Faces

The sweet faces we had the pleasure of greeting at the orphanages in Ethiopia. Our prayer is that through sharing our experience other families might discover the joy of building families through adoption.

Zane Pics

Extra pics from Ethiopia

Last Days in Ethiopia

Wednesday in Addis - that seems like a long time ago right now as we recover from traveling and jet lag. Wednesday we went to Gladney's foster home where Zane had been staying before we picked him up. We enjoyed a coffee ceremony with the other families in country. The highlight was meeting Zane's primary caregiver at this foster home. Her name is pronounced Sho-light but I have no idea how to spell it - I'll need to ask someone at Gladney for that. She bought Zane a traditional Ethiopian outfit as a going away gift and gave Chris and I scarves. She was very warm and quite fond of Zane. We told her we were grateful to her for loving on our son the months he was in her care. She told us she loved us and wished our family well.


We then went to eat at Top View - a beautiful restaurant up on a hill with an incredible view of the city. Following lunch, it was time for our embassy appointment. Back at the U.S. Embassy, this appointment was very unceremonious! You walk up to a window (like at any other govt office), raise your right hand that all the info you have provided is true, stand there while someone flips through your file, asks a couple basic questions and then stamps your approval on your file. That was it. Unceremonious but we were definitely relieved to have Zane's visa approved for travel!

Next we visited Trinity Cathedral which is truly beautiful. You should check out the photos if you have a minute at the link. Next to this cathedral is a martyrs' memorial and mausoleum containing the remains of the 68 officials of the Imperial government who were massacred by the Derg on November 23, 1974. One of those officials is Belay's father. Belay, as I think I mentioned in a previous post, is Gladney's in country director. He was 11-years-old when his father was killed. It was special to have him tour this with us.

*We also met Zane's birthmom at the Cathedral but I'll post about that separately.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner this Wednesday evening with Gladney folks and the other families in country. We were supposed to eat at the infamous Italian restaurant but it's closed on Wednesdays so we went to Serenade. Definitely a swanky joint! It was a very nice "last supper" with all of us together. We had all journey down this road of adopting and finally were about to journey home with our new children.

Thursday we spent the morning in our hotel, checkout was at noon. We then went to the Alert Hospital - only hospital in Africa that treats leprosy. The patients treated here make crafts and we were able to see where they work and purchase some of the items. It was a very peaceful compound. Unfortunately we don't speak Aramaic and we did not have a translator on hand. Would have loved to have learned more but are grateful to have caught a glimpse of the place. We mostly just tooled around during the afternoon before heading to the airport for our 10pm flight HOME!

First Days Home

The girls have been great with Zane, and after a couple days still seem excited to have a new brother.

Zane seems to relish all the attention and we are quickly seeing improvement in our little guy. After being home for about 30 minutes, he rolled over for the first time.

Chris took the girls to the grocery store but otherwise we have not left the house. After dragging Zane all over Addis Ababa and then our long flight home, he is probably thinking - "finally let me sit still for a few minutes!"

HOME

We made it. We are home, safe, sound and sleepy! Zane was a wonderful traveler! We left Addis about 10pm Thursday on a completely full flight. We were able to get seats with a bassinet (if you sit in the bulk head, they attach it to the wall in front of you). That was a huge gift and made a massive difference on a 17 hour flight - being able to put Zane in the bassinet and give our arms a break. I thought I might go out of my mind being on a plane so long but it wasn't too bad (thanks to the latest Harry Potter book we downloaded to our iPODs). I think God gave us great peace and Zane slept like a champ and was happy when he was awake, showing off his tongue to anyone who would look. We arrived in Washington D.C. Friday morning, then took off again a few hours later for our home city. Zane slept the entire flight. We were met at the airport by sweet family and friends. What a special way to come home! We were especially thrilled to wrap our arms around L&C!

I have lots of photos to post and info to share (like we did get to meet Zane's birthmother!). We are too pooped to write anything coherent today so it will have to wait. Just wanted to say thank you for praying for us and keeping track of us. We are thrilled to be home!

