Returning home and an amazing story to share!

     We made the trip home just fine. This time coming back it was 14 hours to DC.  I slept a little more on the plane this time and this flight wasn't as loud.  When we landed in DC everyone on the plane clapped, as did I, but the tears started flowing, too, knowing we were now halfway around the world from K.  We still feel peaceful knowing she is safe and loved by the staff at HH.  We had a smooth time going through customs and then we had a 3 hour layover before our flight to Columbus.  We were starving and went straight to a Five Guys even though it was only 10 am.  When we stepped off the plane in Columbus I was struck by how fresh the air smelled and felt.  It felt wonderful!! Matt laughed at me saying, "I told you the air in Addis was polluted!"  I hadn't even really noticed since I had fallen in love with the country.  I have decided that I will have to forget about the hard wood floors I want in my dining room and living room because I want to put all of our money into going on trips to Africa and serving the people there.  I told Matt that maybe when we retire we could spend half the year in Africa and half the time in the US.  He isn't sold on that yet.

We couldn't wait to get home to the kids!! We made it just in time to pick Andrew up at the bus stop.  It was so wonderful to scoop up his 12 year old self in my arms.  He was beaming, too.We drove him home and were met at the door by my parents and a welcome home sign from the kids and from one of our neighbors.  Then we walked to the bus stop and picked up Luke and Brooke.  They bolted off the bus and into our arms.  What a great reunion!  Then we began telling my parents and the kids all about our trip.  We gave them the gifts we brought and then enjoyed a delicious dinner my mom made.  Next, we hooked up our camera to the TV and loved showing them all of our pictures and sharing all about K and Ethiopia.  I hit a wall at 7pm and we ended up in bed at 9. I had started to feel bad before we boarded the plane in Addis and I was praying that I wouldn't feel lousy for my first day back at teaching.  Going back to work was better than Matt and I had expected but mostly because my parents were still here and were able to help out with the kids which was a huge help to us.  My parents were so amazing and did the best job taking care of our kiddos which gave us so much peace as we never had to worry about them.  Thanks Mom and Dad!  we will forever be grateful!   It was fun to be back with my students and I loved giving them each an African  birr coin.    I thought they might not find it that interesting but they seemed to really like it. In fact, two of my students accidentally threw theirs away with their lunch tray and they talked our janitor into digging through the trash and finding them!  And he did!  I need to do something very nice for him!

So are you ready for the cool story?? And I promise every word is true!!!  So yes, it is annoying that people  can post anything they want on YouTube but we aren't allowed to post our little girl's name or pictures of her even though she belongs to us!  But that is just the way it is.  By the way, prior to arriving at HH we had been butchering her name.  Then, come to find out she has about 4 nicknames.  It took us two full days to get it straight!  Anyway, when we heard K's (even when we were saying it wrong) name we knew that we wanted to keep it but also wanted to give her an American middle name. But nothing ever sounded right with her name.  It all sounded so awkward and forced.  It had been bothering me for weeks.  Then, about three weeks ago I had a dream about what her name was supposed to be.  I didn't even question it!  I was so certain that this was her name that I woke up feeling very excited and giddy.  I went to Matt and grabbed his hands and told him, "I know her name.  It came to me in a dream and I was told we are to name her that."  So I revealed the name to Matt and he smiled and said he liked it!  I started jumping up and down because I was nervous he wouldn't like it.  Then, I went to each of the kids and told them her name.  They all liked it and agreed that yes this would be her name.  I didn't want to tell anyone what we decided because I wanted to keep it a surprise until she came home.  But this is too awesome to keep a secret.  So after my dream I  kept meaning to look up her name (her American name) to see what it meant. But I never did. We were so busy the two weeks before we left that I never took the time to look it up. Then, the whole time we were in Addis I kept meaning to look it up but every time I went to look it up the internet was down or there was some other distraction.  So now let me back up and remind you that the first (and really only) dream I ever had of K before we ever knew of her (this was months ago - maybe even over a year) she was wearing a dress with purple flowers.  Then, when we spent time with her at HH we discovered that her favorite color was purple ( and this was very obvious).  Now when arrived back home one of the first things I did was look up her American name which is DRUMROLL........ here it is.....are you ready.....  it is LILA...... which means 'DARK BEAUTY' and also means 'PURPLE OR PURPLE FLOWER'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I am not kidding I almost passed out when I read that!  First of all let me tell you that this child is DARK, and yes, she is BEAUTIFUL!   And the whole purple and purple flower thing  - well if that isn't from God - I don't know what is! I truly feel that that was the Lord's way of communicating to us that this is the child he had chosen for us long before we ever had any idea.  There is no doubt in our minds! We love and miss her so much!!

So her full name is K***** LILA GRACE BENDICK!!!!!!!!
We think it is beautiful and we hope you do too!

Day 6 - Our court date and final goodbye

                                                               She loves stickers!!

                                                                     She also loves bubbles!

                                         She will fit right in as a Bendick because this child can eat!

                                           We are officially the proud parents of sweet K!!

She belongs to us! 

