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Sorry for the VERY long delay between posts. Between unpacking boxes (more on our new house to come), changing diapers x 2 (mommy is ready for Mr. Spencer to be potty trained!), and just generally getting back into the swing of life, blogging has been the first to go by the wayside

Day 3: Early Sunday morning our group loaded up into a 3 van convoy to travel 6+ hours to the rural town of Durame, where Emma was first brought into Holt’s care. This is where we would have the chance to meet Emma’s birth mother and was by far one of the most emotional days of my life.

Along the way we enjoyed some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever experienced. We were in the southern part of Ethiopia where the plants are green and lush and the vistas are amazing. Coffee plants, banana trees, grass huts, goats, cows and beautiful, friendly people greeted us along the way.
By lunch we had made it to the village of Shinshicho, where Holt funds a small but well run and much needed medical center. What do you think of the ambulance?

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then enjoyed a Christmas celebration with the children enrolled in Holt’s “Family Preservation Program.” They sang to us and then wanted us to sing to them It was thrilling to pass out little goodies bags to all the children and watch their faces light up with smiles.

After that it was back in the vans for us. We traveled several more hours over a very bumpy road, finally reaching our destination in the late afternoon.

And then it was time – time to meet Emma’s birthmother. I was so nervous it was all I could do to keep from shaking all over and bursting into tears. They took us into a small room with a translator where we had the opportunity to ask her questions and vice a versa. We presented her with a Amharic/English bible and an album full of pictures of Emma, our family and her new home. She is a beautiful woman and I am so thankful we had the privilege of meeting her. It will be a joy to tell Emma about her and share the pictures of our time together. I pray the Lord will give us the grace and the words to accurately convey to her the beauty of her adoption story.

Day 4: It was back on the road again for the long journey back to Addis! The highlight of our day had to be when we were held hostage in a grass hut! The Holt social worker, Tesfaye, who had accompanied us along the way, arranged for a private tour of a traditional Ethiopian home. We were very grateful for this opportunity and all filed in the door. What we didn’t realize is that the grandmother of the family had decided that this would be a great money making opportunity so she slammed the door shut and stood in front of it not allowing us to go leave until we paid up! We tried giving her some money but I guess it wasn’t enough because she just stood there with a sour look on her face. Thankfully Tesfaye was inside with us and he and her son tried to negotiate with her but she wouldn’t budge. Finally the son just picked her up and moved her aside – she was not a happy camper but we were free once again!

When we finally arrived back in Addis we were all able to go straight to the care center and take custody of our babies for the first time. We took Emma back to our room and enjoyed dressing her in the clothes we had brought and rocking her to sleep. She slept all night without a peep!

Day 5: This was our big day – the day we were all scheduled at the US Embassy for our visa appointments. Only for us something went wrong. Around 11:00am we received a call from Holt letting us know that there had been a mix up and our fingerprints has never arrived at the embassy. They told us they were working on it and to go ahead and go with the other families to the appointment. One by one they were called upstairs until only us and one other family were left. At this point I realized that they weren’t going to call us. It was all I could do to fight back the tears and remain calm. If this didn’t get resolved quickly we were going to have to cancel our flights and remain in ET for several more days. The Lord graciously reminded me of Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord (not man or circumstances) with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

We knew Holt was doing all the could on our behalf but we decided to give our Congressman’s office (Tom McClintock) a call to see if they could help. Since we couldn’t make calls very easily, we decided it would be best to contact our families and ask them to organize and run “Operation Get Emma Home!” It was amazing to watch our friends and family rise to the occasion and go to bat on our behalf. Tom McClintock’s office got in contact with the State Department, who got in contact with a very specific section of the State Department that deals with adoption issues, who got in contact with the National Visa Center and made sure our fingerprints were cabled to the embassy in Addis Ababa. Wow – the Lord is so kind to us. It was a miracle that it worked, especially during the holiday week between Christmas and New Year. A big thank you to everyone who helped and prayed!

