Saturday and traveling home.....

On Saturday, we got up and did some more shopping and then went to the Lion Zoo. The lions were so close! Garrett enjoyed the zoo. 

After the zoo, we went to lunch at Makush. After lunch, it was time to go to the TH. It was the day we were saying goodbye to Ella.  We spent time in her room with the nannies, we took a family photo that Stephanie and Shay were going to print and put it in her crib, and we recorded her nanny talking to her in Amharic. She told her how much she loved her and she wished her and our family well. It was so sweet. I got Yonas and Job to let us stay at the TH until 5 since we were leaving.  We went back to the GH and took a little nap and packed. David got to the GH at 10 to pick us up and took us to the airport. We stayed at the airport from 10:30 pm until our flight finally left after 6 am. We got to London about 1 pm and had missed our flight to Denver. The airlines put us up in a hotel, fed us dinner and breakfast and put us on a different flight. We are flying from London to Washington, DC and then to Albuquerque. We are getting in on Monday evening instead of Sunday like originally planned or so we thought....

We thought we were getting in on Monday evening but we missed our connection to Albuquerque in Washington, DC because Virgin Atlantic was late leaving London. We missed our connection by about four minutes! I ran through the airport with a hurt (later found out broken) ankle. The airline put us up in a hotel and bought our dinner after a few firm discussions with Virgin Atlantic. We went to sleep and then got up and went back to the airport Tuesday morning. We had more issues with our tickets but finally after two hours we were on our way to the gate with boarding passes in hand! We were a few minutes late leaving but I believe we will make our connection in Denver for our last flight into Albuquerque. We are past ready to be home! 

We finally made it home on Tuesday evening! Talk about the longest trip home EVER!!!

Friday!

We woke up Friday morning and brought our donations for KVI downstairs. As I was going downstairs, I fell and sprained my ankle! I quickly got up after I fell to make sure I could walk on my foot. I could so even though I was in excruciating pain, I was very glad. I did not want to have to go to the hospital in Africa! I took 800 mg of Ibuprofen and switched my shoes to my tennis shoes. I walked on it all day and by the time we returned that night, my ankle was huge! 

We went to KVI in the morning while the other families were at court. We gave our donations to the orphanage where Ella spent 6 weeks. They were so thankful for the donations and were surprised at the amount of clothing. We played with the kids and gave them dum dums and chocolate. Garrett played soccer with the kids. We loved our time there! 

We then went and had lunch at a place called Amsterdam. After lunch we went to the TH. I loved seeing our baby girl! I delivered care packages to the Smith boy and the Pierce kids on Friday. It was so fun doing this! We spent time with Ella and then we left. We went to Island Breeze for dinner. It was awesome food! We then went back to the GH and slept.

An Orphan No More!!!

Thursday was court day for us. August 5 is the day that Ella officially became a Thomas!     We had breakfast at the GH and were ready at 8:30 but really didn't need to be ready until 9. Job came and got us and we went to court. Before we left the GH, we prayed in our room. Brent prayed and then I prayed specifically for our MOWA letter. We felt great about the birth family part of our case because i had talked with Duni the day before who said we had a letter from the police saying they couldn't find her birth mother. When we got to the court house we waited for a while. Duni got there and told us that MOWA had called and said our letter wasn't there but that the courier was going to go back and pick it up because it was ready at their office.  Duni said that never happened and I told her about our prayer that morning. She said it worked! What an AWESOME GOD we serve who cares about the smallest detail! We went in when it was our turn and answered the judges questions. The judge looked at our passports and then asked us if we had other children. She looked up and saw Garrett. She then smiled and said, I see that you do. We then told her about Ryan, our 5 year old at home. She asked how they felt about the adoption. She also asked about our families and how they felt about it. She asked how we had prepared for adoption, about being a transracial family, and asked why we chose Ethiopia. She then asked if we had met our child and that if we understood it was irrevocable. We told her yes and she then said ok. She is yours! Those were the best words we heard the entire time we were in Ethiopia! We later found out that the judge had approved us before we had even gone in to give our testimony! What an awesome God we serve who gave us great favor that day!

We then went and celebrated with Job at Kaldi's Coffee. Kaldi's is just like Starbucks. After coffee we went and saw the newest member of our family! Ella Woyneshet Thomas is no longer an orphan! Praise God!!!  After the TH, we went and had lunch at Lucy's. 

After lunch we went to Kids Care orphanage. We had so much fun with the kids! They loved stickers and tried to share their candy bags with us. A few of the orphans clung to us. They loved having their pictures taken and then looking at them. One of the little girls was about 7 and asked if I would be her mom. Talk about having your heart broken in two! We are asking God what He wants us to do.  After the orphanage, we went and hung out at Yebsabi with our new friends, Shay Sanderson and her sister, Stephanie. Later that evening, we went and had a traditional Ethiopian dinner complete with dancing. It was pretty good food and the dancing was incredible. We were all so tired though that we quickly wanted to go home and sleep. 

Here are some pictures from Thursday!

Such a happy girl! It is as if she knows she became legally ours!!!

Some of the kids from Kids Care. I loved being there!

Lunch at Lucy's with all of the AWAA families. Fun times!

The little girl who asked me if I would be her mom. 

