If Home Is Where Your Heart Is. . . .

This is Kelly again... Jamie Jo asked me to blog to let you all know that they are doing very well in Ethiopia, everything is going as scheduled, but they do not have a computer. She has told me that they have been swimming lots and Tiki loves it!!! Jamie must be going a little insane as she texted me the other day that she thinks injera is GROSS... she must be sick or something because injera is AWESOME!!!! Anyone who has been to ET and had injera will concur.... Really, I'm sure a lot of you are not at all surprised by this news :))) The Braners will be home by this Saturday, so please continue to pray!!!

Whew! What a day Saturday has been! We had our first overnighter with Tiki (not his official name because I haven't talked to Andy about it yet. . .) and he did great! I woke up to a text at 4a.m. and when he heard me stirring, he said, "MaMa?" So, we've been up for a while! We head to the National forest in the East of Rwanda (looked across the lake to Tanzania) and it was wonderful! Our safari was the REAL African experience. . .there were EIGHT of us in this tiny Toyota Corolla (or somthing) from 1980 bouncing down these trails barly fit for a Jeep. We got to see everything! MANY MANY MANY giraffes and they were so close! Tiki tried chasing them. . .the guide wasn't too happy about that! We saw buffalo, antelope, baboons (Tiki's favorite), zebra, hippos, monkeys and tons of birds! I wish I could post pictures, but I took them on my nice camera and Hays's computer won't let me upload them. Big bummer! It was great! Nine (or so) hours in t...

Today was a long and productive day! We are officially ready to take Jean de Dieu (Tiki?) home with us to the United States! We started early and got him vaccinated for Yellow Fever (required for Ethiopia). Then we ran all over town looking for a certin ointment to put on some fungus spots on his head (no worries). After that we headed to the Ministry where we sat and waited for our "To Whom It May Concern" and WE GOT IT!!! That is the letter we have been needing! After waiting an hour and a half to get that document notarized, we headed to the Immigration office where I was supposed to pick up his passport. They told me that I needed to come back on Monday and in a rare moment of strength when faced with authorities, I told them that it was unacceptable because they told me that it would be ready today and I sat there until they finished it. Then Tiki and I headed to the US Embassy to get our "brown envelope" so that we can be ready for our visa appointment...

Okay, about his name. . .Jean de Dieu Rukara. . .I have NO idea what we are going to call him! Ruk just does not fit! Jean de Dieu seems so difficult but here it rolls off the tongue nicely (but I cannot picture his high school girlfriend calling him that--yes, I have tought about that). Also, the people in the orphanage call him what sounds like "John Doe" and if you ask him his name, that is also what he says. He CANNOT be a "John Doe" his whole life. That just seems so sad! I LOVE the name Tiki and he LOVES to repeat it whenever I say it. It also fits him and his personality. Hays agrees. I'll have to run that one by Andy, though! We'll see. . .but for those of you monogrammers (Alison Brawner), please don't do anything that says "Ruk" because that will NOT be his name! :) Oh, and John just seems too boring four our family. . .no offense to the Johns of the world (my favorite one being Pastor Lindell), but I just need something gr...

Hi there! It's me and I am finally in civilization and I have internet access (and electricity and water and flushing toilets and NO roaches)!!! Hays and I are staying at the US Ambassador's home and we are SO excited to be here! I think we would be excited no matter what, but compared to where we have been staying (which was a place that blessed us so much), it is heaven! More on the Ambassador residence later. . .you don't care. . .you just want to hear about Jean de Dieu Rukara Braner and see pictures! So, our first meeting went wonderfully! As Kelly blogged the other day (thanks, Kelly, by the way), all day long (on Saturday) he was jumping up and down at the orphanage saying, "My MaMa's coming! My MaMa's coming!" When I heard that my heart melted and jumped at the same time! He was timid for about one minute and then he was fine. He sat in my lap and we looked at that scrapbook I made him this summer. He loved seeing his family. . .he loved s...

This is Kelly again! I talked to Jamie Jo this morning and wanted to let you know that she is still doing well! She is getting to know Ruk a lot better, and has even taken him to the doctor. He weighs 36 pounds!!! The doctor thought maybe there was a mistake in his age, but when he looked at his teeth, he was sure that six was very accurate. I am certain once he gets to America (and has a few McDonald's burgers) that he will fill out nicely. So far there has not been any paperwork glitches either, and if all goes well, they will be in Ethiopia on Sunday. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!!!!

This is Kelly blogging for Jamie,and I just got off the phone with her. After traveling for 44 hours, they finally made it. I'm overjoyed by the news that they were able to MEET Ruk for the first time pretty soon after they arrived as well, and everything went GREAT!!! Jamie says he is VERY small... even smaller than Dax, and that he is probably a size 4... WOW! Jamie says that all his teeth are coming in and is not the toothless guy we have seen photos of. She also said that he was very sweet and affectionate with her, and that he called her mommy already. This is a great sign as it shows he is open and ready for a family!!! Jamie was told that all day long he was chatting away that he was going to meet his mommy today! Sniff, sniff!!! Hays and Ruk hit it off real well too and didn't have any of that awkward and shy first time to meet you syndrome. They played for over an hour, and Hays had a BALL with his rambunctious and playful brother, Ruk. Lots of hugging and kissing were...