Thursday: Wrapping up in Ethiopia

Thursday came, and we were excited to be able to pack our bags and head home. In the morning, we did take one quick excursion to the ALERT Leper colony again. Our friend, Kristy, wanted to buy some souvenirs for her other children, and we hadn't had a chance to do that so far. So, we headed to the colony since it was pretty low-key and not crowded. I mentioned after our last trip how I loved this place. I love that I was able to buy items made by those who live with leprosy in that colony. And, the prices were so reasonable. And, I didn't have to bargain for them! Yeah. So, we headed there. I was so excited to find wooden coffee sets, another woven rug, and a Christmas ornament for Isaiah. If you are going to Ethiopia, I highly recommend going to ALERT.
Here is Chris, Isaiah, and Neb (our driver) just outside of the shop by some coffee plants.
Here is a study in contrasts, similar to what we saw over and over in the city. One minute, we would see donkeys walking down the sidewalk. . .

. . .the next minute, it looked like a scene from modern-day U.S. It just never got old to see.

After that, we headed back to the guest house for lunch. Have I mentioned anything about the food? This trip, we did not lose any weight! The food was great at the guest house, and we ate most of our meals there. So, if you are going to stay at Ethiopia Guest Home, know that they prepare pretty good meals that are safe for us.

Juice mustache!

Oh, and Isaiah ate what we ate. He was just over 16 months, and they had plenty of good food for him. One night, he was really hungry before supper was ready, so they even made him some scrambled eggs. They are so accommodating!

After lunch, we started packing, and I had my complimentary massage. Again, I highly recommend that you take advantage of this perk if you can. Before we could leave, the guest house performed our last coffee ceremony. Here is the lady roasting the coffee beans before making coffee. As you can see, pop corn is traditionally served with the coffee.
Here is Kristy with her two kiddos. It was so encouraging and helpful to have her at the guest house with us! She is an experienced adoptive mom (these are #9 & 10!), so her insight and encouragement was much appreciated! Chris and I were so glad to spend these days with her, her dad, and her two three-year-olds.

Kristy and kiddos waiting for our ride to the airport.

After supper, we were off! We headed to the airport with Kristy and her crew. We did not bring enough toys, so Isaiah entertained himself with our water bottles!

We were excited to know that we had a seat with a baby bassinet, so we thought Isaiah would sleep so well. Well, we got on the airplane around 11:00 p.m. Once we finally took off, it was late, so he fell asleep right away on Chris. (He hadn't really liked the bassinet, so Chris was just holding him. Unfortunately, a well-meaning African lady thought that Isaiah should be sleeping in the bassinet, so she came over and took Isaiah out of Chris's arms. We had been dozing already, so we weren't sure what was happening at first. By the time we came to, Isaiah was wide awake, scared, and quickly escalating into one of his major fits! He continued to scream for about 30 minutes, enraging most of the other passengers around us. We were flustered and extremely frustrated. Finally, I got up to walk him around, and he eventually fell back asleep. This all happened within the first hour of flight, so we were wound up and very anxious. The rest of the 16 hour flight was long and exhausting, so we were so relieved to finally reach U.S. soil.Sleeping soundly in Daddy's arms. . . for a while!

In Chicago, we did take a quick detour to the outside of the airport security to see Chris's brother, Shaun, and his wife, Kathy. They brought us lunch, and we were able to introduce them to Isaiah. We were so excited to see familiar faces--and eat yummy food! We almost missed our last flight home; luckily, we found a short security line and made it in the nick of time. Whew!

The last flight home was tough. Isaiah was done, so he screamed/threw a fit for about 30 minutes of the hour home. Again, we were just relieved to get to Wichita.

We were blessed by a crowd of people who came to welcome us. I didn't have my camera out, so I have to borrow some pics from friends!Introducing Isaiah to the kids first.

Happy Tears!

Adding a crowd as we got closer. . .

Lots of introductions!

We were so excited to be home and introduce Isaiah to so many friends and family who have walked with us over the past two years. It was so fun to come home to such open arms!