The rest of our trip

When I first started blogging about our trip, my goal was to post with as much detail/pictures as I could. Since the first few posts were mostly about our time with our son, it was easy to pick out which pictures to share, since we couldn't show any pictures of him (except for the pic with his adorable toes). But as I've started sorting through our hundreds of pictures, I realized if I posted everything I would be blogging for a very long time. So, for the rest of our trip I picked out a few highlights. 

 Friday, April 27th

We got up early and hit the road with our driver Tsegaw. Watching the sun come up on our absolutely beautiful drive made getting up at 4 AM completely worth it. We found out that not only was Tsegaw a great driver to have, but he was an excellent cook! During our two day road trip we stopped at various places to eat and it wasn't a big deal to bring in the food he had prepared or have the waiters do some basic food preparation for us. We ended up at Awash National Park in the afternoon and got to enjoy the desert landscape and animals, as well as the beautiful falls. We drove back and spent the night in a town called Nazareth and ended the evening enjoying a delicious meal at a neat outdoor restaurant.

 Stunning views during the drive

Orthodox Church

Acacia trees were everywhere

We saw lots of camels on the drive

Hauling water

We saw many oryx in the park

 Our scout overlooking some of the awesome views at Awash National Park

I had to add the picture of this adorable little deer

 Waterfalls at Awash National Park

 While we were checking out the waterfalls we noticed two crocodiles close by. 

(Thankfully they were sleeping.)

Saturday, April 28th

After enjoying a huge breakfast (with some really tasty juices) we drove 4 hours north. Again, the drive was beautiful, but this time it was mountains, rolling hills, grass, and trees. We visited the Portugese Bridge and Debrelibanus Monastery. Part of the fun of the trip was enjoying getting to know our driver and learning more about Ethiopian history and culture. We found ourselves falling more in love with Ethiopia.

This drive was much greener

Great views

Portugese Bridge (built during the Crusades)

Our driver Tsegaw at Jemma Gorge

Breath-taking...literally

Jemma Gorge

 Debrelibanus Monastary

We were privileged to end Saturday night by getting dropped off at Allen and Susan Stoller's and eating dinner with them at a restaurant on a mountaintop with excellent views. We spent the evening showing pictures and swapping stories. 

 Dinner with Allen and Susan

Sunday, April 29th

One of the highlights of our weekend was being able to worship at the International Church with Allen and Susan. As Susan said "it's a taste of heaven" as you look around and see people from all over the world praising God. Unfortunately, on the way home Jon ended up getting sick. So, while he spent the rest of Sunday puking, I was getting pampered by Allen and Susan. I enjoyed seeing the LSM campus and we even stopped for some coffee at a place I had wanted to try. We ended up that night eating at yet another mountaintop restaurant.

 Yummy!

Monday 30th/Tuesday, May 1st

We flew out of Addis Ababa at 11AM and landed in London around 6PM for an overnight lay-over. Jon's cousin Abby and her husband Matt met us at the airport and we were able to hang out at our motel and eat dinner. We had a fantastic time together. We flew out early Tuesday morning and landed in Chicago close to 10AM, glad to be home, but our hearts already aching for our next trip back.

 Dinner with Matt and Abby in London

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday April 25th

We woke up with excitement knowing we would be spending a few more hours with our son. Walking into the care center we got him out of his crib with his adorable drool soaked chin. After he started warming up to us again we got to hear him giggle for the first time. Heaven! Later on, after rocking him to sleep one of the nannies motioned for me to lay him in his crib. As I started to lay him down we heard him start to cry for the first time. Our hearts melted and I snuck him back outside and with arm muscles burning I held him through his nap.

After the care center we had a free afternoon in which we took the chance to get some much needed rest and enjoy the city a little more.

 Thursday, April 26th

The day started out with some nerves knowing we were heading for our court date that morning. We met with the Holt lawyer who was very kind and reassuring and reviewed with us what would be happening in court. We rode over to the court house and after some waiting we went before the judge. A short time later we walked out celebrating that we had passed! Now our adoption can continue to proceed towards an Embassy date, which is generally 8-12 weeks after the court date.

Ready for court!

We rode over with the other two families to the care center to say good-bye with our children that afternoon. It was bittersweet. After playing and enjoying one more chance of feeding our little guy, our driver appeared and it was time to go. We had our first prayer together as a family before we left, as the tears burned in my eyes.

 Enjoying lunch after we all passed court!

We were so blessed to get to spend three days with two Holt families at the guesthouse. It made the trip so much more enjoyable, especially being able to share these experiences with those who could relate to the emotional roller coaster we were all going through. We said good-bye Thursday night as they left for the airport and we went to bed early so we could get up bright and early for our road trip the next morning.

A few more pictures...