We woke up this morning feeling very sad that it was our last day. I was also feeling anxious about going to court. I guess because I knew that anything could happen. We have certainly come to expect the unexpected. While I was hopeful that everything would go smoothly, I was nervous nonetheless. I was also saddened to read in the news that there is tension in Gambella, where K is from. The word is that the local government is poisoning the water supply there to clear the land for some sort of project. There was an uprising there in 2003 and they fear there will be another repeat of this. We got picked up at 8:30 to headed to court. When we got there I was surprised to enter a small nondescript building on a busy road. Not that I was expecting a grad courthouse like we have in the US but I thought it would have been something different. We entered the building and were lead to a waiting room that was pretty full. We laughed because there was a sing on the wall that simply said, “Silencio.” No one was being very silent however. We had brought books along because we were told that we had to be very quiet while we waited. I had only read two paragraphs in my book before our names were called. We went in the room with another family we are here with. It was amazing to see our huge thick file on her desk. After being in Ethiopia for a week and experiencing how things work I marvel that anything gets anywhere where it is supposed to. But somehow it all works out. We were asked a series of questions which only the men were allowed to answer. They answered yes to all of them and then she said, “You are approved. The children are yours.” My mouth dropped open! That was it! I knew from talking to the other families that the process was swift but I was still expecting something more. We were overcome with emotion realizing that sweet little K was actually a Bendick (at least from an Ethiopian standpoint)! I really wanted to sit there and cry but we were whisked out the door and escorted back outside. We exchanged congratulations with one another, took pictures outside the courthouse and then were picked up to head back to Hannah’s Hope for our last goodbye. My stomach was churning and my heart heavy as we knew this was not going to be easy.

When we arrived at HH all of the kids were wearing visors that they had made and decorated with stickers that morning. I knew Andrew would be proud because K was wearing one that simply had a football on it. K wanted to begin with looking at our family book when we arrived. She looked through it about 4 times. She gets Andrew and Luke mixed up which cracks us up. I guess two white blond headed boys look too similar to her. By the third time of going through the book each time she starts to get it right. We then moved onto playing with the other children. We pulled out the memory game and she and another little girl had an incident. I didn’t quite see what happened but I think they both smacked each other as they were arguing over the cards. One of the special mothers came out and gently began talking to them and was trying to get them to apologize to one another. Well they wanted no part of that. Then they both sulked for about 45 minutes after that. This proves that girl drama is universal! Even Almaz, the director, had been lamenting the fact earlier in the week that there are so many girls here and they can be moody and dramatic. Too funny! I was actually glad that we were able to see how K reacted in these kinds of situations. We wanted to see all sides of her personality. She remained very quiet and upset after the squabble with the other child. She wouldn’t eat her lunch and one of the special mothers had to feed her. I hated seeing her so sad on our last day. After awhile she began to recover and was her playful giggly self. Just as we were getting into the swing of things with her we were told it was time to go. Matt and I had to cut our time short today so we could to go to the US Embassy to try to get an important document notarized. The pit in my stomach which hadn’t really gone away was in full force and we begged for 10 more minutes, which turned into 30. We walked her into her room and told her that she was going to keep our family book here. We placed it under her bed where hopefully it would stay safe. Then we knew we had to face the inevitable. We scooped her up in our arms to say goodbye. This time we knew that she understood that we wouldn’t be back tomorrow. She held onto me for while and then when I handed her to Matt, she would not let go of him. It was a repeat of how she was with me on our second day. She was clinging on for dear life and would not let go of Matt. She was crying and when the special mothers came over to try to help it only made it worse. Finally Almaz came over and told us that we were going to take it slow and get her settled before we left. And her plan was for her (Almaz) to be holding onto her when we left so that they were not taking her from us. Thank heavens! She suggested that we return to what we were doing before we said goodbye. So we went into a room and began coloring. Brooke will be thrilled because this child loves to color! She was still very sad but she sat there quietly with is as she watched me color and Almaz kept talking to her in Amharic. Since she came to HH not speaking Amharic and has only been there two months she isn’t fluent in Amharic but knows some of it. We could tell she understood at least some of what Almaz was saying because she settled down and began to relax. Then, Almaz asked her to show her the family book. So Almaz took her by the hand and we all went into her bedroom again. Almaz sat down with her and looked through the book with K. Then we walked out into the courtyard and gave her one last kiss while Almaz held her. Then K pointed up and was communicating that she wanted Almaz to take her to the balcony so she could wave goodbye. We climbed into the van and waved goodbye as she was held by Almaz calm and smiling and waving. It was such a relief to leave that way. I am crying all over again as I write this because we miss her already and will miss her everyday until we return to bring her home for good. We will miss all the kids at Hannah’s Hope. They are such dear and precious children of God.

It took us about 30 minutes to get to the US Embassy. I was kind of interested in going. I had always assumed that your country’s embassy was there to help you but we discovered this was not the case. (Think DMV, just in a different country) Not only did we have to wait in line with everyone else who was not a US citizen, they wouldn’t even do what we wanted them to do! Even though it is no problem to get the documents notarized stateside they wouldn’t do it here. We could have pushed more but had the sense it was futile. Our tribe let us down big time. We have found Ethiopians to be much more helpful and accommodating. What a wasted trip when we could have spent more time at HH.

