Beautiful Ending

(Saturday June 22)

Since we couldn't see baby J anymore, we decided to use this last full day in Ethiopia soaking up its culture, history and atmosphere. We started the day at the National Museum of Ethiopia. Our guide was very informative and made the visit very enjoyable.

 After enriching ourselves in Ethiopian history, we decided to brave the Mercado and do some shopping. It was quite the experience.

Next came the traditional restaurant. Ethiopians feast on a bread called Injera and then they use it to pick up meat, vegetables, and cheeses. Sometimes it can be very spicy but is always filling.

(Sunday June 23)

Departure day. We had fun and saw many different things while on our trip, but we were ready to head home. Kideste, our cook, was sad to see the kids go. She had grown to love them and wanted some fun pictures with them before we left. 

Then she made Princess one happy girl by offering to braid her hair. 

Saying goodbye is never easy, but I knew the faster we got home, the faster we could get to counting down to our next trip. This is Feven, she was right around Princess' age, lived in the main part of the guest house and they had so much fun together. Princess taught her how to say, "Yee-haw Cowboy!" It was priceless.

And that's a quick breakdown of our first trip in Ethiopia. It was a fabulous time and I'm really glad the kids got to experience it with us. We will really enjoy taking our son back one day to see the beautiful country he was born in. Thanks for reading!

Meeting Littlest J

(Wednesday June 19)

Fourteen years ago, these two people were standing facing each other saying their wedding vows. They were young but so in love. If you had told them that 14 years to the day they would be meeting their third child across the world, I think they would have laughed at you. But here they are, on their wedding anniversary, meeting the child they spent years praying for. It couldn't have gone any better. 

He was shy and hesitate at first, but was a brave little person and rarely shed a tear. 

Momma's heart is happy

Big sister is so proud

And big brother is totally in love

(Thursday June 20)

Our first day together was sweet and quiet. We never got a full blown smile but there were definite moments of acceptance. Day two started much differently. He opened up and we spent the day playing. He is going to be so much fun when he gets home!

Already knows how to work his momma with those eyes :)

He let us dress him up

And we took turns holding him while he was sleeping...it was the only time he was still! 

We introduced him to the ipad and the fun, noisy games it holds

  (Friday June 21)

After a full day of fun, little man cried when we left. :( The bonding had begun and none of us were ready to say goodbye for even a night. We knew that this day would be full of happiness and heartache. We got to spend the morning with him but would have to say goodbye until our next trip around lunch. Trying to make the best of it, big brother and sister started the day out right with lots of laughter and fun. 

He loves bubbles!!

Being silly trying to get a family picture. Learning the timer on my camera caused lots of laughter and goofiness. 

But we finally got a few good ones to introduce the world to this new family of five

Good bye kisses from momma. My heart aches every time I look at these pictures but I know that this journey has a purpose and we will be reunited soon. 

After saying goodbye, we went to the courthouse, answered a few quick questions, and was told we officially had another son. I love him so and am counting the minutes until I can hold him again. 

Ethiopia...the first few days

We've been over the ocean and back again and it was an amazing adventure. I wished I could have kept you updated throughout our trip but all we had was dial-up so I could barely post on facebook. So now to give you snip-its into our trip and introduce you to a little man who turned our whole world upside down. 

(Saturday June 15)

We made it!! 

Once we arrived at the guest house, we were quickly introduced to the traditional coffee ceremony that Ethiopia is so proud of. 

Freshly roasted coffee beans and popcorn

(Sunday June 16)

We attended a local church service and met new friends

The kids met new friends too...they were asked to join in a game of hide and seek

After getting some grub at a local pizza place, we went back to the guest house and rested up. The kids got to know our cook and the little girl who live there. It was a great way to spend the Sabbath. 

(Monday June 16)

Early Monday morning we headed to the village where our son was in an orphanage before he was referred to us and moved to our agency's transition home. 

Wouldn't be a great road trip without a flat tire, right? 

6 hours later we arrived in the village. Needless to say, the roads aren't quite as well groomed as the highway but it was gorgeous country. 

One more adventure when the van gets stuck on the well groomed road

We got out and walked the rest of the way to the orphanage.

