Ethiopia 2 - Reuniting

An excerpt from my journal to Feven en route to Ethiopia:

April 5, 2012   8:10am

We are in Amsterdam now, ever closer to you!  I can't believe that the time is finally here to be with you forever!  We have missed you so much since we last saw you.  We watched videos of you nearly everyday, and stared at pictures of you on our computers, in frames, on the wall, in albums...you're sort of everywhere.  :)

Our arms have ached to hold you.  Now it's time.  We are praying for you, that your heart is ready for us.  We know that you really like where you are and might feel sad to leave.  We are praying that you are not afraid of us, and that you are comforted by our presence.  Oh, Feven!  We can hardly wait!  We have not slept in quite some time, and the way our flights worked we didn't have a night, but I think I must be going on adrenaline and excitement.  It is morning in Amsterdam, the sun is up, and we will soon be on our way again.

 An excerpt after arrival:

April 6, 2012   9:31pm

Feven, when I woke up today I was so excited to see you again!  I couldn't wait to see how you've grown and changed.  Toward the end of our breakfast this morning, our translator called the guest house checking to see if we had arrived.  She said we could come at 9:30am with the other families to see you!

Our drive was different than last time because we are staying at a different guest house.  I took in the sights all around me until somebody in the van said, 'This is the road!'  Sure enough, things were looking familiar and soon we pulled up to the House of Hope gate. 

We drove in, parked just in front of the clotheslines and hopped out.  I was so excited to see you!  I tried to be polite and say hi to the workers, but I just wanted to see your face again.  After a few moments, I saw our translator on the balcony, holding a little girl and waving to us.  It took me a moment, but then I realized that girl was YOU!  Your hair was done up in small pigtails all over your head and you looked so old!  What a big girl you are!

Come to think of it, I don't think I remember walking up those stairs.  I was just so excited to see you!  We held you and you checked us out again like you did last time, but this time you were quicker to show us smiles and let us hear your laughter! 

What an amazing reunion that was.  Knowing that we would never have to say a goodbye like the one we did before, but now we would be together forever.  Well, at least for the next 18 years!  We are a family of THREE!