Meeting the Girls

We arrived in Ethiopia at around 8:00am on Sunday, December 21st. I was nervous about the whole airport thing....getting our visas, going through customs, getting our luggage and exchanging american money for birr. It was really very easy for us--went smoothly.
We got a ride from Tafesse to our guest home. He told us that Ryan and Abby Brown would come to the guest house after church and lunch to take us to meet our daughters! Yippee!! I must have been extremely exhausted because then I laid down and FELL ASLEEP!! Crazy, huh?! Who could sleep, knowing that the meeting they had waited a year for was only hours away? Well, John, Kayla and me...

We woke up with a few moments to do some unpacking....then, it was time. Ryan and Abby walked us to the foster care home where we were to meet Faven and Diborah. Then, Ryan left to go and get the girls. It seemed like it took forever for him to walk through that door with them!

When they finally did arrive, John, Kayla and I went to hug them. They were very stiff and scared(that was to be expected!), but I think they recognized us from the photo albums we had sent. We were not prepared--we didn't have any toys or candy to bribe them, I mean, to win them over. Kayla came to the rescue. She took off her necklace and gave it to Faven--score! I took off my bracelet and put it on Diborah--oh yeah...another hit! Then, I brought out the camera! They could've been entertained with that all day! After about half an hour, Ryan said, "Well, we're going to go now. Stay as long as you want." What? They're ours? We can just take them back to the guest house with us? After all this time, it seemed too easy!

They attached to Kayla and I right away. John had to wait a while and work much harder for their affections. Kayla was Kayla, I was mommy (wow!), and John was...bobby!! (o: We thought that bobby must be a common term of endearment for daddy's in Ethiopia. We asked Ryan, Belay and others from Ethiopia and none of them had any idea why the girls called John bobby. How funny! They still call him bobby today!

We took the girls with us everywhere. They went to restaurants, the Hilton, the zoo, the market, the grocery store, the orphanages. They were a little intimidated at first. I'm sure they were experiencing so many new things even in their own country. They loosened up after a while and were not afraid to talk to other adults who talked to them. However, they made sure that we stayed close by at all times. We learned important Amharic words and phrases during these outings...words for come, do you like it?, water, potty, good job, more. It was great for bonding!

One of the hardest days for them was the day that we visited the foster care homes. I think it was confusing for them to go back. They were trying to make the transition to being a part of our family...maybe they thought we would leave them?

By far, THE most difficult day for them was the day we visited their birthmom. Another confusing event, I'm sure. After this meeting, they became very whiny and clingy. We were all supposed to go to Kolfe and Kechene orphanages that afternoon, but I stayed back at the guest house with Faven and Diborah while Kayla and John went to visit the orphanages. I tried to put them down for a nap, but they fought over who would get to lay next to me. Easy fix, right? I would just sleep in the middle! That didn't work, either. They just fought over which way my head should be turned! No nap that day!

We continued to love on them and reassure them that they could not/would not get rid of us! We grew to love them during the week we were in Ethiopia, but longed to take them home to join the rest of the family. We showed them pictures of all their family that they would see often in Great Bend. Before we left, they could name each one of them and were sooo excited about meeting them.

Meeting our girls and getting to know them--what a moment in time to remember forever!