AWAY WE GO

we leave to get these wonderful girls June 20!

we have never felt so complete and I know I will never envy a mother again as I too am a member!
Aynalem is 6 years old and Tsion is 1. We are truly blessed!

MAMA AFRICA

SO MUCH LOVE TO SHARE, SO MUCH LOVE TO CARE - MAMA AFRICA

WE GOT OUR COURT DATE - APRIL 23!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was just daydreaming about the girls and had written the draft of their monthly letter yesterday am. We went to Messob for dinner the night before and took notes on what we wanted to say in the note - not easy to write to a 5 year old in Ethiopia - I had to laugh at this photo as all current pictures of us include a glass in our hands of some libation so I cropped the heck outta this- ha. Then the  phone rang and it was Mary with the most unfair (not to us)and unbelievable news - the judge gave us April 23 as our court date! One week - I am still in shock - our travel will be held to allow other families who are ahead of us to go for embassy appointments but next week we go to court! Possibly next week - god willing - we know our actual travel date! 

Here is the letter I sent 

 Hi _________!

  We saw some great pictures of you. You have such a beautiful smile and lots of friends! Is Belay back home, did he tell you he met us?

How is ________? Is she walking yet? She is so lucky to have you as a big sister. Did you get the matching outfits we sent? We thought they were really pretty and hope you like them.

We have never been to Ethiopia and are learning about it now. We do not speak Amharic and hope you can teach us some words. We will be happy to teach you English. We love to travel and hope you and _______ will love it as well, we can't wait to ride in airplanes with you and learn alot of new things. The book we sent you has some fun pictures of different places to travel and a map of the whole world! You can tell us where you want to visit.

We are preparing your room and it has alot of colors but mostly your favorite - Red. My favorite color is Green and Michael's favorite color is Orange. We are going to send pictures to you soon of our house and more photos of us in a little book. We are also going to give you some little cameras so you can take pictures of your favorite things so you will always have them to look at. We can make a book for you of your pictures.

I have a twin sister named Jennifer - she looks just like me. I also have three older sisters and a brother. Michael has one older sister and twin younger brother and sister. All of our brothers and sisters have children who are really excited to meet you and _____! The girls want to play dolls and the boys want to teach you how to swim.

Is your new school fun? What is your favorite book? What is your favorite friend's name? We were told you want to be a driver, what else do you want to be? What is very special that you like to do? Do you like to do hair braids? We are going to need your help to do _______'s hair - I can do braids but probably not as well as you!

We cannot wait to meet you! We are very happy to be able to care for you and ____ - it is a dream come true for us. We know we are all going to have a great time together!

All of our love, hugs and kisses,

Kristine and Michael

GOD ONLY KNOWS

We were in Venice on Sunday and a street poet Kenneth wrote this 

poem for us...

A NEW LIFE

To a new, and prosperous life, we invite you. ______ and _______, we truly love you. We give from our soul. We want you to know that our love will get you through. The spirit of wisdom that stems from our experience, is your guide. We stand for you, and take your hands into a sky that never ends. We love  you for the light within. Let many years comfort us all.

Not bad for a guy that just met us on the street! 

These are the girls first outfits and gifts being delivered by Dominic and Natalie enroute this am! We have never bought anything for our children always other's kids - this was a very cool day! How Palm Springs are the duds - he-he!

FREE TO BE YOU AND ME

WE WERE INVITED TO SEND OUR FIRST LETTER TO _________.  I HAD TO REACT QUICKLY BECAUSE I HAD THAT DAY AND MICHAEL TRUSTED ME TO JUST JUMP IN. HERE IS WHAT I SENT AND THE PICTURES WE INCLUDED. I HAD A FEAR THAT SHE WOULD BE IN SHOCK TO FIND OUT ALL OF THE NEWS - NEW PARENTS, DOGS, HORSE AND USA. 

Hello Dear ________ -

  We are looking forward to meeting you and bringing you and _____ home to live with us. We are Kristine and Michael Pescasio. We have not had any children but have very big families that are really happy to invite you into our family - you will have lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, two grandmoms and a grandpa. We live in a place called Los Angeles, California. We can walk to our neighborhood markets for injera and other yummy Ethiopian food!

