Laughner's Journey to Ethiopia

Introducing our daughter Tamenech Nicole Laughner! Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Due to the great response we received last year, we picked up another coffee pot and three more bags of fresh roasted Ethiopian coffee beans when we were visiting earlier this month. We got to watch the beans being sorted (by hand) and bagged. The aroma was wonderful. I'm not a coffee drinker, but having had so much coffee in Ethiopia, I'm starting to get hooked!  You can have one entry for five dollars, three entries for ten dollars, or ten entries for twenty dollars. All proceeds will help us fund our adoption. Email me (laughner@charter.net) or Lori (lorilaughner@charter.net) to let me know how many entries you want. BONUS: If you share our coffee giveaway on your Facebook page or on your blog, you'll receive five extra entries with your order! Tom

Imagine having 90 laughing, giggling, yelling children running towards you as fast as they can, with beaming faces and arms widespread. Prepare to be overwhelmed by them, as they reach for you to give you hugs, wrapping those arms tight around you in hugs so genuine and heartfelt, that you can't help getting caught up in their joy. A few weeks ago, our new friends the Davidsons from Missouri joined us on a visit to Kind Hearts Care Center, a small drop in center for children, located in beautiful countryside south of Addis Ababa. For me, it renewed my commitment for these kids, most of whom I'd met last year on a mission trip organized by Tom Davis and Children's Hopechest. For the others, they were able to experience the beauty, joy, and exhileration of spending a few hours with a group of children who will soak up as much love they can get. Planning for our visit had started several months prior, when we made a call to our friends and family to send us donations to ...

 Kids Care Orphanage (where Daniel spent time)  Huts that we saw.  Our Traditional Ethiopian Dinner.  Our sponsor child at Kind Hearts. Aunt Shirley and Uncle Tim's sponsor child. Monday- I woke up and ate my disgusting breakfast. We had fake eggs, burnt toast, and ok yogurt. We went on the bumpy roads dodging cars. There are no rules for the road in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We went to meet my sister "T" for the first time. She loves us, hugs, dolls, and balloons. Also at the transition home I played soccer with all the boys. On the way home I saw straw huts, people sitting on the side of the road begging, and lots of markets. Tuesday- When we woke up we went shopping in the morning. I bought a cool white Ethiopia hat. Everyone was hungry and most were homeless. It was very sad that kids had to give shoeshines to afford food and drinks. As you walk by the shops all of the owners beg you to come into their shops. The shops are very small and the main items wer...

 A scrap book for our Sweet "T".... We have a 300 piece puzzle and we are selling puzzle pieces. For $5.00 you can purchase a puzzle piece. What does this mean? It means that when you donate $5.00 to help bring T home, we will put our name on the back of a puzzle piece and you get to send a special message or well wish to go in this special book for T. She will have this special gift that shows all of the family and friends that helped bring her home!   We have sold 34 pieces and have some wonderful well wishes in her book!  We have wishes from family and friends from 3 different states at this point. Will your family or state be represented?  Today is T's birthday, her last birthday as an orphan. Would you like to purchase a puzzle piece and leave her a birthday message?  We would like to thank all of the family and friends who have sent special messages!  Please keep the messages coming!  Our 300 piece puzzle.... Is your name on t...

This is what our pile of luggage looked like, before we walked out the door! We divided everything up between the Transition Home where our daughter is, 2 orphanages Kids Care and KVI, and a drop in care center called Kind Hearts! We took a large duffel bag of items to the Transition Home and donated $100 towards supplies. We took one large duffel bag to Kid's Care (the orphanage that Daniel spent time at) and donated $100 towards supplies. We gave a large duffel bag of general supplies, plus one large duffel bag of emergency needed items to KVI. This bag included 8 mattress pad covers, 10 crib sheets, blankets, 70+ cloth diapers, 40 plastic diaper covers, and things like this. We were also able to donate $280 for supplies to be purchased. We took a large duffel bag of supplies including school supplies to Kind Hearts and a large tote of care package items to share with all of the kids, and we stopped and purchased green-oranges, bananas, powder-milk, onions, fire wood, and two lam...

Here is the link for most of the photos we took in Ethiopia last week. Since we haven't yet passed court, we can't post photos of T. http://tinyurl.com/ethiopia2010

Day 5 (Friday) Is it possible that the week is over? Do we really need to say good-bye to T today? Do I really need to sit on a plane for 17 hours? The day started with two of the orphanages in Addis Ababa from which our agency receives children for adoption. We had received reports last week that this orphanage was in bad shape, with no mattresses for the kids, and a shortage of diapers. The group before us bought mattresses, and we were asked to bring diapers (cloth), and something to protect the mattresses. We also dropped off toothbrushes, toothpaste, medical supplies, clothes, and food that had been given to us. We had already committed money from friends and family yo help where they felt a need.  Of all the orphanages I visited last year, this one was the filthiest, dreariest, depressing place I had been. The compound looks pleasant enough at first. It is a gated house, with a driveway, a small grass yard with a swing set, and a modest house and secondary building. The sma...

