2012

There is no profound, well-written post to kick-off 2012.  I've tried to think of something, but I guess I'm fresh out of profanity.  Hmmm...that didn't come out right.  I stumbled upon this frame well over a year ago - long before we even knew about Bamlak and Hiwot - and I loved the saying so much that I bought it.  It's been stashed away in a closet, waiting for me to redo a room, waiting for Kamila to come home so we could add another child's photo, then waiting for Bamlak and Hiwot, and so on.  A few weeks ago, I got it out, filled it with pictures and proudly displayed it on my wall.  Every single time I look at it I get a little choked up.  I think about all the places we've been.  Not just the "exotic" physical places to which we've traveled to be united with our children like Kyrgyzstan, Louisiana and Ethiopia or the days and months logged in the hospitals and clinics; but more importantly, the emotional places we've journeyed as well.  Our hearts have been softened, our souls have been changed.  I think about where our children have been, what they have endured, how far they have come and how far they have yet to go.  I am both amazed and grateful.  It is so simple, what I want for 2012 is for my family to be happy, to be healthy and to finally be whole.