Day 8 - ET Wed

We are so excited this morning knowing we head home tomorrow! This morning we will enjoy a traditional coffee ceremony at the Gladney Foster Home. In the afternoon we have our scheduled embassy appointments to get Zane's visa. We have his Ethiopian passport but just need his visa - the final document so we can bring him home. Then we are visiting a historical church before having dinner tonight at Castelli's (yes, Malia, it's Italian but we have to go because NPR claims it's the best Italian restaurant in the world!).

We hope either today or tomorrow to meet Zane's birthmother. Gladney is trying to locate her. Last night we were told they got a hold of her neighbor who is going to talk to her today. It's not that she is avoiding us, it's that only the wealthy have cell phones. Everyone else, you just run into on the street and pass along messages. Please pray that if we meet it will give her peace knowing her son is going to a loving home and that his future is filled with hope.

We lose our internet connection sometime today so this is likely our last post from Africa. Thursday we will pack up, have lunch with the Gladney folks and squeeze in a few last minute activities if possible. We leave 10PM on our LONG flight home. Please pray Zane does well and sleeps lots!

Be home Friday afternoon! Adios! Thanks for tracking our adventure. We are grateful for your support and encouragement. And most of all we are grateful to God for giving Zane to us and allowing us this experience in Ethiopia. Can't wait for you to meet our son!

Day 7 - ET Tuesday

Today is Tuesday. It's now about 11:30PM in Addis Ababa. We just returned from an Ethiopian Cultural Dinner complete with traditional dancing. Wish I could post video here but this internet connection would certainly crash! Needless to say the environment, food, musicians and dancers were amazing!

We started today off at Enricos, with cream puffs and cappuccinos. This bakery was described to us as "old Addis experience."

We then left for a visit to an orphanage. The orphanages we visited last week were government run, this one was a private orphanage. The facilities were a bit nicer but overall seemed similar to our eyes - I'm sure the social workers and adoption agencies can better tell the differences. The children were precious, sang songs for us and showed off their gorgeous smiles. All the kids we have met have loved for us to take their photos and then show them on our digital cameras. The video camera is also a big hit - they love to see themselves in action. If I kneel on the ground for too long with the cameras I get swarmed. At one point I felt like a puppy dog as they were petting my hair. Once we would hug one child they would all swarm and gives us huge "bear hugs" and kisses on the cheek. It makes your heart want to burst. These children are so beautiful, inside and out. Wish I could take a dozen home with me today. Sadly we learned that less than 5% of these children will ever be adopted.

After lunch (yes, Italian again - I don't get it either) we went to the orphanage where Zane was relinquished by his birthmother. Actually the orphanage has since changed physical locations so it was not quite the same. But it was nice to take video of the infant beds knowing one was where he laid his head for 3 weeks, and to get a photo of the head caretaker.

Sweet Zane still has a horrible cough and diarrhea but his sinus infection seems to be improving. We are going to try and see the doctor again tomorrow to check in before our long flight home begins Thursday night.

We are desperate to see Lily and Claire. We had a webcam call with them today. So fun to see their sweet faces and hear them yell "mommy! daddy!" and to show them their baby brother. They were in their leotards having just returned from dance class. Two weeks is too long to be away from my girls.

Day 6 - ET Monday

It's Monday night here in Addis Ababa. 9:30PM, Zane is sleeping and Chris is listening to Harry Potter on his iPOD. We will soon crash for the evening...at least until Zane wakes to feed. He does seem to be feeling better, bit by bit.

Today we went to a French bakery for coffee and croissants at breakfast. It cracks me up that we have probably only enjoyed a few Ethiopian meals - everything else has been Italian, German, French or Indian. Actually Chris has BBQ chicken for dinner so I guess throw in Texan?

We visited Ethiopia's National Museum today. "Lucy" was discovered by archaeologists here in Ethiopia and she is typically housed at this museum. However, it gave us a laugh to hear she is actually in Houston on tour! And we came all this way...

Due to weather, our scheduled excursions to Entoto Mountain and the Alert Hospital (leprosy hospital) were postponed. Hopefully we will make those another day. Tomorrow we get to spend more time at the orphanages and hopefully visit the one where Zane stayed prior to being transferred to Gladney's Foster Home.

