Next Families to travel

Lets lift them up in Prayer:))))



Juvinall - http://talk. bearla.com/
Armestrong - http://armstrongs2e thiopia.blogspot .com/
Gamble - http://bjgamble. blogspot. com/
Pridemore - http://www.pridemor e5.blogspot. com/
VanWetten - http://yellowblacka ndwhite.blogspot .com/

Welcoming us home...

Photos of our family!

Here are some pictures for you all to enjoy! Our little king is now home!

We're Back!

We are very excited and thankful to report you all of you that we are back in Oregon! Yeah! We don't want to scare or bore you with out travel story, but think it necessary to share because it is VERY important for all of you prayer warriors to know how much your prayers manifested during our journey home. And a journey it was!

Our flight out of Ethiopia was at 10pm, which already meant it was WAY past our Siah's bedtime. He had been sick that morning so by the time we got on the plane he slept for the first 3 hrs. Also, you should know that our total travel time was right around 30 hrs. But that means we did not sleep for the whole day on Friday, and not until 1am Saturday night! So....lets just say that our little king was on the verge of exhaustion (literally!) when we got on out last plane.
His plane experience could have been the most difficult time of my entire life! Not because being a new dad/mom was something foreign, but having a sick baby on a 16 hr flight would have been hard for the super nanny! But having all of you praying and the support from the other traveling families meant God was not going to let us down. ( Again Laughners, thank you from the bottom of our hearts, your family blessed us with your support in a special way!) We had nearly a dozen strangers/mothers who come to us and offered their services of trying to calm him down. He was screaming, coughing, crying, pooping, etc!!!!!! Instead of thinking "what kind of parents are they?" or "Keep your baby quiet", they were supportive and caring! After we arrived in Washington D.C. we were DONE! Fear, guilt, sickness, sadness and fear we were going to make two more planes full of people mad....we had enough! But again, it was not about us. It was about God using three vessels to show His power. Somehow, someway we had enough energy. Ana felt like God was literally moving her arms, legs, and controlling her thoughts. She was in autopilot mode to simply do whatever it took to get off the plane at out final destination! Powerful! It was honestly the most horrifying and gut wrenching time we had ever endured during our relationship!
When we finally arrived in Portland we were welcomed by our Parents and few friends who had been there our entire process. Now that we were back the mission was to simply bring our little guy home and getting him healthy. Which leads us to our next adventure....The Hospital!
Upon arrival to Portland, we decided to take him straight to the hospital to get a checked to see if there was anything we could do to help him with this difficult transition. After a few tests they admitted Siah and he had to have a slow drip iv. He has had one long, tiring, exhausting, draining and emotional journey & he was dehydrated. He was also poked several times so they could run tests to see if we could find out what was wrong with his tummy. I guess there is no testimony without at test! After traveling all day & night ( 30 hours) being exhausted, drained emotionally this put us over. There was nothing harder than to now have to hand our lil' guy over to get hooked up to an IV and put him through more trauma. Our first night home with our baby & we were in the hospital. I've never had more of a broken heart. There was so much pain...... it was an adopting parents' version of labor!!!! ouch!

God intervened in the upmost way! With LOTS of prayer, persistence, and love....Siah is now peacefully sleeping in his crib with a calm and peace only God himself can provide!

We have to say thanks to EVERYONE for all of your prayers. They were/are felt and prominent in our days.

Amy Childs!!!...................Often times perfect words come out of the mouth to describe an amazing act of grace, but there are no words our hearts, minds, or souls can put on paper that describe what you've done. You are a special person. Helping with doctors apts, phone calls, arrangements, holding him during our hospital visits, and finally staying the night at our house so we could get some much needed rest. You are the best friend anyone could ask for and your little nephew is blessed to have you in his life! He is excited about what you are going to add to his development. Thank you Amy!

P.S. To all the families we took care packages for.....We have pictures and video for all of you. Please allow us a little bit to get some things organized so we can send you all some quality feedback on your little ones. And trust us...you are all going to be very pleased with the footage of your little ones!!!!!

To everyone that has sent us notes, dropped special gifts off at our house, made us meals, supported us on blogger with your e-mails, texts, sent pictures to make our signs for arrivals and all those that prayed, prayed ,prayed.....We love you all soooooooo much. We truly believe we wouldn't have made it with out you all praying & believing in us all the way through!!!! Our lives are forever changed in the most amazing way because of our experience and now because of our new lil King who will reign in his new house:))))
God bless you all!!!!!!