They were putting stickers on my face. :)

They thought it was so funny because Brent didn't have hair. :)

Garrett playing soccer at Kids Care.

Wednesday

We got up Wednesday morning, had breakfast at our guest house and then went to Yebsabi for orientation with Duni.  After orientation, we went and did some shopping in the market. I quickly bought everything I could think of for souvenirs and thank you gifts. David, Job, and Yonas only wanted us to shop in three stores because that is who they trusted.  I bought some scarves, traditional dresses for Ella, bracelets, bread baskets, wood carvings for the wall, and a traditional coffee set.  After shopping, we went to eat lunch at Blue Tops with all the families who were in country for court and Embassy appointments. So many families in country! We went to the transition home after lunch and gave our donations and spent time with Ella! I love walking in the TH and hearing all the nannies say her Ethiopian name! She is a little celebrity there! She has the best smile, the cutest dimples, the chunkiest legs, and the best cheeks! We love holding Ella.  She is so precious and so happy.  We fed her another bottle and she fell asleep in our arms. After the TH, we went to the Hilton to eat with the Williams family. It was a great time of fellowship and awesome food!

As we drove around the city to our different destinations today, Brent and Garrett threw Dum Dums from the van.  The kids would flock to the van to get handfuls of suckers.  They had a blast doing that.

Meetcha Day!!!

We got up Tuesday morning and ate breakfast. We were so excited for our "Meetcha Day!" We quickly learned that we would wait longer than we wanted to for our travel coordinators to pick us up. When they said 9 am, it really meant 9:30 am! We all wanted to meet our kids so badly. The guys finally showed up and we went to the transition home! I couldn't believe we were finally on our way! A year's worth of feelings, dreams, and prayers were finally becoming reality!   The staff at the transition home brought Woyneshet out to us.  We loved on her and held her.  We gave her a toy that she loved to chew on.  She chewed on it every time we were with her.  Ella Woyneshet is everything we hoped for! She quickly bonded with us and became comfortable. We fed her a bottle and she fell asleep in Brent's arms!   She only napped for about 30 minutes - we will have to work on that when we get home. :)  She has the chunkiest legs ever!!! I just love them!!!

After our time at the Transition Home, we went to eat at Makush.  The restaurant also has art for sale in it.  The food was great.  After lunch we went to the coffee factory.  It is amazing to me how many women sit there and sort coffee beans by hand for 8 hours a day!

We also met the Franklins and the McKims at the TH. The Franklins got their referral for their baby girl the same day as us. I loved meeting her in ET. Our daughters are from the same region and spent time at the same orphanage, KVI. They are also just a few months apart.  We then returned to our guest house and had dinner.  It was an ok. After dinner, we went to bed! We were exhausted!

Garrett played with some of the kids at the transition home.  He played soccer with the older kids.  They wore him out! He blew up rocket balloons with the younger kids.  We handed out dum dums too!

The poverty here is like nothing I have ever seen.  So much to process!

Traveling to Ethiopia

On July 31, we met at the church at 1 pm so that members from our church family could pray over us.  Before we went to the church we prayed in our driveway, just the four of us. It was great just to hear the prayers from my kids.  We then went to the church. So many of our friends whom have walked this journey with us were there.  The Hazelbakers, Krafts, Hafligers, Kirklands, Esquibels, Conns, Heather Lieb, Sue Kizer, and Mike Spencer.  What an awesome experience!  We prayed for court, for Ella's birth mother, bonding, safety, and that God would be with us every step of the way! Jason prayed for what God was going to do in Garrett's heart. I can't wait to see what happens!

We drove to Albuquerque on July 31 and stayed the night at Brent's aunt's house.  We got up and went to the airport. We flew from Albuquerque to Houston. We then flew from Houston to Frankfurt, Germany. When we checked in with our bags in Albuquerque, the ladies at the Continental counter only charged us $150 instead of $200! One of our bags was overweight and she didn't even weigh it! Go God!

I am hoping I can get some sleep soon! I took some Benadryl, usually that knocks me out! I can't wait to get to ET! I am so excited to meet my daughter but also adoption friends I have prayed for and talked with online for months! So many emotions that will need to be processed in the next few days!

John 14:18 keeps going through my mind! "I will  not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. What an awesome statement from my Savior! It not only applies to me spiritually but it also applies to my sweet Ella!

What a trip we have had! We arrived in Ethiopia around 7:30 pm on August 2. We got off the plane, got our Visas in Ethiopia, got our luggage and went through security. Once we made it through security, we got out to the lobby and were greeted by David and Job  from America World. We also flew in with three other AWAA families. One of the families, the Williams' we met while waiting for our plane in Germany. The other two families, the Barrams and the Hawkins we met when we arrived at the airport.  David and Job loaded our luggage and took us to the Guest House. We got checked in and quickly went to bed. We were exhausted!

Introducing Ella Woyneshet Thomas!

Our trip to Ethiopia was wonderful and we legally became Ella's parents. What an awesome blessing to be chosen by God to be parents to this sweet girl.

Here is the long awaited picture you have been waiting for. She is the sweetest little girl around.

I will update our blog about our trip later and post more pictures.  It has been a crazy few days since we have been home.