We returned to the hotel and I collapsed on the bed emotionally drained from the roller coaster ride of emotions we had experienced. I slept for about two hours and then got up to finish packing. We met with the other family for one last meal together and then headed for the airport with them. We were so sad to leave but definitely ready to get home to our children who we have missed so much. When we arrived at the airport I guess we shouldn’t have been too surprised to discover that the process of checking in is much like driving down the streets of Addis Ababa – a complete free for all!! There were people cutting in line and busting past us with not a care in the world. The four of us quickly caught on and put an end to that. We actually had to form a blockade as we went through the immigration line. I had never seen anything like it. This group of women, all in headscarves, were trying to push their way through just to get ahead in the line. We kept telling them no and even though they were breathing down our necks – literally!- we held firm. It was actually quite comical as we had about 30 women (and a few other irate locals that were still trying to hold their place in line) literally stacked on each other right behind us and the rest of the line behind them was all in a fairly decent single file line. There would have been rioting in the US if people tried to do that. After surviving the immigration line we went into a duty free shop where they had chocolate! Hooray! One thing we had not found in Ethiopia was chocolate. We bought a bag but were sad to discover it was petrified. It must have been sitting on that shelf for at least 10 years. Oh well. Our chocolate fix will have to wait. After making it though yet another security line we said our goodbyes to our new friends we made on the trip and went to our gate. It has definitely been the trip of a lifetime and I cannot wait to return in hopefully just a few weeks. I feel peaceful knowing that even though we will miss K tremendously we know she is loved and well taken care of. We are certain of that. Even though this adoption process has been one of the hardest things I have ever been through, we can now see how God orchestrated all of the events and details beautifully as he has blessed us with this child who he had chosen to be ours. To Him be the glory for blessing our family with her.

Ethiopia Day 5

                                          Our cultural dinner at Yod Abbsynia.  It was soooo much fun!

                                   The injera in the injera basket before the other foods are placed on top.

                      I love how beautiful it looks!  We all shared the meal by tearing off injera and    using it to scoop up the food.  They don't use utensils in Ethiopia.  It worked and it was delicious!!

                                                        Matt and me enjoying the night.

                                         Preparing for the coffee ceremony.  Coffee is a big deal here and they have these special coffee ceremonies when they serve it.  We actually didn't participate in one.  Maybe next time.  I don't like coffee and it is apparently rude to decline it. The others didn't want to be awake all night. 

                                         All of the fixings for the coffee ceremony.  Isn't it pretty?

They brought us a pitcher of soap and water and we washed our hands at the table.

Last night was only the second night since we’ve been here that I had trouble sleeping. I woke up at 4:30 and was wide awake. I really wanted to get up and go work out, but I knew Matt would kill me if I tried to go down to the gym at that time. There is actually a nice gym here, but we never even used it. So I lay in bed until 6:00 so I wouldn’t wake Matt up and then I got up and luckily I had a hot shower! Hooray! Yesterday, we had no hot water so it had been a very refreshing start to the day. I came down and tried to work on the computer. The internet is so hit or miss at all times. This morning at breakfast I was able to get my delicious Ethiopian tea. It is sooooo good! When we got picked up we went straight into our meeting with the directors at HH. We signed our I 600 papers and paid our visa fees. We were all sitting there with sweaty hands as we signed these papers. Not because we weren’t 100% sure that we wanted to adopt our beautiful children, but they are soooo picky with the forms that we were afraid we would make a mistake in ballpoint pen! Then we were told that today would be our last day with our kids. This was a shock to us as we were under the understanding that tomorrow would be the day we said goodbye. Well let me tell you that the floodgates almost opened! I had a hard time focusing on everything else that was said since it was unclear whether or not today was actually our last day. They went over what tomorrow would look like with our court proceeding and the rest of the day’s schedule. We were able to ask questions and get a better sense of what the next few weeks would look like. Then we discovered that we would in fact be able to come back after court tomorrow to say goodbye. Thank goodness!! What a relief! I felt my whole body relax as I knew we had two more days. After our question and answer session we were finally able to go be with our children. They were just washing up for lunch which was kind of a bummer because we had to wait some more to be with them. As soon as they finished K came over to us and she wanted to look through her family book right away. I love that she wants to do that. After looking through it 4 times, we watched the kids become fascinated with some kalidescopes that one of the families brought. They loved them and it was so cute to watch their faces light up as they discovered different designs in the sunlight. We were also able to meet two more of her special mothers and spend some time with them. They are so sweet and wonderful and it is so easy to see how much these children are loved. That makes us feel so much better. Then the girls were ready to dance again. We played Matt’s Ipod for awhile and then the girls went and brought out a radio from their room. It was pure joy watching them dance to the local radio station. One little girl that was in the room with us definitely had some moves down. None of could move our shoulders the way she did, no matter how hard we tried. K danced for a little while, but preferred to sit down and color. Before we knew it, it was time to go. We gave her our usual hugs and kisses and then said goodbye. No tears today, but then when Brian got in the van he said, “Oh man, I saw her tears today.” Oh boy. She didn’t cry in front of us so it made me sad to know she waited until we walked away. He felt terrible for telling us because he thought we knew, but I was glad to know how she was really feeling. It made me wonder if SHE was trying to be strong for US!

