Adopting Again in 2008 - Savanna's Story

I know, I know . . .

I've been a little busy this summer and have done a terrible job of keeping things current on our site.  School starts in 29 days so I'm hoping that I will be able to find a little more time here and there to update things!  YIKES.

Here are some pictures from the Johnson family reunion in July that was at my Aunt Audrey and Uncle Mark's cabin on Balm Lake.  This is 10 miles from Larry's mom's place so we brought our travel trailer and parked in there.  The kids had a great time with Grandma plus got to see cousins and spend time at the lake.  This is always a good thing for them.

 

A beautiful Sunday afternoon - we finally have summer!

  It was perfect here today - 80 degrees, sunny, and just a few mosquitos.  We went to Baker Park and the kids had a blast on the playground.  Larry had his camera along so we have pictures galore.  We brought our scooters out and spent some time giving the kids rides.  It was a good day.

 I've included a few pictures that I took a few days ago.  I continue to watch little Margaret for our niece and her husband.  She, Levi, Savanna & Svea have quite a time together in the mornings before Svea heads off to school. 

 

 

Family visits

     This past week we had my Uncle Royal and 2 of his cousins over for a little visit.  My Dad and Royal's Aunt Doris passed away and her funeral was in Brooklyn Park on Wednesday.  Doris was a lovely little lady.  I will always remember her for her encouragement and the genuine interest she had in me. 

     Here are a few pictures from our time together plus a few additional ones of our dog Lucy and the kids.

 

Another challenging message . . .

 

 

We've been home 2 weeks!

  It's hard to believe but we have been home 2 weeks tomorrow.  Savanna is doing so well  -- we have come to believe that we will keep her!  She has been sleeping through the night (11-12 hours) and then still takes a good (3-4 hours) nap usually in the afternoon.  She is very smiley and has a deep chuckle.  She likes her swing so that is a blessing.  It does get a little choatic around here during the week having Levi & Margaret here.  We are working on rediscovering our routine. 

 The kids love her and she receives lots of attention from them when they are home from school. 

 

 

Our first pictures of Savanna 

 

We have much to tell you about our trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to pick up Savanna.   These pictures were taken the first time we saw her.

 

The Toukoul orphanage was started by a French gentleman about 20 years ago.  The main orphanage is in Addis Ababa which has ~ 300 infants and children.  There are 22 satellite orphanages that can have  8-10 kids in each.  The entire system employs around 550 people.

 These children are so loving and friendly.  They love the camera, especially when you have a digital and they can see instant results.  France, Italy, and the U.S. adopt the most from this orphanage although the U.S. numbers are increasing the fastest.

 Next are pictures of the guesthouse where we stayed.  The staff and our drivers were extremely hospitalable.  They also had excellent cooks.  Electricity comes and goes.  Ethiopia is run on hydropower so when it is a drier season the electricity will be shut off for conservation purposes. 

 

 We had our Embassy appointment on April 4th (Thursday) and were able to get Savanna's VISA the next day.  We decided to see if it were possible to fly out Friday night.  We went and waited at the airport (our driver was so patient) and we were able to go!   We had a wonderful time in Addis but when you have 5 children at home, there is a definite pull to get back as soon as possible.  We arrived in Washington D.C. at 7:30 AM Saturday morning (after a 16 hour flight). 

Getting from Washington D.C. to Minneapolis was not as easy.  After an overnight stay we arrived home Sunday afternoon.  We didn't tell the kids we might be home early so they were surprised and it was fun to see the shock on their faces.  My folks (Lana's) stayed with the kids while we were gone and everything went pretty well.  Dad even cleaned out the garage for us!  It was something I was hoping to get done before we left but the weather didn't allow for that.  What would we do without the support of grandparents?

 Savanna did extremely well with flying.  We finally heard her cry for the first time Saturday night (at the D.C. Hotel) when I gave her a bath - she did not like that at all.

 She is a very content baby; in fact, she has been sleeping through the night for the past 3 nights.  She likes her wind-up swing so that has been a useful diversion. She takes a bottle about every 3 hours during the day.  The orphanage had started her on cereal and porridge but she kept spitting everything back up when we were there so I've just been giving her formula and we will try food again in another week.

