Coffee Ceremony at the Gladney Care Center

Wednesday, September 1 was set aside for us to go to the Gladney Care Center, where our boys have lived the last several months while they've waited to be adopted. We got to tour three of the four care houses, see the rooms where our boys lived, and visit some of the beautiful children waiting for their forever families. Here are Brian and Jeremy standing in front of the Care Center where Jeremy lived:

At this point in the trip, Jeremy was really starting to feel more comfortable with us, and we didn't want to disrupt that, but this visit to the care center is part of the adoption journey, and it is the opportunity for the special mothers (the primary caregivers) of each child to say their goodbyes. First we toured Zachary's care center, and he was taken by a caregiver, and we were sent on our way to finish the tour. (We were told this would happen. The special mother takes the child from you and has some special time to say goodbye. They also buy a traditional Ethiopian outfit as a parting gift to dress the child in for the coffee ceremony.)

As we neared Jeremy's care house, he was calm as could be, and as soon as his special mother found him, she approached him, and his face absolutely lit up, and he went right to her...no problem at all! Jeremy's special mother is named Mami (pronounced "Mommy"), and she is a beautiful woman, inside and out! I'm so glad she loved and cared for him all of those months he spent in Gladney's care.

She immediately put him in one of the cribs and started changing him into his traditional outfit.

Can't you just feel how much she loves him?!

After we finished our tour of the care centers, we congregated in the living room of one of the care houses for a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony.

This woman roasted the coffee beans and then ground them by hand with a mortar and pestle. And then the coffee was served.

Soon, Mami and Jeremy entered the room and she presented him to us in his adorable outfit.

She was so strong and dignified in the way she handled her goodbye. She hugged and kissed him, and asked for a kiss from him (which he obliged), and she handed him over to us.

She posed for a picture with us, we thanked her for caring for our son, and then she walked out of the room...and as she walked away, my mom saw her wiping away tears from her eyes.

This is Zachary with his special mother, Hiwot:

We didn't get to spend as much time talking with Hiwot as we did with Mami, but one of the Gladney interns said that Hiwot is a wonderful caregiver. We believe it! All of the children in Gladney's care seem so well loved and well taken care of.

After leaving the care centers, all of the adoptive families and our children went to Top View, a restaurant with a view of the city. Jeremy sat right next to me and shared my lasagna with me, and then he wanted to toddle around, and I snapped this shot of my gorgeous boy!

It was another amazing day in Ethiopia!

Serious Cuteness!

Many thanks to my sweet friend Julie who sent the boys these adorable outfits. I think it's fitting that they celebrate their new American citizenship with a little red, white and blue!!!

Aug. 31: U.S. Embassy Appointment, Lion Zoo, Bonding

Our appointment at the U.S. Embassy to sign paperwork for obtaining the boys' visas to bring them home was on Tuesday at 1pm. So that morning, Brian and I decided to stay at the guest house with the boys while our moms went out to see Entoto Mountain and to visit the Lion Zoo.

Here is my mom posing with one of the lions.

This zoo houses Abyssinian Lions native to Ethiopia. They are known for their black manes.

Meanwhile, back at the guest house, we gave Jeremy a bath in a little toddler tub the guest house lent us to use to sit in the bottom of our stand up shower.

Jeremy really started to relax and enjoy himself with us that day, and we could see the bonding/attachment process beginning. While we were at the embassy, he called me "Mama" for the first time! I was so surprised and happy to hear it!

Our embassy appointment was pretty uneventful. We were briefed by Joanna (one of Gladney's staff) as to what we should expect. After hanging out in a waiting area for about an hour with the other families from our agency, we were called upstairs where we were asked a few questions by a kind American woman working there, then we signed a couple of documents for each child, and we were sent on our way!

As a fun side note, Jeremy and Zachary flew home with Ethiopian passports that had the cutest photos of them in it. Their passports had a special visa in them issued by the U.S. Embassy that insured that the moment they entered the U.S.A., they would become American citizens! So now that we are home, my boys are already U.S. citizens!!!

