Our African Love Story

First, thank you so much to everyone for all of your kind words of encouragement. This is so magical, and we feel incredibly blessed and fortunate to have everyone's loving support!

Thank you to all of the wonderful blogging families and for all of your beautiful hearts and souls...you all are truly amazing people doing God's work all over the world. Your words of encouragement are unbelievable--I haven't returned all of your acts of kindness but I do wish to speak to as many adoptive families as possible.

My email address is amygugger@yahoo.com. Please write to me "off-blog", if you can. Especially those who might be able to get together (we are in Philadelphia, PA area)...but we are mobile and willing to travel (as much as $$ will allow).

Ok, so Dutch (my Dad) is travelling with me and he is urging me to get suggestions...on EVERYTHING! We are mostly looking for suggestions on the best guesthouses to stay at, as well as anything else anyone thinks is important to know about food, water, altitude, cultural activities, travel, etc.

Oh Yes, and needless to say, our little guy will be going through quite the transition, so if there is any advice on that front...we would surely welcome it. Abe is going to be 5.5 months old when we get there, so feeding is of utmost concern to me to make sure he doesn't have any tummy issues, especially while travelling. So, anyone who had brought home a little one in this age range, please do feel free to share with me what you took for food/formula. I am concerned about switching his formula mid trip and running into digestion problems.

Thank you everyone, again, for your support. It means the world to have so many people sharing this experience with us, supporting us with love and prayer. All our appreciation, Doug and Amy

WE PASSED!!!!!!!! My husband is home for 2 weeks for the holidays, Dec. 19 - Jan. 2. He will see his son before he goes to Afghanistan. This is a miracle!

Our little guy could officially be our son in 10 short days. November 10, 2009 is our court date--we received the call this past week. It is difficult to comprehend that this day is right around the corner. We started our adoption journey June 30, 2008 and here we are 16 months later! The process of adoption is long, emotional and trying. Doug and I have been through our share of hard times--but our path was guided every step of the way...leading us right to our child.

And we are not yet near the end of our challenging journey. Doug has been gone for 2 weeks--training in the states until the end of January at which time he will deploy to Afghanistan until November 2010. The total number of deployment days, as it stands now, is 391 days. My Dad is travelling with me to Ethiopia to bring our little love home while my big love will be sacrificing so much--the least of which will be seeing our son together for the first time.

As the Army-base physician for the unit he will travel with, he is serving something so much greater than just himself. He is living every day, not for himself but for a cause. His existence and his work is more meaningful than ever before. As sad as I am and as sad as I know he is to be gone for so long, he has a calling, a purpose and a mission to serve.

The path to our baby isn't the path taken by most, but it has been guided with a purpose greater than we can comprehend. Similary, the path my husband will follow this next year is not travelled by most, but it too is guided with a purpose far greater than any. These are pretty overwhelming times for us, but then again, following the road less travelled usually is.

I heard the view from the top is pretty bright after travelling through the valley of darkness. The road right now is winding and dark, but our spirits shine brighter than ever before...because we know we are serving His purpose. The power of faith will light the way.

Pray for a smooth court date--November 10, 2009...Here we go!