeus Joel and Kambyri Senait Brady. Currently Thad is 7.5 months old and Kamby is 4.5 months old. We will hear early next week about our exact travel dates. We are getting ready to go and are anticipating sometime around Thanksgiving.

My Oh My, How the Time Goes By

As I celebrate my 39th birthday today I have reflected a lot over life and particularly the last 6 months. It has been six months since Savannah's accident and six months since I finished the paperwork (dossier) to adopt two babies from Ethiopia. Today I feel blessed beyond measure. We are awaiting the outcome of our court hearing on Friday (30th). We will be represented via a power of attorney in an Ethiopian court to award us custody of our babies. If we clear court then we make travel arrangements to go pick them up. We are anticipating traveling around Thanksgiving. Lee, Alyx, and I are planning on making the trip while Savannah and the littles stay back home. We should only be in Ethiopia for less than a week, but with the long travel it will probably be a 7-10 day trip total. Last week our entire family came down with a nasty cold virus, thank God it was not the flu but it felt just as bad. It also spread just as much. But now it seems that everyone is better and except for the lingering cough we all feel well. While we were sick, for some insane reason Lee started painting and swapping the kids' rooms. So in between high fevers, coughing, and over all being miserable we completely moved everyone around. This was done in order to make room for all the kids. Savannah moved into Dax's room, since it is the smallest, Dax moved into Graci's room which he will share with Thad, and Graci moved into Savannah's room and she will share that with Kamby. Alyx is the only one that got to stay put. If you have ever seen Alyx's room you would understand why we would not want to move her. Let's just say this girl has some stuff and I don't look forward to the day that we have to pack her room. Every one's spaces look great and everyone is happy with their new rooms. On top of the illnesses, the room swapping, and receiving a court date we also had our computer down all last week. The computer guy spent 20+ hours here fixing it. Praise God for tech geniuses! He did a great job and our computers are up and running. So now that all the technical stuff is done and everyone is settled we will prepare for travel. We have to get our vaccinations, tickets, and pack. We are also doing a formula drive before we leave to take as much formula as we can to donate to the orphanage. If you would like to donate formula please contact me. Well, I mentioned it has been six months since Savannah's accident and we just stand amazed at how far she has come. She practically runs now and uses both her left and right hands over 50% of the time. Savannah has been asked by many to speak and share her testimony. Last weekend she spoke at a youth event that a local church was having. She continues on with therapy still three times a week and helps more and more at home. I especially love that she is able to grade Alyx's Algebra. It is totally awesome for me to get help in that! Praise God that Lee has had a ton of work. He has been able to work his normal days but also pick up night work at Starbucks. He has been helping a contractor that is remodeling Starbucks throughout the valley. This is just perfect timing for us to get extra work, with travel looming and all. Well that's it for now, I will post more when I have news after the hearing on Friday.

Awaiting a court hearing date

The courts in Ethiopia are closed now until the end of September. When they reopen we should receive a hearing date. It is anticipated that this date will be sometime the beginning of November. After we 'clear' court we will travel 4-6 weeks later to pick the babies up. We will spend about one week in Ethiopia bonding with them and visiting their country before we bring them home. Two things we ask prayer for at this point is: 1) God's continued provision to supply final payments and travel expenses. 2) God's provision and care for people to take care of Savannah, Graci, and Dax while we are away.

Proud to Announce our Baby Boy and Girl

Oh, how I wish I could post their pictures for all to see. They are so adorable!

Announcing:

Thaddeus Joel Brady born on 3/16/09 and
Kambyri Senait Brady born on 6/9/09 !

Both babies are healthy and thriving well. They have been moved to the transitional orphanage which is where they will live until we go pick them up. It is anticipated that we will travel by the end of the year to bring them home.

3 year old boy - Gotcha for 2

Dax getting ready to blow out his candles
Dax with his friends' Jaydon and Jackson, and with Graci and cousin Serenity

Dax and Serenity snuggling

Best 3 year old friends - Graci is so happy Dax is now 3 like her

Crazy big sissys

Dax's train cake (made by mommy) - I am quite proud because Dax said "I like it mommy, I really like it, my train cake!"

Graci teaching Dax to show "I am 3"

Daddy successfully teaching Dax to show "I am 3"

Bath time after a long party

Graci loves to hold her 'baby' brother

Graci and Dax lounging in the pool - they have quite the life!

Last week we celebrated Dax's 'Gotcha' Day and his birthday. It was two years ago August 20 that we received Dax in Guatemala and processed the paperwork to bring him home. He was three days shy of turning one year old when we came home. I did not have time for many pictures but they were two very special days. We spent Gotcha day preparing all Guatemalan food and recipes. We decorated the house with Mayan decor and Guatemalan treasures we had collected while we were there. We focused on teaching Dax about his heritage but most of all about how he came to be Phillip Daxton Brady. The week just continued with celebration as Dax turned three. He was more excited about his birthday than he was about Gotcha day. His birthday party had the house decorated in trains and he had a train cake. He likes trains more than Guatemalan decorations at this age. He also liked the food better at his birthday. He ordered hot dogs and chips, which is his absolute favorite meal (if you call it a meal). It was great week celebrating our precious boy!