Day 4 (Thursday) Emotionally, Thursday was the biggest roller coaster of the trip. I got to spend a lot of time by myself with our daughter. We went to court to meet with the judge. And, we met with the grandmother for a lengthy and emotional discussion. First, an update. We did not get the final approval from the Ethiopian court. The license for the orphanage from which T came is up for renewal. Because that process is not finished, the government agency charged with making a recommendation to the judge had not been submitted to the court. The judge was very pleasant, albeit soft-spoken, and directed a question to Sara and Michael. She asked about if they were okay with the adoption. Both said they were. As soon as the court receives the recommendation letter, the adoption will be final. Lori will travel either in late December or early January to bring T home.     Earlier in the week, we had received a DVD of an interview with our daughter's grandmother. She was being asked...

Day 3 (Wednesday) Last December, a group of us made up mostly of families who have adopted or were preparing to adopt from Ethiopia, spent a week here, visiting orphanages throughout the country. It was an eye opening experience. It was the first time most of us had been outside of Addis Ababa and the differences between the capital city and the small towns and villages away from here were staggering. A year later, those differences are even more staggering. Yesterday, we traveled with our new friends the Davidsons to Kind Hearts, a drop in center about an hour south of Addis. When we were there last year, there were about sixty children. With the help of a load of donations, Lori put together 75 bags of goodies. The bags contained toothbrushes, granola bars, balloons, toys, and lots more. Well, on the way down to Kind Hearts, we learn that there are 98 now kids at Kind Hearts! New strategy: dump out all of the bags and divvy out the goods individually. It was all good, though, as we f...

Day One This is my third trip to Ethiopia in as many years. Arriving at the airport last night, and driving around town, I’ve realized that this country is starting to have that familiar feeling, like the country is a part of me as much as I’m a part of the country. I will say, though, that Addis Ababa is a huge city, and while I recognize a lot of it, I still find it hard to get my bearings. Today, we drove by the plaza where last year we watched a bunch of kids playing soccer last year. It reminded me of the great trip we had last year, how much has been accomplished since last December, but how much there still is to do. We got to meet our new daughter today! She is the sweetest little girl that you can imagine. She recognized us right away, and took to us pretty quickly. Sara is her pal, spending more time with her than any of the rest of us. I sense that she’s going to pick up on her English pretty quickly; she knows her letters and a few words. By the end of the day, she was...

We have sold quite a few puzzle pieces. It is fun to see the well wishes come in! Have you bought a puzzle piece (or a few)? Will you consider purchasing a puzzle piece and writing a short note to our daughter? We will put your name on the back of a puzzle pioece, and add the personalized note from you to her book! We will then share with her, all of the families that helped to bring her home! All money will go towards our 2nd trip to bring her home. We leave for Ethiopia in less than 48 hours. We will go in front of the judge on November 4th. This is also the day that Daniel came to live with us forever (2 years ago). If all goes well we hope to have an Embassy appointment December 8th and be able to arrive with her into the US on December 11th! Please pray for our family during this journey! Thank you for all of the love and support!

Although this wasn't our idea, it's a creative way to raise money to pay our adoption expenses to bring our little girl home from Ethiopia. This is a 300-piece puzzle, and we need your help putting it together. For a $5.00 donation, one of these pieces can be yours. We will write your name on the back of the piece. After the puzzle is complete, we will glue the puzzle together and frame it so it can be seen on both sides. In addition, we will include any message you want to send in a special keepsake journal for her so she always knows all of the people supporting her trip to the United States. Your page will include a replica of the puzzle piece you supported. Thanks for your support. Tom and Lori

Here we are 8 days before travel. We have six fifty pound bags and three fifteen pound bags all of donations... We still need to pack a back pack for each of us and one fifty pound bag of clothes, toiletries, etc. This is going to put us one bag over our limit. I would say having too many donations is a good thing though! Please pray that when we get the airport that our scale at home will mach up with their scale and that they will be feeling generous and wave the extra baggage fee. If they decide to charge us, it will cost $200 for the extra bag. They could also charge us if any of our bags are over the fifty pounds. It is hard to weigh them on a little bathroom scale. Thank you so much to all of you who helped donate items and money for the orphans of Ethiopia. There are going to be a lot of smiles because of your generosity! Please continue to follow our journey and please keep the prayers coming! We will be gone from Saturday October 30th until Saturday November 6th. A great a big...