Next, we had, Danny, one of the drivers from HH drive us to lunch and then take us shopping. We went to a pizza place and it tasted wonderful!!! We have really enjoyed the food here, but it was a nice change to have pizza. I still can’t drink the soda here. Matt likes it, while I can’t stand it. Then, we went shopping on the streets. This was overwhelming at first because it was so hard to choose what to buy. I definitely wanted to get some things for her that would be special to her and represent the Gambella region where she is from. We ended up being happy with the things we got and I can’t wait to display some of the items in her room. The saddest part about the shopping trip was that there were little children selling things like gum and homemade toothbrushes. After reading John Shores book, Dragon House, I will never look at street children the same again. In Addis you are not allowed to hand out money to beggars because you can create a mob scene. But you can, of course, give people money as long as you are selling something. We bought their toothbrushes and gum and I was dying to give them more, but I knew it would have caused a scene. Then we saw a pregnant woman carrying around a baby just begging for money. She was probably only about 40 years old because she was still nursing the baby, but she looked about 6o. It broke my heart and I asked Danny again if he was sure I couldn’t give them money. He told me no, that we just can’t. I could have easily given that woman all of my money and fed her for a year.

Tonight we had a very special experience at our cultural dinner. We were served the traditional meal of injera and the other 15 different dishes that are served with it. We all eat from the same injera basket and everything was delicious!! We all loved it. We enjoyed the entertainment just as much as the food, if not more. They had musicians and dancers on the stage and they were amazing! We definitely don’t move like that in The US. The neatest thing was that the little girl who was dancing for us today had been doing some of the same moves they were doing on stage. Wass, our other driver form HH, was telling us all about which region the dances were from. We all got caught up in the energy and excitement of the place. None of us wanted to leave. We all agreed it was the best time ever. Even though our Ethiopian restaurant in Columbus doesn’t have entertainment, we can’t wait to take K there. I really need to learn how to cook injera and some dora wat. We also had a great time with the other families laughing and sharing stories. Matt and I have decided that this trip has been so much fun that we are counting this as our 15 year (in November) wedding anniversary trip. We came back to the hotel and experienced another internetless night. It is time to go pack now and process how hard tomorrow will be for us and K.

Day 4 in Ethiopia

                                                       The Riviera Hotel where we stayed.

The pile of goatskins on the corner of the road.  This was what was left after the slaughter after the fast.  People were selling them to make rugs.

Walking down the road on Easter.  This picture was taken right after Brian said, "Ok, everyone take your akward faces off."

                           We had to laugh at the irony of this banner.  The man is blocking the words but it

                          "Traffic Safety Awareness Week"   There is no safety! It is a complete free for all. 

                                                      However, we never saw one accident!!

                                  Being goofy in the hotel.  Brian bought the Obama pens that were in the

                          display case at the hotel and passed them out. They seem to be big on Obama here.

                                      Sweet little K listening to music on Matt's phone.  She loved it!!

Today is Easter in Ethiopia so Happy Easter again!! It was very special to be able to celebrate our first holiday with K. We were a little disappointed, however, as we thought we would have participated in more of an Ethiopian Easter celebration at HH, but that was not the case. Other than the fact that the children were served meat lunch time for the first time in two months, it really was not different. Regardless, today was probably our favorite day at Hannah’s Hope. A new family joined us to day so we got to watch them meet their son which is always a delight. K was waiting for us in the courtyard when we got there, just like she was yesterday. I almost lost it emotionally thinking of Wednesday when we don’t walk through the doors in the morning. I know they will prepare her, but it will still be a hard day. I am tearing up now just thinking about it. Our time together goes soooo fast! Today we began the day with our usual routine of stickers and a game. Then, we let her look through the family book again. She did a great job again of saying everyone’s name. She looked through it four times in a row. It was so sweet to see her so interested and focused on what will become her new family and home. Then, we moved into our usual routine of playing with the other children. They love the memory game we brought and it is so cute to see the children take turns even though this can be hard for them as they all want to play at the same time. Today we learned that K is quite the sporty little girl. She did a great job at kicking the soccer ball around, and wow, does she have an arm!! It is amazing what those skinny little arms and legs can do!! The other fun thing that happened today is that K danced for us for the first time! Matt got out his phone and turned on his Ipod and after a while she started dancing up a storm! It was hilarious!! I was able to get some video of it. The best part was that she was dancing to the song “Something Beautiful” by the Newsboys. It is one of our favorite songs and we have always played that song and thought of her. I even bought a book for her over a year ago titled, Something Beautiful and had it personally signed by the author. So I love that this was the first song she danced to!!!!!!!!!!!! Two other special things that happened today was that first she didn’t cry when we left. Hooray! She felt secure in the fact that we would be back tomorrow. The second special thing that happened was that when we were saying goodbye I told her my usual, “I love you K” and one of the older girls who was standing with us as heard me and she put her arm around K and translated for her!!! K got a big smile on her face and I will forever be grateful to this sweet little girl (who we have some to adore) who did that for us. It was the perfect way to say goodbye today.

After we got back to the hotel we ate lunch and since we had internet called our families and I was able to work on updating the blog. Then, we along with the other three families who are here decided to go for a walk to get some fresh air. Mountain storms threatened, but we decided to go anyway. There was a huge slaughter last night as Ethiopians were finally able to eat meat after the two month fast, and it was quite a sight to see goatskins piled up three to four feet high. They were piled up on a street corner and people were selling them to make goatskin rugs, I think. On our way back to the hotel we got caught in a rainstorm. It was so refreshing and reminded me of my Colorado days getting caught in mountain storms. We had our usual dinner of injera and shiro. Tonight when we returned to our room I opened up my bible at random and began reading Psalm 90. I was brought to tears as I read Psalm 90:4 which reads, ‘For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.’ From the beginning of this process, which has been 2 years and 4 months for us now, we have surrendered to God’s timing in all of this. This specific verse has come to my mind so often, as I have been well aware that my timing is not God’s timing. The second we met K we knew that God had orchestrated the timing of this adoption perfectly because she was chosen for us! There is no doubt! Thank you, Lord.

