I promise we will get all of these days journaled! I guess my lack of completing our Africa journaling speaks volumes for how busy life is with four kiddos and a business. But, I couldn't feel more blessed or be happier!!!
Today, Tuesday February 16th will forever be etched in my heart! It is our official "Gotcha Day." Samuel Yacob Koceich will be a physical part of our family from today on and we couldn't be more excited!! We woke up this morning around 8am and meandered downstairs for another yummy breakfast! Soon, mom and Madison arrived. They were picked up at the airport by the America World staff and after an all night flight and a bit of a stressful morning at the airport were happy to get settled! It felt so good to see them and made our anticipation for the "gotcha" moment (and mom and Madison's metcha moments) to nearly overtake us!!! But, first it was time for some shopping. We had planned to buy Sam 18 gifts for each of his first 18 birthdays and also a wedding gift so we had a plan! We went back to the Makato (sp?)shopping area and were able to find several gifts...we still don't have them all, but we'll be back for the rest I'm sure! Matt was determined to find a traditional Ethiopian shirt...David (one of the AW staff guys) worked hard to help Matt find the perfect shirt!
After our shopping spree it was time to head back to the transition house for lunch. While everyone stayed to eat, Matt and I went with Tilahun and Famey to retrieve our lost bin and to pick up a couple more America World families. They both had already made an initial trip and weren't able to bring home their second children until this trip. It was really lots of fun (as usual) hanging out with the America World staff. Tilahun told us he learned English (which is flawless...btw) from watching American movies. They have a new theatre with movies in English there. His favorite movie is Avatar! By this time in our trip Matt was ready to move to Ethiopia. I would have been right there with him, but I'm the planner and, of course, all of the details keep getting in the way of adventure for me! Since I've been home God has brought several books and studies to me like, "The Hole in our Gospel.", "Don't Waste Your Life" and the Beth Moore study on John. What do you think is the recurrent theme??? Um, not sitting comfortable with where you are in life, but allowing God to take you on an adventure. Also, alot of recurrent things of getting up and doing something about the injustice in the world...not just thinking about it! I'm getting there...
Anyway, back to the adventure at hand.
Once we were back at the Transition home we needed to quickly get our donations together and eat. When we got to the transition home we started by giving care packages to the families who were still home waiting for court dates and travel dates. We were blessed enough to get to give care packages to two families. First, we met a GORGEOUS little girl and boy. I so wish I could post their pictures...you would melt!! They were so sweet and very careful to make sure they were understanding what we were trying to communicate. They wouldn't open the gifts until they were sure that's what we were wanting and they stopped to pose for pictures anytime my camera went up to my eye...poor things...they didn't know I'm a photographer and the camera practically lives there!! I so wished their forever families lived closer because I would have loved to have gotten to know them more!! Absolutely precious. When it was time for them to go the little boy gave me a giant, squeeze the breath right out of you hug...I'll tell you why later. I kissed and kissed on him and after his nannies told him he could kiss me, he gave me the longest most precious kiss ever!!! Totally made me want to go back and adopt an older child!
Next came a precious little baby boy!! His eyes were so big and beautiful. He was a cuddler and I can't wait for his momma to get to hold and cuddle him for the first time! Seriously, capturing these moments on camera would be a dream job for me! Seeing families united for the first time and looking into the eyes of children as they are beginning to have hope again...it is truly indescribable!!!
After these precious moments it was time to see Yacob again and for Madison and Nani (my mom) to get to meet him for the first time. You know I was so nervous for how he would do after our last two times together. When they brought him out we could tell they had to wake him up. He was sleepy and very calm. One of the sweet dad's came over and took pictures for us and I am so grateful!!! I know it was hard to tear himself away from his new family to do something so selfless for us! After the nannies brought him out I watched Madison's eyes...she was in love right away! She is my thinker and the most resistant of all of my kiddos to change so I know she was anxious for this moment, and I could just see all of that anxiety melt away as she saw her new brother for the first time! She was mesmerized. Once he fully woke up he did begin crying, but this time it only lasted a few minutes. Once we gave him a toy he calmed down and just stared very intently at everyone. We wanted to get a picture of his nannies and his bed so we took him inside. It is so obvious that the nannies adore these children. It was a hard, but happy goodbye. They are angels!!
On the way home we stopped at a small grocery store and the guys went in to buy formula, diapers and wine...LOL! I happen to think those three items go together nicely! Then we headed back to the transition home to rest. I tried resting for a few minutes and the Adrenalin was pumping and I just couldn't do it so I gave up. Sam on the other hand slept nicely in Daddy's arms while he read a book (fittingly, "The Whole in our Gospel" which in my opinion is a must read).
Soon it was time for dinner. They served Tibs, which wasn't quite as awesome as the other places we'd had it so far, then visited for a while and headed back upstairs. I wanted to give him a bath, but he was so tired I just couldn't do that to him so I just gave him a bottle and put him in the bed around 11ish. I couldn't sleep much at all because I had an ulcer on my throat and had some pretty bad throat pain, but little man slept ALL NIGHT!!! It was quite the day for all of us!!