  I, Kristine am in love with horses and would very much like to share my horse "Rhen" with you. He has been a very good horse and loves children. He will be perfect for you to learn how to ride and care for animals. He loves to eat carrots and apples. He is older than you - his birthday is March 17 and he is 15 years old. We have owned him for 10 years. His color is called chestnut.

  I, Michael am a photographer for movies and TV. I always have a camera and cannot wait to teach you how to take pictures. I love animals especially our two dogs Cleo and Peetie. They are girls and lick alot! They love to take walks and drive in the car. They sneak into our bed and sleep - they like to cuddle.

  We are sooo happy to get to know you and have been told a few things about you:

Your favorite color is Red - what is your second favorite color?

You love dolls - baby dolls or barbie dolls?

You have tea parties - do you like tea?

You are a very fast runner  - is it fun to run fast?

You play house with your friends - what do you like most to play mommy, daddy, baby, auntie??

You go to school - are the teachers nice?

  We are excited to get to hear from you and tell you more about us - we'll keep sending pictures and letters! We met Belay lastnight for dinner and he told us you are a really great girl! He says you hang out with him when he visits.

  We are also in contact with some families who have children from Ethiopia and you will have very many friends when you come here! Plus we are in contact with some of the families that have brought home kids from your orphanage that you might be friends with! We hope you can see your friends from the orphanage here in the US!

  We promise to write to you as often as we can - more pictures of us, the doggies Rhen and our house will be sent to you soon.

All of our love,

THIS LETTER WAS NOT EASY TO BE SURE I WANTED IT TO BE PERFECT FOR HER - I DIDN'T SEND A PICTURE OF US AT FIRST THINKING A HORSE AND DOGS WOULD EASE HER INTO THE CONCEPT - THEN WE WERE TOLD TO INCLUDE A PIC OF US BECAUSE SHE'D BE WONDERING WHAT WE LOOK LIKE - I WAS A AFRAID - FUNNY I AM STARING AT HER PICTURES / THEIR PICTURES AND FEEL SO IN LOVE AND ATTACHED WHY WOULDN'T SHE DO THE SAME? I QUICKLY INCLUDED OUR PJ PARTY PIC - I HOPE SHE DOESN'T THINK WE LOOK GOOFY?

Viva La Vida!

Hello Mary -

  It is with tremendous pride and appreciation that we accept the referral for _______ and ______. We cannot fathom the inner workings that Gladney endures to make such a perfect match. This is a dream-like scenario... we are overjoyed.

  Their mother is in our hearts and minds. We can never imagine the full extent of her pain and strength, and would never ever disrespect her importance in her beautiful daughter's lives. We will become a triangle that is forever connected.

  We are honored to be the stewards and shepherd the lives of these girls to be the brightest, fullest and best that it can be. We pledge to give them unyielding or unwavering love and affection. We will be the most devoted parents that we possibly can. We have waited for a very long time to be parents and it is now clear why.

God Bless!

Keep Feeling Fascination

Our really great friend Barb hosted her tenth annual Pajama Party which features a full Thanksgiving Feast. I guess she is helping us get our tummies ready for the Holidays and all of the food that we will be forced to consume - ha-ha.

Kinda tough to celebrate it seems as so much is crumbling around us. Yet what a great time to be with loved ones. We need to be there for our families at this time and help where it may be needed. A family doesn't suspend at blood relations, it is our friends, coworkers, fellow adoptive parents, neighbors and anyone/anything under God's watch. We are shepherds.

My "feetsie" pajamas are pretty rad eh? Mikie P stuck to PJ bottoms as he is a fashionista and super fancy.

Good Day Sunshine

Wow, one week ago we woke up to a new President Elect. Wow, this morning we woke up to the reality that we WILL be parents.

Our future is so bright we gotta wear shades!

Peetie, hubby and Cleo are ready for snuggling with the kids - I am thinking the bed is gonna be really crowded often!