Day 3 at HH

The doorway into one of the buldings at Hannah's Hope.

The babies' laundry hanging out to dry.

The view from the balcony at Hannah's Hope.  This is where K waved goodbye to us.

The toys are washed and scrubbed each day.

The shoes and crocs are also washed and scrubbed each day.

The injera in the injera basket getting ready to be served for lunch.

The injera cookers.

One of the play areas for the babies.

The baby girls' nursery.

The kids' laundry hanging out to dry.

                                                   The women were always preparing food.

This morning we woke up and couldn’t wait to go to Hannah’s Hope to be with K. I was still so sad about how she was when we left her yesterday. We met the other families for breakfast and we were all very bummed to discover that there was no internet today. We have been fortunate to be able to be connected and it is so hard not to be able to connect with our families. Today when we got to HH sweet K ran up to us right away. She didn’t take any time to warm up to us today. We began our morning routine of stickers and a game with just K. Then, we played with all of the kids for a long time. It is so fun on day three to be able to recognize their fun personalities and discover what makes each of them unique. We sure have a lot of funny moments together. Today was an important day for us because we gave K the book we made for her which shows pictures of her new family and home. She was quiet as we looked through it the first time. Then, she wanted to look through it a second time. On the third time something amazing happened. She was looking at the picture of Luke and she said in a soft voice, “Luke.” I almost fell out of the chair!!!! The only words she has spoken to us in English are ‘yes, mama, and dada.’ It was the most precious sound I have ever heard! I then turned to the page with Andrew and spoke his name and she repeated it back! I did the same thing with Brooke’s page, and again, she repeated Brooke’s name. I was so excited that three of the first words she spoke to us in English were the names of her brothers and sisters!! She then went on to say the word house and snow. Now keep in mind that we have been reading books with her everyday and she hasn’t repeated any words so this was huge!! I couldn’t WAIT to tell the kids. I knew that they would be so excited!!

      We also made another very important discovery. I knew that when we came here I wanted to leave knowing her favorite color. Months ago (maybe even a year ago) I had my first dream of her, and in the dream she was wearing a dress with purple flowers on it. When we got our referral pictures I was just so sure that she would be in purple. This was not the case. She wasn’t in purple in any of her referral pictures, but in many other pictures that were sent to me by other families who were there before us, she was wearing purple. On Day 1 and Day 2 of us being with her she was wearing purple. She wasn’t wearing purple today, but when we sat down to color she kept choosing the purple crayons out of the entire box. Then, I would set three colors out for her to choose from and she always went for the purple one. Brooke is going to be soooo excited as purple is a close second behind her favorite color, pink. Last night before I had even made this discovery of the crayon preference we were looking at some dresses brought in by a man who sells goods at the hotel. When I saw the purple and white one Matt and I decide to buy it. We were sad to discover that it had a tear in it. The man said he would bring us a new one tomorrow which I was thrilled about because I planned to put her in it for our Easter celebration at HH. Sad for us he didn’t end up having another one, but we were happy to discover her favorite color! Today when we got ready to leave HH the sad eyes came out, bottom lip out, but thankfully she didn’t cry as much today. There were some tears, but nothing like yesterday. What a relief!! We were able to feel more peaceful this afternoon knowing that she wasn’t in hysterics when we left. It was a sad van ride back to the hotel because one of the families here had to say goodbye to their sweetie as they fly out tonight. I felt for them as I knew that this would be us in three days. Ugh! I can’t stand the thought!

We got back to the hotel and since we had no internet we simply hung out with the other families and visited. We actually did a LOT of laughing which was therapeutic for me as laughter was something that had been missing in my life(except for the laughs we shared at HH with the kids) the past two weeks with all of the preparation stress. The funniest moment was when Karie and I talked Brian and Matt into going up to the hotel staff and asking to offer to fix the internet. We just knew that it had to be a problem with the server and that all they need to do is reboot it. I am sure that we seemed like quite obnoxious Americans offering to help them with their computer troubles, but when they told us that the internet was down all over the country we just couldn’t imagine this was the case. We sure did get a laugh out of watching them tell us thanks but no thanks to our offer to help. We began to go a little insane with the background music in the hotel. It was this awful soft elevator music with a flute that played American hits such as “Groovy Kind of Love”, “Don’t Cry for me Argentina”, and just about every Beatle song ever made. At one point Nate and I began singing along to “Yesterday.” Brian said that if several years ago someone would have told him that he would be on a trip in Ethiopia waiting to adopt two kids while sitting in a hotel lobby listening to two Americans singing along to “Yesterday” he world have told them they were crazy. Ditto to that and I am so glad that God brought us all together. It was also so nice to be able to talk with other families and share our thoughts and feelings about this crazy process called adoption and to be able to fully understand what the other has been going through. Also therapeutic for me. We had another delicious meal of injera and shiro for dinner. In the lobby they were doing a coffee ceremony which consists of burning charcoal to heat the fire to cook the coffee. The smells and smoke were SO strong that it made us cough and my eyes were burning. The smells followed us up the hallway to the 4th floor where our room is, but luckily it didn’t end up coming into our room. I actually didn’t mind it because I want to always be able to remember the smells of Ethiopia.