We are leaving in 20 days for Ethiopia!!! We have a court date of November 4th! This is exactly 2 years from Daniel's Gotcha Day! The day we took him into our care forever. Tom, Lori, Sara (17), and Michael (10) will be traveling to Ethiopia. We are so excited to finally meet our daughter and be able to hug her and kiss her! We will arrive back in the US on Nov. 6th with out her. As soon as the US Embassy gives approval I will travel back to Ethiopia to bring her home! We are excited to enter the next step of adoption... We have 150 pounds of donations at this time, 75 care packages for Kind Hearts, gifts, and other goodies. We are also taking cash donations along to buy food for the orphanages, and Kind Hearts! If you would like to donate anything please let me know! We will update as much as wee can while we are in Ethiopia!!! Please keep praying!

A friend of ours Mother was having a tag sale this last weekend. Her son David asked if he could have a lemonade stand. He was asked if he wanted to keep the profits or give it to a charity. After thinking for a few minutes he decided that he would like to donate to our family to help bring our daughter home. David who is in 2nd grade and his little brother Daniel who is 3 1/2 worked all day Saturday selling lemonade. He is bringing over his donation to our adoption later this week! David and Daniel, we thank you so much! What a generous thing you did!

This last Tuesday night, our home study agency once again asked us to do temporary foster care for them. We now have a 1 year old boy with us! He is a very big boy and I can certainly say that I am not used to carrying a 26 pound baby around! Boy are my arms and back sore... He is in the process of being placed up for domestic adoption. Please pray for him and his future, there are a lot of things up in the air right now. Please pray for his birth mom and his prospective adoptive parents!

How's your coffee stock doing? We're in the final stages of our adoption, expecting to travel to Ethiopia in October and again a month or two later. If you need coffee or have family or friends who appreciate good coffee, check out the link below. A portion of any coffee we sell goes to support our expenses. Neither Lori nor I are coffee drinkers, but we hear that the coffee is really good. Go to: http://www.justlovecoffee.com/laughners Thanks for your support. Tom

A gift from God (Our precious daughter holding her first doll from us) On July 19th, we received a referral for the sweetest almost 5 year old little girl! We are not allowed to post pictures until we pass court... You will just have to take our word that she is just precious! Please pray for her and her time that she will spend in the Transition Home (that our agency runs) until we can bring her home. We are praying that this week our agency will be able to secure us a court date for early Oct. The Ethiopian Courts close Aug. 6th until Sept. 28th. If they are not able to, we will have to wait until Oct. to get a court date. If we can get one scheduled this week, it will allow us to see our daughter earlier, cheaper flights, and make it a lot easier for planning purposes. The Ethiopian Courts close for the rainy season. As some of you remember we got caught in court closure last time with Daniel. We received our referral 2 years and 1 day after Daniel's referral! We have been very...

Earlier this week Tom received an e-mail from a local author/photographer. She is co-writing an adoption book. She met with us last night and photographed our family. She took family pictures, a picture of Daniel and Tom looking at a picture of Ethiopia, and a brothers picture (with Michael, Benjamin, and Daniel). She is hoping to use a couple of these pictures in the book. The deadline is August and the book should come out 6 months later. The book will be geared for children ages 4 to 7 years old! You can check the author out at http://www.shelleyrotner.com/ She has also written a book called SHADES OF PEOPLE! Showing that people come in all shades. It is like wrapping paper, it doesn't matter the shade is on the outside it is what is in the inside that counts! We will keep you updated as to when the adoption book is ready for purchase!

Our Dear Nieces Sammy and Josalyn set up a snack stand to help raise money to bring their new cousin home from Ethiopia. They raised $52.00. Thank you so much girls!

A while back AWAA America World, our adoption agency contacted our family asking to use a picture of our family to promote domestic adoptions in Ethiopia. We gave our permission and that was it, we did not hear anything more. Last week a friend of ours was in Ethiopia on a mission trip and took a picture of this poster hanging in Ethiopia and sent it to us... What a surprise to see our family photo on posters in Ethiopia. Thank you Caleb!!!

Last week on Monday afternoon we received a phone call asking us to be foster parents for about 2 weeks. We would need to pick up a preemie 4 lb. 9oz. 3 week old baby girl from the hospital the following morning. After talking it over, we decided that if this is where we were needed at this time we would do it! We picked up Baby Alana Tuesday morning. She had a visiting nurse on Friday, she weighed in at 4 lb. 10 1/2 oz. She had her first check up Monday (at 4 weeks old) she weighed in at 4 lb. 13 1/2 oz. She we will have another weigh in this Thursday. Please pray for her, her birth mother, prospective adoptive family, and our family as we give her the care she needs! Foster care, No this is not something that we signed up for or knew that we were cleared to do. With a completed home study with Wide Horizons For Children, they consider us able to foster care. When a need arises they turn to families with completed home studies and ask them to foster. So this call came as a big surpris...

