Winter on Whidbey Island can seem a bit cold to the uninitiated. Now, imagine if the only home you ever knew before moving here has a year-round average temperature of over 75 degrees and suddenly the meaning of “cold” takes on a new dimension.

Oddly enough, perhaps, for three young Ethiopian orphans the change in climate has not affected them much.

The two sisters, Kelsey, 12, and Sadie, 5, and their brother James, 8, were adopted by Phil and Lisa Stevenson of Greenbank. The first step in bringing these children back to the United States started in March of last year when the couple dove into the paperwork. The last leg of the adoption culminated in a four month family trip to Africa to meet the children. On Dec. 26, 2005 the Stevensons returned home with their now larger family.

The Stevensons followed their calling to Africa where Phil ministered in Zambia while Lisa taught at a local school while overseas. This time in the region brought them an intimate look at the struggles facing those less-fortunate.

With their parents dead and a bleak future facing the three children there was no question in the Stevensons’ minds when they committed to adding the three new members to their family.

Phil and Lisa Stevenson know about the lives these three children have left behind. Ethiopia is an impoverished land rife with hardship and political upheaval. It is also a country of many orphan children whose chances of adoption are relatively hopeless. It is this hopelessness that seems etched in the weather worn faces of most adult Ethiopians.

The adoption itself was, in Phil Stevenson’s words, “a smooth process” and without any bureaucratic red-tape. The process was handled by Adoption Advocates International who maintains local lawyers in the host countries to handle the legal details.

The Stevenson’s also owe a great deal of thanks to the parishioners of their Whidbey Evangelical Church in Greenbank for their support and help with the entire process.

The transition to the new home will take some time. Phil and Lisa already have five biological children between the ages of 6 and 15 years. Adding three more children to the mix has its challenges.

The “pecking order” has changed and for the children this comes with some concessions. The new siblings are also adjusting to a new and very different culture, language and climate. However, Phil says that James still wears shorts and flip-flops to play outside, regardless of the weather difference.

For the orphans the first day in America was a “day of discovery” in which they moved about cautiously and wide-eyed through a house very different from the mud-thatch home they grew up in. Even the tree house in the backyard seemed like a livable home by Ethiopian standards. To ease the transition the Stevensons now try to incorporate some of the adopted children’s culture into their regular routine. Traditional Ethiopian food is integrated into the family meals.

Though the three children might not shiver at the cold, they do marvel at the alien American pop culture and they are happy. You can see the vitality and hope in the kids’ eyes and each smile is an affirmation of a better life.

The Stevenson family may be a blended one, but, it is very much a family.