Showing posts with label All God's Children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label All God's Children. Show all posts

Day Four: Embassy day

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Monday morning we woke early to have breakfast at the hotel. (Delicious omelets, fried lentils and fabulous coffee.) We had to be ready to leave the hotel for the Embassy at 8am. Our entire group piled into a large van and started the hour long drive. The traffic was pretty much bumper to bumper and at every intersection the cars were bottle-necked. I don't recall seeing any traffic lights and it didn't really seem like there were too many rules of the road but everyone is so friendly. In Ethiopia it is polite to beep at other drivers when you are driving. We made it to the Embassy and got to see a lot of sights along the way. Landon slept the whole ride and we would soon learn he does this anytime he is in motion. Ian and I were a little nervous for our embassy appointment because we had been told that sometimes the people are not very friendly but this was not our experience at all. We had a very young girl who was very friendly and even talked to us about the Pocono's and said she had visited there before. The appointment lasted only 5 minutes and there was really nothing to it. I don't even really recall what all was said. It was so hot in the building and we were completely exhausted. I do remember raising our right hands and saying something and with that we were finished!!!! Our time at the embassy lasted for two hours because we had to wait until everyone in our group was finished. When we got back to the hotel we ate lunch as a group and then the plan was to meet in the basement conference room at three to hang out. We were so tired that when we got back to our room we (actually only I) fell asleep for three hours. Ian stayed awake and held Landon while he babbled for three hours straight. Apparently he had a lot to tell us!! I could hear him in my sleep but I could not wake up. I did want to give Ian a break but my body would not let me. Finally Ian woke me and said I had to get up because he could not stay awake, I said no and he said well you have to because there is a baby sitting on you and sure enough he had Landon sitting on my back!!!!!! this sleeping pattern seemed to be our norm there, because of the time difference we were so tired during the day and wide awake at night.
Below are a few pictures of the traffic in Addis and our group photo of all the families that adopted children from Hannah's Hope.







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Day 3: Part 2- Gotcha

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Day three was about so much more than seeing the sights and experiencing the culture. It was the culmination of nearly a year of waiting. From the time we left the meeting everyone was a bit hurried to get to Hannah's Hope. Our knees knocked on the ride, and thankfully it was only about 2 miles from our hotel. As we made the turn on to the bumpy dirt road leading to the gate, reality sat like a lump in our throats. A thousand thoughts and questions began to race through my head, but all thoughts fled when that gate was opened wide.

After a few moments inside the gate, we were motioned by Almaz. She led us to where she thought Landon was, but it turns out he was somewhere else. We were led all over the complex until finally we found out he was in his room. It was then a race to change our shoes at the door (small yellow crocs for me, green for Amy) and race up the marble stairs. Our awesome friend, Kathleen agreed to shoot our video for us. Up the stairs we made a dash for the door. Inside the pink and flower printed room was our beautiful boy waiting expectantly for us in his bouncy seat. He was the most amazing thing we had ever seen, and for a few seconds we just smiled and touched his hands. We couldn't wait long though before we picked him up and held him close in our arms. His first reaction was a huge smile and a few giggles. It was as if he was saying, "I knew you'd come."

Here is our Gotcha Day Video:



We stayed around Hannah's Hope for a time while some of the older children got used to their new families. Landon chose to take a nap on me the first time I held him, and continued that nap all the way back to our hotel. It was so humbling to be holding our son for the first time knowing our missing piece was now found.

Our first night together in the hotel was like this: Landon slept great, and we barely slept a wink. We mostly just watched him in the crib at the base of our bed. We kept whispering to each other all night long about how beautiful he was and making comments on any little movement he made in his sleep. Sleep deprivation was a theme through our whole trip.... more on that later.

Enjoy some pictures from the day:

Day 2: Dubai to Ethiopia

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We got to Ethiopia in four hours. At the airport we met another couple, Aaron and Michelle, who were also adopting through All God's Children. We hit it off right away. They were equally excited to get their son. This is a short clip of the ride from the airport to our hotel, The Riviera.



The hotel turned out to be much more extravagant than what we were expecting.
Here are some shots of our room:


That evening we meet two other couples, Johnny and Amy, and Bret and Kathleen. We had quite the group building! We were amazed that they had already picked up their children. I guess a simple call to the Almaz, and they hopped a ride to the orphange. Amy's response at around 9pm, "I want to go over and just look in the windows!" We also learned about getting a tour with a taxi driver, and that would lead to some awesome times the next day.

Obviously we were jealous and much too excited to sleep.
It was a bit of a shock that we were less than 24 hrs away from the culmination of what God had called us to almost a year ago.

*Anyone who is planning to go, please ask for Solomon! We will be posting his picture and phone number. More to come on that soon...
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