Day 2 – Taxi tour of Addis Ababa

View of the street as we drove around. It is definitely a free for all, but somehow works.
The beautiful view as we drove to the top of Entoto.

Boys playing soccer in a field. My boys would have joined right in.

My friend Wagamedon who asked me, "How is it in Obamaland?" and gave us Eucylyptus.

Vendors on the side of the road and the way down the mountain.

A Good Friday service going on outside of a church.

Here's Lucy!

The Sheraton where you go to completely forget you are in Africa.

The view from behind the Sheraton.

After we left Hannah’s Hope we went on a taxi tour of Addis Ababa with another family. Sisay was our driver for the afternoon. When we got into the taxi he had Dolly Parton music playing that he said he chose just for us. This sweet gesture made us laugh. He drove us out of the city into the countryside called Entoto. We drove up to the second highest mountain and at the top was the first church established in Addis Ababa. This weekend is their Easter holiday so today was Good Friday for Ethiopians. We watched as hundreds of people walked to and from church services. It really was a beautiful sight to see as we watched the women wearing white shawls (the custom) and realizing how far these people had to walk to get to church when we complain about finding a seat on Sunday mornings. There were people everywhere. Kids were off of school and people were walking around with dead chickens. Ethiopians fast for 48 hours prior to Easter Sunday and they don’t eat meat for 2 months leading up to Easter. When we arrived to the top of the mountain we got out to take some pictures of the countryside. While we were doing that some kids came up to talk to us. The boy who talked to me was named Wagamedon. He told me he was 16 and in grade 11 and was applying to university next year and wanted to be a doctor and live in the United States or Canada. This seems to be a common dream for the people here. The kids also offered us some Eucalyptus plant to sniff. They told us that it is used for medicine and I was hoping that it would make Matt feel better since he has been sick. Our driver told us that the Eucalyptus tree was brought over by Ethiopian King Menelik who returned with one after a trip to Australia. It has been very profitable for Ethiopians as the trees grow very fast and are then cut down and used to make essentially everything from housing, scaffolding, cooking supplies, .and other common uses. We passed a number of Eucalyptus tree farms on our drive.

We passed by the Emperor’s palace and the Prime Minister’s palace. They do not allow you to photograph these buildings. Our next stop was the National Museum which held Lucy’s bones. For all of you non paleontologists, at 3.2 million year old Lucy is the oldest discovered humanlike person. Brian knew all about Lucy, how she was discovered, and the science behind them testing the age of the fossil remains. When he began telling us all about the science behind the carbon testing, I was beginning to feel really stupid until he told us that he once had to write a paper on the topic. That was a relief. It was great being with him because he taught us more than the little plaques did on the displays. When we got to “Lucy’s room” we were cracking up because there is Lucy in a Plexiglas case with no alarms surrounded her and no real protection for the 3rd most significant archeological find in the world. In the US there would have been ropes around it, alarms, guards, etc. What a difference! Our last stop was to the Sheraton Hotel which is the nicest hotel in all of Ethiopia. The only reason we stopped there was so that Matt and I could get some more money and they had an ATM machine inside. It was very beautiful and when we asked what the rate was they told us beginning price was $415 a night and the highest price was $6000 a night. We went out to the courtyard and faced the beautiful gardens. Then we simply turn our bodies around and face the other way and see a tin shack separated by barbed wire fencing that represents most of the real Ethiopia. As Brian put it as he videoed the discrepancy, “For $415 a night you can be protected from this.”

Our day was fun and interesting but little K’s cries lingered in our ears and we really just wanted to be with her. My heart ached to go back and be with her. We are only able to be with them for three hours each day which goes by so fast! When we finished our taxi ride we connected with the other family here and ate dinner together. I have enjoyed the food so far, although I know that I will be tired of it by the time we leave. I was not tired at all and stayed up to work on my blog while Matt went to bed. I was just about ready to post when my computer battery died! I didn’t sleep as well tonight and had about an hour and a half of wake time during the night. This was fine with me as it gave me a good stretch of time to have some good prayer time with God. I mostly prayed for our children and my parents back at home and for K to somehow have an easier time separating with us when we leave each day. I woke up refreshed and feeling ready to go for day 3!

2nd day fun with K

Here is sweet K's hands decorated with stickers that one of my students gave me to give to her. She LOVES them!
Matt and K sharing a quiet moment with the teddy bear we brought her.

The finished product of the girls braiding my hair. I LOVED it and left in in all day.

We woke up this morning and I felt great! I have had no jet lag and after a good night's sleep I was ready to go. Matt has had a harder time adjusting and he is still getting over being sick from spring break so he was pretty tired. We ate a good breakfast and I had the most delicious Ethiopian tea. Then, we left for Hannah's Hope right after breakfast. A new family came in last night and it was so fun to be able to prep them about how darling their children are. They are adopting boy and girl siblings and we had so much fun spending time with them yesterday and we couldn't wait to watch them meet. When we got to Hannah's Hope we volunteered to take pictures for them and somehow I ended up with the Ipad to do the video! One thing I am not is a videographer and this is one film I didn't want to mess up! It was so fun watching them meet! I was trying so hard not to cry and keep the camera steady. After that, we picked up K and began spending time with her. She was hesitant to warm up to us this morning. We think she was mad at us for leaving her yesterday. After about 30 minutes, she resumed with her cheerful, bubbly self much to our relief. We began with giving her the teddy bear, gave her stickers again, and took out a memory game. The memory game was a big hit and the kids loved playing it. Next we brought out bubbles. Those were another big hit and about an hour later they were gone. We definitely needed to bring more. One of the highlights for me today was that the girls braided my hair!! They gave me cornrows! It was so fun to sit there while they went to work. Except it hurt! They are not shy and not afraid to pull it tight!! K was sooooo funny because at one point I screamed, "OUCH!" and put my hand up to my head and she instantly smacked it down!!!! We were all cracking up!!! The specail mothers were laughing too and they kept telling the girls to be gentle. At least I think that is what they were saying becauese everytime I said ouch the special mothers would yell over to them and they would ease up on me.

