Continued...

That night we went to a big traditional dinner and dance show at the Crowne Hotel with some of the agency staff and the other families. Ben was super-well behaved and loved picking what he wanted from the buffet. Josh and I ate our fill again, while Dan stuck to white rice and bread.

The music was fun and the dancers were amazing, and even though it was late and we were really tired, it was a great night. On that ride back to the hotel, two note-worthy things happened. One was that Benjamin got his first taste of chocolate thanks to a packet of mini-M&M’s from the other family. He has been hooked ever since! (this is the kid that later told the social worker at a post placement visit that he liked to eat chocolate cookies for breakfast, chocolate cake for lunch and brownies for dinner!!!! No, that is NOT what I feed him!)

The funny thing that happened was thanks to L., the five year old daughter of the family we were traveling with. It was her first major trip out of the US, and considering how tough the trip was on the adults, she was doing outrageously well. Dinner had dragged on though and between the busy day and lingering jet lag, she had fallen asleep on one of the benches. As her Dad carried her to the van and put her inside, she looked up and said in a sad and very tired voice, “Why do you guys always make me go to Africa?”

We just laughed and laughed (and Josh and I still repeat that to each other when we are overtired.)

Ben crashed in bed that night and slept like a log once again…another great day behind us, and feeling more like family all the time.

Here is a tiny part of what I wrote in my journal this night,

I have to say that I love it here… I love the people….they are so kind and funny and caring. I have never felt unsafe, and everyone is so friendly to us. Bekalu has become very close with us and very shy with Ethiopians asking him questions. He is SO cute. He has the sweetest little voice. He told us all of the other kids' names, and was proud to show us how he could write Benjamin on his school papers. We have not had any tears or tantrums or problems at all…he’s just the sweetest and happiest little guy you could imagine. He loves other kids, and I know he is going to have a blast with everyone when we get home.

Ethiopia is a wonderful amazing place and I am so glad that Josh and I are here experiencing this together. We are so blessed with Ben that I cannot even accurately put it into words right now. He is smart and funny and sweet and loving. Josh and I are both amazed at how brave he is…he took our hands and did not look back. We are so lucky to have him.