Today we learned the average Ethiopian annual salary in Addis is $250 U.S. dollars per year. In the rural areas it is about $150. Can you imagine? Gas here is $3.50/gallon USD.

We are ridiculously blessed.

More pictures from older boys orphanage

Complete shock. Upon walking into this room where the older boys sleep we all fell silent at the sight of such heartbreaking living conditions. Afterwards we got back in the car and just cried.

Orphanage for older boys

These buildings house boys in their early teens and up. They are badly in need of repair - or rather replacement. Aside from two women who cook for these boys, there is not anyone caring for them, teaching them or leading them. They desperately need someone to come in and "father" them, teach them life skills, give them direction, etc.

This is the kitchen. We could hardly breath inside this dark, smoky building. Two women cook inside here most of the day to feed the 150+ boys who live here.

More boys & girls orphanage pics

More pics from the boys and girls orphanage. The middle photo shows only part of a room that was filled with around 20 or so baby-filled cribs. We were surprised as we walked around to talk to these little ones that they were so responsive, had great eye contact and smiled or showed off in some way. It's a testament to the love these caretakers pour on each child. This sweet girl charmed Chris into allowing her to hold Zane. Zane obviously approved!

Boys and Girls orphanage pictures

This orphanage houses both boys and girls, from infant and up. Once the boys hit puberty age, they are moved to an older boys orphanage but the girls stay here until they "age out" of the orphanage. These pictures show snack time, some of the older girls who are little mamas to the youngest children, and the last photo is of these handsome boys. They greeted us upon arrival with a song, pounding their sticks. We "tipped" them and they bought cokes for one another.

Day 5 - Sunday Ethiopia

We are hurting for sleep at this point. In the 7 days we've been traveling, we have enjoyed 1 good night's sleep. Zane has kept us up with a nasty cough. He seemed to perk up a bit today so hopefully his antibiotics are beginning to kick in.

We went to an international church here in Addis Ababa today. It was very cool to be in Africa worshipping God alongside others from different nations. Besides Ethiopians, there are a number of other Africans (Somalians, Kenyans, etc.) that attend this church. Churches in the U.S. are unfortunately very segregated. The Bible talks about every tongue and every nation worshipping together and we felt like we got a tiny glimpse of that this morning.

Late afternoon we were picked up with our entire group and went to a town about an hour south of Addis in the Rift Valley. I can't remember the name of the town but it translates to Mount of Olives. There are 7 crater lakes in this city and we went to dinner at a restaurant called Dreamland that overlooks one of the crater lakes. Beautiful! It was so peaceful to be outside of Addis, sitting in this quiet balcony, overlooking a gorgeous lake and a view of the mountains. Addis is a cool city but extremely polluted, very crowded and muddy. Outside the city it is beautiful, lush and you can breath a bit easier. Plus the area we drove to gets less rain so the streets are more bearable.

We are so excited to now have Sunday behind us (it's Sun 9:30PM here). I am now beginning to feel like we are on the downhill slope of our trip. Five more days and we get to be with Lily and Claire! We miss them a ton and are daydreaming that next time we come to Ethiopia we can bring them with us (Hey grandparents - you up for joining us?!). We hear they are living in up back home. My mom took them to McDonald's the other day and they ended up lunching (and charming!) next to Coach Darrell Royal. I wonder if they told him their mom is an aggie??

Please pray Zane continues to heal up and that we can get some sleep!

Day 4 - ET Saturday

Today was a stark contrast from yesterday. First off, the weather was nice and sunny. Second we went souvenir shopping. The only similarity to the previous day was that we took Zane to yet another doctor. This time we went to a pediatrician. Zane has a sinus infection and is now on antibiotics. He also has a viral infection giving him diarrhea. Hopefully he will start to perk up. Please pray he heals quickly and that we can all get some sleep. He has kept Chris and I up the past two nights due to his constant coughing and fussing in his sleep.

As our technical challenges continue, we can't view the blog or post pictures to it. Maybe it will work tomorrow. Wish I had a picture to show you of the guy who tried to sell us live chickens today! We both busted out laughing as did all the locals around us.

