Ethiopia - Trip #1

Trip number one has come and gone, and I finally have time to sit and give a brief summary of our stay. We arrived in Addis Ababa late Saturday night and went straight to our guest house. It was hard to sleep because we knew our son was so close by. Fatigue finally took over and we slept, only to wake up early. The 9 hour time difference was not an easy transition. Sunday morning after breakfast, we were off to the transition home where Isaiah was staying. They took all of us upstairs to this room and once again we waited. I was smiling, but very anxious.

But fortunately, this wait was not long. Isaiah was the first one to be brought into the room (there were ten families on our trip). It was so surreal. We couldn't believe that we were finally meeting him and holding him. Everything moved so fast. He was given to me and I don't remember much after that for the first few moments. As you can see by his face, he was not too sure about us at first. He whimpered and looked back and forth between Ben and I.

When I gave him to Ben, he just clutched onto his shirt and didn't let go for about half an hour.
We then fed him his breakfast and he quickly warmed up to us. He is such a happy boy and is so interactive with everyone around him. He loves to bang on toys, crawl around the room, and stand along furniture. I have a feeling, once he is home, there will be no slowing him down.

After a morning of playing, he became tired and just laid his head down on me. It was so precious. I was falling more in love with him and bonding so quickly.
Here he is with his nanny, Alem. She was such a hard worker and gave great care to the six babies in Isaiah's room.
We were able to spend all day Sunday and Monday with Isaiah, and we cherished the time. On Tuesday, we went to the courthouse first thing in the morning. We barely got there and Isaiah's name was called out. We were so nervous and our minds were racing. We were taken into the judge's small room with two other families. As a group, we answered five yes/no questions and that was it. Was it really that simple?
After court, we were able to spend the rest of the day with Isaiah before we flew out late that night. Some of the families were able to meet part of the birth families of their children. Unfortunately, our was not there because they were sick. We are hoping that we will meet them on our second trip. It was a very quick stay in Ethiopia, but we knew that we must go home in order to come back again and bring him home with us.

It was hard to say goodbye, but as we walked by his room one last time, he was sitting up in his crib clapping his hands. Our agency told us that we should be ready to travel again in 3-4 weeks. We are hoping that they pass quickly, and we can take our journey to our son's country one more time. It is a beautiful country and the people are so gracious, friendly, and kind. We fell in love, to say the least.

Here is a picture of all the families traveling with us. One couple's kids were at an orphanage in the northern part of Ethiopia. We couldn't have asked for a better group to travel with and we will remember them forever. We are hoping that we will be able to travel with all of them for our second trip.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory...." Ephesians 3:20-21.