The Referral

A year ago today, we received the phone call that changed our lives for ever..... 

On July 23, 2010 at 12:20pm (yes, I remember the exact time) Jim and I got a call from our case manager.  He told us that we had been matched up with 2 little boys from Ethiopia (a year later, I still have the voicemail on my phone and listen to it all the time). 

As usual though, something has to always happen to me.....  I had been carrying my phone like it was permanently attached to me every day, every where for every minute.  It had been a year since we had started the process, so every day I told myself this might be the day we get the call.   OF COURSE, on this day I walked over to the cafeteria at work and what did I leave on my desk????  MY PHONE!!!!  When I returned to my desk I had 5 missed calls from Jim, a text saying "Call me 911" and a voice mail which I assumed was from him......   I called Jim and when he answered he didn't say hello.  He said, "2 boys".    BOZO ME says, "What are you talking about?"  He said, "Ben called, 2 boys."  At that moment things clicked and I went crazy........we conference called our case manager and he went through all the details.  We had been matched with 2 boys ( 2 year old and 3 1/2 year old).  He was sending us an email with pictures so we can see them and we had a week to go through the information and accept the referral......

So we get the email and on the count of 3, Jim and I open it at the same time (I'm at work and he is at home), this is the first picture we saw of our 2 boys named Addisu and Altesa Asefa.....

Immediately, I started crying (I'm crying now as I type too.....can't help it).  These 2 were the most beautiful little boys I had ever seen and they were ours.......One week to accept the referral, who are you kidding as soon as you open the pictures, you fall in love and just know those are your kids.  But of course we did the due diligence to make sure everything was OK.  We accepted the referral in our hearts, the instant we saw them and accepted the referral formally via paperwork a few days later.

Fast forward to today and this picture of Jayson Addisu and Jordan Altesa......amazing the difference a year makes!  :)

Jordan & Jayson's Baptism

Jayson & Jordan's Baptism at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church- July 16, 2011

Jayson and Jordan,

May God bless you and keep you.  As you grow, may you walk in the path that he has already planned for you with Faith, Hope and Love..... 

Mommy & Daddy

On July 16th, Jayson and Jordan received their Holy Sacrament of Baptism.  We are so proud of our little guys and are very blessed.  July 16th also marked exactly 5 months to the day of when we landed in Washington Dulles from Ethiopia with our 2 little lovers in tow.  That day seems so long ago.....

The boys did great in church.  I was so afraid of what they might say to Father Mike, like "What are you doing?"  "Why?"  "Stop, that!"....  Thank God they were well behaved and there were no outbursts.  Jordan likes to call all the priests Jesus and  most of the time comes out with his "There's Jesus!" outburst when its really quiet in church......no worries though.....he only kept whispering to me "There's Jesus, Mommy!" in the beginning of Mass and then slept through his whole Baptism....

My fear of being embarrassed by my children was actually reversed.  Mom, did a fine job of making a fool of herself......crying through the whole Baptism, in front of the entire church.  It was like all of the emotions of our entire adoption journey and the reality of having these two awesome kids came over me as I was standing at the Baptismal fountain.  The miracle of God choosing us to be Jayson & Jordan's parents is amazing, its hard to put into words but we thank him for his gifts and blessings every day!



Mommy, Jay & Jordy at the altar




The Baptismal Fountain with J & J's Godparents, my cousin Maria and her husband Tony



With Abuela, Abuelo and Titi Melissa



With Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Mike, Aunt Wendi, Uncle Phil, Brianna and Cody