Overlooking Addis Ababa

Some tasty beef tibs, dora wat, and injera

Coffee and popcorn

Fikrab, our Holt driver

Steve and Christy after passing court

Waitress with traditional Ethiopian clothing

Addis Ababa

 Culture House

Holt families

Jon and I after passing court

Ron and Julie after passing court

to be continued...

First Meeting

Tuesday, April 24th 

After breakfast we hopped in the van with two other couples and rode to the Holt Office. During the half hour ride we were able to enjoy our first sights and sounds of Addis Ababa in the daylight. After an office tour and orientation for the care center we all climbed back into the van to head to the care center to see our children. The ride over was filled with excitement. As we climbed out of the van and into the entrance I can tell you that I don't think my heart has ever beat so hard. 

Ally to the Care Center

Here it is!

We sat down in front room of the care center and we waited for them to bring out our children. We watched the other two families get their children and when the nanny rounded the door way with our son it took our breath away. He was so beautiful! The nanny held onto him a little longer, said a few words in his ear and kissed him, and I finally felt my son in my arms for the first time. We spent the first half hour just admiring him. We couldn't believe how big he had gotten. He just stared as we oohed and cooed at him. Eventually we made our way outside and after I gave him a few twirls and tosses we got to see him smile for the first time!

Here he comes....

 We were blessed to have Mike and Mandy Fiechtner (also adopting from Ethiopia) join us to take pictures and video of our first meeting.

One of the highlights of our first day was getting to feed our son, mostly because he loves to eat. He was grabbing and diving towards his bowl, and we couldn't spoon it in fast enough. After he ate he fell asleep in Jon's arms and suddenly it was time to go.

I can't tell you how many times I have re-watched the videos and looked at the pictures we had taken on that first meeting. It was a surreal day. Two years of praying for this baby and finally he was in our arms!

A few other pictures from the first day....

 Holt Office

Mandy and Mike Fiechtner

The Lucy Land Guesthouse (where we stayed thru Thursday)

Driving through Addis Ababa

 The street where we went shopping

 View from the top of our guesthouse

 Another view

 Construction was everywhere in the city

 We ended up the night meeting up with Rich and Becky Metcalfe who were also in Ethiopia for their court date to adopt their son.

to be continued...

And we're off!

We were so blessed to have my mom and dad come out and spend Friday and Saturday night with us before we left. They helped us clean, put together baby room furniture, and do some outside work.  

We celebrated by going to TW Fable

Sunday April 22nd 

After breakfast and saying good-bye to my parents we got in the car and drove to Chicago. As we drove we listened to the Bluffton Country services. We were humbled to hear our names in the morning prayer—we have been blessed with so much love, prayer, and support. We met up with some friends and had some pizza before heading to the airport.

 The best friend anyone could ever ask for! Kyann took us to the airport.

We were excited to catch up with Amit who came along for the ride

And we're off!

We left Chicago at 6PM and 19 hours later (one lay-over stop in Frankfurt) we arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia around 9:15 PM (they are 7 hours ahead of us). We had two great flights and were excited to meet another adoptive family on our second flight who was flying over to pick up their daughter. After exchanging money and getting through customs we stepped out of the airport into the warm Ethiopian night. After a bit of chaos, we found our driver who took us to the Lucy Land Guesthouse.

 Our room at the guesthouse. We had an awesome stay here. They took great care of us and the food was excellent.

After a few hours of sleep we woke up early to the sound of the Muslim call to prayer. I tried to fall back asleep, but how can you when you are hours away from meeting your son? (Not to mention the cows, roosters, dogs, and airplanes in the background).

The view from our room.

to be continued...

Home (is not where the heart is)

We arrived home in Ossian around 4:30 yesterday afternoon with our heads and hearts still trying to process everything that had happened. God blessed us with an amazing week in Ethiopia. The beauty of Ethiopia's landscape and people made it easy to fall in love with, despite the extreme poverty we saw. To all of you that prayed and supported us these past ten days, we cannot thank you enough. We were able to enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, food, places, and people with such ease that I knew that we were being prayed for, because looking back, I can see how we were stretched in many ways.

We thank God specifically for two major things. The first is that we passed court, putting us one step closer to bringing our son home. The second, and most amazing blessing, was the chance to meet our son. We got to spend a couple hours on three different days, loving on, playing, feeding, and rocking him. Just when we felt like we couldn't love him any more, he made a new expression, or a new sound and our hearts exploded. God has been so good and all our praise is for Him. 

(picture taken by Mike Fiechtner)

Stay tuned as I plan on  posting some pictures and details of our trip soon. In respect to the Ethiopian adoption process, you won't be seeing our son's face (or Ethiopian name) on this blog until we travel for our next trip, which we hope will be in 8-12 weeks.