We're Alive and Screaming

A quick update post for those of you that are worried that you haven't heard from us. We made it to Ethiopia with only a 1 hour delay on our flight out of Dubai. When we arrived we were immediately informed of some not so great news - that an unknown piece of paper was missing from Ashagre's file and we would not be going to the embassy on the 26th. We should be able to go to the Embassy on the 2nd, but may have to change our flight out of Ethiopia to depart a couple of days later than we had planned.

We were able to immediately pick up Ashagre and have been with him ever since. He was excited to see us and couldn't wait to leave the orphanage. He is very sweet and seems happy to be with his mom and dad. He loves his sunglasses and his new clothes and is quite the colorer. He continues to be a snuggle-bug, but is also coming out of his shell a lot. My favorite part of the day with him is just before bed when he snuggles into me and rubs my arm as he falls asleep.

The day after we arrived in Addis and picked up Ashagre we headed south to Sidama to meet some of Ashagre's relatives. He came with us and was quite the trooper. The trip took us to his home village (think mud huts miles from the nearest road reachable only by four wheel drive and a short hike), which was a very special treat for us, but pretty tough on him. It was definitely worth it, as I know the information shared and the pictures taken will mean the world to him later on. I won't talk much more about that on the blog because it is his story to share. We arrived back in Addis Friday evening. Today (Saturday) he has been testing his boundaries a bit and I am currently recovering from the second major meltdown of the day. The boy's got some lungs (hence the title).

We haven't been able to pick up Elsa yet. The adoption coordinator recommended that we not take her to Sidama to meet Ashagre's relatives because it would be confusing to her. That made sense to us, so she is still at her orphanage. Now it is the weekend. Brent did go up to her orphanage today to see if they would let him bring her back to our guesthouse, but they wouldn't allow it because they couldn't get a hold of the person that makes those decisions. We will pick her up first thing on Monday. Hopefully Ashagre hasn't gotten too used to being the only child.

The guesthouse we are staying out, the Ritmo, is operated by our adoption agency so there are several other adoptive families staying here as well. Ashagre has had a blast playing with his friend Yohannes, and Brent and I enjoy the shared experience - the understanding looks and pats on the back when one of us surfaces from one of Ashagre's meltdowns (which the whole neighborhood can hear).

So that's about it. I apologize for the lack of inspiration in this post, but I am kind of worn out. Hopefully it will give those of you that are worriers some piece of mind. We are doing well, loving our little boy and anxiously waiting to pick up our gorgeous girl.