Adoption story adds cheer to holiday season

Three-year-old Silas Eyob Fulmer perched atop a kitchen counter, clutching a bowl of chicken Alfredo as if it might run away.

His mother, Ashlie Fulmer, smiled as she managed her son’s enthusiastic efforts to take control of the fork.

After each bite, Eyob (pronounced ee-yaub) flapped his legs in excitement like a baby bird. He shook his head with a grin and shouted.

“Mmmmm,” was his response.

“He’s doing really well with his first time eating chicken Alfredo,” Ashlie said to her husband, Ryan, who was leaning against a kitchen cabinet. “He really likes it.”

Just one month ago, Eyob was living in an orphanage in Ethiopia with no running water, little food and no family.

After more than three years of waiting, he arrived in Florida Nov. 11, on the Fulmers’ 10-year wedding anniversary. The moment he landed at Tampa International Airport, Ashlie said her household felt complete.

“We had been holding our breath for so long,” Ashlie said.

She said it was an exercise in faith.

The Fulmers, residents of Panther Ridge, adopted their first son, Easton, from Ethiopia in August 2010. He was 5 months old when they brought him home, after an 18-month adoption process.

That November, the couple welcomed their biological son, Preston, as well.

When the Fulmers were ready to expand their family again, they knew they wanted to adopt from Ethiopia. They applied in June 2013, expecting a similar timeline to what they had for Easton. But with restructuring of the adoption processes both in Ethiopia and in the United States, they didn’t even get a match until April 2015. It was for a 20-month-old boy, Eyob.

The couple traveled that summer to meet their future son.

Then they waited, each week receiving his picture by email.

Ashlie Fulmer traveled to Ethiopia alone in August 2016 to speed up the process, but the waiting continued.

The couple had grown up in the church and already had a strong faith in God, but the wait was testing their faith. They had done everything possible to get Eyob home and had nothing to show for it.

“We’ve always believed in God and had faith in him,” Ryan Fulmer said. “There were a lot of roadblocks that really challenged our faith. Big hurdles. We’re organized, driven kind of people. We had worked every angle. We were at a point of total surrender.”

“We were at the point we didn’t know if this was ever going to happen,” Ashlie Fulmer said.

Shoreline Church put together a video of the Fulmer’s adoption story and on Oct. 16 shared the video publicly. The church united in prayer for Eyob’s adoption.

“We had people sending us messages they were praying for us, people we didn’t even know,” she said.

Three days after the united prayers began, the wait was over. Eyob could join them. Ashlie boarded a plane to collect her son.

She said Eyob assimilated to his new home quickly.

He has overcome his fear of their silky terrier, Kanga, and he plays ball for hours. He loves to give kisses and enjoys roughhousing with his older brothers. He’s a button pusher, just like any other 3-year-old, and loves watching shows on a computer tablet.

“He loves socks more than anything,” Ashlie Fulmer said. “His lunchbox and backpack go everywhere with us, to help him know his needs are being met.”

He hasn’t learned many English words yet, but says a few basics, “Momma,” “Daddy,” “I love you,” and “I miss you.” His smile and animated facial expressions are a primary communication tool, at least right now.

The Fulmers — even Preston and Easton, both 6, and students at McNeal Elementary, where Ashlie teaches — have learned more words in Eyob’s naive Amharic. Kwaz means ball. Woyota means chicken.

“It’s great,” Preston Fulmer said of having a new brother. “I get to play with him.”

Easton agreed.

“He’s so cute,” he said. “He likes to play with some stuff.”

Ryan Fulmer said having Eyob home has been a relief.

“He gets along great with the boys. He’s bonding well. It’s funny dealing with a 3-year-old again,” he said.

Ashlie Fulmer said the experience proved a valuable lesson in God’s timing and learning how to surrender your own hopes and dreams to a different plan. Maybe Eyob wouldn’t have adjusted as well if he had come home sooner, or maybe the family would not have bonded so well.

“You have to know God is in control,” she said.