day 4

We started the day with another yummy breakfast and game of soccer at the Bejoe. The guards there are just precious and played with all of the kids really well. Apparently our group at the Bejoe wasn't typical as we had 6 kids there and only 1 was an infant. The kids did really well together and it made for a fun week.
We had a caregiver come to the guest house so we could go with Michael and Jana to The Missionaries of Charity orphange in Addis. I had heard about it several times before and knew they took care of the least of these among the orphans in Ethiopia. The dear nun that took us around said they only take those children that have no where else to go, often finding the children left outside their gates.

I felt that with Abe and his special needs, this was something we should visit and see about any future involvement there. I was clearly NOT prepared. I simply wasn't prepared to see my son in that environment- to see his face on all of the kids with cerebal palsy, the kids in chairs or lying on the ground. I was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with the number of children in the home, with the love these nuns, nannies and volunteers are giving to these children that will never know the love of a family, the privilege of therapy multiple times a week, just overwhelmed. I was so disappointed at myself for not being able to get past that and just love these kids. I did smile, hug and take the time to feel there tight, stiff muscles, see their longing for more, but I just couldn't get past thinking where Abe might have ended up if the Lord hadn't in His goodness given him to us.

We had a beautiful conversation with the nun that showed us around, told her Abe's story and she showed us two gorgeous children that had been adopted and returned to the home after the reality of their condition set in. It broke my heart in two. She showed me child after child that was "crippled" and then the healthy infants that have all been placed. I asked about the kids chances of finding homes that aren't "typical" and she replies, "no one wants a crippled child". She had no intention of being crass, she was simply stating a fact.

I was so overcome with gratefulness that we didn't know about Abe's brain injury before we traveled. I would have never thought we had the strength as a family to raise a severely special needs child- how could I possibly have known that in fact ABE WOULD STRENGTHEN us as family. The Lord would use him to teach us and bind us together in a way that we could have never forseen. Though it is very hard, it remains very good indeed.

I love what this home is doing, loving these kids, stretching their stiff muscles, talking sweetly to them, feeding them and clothing them, but the number of kids there and their needs is staggering.

Prayerfully one day I will be able to return there and it not be so personal, so emotional and be used better to really demonstrate love to them, but I guess it was too soon. I must still be more raw than I was aware of- if you think about these kids, pray for them, for the woman caring for them too.

After being wiped out emotionally, we went with Yoftahe for a bit of retail therapy. We had several things in particular we wanted to bring home from this trip and we were on a mission. :)

We left our shopping trip to go to the embassy for our embassy appointment. Everything there went perfectly! Praise the Lord.

One of the best blessings of the trip was going to meet the Thorne's beautiful daughter. She is so precious and tiny. We delighted in showing her the photo album that Pam and crew put together for her. The nannies were so happy to see Leul and tell Yanet that he was her brother. What a priceless moment. I love that we will have the gift of watching this child grow up as we adore her forever family and feel so grateful to do life with them! They are headed there soooo soon to bring her home and we can't wait to see her again.

Unfortunately the fumes and all of the driving wore me out this day, and I couldn't wait to go to bed! We had to pass on the cultural dinner but we experienced one the next evening. More on that tomorrow.

day 3

After a remarkably good nights sleep we woke up to a stirring boy. He was a little wide eyed at first and then ready for the day. He wanted his new clothes on- especially his converse tennis shoes. :) I guess Moody and I said "good morning" several times because he literally threw open the door to our room and pronounced "GOOD MORNING" very clearly to the guard. We were starting our day cracking up!

We headed upstairs to another fabulous breakfast courtesy of Marta. Eyasu was so happy to eat his eggs. We then were able to play around a little bit with the Breedloves and McKees and then everyone headed back to Gladney for a coffee ceremony.

I was nervous to how Eyasu would do going back so soon and had our fabulous driver, Yoftahe, explain that we were going back to visit but would return to the guest house later that day. He seemed ok with that plan as he had a huge grin on his face the entire drive!

Once we motored around the above herd of cattle, we made our way back to the transition centers. Eyasu was happy to get out and ran right to his special mother. Wow! These incredible women. They love these kids as their own, nurture, and prepare to leave. I was so overwhelmed knowing that she had cared for our Eyasu for over a year. She loved him and the love he had for her was evident as well. What sacrifice they make for these kids.