Day 6: All of the above was going on while we were fast asleep (13 hour time difference) so when we awoke we still weren’t sure if it had been resolved. Around 10:00am we walked over to the care center where Holt had scheduled a goodbye ceremony for all of the children. Part way through, an adoptive father (not with Holt) also staying at our hotel, who we had happened to meet at lunch the day before and who also happened to be named Aaron, came walking in. He said the hotel had transferred a call to him from Holt, thinking he was Aaron Klein. Since he had met us the day before he was able to take the message and come to the care center to give it to us! Our fingerprints had arrived and a van was coming to get us in ten minutes to take us back to the embassy for our interview! I love the little details of how the Lord works things out

We made it through our interview with no problem and back in plenty of time to spend the rest of the afternoon shopping for souvenirs!

That evening Holt arranged for us to experience a traditional Ethiopian meal, complete with singing and dancing…

and a coffee ceremony…

It was fantastic!

Day 7: We spend the day relaxing at the hotel and repacking our suitcases for the long journey home. Here was our itinerary…

Leave Addis at 11:50pm

Land in Khartoum, Sudan to take on more passengers (yep – we were a little nervous about this). It was several hours before we were back in the air.

Land in Amsterdam 9 hours later

Enjoy (ha-ha) a 7 hour layover at the Schiphol airport. Thankfully we booked a transit hotel where we had a bed and a shower!

Leave Amsterdam for a 9 hour flight to the US

Land in Minneapolis and go through customs – Emma’s first entry into the US!

Sleep on the floor of the airport for 5 hours

Board the plane for a 4 hour flight home

Grand total = 36+ hours of traveling

We were greeted at the Sacramento airport by a wonderful group of our family and friends – home at last!

Day 1: We arrived in ET after a seven hour flight from Paris to Addis Ababa. We purchased our entry visa and made it through immigration without any problems. A Holt worker was there waiting at the gate to pick us up. He took us directly to our hotel, where we dropped off our luggage and tried to freshen up a little before he called us back into the van. From there we went to the Holt offices where we joined all the other families who had arrived the day before.
After our orientation we all waited with great anticipation as we were shuttled to the care center where we would finally meet our children – the moment we had anticipated for months!
They seated us downstairs in a bright and airy room. The head nurse, sister Martha, welcomed us and then one by one they brought the children in and called your name. We enjoyed watching the other families and then finally it was our turn. What a special moment when they handed us our girl! She stared up at us in wonder with her big beautiful, brown eyes. It was love at first sight!
The staff served us cake and coffee and we spent the rest of the afternoon playing with our girl. In the pictures we had received we had never seen her smile so it was a joy to watch her smile and giggle as we tickled and kissed her!

Day 2: Saturday morning Holt arranged for some site-seeing. They took us to the famous National Museum of Ethiopia, where we saw the world renown “Lucy” – the most complete human ancestor discovered anywhere in the world (if you believe in evolution). There were also many cool Ethiopian artifacts and treasures from past emperors. We had our own tour guide and it was a fun experience and great way to learn about Emma’s ET heritage. Afterward we enjoyed lunch at “Lucy’s restaurant and bar.” It was a fun atmosphere in a grass hut type style building. We played it safe and enjoyed the pizza!
The rest of the afternoon we were taken back to the care center for more bonding, play time with Emma. We brought a couple of toys along and had fun playing with her on the floor. She is very snugly and doesn’t like to be held away from our body. We also discovered that she can’t sit up very well on her own and really doesn’t like it if you try to stand her up. I think the one on one attention and the bouncer we have will help cure this in no time.

We got a kick out of the translation on the sign in front of this throne -

instead of “No Flashes” it said “No Flashlights”

Well after being gone for 13 days, traveling for 36+ hours to get home and then functioning on minimal sleep as we try to switch Emma onto US time, let’s just say it’s taken me a full week to recover and feel human again! My brain is finally coming out of the fog!

I have so much to say I don’t even know quite where to begin. Our trip was amazing and life changing! Our little girl is even more beautiful and perfect then we imagined. She has a bright smile that lights up her whole face and loves to talk and play with mom, dad and big brother. She is such a blessing and a joy!

I promise to work on a more detailed post about our trip and post more photos as soon as I am able. Thank you for praying for us and supporting us along this adoption journey! It’s hard to believe our girl is really home!