Day 3, Continued

Every day before we left the orphanage, we were treated to a coffee ceremony. This is a traditional ceremony Ethiopians give as an act of hospitality. I am not a coffee drinker, but I had at least three cups! For those of you who are coffee drinkers, I'm told it is excellent coffee!
I will never complain about laundry again! Every day when we walked into the orphanage, we saw several ladies doing laundry for the 45+ kids. They wash them all by hand in a large basin and then rinse them in these bowls. Then, they hang them all up to dry. To make it even more impressive, notice the yellow jugs. They haul in the water with these. Amazing!
Once we returned to our guest house, we were all feeling the need to share our success stories with our friends and family, so we ventured around the block to find an internet cafe. We struck out, but it was fun to get a feel for the neighborhood.

Our guest house was right across the road from this school.

Our guest house is on the left.

We also got to go visit Acacia Village, the home that our agency is building. It is almost completed and will house all the kids in the near future!
It is a beautiful building.
This will be where the kids eat their meals.
I think the best part of it is that it is in a more rural area. The air is cleaner, and the view is beautiful. This picture shows three Acacia trees, right in the middle.
Meggan, me, and Shannon
As I think about the kids who will be here soon, I love that they will be able to have a visual reminder of this truth. They will be facing so many unknowns, but God will continue to lead them.

That night, we ventured out to the Yod, an authentic Ethiopian restaurant, complete with dancing! It was a great cultural experience for all of us!
Shannon and Mark, Susan and Seth washing their hands
Because we eat with our hands, they bring a pitcher by for us to wash first.
Julie, Chris, Chris and Meggan

Then, we used the injera to scoop up the different meats and veggies.Then, the music and dancing began. The dancers were beautiful in their costumes as they moved in ways that we just could not fathom!

We were almost ready to go when they decided to do their audience participation dance. Chris was the lucky one who was chosen to strut his stuff. :)

This was a great way to end this day.
We all went to bed, thinking of how tomorrow would bring court,
and these kiddos we had just met would become legally ours.

Meeting Isaiah!

Monday morning, we woke up excited to finally get to go see Isaiah. We managed to eat our breakfast with the other families in our guest house. Our driver actually arrived earlier than we expected, so I didn't even get to do my hair! I threw it into a pony-tail, jumped into the van, and we headed to the CWAE offices. When we arrived, we unloaded our donations before being briefed on the schedule for the upcoming week.At this point, our hearts were racing, and our stomachs were in knots. We were excited, curious, scared, and relieved--all at once! All of the families except us were shuttled to the CWA Transition home. Isaiah is still at his orphanage (which is in Addis), so we were taken there. We hopped into a jeep and made the five-minute trek to his home. A videographer came with us to catch the moment on video. We were so excited about this so that we could just enjoy the moment. This is the gate to his orphanage! Here, we are in the nurse's office, waiting for her assessment.

After waiting for what seemed like forever, the moment had finally come.

Someone brought him down the stairs and handed him right to me. I was relieved he didn't cry. You can tell in these first videos/pics that he was a little overwhelmed. Fortunately, as soon as we took him to his bed, he relaxed and seemed much more himself.

Still a little scared. . .

. . . but Daddy broke the ice fairly quickly.

After hanging out outside for a bit, we headed back into the living area to spend the rest of our time. This is where we played with him,tickled him, fed him, changed him, and held him while he slept. Again, it was a sweet, sweet day. Enjoy the pics and video!

He loved Peek-a-boo!


Tickles drew out his giggle!


These are the first steps we saw!

More smiles!

I'm not sure he's a huge fan of injera!
As soon as he was finished eating, we changed his diaper. Immediately, he fell asleep. . . right on the floor!
So, the rest of our time was spent cuddling this sweet, sleeping boy. It felt like heaven.
Tomorrow is court. We will have a chance to make Isaiah ours, officially!

Sunday Driving, Edited

On Sunday, we headed to a famous nearby mountain called Entoto Mountain. This is a large hill where the first Orthodox church was built. We had to drive through some of Addis to get there, so we witnessed a Sunday market. The video shows how many people were out. You will notice that most people take their lives into their own hands by walking in or at least very close to the roads!

We saw these women on our way up the hill. They had gathered firewood to sell.
This was one of the stores on the way up to Entoto.
This was the view about 3/4 of the way up. It was beautiful, and we appreciated the cleaner air.
This was our group at the top of Entoto. The picture doesn't really show the view of Addis in the background. We really enjoyed seeing the sights with everyone. I think we were more adventurous because we could travel in a group.
Here is the church. Many HIV+ people come here to offer prayers and seek healing.

After touring the Emperor's Palace, we saw these two kiddos coming down the hill. Some in our group offered them suckers, and this little boy was such a gentleman. He opened his sister's first! They were so sweet!!!
On the way back down to the city, we passed many children (notice the boy in a John Deere sweatshirt!). These children were playing. . . in the street! This was one reality to which I never got comfortable. There were many kids who played in and near traffic.
After coming down from Entoto Mountain, we went to Makush Gallery and Restaurant. This is an art gallery that features Ethiopian art. It was beautiful. Even better, we were able to eat some yummy cheese (and spinach) pizza. At this point, our stomachs were not completely settled, so we had not eaten much.

