But before we go

A couple of recent photos

So Here We Are

on our new blog. I have decided to keep the adoption blogs pretty specific to the adoption process so that the folks who want info about adoption and not my deeply profound thoughts on life as we know it can find what they need. So here is where you will find updated photos, funny stories and well, anything else I might want to talk about. I promise to try to update it at least every week or so (and by weekly I might mean monthly) depending on how things go. However, I think I have the settings fixed so that you can set it up to be notified when there is a new post. As always, nice (or funny) comments are welcome- so please leave some.

We are home

It seemed like it took a million hours but we are home. Many people looked at us traveling through the airport and either were in awe that we would do this with 4 kids or pity that we would do this with 4 kids. Either way we are home!!!!!!! I will try to update again, with more pics in the next couple of days

It would seem like we did not need a transit visa since we are here but it was a little nerve wracking while we waited to see what would happen.

The Most Amazing Gift

We went to the care center for the travel (departure) meeting and each family was given a Lifebook for their child. For those of you not in the adoption/foster care world a lifebook is a book that tells the child's story- the good the bad and everything in between. We got both a written life book but also 2 DVDs. One is called My story and it has some basic info on K's birthplace but focuses on her time at the care center- it's more like a scrapbook. It is meant to be shared with others and includes video of us meeting her and the farewell party

But the other DVD is her birth history and it goes hand in hand with her written Lifebook. I am not going to go into specifics about what is in the DVD as it is her story and not mine to share but I will say it includes very specific early history including video of and interviews with some members of her birth family. It will no doubt lead to some tough talks when she is older but it is an absolutely priceless gift to have that information and those images for her as she grows.

The Last Two Days

Wednesday started out with the farewell party at the care center. It was amazing. Many of the nannies came in on their day off to say goodbye to the children. When we arrived, the nannies had K (and the other children leaving) dressed in traditional Ethiopian clothing. They brought in the other children to enjoy the party, although that was hard as the older children clearly understood what was happening and seemed sad. The consolation was that for all but 2 of them they are matched and will be joining their forever families very quickly. The director, Dr. Fikru, said a few words and then they had each family talk about their experience. We all needed some tissues after that. There was cake and treats for the kids, including popcorn, which is often served with special events. After the refreshments, the nannies all hugged and cried over the children and we took about a hundred photos of everyone. Even though not all the nannies spoke English, words were not needed to convey how much they love K. At one point, on of the office staff and several nannies were holding K and singing to her. Afterwards she told me the song is all about how once there was bad times and suffering but now God has made it go away and everything will be fine and how much they felt like that song really describes K.'s time with them. After all the hugging and crying, we said our final thank yous and the party ended. However, K remained at the care center as we were going out shopping and the babies were not allowed to come too.

Shopping was interesting. Our first stop was at a hospital in Addis that has a craft workshop that they use to help rehabilitate some of the patients. They had some of the most gorgeous embroidery and wood cravings. We all bought a ton of stuff. The quality was extraordinary and the people who do it were amazing. One of the women who was doing the needle work has no fingers above the first knuckle. At our second stop, while we were out shopping our driver and guide, Tsegaw's video camera was stolen right off the the front seat right in front of Tsegaw. He had been documenting everything so the camera loss is bad, but the loss of the tape was much worse. He was a little optimistic that he would be able to get it back through some contacts he had in the federal police department but.... One big difference between Ethiopia and China is that in China, because most of the adoptive families stay in one small area there are many small shops set up that sell the things that adoptive parents want (traditional clothes, crafts, etc) In Ethiopia that industry has not yet begun (in part because there is not one area all the adoptive parents are) so it was harder to find all the things we wanted.

Our last day we decided to do a little more shopping so Jenn (one of the other moms in our group) X. and I all went out again with Tsegaw and he took us to the mall. Malls are pretty much the same everywhere in the world- a fact that is both comforting and disturbing all at the same time. After the mall, I wanted to buy coffee to bring home (as Ethiopian coffee is supposed to be some of the best in the world) Tsegaw drove us to the Ethiopian version of Starbucks, but they did not have ground coffee in bags so he drove to what looked like a grocery store. It beginning to rain at this point. Tsegaw pulls into the parking lot and honks the horn. The shopkeeper comes out, they talk and the next thing I know the shopkeeper is shoving different bags of coffee through the window for me to chose which one I want. I picked 2 bags, paid and we want on our way. The Ethiopian version of a drive thru.

Also while we were out, Jenn had brought a big bag of nutrition fruit bars to hand out to the children who come up to the car begging. We were stopped at a light and there were probably 25 kids asking for these bars. Tsegaw begins to move the car into the intersection, then stops and a traffic police officer approaches. I am not sure if Tsegaw was in trouble for not going during the green light (because of all the kids) or if he started to go right as the light truned read so he almost ran the light but whatever it was, the officer was not happy. Tsegaw explained how Jenn was handing out food and the officer let him go. When we were finally able to turn (during the next green light) the officer gave us a wave and a huge smile. Everyone here is like that.

After shopping we were given an amazing gift from the staff at the care center but more on that later.

The additional shopping trip pretty much clinched the deal that we were still going to need all 5 bags that we brought to get everything home. We had hoped to just throw away the car seat bag as it is ripped and we aren't sure it will make it all the way home but no such luck- the other bags are FULL. However- we are packed and the bags are loaded into and on top of the car and we are on our way to the airport. Although at one point Tsegaw stopped the car and got out to "check the luggage" which made us all a little nervous. Luckily Andrea and A. both watched out the back window the whole trip to make sure nothing fell off the car.

