Birthday and Fall fun

We have to take a quick break from the trip report because somebody had a birthday:


Who could that be?

Our little Juniper turned 1 on the 15th! What a big girl!


She was the first of our three kids to actually eat her birthday cake in her highchair with her hands. Paisley fell asleep on her 1st birthday; Majil didn't want to get dirty, so she kept her hands away from that pesky cake. Junie? Dove in...full fist of cake, right to the mouth. The picture above was about the 2nd bite. It was totally worth it...until I tried to get her out of the seat. Do you know how much frosting can be absorbed in the webbing of the seatbelt thing?


Her birthday party was pretty low-key; the majority of our family (immediate and extended) were sick. All except Juniper! We elected to postpone her party until everyone was better to try to prevent her from catching it. However, she seems to be a total immunological champion. I don't know if it's the orphanage effect or something, but she's tough!

We also played outside today, which was a great change from a surprisingly cold few weeks of October and the nice weather helped the girls feel better than they have been feeling. They had a great time jumping in the leaves and we possibly got our Christmas card photo! In the past, it's always a challenge to get the girls looking cute, hair in place, BOTH looking at the camera for the picture. Now that we have 3, we have an automatic pass to use "artistic license" and have thrown all that out the window. Pretty...darn...cute...I'd say.


Also, I love this picture below. This was the first morning after I got home from Ethiopia.


More trip info soon!

Day 3 (Part 2-Gotcha Day still!)

After meeting our Juniper Tesfanesh, we loaded on a bus to go shopping. It was a strange experience; I wanted to stay at Hannah's Hope so much to see everything and take it all in, but because Junie's reaction was so scared and afraid, I thought it was okay to give her a break for a little bit!

We drove through the city to a small shopping area. This was probably the first time we were out in the city in the daylight. I've read of the poverty. I've seen pictures and videos. NOTHING can do it justice other than being there. Being surrounded by it. As we drove, my eyes darted from scene to scene, trying to remember everything I saw and process the situations that so many people are living in. There were tons of people everywhere; people in business suits walking alongside people in rags.


The worst was seeing people on the sidewalk stepping over piles of blankets. I thought this was weird until I realized that a person, a human being, someone created in God's image, was lying under those blankets. I caught a glimpse of some of their faces; hollow, sunken faces. Tired faces. And I'm on a bus with two cameras in my bag and 3600 Birr in an envelope to go shopping (side note: way too much shopping money, but the left over can be paid toward the hotel fee for those of you traveling soon!) all while texting my wife on a Blackberry the news that I met our daughter. What on Earth? Why such a difference in the world? I have NO reason to complain about anything. My heart was moved for these people. But I still struggle with how to help...


We went shopping for a short time. I don't know how long we were there because it was crazy busy. It was like using Monopoly money for things....a scarf was 40 birr...but I had no idea how much that was in US currency. (Later I figured out 40 birr is $3.30 or so, but the math in my head was just too much!) The AGCI staff encouraged bargaining with the shopkeepers, as most sales are negotiated, but I felt so bad trying to get something cheaper, I didn't do much negotiating. I had made a list of what I wanted to get for Jana, the girls, parents, nieces, etc. I had grand ideas of buying something for Junie's birthdays each year, for her wedding, etc. but I wasn't that organized. I did get several dresses of various sizes for the girls to wear, jewelry for everyone, candlesticks, a tablecloth, and some other things.

We went to an Italian restaurant/art gallery for lunch. It was great to sit down and talk with other families on such an important day. We had great pizza and my first Ethiopian Coke; it was good time.



We went back to Hannah's Hope where I saw Junie's room, met more of her special moms, and finally got to take her back to the hotel! She was finishing a bottle when I got there, so she was fairly happy until I picked her up. She started screaming and Almaz said..."You, go..." and, um, "escorted" me to the door of her room. I asked a few quick questions, things that I thought may come in handy, such as "is she on regular or soy formula?" and "how much does she eat?". Given the fact Jana nursed both our girls, I had NEVER given a bottle, nor did I know how to mix one. They said, "Yes, soy. Um...about 4 or 6 or 8 ounces, sometimes more..." and that was it. I had intended on talking with the special moms (even though they don't speak much English) about how to calm her down, likes, dislikes, etc. but this was cut short because of the constant shrieking that my little princess had started.

I tried to calm her down outside, but she showed how tough she could be. Most families walked their kids back to the hotel, but because our little lady was making such a commotion, Almaz came out and put me in a van! She couldn't keep this screaming up for long, right?