Savanna's a little peanut.  At 7 months, she is 12 1/2 lbs so she has some growing to do.  

  This week has been somewhat challenging because we've had sick kids.  Calvin got sick Sunday night shortly after we returned and ended up in the clinic on Monday and has spent most of this week home requiring neb treatments (he breathes a medicated mist).  Olivia developed a bladder infection so we took her in yesterday (Thursday).  Levi seems to have a touch of the stomach flu today (Friday); poor little guy.  He threw up in his crib this morning and then he laid on a blanket on the floor in the living room for about 45 minutes later this morning which is not like him at all.  Fortunately, Larry has had a light work schedule (as we weren't supposed to be home until Wednesday) and he was able to go and pick up Olivia and Calvin from school Wednesday and today (Friday). 

 I'm glad it's Friday and maybe we can have a few days to get rested up.  

Just a quick note . . .

 Good morning!  We are getting down to the final hours before we travel.  Today is cleaning and baking.  Tomorrow is finish the remainder of the laundry so Mom won't have a huge pile to face after we leave. Thursday night is also my last shift until the middle of May.  Friday will be last minute shopping and Mom & Dad arriving. 

 We take off early Sat. morning to Washington D.C. and then will spend the day there.  I would like to go to the Smithsonian or something.  We fly out Sat. evening and arrive in Addis Ababa Sunday evening.  It is a 16 hour flight and there is an 8 hour difference. 

 Monday we will get to see Savanna for the first time.  The tears well up just thinking about it!  We can't wait.  I've been waiting (not very patiently) since last Thursday for a health update and pictures.  Maybe today . . .

 I think we will meet with our Ethiopian lawyer on Tuesday and go through the remaining paperwork with him.  Thursday is our Embassy appointment.  We should get Savanna's VISA on Monday and then we are headed home Tuesday evening.  It's a 15 hour flight from Ethiopia to Washington D.C.  We have a  3 hour layover which will hopefully be enough time to get us through customs and immigration and on to our next flight. We will be arriving home Wednesday afternoon. 

 I'm kinda looking as this long flight home as the "labor" part of this whole process.  I'm hopeful that Savanna will do OK but am keeping in mind that this flight "is the means to the end".  "There is light at the end of the tunnel". "This won't last forever".  I told myself these same things when I was near the end of my pregnancies and in labor.  It's nice to know that this won't be painful, just tiring.

 Our worship pastor spent some time in Addis and has given us the e-mail address of  Becky Osell, a missionary nurse that he knows there.  We are hoping to get together with her and I think it will be so interesting to learn about her life and ministry.  We are planning on attending the International Church with her on the Sunday before we leave. 

 I better get to it if I hope to get everything accomplished that I want.  The kids are home on spring break this week so that has slowed things down considerably.  Last week, 4 out of the 6 of us had the stomach flu  -- good to get that out of the way before we leave.

A word from John Piper on adoption 

  We found this on YouTube yesterday and thought it was very powerful.  Larry attended Pastor John Piper's church in Minneapolis before we met from aproximately 1983-1990.  He has many rich memories of John's messages.

 

  And then while I meandering on YouTube this morning I came across this wonderful video that gives you an idea of what it is like to welcome these precious little ones into your family.  Grab the Kleenex -- you're going to need it.  A special "thank you" to this family for allowing us to share this with you.

Traveling!!!

  Last Friday we heard the good news from our agency that the Ethiopian court approved our case and that we are parents once again.  Today, we decided to move our Embassy date  to April 3rd  -- it seemed to work out better for flights and timing for Grandma & Grandpa Jorgenson who have agreed to come and watch the kids for us.  They have been spending the last several months in Arizona escaping the MN deep freeze that we have been experiencing.  We will return April 9th.  

 We have decided on a name after MUCH deliberation.  Her name will be Savanna Hatatu.  Hatatu is her given Ethiopian name and we felt that it may be important to her to have some connection with her  heritage. 