Next, we headed back to the Postal Area because one couple had not had a chance to go earlier.This is what one of the shops looked like. It was very crowded and full of stuff!

Chris and Mark posing with our translater, Neb (short for something none of us could pronounce).

It was fun to re-visit the shops; however, it was also draining because there are many kids outside the shops vying for our attention--and money. The toughest was looking at a young mother with her baby strapped to her back. She was selling gum to raise money. {Sigh} There are just hard sights to see each day.

Speaking of tough sights, on our way through the city earlier, I had seen a mother with three children on a street corner. It was a very busy area, and we were actually stopped in traffic which allowed me to observe this little family for longer. I noticed the middle girl, probably 3-4 years old, dressed only in a men's polo shirt, her bare bottom peeking out. She worked meticulously to arrange a pink, plastic sack on the sidewalk. When she had it just right, she quickly took a seat on that sack. . . next to her mother. . . on the street corner. It was both precious and heart-breaking at the same time.

That was most of our Sunday. We were officially one night away from seeing our son!

Travel to Ethiopia/Day 1 in Addis

We left Wichita Thursday morning. It was much more difficult telling the kids goodbye than I had anticipated, but we reminded ourselves that we are taking a big step to getting our fourth child! So, off we went!
Here, we are on our last flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!
We are flying over the Nile River!
We are getting closer!
We arrived in Addis Friday night. We checked into Ethiopia Guest Home. Just a few minutes later, another couple came in. Immediately, I recognized them as the Collins', another CWA family who has been walking this journey with us. Shannon and I have prayed for each other for almost a year! It was sweet to connect in person.

Here, I am standing on the balcony of the guest house. Saturday, we got ready and headed out to do some shopping with Mark and Shannon. Here are just some of the sights we saw while driving through the city:

Here is the view from our guest house.

Wooden scaffolding. We had heard about this, but it was remarkable to see it in person.

A man weaving.

Chris wanted to go by the stadium where Ethiopians play soccer and train for running. He even got to go down on the track!
This picture is a bit blurry because we took it in the van, but this was a common sight! Animals were everywhere.

There were so many road-side markets.

I forgot to get pictures of us shopping. I was too busy checking off my list! But, we went to the Postal District to get authentic gifts for our kiddos. We had a lot of success. After shopping, we headed back to the guest house. We actually moved to a different house for the rest of our stay. After freshening up, we met up with several other CWA families for supper at the Iron Tree restaurant. We found out later that this restaurant had internet access. We wished we had known! Oh well.

Our first day in Ethiopia was full. We had one more day to fill before getting to see Isaiah!

Winding Down

These are the guys who are watching and waiting for their parents to return home! They are currently out on the farm with Papa staying very well entertained as opposed to pining away. This picture just reminds me of God's promises and how He will complete this journey for them as well! Isn't it wonderful how we can trust completely on our Savior!?!

I've talked to Julie again and they are beginning to wind down their activities. Yesterday was a busy day with visiting a friend's sweet baby boy, taking pictures/videos for others who just met their little ones, visiting a leper's compound, eating a wonderful meal, and spending time with Levi and Jessie from Drawn From Water (link on the right). It was a full and Spirit-filled day that refreshed them.

Today has been a much quieter day. They were able to spend about 3 hours with Isaiah, and this time it was Chris who held him while he slept!

They are ready to be back at home with their oldest 3 kids and to sleep in their own bed and eat their own food! Tomorrow will be another relaxing day until they head to the airport. Pray they get on their flight, as it was overbooked by 20. Pray for their 10 hour layover in Frankfurt, that they will find something pleasant to occupy their time (possibly the internet!). Finally pray for the long flight home that everything will be on time and they will arrive safely Saturday night.

I think I'll sign off and join the ranks of anxiously awaiting friends/family who are going to devour the pictures and details of their trip!

It's Official!

Isaiah Tadu LeFevre is official!

After a very brief meeting in what was more of an office, the judge proclaimed that "He is yours!"

They immediately went to see Isaiah; their legal son!

In an effort to be real, I'll share with you that this is now the hard part. Legally he is their son, but legally they can't bring him home. That reality is beginning to weigh heavily on their hearts. Today was incredibly emotional and they are trying to sort it all out with their travel home in 3 days. Knowing with your mind cannot prepare your heart.

I wonder if this is how Jesus felt when He knew He was going back to the Father.

Anyway, please pray for their hearts as they bond even deeper with their son and also prepare to leave him for just a short time. We are all hopeful for a quick embassy date!

They will be able to share in the joy of one of their friends' new referral by visiting their little boy! I know that is a gift that I hope will bless Julie and Chris as well as this little guy's waiting parents!

Keep praying for the 3 kids who are home. As much as they want to see their parents, their parents want to see them! Pray for their little hearts, too!