Day 3 - Photos

father and son

Day 3 - Ethiopia - New Author

For Day 3 you get the male perspective. For some strange reason, we can post to the blog, but can't see what we posted, so there might be some repeated information from Heather's previous posts. High speed internet access in Ethiopia is not exactly comparable to high speed internet access in the States.

As this is my first post in Ethiopia (or ever on a blog), I am starting by going back to our arrival in Ethiopia.

Addis Ababa is very green. My assumption was that everything would be brown and there would be very little vegetation. There are lots of trees and the countryside is very pretty. However, since it is the rainy season, there is mud everywhere.

There are approximately 4 million people in Addis Ababa (3 million according to Wikipeida, 4 million according to the locals). As you can guess, most of them are very poor. Everywhere you drive, it seems like all 4 million are out walking on the side of the road or crossing the road on foot in front of your car. I didn't say "sidewalks", I said side of the road. There are very few sidewalks. And since there is mud everywhere, many walkers just walk in the road. As a passenger in the car, you are in constant fear that someone will step right in front of the car and try and cross the street or sidestep another pedestrian and step into oncoming traffic. In the US, all cars stay in their lane and turn from the designated turn lane. In Addis, the lanes are merely suggestions and you should expect that the car in front of you will come into your lane. On many intersections, there are no yield signs, stop signs, or stop lights. It appears to be a system of who got there first. Apparently there are rules about yielding to the uphill driver, but to the untrained eye, these rules seem to be largely ignored. There a pot holes that can swallow a small SUV and on a regular basis, the road you need is not paved. All of this with most cars on the road that have no exhaust or emissions suppressors. Basically driving in Addis Ababa is not for the timid.

There is a tremendous amount of construction all over Addis. Buildings are going up all over the city. Many of them are relatively attractive 5-10 story buildings. The scaffolding used in construction does not look OSHA compliant, but it is getting the job done and employing thousands of people.

On our third day in Ethiopia, we took Zane to a US government approved doctor, for a check-up. Very basic deal. Basically the Doctor looked at Zane, used the stethoscope for about a minute and completed the paperwork by saying, "He looks fine."

Then we entered territory owned and controlled by the United States government. The US Embassy in Addis. Zane needed to get his 3rd blood test completed to test for AIDS. He was negative at 2 months, Negative at 5 months and I am sure will be negative at 6 months. Still it makes sense from a US Government perspective. You have to at least know what you are getting yourself into. The drawing of blood did not go well. We went last (there are 3 other families here with Gladney this week also) and got to hear most of the other kids scream pretty good. Zane had it much worse. They couldn't find a vein in his arm, so after what seemed like 20 minutes (probably a solid 2 minutes) of some technician digging a needle around the inside of his skin looking for a vein, they gave up and cut his finger to get the blood needed. This took a solid 2 minutes as they needed to fill two small vials. Zane was not happy. Much screaming occurred. As soon as they finished, he completely shut down and went to sleep. Not good times.

After lunch, we went to three orphanages. The first was the "older boys" government run orphanage. It has an official name, but I can't pronounce or spell it. "Older boys" is basically about 13 to 18, but there are many men that just don't leave, because they have no where to go. We talked to one man named Jo (not his real name, but a shortened version of his name that he asked us to call him), who was 21, spoke broken English, but much better then my Amharic. He had been in orphanages since the age of 5. His mother was alive and he saw her regularly, but she was counting on him to care for her soon. He was not confident that he would be able to.

This facility was basically run by the orphans. There were a very few adults and approximately 150 boys. There were 4 or 5 buildings with at least 20 beds in each building. No screens and many of the window were broken. Metal roofs that leaked. Shortly after our arrival, it started pouring rain. One of the women with us asked Ryan (the Gladney coordinator, US born, been in Ethiopia for about 9 months), "if this is the orphanages, what do the prisons look like". It is a perfect quote/description for how bad the conditions in this facility are. Besides that the facility is run down, so many of these boys have no hope as evidenced by the fact that so many of them stay or come back after they turn 18.