  She is beautiful, has BIG eyes, and it looks like she's going to have curly hair -- something that we have never had to deal with so that will be interesting. Savanna is now 5 1/2 months and with her last update she weighed 10.2 lbs, 22 inches.  We are anxious to get her home so we can try to get some weight on her!  It causes us to wonder if she was born premature although I don't think we will ever know for sure.  I'll have to ask the orphange Dr. what he thinks when we get there.   We will post pictures as soon as we get her home.  I can't wait . . .

 

We have a court date . . .

  Jan. 26 -- Yesterday our agency informed us that on Feb. 22nd our case will go before the Ethiopian court for approval.   They said that it would be unusual for it to be denied unless the court felt that not enough had been done to find the baby's family.   It is expected that we will travel 4-6 weeks after our approval.  We're getting closer.

Another update

  Jan. 24 -- Unfortunately, it is against Ethiopian rules to post pictures of our future family member over the Internet until we have received our court approval.  We can tell you that she is beautiful.  She is 8.8 lbs and almost 23 inches long at 4 months of age.  She's tiny but she looks very alert and healthy.  The desire to hold her in my arms is growing day by day.   We are waiting for the Ethiopian court date and then court approval after which we will travel to Addis Ababa to bring her home.

  We started looking at flights and hotels last night.  I  truly dislike flying  so flying for 18-25 hours does not sound very appealing.  And then to do it twice . . . blah.  But to have this baby girl with us will be worth it all. 

In regards to flying, taking Ativan has helped tremendously.  I finally had to do something because I was simply dreading all air travel.  When Larry would earn a trip through his job, I would suggest we take the one that required the least travel.   

  Last week a work friend of mine came over to discuss the possibility of their family adopting.  I was able to share how through this process I have been given a real life object lesson of  God's adoption plan for me; for everyone.  He LOVED me before I ever had knowledge of Him -- He desired that I would be His child.  HE paid the greatest price by sending Jesus to die on the cross so that I could have the chance to KNOW Him, to LOVE Him, to have that personal relationship with HIM, and live WITH Him eternally .  "Amazing love, how can it be?  That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?"   Hallelujah! 

-  Lana

 

 

 

We have our referral!!!!!!!!! 

Jan. 1st  --  What a way to begin our year.  Yesterday we saw pictures of our new daughter for the first time.  Our agency called Larry's office and then e-mailed pictures and information to our home.  Larry decided it was time to end the day at work and get home so we could see her together.  I was taking a nap as I was preparing to work New Year's Eve.   Needless to say, it ended up being a mad rush to get out the door to work as I just had to spend some time looking at her pictures and reading the information that we received.  I haven't thought too much about it until the last 2 weeks and I found myself thinking alot about the baby who would become our daughter.  What was happening?  When would we hear from the orphanage?  How old would she be and what would her story be?  I've been thinking and praying for her daily since then --   God was preparing my heart. 

She was abandoned in a remote village and they estimated her age to be 20 days when they found her.  They gave her the birthdate of  Sept. 6.  Someone found her very early one morning and brought her to the police station in the area and then she was sent to the orphanage in Addis Ababa that we have been working with.  She had pneumonia and she has since had antibiotics and recovered.  Her weight at 3 months was 7lbs. 11oz so she's little, to say the least.  When a baby is abandoned, they place notices in local papers to see if any living relatives might claim her or someone might know who she is.  After 3 months passed, and no one came for her, she was then eligible for adoption.

We gave our agency the verbal OK that we accepted her as our referral today so now they will continue with some bloodwork to complete that part of the process.  Her 1st HIV test was negative and they will test her once more before everything in complete.  If they come back with a positive then she is no longer eligible for adoption, but since the first one is negative there is a very good chance that she will remain negative.

If we travel to get her, as opposed to having her brought here, it will probably be in March.  If we have her escorted here, that will delay the process about 2-3 months.  The main thing to figure out is who will watch the kids while we are gone 10 days?  My parents are willing to come back early from their winter stay in Arizona if it looks like it is the end of March.  So . . . time will tell.  It is easy for me to leave it all up to God as He has proved Himself faithful time and time again.  He knows ALL the details so why worry about it?  We will try and figure out a plan and then leave the rest to Him. 