Two for One Post

This is two for the price of one since we didn't get anything posted yesterday. Yesterday we were able to take custody of the children. It was tear jerking watching the nannies say goodbye (even though we still have a couple of things to do at the care center.) Once we got K. home to the hotel we realized one of the reasons she is so small is that she doesn't really eat. The care center feeds all the babies using a cup so bottles are completely new to her (although we thought that was how they fed her in the hospital) and she is totally resistant to the experience. And cup feeding her is a challenge- we start with 4 ounces of formula and it disappears but we can't tell if it went into her or onto her so it is hard to know how much she is really drinking.

The kids are loving her to death, although D. has a whole affection/aggression thing going on. When B. is holding K., D. freaks out, chasing after them and if she doesn't get picked up too, watch out. X. is having issues of his own, but I don't know if they are related to the baby, to being away from home, to not getting enough sleep, to not feeling well or a combination of all the above. I think once we get home and get settled that will make a big difference for him.

We are supposed to keep the babies in the care center and avoid taking them out in public as much as possible, but we braved it and took them to the Hilton for lunch. Meals here take a long time as the food sort of trickles out from the kitchen- not the best situation with 3 hungry kids and fussy baby. After lunch we had the paperwork meeting for the US immigration visa.

Today was the embassy appointment. The embassy is behind a brick wall, and there are not one, but two security checks to get in. Including my 2 and 4 year old children being patted down by a security officer. Now I realize that you can never tell who might be a terrorist but what are the odds that a 4 year old US citizen accompanying his parents and siblings to get a immigrant visa for a baby is carrying anything more dangerous than a bad attitude???? But after all the security and about an hour of listening to A. complain about why this could possibly take so long, we have had our petition to get K. an immigrant visa approved. On Thursday, the agency staff will pick up her passport and we will be good to go (we think) because......

There is some confusion about whether or not K. needs a transit visa to land in Amsterdam (where our layover is). The Dutch officials say "yes", then yesterday we were told not if we are flying on KLM (which we are). Today, as we were leaving the embassy, we are told that they can't board the plane without the visa and they can't issue the visa until the US visa is in the passport. We race to the Dutch embassy to start the process and hopefully have both the US and Dutch officials expedite the paperwork so that we can leave on Thursday, otherwise we are going to be stuck till Monday before everything can be finished. By the time we got to the embassy they were closed so we all went to lunch. None of have really packed enough stuff for the babies to be out and about till after 2:00 (see above regarding how meals are served) so we had lots of crabby people, both big and small. However, during lunch, the agency director's phone rings and apparently, now we do not need transit visas for the kids. So hopefully, we will all be able to board the plane for Amsterdam. Otherwise, I will be bringing the 3 older kids back with me and B. will remain with K. until it is all worked out. Me with 3 kids on planes for 18 hours, plus 3 plane changes and a trip through immigrations and customs- well if that doesn't sound like fun I don't know what does.

Aaaaah! Resort Spa Day

The care center is closed on Sundays so we all went out to a resort about 45 km outside of Addis Ababa. The drive took about 90 minutes and we were able to see how big Addis is. Driving out of the city, the countryside looks nothing like we think of when we think of Africa- because of it's elevation in the mountains this area is green with trees and plants. Because of the frequent heavy rains everything is kind of muddy right now and many of the roads are in bad shape, in part due to the rains. Traffic is interesting. We have seen no incidents of road rage despite the fact that, to us, people appear to be driving wherever they please. Another driver made a left hand turn in front of us and our driver just stopped and indicated for him to go ahead. In the US horns would be blaring, people yelling and fingers flying- but here it isn't like that at all. There are also people everywhere- including crossing 4 lanes of freeway like road. It all makes being a passenger more interesting than in the US. Oh and I can't forget the random cow, ox or goat crossing (or sometimes standing in the middle) of the road. Although, just in case someone reading thinks cows in the road are an Ethiopia thing, we have had the same experience in southern rural Utah.

The resort was very nice- they had a pool, lake, kayaks and a spa. They also had hot dogs for the kids which went a long way in changing their behavior this trip. They are not enjoying the food (travel tip- bring lots of snacks) and the things they want they can't have due to concerns about water contaminations. I was able to get an hour long full body massage for 160brr which is yes, read it and weep, about 18 dollars. The kids were able to go swimming and all in all it was a good day- although seeing the babies would have been even better.

For dinner we went to the Hilton (and yes to check it out to see about switching hotels- no decision has been made about changing but it never hurts to look around.) We actually ventured out without our guide in taxis and it has been the most authentic thing we have done so far which was nice. The taxi the rest of the group was riding in was in an accident before they even left the hotel so it's always an adventure. The big issue right now is that our hotel is in a predominately Muslim area which, in and of itself, is no issue. However, the mosque is within earshot of the hotel and the call for prayer is broadcast over a loud speaker and each day has been earlier and earlier and louder and louder. Today the call began at 3:50 am and of course it wakes everyone up. It continues for hours (although usually quiets enough to go back to sleep eventually.) We have heard this has been an issue for all the travel groups so travel tip- bring a white noise machine or earplugs. Also, there is still the matter of the rooster. Do you know that roosters crow around the clock, not just at sunrise? We do now!

Tomorrow we are getting custody of the babies so it should be a wonderful hectic crazy day!