Jeremy and Zachary Day!

We arose in Dubai very early on the morning of August 30, 2010 for our morning flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

We landed at the Addis airport, purchased our visas, changed a little money, and got through immigration by about noon. As we were walking out of the airport, there was Genet! She decided to come to the airport with our driver Solomon to surprise us!

Travis, one of the Gladney staff told us to go ahead and get settled in at our guest house because he would be coming by to bring us Jeremy and Zachary in just an hour and a half! We made a quick stop to borrow a cell phone for the week, went to a grocery store to get some baby formula and some other staples, and then went to our guest house.

We arrived at the Yebsabi Guest House (which deserves a post of its very own--we just LOVED it), and were pleased to find our room just as we requested--with two cribs set up in it! This was the view we had from our balcony:

We didn't even have our bags unpacked when Travis called and said he was about five minutes away, so we went downstairs to the lobby to wait for him. Brian and his Mom sat anxiously holding hands. Brian was adopted as an infant, so the day brought back a some special memories for his mom, and it was so special to have her and my mom share in this life-changing moment!

Not long after we went downstairs, we saw the gates of the guest house open, and Travis' white SUV pulled through with our boys inside!

Poor Jeremy was crying before he even got out of the car, and Travis placed him in Brian's arms.

Then he brought Zachary out of the van and placed him in my arms!

We all moved inside to the lobby to just be together, take pictures, and for Travis to give us some information about what to expect during the rest of our week in Addis Ababa.

Mr. Zachary was his usual sweet self. He has some serious reflux, so we like to call him Mr. Milky Mouth.

It didn't take long for Jeremy to calm down...

...and soon he was asleep:

It was officially "Jeremy and Zachary Day"! They were in our arms and we were a family!

The grandmothers fell in love instantly!

After we'd gotten reacquainted with the boys a little bit, we all went up to our family suite (two bedrooms with an adjoining family room and kitchenette), and got the boys into some comfy, cozy clothes and just spent the rest of the day together.

It was definitely one of the most amazing and best days of my life!

Thank You, Father God, for bringing Jeremy and Zachary into our family!

Ethiopia Trip #2 Recap: Hello, Dubai!

The three weeks after we came home from our first trip to Ethiopia flew by. They were filled with sickness, two baby showers, a day trip to Dallas, preparations in our nursery and home to welcome the kids, and...PACKING!

Finally, we were on the plane headed toward our sons!

Both of our moms came along for the amazing journey! We're so glad we got to share this special experience with them! Brian and I were both blessed with great mothers, and the best part is that our mothers love each other, too. You can see in this photo that they have fun together!

Since we didn't know when we'd ever make it to Dubai again, we decided to spend two nights (one full day) there!

My old friend Lisa, who I've known since 8th grade, lives in Dubai. She met us at the airport and was our tour guide extraordinaire! I love her!

One of my mom's friends also lives and works in Dubai. He lives on the 44th floor of the Marriot Hotel at the Marina, and he was kind enough to let the four of us occupy his spare rooms. This was the view from his balcony!

Dubai has amazing architecture. All of the construction around the marina is ten years old or newer, and it looked like such a space-age city!

Our morning began with a tour of a mosque.

It was an interesting cultural experience, that I'll likely never have again. Mosques are usually closed to non-Muslims, but there is a Center for Cultural Understanding that offers this tour. I started feeling kind of ill while we were there with flu-like symptoms, so I went back to the hotel for the rest of the day and rested. Brian and our moms spent the rest of the day on a city bus tour, a visit to Ski Dubai just to take a look-see, and a visit to see the Bellagioesque dancing fountains at the Burj Khalifa. After resting, I felt soooooo much better. Going back to the hotel to rest was the best decision I could have made, because I was going to be meeting and taking placement of my sons THE NEXT DAY!!!