Our Story...

We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.
But those who make their journey home across time & miles,
growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them,
are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us
by God's very own hands.
--- Kristi Larson

so here we are...waiting for the wings of destiny to bring us the daughters that we have never met but have come to love dearly.

we have waited for them for over two years, and spent most of that time not even knowing that these two angels were who we were waiting for.

two years...and counting, because we are not on our time here. we are waiting on God's hands and African time, which is an unpredictable phenomenon all its own.

We are the Mortenson Family:

Colt, a wildland firefighter with the USDA Forest Service who continually strives to balance his movement upward in management with the down-to-earth importance of swinging a pulaski.

Kristin, a full-time Mom who all too often loses herself in the world of Transformers, legos, email and laundry.

Wyatt, a delightfully shy seven year old with dreams of becoming a fighter jet pilot, master jedi knight, astronaut and in his spare time, a trash truck driver.

Noah, an engaging five year old with a penchant for weaving amazingly creative tales, making up words, and pushing Mom's buttons. His nickname is Smiley, for good reason.

Sage & Silver, the four-legged weimaraner family members that provide the howling melody to our family cacophony.

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice;
it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
--- William J. Bryan

We are in the process of adopting two daughters/sisters from Ethiopia. Although we started the process of adoption two years ago, we didn't realize that they were not ready for us yet and so we began a journey that taught us many lessons. We learned that destiny is a matter of choice and that although God knows where we are to end up...the path that we take to get there--and our following it to its end--is our own choice. Colt and I have felt strongly that our destiny is to adopt and this commitment has weathered many losses, much heartbreak, and incalculable corruption. Our sons have built two more siblings into their lives and prayers for two years. Twice now they have loved siblings and lost them. In doing so they have learned that they have a capacity to love that does not diminish but instead continues to grow. Perhaps it has taught them that adding two more to our family will not add competition for a finite amount of parental love, but instead will just add to the crazy homemade love that Mom and Dad already provide.

We found the girls smiling back at us from a waiting child list. They are not biological sisters, but were raised by a caregiver as such. They have been cared for by International Adoption Guides in northern Ethiopia since June of 2009. In January of 2010, we left our previous agency and country of choice (Uganda) to answer their smiling request for a family. We knew then why we had gone through all that we had...it was for them, to get us here, to get us ready. They are our sweet Tse and Ro and they are waiting on us.

Please follow us on our journey to bring home our girls...