I'm back.

A lot has happened since May when I last posted and each time I went to post it was all too big to put into one small update. 

These three girls explain my absence online.  Helen on the left Rose on the right and Tamirie in the front are the new additions to our family.  Bert and I legally adopted them from Ethiopia on July 18th 2012.  It has been an "interesting" six months getting them settled and we still have a very long way to go.  However, when I consider 6 months ago these girls had never eaten with a knife and fork, never seen hot water come out of a tap, and they could speak no english... I am amazed at how far they have come. 

I have promised my lovely friend Renee that I will update more often, so watch this space!

why are we still here?

because making the blog private did not go how I expected it to!  So its in the too hard basket for now.  We are home from a fabulous ten days or so in Germany and Austria.  The weather was perfect.  The lilacs were in full bloom everywhere, chestnut trees were in flower and everywhere is so GREEN! 

We stayed in a 600 year old guest house run by a guy Bert went to school with.  People in these parts don't seem to move far from home.

                                                           lilacs in bloom everywhere

                                                   chestnut trees in full bloom

goodbye, farewell, Auf Wiedersehem!

We are about to embark on a new and exciting phase in our life.  You are welcome to join us and follow our journey but for reasons that will become clear it needs to be done in a private blog.  As I said you are most welcome to join the new blog(in a week or so once Ive got it organised ) but you need to email me your email address and who you are and I shall give you access.

We are off to Germany and Austria for a few days break, I shall do this when we return.

Email us at bankdschmid@gmail.com

another new car

Bert surprised me with a new car.  This one a little more practical than his.  Im usually very unimpressed by cars but this one is lovely.  Its a KIA Soul. 

Where have we been?

So much has happened since the last blog post.  Its always hard to get back into blogging after a gap because where do you begin to fill in the gaps that have happened.


First, our lovely Laura has been for a holiday.  Laura has been in Korea working and is on her way home to Australia, via Abu Dhabi, Addis Ababa and Katmandu!  So shes taking the scenic route.

Laura, Bert and I flew to Addis for a week.  It was hard going.  Addis is brown, dirty brown.  Full of poverty and human misery everywhere you look.  It was all overwhelming.

We stayed in a small guest house near the orphanage, it was spotlessly clean but very basic.  It seemed so wrong to stay in a flash hotel surrounded by such poverty.

Our driver drove a standard blue and white Lada car with one window winder and door handle between four of us.  Stickers of the virgin Mary on the windscreen apparently are an added safety feature like an airbag.

New Car!

Bert bought a new car this week.  A BMW Z3.

Not exactly the most practical thing on earth at this time of our lives with two children about double the size of our family in the next two months. 

New Years at Qasr Al Sarab resort

By the time we finally got around to arranging anything for New Years eve everywhere was booked.  Originally we thought we would stay in a hotel in Dubai and watch the fireworks there but everything was booked.  One hotel did provide some momentary amusement by asking what date did New Years eve was this year but still the same result, no vacancies. 

So we decided if we couldn't go to Dubai we would go as far away from Dubai and the crowds as possible so we booked two nights at Qasr al Sarab in the Empty Quarter.

It is just the most stunning location.  Here is a short video of the drive into Qasr al Sarab

New Years eve was a Gala dinner planned with fire shows and fabulous fireworks.  We all had a great time.  Here we are with our lovely guest Helga.