It is very sobering to just be driving down the road in Ethiopia and see the poverty. But to be up close talking to these boys makes me both sad and grateful for what I have. As bad as the facility is, the boys were very friendly and genuinely happy to have us come visit. They wanted to show us their rooms, their soccer field (a slanted mud field about 50 yards long with no goals), and even their kitchen (basically a firewood burning stove with no chimney, crazy smoky inside the kitchen). They wanted you to take their picture and ask where you were from. Many of the boys did not want us to leave.

The second orphanage was for older girls and younger boys and girls. It was significantly better. It was obvious that it was regularly cleaned and maintained. There were far too many children and not enough adults, but the children were happy and there to put on a show for the Americans. Obviously they were hoping to be adopted, but you could tell that they cared for one another. A women in our group was adopting a 9 month old, and her baby came from this orphanage. When the children saw that the little boy was back, they were so happy to see him and it was obvious that both the children and the caretakers genuinely cared about this young boy (this was repeated at the next orphanage with another couples baby).

The third orphanage was really neat to see. We were greeted with a traditional/made-up song from the young boys that lived there. Apparently this song is only performed one day a year, so we were very lucky. This orphanage had more younger children and so many of them were so cute. We went into the infant room for a few minutes. There were probably 15 babies under the age of one, each in their own crib. None of them were crying and most of them smiled back or reached up for you when you stopped at their crib. There were about 4 caretakers in the baby room and they knew all of the babies by name. I was carrying Zane when we went in the baby room and the workers all came up to me and looked at Zane, kissed him and smiled at him, then said, "what is his name?, he did not come from here".

The Gladney staff is doing a great job of trying to be around these kids and helping them with English classes and just showing kindness. The kids even know the drivers (even ours, who is very stoic and quite, but the kids love him). But there are too many kids.

As much growth as there is right now in Addis (10%+ GDP growth for all of Ethiopia in 2006 according to the CIA country factbook), they have such a long way to go and there are so many orphans. We just went to 3 orphanages. There are many, many more.

I have barely talked about Zane. He is just fantastic. Still super cute and easy. We are taking him to a pediatrician tomorrow. He has a nasty hack cough and some funky poop. I am sure the Doctor will say that it will get better once we get him home, but we just want to make sure.

Right now it is 11:00 pm in Addis and Heather and Zane are sleeping. It is my turn to do the same before the likely 2:00 am wake-up cry.

OK, that is all I have for now.

Chris

Day 2 - Ethiopia

Today is Thursday. Zane slept fine last night. We were told he feeds every four hours and takes 7 ounces with each feeding. He definitely operates like a clock and is hungry at 4 hour intervals. But we have yet to get him to eat more than 6 ounces at a time. I wish I could post a photo of the "crib" the hotel supplied to us (I'm having trouble transferring pics from the camera to the computer). It's a mini sized crib that sits just an inch or two from the floor. He has napped in it but we kept him in bed with us last night. I thought we might have trouble sleeping with a baby in bed but we're exhausted and slept great....aside from his 2AM and 6AM feedings. In spite of our early wake up call, it was simply amazing to wake up to this gorgeous baby boy we can now call our son.

We did not do much today. We wandered the grounds of our hotel. It has a number of restaurants, a hot springs fed pool, squash courts, clay tennis courts, lots of little shops, etc. Yesterday was cold and rainy but today it was nice. Taking advantage of it, we sat outside at a pastry shop and sipped cappuccino. Are we really in Africa??

We met up for lunch with the other 3 Gladney families that just arrived. So surreal to sit in a restaurant in Ethiopia with other caucasian Americans all with their new African children. The restaurant was called Biergarten Inn - yes, a german microbrew. The beer was actually pretty good! Evidently the owner previously spent some time in Germany. During our two restaurant meals thus far I've yet to see other children. Evidently people who can afford to eat out like this have a nanny at home and don't take children out to eat. However, children are adored here - from the grandmothers down to the young teenage boys, they all coo and kiss on babies passing by. It's quite common at a restaurant for the staff to offer to hold your child while you eat. We experienced this today at lunch when our waitress swept Zane away. Thankfully we had our hosts there to explain away our bewildered faces.