We are fairly settled on a name -- I think.  I don't know if I should disclose it yet or not as we have changed our minds quite a few times already.  It is a huge challenge to find a "4th" female name with a "V" in it that we are excited about.  All of our other children have a V in their name.  We don't want this special little one to feel left out. 

"V" is for victory!  Sing it out, 'tis a glorious word.  Some days may be dark and dreer.  Through Christ our way is clear.  And so, we have Victory.  Victory through Christ our Lord.   (an old Sunday school  song)

Any of the kids could sing it to you.  The all have learned that their "V" connects them to each other and reminds them of the victory they can have in Christ.

 

More news . . .

Our dossier is now in Ethiopia!  So things seem to be moving along again . . . at least for now. 

I ran across these interesting facts about Ethiopia and thought I would post them.

Why Ethiopia?

 

 

Good news!

  We have finally received our U.S. approval to adopt again.  We got our notice in the mail today.  So . . . now we need to complete our file and we should be able to send it off this next week to our agency in Oregon.  They will check it over and forward to Ethiopia where we will wait for our referral -- 2-5 months.  Once we have our referral (our baby girl) then it still looks like we will travel within 6-8 weeks from that point. 

 I have done such a terrible job of keeping this up-to-date.  I am going into work tonight so I should make it a priority to work on this next week.  I really need to put it on my calendar and decide that that is all I'm going to do for an afternoon.  We have been busy.  We (Larry, myself, & my folks were in Switzerland in July.  I just got back from Denver . . . Tuesdays are sax lessons (Haven), Wednesdays -  AWANA, Thursdays  - piano lessons for Haven.  We will soon be adding Choristers for  Olivia which will be before AWANA.  And . . . homework just about every night.  It's a good thing I've cut back on my work schedule because I sense that things are going to get busier over the next several months and years. 

 

A Longer Wait . . .

  For those who have ever gone through an adoption, there is often only one word to describe the process -- FRUSTRATING!

 We had our homestudy in mid-May through an agency here in MN who had originally done our homestudy when we adopted Levi. We sent in our I-600 in May .   Last week, the agency sent a letter stating that they had just sent off  the homestudy to Homeland Security (almost mid-August!) and we should have our approval in 60 working days!!!!!  I can't believe it.  We seem to have forgotten that the homestudy is part of the I-600 applicaton and the agency seems to have forgotten to do their job!!  We should have been calling the agency every week so see what they had done.   Communication between clients and agencies seems to be a major problem -- unbelievable.

  We had hoped to have our little girl in our home this year but now I doubt that is going to happen.  I'm so thankful that we don't have any connection to a baby yet.  I'm trusting God for HIS perfect timing and am content to wait for the baby that HE has for us.  Levi hasn't been home with us a year until Christmas so that is probably a good thing for him.

 

 

      

What's with the clock?

Where is Addis Abba?

Now . . . the rest of the story --

 We have another announcement to make . . .  there is going to be another addition to the Torgerson household!

 We are adopting again!  From Ethiopia!  A baby girl . . .

 As I look back over the last several months, I can see that God has been dropping little seeds here and there that have brought us to this decision once again.

 Like an Oprah special where Oprah talked about, and showed the school she has built for girls in South Africa.  It showed the incredible poverty and desperate situations that exist on that continent.  And the amazing resiliency and potential when these children get any sort of opportunity.  Later, Larry & I had a conversation discussing if we would ever adopt again.  No, we decided, we are content with the way things are. 

 Levi has been a tremendous blessing to our family -- the kids adore him, he adores them . . . there's so much entertainment for him.  He has adjusted very well and is a relatively happy little guy.  He's teething (trying to cut molars) so that isn't much fun for him. 

  Life is very good.

 Then . . . one night we watched a special done by American Idol, "Idol Gives Back", where they raised over 70 million dollars for the poor in Africa and across the U.S.  They showed the impoverished, destitute kids in Africa.  It was heart breaking.  We were compelled to ask ourselves, "Could we make a difference?"  "Could we take in another child?"