(Sidenote- Eyasu was a double orphan with his first mama passing away when he was only months old. More on that with our birth family visit, but just referencing the fact that this beautiful woman, cared for my son as his mama before I could get there! We will forever be grateful to her. Eyasu loves to look at her picture and say her name. I love that.)

In his traditional outfit given to him by his very special mother!

A very sad goodbye to a very special little friend. We are praising the Lord as she now has a forever family of her own. Eyasu loves talking about her.

I think Eyasu was known by all of the employees. Everyone at all the transition homes knew his name and wanted hugs and kisses good bye. He was happy to oblige. Again, I think indicitive of the incredible Gladney staff and the fact that he was there longer than normal.

Belay and his sister Genet. She runs the Bejoe guest house and is an impecable host. She makes your home away from home the very best! I highly recommend staying there if possible.

After our time at Gladney we headed to our sweet friend Fifi's new home. It is very close to the Gladney care centers and it was such a privilege to see her in her new place. Her kids are growing up so much. Eyasu played really well with his new buddies. It was so surreal being there, in Ethiopia, and watching our new son play with dear friends of ours. The Lord has a way of making the world so small sometimes. :)

This was Eyasu drinking his first Miranda. My kids loved these drinks when we were there picking up Abe and Eyasu's reaction wouldn't have disappointed them one bit. He had a huge grin on the whole time. We returned to the Bejoe and had several guests come to hang out with us. A neice of a fellow Orthodontist in town is there and we took her some things from her family. Courtney is a precious young lady, living in Addis, doing full time ministry. It was a blessing talking to her and hearing about her life in Ethiopia. I wish I had a picture of her.

Our friends Matt and Nikki Ness had their friend Alazar come visit and share what he has going on in Addis currently. It is always a gift to hear of those actively living out the gospel.

We ordered take out with the other Bejoe families and called it night! Great day, great day.

day 2- meeting eyasu

Thanks for the motivation to keep plugging along with the trip updates! I had someone ask about the shirt I had on yesterday (well you know, yesterday on this here blog) and you can find it here. You may recognize the hand pic in her header. She was given permission from Kristin to use. :)

We woke up (well didn't sleep all that well actually, jet lag, butterflies and all) and were excited to get moving and head to meet our boy. We were told the night before that due to a meeting and another family flying in that morning, that we may not be able to go get Eyasu until after lunch. We were thrilled when Travis called that morning to ask if we could be there by 9:30!! Of course. We ate a fabulous breakfast at Bejoe with our new friends, Paul and Stacey, and then we were off.

The drive to Ayat was amazing. Just being back on the streets of Addis filled my heart- the people, the buildings, the cows, goats and occassional discarded horse simply made me smile. We got to the Gladney care center and immediately I could hear all of the kiddos playing in the yard. I had no idea what to expect with a toddler. I prepared myself for tears, kicking, screaming and this is what we got- pure joy!

It was just one of those moments. Eyasu had been asking when we were coming for weeks. I think since he had been in care for 13 months, he had seen this happen time and time again for all of his little buddies and he knew this was HIS TURN! He obviously remembered meeting Moody this summer as he ran straight to him.

We hung out for awhile with the kids, spent some time in his room and then he was ready to move. He was so excited to go in the "beep beep". He got really quite driving back to the guest house though. He clearly had so much to process! He had watched the scene play over and over with his friends, but had no idea what happened after they got in the car and drove away.

Mommy and Eyasu in the room he spent so much time!

Silly daddy!

Eyasu loved the nannies and I think the feeling was mutual! :)

We headed back to the guest house to begin the rest of our lives together. Immediately we were able to see the wonder of toddler adoption. So many firsts happened that afternoon. I brought a sippy cup with a straw for him. He watched me put juice in his cup, put his mouth on the straw and then nothing. He got really frustrated as he knew the juice was there, but he had no idea how to get it to his mouth. It never occured to me that he had never drank from a straw before! :)

I wish I had Moody and I on video trying to teach him how to drink from a straw. We were shrugging our shoulders as we were making sipping noises with our mouths- comical I'm sure. Moody then showed him it was like kissing as he puckered his lips. That was it. He got some juice and the look on his face was priceless. Watch for yourself. :)

