Brothers

Ethiopia: Days 5-10

Ok, where were we? :)

A little recap...Sunday, July 5th, our trip south to Hosanna. I couldn't end this day without more pictures of the beautiful countryside and people.

But first, a picture of the trusty bus that took us everywhere we needed to be...I'll never forget that smell of exhaust or the way our driver would hoooonk his horn way before he'd ever think of braking for an animal or person in our way...

And the donkeys - had to get a picture of the donkeys for my animal/horse crazy kids. This was a common sight...

This was the woman who prepared the coffee ceremony for us in Hosanna after the candle ceremony with the birth families...

A panoramic view of the countryside...Yonas was born in a hut like these...his father was a farmer like a majority of the people in this area....

This handsome boy kept fighting off his friends with a long stick so I would take his picture alone. He made me keep taking them until I got one he liked.... :)

Monday, July 6th, we all got to bring our kids to the care center for the morning to play. This is where we congregated a lot of the time - mostly to eat. And did we eat.....yum....

This is Yonas and his sweet buddy Degefa...

We did tons of this...pushing the kids on the little trikes and car, and then they'd roll down the hill...

And then when we old people got tired, we tried bringing the kids in to color and play - but that didn't usually last very long....

We always ended up back outside. :) And these were the bikes the boys were determined to get working - completely flat tires and no seat. If we would've known, we would've stuffed one in a big duffel to donate...

On Monday afternoon, we took the kids back to the care center and we got to tour AHOPE, the CHSFS Ethiopia offices, school, and health center.

Here we are at AHOPE... we weren't allowed to get any pics inside here or at our agency's care center...

The school...

The pharmacy right next door to the health center...

The museum...this is where "Lucy" is kept...

We passed this spot so many times in Addis. I was always so intrigued by all of the goats right there smack dab in the middle of the city, right next to the road...

There were also so many fruit stands - I thought they were so pretty and kept trying to get just the right picture to blow up and hang in my kitchen - so we have tons of random fruit stand pictures. I think this is my favorite so far...

Tuesday, July 7th, we had our farewell party for the kids at the care center. We were not allowed to take pictures, which made me sad. It was so precious. All of the kids came down the stairs in authentic Ethiopian dress with stickers all over their faces (Yonas has a left-over on his chin in this next pic.) The big boys sang a song, and then we all clapped and cheered as each child got his/her hand painted and stamped in a big memory book. Then we stood around the children and prayed. First there was an Amharic prayer said, then an English prayer, and a member of our group also contributed a traditional Hebrew prayer. It was a beautiful thing.

Then in the afternoon, we were off to the Embassy. This is our Embassy dude...

And when we came home, we ate dinner, and spent our first night together. He went right to sleep...

Wednesday, July 8th, we spent the day at the guesthouse - the kids were officially ours!!!

We spent a lot of time hanging out with our awesome travel group. I seriously love these guys. There's just something so special about sharing such a life-changing experience with people. We started as strangers, but now feel forever connected through the time we shared together and the bond our kids had before any of us even entered the picture...

Yonas and Hizkiele (sp?)....

And Degefa and Mituku had birthdays!!!

The wonderful kitchen staff even made them a birthday cake. But this is what Yonas thinks of cake...I think I'll be putting his b-day candles on a big ol' pizza... :)

One of our moms even brought the party gear...the boys had such a blast. Along with lots of sweet babies and two precious toddlers, our travel group had 4 big boys - two seven year-olds, a five year-old, and Yonas, the smallest of the big guys at three years-old....

Thursday, July 9th, we had an Ethiopian cooking class in the morning...the smell was heavenly...

And after the class, we all met in the eating area for one last coffee/popcorn ceremony...more heavenly smells...frankincense, roasting coffee, and popping corn...ohhhh....

At about 5, we packed up the buses, collected all of our documents, said our good-byes, and headed for the airport...

