From Mo and Ben in Ethiopia! (via mom Leppard)

Hi from Ethiopia.
We made it here safely. It was quite the long plane trip but a good one. It took us 2 hours to get out of the airport and our poor taxi driver had been waiting for five. But as soon as we walked out the door and smelled Africa (it had just rained and had a sweet fragrance in the air) everything was worth it.

We got to the guest house at 11 and to bed by 12. We both slept super well. The guest house is very nice and we have a quiet room that opens up onto the garden. It will be good for the boys. There is only one bed but we will bring a cot in for Yared and make something up for Nathaniel. We got up this morning and had a yummy breakfast with good Ethiopian coffee. Then we went for a little walk and both were thrilled to be "home". It just looks, smells and sounds right.

Today is our errand day. We will go explore the city a bit and try to get gifts for the boys. We also plan to get some good Ethiopian food. Yum Yum. Tomorrow we will go meet the boys and bring them back here with us. It is all beginning to feel real at last.

Here we GO!!!!

We made it. We are on our way. Here is a basic itinerary for our week.
Saturday - drive to DC and fly to Addis 15 hours flight:).
Sunday - arrive in the evening go to hotel.
Monday - do errands, sight see, shop for memory things for the boys.
Tuesday - GO MEET BOYS and take them to hotel with us.
Wednesday - Embassy appointment
Thursday - hang out with boys at hotel
Friday - leave Friday night to fly home.
Saturday - arrive and drive home.

We are expecting it to be quite an adventure filled with a rainbow of emotions for all four of us. Thanks for praying for and encouraging us through this journey.

Here is us getting ready to welcome our sons:).

Mo made quilts for the boys.
This is Nathaniel's.

Yared's

The boys room waiting for them.

Yared's bed.

Nathaniel's bed.

Teacher Mo couldn't resist.

Our bags.....people weren't kidding when they said kids made your luggage size huge. Just kidding... half of this is donations.

Visas are good to go

Just about to head to bed after unsuccessfully trying to call the Embassy and an email pops into my box. The Embassy has our paperwork and we are good to go to get our boys. Praise God!!

on a wing and a prayer

After a very frustrating day I think we have things cleared up. I talked to the National VIsa Center three times. That is enough to try anyone's patience. The first time I was told there was nothing I could do. The second time I was told that they could see the problem but that the Embassy had to fix this problem for me. The last time I got a very nice man who assured me that our paperwork would be resent via email and that it would not be a problem. I would breathe a huge sigh of relief but until that paperwork is ACTUALLY in Addis we are still stuck. It is now 1.20 am and I just got up to call the US Embassy in Addis. No luck the consulate section isn't open Fridays.

But Ben and I are going to go forward with the trip and pray and hope all works out. It is quite literally traveling on a wing and a prayer:).

Immigration Issues Could Delay Our Trip

We found out that our boys visa paperwork never made it the US Embassy in Addis. This means we might not be able to go this week to get them. We did everything right but the paperwork got lost in the mail. We even tried in January to make sure it had made it but the Embassy told me they could only tell our Agency this information. We are trying desperately to get it sorted out but there is very little we can do. The Embassy is closed for today and is open for four hours tomorrow. We are told they need to be the ones to request the paperwork be resent.

The good news is that this is just a delay. The bad news is the emotional frustration this causes and the additional financial cost. We know it will cost at least $700 to change our tickets and that is before they add the additional costs to it.

You have been so great at praying for us. Please pray that we can get this worked out tomorrow so we can leave as planned.

Did I read that right?

Did my blog really say I leave in three days. Wow!!! It is so surreal sitting here packing and planning and realizing that in less than a week our family will go from two to four. I am excited beyond words but I must confess that I am nervous. I am sure all first time parents feel this way. I put myself in Yared and Nathaniel's shoes and I can't imagine what this next week will be like for them. While we are thrilled to meet our sons, we know that for them it will be scary, overwhelming and confusing. Never have I been so glad for Ben's super practical nature as I am now. He is calm and confident and I am daily drawing strength and calmness from him. This time next week we will have had our sons for over 24 hours. What will it be like to first see them in person? How will they respond to us? How will I keep my excitement in check while I let them get to know us? Will we remember all the things and gadgets you "need" to take care of children? Will the plane ride home be as bad as I think or unexpectedly good? All these thoughts rush through my mind but under all the worries, things to do, and excitement is a quiet joy that we are parents. All the other concerns and emotions are pushed aside when I allow myself to stop and realize... I am a mom to two beautiful boys.

Cuteness

This last week Ben and I got the great pleasure of meeting our newest niece the adorable K. I promise to put pictures up of her parents soon but first here are some shots of her in all her glorious cuteness.



A sneeze in action.









How Ben and I would respond to having an infant of our own:).

Update

This is a quick post to say that it seems the TB is not going to stop our trip after all. We have heard that we should still head out next Saturday and that everything should go according to plan. There is a still a chance that it could slow up the process but we are thinking we will be ok. Thanks for praying.

Please Pray

If you look at the top of this page you will see that we are scheduled to leave in 12 days to go pick our sons up. However, the US Embassy in Ethiopia is instituting a new regulation that all children be tested for TB by them. When we first heard this news on Friday we thought would have to wait two months before we flew.

Now we are hearing that we might still be good to go. We need to wait for our agency to talk to the Embassy. Please pray that we are able to go when scheduled. Yared was told last week that we were coming so we really want to keep our word to him. Also we are tired of all the waiting.

We continue to feel so blessed that boys are ours legally, now we really really want to make them ours in reality. :) Thanks!

Kid Shower

This Sunday our friends threw us a kid shower. It was so great that my mom was here for the big day.

Our friend Alicia had planned everything but as her son was in the ER she wasn't able to be there. A HUGE thank you to her for all her hard work. We were so glad to hear that her little Drew was up and running the next day.

Ben adopted a "Mom" in Italy in our friend Ann. She and her husband Paul graciously hosted the event.


A highlight was a family tree made by Kathryn. I was her nanny in Italy many years ago and soon we hope she will be baby sitting our boys. This is probably one of my all time favorite gifts. It was hard to bring our selves to eat it.


It was a beautiful day of 70 degree weather and we so enjoyed being with all our friends.








We got some great presents... from books, to a Zoo pass, to a potty.


One gift was a bubble machine. We tested it out and the kids seem to approve.







These cool Easter Baskets were from Shower Planner Fabulosa - Alicia!!

My Mom, sister and best bud from high school helped buy the room decorations. I love it.

News of our Boys

When people go to the orphanage to pick their children up they often take pictures of all the kids so that those of waiting for court dates can see their faces. A couple who picked up their daughter in January sent me this note yesterday.

"When "we" were there at the orphanage in January (we took the photos of your boys in yellow), My husband told me that he was in the upstairs room taking pictures of the younger kids and he noticed that this little boy was crying. An older boy came in and started hugging on him and being really sweet to him. About 15 minutes later we were both in the room taking pictures and realized that the two boys were brothers. It was Nathaniel and Yared"

Ahhh - I am so stinking proud of that Yared and I haven't even met him. It is a strange way to get to know your children through pictures and stories that others share but it has made this long road seem shorter. We heard last week that Nathaniel was recovering from mumps. We even got foot prints that some kind person had traced of their feet. It is crazy to think that their little feet touched this paper that I am now holding.

Three weeks from today Ben and I will leave to Ethiopia to touch those little feet, hands, and faces and bring these beautiful boys home to be ours forever. Mmmmmmm God is good.