Our sweet friends, the Funderburks, are currently living in Addis and working for Gladney, came to visit us. Eyasu got very upset when he first saw them and was clinging to Moody. Poor little guy only knew them from the care centers and was worried they were coming back for him. It breaks my heart! We had several of the ladies from Bejoe explain to him that we were friends and they were only here for a visit. He relaxed and we all enjoyed playing in the yard together.
After a full day it was time for a few more firsts! He was terrified of the potty and the bath at first. He said he thought he was going to fall in the potty and the tub looked so big filled with water. :) He got used to both, but it just further showed me just how much transition this precious little one was going through. We had a few tantrums that first day, but wow overall the day was so far above and beyond our wildest expectations. He had Moody and I in stitches most of the day. He is a character for sure. The only downside was knowing just how much the kiddos at home would have eaten this day up! :)
After a really good brushing from dad, we were all off to bed. He did great going to sleep and Moody and I simply marveled at the incredible blessing we were just entrusted to raise! God is good.

day 1

I realize that we have now been home for almost a month, but I want to document the trip as scrapbooking isn't my gifting. :)

We had a tearful goodbye at the house with the kiddos- they were excited for us to go get Eyasu, but sad we were leaving. I rocked Abe one last time to sleep and had a big ugly cry putting him down for his nap!

So the luggage was ready and we were off, minus one cute Issy! Our precious friend, Jamey, met us at the airport to send us off! She is such a gift- one true and faithful friend. Thank you for walking this with me and I can't wait to send you off to Ethiopia to get your kiddos one day soon. :) This is the pitiful picture we took of me on the plane ride over! I was terribly sick the entire flight. I had a HUGE carryon with several magazines, a new book and I was fired up to watch any and every movie shown-- I can't sleep on flights, sad but true. Well, needless to say the magazines and books stayed closed and I only partially watched one movie. Not the most pleasant way to fly around the world, but I was thankful it was the way over and not coming home! Thinking positively here. :)

We finally arrived in Addis and I was so happy to be back- it just felt like coming home. We were greeted by our sweet friends and the amazing Gladney staff.

Our fabulous driver, Yoftahe, took us straight to the Bejoe! I can't say enough about this home away from home. They do EVERYTHING to make your stay pleasant. We loved being here and would highly recommend any traveling families to stay there if possible. More on the Bejoe later.

All I wanted to do was go to sleep and wake up feeling better. Praise the Lord, I did!

Day 2- Meeting Eyasu.

advent conspiracy

I am a big fan of advent conspiracy! I shared it on this here blog last year and somehow ended up doing much of what I said I wouldn't! We are doing it this year though. We are headed to Colorado for Christmas with my whole family and that is about it for the kids gifts this year. (For those possibly feeling a bit sad for them, there will be 9 cousins and skiing involved!)

They are surprisingly o.k with it so far! Occassionally one will mention the fact that they haven't started their list yet, or question how their gifts will get to Colorado and another will quickly jump in with, "remember, we aren't doing gifts this year!" and as I brace myself for wailing and moaning, it hasn't happened yet.

I guess they could have a complete melt down come Christmas morning or be in therapy in years to come, but I pray they really treasure the time spent with family and savor the true meaning of Christmas this year.

look who is 3!

Eyasu celebrated his 3rd birthday this weekend. So much fun to see it all through his eyes. He was super giddy and didn't have a clue what all of the fuss was about though. He would clap his hands, smile and say "happy birthday!!"

We went with grandparents and cousins last night to eat Ethiopian food. He was basically holding court. You are going to have to use your imagination here as my camera picked a terrible time to break. :( He was wearing his traditional Ethiopian outfit (shown here with his special mama) and looked precious.

We had one looooong table and he was at one end of the table. He stood in his chair so he could have better access to all of the food before him. He had the biggest grin on his face the whole time and would occassionally say "injera, Yummy, YUMMY!!" I could have eaten him in my injera for sure!

I'm so sad to not have pictures from the night. We loved celebrating our sweet boy.

Maybe Santa will bring me a new camera this year??

porterhouse

The Porter's are dear friends of ours and they are adopting from Ethiopia. We are thrilled. :) We just adore this family and can't wait to see exactly what children the Lord has for them in Ethiopia. They have begun to fundraise with 147 million orphans- another favorite of mine. :) The shirts are the most comfortable you will wear- stop by the Porter's blog and buy a shirt while you are there. It will help lower the staggering number of 147 million by 2!

CLICK HERE to visit and shop!