Just catching our breathe

Just catching our breathe vs. just taking our breathe away!  Our trip to Ethiopia was amazing.  We met the most special people.  All of the employees at the guest house, David our driver (very experienced) Job, Jonas, and so many others I can't even single them out. Thank you all!
We arrived in ET on Monday morning, were picked up at the airport and shuffled to meet the other families.  Then off to the transition home to meet our boys.  Fekadu, our oldest, really liked the fact that daddy would play with him, soccer to boot.  Chuck will have to learn the rules but they had a great time together.  Abenet, just wanted to be held.  We swang and went down the slide and he spent just a lot of time looking at my face.  It was incredibly difficult to leave and go back to the guest house but I knew we would see them the next day.
The second day we delivered our care packages, took pictures and delivered our donations.  While we were delivering care packages, the nannies were keeping all the kids in the back of the transition home.  When I looked up here was Abenet and Fekadu peaking around the bush to see if we were there.  When they "spied" us their smiles were just huge!  had to take a break and go kiss and hug on them.  We also met with the teacher, Dr. and psychologist and got some good information.
The third day, Abenet just seemed like he was exhausted.  As exciting as everything was for us, imagine a three year old and the stimulus his little brain had.  He fell asleep in my lap but he wasn't letting go of his photo album and water bottle.  Both highly prized posessions of his.  Their teacher, approached us and asked about a "black dog".  Fekadu was telling everyone he had a black dog!  Then we were able to show her pictures of Miss Pug and sure enough, he has a black dog.  Abenet was very interested in the kitties! so I think we have a couple of animal lovers that will fit right in.
The fourth day was difficult.  We had court and it was very emotional.  Not all the families passed court.  Peter and Christine Coffaro and we passed court.  The others are waiting for "a letter" to be issued and then they will pass as well.  At least there was no need for a deeper investigation.  Fekadu met with his birth father for the final time.  The psychologist was present and we discussed his emotions.  Abenet, ran from his father and would not allow a picture to be taken with him.  I can only imagine the heart break of his father.  The boys mother passed away a year ago November.
The fifth day, was our final day to spend with them as we left Addis late on Friday night.  The psychologist had already prepared the boys for our final visit and their demeanor had clearly changed.  They were almost clingy which made leaving even that much harder. Neither of the boys wanted any of the other children around us and actually went out of the way to isolate us from the other children.   Jonas and Job were quick to assure them we were coming back and we were able to leave a "talking" story book for each of them.  They will be able to hear our voices every day until we return and then they can see our faces as they are listening to our voices when we arrive back in Addis.
So, we left Ethiopia with memories of our two absolutely precious boys, three suitcases, (we took four), an injera basket (Thank you David) three carry ons and one upper respiratory infection.  We landed in San Francisco with an added food poisoning, (didn't hit until we got to the hotel, Praise God) and all of the above.  

Headed home this morning to share our magical news with friends and family.