Zane continues to interact with us. He locks eyes with us when feeding, turns his head to our voices, coos and babbles to us, and laughs and smiles when we play. Although it's hard being away from L&C this long, we know it's good to have all this one-on-one time with Zane to help him bond to us. We are quite smitten with him!

By the way, Chris thinks this post should be about poop. He just finished changing a bad one (not that any are good). Figured I would mention it to make him feel better.

Tomorrow we are picked up at 9am and taken to a "U.S. Embassy approved doctor" for Zane's physical. The embassy requires one last physical and blood test before issuing travel visas. So a doctor's appt, lunch and then we will visit the orphanages that house the "older" boys and girls. Older simply means older than a toddler. I'm anxious to see how these kids live.

Something very cool we found out today, most of the caretakers at the infant foster home and the toddler foster home are grown up orphans themselves. It's great to see Gladney's continued investment in these children, even when they pass the age of living in an orphanage (I think the age is 16?).

Zane just fell asleep. We can now relax and enjoy a glass of wine as we sit and listen to a "call to prayers" man (Ethiopia is 40% muslim) chanting on a loud speaker across the street. Still can't believe we are here.

Day 1 - Ethiopia (more pics)

Day 1 - Ethiopia

We flew from Rome to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia overnight, arriving in Addis at 7:45AM. Smooth trip aside for the 90+ minutes we waited for our luggage to be placed on the conveyor belt. And we thought our airport was quite slow! Oh well, all our luggage made it and for that we are grateful. We exited baggage claim to see someone waving a "Gladney" sign. It was Ryan (in country rep) and Tefessa, one of the driver's Gladney hires to tour us around. They took us straight to the Hilton where we raced through showers in anticipation of meeting Zane.


Driving to the Hilton the streets were jammed with cars and pedestrians. Donkeys and goats are a common site walking down the road. The poverty is everywhere and I know we have just seen the tip of the iceberg. The people we have met are very warm, soft spoken and gracious. We have felt quite welcome. Many of you asked about safety concerns. So far we have not felt uneasy at any time. We were told Addis Ababa is the safest capital throughout all of Africa. There is very little violent crime...mostly just petty crime like stealing car stereos.


The Gladney Foster Home is a special place south of Addis. They currently have about 20 babies there. Belay, Gladney's in country director lives on the same block and his mom lives next door to the foster home. The home is spotless and it's obvious the caretakers are in love with these babies. Evidently none of the babies sleep through the night because the caretakers insist on waking them to feed and change diapers.

When we arrived to the foster home, 3 other families were there. These families have already been in Addis a week and depart tomorrow. They were at the foster home to say goodbye to the caretakers and enjoy a traditional coffee ceremony. (They roast the beans right there, everyone enjoys the wafting aromas, and they crush the beans, add hot water and serve. VERY good coffee. Not the least bit bitter like we are used to.)


After a brief introduction it was time to meet Zane. I felt like my heart was in my throat from the moment we landed at the Bole Airport (Addis Ababa airport), and the intensity just grew walking up the stairs to the 2nd floor. A caretaker brought Zane out and placed him in my arms. Evidently they had interrupted his feeding so he came out with a grimace on his face. He sat there in my arms definitely checking us out, not sure what to think. But then the ice was broken when he proceeded to burp loudly and spit up all over me. He rewarded us with a smile and has been a champ ever since.



Zane seems very mellow and especially tender. Holding him, he just locks eyes with me and reaches up his little hand to hold it on my cheek. Every time we kiss him he smiles this lazy smile like he is just soaking it all in. It has been magical.


Right now we are back at our hotel, 10pm at night. Zane is fed and sleeping. We are about to crash ourselves. Tomorrow we will join a few other families and spend the afternoon at one of Gladney's homes for older orphans. We are very excited to meet these children.


It's surreal to be here. It's surreal to all of a sudden be holding this son of ours. We are richly blessed.