Later we saw a movie chronicling the tremendous suffering and injustices that continue today in many parts of Africa.

 We started researching, researching, researching . . .    Why not??  We decided to consider it carefully.  We started talking . We decided if we would adopt we would prefer a baby girl (the younger the better); a girl works best for sleeping arrangements. 

We starting talking about a name for a girl.  As all of our kid's names have a "V" in them, we felt it was important to keep that pattern going so our kids always feel equal in everything. Savanna was a name we talked about.

 A few days later I was rather torn.  You begin to ask yourself several questions:

 - is this a good thing for our family?

 - can we (can I) handle another infant in the house?

 - is this decision based purely on emotion?

  I told Larry that I needed a week to think and pray about it.  I just wasn't sure.  Larry had made up his mind already.  I prayed and prayed.  "God, I just need a clear sign from You that this is what YOU want us to do."  On the evening of day five Larry gave me a hard time about making my mind up one way or the other.

 The next morning, I was looking in one of our cupboards for a receipt.  I "happened" to come across a coupon that I had saved from last summer (or maybe the summer before) that was for the MN Zoo.  We never did go but the coupon was still in the cupboard.  This is what it looks like.

 

 

 

 Do you see that little phrase under the work "Africa"?  "Summer on the Savanna"!!!!  That was all the confirmation I needed!  Praise the Lord!  To know that God directs our steps and then to see how He does it is amazing and very humbling to me.    I have absolute confidence that GOD is leading us down this road again.  I'm very excited and wait with expectation to see what God will do next.

 So now you ask, "When will you be bringing the baby home?"

 The process in Ethopia is opposite of Guatemala.  Here we get all our paperwork done and approved and then at the end we are given our referral -- our baby.  We have requested 0-9 months; we prefer as young a child as possible.

 We have gotten alot of our paperwork done already and have sent them to our agency.  Larry & I go to St. Paul to be fingerprinted by the Immigration Dept. June 12th.  It's all part of getting our approval from the U.S. to introduce a child as a new US citizen. 

 Once our paperwork is approved by the U.S., it all is sent to Ethopia where it will be translated and approved and then our referral will come.  I recently saw where someone got their approval May 1st and their referral on May 10th.  Now that is FAST!  Generally, it looks like people travel within 6-8 weeks after their referral which is, as a few of our kids would say, SPEEDY FAST.

 When we go to pick up our little girl, we will be spending a week in Addis Abba, the capital of Ethiopia.  Thus the reason for the clock at the beginning of this post.

 And that's the rest of the story.

 

Here is a little about Ethiopia:

Ethiopia is a beautiful country situated in Eastern Africa near the Red Sea. It is one of the oldest countries in the world and was the home of the Queen of Sheba. Modern day Ethiopia is the product of many millennia of interaction among peoples in and around the Ethiopian highlands region. From the earliest times, these groups combined to produce a culture that at any given time differed markedly from that of surrounding peoples.

One of the most significant influences on the formation and evolution of culture in northern Ethiopia consisted of migrants from Southwest Arabia. Arriving during the first millennium B.C., these migrants brought very distinctive speech, writing, and stone-building traditions to northern Ethiopia. These migrants also seem to have contributed directly to the rise of the Aksumite kingdom, a trading state that prospered in the first centuries of the Christian era.

The ancient Ethiopian monarchy remained free from colonial rule (except for one brief period of Italian occupation from 1936 to 1941). The empire which started with Menelik, son of the Queen of Sheba, continued until 1974 when Emperor Haile Selassie (who had ruled for 44 years) was deposed and a socialist state was established in Ethiopia.

Following the death of Haile Selassie, there was a civil war in Ethiopia until 1991, when a transitional government was formed. The 17 years of civil war bankrupted the country and left thousands of orphaned children. Ethiopia adopted a constitution in 1994 and held their first democratic elections in 1995.

Today, Ethiopia’s 67 million people are among the poorest in the world. Infant and maternal mortality rates in Ethiopia are among the highest in the world, leaving millions of children orphaned. The numbers of orphaned children continue to increase as the diseases of poverty cause the premature deaths of parents.  Annual income averages $100 US dollars per year.