Love The Nunez's

Headed Home Today!!!

Hi all:)

Sorry we fell off for a while but its been a rouh couple of last days. We have been sick:(  However since so many of you have lifted us in prayer today is a better day for Sam & I. Little Desalegn may have a bug but its so hard to tell at this point, what he could be sick from. So many changes for him just as there is for us. We thank you all for your prayere...God has heard them! Please continue to pray for the journey ahead:) We are ready to be home!

 

God has also sent us angles to watch over us. The families we are traveling have helped in so many ways. We are forever thankful to the Laughner family. For alll the big and small things they did for us. Including visiting Desalegn's orphanage when we were to sick to go. This is where he came from & they  took pictures, video, & brought back info for us. Josiah Desalegn will now have completion to his story WOW!!!! What a blessing for him & us:))))

 

Mom, Amy & Tracy...Thank you for calling, I really needed to hear your voices!!!! And to the best husband in the world who took care of Siah from the beginin cuz mommy couldn't. Sam fills my life so much, this journey would not have been posible w/o him!

Well, we will see you all soon:)

I love you so much!

Ana Nunez!

--
Sam Nunez

More Pictures

Please pray for us as we go to the American Embassy today for our final meeting/conference!

--
Sam Nunez

Mommy's Heart

Hey Everyone!  It is 3:30 am here and we just got up for our first mid-night feeding.  He was very hungry because he ate and went to bed at 9:00pm and didn't wake up til now!  Praise God!  His schedule has been to eat at 10pm/1am/5am, but we decided not to wake him and just feed him when he gets up and it worked out great!

 

Ana wanted to post this because this was her journal entry on Tuesday, after we met Siah for the first time.  Enjoy!

 

Embracing my Son….Mommy's Heart:

 

How do I describe a moment where time stands still.  Where heavens part.  Where your heart is soo full you can feel it beat in every part of your body.  This same heart is so full of love, you don't know how even one more drop of emotion can fit into it.

All I wanted to do was drop to my knees and not just cry, but wale!  (the ugly cry if you will)  I wanted to let it ALL out before God.  Praise you Lord, I have a son….I HAVE A SON!!!!  (This was my brithJ)

No matter how much you plan, prepare, or imagine of this day in your heads…Nothing compares to that magical moment of reality.  He is real!  Nothing has ever felt so perfect than when he was passed into my arms.  Desalegn is breathtaking.  He is beyond my expectations and at the same time he is everything I have ever desired…sweet, tender, cuddly, eyes that melt your heart and soul! 

Many of you know that I have called him my lil' king…well, because he is so content, soft hearted, but also has a seriousness to him…the nurse and the nannies also call him king!  Amazing to be worlds apart and we both embraced him as a king.  What a purpose this lil' guy must have and even of that purpose was to be placed in the arms of two people that were yearning for a child….then Praise God it was fulfilled today!

Once of the highlights was seeing him smile and even laugh for the first time.  And who better to make that come alive than my amazing husband.  It was truly another moment where time stood still.  Sam found his tickle spot and then we say it…..that precious smile came out and lit up the room!  To see my husband hold his lil guy was again….loss for words.  And just like daddy, he had a dimple on his left cheekJ

Ah, the day just got better and better as we just ohhh'd and ahhhh'd over our baby.

I leave you with the words of a song written by Christine and given to us from the heart.  And since then, Sam has placed some guitar chords and melody with it to bring it to life…Enjoy

"Josiah, Messiah, a baby sent with love;

On fire, desire, a gift from above.

And just as you've provided, your timing is clear;

You see the big picture, oh God draw us near.

The miracles you provide, for the love of us you died.

 

So we run, we run, we run to your child;

We run, we run, we run to your child"

--
Sam Nunez

The King is in the Building!

I hope these work!  We will have a bunch more tomorrow!  Love you!

--
Sam Nunez

Embracing our Son...

How do we even begin to explain the feelings going through our minds, hearts, and bodies this morning when we woke up.  Our excitment levels quickly turned into nerves and anxiety about 30 mins before we met our new little king.

We started like a normal day.  Breakfast with all the families, (BEST COFFE EVER), then a 10am coffee apt with Rachel (our coordinator) for an orientation.  After another cup of coffee and some lunch....it was time!!!!!