Yep. She sure could. 2 hours and 20 minutes to be exact. Once back at the hotel, I put her on the floor on a blanket and tried to play with her, change her, feed her, soothe her. Nope. No go. This crazy guy was staring at her and she wanted nothing to do with it! Finally, she would stop for a second, then look up at me and start crying again. These pauses were longer and longer until she finally fell asleep on me in our Ergo baby carrier. In true Dad form, I thought I'd just lay her on the bed and we'd all get some rest. Ha ha...yeah right, it started all over again!

After awhile, we went downstairs for some dinner and the walking around and the commotion of the restaurant entertained her until she fell asleep again at about 7:30 her time. That night, she got up 4 times and started her fearful cry again, but I would take her into the bathroom (we left the light on) and she'd look at me in the mirror, lay her head back down, drink a little more formula, and go back to sleep. I was so enamored with her, I didn't sleep between the 2nd and 3rd wakings. I just stared at her, amazed that I was laying next to our baby!



So glad you're home sweetheart!

Day 3! (Part 1-Gotcha day!)

We woke up earlier than we probably wanted to on Monday. We took our time getting ready since, after all, we were just going to do paperwork today and wait until Tuesday to meet our girl. Downstairs at the Union was a fun sight to see: a long table with all the AGCI families that had arrived Sunday evening/night. We met everyone and talked for awhile. It is so great to hear other families stories and how they came to adopt. Every story I heard struck me as amazing and wonderful; I was blessed to be in such wonderful company.

After eating another excellent breakfast (this time it was French Toast....absolutely incredible, like a triangle donut) we finally saw Almaz come to the door! It was kind of like seeing a movie star! I've seen pictures of her, read about her, and heard about her, but I got nervous when I saw her. She was great; she put us at ease while talking about paperwork, exchanging money, etc. I'd heard she would mention each child's name and something about them while talking, but everyone was mentioned except ours! Aaaah...my heart was almost beating out of my chest! (It dawned on me that I was sitting next to a female, so perhaps she thought I was with her?) Afterwards, I asked about Tesfanesh and how she'd react to me. She said, "It'll be hard. Good luck Dad." (!)

At some point, as she was filling us in on the rest of the day's activities (pretty much only shopping as far as we knew), she said "somewhere there's been confusion. We're going to get your kids in like 5 minutes guys, but I need you to listen closely to what I'm going to say next about the Embassy appointment." WHAT!? I was about to meet her? No way! Will she like me? Sleep okay? Take a bottle from me?

In true graduate student form, I took copious notes of the Embassy appointment, none of which were retained in my head the following day at the appointment, and sprinted up the stairs for cameras, batteries, etc. I don't remember talking to anyone or thinking of anything in particular; but suddenly I was on the cobblestone path leading up to Hannah's Hope to meet my daughter!

The Cobblestone Path

"Hey, take the picture vertically so we...CLICK" (Not thinking clearly; meeting daughter soon)

The famous gate

Walking through the gate

Gotcha Juniper Tesfanesh!

Yeah, I felt joy. She felt fear. Absolutely gripped with fear. I mentioned earlier that we were warned she was fearful of white faces. "Fearful" is what Jana is in line for a rollercoaster. "Absolutely gripped with terror" was appropriate for the moment. Poor girl. I held her for a second, but the special moms took her back because she was so scared. I was okay with it all; I wanted her to be as comfortable as possible, so I just prayed she'd warm up to me somehow.


I took some pictures of other families which was fun to watch and see. I admired our beautiful girl from a distance, trying to send the "I'm a good guy" vibe to her. I was thinking she got it, but then I tried to hold her again and she cried immediately. The special moms couldn't take it anymore and rushed her inside. (Funny thing is, that was Jana's first reaction to me!)

I enjoyed more of other families' gotcha day moments and we all had to say goodbye to the kids while we made a quick shopping trip....

More to come!

Wordless Wednesday

Day 3-Sunday

Our first full day in Ethiopia was quite relaxing. The best part is, we were so tired from the traveling that we slept a full 10-12 hours and woke up at 8:00 a.m. Addis time. There you have it: adjusted to the time change! That was easy! (Don't laugh, it seemed that way. Then I came home....not so easy. Maybe still adjusting?)

We made our way to the lobby of the Union Hotel where the restaurant is located. I had heard good things about the pancakes, so I ordered that and a cup of coffee. The pancakes were pretty good, and the coffee was t h i c k ! The waiter brought it out in a small pot with a demitasse cup, a pitcher of milk, and some sugar. He filled the cup pretty full, so I just put a *hint* of milk and sugar in it and took a sip. The rest of the jittery first encounter with Ethiopian coffee went like this:

WHOA...that's strong! (More milk and sugar)

another sip

WHOA...still strong! (More milk and sugar)

and pretty much that way until I got to the bottom. I was glad I ate the pancakes first, or else I'd have had syrup splattered over my face from my shaking hands. It was incredibly smooth coffee though; unlike any coffee I'd had here in the States.