Another fun thing to watch was when we brought out the chalk and watched the kids' eyes light up as they drew on a big black gate at Hannah's Hope. They had so much fun drawing and one little girl would copy anything I drew. We also loved watching them write words in Amharic. We had no idea what they were writing, but it was fun guessing! Today we asked K to show us where she sleeps and she proudly took us to her bed and told us where each of the other 13 girls she shares a room with sleep as well. I smiled when I saw the Hello Kitty curtains hanging in the room knowing how much Brooke would approve. Lunch is a very fun time for us because we love watching the kids eat their injera and dora wat (Actually it wasn't dora wat because they are fasting right now for the Easter holiday so they don't eat meat until Sunday, but it was dora something with potatoes) They eat with their fingers, but they are actually very neat about it. And they sure can eat a lot!! After lunch, we spent time with K reading more books and simply singing and cuddling. Then, the dreaded time came for us to have to go. When she begins to sense what is about to happen her eyes go very sad and here comes that trembling lip. We gave her the teddy bear and had her put it on her bed, but then was even worse than yesterday. She started bawling and she was clinging onto me with a death grip. It was awful! The specail mothers were all speaking to her rapidly in Amharic telling her that we would be back tomorrow. It didn't matter. They were trying to pry her off of me which wasn't working and she kept refusing them and was clinging to me. Finally we were able to pry her off which was so awful for all of us. So we left listening to her screaming and crying as we walked away. I don't know how in the world we will ever be able to leave her on Tuesday. That is definitely something we will be praying over. I don't even want to think about it.

Meeting our little girl!!!!!!!!!

She loved putting stickers on us!!
About to enter the gates at Hannah's Hope!




The view from our hotel room

The day we have dreamed about for so long finally arrived and it was more amazing than either one of us could have ever imagined. We pulled up to Hannah's Hope and luckily it was such a short drive over we didn't have a chance to be nervous. We handed the other family our camera and they opened the gates for us. We tentatively walked in and began looking for little K. Matt spotted her first with her hands over her eyes. we knew this was her because some other families had sent us pictures of her with her hands over her eyes and we were told she does this a lot. We went over to her and knelt down and began saying our hellos. I immediately started hugging her and telling her I loved her. She still had her hands over her eyes and the other kids were so cute as they helped pry her hands away from her face. She didn't smile at us at first and was very shy. Well, let me tell you that lasted about two minutes! After that she spent about an hour going back and forth between our laps. We brought a bag of goodies for her filled with books, a teddy bear, and stickers. She sat and read and reread the books with us (yeah! I have a reader!). She was amzing as she made connections in the books with her surroundings and even though she doesn't speak English we were easily able to communicate with her. She loved the stickers and had a blast putting them all over our faces. That is when she started giggling. Her nickname at Hannah's Hope is giggles and we can see why! After sitting with just her for about an hour we were also able to play with all of the other darling children and play ball with them, push them on the swings, color with them, and just be silly. Let

me tell you they love taking pictures! And I mean they want to be the photographer! Our K kept wanting to take pictures all afternoon. After about being there for 3 hours fatigue finally set in for me. I was literally falling asleep with a crayon in my hand. We didn't want to leave K, but it was time to go and we were beyond exhausted at this point. As we began our goodbyes to K, her demeanor began to change and her eyes went sad. Her bottom lip began to tremble and next she was crying and crying hard. This was almost too much to take, but it also left us feeling good knowing that she apparently liked us. We rode back to the hotel where we immediately collapsed onto our bed and allowed us to take a two hour nap. When we woke up we showered and then went downstairs and were able to visit with and have dinner with some other amazing families who are here adopting as well. We laughed because three of the families here this week are from Ohio!

I am so tired now and have no idea of any of this makes any sense, but what we experienced today was beyond our wildest dreams. Our little sweetie is the cutest, sweetest thing I could have ever imagined. We fell instantly in love with her. The funny things is we have been pronouncing her name wrong this whole time! More on that later. Off to sleep!!

Arriving safely!

We tried not to focus on the fact that the plane seemed old! The flight attendants were some of the most beautiful Ethiopian women I have ever seen.
We were thrilled our luggage and donations made it in one piece! Now we are on our way!

