How Mintesenot became Alexander/Alex :)

During the four and a half days between us feeling impressed to bring Mintesenot into our home and when we picked him up Ry and I searched for the perfect English name for him. It is common in Africa to have both a tribal and English/Christian name, and the majority of our memories with the name Mintesenot were negative due to his behaviors and the tough times we all went through.

We felt with a new name we'd all be able to start over in a sense. The day before we picked Mintesenot up Ry and I agreed on the name Alexander, Alex for short. It is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "defender of mankind, warrior."We also are impressed with many in the past that have borne the name Alexander, and hope they can be a source of inspiration. Mintesenot we kept as his middle name as it's still apart of who he is, and means "he who can do all things," in a Amharic.

When we told Mintesenot we'd like to give him a special English name he was very excited. He later told me that naughty Mintesenot had gone away and now he was Alex the good boy.

How Mintesenot Came to Our Little Family

The transition from Mintesenot being my brother to becoming my son happened rather suddenly in April of 2009. As I explain the circumstances surrounding it to friends the best way I've found to describe it is to say that it's "a God thing". It was definitely not in Ryan's nor my plans,(as many good things that have come into my life have not been,) but Heavenly Father knew that Mintesenot needed us and that we needed him.

Soon after bringing Mintesenot home I sent the following letter to a friend in explanation of how Mintesenot came into our lives.

"As for how we ended up with a little boy this week let me first say that it came as a huge surprise to us to become parents this soon, and so suddenly.

My parents adopted four children from Ethiopia last August, and one of the main reasons we felt we needed to move here,(to Utah), from Oregon was to help them with the children.

Three of the kids adjusted to life, the language, and what was expected of them very quickly but the second to youngest (Mintesenot) did not.

He constantly compared himself to the other three, fought often with the other kids,(the other three are siblings and have a strong connection), struggled with the structure of day to day life, and acted out constantly. It was a night mare, he was miserable and so was everyone else in the family.

Finally my parents came to the conclusion that it just wasn't good for anyone for things to continue as they were. A friend of my Mom's who'd also adopted from Africa asked if she could take him for awhile to see if he would fit with her family.

They took him for three months and then decided things just wouldn't work for them, they didn't have the time, energy, desire, structure, and resources to keep him long term. While he lived with them he was able to relax, come out of his shell, and blossom into a sweet lovable child in many ways.

Last Wednesday,(April 22, 2009), my Dad told me the family Mintesenot had been with was no longer able to keep him. As he told me of the situation I had the strongest impression that we needed to take him for a couple of days. As I thought about taking him for a couple of days the thought came to my mind that we needed to keep him long term.

At first I ignored the thought thinking it was it was just a crazy idea, but the more I considered it the stronger my feelings became. That night as I told Ry what I was thinking he began crying and confirmed that he two felt we needed to take him in.

The next Monday we went to pick up our little boy. It's crazy how quickly it happened, and crazier how incredibly right it feels. I'm able to stay home with Mintesenot, and am enjoying the challenge. It surprisingly feels as though he has always been our little boy.

Though we miss some of our independence, and spontaneity overall we feel incredibly blessed to have such a sweet little boy in our lives."

The impression my parents had when preparing to adopt Mintesenot that they needed to adopt him, but weren't sure they'd be the ones to help him now makes sense. They were supposed to be the ones to bring us our little boy, though they obviously didn't know it at the time and neither did we.

Kids first week in America

Mintesenot's first meal at his new home in Utah. Pasta is still one of his favorites, as well as bread, muffins, bananas, hot chocolate, pie, chocolate cake, cupcakes, juice, pizza, pb&j, macaroni and cheese, soup, and raisin bran cereal(Alex is dictating these to me as we sit on the couch together.)


Pictures below, from top to bottom: the boys first haircut, Sarah, Camilla, and the kids.

Mintesenot in Ethiopia

This is the first picture we saw of Mintesenot/Alexander. He was three years old at the time of the picture. He is holding a coke bottle cap in his hand, as it is well known in Africa that all Americans love coke :) .

Mintesenot's mother died giving birth to him. In the Ethiopian culture when a mother dies giving birth the baby is to blame. The baby is placed in a box in the ground and left outdoors with no nourishment for three days. If at the end of three days the baby is still alive they are "forgiven" for the death of their mother and are "meant to live."

As the community was preparing to place Mintesenot in the box his grandmother stepped forward to stop them. From that point on she cared for Mintesenot. Having already raised 17 children and grandchildren his grandmother was tired, and often without the resources to care for him.

When Mintesenot was two years old he become very ill, and was extremely malnourished. A man in the community and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints learned of his condition. This man and his wife received a nutrition supplement from the missionaries in their area called Atmit. Atmit is a thin nourishing porridge, high in protein and calories,is easily digested, and since severely nourished people cannot eat solid food, it is an ideal way to get them essential nutrients.

The man's wife nourished Mintesenot back to health and allowed he and his grandmother to live in a hut/shed off of their parents home. When he was three years old my parents Roger and Merrilee saw his picture through an adoption agency and felt impressed he needed to come to their home. As they prayed, and prepared for Mintesenot to come to their home they soon felt impressed that they weren't sure they would be able to help him. They called the adoption agency to ask if they were committed to take him, the agency responded that they had told Mintesenot and his grandmother that he was going to be adopted by Roger and Merrilee.

They continued to pray about the situation and strongly felt they wouldn't be able to help him in the way he needed, but that they needed to adopt him. Not fully understanding these feelings they went forward with the adoption procedures. Not long after making the decision to continue with Mintesenot's adoption they felt impressed to look at adopting another child.After looking through many pictures Roger and Merrilee fell in love with a sibling group of three. Though they never dreamed of adopting four children they couldn't deny the strong feelings and connections they felt for the children.

When Mintesenot was told he was going to be adopted he was sent to an orphanage to become "domesticated," as previously he'd run wild and lived in a shed. Mintesenot didn't enjoy having, rules, restrictions, and discipline in the orphanage.

In July 0f 2008 Roger and Merrilee traveled to Addis Ababa Ehtiopia to pick up Rahel, Jeruse, Ededeya, and Mintesenot. They picked the children up at the orphanage, then went to meet Mintesenot's grandmother and see where he'd lived with her in the shed. The shed had dirt floors, no windows, and a tin roof. His grandmother was so happy for Mintesenot and the bright future he has.

Roger, Merrilee, and the kids spent four days in Ethiopia waiting for the adoption paper work, and travel documents to be signed. As they got ready to fly out of Ethiopia Mintesenot got so nervous he vomited all over Roger. They had a layover in Egypt where Roger had a run in with an official that almost kept them from leaving Egypt. However after three different planes, benedryl for the kids, and 34 hours later the family arrived in the United States.