Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the Way!

Christmas is less than two weeks away as we write this letter. This is still a bit hard to believe as the grass is still green, the sun is shining, and the temperatures remain stubbornly above freezing. Fortunately, we have had a couple of snowy mornings, with just enough snow on the ground to delight and amaze two little boys who have never seen it before. Gosaye (6) and Biniyam (5) have reopened our eyes to the amazing world we live in by their fascination with all that is new to them. They are still left slack-jawed by automatic doors and love the laundry machines, dishwasher and vacuum cleaner. Biniyam, a quiet and intensely focused young fellow, is always busy trying to figure out how things work. Gosaye is high-energy and fast moving, wanting to go in every direction at once and keen to try any new experience.

In September, Andrew made the long trip to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to pick up the boys. He was able to spend a week in Ethiopia while the final arrangements were made and quickly came to appreciate how fortunate we are in more developed countries. Many people in Addis live in “shanty towns” with rough dirt streets and animals grazing in the ditches. The more well off live in “compounds” – houses or groups of houses, behind high security walls with guarded gatehouses. Andrew stayed in a compound that contained the orphanage where the boys were living. He could not walk the local carttrack streets, but did manage to get out most days to see some of the city with the escort of an Ethiopian taxi driver. On the streets, children and beggars looking for handouts swarm foreigners. One can not
help but feel troubled by families of mothers and young children living on the streets and begging for a living. But overall, Ethiopians appear to be a happy and well-rounded people. Souvenir shopping for exotic African carvings, basketry, rugs, jewelry and national dress for the boys was an interesting process, involving much bargaining and attempts to include more material in the purchase on the part of the sales
people. Ethiopia has a long and rich history, being the only African nation never to have been conquered or colonized. Andrew would like to take Leslie back and spend some time seeing some of the historical wonders in more remote areas of the country.

The trip home was a grueling 30 hours, with a 4-hour stopover in Frankfurt, and a final 6-hour drive from Toronto to Deep River. The boys alternated between periods of sleep and wide-eyed fascination with the technologies of travel. Once through immigration in Toronto (where Andrew found that there are some compassionate people in our bureaucracy, pleased to quickly process the necessary paperwork), Biniyam and Gosaye were quick to take to Andrew’s parents who had kindly offered to chauffeur for the final leg. We both found their arrival in Deep River to be an emotional culmination to a long roller coaster ride through the international adoption process.

Since arriving home, Biniyam and Gosaye have been adapting rapidly, learning our expectations and fitting themselves into our family life quite nicely, thank you. They started kindergarten in their second week. Gosaye, who is old enough for grade one, attends full-time and loves it. He wakes up on weekends and asks to go. Biniyam attends the usual half-time schedule and likes it reasonably well. Their teacher has been quite delighted by their enthusiasm, quick wits and ability. Biniyam can identify half of the alphabet in both upper and lower case. Gosaye, with his language receptors wide open, has picked up quite a bit of French in his daily forty minutes and speaks more French in class than the teacher has actually taught.

The girls have welcomed these new additions to the family with amazing grace. Meghan (6), now in grade one, is having such a nice year that war could be declared without fussing her much. She has learned how to read which has encouraged her to feel quite grown up, as none of her siblings can do that yet. She continues to enjoy any artistic pursuits and is enrolled in after-school art classes with a local artist where she is able to explore a wide variety of media and techniques. To round out her busy life, she enjoys Sparks (pre-pre-Girl Guides) and gymnastics weekly and plans to try her hand (or feet?) in the JackRabbits cross-country ski program after Christmas.

Lauren (3) has started Nursery School and is now able to let Leslie be away from time to time. She is quite an outgoing gal and amuses her Nursery School teachers with her imaginary games and pronouncements on life. She has quite a bit to say and usually says it in a remarkably big voice for such a small child. She also enjoys gymnastics, which at her age is still a parent-participation-sport.

Leslie has pared back her activities to a bare minimum and still seems to be busier than possible with the care of four children. The days whiz with little seeming to be accomplished, however the kids are dressed, fed and reasonably content. It’s all a question of how one measures success. She’s hung on to her La Leche League commitments and continues to co-lead the local group. She finds the support received through her involvement, coupled with the satisfaction of helping new mothers breastfeed, are well worth the time she puts into it. Her sewing room is a place she longs to spend more time, although when she sneaks away to hide there, the kids seem determined to keep her company. She shamelessly admits that she looks forward to a day when they are all in school simultaneously, although she spends volunteer time in each of their classrooms.

Andrew has found his new job managing an R&D group in a time of shrinking funding to be quite challenging and time consuming. He spends a fair bit of time communicating with internal and external customers, which involves frequent trips to Toronto. On some of these trips, the family has been able to tag along and visit Andrew’s parents and brothers in the Toronto area. Andrew has also made a number of trips to France and Italy to attend meetings on international research projects. While these trips can be quite interesting, the time away from the family, and the growing pile of paper at the office, makes them less fun than they would be otherwise. Outside of work, Andrew has enjoyed completing several projects around the house including putting the finishing touches on Leslie’s sewing room. He has also continued to participate in some scouting activities, but on a much smaller scale since leaving Manitoba.