Last Goodbyes

The internet connection is very poor right now. We have been trying to get online with no luck. I woke up and couldn't sleep so decided to try again; was about to give up and then I got on.

Here's an overview of the last couple of days...........

There is one other family staying at the same guest house as us. All the other families are staying at the other guest house. Today we went over to the other house in the morning and visited with the other families. Then we walked to a restraurant with them for lunch. After that we rode with 3 other families to go pick up their kids at the CCI transition house. We went along because we were stopping by our kids orphanage to drop off donations and say goodbyes. Once again, it was very hard. It was good closure though. The kids took their backpacks and showed their friends their new things. The most precious thing was that they gave most of their new things to the kids there. We took LOTS of pictures.....one of the older girls took my camera and took pictures of everyone! The other families came in and loved on and played with the other kids. It was great. At the end, one of the other men prayed with all the children before we left. A few of Sifan's friends made her cards and gave her their picture and the director's phone number so she could call them. After that we went to the transition house and filmed and took pics as the other families got their kids. It was very sweet and I am glad we got to go. On the way there we saw Korah-awful. We are back home now and plainning to rest, eat and play. The trip is definitely life changing. It will be hard to go back to the way things were.


We had our embassy appoitment and everyone passed with no glitches so it was all good. We met another adoptive family there who will on our flight to Dubai and to JFK. Also, there's another family who will be on the flight to JFK too. Today we ate at a restaurant that had an electric hand blower to dry hands. I showed it to Sifan.....she had never seen anything like that and thought it was so funny. Later, I borrowed a blow dryer from someone and she was scared of it. She jumped back and then laughed at it. So funny to see how many things we take for granted that are new to them :-) Tonight we went to eat at an Ethiopian restraurant that has cultural music and dance. It was an experience. Somehow, since I was somewhat familiar with ET food I became the expert and had to order for everyone :-) Also, we went to the Addis Ababa zoo. Let me just say it was an experience! Nothing like what you would envision a zoo to be. We took lots of pics and will show and tell you about it later.


Today, we are driving 100km outside of Addis to see a very old church that has been carved from one stone. It is next to a large gorge. One person said it is like the Ethiopian grand canyon. I think it will be neat. It may be a little hard on the kids, but I think it will be good for them to see some of their country as they have never been able to.


We fly out Friday night at 7:30. There is a short layover in Dubai and then on to NYC. We have a long layover there. The flight on Saturday may be get in as early as 4:30 PM. You can check our flight schedule on Delta. From take off it's about 2 hour flight.


On Saturday, we will be HUNGRY for some good comfort food :-) The kids are eating anything we put in front of them and ALOT of it.


I need to go ....you probably won't here from us again until we get to JFK. Can't wait to see you all........


Love,