And this is what Yonas thought of the airplane...it was hilarious...

I don't have any pics of us arriving home yet, but hopefully will share those in the near future. I've had such a hard time capturing this trip with so few words and pictures, but hope I caught at least the essence of it.

So now we're home, and beginning a whole new journey. One I can't wait to start sharing....

Top Three Stupidest Things Strangers Have Said to Me Since We've Been Home

1. As a conversation starter..."Did he bring back any diseases?"

2. After seeing Yonas pouting and sitting by himself at the pool playground because he's too young for our town's swimming lessons (and by the way, who wouldn't be ticked, especially if no can explain it to you why your siblings can swim but you can't?)..."Do you think you'll ever have a loving relationship?"

3. "Do agencies let white people adopt black kids, or did you have to fight for it?"

Ethiopia: Days 1-5

Things continue to go really well here - we keep living so many blog-worthy moments around here, but I feel like I need to back-track a little and do some Ethiopia trip highlights before my memory starts to fade. It was an amazing trip - one that's changed me forever - and I certainly don't have the words, the time, or the energy right now to capture it fully - I wish I could've taken you all with me...but, here's a little glimpse...

Wednesday morning, July 1st, heading out - the suitcases are for us and Yonas and the two duffels are donations...

Thursday, July 2nd, flying over northern Africa...absolutely breathtaking...

After about 32 hrs. of travel time, we arrived Thursday night at around 7 pm at the airport, but didn't exit visa/customs/immigration/baggage, etc. until 10:30-ish. The longest airport lines ever...even for the seasoned travelers we met that night. But we made it - Friday, July 3rd, we woke up in the guesthouse - our room was the one with the balcony...

Our room - A5 - had its own bathroom, one double bed, one twin bed, and one toddler bed...

Our view from the guesthouse - you can see the salmon-colored care center where all of our kids were - in the left/center of the picture...

And then Friday morning, practically shaking with nerves, excitement, and anticipation, we finally met our son. He sat and colored with us for about 30 minutes. I think that's the longest he's sat since we met... :)

Saturday, July 4th, we met with Yonas' nanny (on the left), his social worker (right), the doctor, and the journalist that documented his birth history. We were able to watch his birth history video during this meeting as well as ask tons of questions to the people who've been caring and loving on him for the past 6 mo. Such a priceless opportunity - our agency is truly amazing. That's me, the mom, in the middle... :)

Then we took the afternoon to go shopping here...it was like a shopping spree. We only had 1 1/2 hrs. and had to barter too! Whew!

Sunday, July 5 th, we woke up to no electricity (which was true about 75 % of the time), no water (which we usually had water - maybe not hot, but water), and no plumbing...and had to be up and going and in the bus at 5:45 am to travel 4 hrs. south to Hossana for birth family meetings....so worth it - it was a once-in-a-lifetime...

We got back to the guesthouse at about 5 pm that evening. All a little heavy, somber, drained, and yet thankful...for the most amazingly beautiful, yet heart-wrenchingly painful experience of meeting and forever bonding with those who loved our children first.

Chicka-chicka

We're back!!!

AHHH! Ok, I'm feeling like a loser that I haven't posted anything yet, but my sis didn't have internet here most of the week we were gone (for updates) and we JUST got it back this afternoon. I've got a couple of minutes to post a few pics and hopefully will be back soon to do a day-by-day recap of our amazing trip.

And how we're doing in a nutshell - I'm crazy tired, but even more crazy amazed. God has absolutely blown me away. I wish I had a video camera going all day long - to capture his sweet little songs, his new-found love of cowboy boots (yes, we have a budding Ethiopian cowboy here) :), the way he kisses and hugs Miles out-of-the-blue, and how he greets his "Ababa" daddy when he walks in the door...it's a beautiful thing.

Getting on the plane to Ethiopia...

He's ours!!!

And, Yoni getting on the plane for the first time...little excited, ya think? :)