Redeeming Journey

Hey Guys, we finally got power back when we got home last night.  Wednesday was a great day.  We went to the Bethany Office and met with our social worker about Journey, his case/background and then the court process.  We didn't really learn anything we didn't already know, but it was nice to know that they are caring for him.  After our social worker meetings they took us to an Ethiopian Informational meeting.  Very interesting and informative, but VERY LONG and hard to understand the English at times.  It was very hard to sit there while just wanting to go and hold Muite.  About his name...I have tried multiple hours a day to say his name correctly.  I have failed miserably.  When I call his name across the courtyard at the orphanage he doesn't even respond.  When the other kids hear me trying to say his name they giggle and say it correctly and he comes running.  EVERY single person here pronounces his name differently and EVERY single person tries to help correct me.  Coty and I always laugh at the long pause right before I attempt to say his name each time.

After lunch and and the informational meeting we went to the orphanage.  We spent about 2.5/3 hours there just playing and loving on the kids.  There were 2 other families meeting their kids for the first time.  It is really special being with them because they understand all that we are going through and feeling.  Muite was awesome today.  We just runs and plays and laughs the entire time.  We kicked the soccer ball, played with balloons and blew bubbles.  I was excited that he had on boy clothes today and shoes that fit.  We will see tomorrow what color his shoes are and if they even fit.  At one point today he came over and wanted me to tie his shoe.  Tying a shoe may seem very insignificant to most, but to me it was huge.  He actually came to me for help.:):)  You can tell he is beginning recognize me and Coty.  After the orphanage we went to Kaldi Coffee.  They are the knock-off Starbucks.  Best machiatto I have ever had.  From there we went to an authentic Ethiopian restaurant.  They food was good, but until you have actually eaten authentic Ethiopian, you would not totally understand.  (Lauren...it is pretty much the same as the restaurant we went to in Atlanta.)  The best part was they had authentic dancing, music and a coffee ceremony.  They performed the different tribal music from each of the different regions of Ethiopia.  These people can dance and move!!!!!  I have never seen anyone dance and move their body like these performers.  It was definitely a highlight experience for us.  After dinner they dropped us back of at our guest house.  So happy to have power back on.  Thursday/today is court day.  We are supposed to be there at 9am.  After today, if all goes as planned, he will be legally our son.  We are not expecting anything to go wrong, but you never know here.  I will keep you posted tonight or as soon as we can get through to you guys to let you know how court went.  I have limited text messaging/cell service so if you get a text from me, spread the word.

We love you guys.  We are soaking up our time with him and the country, but we are really missing the girls.  I can't wait to have them all together.

We are going to try and recap a couple of days at a time.  Power is not always a guarantee.  Please excuse the typos we are exhausted.  

Sunday-we arrived in ethiopia at 7am and our tour guide/family coordinator, Abel, was there to greet us at the airport.  He took us to our Morning Coffee guest house where we saw our room, (nothing like an american hotel).  We are the only family with a private bathroom.  The other six families have to share. Praise God because there has been a lot of sickness going on here.  The other six families are also the ones who are getting to take their children home this trip.  it has been heartbreaking to see them with their children while ours has to stay at the orphanage, but also such a blessing to watch how the system goes.

We went to an international church sunday morning which was surprisingly all in english and very baptist.  who would have thought?!  We went to a fairly new restaurant after church where we all ordered the "southern fried chicken" because it was the only thing that looked familiar.  it was NOT like our chicken at all.  i will just say it had not been fully plucked.  gross.  we are laughing our heads off as i write this.  that afternoon we returned to our guest house where the majority of the families were arriving.  We then found out that a few of the families had been vomiting for 2 days.  and we all know how if a stomach virus is around, i will get it.  that night we slept pretty well until yet another man on our trip caught the virus.  our room is next to the shared bathroom, we listened to him being sick all night.  i shook most of the night with fever and chills and stomach pains, thinking i was dying.  i just kept praying and singing hoping the full blown virus would not come.  thankfully it didn't.

monday-this was probably the most emotional day of jeffrey's life.  i have been so nervous and anxious, but jeff has carried almost all of the tears.  :)  he still hasn't really stopped crying.
we started the day with french toast.  i however was still reeling from the night, but thankfully there is a doctor adopting here at our guest house and she has provided medicines for almost everyone.  she has given me a patch i wear behind my ear for 3 days to stop the nausea which is miraculous.  i wish i had more.

we then departed for the orphanage.  i can't even explain what it felt like to pull up, get out of the bus and walk the 50 feet towards Shalom Orphanage.  it felt like an eternity with our hearts racing and tears looming.  They opened the big steel doors for us and the kids just went ballistic.  on this day there were 27 children there, some of them outside waiting for us and they could not get enough of us.  we walked through the courtyard towards the house and inside, there he was.  we were not supposed to make it obvious that he is our chosen child, so we had to play with all of the kids while trying to fight through them to Journey.  I pulled out cars and bubbles to play with and they went nuts over the bubbles.  i was soaking wet by the time we finished.  then came the soccer ball.  boy does that kid have skills.  that is really the only thing journey wants to play with.  now we know the way to his heart.  :)   we were only allowed an hour with him, so it went by so very quickly.

then we went to lunch at a "golf club".  ha!  didn't expect that, although it really isn't much like our golf courses.  we ate lunch there, spaghetti with meat sauce. found out the meat is actually sheep.  we just close our eyes and scoop it in.  we didn't think of this earlier, but we are basically on the equator here, so just 15 mins in the sun and we are burned.  kind of nice we will come home with a tan in february though.

that night, we were allowed to go to the farewell ceremonies at two orphanages to witness each of 12 families receive their children to take home for good. can i just say wow?  we helped video and photograph for each of the families.  so incredibly special.  the children are given to the families in traditional african outfits, they are so cute! (that also meant we got to spend another hour with journey-yay!)   From then on, the children are theirs and they take them back to the guest homes.  we were very prepared to be up all night listening to screaming, scared and confused children, but not a peep was heard.  these children are so well trained and scheduled.  they all slept like rocks.

tuesday-We started our day with pancake breakfast at 8:30am, they even put peanut butter on them like jeff and i do!  We seem to wake up at 4am though every morning.  Each day the time change is getting a little easier.  After breakfast we went to the national museum and learned a LOT about ethiopia.  it was pretty fascinating.  we now have a lot of culture and info to share with journey as he gets older.  We went to a beautiful outdoor restaurant to drink coffee machiattos.  delicious.  best coffee in the world.  After lunch (more sheep meat) we got to go the orphanage again.  today was during his nap, but they woke him for us.  that was awesome because he was one of only a handful of kids awake, so we had so much more one on one time with him.  i gave him a balloon and stickers.  i think i have him hooked now. :)  he honestly looks at jeffrey like he knows.  he likes me, but he REALLY likes jeff.  so awesome to see them bond.  we just finished our dinner of more sheep meat and now we are sitting in the dark as the power just went out.  we have our flashlights-thank you laurie :)  guess i won't be sending this email til we get some power back..