Exploring the Zoo!

Lions and tigers and bears, OH MY! What a time we had at the zoo! Hanna loved seeing the zoo animals and the flowers (ah-bee-ba in Amharic) especially! She fell in love with the pretty pink one's and asked Mom if she could have one. :)

Our favorite animal picture is of the manatee!

First Big Outing! The Cincinnati Children's Museum!

We had our first big "outing" at the Children's Museum! Hanna was so amazed with everything there was to see and do there.

We're Home!

God is so faithful! Dave and I have felt the hand of God over every detail of our adoption of Hanna. We arrived on time Thursday afternoon and were greeted by beautiful signs welcoming Hanna to our family. The kids are absolutely charmed by her and she has been enjoying their enthusiasm over her!

Hanna is full of curiosity and full of smiles for everything new she encounters! What a joy it was to experience her first ride on an escalator and escalator! Hand dryers and auto flush toilets caused wide-eyed laughter! The aiplane ride was very traumatic for her and she would "check out" by going to sleep. She has been through so much and Dave and I are in awe of her strength.

Hanna already loves the Lord and it has been fun listening to her read her little Bible in Amharic. She loves to pray and look at pictures of the Bible stories she knows. What a blessing to be able to pray with her when we needed strenth for the airplane landings and take-offs.

THANK YOU to all our friends and family who have prayed for us and supported our children and Laura's parents while we were gone. We cannot put into words how important your prayers and support have been. We will update soon with more details from the trip but for now we are "nesting" with our new "little" family of seven!

"Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name"

And We're Off!

Hello!

The Fisher kids and their grandparents are off to greet Dad, Mom, and Hanna at the airport! We're so excited!

Love,
Libby, Matt, Carly, and Luke!

Hanna In Flight!

This is a picture of Hanna during the long trip, watching a movie!

Pictures!

They Landed in Dubai

Hello!

Dad, Mom and Hanna landed in Dubai at 5:00 p.m. our time. Their email said "all is well. tired though". :) They also said Hanna was scared at first, but then went to sleep. They may be sending some pics, so stay tuned! :)

Love,
Libby, Matt, Carly, Luke

They're Coming Home!

Hello Family and Friends!

Libby talked to Mom and Dad this morning as they were preparing to leave for the airport! Hanna was taking a nap when they called, so nope, none of us have talked to Hanna yet...:) Dad and Mom said that Hanna is still very excited to fly in an airplane and that she has been doing so well lately. She has greeted Dad and Mom with a beautiful smile and hug every morning and is already such a blessing and ray of sunshine.

They will be getting in at the airport tomorrow evening and we will bring one of our big, sparkly signs with us and we will leave the other at home for the house! We're definitely going to take a picture of them and post them on the blog! :) Mom said Hanna will be shy at first and a little timid, but she is so sweet and personable after she gets to know you. :)

Only 30 hours left!!! :)

Love,
Libby, Matt, Carly, Luke

6th Update from Dad and Mom!

Hello Family and Friends!

Dad, Mom and Hanna had their meeting with Hanna's grandmother, Modish, this morning. They said it was very nice and her grandmother brought two of Hanna's good friends. They learned a lot talking with Modish and the meeting was very good for Hanna. Mom says Hanna is and has always been very stoic with Mom and Dad and only cried a little with her grandmother.

Hanna's new thing she loves to do is have Dad make paper airplanes and send them down the stairs of the hotel! They played paper airplanes for an hour and a half yesterday! She also loves the disposable camera Mom and Dad gave her to use and she is constantly looking at the photo book we sent her with pictures of our family in it. Dad is also very impressed with her jump-roping: he says she jump-ropes very fast!

At about 10:00 a.m. our time today, they will be going to a cultural dinner and dance! We can't wait to see the pictures from this event...:)

They have also been packing today because they will be leaving tomorrow at 3:00 p.m., their time (8:00 our time). Hanna is very excited about flying on an airplane!!!

Love,

Libby, Matt, Carly, and Luke

More Pictures of Hanna!