Our dear friends the Nikolai's had a garage sale and added on a bake sale for our family. They sold baked goods with the profits going towards our adoption travel expenses! We received this sweet card and a check for $181.50! Thank you so much! We love you guys! If you are in the Milford IN, area my sweet nieces are having a snack stand during their garage sale to help bring their new cousin home! Thank you guys for all of your help!

While we thought we had raised the money we needed for our adoption, we were thrown a curve ball this week when we learned that Ethiopia has changed their rules for court approval. Now, both parents have to be present for the court proceedings (in the past, our agency could represent us). We are now faced with an additional travel cost, since we'll now have to travel to Ethiopia twice. There's an organization, Just Love Coffee, that helps families with their adoption fund raising efforts. We receive a percentage of every bag of coffee sold from the site. There are coffees from all around the world available. To order your coffee, visit: http://www.justlovecoffee.com/laughners Thanks for your support. Tom and Lori

Kevin Barry was the winner of the Ethiopian coffee and coffee pot. Here is the picture of him with the coffee and coffee pot, and a video of the kids drawing his name. Thank you to Kevin and everyone else who purchased entry tickets!

We have one large payment left to pay when we receive our referral. We still have 3 adult small and one adult medium green "PROJECT ETHIOPIA" t-shirts (these are $20 each). We also have all sizes, kids 2T up to adult x-large (unisex and lady cuts) t-shirts. They are gray and are the "THEY ARE PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT" design.($10 each) We also have canvas bags with the "THEY ARE PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT" design ($10) I am also considering a fundraiser tag sale/bake sale... if you would have any items that you would be willing to donate (and live locally) please let me know. Our next big expense will be traveling to bring our daughter home. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support! We can't wait to share more of this journey with you!

There are only seven unsponsored kids at Kind Heart. That means that 68 children are now matched up with families here in the United States, and the orphanage is able to meet the needs of these children. In addition, Kind Heart is working to obtain permits in order to build a bridge over the filthy river so the kids don't have to walk through the water with the suffocating stench when walking to the drop in center from the town. Thank you to everyone for your incredible support. Because of the overwhelming support, and ongoing interest, I am going to expand our reach to another organization. Hanna's Homes is a drop-in center for children who have lost both of their parents. What's really unique about Hanna's Homes is that the children are placed in foster homes rather than having to live in an orphanage. It's a great model because the kids can receive the love and attention they need in a small home setting. I am gathering information and will share it as I have it...

Hi all. People are signing up for sponsorships. I've included below a few of the kids that are now sponsored, which means that Kind Heart is in much better position to feed, clothe, and educate all of the kids at this facility. Abenezer is four years old, and has been at Kind Heart for less than a year. He is a single orphan (one of his parents is deceased). Note the flies on his face. One of the things I noticed at many of the orphanages is that the kids don't bother to swat away the flies. Tibebu is four years old and has been attending Kind Hearts for less than a year. He is a "vulnerable child" which means he has relatives living but they are unable to care for him adequately. I met Tibebu when I was in Ethiopia. I'll post more pictures of him later. Wolnshet has attended Kind Hearts for two years. She is six years old. She is also a "vulnerable child." Yobetal is seven years old and has been at Kind Heart for less than a year. He is ...

It's great to see the sponsorships coming in, knowing that the kids at Kind Heart will begin having their needs met on a daily basis. There are several ways you can support these kids: 1. Sponsor a child. The $34/month goes directly to the care center. You have the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with a child at Kind Heart. I have profiles for the kids there. You simply let me know you'd like to support a sponsorship, and I'll send you a profile. 2. Join a mission trip. Once a year, a group goes to visit Kind Heart. It's a chance to build relationships with the children, and experience the unique culture of the country. 3. Help Kind Heart with their large needs. Children's Hopechest and Kind Heart are developing a long term strategic plan, designed to help Kind Heart be self-sustaining. Each year, we will identify a major project and do fundraising for that project. You can make a one-time contribution towards that project. 4. Provide donations. ...

Neither Lori nor I are coffee drinkers, but we're told that there's nothing like Ethiopian coffee. While there in December, I picked up some fresh roasted coffee beans (the roaster was right in the shop where we bought the beans) and an Ethiopian coffee pot. We will give away the pot and three bags of coffee at the end of January. You can have one entry for five dollars, three entries for ten dollars, or ten entries for twenty dollars. All proceeds will help us fund our adoption. Email me (laughner@charter.net) or Lori (lorilaughner@charter.net) to let me know how many entries you want. BONUS: If you share our coffee giveaway on your Facebook page or on your blog, you'll receive five extra entries with your order! Tom