Today, Tuesday February 16th will forever be etched in my heart! It is our official "Gotcha Day." Samuel Yacob Koceich will be a physical part of our family from today on and we couldn't be more excited!! We woke up this morning around 8am and meandered downstairs for another yummy breakfast! Soon, mom and Madison arrived. They were picked up at the airport by the America World staff and after an all night flight and a bit of a stressful morning at the airport were happy to get settled! It felt so good to see them and made our anticipation for the "gotcha" moment (and mom and Madison's metcha moments) to nearly overtake us!!! But, first it was time for some shopping. We had planned to buy Sam 18 gifts for each of his first 18 birthdays and also a wedding gift so we had a plan! We went back to the Makato (sp?)shopping area and were able to find several gifts...we still don't have them all, but we'll be back for the rest I'm sure! Matt was determined to find a traditional Ethiopian shirt...David (one of the AW staff guys) worked hard to help Matt find the perfect shirt!
After our shopping spree it was time to head back to the transition house for lunch. While everyone stayed to eat, Matt and I went with Tilahun and Famey to retrieve our lost bin and to pick up a couple more America World families. They both had already made an initial trip and weren't able to bring home their second children until this trip. It was really lots of fun (as usual) hanging out with the America World staff. Tilahun told us he learned English (which is flawless...btw) from watching American movies. They have a new theatre with movies in English there. His favorite movie is Avatar! By this time in our trip Matt was ready to move to Ethiopia. I would have been right there with him, but I'm the planner and, of course, all of the details keep getting in the way of adventure for me! Since I've been home God has brought several books and studies to me like, "The Hole in our Gospel.", "Don't Waste Your Life" and the Beth Moore study on John. What do you think is the recurrent theme??? Um, not sitting comfortable with where you are in life, but allowing God to take you on an adventure. Also, alot of recurrent things of getting up and doing something about the injustice in the world...not just thinking about it! I'm getting there...
Anyway, back to the adventure at hand.
Once we were back at the Transition home we needed to quickly get our donations together and eat. When we got to the transition home we started by giving care packages to the families who were still home waiting for court dates and travel dates. We were blessed enough to get to give care packages to two families. First, we met a GORGEOUS little girl and boy. I so wish I could post their pictures...you would melt!! They were so sweet and very careful to make sure they were understanding what we were trying to communicate. They wouldn't open the gifts until they were sure that's what we were wanting and they stopped to pose for pictures anytime my camera went up to my eye...poor things...they didn't know I'm a photographer and the camera practically lives there!! I so wished their forever families lived closer because I would have loved to have gotten to know them more!! Absolutely precious. When it was time for them to go the little boy gave me a giant, squeeze the breath right out of you hug...I'll tell you why later. I kissed and kissed on him and after his nannies told him he could kiss me, he gave me the longest most precious kiss ever!!! Totally made me want to go back and adopt an older child!
Next came a precious little baby boy!! His eyes were so big and beautiful. He was a cuddler and I can't wait for his momma to get to hold and cuddle him for the first time! Seriously, capturing these moments on camera would be a dream job for me! Seeing families united for the first time and looking into the eyes of children as they are beginning to have hope again...it is truly indescribable!!!
After these precious moments it was time to see Yacob again and for Madison and Nani (my mom) to get to meet him for the first time. You know I was so nervous for how he would do after our last two times together. When they brought him out we could tell they had to wake him up. He was sleepy and very calm. One of the sweet dad's came over and took pictures for us and I am so grateful!!! I know it was hard to tear himself away from his new family to do something so selfless for us! After the nannies brought him out I watched Madison's eyes...she was in love right away! She is my thinker and the most resistant of all of my kiddos to change so I know she was anxious for this moment, and I could just see all of that anxiety melt away as she saw her new brother for the first time! She was mesmerized. Once he fully woke up he did begin crying, but this time it only lasted a few minutes. Once we gave him a toy he calmed down and just stared very intently at everyone. We wanted to get a picture of his nannies and his bed so we took him inside. It is so obvious that the nannies adore these children. It was a hard, but happy goodbye. They are angels!!
On the way home we stopped at a small grocery store and the guys went in to buy formula, diapers and wine...LOL! I happen to think those three items go together nicely! Then we headed back to the transition home to rest. I tried resting for a few minutes and the Adrenalin was pumping and I just couldn't do it so I gave up. Sam on the other hand slept nicely in Daddy's arms while he read a book (fittingly, "The Whole in our Gospel" which in my opinion is a must read).
Soon it was time for dinner. They served Tibs, which wasn't quite as awesome as the other places we'd had it so far, then visited for a while and headed back upstairs. I wanted to give him a bath, but he was so tired I just couldn't do that to him so I just gave him a bottle and put him in the bed around 11ish. I couldn't sleep much at all because I had an ulcer on my throat and had some pretty bad throat pain, but little man slept ALL NIGHT!!! It was quite the day for all of us!!
1 comment:
I love reliving the days through your blog and fabulous pictures!!
In His Love,
Amy
Mom to John Eyob and Ryan Ephhrem
Post a Comment