This is of Hanna and her grandmother, Modish, before they knew she had a forever family.

5th Update from Dad and Mom!

Hello Family and Friends!

We spoke with Dad and Mom this morning! They are doing well and are having a wonderful time with Hanna. Interesting fact: in Addis, they have electricity every other day. So today, they have not had any electricity and it is a little cold.

Yesterday, they did not meet Hanna's grandmother, Modish. They will meet tomorrow morning, our time, at 5:00 a.m. Sorry for the confusion!

They also told us that Hanna is so much like Libby and Carly, and she will fit into our family perfectly. They watched an animated movie last night about Jesus, and Hanna was able to communicate that she knew many Bible stories. She still loves to play with the paper dolls too! Every time they call, Mom and Hanna are playing paper dolls. :) Hanna, like Carly, loves to play card games. She also loves the new clothes they brought her and is so happy for the wig her cousin from Ethiopia, Olivia (Eyerus), sent us to let her wear. She is so thankful for it and wears it all the time and only takes it off to go to bed. Thank you Mrs. Mize and Olivia! Mom and Dad also said that Hanna has been helping the other adoptive families communicate with their little one's.

Mom and Dad also brought all the donations from our church family and friends to the orphanage yesterday with Hanna! They were so thankful and happy for the donations. There was so much to give them, the orphanage workers were still unpacking the bags when Mom, Dad, and Hanna left. Thank you church family and friends for your donations!

Dad and Mom said Hanna is doing very well. She is very sweet and is not afraid to give love to them. She gives Mom and Dad hugs and a kiss before bedtime and when they gave her the choice to sleep in her part of the room of the hotel or near Mom and Dad, she wanted to sleep near them. They did say that she has fought back a few tears, but she realizes this is what is best for her and that her life and future will be so much better in the United States. Again, please pray for tomorrow's meeting with Modish, Hanna's grandmother. Mom and Dad can tell she loves her very much and that she is woried about her.

3 days and seven more hours are left! We are so excited!

Love,
Libby, Matt, Carly, Luke

They have Met Hanna!

Hello!

This morning Dad and Mom met Hanna! My Mom said the meeting could not have gone better. Right now they are playing cards with her and she loves the paper dolls. They said she is very smart: she can read English, she understands what Mom and Dad are saying, and she is good at math!

We were able to say a few words to Hanna on speaker phone, but she was shy and didn't say anything. Mom said she smiled though when we said "We love you Hanna!"


There is no internet service in Addis Ababa, so they are not able to send us any pictures. :( When they are in Dubai on their way home Thursday, they will try to send them. We can't wait!

So far, we have made two big, sparkly welcome home signs for Hanna! One even has a big, hot pink bow! We had so much fun and can't wait for her to see them! :)


Love,
Libby, Matt, Carly, Luke

They're in Addis!

Hello Family and Friends!

We talked to Dad and Mom this afternoon! They're in Addis! Right now they're getting some sleep and tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. (5:00 a.m. our time) they will meet Hanna! They are very happy and excited and will call us tomorrow morning.

So...there are 4 days, 118 hours, 7117 minutes, and 427061 seconds left on the clock! Dude! Keep praying!

Love,
Libby, Matt, Carly, and Luke

Smiles for Dad and Mom!

WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU SO MUCH DAD AND MOM!

And....drum roll please...the bloopers!

Second Update from Dad and Mom!

Late last night, Dad and Mom called from Dubai as they were heading to the airport to fly to Addis, where Hanna is! The flight to Addis was about two hours long, and they probably landed very late last night. We will keep you updated as we hear from them. :)

Blessings,
Libby, Matt, Carly, Luke

First Update from Dad and Mom!

Hello Family and Friends!

We've just received word that Dad and Mom are in Dubai at their hotel! We are so happy to hear from them! Praise God! They are doing okay, but they are exhausted. :) They will be in Addis tomorrow morning, our time! We are so excited!!!