It was a 12 hour direct flight from DC to Addis Ababa and it was much better than I thought it would be. I was actually shocked at how loud the flight was. For the majority of the time people were walking around talking to one another. I really wasn't able to sleep much (maybe 2 1/2 hours broken up) but amazingly I really wasn't tired. Which is a miracle considering I only slept 2 1/2 hours the night before. Matt was able to sleep a little better than me. The food was very average, but we didn't go hungry. The biggest disaster of the trip was that before we boarded Matt bought us sandwiches. He got me a veggie sandwich and it was covered with three layers of mushroom. I hate mushrooms!! Kathy, Krissy, and Jen, if you are reading this right now I know you are laughing!! Of course, I couldn't eat it. Matt tells me that I would starve rather than eat mushrooms. He is right. We watched movies, read our books, and were able to talk with an Ethiopian gentleman sitting next to us who runs an orphanage in Ethiopia so that made for a fun conversation. He is also an adoptive father. He even gave us his email address and told him to email him if we needed anything and assured us we would have a wonderful trip. I spent a lot of time praying for the crying babies and toddlers on the plane. I felt so much for the mothers of these sweet children who just couldn't sit still for 12 hours. One little boy of about two kept coming up to Matt and patting his hand and arm. It was so cute!! We were so happy to finally get off the plane and get going. We had an easy time getting our luggage and donations. Then we found our driver and we were off. As we walked out of the airport I was immediately struck by the different smells and sights of being in a foreign country. It was all so exciting! Most exciting (and scary!) was the drive to our hotel. I have never seen so many people just walking around these major busy roads, with cars honking at each other and no real system for changing lanes, etc. I had to close my eyes a lot of the time. Matt was not phased! When we arrived at our hotel we were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. Our room is nice and spacious. When we checked in we immediately met another adoptive family. Then, we received our itinerary and discovered that we would be able to go to Hannah's Hope today and meet our little girl! We were thrilled because we didn't think this would happen until Friday. We hurried and changed clothes and then we were off! We were ecstatic and since it all happened so fast I didn't have time to be nervous. Luckily, the other family we were with volunteered to video our first meeting.

Leaving on a Jet Plane!!

We quickly found the Ethiopian flag at the Dulles airport. Makes us soooo excited!!

This is a gift my sister made for me. I know it doesn't show up very well in the picture, but she embroidered hearts going from Columbus to Addis Ababa. My sister has always given me the most special gifts at just the right time. I can't wait to hang it in K's room!



So last night was a flurry of activity. After staying at work late to make sure I had all of my sub plans in order, I arrived home to see my parents, hear about my kids' days and Matt's day, cook dinner, spend time with the kids, go over the week's plans with my parents,finish packing, and tie up loose ends. We also had lots of phone calls last night with dear friends and family wishing us well. Saying goodbye to the kids was very hard! They were very teary and so were we. I ended up going to bed at around 12:30 and had set my alarm for 3:00. Two and a half hours of sleep isn't really what we had intended getting before an international flight, but I popped right up this morning filled with excitement.

The good thing about being so busy lately is that we have not had time to be worried or scared, which is what I thought I would be. A dear friend texted me this verse to write on our hearts during our trip. It is Deuteronomy 31:8 and reads, 'The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.' I shared this with the kids so they could cling to this verse as well.

When we pulled up to the Columbus airport this morning at 4:45 am there was not a soul in sight except for one man standing by the doors. he came over to our car and asked if we needed help and asked where we were going. When I told him we were going to Ethiopia he became very excited and told us that he is from Addis Ababa which is, of course, exactly where we are going. He told us we will love it there and was beaming as he sent us on our way after helping us. We decided this was a sign from God that he was blessing our trip! We are off to our gate now!!! Here we go!!!

Making preparations!

K's Waiting Box filled with goodies that we will give to her when she arrives home someday.
I had to get the Dogwood tree in the picture (and the kids!) as it is so lovely!

Some of the things we are bringing to play with K (bubbles, stickers, books, memory game, sidewalk chalk, and a Teddy Bear) and some Ohio state goodies for the staff at Hannah's Hope.

So the past two weeks have been a little insane!! We have had so much to do with finishing up our updated home study, filling out more paperwork, meeting with our social worker, working on K's photo book, getting our donations in order, trying to begin packing, me spending lots of time trying to get my sub (for a sub - ha!) plans in order, Matt and I having a near anxiety attack over possible changes in acquiring a Visa, making sure we have everything my parents need while they are here, and trying to mentally and emotionally prepare for meeting our daughter. Many times people misinterpret 1 Corinthians 10:13 as saying that God does not give you more than you can handle. That is so false! God often gives us way more than we can handle which is what we have experienced this week! The verse actually reads, "And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." This week He has provided me with many ways to deal with all that I have had to handle. He has given us this beautiful daughter who we will meet in less than a week and it is her sweet face that keeps us going. He has given me a fabulous Godly husband who is calm under pressure and encourages us to keep moving even when we are about to collapse. He has given us an early spring with the air filled with the beauty of the fragrance of spring. He has given us a pretty pink Red bud tree right outside our bedroom window that I get to admire every morning as I get ready. He has given me a blooming Dogwood tree outside my kitchen window that makes me smile. And he has given me friends who have offered to help us when we need it. We are grateful and we are blessed. We know that when we meet our sweet little girl for the first time everything will have been worth it.

A while ago Brooke made a waiting box for little K and we have been filling it with little goodies over the past year. We can't wait to give it to her when she gets home. We have things from Christmas gifts to her, items we picked up at Disney, gifts other people have already bought her, and some other treasures. We also bought her some things to take with us as we play with her at Hannah's Hope. Mostly I can't wait to show her the photo book we made for her and somehow hopes she understands that we will be her forever family.