Good Morning!

It's hard to even express how good it is to be HOME! We have much more to share about our time in Ethiopia, but right now we're trying to just settle in. We were thrilled to get back in time for Nathaniel's birthday! How can it be we have TWO teenagers now? We feel so incredibly blessed!

We had a good first night home. Arsema woke at 4:00 AM scared and hungry. Poor babe ... I never even thought to leave a small light on so she could see where we were. But she quieted quickly and we snuggled and rocked with a bottle. Aahhh .... a rocking chair! ... felt so good. Since I realized she's slept a lot of hours on the plane and in Ethiopia it was afternoon, I decided to just let her stay up til about 6:00 AM. So she lazed around on my lap and had a snack and we checked in on some of you waiting families' blogs. All I can say to you is KEEP HANGING ON!!! Your children are waiting and you must not lose hope or give up on this rigorous journey. You WILL get there! The staff in Ethiopia is working tirelessly on your behalf. They want to get you united to your children. They maintain a very high level of professionalism and care in each case. Don't ever think you are forgotten. You are not. So hang in there!

It was such a joy this morning to sit in a daze in the recliner and watch the girls crawl around the house playing and giggling. Eventually the boys woke and got in on the fun too. Naomi was so happy to come to our room and see that sister had just woken up. David let her climb in for a picture. Yes, Naomi has BIG hair in the mornings!!! Then I was thrilled to capture some photos of my main man with his two daughters. What a sight to behold ... no more tears! I think Arsema is finally melting and realizing just how amazing her Daddy is.

Nathaniel wanted Arsema on his lap for birthday breakfast photos, I see now that pic is not loaded here yet. Anyway, she liked the pancakes very much! She hasn't been too open to eating much except her bottle time since we arrived, but she's getting there.

Thank you so much for all your prayers along this journey. Without them we likely would have given up and never gotten to where we are. Adoption is a crazy, rigorous, I don't even have the proper words to describe kind of journey!!! But here we are finally all together. I have so much to share with you. Things we saw, experiences, so many children waiting that you will be hearing about. But for now I must go. Many more pics to come. We have no idea when our families will come to see us ..... hint, hint trying to lay on a guilt trip!!! ..... so you'll have to bear with us for us posting many pics on here right now.