We were a family of three once. 

There was my husband, Frank, myself (Heather), and our only child, Haylie  Dawn, who was the light of our lives.

Then God intervened, and we ended up with two more, a brother and sister team from Ethiopia, in Africa. 

We didn't initially set to adopt the pair, but once we saw their pictures on the Internet, we were immediately smitten.  We knew immediately that they needed to be a part of our family.

According to the adoption agency that was handling our case, both Fisseha and Tseha, ages four and seven at the time, were in desperate need of a family.  Both had lost their parents in an accident; there was nobody else to take them in.  So the agency alerted agencies in the U.S. about the two children.

Response was mixe.  Some families showed (mild) interest; others nixed them or told the agency that they were not interested, especially when it was discovered that the boy (Fisseha) had no arms.  The sight of his physical anomaly shocked people; by the time we saw his photo, we didn't really pay attention to that "minor" detail; all we saw was a small African boy in need of a home and a family, along with his big sister.

The entire process, from the first view of the children until "Gotcha Day" (the day we picked the children up at the airport; what an exciting, happy day THAT was!) took over a period of nearly two years.  By the time the kids came to us, Fisseha was 6 1/2 and his sister, Tseha, was 9 1/2.

They were absolutely beautiful!

~To be continued!~