Tizita the Alaskan

It was wonderful to be able to welcome Tizita into the United States with style but I thought it would also be important to specifically say, "Welcome to Alaska." Alaska is part of the United States but everything is . . . well . . . different here.

Nothing says Alaska like a pair of seal skin mukluks.

Step one of one's initiation into Alaska is to make peace with being bundled up. At first Tizita pretty much screamed and wrestled with us every time we got her snowsuit on but she is getting better and now seems excited to be going outside.



Spending the first 16 months of her life in an orphanage didn't afford Tizita many experiences with being in a car or a car seat. Well it turns out living in Bush Alaska doesn't either. She has however, gotten very comfortable on 4-wheelers and snowmachines.

She has had the opportunity to see some nice and dead wildlife during her time in Alaska. I wonder what she thinks of it all?

I laugh in the face of man eating mammals!

Big deal, I can open my mouth like that too.

What's with this lady and dead animals?

We are happy to report that Tizita likes musk ox meat and tundra berries. It's a good start toward developing an Alaskan palate.





She still has some things to learn about this crazy life but there are signs that she will be one tough Alaskan chick.

~AnnMarie

The Long Journey Home

Our Beautiful Princess

The past two weeks have been the most exhausting days of my life. Rushing to make travel arrangements and preparations for our time away from Brevig started the craziness. Then came the ridiculously long airplane rides as we crossed 12 time zones to finally welcome Tizita into our family.

Some final paperwork at the CWA office in Addis

The day after we arrived, it was time to pick up our baby girl. Before going to Acacia Village, we had just a little more paperwork to do. The paperwork for international adoption is extensive and overwhelming. I am thankful for agencies such as Christian World Adoption that guide you through each step to ensure you don't miss any little detail.

 Saying goodbye at Acacia Village

Here are just a few of the staff members and volunteers at the amazing Acacia Village facility. The children are happy and well cared for both physically and emotionally. Tizita's nanny (not pictured) prayed over her before we left, asking for God's hand and protection in her life as well as patience and wisdom for us as her parents.

Everyone is smitten with Tizita.

These are a couple of the ladies who worked at the guest house where we were staying. Is it just me or are Ethiopian women exceptionally beautiful?



We had an appointment at the US embassy on Wednesday, had our gigantic stack of paperwork stamped and approved in a matter of a minute and were done, done, done with all that headache. Well, actually there's more to do but I will choose to ignore that for just another day or two.

On Friday night we turned around to tackle the grueling 15 hour flight back from Addis Ababa to Washington D.C. via Rome. We spent a couple nights in D.C. recovering from that flight. By Monday I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever make it home.

At Airport Pizza in Nome and almost home!

But at last we did get through the next few flights. Hey, I just noticed we were in Rome and Nome and home in just a matter of a few days. Cool.

Brother and Sister

Tizita meets her grandparents

C.O.'s folks, Mac and Mary stayed with Harold while we were away. We can't thank them enough for giving us the peace of mind knowing that Harold was in good hands. The day we came home they decorated the house with streamers and balloons and baked a cake to help welcome Tizita.

We have many very special memories of the whole experience. But the best part of all is just beginning!

~AnnMarie

The Mother and Child Reunion

 

We opened our e-mail from the US embassy sometime before midnight on Wednesday. They informed us that our case was approved and we were free to set up an appointment with them to finalize Tizita's immigration paperwork.

Since leaving her in January, each day has felt emotionally heavier and heavier in anticipation of this very e-mail and for the moment when we would be together as a family.

For the past two days we've been busy making arrangements. Our flights are booked but we still have much to do and loose ends to tie up before we leave. It's a bit stressful but I'll take it knowing our prize at the end of this journey. 

Our Schedule:
March 22 - Depart Brevig Mission
March 24-25 - Washington D.C. shopping for baby supplies and donations
March 26 - Arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
March 27 - Tizita's Gotcha-Day and Meetings with our adoption agency.
March 28 - Embassy Appointment
March 30 - Leave Ethiopia
April 3 - Return to Brevig Mission with Tizita, Harold becomes a big brother


Despite our great joy, I also feel the frustration of some dear families who are still waiting to hear their bit of good news.  The Olfert Family, The Boughner Family, The Baxter Family, The Cotton Family and The Griffin Family are all on my mind today and every day. I pray that the Lord will give them strength and peace to make it through until their children are on their way home.

“O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed” Psalm 10:17-18a

No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a moment away
~Paul Simon

~AnnMarie

The Waiting Game

Once again we are thankful to have received photos of Tizita growing and thriving at Acacia Village. Today's batch was tons of fun.



She now has four teeth! Two on top and two on the bottom.



She looks so strong and about ready to take off on her own two feet.



Some of her facial expressions are great. I anxious to experience more of them first hand.


As for the business end of the adoption, we received an e-mail from the United States embassy yesterday notifying us that our paperwork had arrived at their office. They said we must wait five business days before contacting them about the status of our case. We should know more about our case sometime next week.

Our hope and prayer is that our next contact with the embassy will be a positive one. There's always the chance they will ask for more information or will find something wrong with our paperwork BUT if all goes well, we could be on our way back to Ethiopia in about three weeks. This is the best case scenario and we pray it is in God's plan for her to be home sooner rather than later.

Thank you everyone for your support and prayers! It means so much to us. Tizita will be part of an amazing network of loving, generous people.

~AnnMarie

Tizita's Ethiopian Christmas

During our visit to Acacia Village we heard about a generous donation given to the home. The donor specified that the money was to be used to purchase Christmas gifts for the children. On Ethiopian Christmas Day, January 7th, Tizita opened her presents.

One of those gifts was a traditional Ethiopian dress.



I think she's the most beautiful girl in the world.



In other news, we received Tizita's birth certificate last week.  I think it's pretty cool to have a bilingual certificate with information in English and Amharic. She also has two different birth dates noted. One is based on our calendar and the other is based on the Ge'ez calendar used in Ethiopia. It's currently the year 2004 over there right now.

Currently her full name is written as Tizita Charles Rudstrom. They automatically make the father's name the middle name. Amusing? Yes. But we plan to change her name when we adopt her in the United States. Her middle name will be a little more on the feminine side.

We continue to wait for the Embassy dates in order to complete the adoption process and take Tizita home. I hope and pray it will be soon. My heart aches more every day that we are apart. Cheesy but true.

~AnnMarie

Introducing Tizita

We passed our court hearing on Monday, January 2nd making our daughter Tizita officially a Rudstrom. Unfortunately it takes about 2 to 4 months for the U.S. embassy to issue her a passport and travel visa. So, we still have a bit of a wait until we are able to take the munchkin home.

Let's spend a little time getting to know the little darling shall we?

 

This is Tizita Rita Rudstrom. 

Tizita is the name given to her by the police who found her.

Tizita means "memory" or "to remember fondly" in Amharic.

Harold was the first to discover that Tizita has ticklish feet and that placing stuffed animals on her head also makes her smile.

She is a total cuddle bug (the opposite of Harold),

she yawns when she's tired,

and scratches her nose when it itches.

Tizita is very comfortable in her daddy's arms. In fact, when she babbles she says, "da, da, da, daddy". We will be working on associating "daddy" with C.O. first thing when we have her home.

And most news worth of all, Tizita has recently changed her relationship status from "single" to "family of four".