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-Have extra room in your luggage for the way home. Traveling to the place your child was born is a great opportunity to buy cultural items for your home and gifts for your child as he or she grows. On our trips we’ve purchased clothing, music, books, toys, jewelry, carvings, decorations and other great items. I recommend rolling up a large duffel bag and fitting it into one of your suitcases OR bringing a suitcase full of donations (if appropriate) to where you are going. Then you can leave the donations, and... more

No matter where you are adopting from, whether it is a domestic adoption or an international adoption, chances are that travel will be involved. There are some programs that allow the child to be escorted to you, but this seems to happen less and less frequently.

Here is a post I wrote last year about adoption related travel.

Traveling to get your child can be a wonderful experience, and yet it can also be a very challenging one as well. Here... more

Ok, I believe that this is the last question I have left from my “Questions” post. Please feel free to post a comment with a question any time though…this was a lot of fun!

Angela asked, “Aside from any places that may have personal significance to our children, what are some must-see places when visiting Ethiopia to pick-up the kids?”

I am afraid that I don’t have a ton of advice on this one… On both of our trips to Addis, our total and almost complete focus was on our new children, and we did not do a whole lot of site-seeing.

There are lots of “sites” that you can see just driving around in Addis…different historical markers and places that any driver worth his... more

My best friend Bethany was recently about this topic by another friend of ours. Bethany asked, “I know that you were asked this recently and thought it would be a great thing to talk about. Did you feel that it was taboo for you to be seen in Ethiopia as a Caucasian adopting an Ethiopian child. How did most of the Ethiopian people treat you?”

I have never heard that it was taboo to be seen in Ethiopia as a white woman with an Ethiopian child, and in the three weeks I have now spent in that country with our Ethiopian children, I certainly did not feel that way.

The Ethiopian people are very friendly, loving and kind people in general, and they love children. The culture very... more

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Ok, as far as the Hilton goes, no, I absolutely do not think that it spoiled the cultural experience.

From my husband... "It is a 60 year old building that Haile Selassie had built for visiting dignitaries, etc. That makes it a pretty cool place history-wise."

The last time we went, we stayed at the Ghion, which we really liked. Think 1970’s James Bond movie…(that’s how Josh describes it!) Everything was fairly worn and shabby, although the bathroom and beds were sparkling clean. We had tons of space though…it was quite a large suite, which was great for the three of us. We could put Ben to bed in the little separate bedroom and still... more

Jen asked (a few questions!) “I'd like to know how this trip compared to your last one. Did staying at the Hilton "spoil" your cultural experience (as I have read some say it would do)? What were you super thankful that you packed?”

These are great questions…thanks Jen!

Ok, let’s see…This trip was a lot different than the last one, for many reasons. For one, this time, I knew what Ethiopia was like… I knew what the trip would be like, I knew what I would see, I knew a lot of the people we would see, I knew what to expect as far as the poverty goes, etc. I was revisiting people and places instead of seeing it all for the first time, so the culture shock and overwhelming-ness... more

I would have to say that most, if not all, of the best parenting advice I have ever gotten has come from other parents. Oddly enough…not so much from “well meaning strangers at the grocery store.” :)

Sure, I have learned a lot from books and magazines and those sorts of things, but the REALLY good stuff…the totally practical, AHA-why-didn’t-I-think-of-that sort of stuff, has come from other moms (and dads).

So, after blathering on for three posts yesterday about our “babymoon” and what my plans are for when Belane comes home and how I think I will handle things and what I expect things to be like, now I look to you for some help. Tell me what I’ve missed! Tell me what you... more

Ok, I apologize in advance if this is a bit off topic, but I have so many random thoughts and feelings and impressions from my adoption trip that I just need to “down load” and I thought this would be a great place to do it. Any of you who have or will be traveling to another country for an adoption should be able to relate to at least some of this.

Sorry is this is somewhat disjointed. Josh and I have had several “deep” conversations since we got home and we are still processing and “digesting” everything. The things we seem to really both be feeling are that for one, part of our hearts will always be in Ethiopia, and two, our experiences there were life changing, and go beyond the... more

In just about 48 hours, my husband and I will be on our way to Ethiopia to get our new son, Bekalu, who is 5 years old. We are so excited! We found him as a waiting child back at the end of September, and are thrilled that our time to be together is finally here.

As I think about traveling to Africa and getting to spend a week living my son's first life with him, I am so grateful for the opportunity. I want to be like a sponge, and soak up as much Ethiopia as I can. I want to smell the smells, taste the tastes, see the sights and hear the sounds. I want to meet people, and just experience as much as I can. Since we decided to adopt Bekalu, I have been reading as much as I can about... more