The picture is of Mom at the airport in Dubai. Pretty cool!

Keep praying for safe travel as there have already been some minor mishaps. :)

Love,

Libby, Matt, Carly, and Luke

And They're Off!

Our Departure

Anticipation and hopeful expectation is running high this morning as Dave and I prepare to leave at 1:00 for the airport! Dave still has not packed his bag which I find humorous, while I cannot stop packing! I found Carly cuddled up on the couch this morning reading her Bible at 7:00. What a blessing to know that my children find comfort in the Lord and His promises.

Yesterday morning I read this verse in the Bible and it summed up our journey to adopt Hanna:
"I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name." Revelation 3:8
At the time we were considering adoption I truly felt I had "a little" strength left but as we have followed His call He has been faithful and has multiplied our strength tenfold. What an amazing God we serve!

The girls practiced how we are going to greet each other upon arrival and had some laughs. Life is sweet. We are so thankful for my parents enthusiastic support and for tending our little lambs at the farm while we are gone! (Matt a lamb? Uh...a big one. :)) Thank you friends for all of your support and encouragement. The body of Christ is strong and powerful; what a blessing!

Dave and I will try to update the blog as we go along but Ethiopia being a third world country who knows?

We love you! See you all soon!

Our Last Family Outing Without Our Hanna!

This past Sunday, the Fishers went to the Faith Day Cincinnati Red's ballgame! The Red's lost, but Steven Curtis Chapman's concert afterward was a total win! We had a great time together, and of course, we goofed-off! :)






Guess which guy's Matt! :)

Our Journey to Adoption

Please join us on our journey to bring Hanna home! About one and a half years ago we felt our family was complete with two girls and two boys and kept inquiring of the Lord what our ministry was. We were not getting any clear leading from the Lord and continued to pray. Our children would come to us and express the desire to adopt again but we dismissed these fanciful dreams and again prayed that the Lord would lead us to where he would have us serve Him. This went on for almost six months. God began to clearly speak to Dave about adoption and he followed the Lord hard and declared we should adopt two! Laura was still not convinced and was even getting a little testy about the whole matter, especially when Dave would press his idea of adopting siblings! During a quiet time in September the Lord impressed upon Laura that raising children to follow Him is our ministry and that we were to adopt another child. Our path was clear and we enthusiastically decided to walk it! We started our paperwork with All God's Children International in November. In February while looking at the AGCI waiting child website we saw our daughter, Hanna. We called AGCI to inquire about her and was told that because she was too close in age to our son she would not be a good match for our family. There is a serious concern over "artificial twinning" when two siblings are within 9 months of age. The funny part was that our son, Hanna's artificial twin, is over six feet tall with blonde hair and blue eyes and is all about sports! No twinning going to go on here! We had prayed that morning that the Lord would shut the door if this child was not ours and we just let it go after the "artificial twinning" diagnoses. We checked the AGCI waiting child page a week later and Hanna was gone; she had found another forever family. After a few tears we realized that the Lord had another child for us. A month later we were looking at the waiting child page again and saw Hanna was back! Laura phoned AGCI and found the other family changed their mind. We then told them all about our son and how the "artificial twinning" possibility was not an issue. After hearing Laura's speech, Mindy, the awesome waiting child program coordinator thought we may be the family for Hanna! It has been a whirwind of paperwork, research, and prayers since then and on August 10 we will finally meet our beautiful Hanna. We cannot say enough wonderful things about All God's Children International! The staff have made this adoption such a joy and blessing! We cannot wait to bring our Hanna home!

Such Stressful Pieces of Paper!

We all have been watching the paper chain on the mantel the girls made to help keep track of how many days there are until Hanna arrives for weeks now...but it really hasn't seemed long at all. (No way!)

It's fun for Carly and Luke to tear off a piece of the chain every morning and report to us how many days we have left.

It's unbelievable for Dad and Mom...:)

So far, they have 8 days left to pack and have everything ready.

And Hanna will be here in 15 days!

Pictures of our Hanna!