Our Embassy Appointment

Tuesday morning in Ethiopia was very relaxed. We ate breakfast out on the patio and enjoyed the sights and sounds. The street was very busy, as usually. We walked to Hannah's Hope and too many pictures, of people, rooms, Eli's bed and special mother. We tried to soak it all up. We also had lunch at the hotel.


That afternoon all 10 families and children rode in two vans to the US Embassy. It was about a 30 minute drive, and some of us to Dramamine before we left (sitting in the back of a hot van and with a baby on my lap and ET streets is a recipe for disaster)! Thankfully with the windows open we all made it alright.


We enjoyed seeing the sights of the town. We did not go out of the hotel too often, as our agency likes to keep us rather low profile. There are some Ethiopians that disagree with the adoptions, so we do not want to aggravate them. Hopefully we can go back to ET some day and see more. This was not the time for sight seeing!


The US Embassy did not allow pictures, but there really wasn't anything exciting to film. Each family waited for our name to be called then we went to a little window where we were asked a few questions about the adoption. We signed our name and that was it. They then processed the paperwork for the kid's Visas, which we got Thursday.


One family in our travel group got an unexpected surprise though. They were told a doctor report showed their child as having a problem (which wasn't true), and they were not approved in their homestudy to adopt such a child. We were all shocked, but it was a moment for God to come through. We gathered round them and prayed in the Embassy, which was a beautiful sight. As soon as we left there, Almaz was able to get a doctor appointment for them, we dropped them off, and their sweet baby got a clean bill of health. We all praised the Lord with them.

Tuesday night Josh got a ride to the airport, where our other luggage was finally waiting for us. He was gone for three hours, and I was starting to think he wasn't coming back. Eli was already in bed before he got back. I was so excited to see my own pajamas and toiletries.

Current Update

We are all adjusting well to being a family of 5. Eli is still very happy, and he sleeps through the night! He went to the doctor Wednesday, and weighs 15 pounds 9 ounces. If the way he is eating is any indication, he's going to gain fast!