Bags Packed

Our bags are packed to the 50 lb weight limit/each. In some cases the scales might read 52 -53. We hope to guilt the person checking us in at the airport into letting us squeak by the extra pounds. We have our lines rehearsed, "Well, I guess we can remove the diapers and formula we are carrying to orphans in Ethiopia."

We first fly to Rome to enjoy a couple days together before arriving in Ethiopia Wednesday morning. By the time you awake Wednesday, Zane will already be in our arms.

I'm including this photo so that as we (hopefully) update our blog from Africa, we can have this sweet photo of L&C and their "Bear" as they call Heather's dad. Thanks to the Clopton's we have set up webcams and mics on our laptop and the grandparent's computer. Thank goodness for this technology that will allow us to keep in touch with the girls and show off Zane to them while we are so far away!

Please pray for smooth travel, for Zane's health and his ability to bond with us, for our safety/health, and that L&C have a wonderful time being spoiled by their grandparents, aunts, uncles and special friends!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Between loving on our girls, running last minute errands and loads of laundry, our bags are nearly packed. We even set up webcams and mics (thanks Clopton's!) on our laptop and the grandparent's computer so we can see and talk to L&C while traveling. It has been a long day and we are both ready to hurry up and leave. The build up to our departure has unfortunately ehightened the anxiety L&C are feeling about being apart from us. I think that anxiety goes both ways as we will miss them so much.

Joy

Although our travel dates are mere days away, Gladney was kind enough to provide us with an update on Zane. We were told “Zena is full of joy lately. He just doesn't stop grinning. He is very playful and interactive. " What fun news to hear, especially that he is joyful. Gladney also provided a weight/height update so we can pack clothes of the right size! Our little guy has put on 2.5lbs in the past 6 weeks and is up to 25 inches in length. Chris is already planning Zane's marathon training.

3 more days

With just days to go until we board an airplane that will take us to our son, we have so much going through our heads. There is the last minute "to do" list like putting a hold on our mail and mowing the lawn. There are our mixed emotions about leaving so soon - excited to hold Zane in our arms and very sad to be leaving L&C for so long. We are packing bags and weighing them to make sure we don't exceed the limits. We are printing copies of passports and adoption papers, confirming flights and hotels. The list goes on.

Sweet friends joined us this evening after L&C were tucked into bed. We shared dessert, wine and talked about this adoption experience to date and all the incredible ways God has made us see how real and how BIG and how good He is. We were reminded that it is God who has given us this intoxicating love for adoption and that we can't not do it. We can't imagine our life any other way and we feel so fortunate to build our family this way and experience the adoption of our children. It is truly an adventure! Mostly these friends came to sit and pray for us. For many years prayer simply felt like an evening ritual - like brushing my teeth. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm supposed to and it's good, etc. But not until these last few years have we both come to understand how real it is --- that we are coming before our Heavenly Father and that He longs for us to spend time with Him, to ask of Him, to praise Him, and to share with Him. AND that He hears and responds to us. We are richly blessed to have sweet friends that love us enough to pray for us. What peace we have in knowing as we travel that there are so many people praying for our family. Thank you.

ET Factoids

Counting down to our departure, thought we would share a few interesting Ethiopia facts with you:

• Ethiopia is the only African country never to have been colonized, although it was occupied by the Italians in the 1930s until 1941.
• It is located in eastern Africa, just west of Somalia.
• Ethiopia is slightly less than twice the size of Texas.
• Terrain consists of a high plateau with a central mountain range divided by the Great Rift Valley.
• Amharic is the primary language although 70 different languages are spoken in this country.
• Addis Ababa is the capital of Ethiopia. Addis holds about 2 million people. Ethiopia's total population is 76.5 million people.
• Life expectancy is about 45 years.
• Ethnic groups that make up the population: Oromo 40%, Amhara and Tigre 32%, Sidamo 9%, Shankella 6%, Somali 6%, Afar 4%, Gurage 2%, other 1%.
• Coffee, thought to have originated in Ethiopia, is the main export.

TREASU(RED)

The "RED" campaign is now making clothes for Baby Gap as well. I saw this and could not resist. You can click on the photo to enlarge. The text across the picture of Africa reads "Treasured" - so very true of our baby Zane!