The hotel was pretty much empty except for one other AGCI family, so we had the whole hotel to ourselves. We spent some time on the porch watching people and traffic, took a nap, and tried to find Hannah's Hope from the 3rd floor window. I remembered HH being yellow, so I looked for a yellow brick building. Little did I know, the cute little RED brick building with the yellow front was where our Juniper was staying! AND, it was at the center of all our photos from that window! It was good I didn't know that our I might have headed over there!

Look how close I was to our little girl!!!

We enjoyed an afternoon thunderstorm (it's the rainy season) and finished the day with spaghetti with tomato sauce; my father in law had the roasted chicken. Both were great. Several other families had arrived (including Michelle and Chad's and Leah and Jay's families; I don't think the others had blogs), so it was great to meet them and wonderful to have company in the hotel!

We went to bed, prepared for paperwork the next morning with Almaz, the orphanage director. Our itinerary said we wouldn't meet the kids until Tuesday, so we all discussed a petition or something so we could meet our kids the next day rather than wait 2 days! (Fortunately, we were able to meet the kids on Monday!)

Day 1-2: Long travel day!

Leaving my family for a week was surprisingly harder than I thought. I knew I'd miss them, but I underestimated the depth of the emotions for them while I was gone. Jana and I haven't been away longer than about an overnight the entire 7 years we've been married, so this was pretty strange. We said goodbye at the airport, followed by about 15 minutes of her watching me while I tried to put my shoes and belt back on after the security checkpoint. Then, we were able to wave goodbye one more time.

My father in law and I flew to Minneapolis, then to Amsterdam. Can I say I knew the flight was 7 hours but didn't know what that was truly like? Sure, I watched movies and ate, um, delicious(?) rewarmed meals at crazy times, but it was pretty long. We had a 4 hour layover in Amsterdam which was just the right amount of time for me to figure out how much a Euro was at the various stores and not buy anything. If you look close, you might see some tulips. I think. It IS Holland, after all.

We flew then to Khartoum, Sudan and on to Addis Ababa. We were more than ready to get to our destination.

Khartoum, Sudan

At the airport, we waited in LONG lines for our visas, immigration, and finally to xray our bags again to get out of the airport. The most interesting part was I was the only one irritated by waiting....all the other people were just fine, talking and laughing together. I realized I was the outsider! Definitely a good wake up call for me. We claimed our bags and found our driver. We were lucky enough to arrive at the same time as another adoptive parent, so we waited for her and her friend and then off to the hotel.

We landed in Addis at 10:25 p.m., so we weren't able to see much of the drive, other than a TON of traffic (Saturday night, I thought was the reason....but there is always that much traffic) and people everywhere. In the streets, sidewalks, buildings, in between traffic, in the medians, etc. All over! As we got further from what seemed like "downtown", the number of people didn't change either. I don't know where they were going, but there were a lot of them.

Example of typical traffic and people (taken later in the week)

At the one and only stoplight I remember waiting for, I looked out the window at the median and saw a boy, about 13, sitting with legs crossed and sandals on his hands. He lifted himself up with his arms and swung his body forward to get closer. He held up a brush and smiled, speaking in Amharic, but since it wasn't "hello" or "thank you", I didn't understand. (I'm pretty limited on my Amharic.) I assume he wanted to wash the van for money, but I don't know. My heart broke for him; I wanted to help, but we were driving off before I could figure out what to do.

We arrived at the hotel and the wonderful staff lugged our baggage (and 120+ lbs. of donations!) up 4 flights of stairs for us. I had one little bag on my shoulder and about had a heart attack climbing the stairs; Addis Ababa is about 8500 feet elevation! Our room was about 10 feet wide and 30 feet long, with a queen bed at one end and a twin bed at the other. A small crib was in between the beds (where my Juniper would soon be!) as well as a dresser and tv. I called Jana from the lobby phone and realized that we were somehow 4 hours (!) behind schedule. Jana had tracked our flight online to Khartoum, but then the website lost our flight, giving her an ominous "lost track of flight" message several hours before! It was so great to hear her voice and suddenly, I felt very far away from home.

Home away from home. Top right open window was our room!

After our conversation, I received our itinerary which showed nothing Sunday, paperwork only Monday, and then meeting the kids and going to the Embassy on Tuesday. Everything I had read before the trip showed us getting the kids Monday, so this was pretty sad to wait a whole extra day! I had no problem falling asleep that night, dreaming of meeting our Juniper Tesfanesh!

Welcome Home!

Juniper Tesfanesh
Born: October 15th, 2008
Gotcha Day: September 7th, 2009

More to come about our trip soon!