We toured the complex and got a wonderful greeting from the older kids. They sang us a bright and cheery song and we really enjoyed meeting them. 

The girls room

(Tuesday June 18)

After meeting some very important people in the life of our son, we spent the night and headed back to Addis Ababa bright and early the next day. Another long 8 hours in the van and our day ended with a quiet evening at the guest house preparing our minds and hearts for what was ahead.

Stay tuned...next post...meeting our son!

Peacefully Prepared

Well, here we are. Less than 24 hours before we are on a plane headed across the big ocean to meet our son. We actually don't get to meet him right when we get there since we arrive on the weekend, but we will be meeting him on just the perfect day. Our days preparing have been very unexpected. I am calm, at peace, and prepared. Not at all what I thought. I saw days of chaos, frazzled, and anxiousness but that's not at all what it's been like. Our bags are completely packed except for the last minute items, my house is pretty well clean (sweeping and mopping will wait til everyones in bed) and I am currently working on getting all the laundry caught up. My kids are at the local water park with their cousins and I'm sitting here in a quiet house resting. How is this possible?! I feel like I'm forgetting something but I have checked, double checked and rechecked my list. Am I a little scared when I think about being on a plane for 14 hours? Yes. Do I worry how people of a foreign country will treat us when we're the foreigners? Slightly. Am I little concerned about my kids staying healthy during the trip? Yes, but I think that is totally normal and none of those concerns are dominating my thoughts or emotions. I truly believe God is granting me a huge blessing by being prepared early. I have slept well, had a good appetite, and overall I feel at peace. I'm trying to allow my body to store up energy that I will need in the coming days. We have to be at the airport bright and early in the morning which means a very early start to our day. 

I would say we did really well at packing. 4 people being gone for 11 days could really cause a lot of luggage. However, we compromised on what we thought we "needed" and are taking things that are really just essentials. We all have a carry-on bag of course, but we fit everything else into two large checked bags. We will check three bags though because one bag is full of donation items we're taking. School supplies, medication, clothes, baby bottles, cloth diapers, bubbles, personal hygiene products and per request of Little Man, footballs and soccer balls. :) I love that kid. He knows what the kids will like. 

And wha-lah! Our luggage is ready and waiting! 

There is one thing that keeps going over in my head, "THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!!" :)

Getting Ready

Well so either the heat got to me or the stress but come about Wednesday, I needed some relief. We still had not heard anything about a court date, the kids were getting pretty grumpy and we were all a little frazzled. So what should we do? Stress relief at it's finest my friend. We prepared our ammunition and waited for big daddy to come home. Then it was every man for themselves.  

Then we got busy with some major stress eating with ice cream and lattes 

A few hours later and we were all feeling better and ready to face whatever Thursday had for us. And of course, that's when we got our court date call. We are traveling to meet our son in 4 days!! Our court date is June 21 and we will arrive in Ethiopia on June 15. I am so excited!! 

After many phone calls, texts, and tears of joy another very wonderful thing happened. My kids gathered up some courage and went down the street to meet some kids hanging out in their front yard. Next thing I know, they are all headed back down to our house and have played together every day since. Two huge prayer requests answered in one day. God is so good. 

So it's amazing the amount of things you realize you need to do before you leave for over a week. One of the first things on the list, get our furry child to the vet and then a hair cut. 

She is the best dog ever!

Then came the packing. We started by picking out everything we wanted to wear and then sprayed it with the same high-powered insect repellent we used when hubby went to Kenya last year. They say mosquitoes are not a big problem in Ethiopia, but I don't want to take any chances since my kids are joining us. 

And so we work. Clothes, medications, food, and anything in between. The key is going to be trying to fit in all in as few as suitcases as possible. I'll let you know how we do. :) 

And just because I can because it's my blog and I wanna, I'm leaving you tonight with some pictures of my sweet niece. I love her. A lot. 

Don't worry, they've already gotten the rights to these pictures and I can publish them. They were merely screen shots from my sis in law anyway. ;)

 Stay tuned because I hope to have enough wifi to journal our trip here. I sure don't want to forget any details of our experience and I don't want to miss sharing all the joys and fun with you!