Many parents who were adopting from Ethiopia last year were familiar with the blog "Destination Ethiopia", which was written by Denise B., a volunteer who spent seven months at Adoption Advocates International's Layla House in Addis Ababa.

Denise did a wonderful job blogging about her experiences with the children. She talked about the emotional highs and lows of orphanage life, for both her and the children. She shared her joy as children were united with adoptive families, and shared her sadness of missing kids she grew close to. She shared the emotional challenges for the children, too. She saw kids who were grieving, kids who were scared, kids who were depressed, as well as kids who were happy and joyful, and full of love and life despite the tough things they had lived through.

I remember reading one of her posts last winter, that was talking about how some of the older children who had been matched with families were hoping that they would get to spend one more Christmas at Layla House before moving to America.

Her post really made me think about what adoption might look like from the kids' point of view. On one hand, they are excited to have a new family, new home, new life, etc., and yet they have friends and a "home" and a life that they will miss as well.

You could not miss in her posts the love she has for the children. She laughed with them and cried with them.

Denise also did an amazing job of sharing her experiences in day to day life in Ethiopia with her readers. For adoptive parents who want to learn more about the Ethiopian culture, her blog posts are full of to-do's and "to-don'ts" while in Addis, as well as all sorts of traditions and cultural norms, good places to eat, things to look out for and how to handle yourself in all sorts of situations.

She shares the good, the bad, the wonderful and the ugly, and makes you feel like you are right there with her, eating that divine shiro wat or pulling the pillow over your head because that dang dog won't stop barking.

I got to spend some time with Denise in Addis last year, and while Belane was scared to death of her, I think she's great.

Denise's blog ended when she traveled home last February, but now this week she is on her way back to Ethiopia where she will spend a year working for Adoption Link, the agency that established Chances By Choice and advocates for adoption for HIV+ children. Her work in Addis will be near and dear to my heart, because she will be working to establish a program specifically for the adoption of HIV+ children in Ethiopia.

I am thrilled to say that she will be blogging about her life, work and adventures in Ethiopia once again, and it is sure to be a treat and a great read for parents adopting from Ethiopia, parents with kids from Ethiopia or anyone who has the desire to learn more about Ethiopian culture and HIV children and adoption. Actually I think it a great read for just about any transracial adoptive parents. Here is the link to the new "Destination Ethiopia" blog.

I for one, will definitely be reading.