Hammons House - Oct 26th - PLEASE JOIN US

Greetings ~
I promised a friend a year ago I would write this post when this day came and so here I am honoring that promise.  Over the last 365 days I have heard so often - WOW you look different, you look great, have you lost weight, your hair it looks so long.  And with every comment I smiled and thanked you and went on about my day.

But the truth is I didn't tell you something, I was scared to tell you why - I  look different and why I did loose weight because last summer I found a tumor in my right breast.  And last fall after I put the boys on the bus and waved them off I went on my way to the Sarah Canon Cancer Center for breast cancer treatment. And every afternoon I was home to greet the bus and meet my boys.

You see I am the mom of newly adopted international children - children who have seen great loss and trauma and the LAST thing I could do to them was add the fear of more loss or trauma to their world.

Today 365 days later I can tell you I am a survivor and cancer free.  But I am different and I look at the world different and you have seen my posts change and my view of the world and my role in it change.

 And so I'm coming to you today and asking you to join me and my boys on Oct 26th in Brentwood TN for the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure.  While I am blessed to be a survivor I lost 2 very dear friends to this disease.  Sally (an amazing adoptive mama) and Taira (a fabulous wedding professional and client) so this year I cannot stay silent.  This year I need to be a voice for those that have lost the battle, those that are still fighting and those that do not even know it is coming yet.  I have set a modest goal of $2,500 and 10 people to join me and the boys on this journey.  I'm hoping you will be one?!?!?

Here is the link come on and join the Hammons House and we step out on Oct 26th and get one step closer to finding a CURE - http://nashville.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/NAS_GreaterNashvilleAffiliate?px=14768674&pg=personal&fr_id=2925

Sweet Sallee and her family - Photo courtesy of Evin Photography

My dear friend Taira and her husband Rob @ their vow renewal a few months before she passed away

My boys and I sporting our pink for a purpose

                                               

Home ~ Creating a new normal ~

Greetings ~
The bags are unpacked (well almost), the gifts for friends and family have been shipped or given, the airport hello's have long since faded and life is back to status quo at the Hammons House.  But let's be honest ~ it's a new normal because 5 weeks in East Africa changes a person.

I am not the person I was when I left Tampa back in July ~ sure I look the same and maybe to some even sound the same but inside well inside things are not settled and are not okay.  NO it's not that I want to adopt more children (although I wouldn't rule that out) it's the realization that had there been tools and resources and a support system in place in Addis my sweet Teddy never needed to be adopted.  And that my friends wrestles heavy with my soul.  A dear friend pointed out to me last night that yes Teddy did need to be adopted so that someone (i.e. me) would see the needs and would speak of those and for those that cannot voice them.  And I guess that is true.  So now I sit here in the states prepared to step out on a complete journey of faith so that the other Teddy's of the world have a voice and if by chance they can remain with their birth families than all the better.

Prayers appreciated as this journey begins to unfold and know that I will let you know along the way how you can be a part.  But for now here is a photo of Tariku and his Ethiopian requests!

Packing Up and Preparing to Head HOME ~

Greetings from Addis Ababa ~
The last time I will write that for awhile!  Hard to believe that my month here is coming to a close - and yet GOD has done some most amazing things with my time here.  Anyone who knows me knows I plan (I mean HELLO it's what I do for a living!!) so I entered this month with a plan and you know HE laughed and threw it right out the window!!  And so I became okay with that because HIS plan was soooo much better.

I visited friends (who are way more like family)
I played with sweet little ones who are waiting on their moms and dads to arrive (SOON I pray)
I watched FOREVER FAMILIES be born
I witnessed heartbreak and loss as friends lost loved ones
I survived a midnight journey to Awassa - and anyone who has ridden those roads in the dead of night can understand
I produced an event that was 6 months in the making and it was PRETTY AWESOME
I spent time in the word - time like I had never spent before
I worked on a manuscript (that was suppose to be done LONG ago!)
I continued to run my business full time from half way around the world - that my friends is a whole blog post in itself
I tried foods I had vowed in years past would never pass my lips
I secured Tariku's injera plate and the boys traditional clothing that they put on a list for me to bring home
I watched and studied in awe the people of Addis - the joy, the contentment, the family values that exist in this country and vow to bring it home to my family
I stood at the edge of waterfalls and looked in AWE at ALL that HE has created
I laughed I laughed in ways I have not laughed in I cannot tell you how long
I loved
I missed my boys and my family - but knew they were safe and doing what they were suppose to be doing in this time -
I trusted HIM with every day and night

And now I return to the states - a different person - for this time a piece of me remains in Addis - I pray that I will continue to be as faithful to him at home as I have been here - that I will remember the lessons and that I will continue this journey - for a much bigger project was born on this trip - a project that will take HIS faithfulness and guidance to bring to life but I now know it's what I was called to do and so it will be done. (I will share more on this one as it moves forward)

So the duffles are packed and I am headed out to spend my last full day here in my second home.  To soak in the incense and coffee smells, to hear the honking horns a few more times!

Sweet sweet boy that I have LOVED watching grow up!  He was just born the 1st time I came to Addis and now he is 3

Boys are boys no matter where they live!  