After being told it was only a 5 minute drive from our lunch spot to the transition home, our video camera was on and our hearts were racing!!!  Again, there are NO words that describe the feelings during those brief moments as we approached our life changing blessing.  Dun-Dun-Dun...And there they were.  The big, solid, nerve racking, green gates :-)  We got out of the car, took some pics, and entered the courtyard with all the other families.

At this point, our stomachs were eating our liver!  AHHHHHHH.  We knew what was inside that house and we knew we were standing in the place we have been dreaming of for years.  All of our visions and wonders were right before us and we could hardly stand it.  Each child was brought out in alphabetical order by the last name of the parents.  Which meant we were going to witness 3 before it was our turn.  And when that time came, Ana lost it!  Her heart and soul that had been poured out over the last 5 years had come forth and she was in a state of rejoice and overwheling joy!  Tears flowed as Rachel peaked out of the house with a little bundle of love.  Just waking up from a nap he was little confused but had no problems placing his adorable little head against mommy's chest for what would be an amazing moment!  His face, eyes, ears, nose, and smell were amazing!  Everything we had seen and assumed was REAL!  He felt like ours from the minute his warm body was layed in our arms.  Little Desalegn is ours! 

After a few minutes had passed and our faces were shriveled up from tears:-) we headed in the house and sat down to observe, kuddle, smile, and embrace our baby.  We had MANY firsts today!  His first smile, spit up (on daddy),bottle (w/mommy), nap (mommy rocked him), and we met his best friend.  A little boy who has the same background as Desalegn! 

We spent the entire day at the transition home playing and loving on these kids.  They are so loving and joyful.  Our hearts are filled with a humbling that can only take place in a place like this.  Nothing in life warms us more that to see kids play,smile, hug, kiss, and enjoy the very things that God has blessed them with!  Today is a day we will never forget and tomorrow we get to bring our little one home for the first time!

If there is anything we can ask for from all of you, it would be to pray.  Simply find a minute to pray that our travels and Siah's adaption process goes as smoothly as possible!

We love you all!

 

PS....we want to post pictures for you all but our internet is DIAL UP.....yikes!  So we have limited or no connectivity.  We may have a chance to do it tomorrow if we can stop at an internet cafe.

 

 

 

PSS....

 

To the families we have packages for:  We met all your little ones today, but will be giving them their gifts and taking more pics tomorrow.  They are being VERY VERY loved by everyone in the house.

 

Joner Family, your little princess was wearing pretty blue dress today!  She was sweet and content!  We will keep working on making her smile!

 

Stagger Family, Million was in a bumbo when we walked in.  He is soooo little and cute!  When we got there he was wanting to be fed so he let everyone in the house know about it:-)  He ate and was content for the remainder of the day

 

Sparr Family, It was a blessing that we got a chance to interact with your little girl.  She was very affectionate and wanted to be right next to Ana all day!  She is very sweet and is going to love her gift!

 

--
Sam Nunez

WE MADE IT!

Well, its 12:35 am here and we are exhausted after all the traveling.  Planes are not made for tall people!  God once again led the way!  We had baggage limits and weight nazis before the international flights.  But when we got to the front of the line, they stepped aside and opened their arms and said welcome aboard!!!  Almost like we were using the force to have them step aside!  God is good.

After landing in Ethiopia, we had to get our visa's and also had to go through customs....And again, God used His power.  Instead of having our bags unlocked and pulling everything out, the airport security grabbed the cart that held our bags and pushed it right through to the exit!  Have I said God is good yet???

After we got out of the baggage area we were met by our AWAA travel coordinator.  He gave us some brief welcoming tips and tricks about keeping our bags close and not allowing anyone to help with them.  After a brief pow wow we headed to the car only to step into weather very familiar to us in the northwest...RAIN!  FOR THE LOVE OF........ha! 

Anyhow, we are fine and going to get some sleep.  We need to get some rest so we can get on with our adventures!

Love you all!!!!

--
Sam Nunez

Plane update!

You have a Picture Mail from Sam Nunez

Message: We are on the plane! Hope this works! God is good...he sat us next to a gentleman who adopted 12 months ago! He gave us some great advice! Love u all! Options View Picture Print at Retail Reply to Sender Reply to All Forward Send and receive Pictures and Videos through Picture MailSM. For more information go to www.sprint.com/picturemail.

Please be aware your friends can forward your picture, video, and album share invitations to others or post the unique Web link to your share invitation on any number of sources (e.g. blogs), through which others could also gain access to your online photos. If you have private or sensitive photos you are sharing, please share them only with those you trust.

© 2008 Sprint. All rights reserved.