Don't know Ordinary Hero?  Check them out - you will be sooo glad you did - www.ordinaryhero.org

Ferengie (white person!) with a camera - means they want their pictures

Just another day another futbol game

No words for the sweetness of this boy

My friend in Awassa

Ciao for now from Addis ~

Courtney

1st day of school

Greetings ~
Well this year the first day of school looked a little different at the Hammons house!  There is no cute pinterest worthy photo of the boys.  There were no tears shed as the boys headed to the bus to start 1st and 2nd grade.  Nope not this year ~ GOD had different plans for this mama and boy did he stretch me this year!  You see I am still working in Addis Ababa Ethiopia some 7,300 miles away from the 1st day of school.  And yet I wouldn't change a moment of it for anything - not for me or for the boys.  So alright the outfits they wore were surely chosen by them, and no I didn't pack their lunch (but I did take them to buy lunch boxes before I left!!!) Instead their dad and their papa had this moment with them and for that I am eternally grateful.  The boys ADORE their papa to the ends of the earth and had I not been away he would not have been there for their 1st day of school.  And thanks to modern technology I am blessed to follow their day via email, facebook and twitter.  Their most amazing nanny (who leaves for college this Friday) posts photos and videos of them after school.  Their teachers email me and I facetime with the boys ~ so no the 1st day of school was not a traditional one but it was also not one to soon be forgotten!  Hello 2013/2014 we are soooo excited to see you and cannot wait for all that is in store with Ms. Clark and Ms. Gatlin this year!

Dear Tariku James ~ Happy 3 year GOTCHA!!

Dear Tariku James ~

3 years ago today your life once ago changed forever – you entered your forever family when you were placed in my arms to be your forever mama.  As I look back over the last year here are the things I want you to remember about your 3^rd year in America.

It was the year you turned 8 and stood 4’11

It was the second year you received a gold medal at school

It was the year of Marilyn – you had the most amazing nanny after school – who loves you like crazy and because of you she has now seen Ethiopia

It is the year you raised enough money to build a well for your sisters in Southern Ethiopia

It was the year of your 1^st Disney Cruise (and we went with the ENTIRE family!!)

It was the year you met the Grinch

It was the year you successfully completed 1^st grade and read 100 books in 45 days

It was the year you came into your own with your ASL not only at home but also in public

It was the 1^st year you played travel soccer

It was the 1^st year you played basketball

It was another year you were still OBSESSED with trans formers

It was the year your first best friend moved far away – and not a day goes by that we don’t still talk about Jack and look forward to his coming back

You still love the color yellow

You still eat tibs fir fir like there is no tomorrow (and wish this mama would learn to make injera)

My sweet boy I am blessed to call you my son and honored that God called me to be your mama.  Your heart for Teddy is huge and you make sure he is taken care of all the time.  You love your daddy and nana and papa like no other.  You are an amazing friend and huge help at home.  May you always know how incredibly special you are in the eyes of God and in my heart!

I love you to Ethiopia and back sweet boy

A Letter To Our Marilyn

To our sweet sweet Marilyn ~

We knew the time was coming ~ we knew we would only have you for a year ~ and what a most AMAZING year it has been.  There will never be enough words that this mama could say that would thank you enough for all you did.  You came into our lives and poured your love into the boys every single day. From soccer practice, to basketball, to speech and beyond you were there every step of the way.

Your grace and patience with both of them taught them to be patient

Your smile was something the boys ran to at the end of each school day

Your sign language skills helped me understand my sweet deaf son a bit more every day

Your knowledge as a sibling of a deaf sister helped Tariku understand his place in the world a bit better

Your passion for the LORD gave them a passion to follow

But above all things was and is your LOVE for them and their LOVE for you.  We are so proud of you and your heart for Ethiopia.  We could not of made this past year had you not been a part of it and while my mama heart is sad I know this journey with you does not end just because you move on to UT.  The boys and I will visit often and I am sure we will find a Ethiopian restaurant in Knoxville to share your love of tibs fir fir with Tariku and Teddy.

So as I prepare to fly off to Addis know that I love you and that I cannot wait to see you soon!  I love you to Ethiopia and back sweet girl and remember this quote ~

Joshua 1:9 - “…Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Injera and Missionaries - Otherwise known as July 5th 2013

Greetings -
Well one thing is for sure the 4th of July was a wash out for middle tn!!!  The 5th of July was not looking much better ~ unless you were one of 2 little ethiopians who knew that at 5pm there were gonna be 7 camp counselors knockin on your front door to go for tibs fir fir!!

Every year Tariku begs me to take the missionaries who work as camp counselors for Camp Summer Sign to an Ethiopian dinner.  And every year it doesn't work out.  This year (praise the LORD) July 5th was an open and an available evening and the camp counselors were game enough to give it a try!!  So at 5pm on the dot they all showed up to our house ready to load into cars and head on over to the boys favorite Ethiopian restaurant in town!  2 car loads packed and ready to go we were off to GOJO's

                  Tariku and Teddy in their new Ethiopian Futbol jerseys from Marilyn ready for injera!

Now we have loved this restaurant ever since we were introduced to in by another adoptive family about 4 years ago (WOW hard to believe it was that long ago) and Tariku could not wait to get inside and show his friends his native food!  I will leave the rest of the story to photos!

Many many thanks to the amazing missionaries who gave of their free evening to come and hang with two little boys who think the world of you and wanted so much for you to see a part of who they are.  Thank you for creating a night they will not soon forget!!