We have made it home sweet home from our trip to get our beautiful new son. I know that my topic is transracial adoption, but any one considering adopting an older child, I say go for it! Our son is just amazing. He is happy and sweet and loving and has settled in with us SO quickly. I will post our adoption story and photos for those that are interested. Sorry if you have already read it on Rainbowkids.

I have lots of new thoughts and topic ideas from my travels, so stay tuned for lots of posts here in the near future.

Here is our adoption story. We were adopting a five year old boy from Ethiopia.

Our trip to Ethiopia Part I (From Feb. 14)

We are here, and as I type this, Bekalu is laying with his Dad in our bed at the Ghion hotel, watching Monsters Inc.! What an amazing few days it has been. We were extremely lucky to get here in the first place thanks to that huge snowstorm that hit the East coast over the weekend. We had layovers in Chicago and Washington DC and it was snowing in both places, and flights were being cancelled and delayed in both places. If our flight had been cancelled, we would have been in huge trouble, because it only runs every other day and it is always full. We truly were blessed that there were no delays. The flights were LONG, but not terrible and it was amazing to finally land in Ethiopia and know we were so close to Ben.

We met two other families on our flight that were adopting with our agency, and Tesfaye, the agency's driver, was waiting for us at the airport. We got through customs with no trouble and thank goodness ALL of our luggage was there! Tesfaye was waiting and immediately made us all feel welcome. We got into the van and he took us to our hotels, and arranged to pick us up at 9:30am the next morning. We got to our hotel and pretty much crashed, after organizing some things so we would be ready to go in the morning. We met Dan (our friend that traveled with us) for breakfast in the morning and it was very unreal feeling...being in Ethiopia...being just a short while away from meeting Ben. There were some other adoptive families at breakfast at the hotel and seeing them with their children made it seem a lot more real. Exciting! Tesfaye picked us up again in the morning and took us to meet the children. First we went to Center A, where we met the director and his wife. We got to see all of the beautiful babies. It was VERY DIFFICULT to get Josh out of there. I kept trying to move him along so we could get to Ben, and he took his time with each and every baby. :) After a short meeting, where we discussed the children and how we would spend the week, etc, we got back in the van and went a very short way to the care center B, where Ben lives.

The kids were waiting for us, and were all lined up in little chairs in front of the building when the van pulled up. I saw Bekalu right away... he was in the very first chair. Josh and I both went right over to him, and he was excited but nervous. We sat by him and gave him his new shoes (they are the kind that light up...BIG hit!!!) and visited with him for a little. We saw Terefe (soon to be James, who is being adopted by my very best friend) and other familiar faces right away too, and it was so fun to see all the little children! I could tell that Bekalu was a bit nervous, so when all of the kids got up to go play, we followed, but gave him his distance. He did show us around a bit, and then went to play soccer with his buddy Terefe. We went out and played with all of the kids and they were hanging all over us. They all wanted love and attention, hugs and kisses. I didn't have enough arms!

The kids played, and then went to their "class". I sat with Bekalu, and he amazed us!!! He already does first grade math, and reads as well as my Shane, who is in Kindergarten. And he does it in English! When they said he was smart, they were under stating that, big time. After lunch the kids ate, and then went to lay down. We ran back to the hotel to get the donations, and then came back to the center. Ben was up from his nap and we got to spend some time with just him, which was really nice. I had brought some play dough, magnet games and coloring books, all of which he loved. He started to relax with us and show his hilarious little personality. The rest of the afternoon went really well. We had planned to let him stay at the care center for the first few nights, as many of the children do, while they gradually get used to their new parents, but when we told him we were going (and explained we would be back in the morning) he said he wanted to come with us! So he did, and has been with us ever since.

We went out to dinner last night and then have had a busy day today being back at the care center and at the US Embassy. I was a bit nervous how the night would go, but Bekalu was wonderful!! He built all of the Legos I brought, did lots of coloring and amazed us with his reading. We laid down and watched a movie, and then he went to bed happily and slept all night. He sleeps with the bear we sent him in December, and the blanket I made and brought this trip/ He is so cute! He woke up happy this morning, and jumped right back into coloring. The communication is pretty good…he is learning very fast, and it is amazing what you can communicate by motions, gestures, etc. This morning I filled up the bath tub and he had never taken a bath before. At first he rolled up his sleeves to wash up that way. Then I told him to take his shirt off….and then he did and went to wash the same way. Then I told him to take everything off and motioned for him to get IN the tub, and his eyes got huge. But he trusted me, and got in, grinning all the time. At first he just squatted and didn't really want to sit, but by the end he was a little fish and didn't want to come out!! He is just he most wonderful little guy. He is very small…not short, but very thin. The size five pants I brought fall off of him, but the 6 slim are just right. He is so handsome, and has the best smile. He was copying everything Josh did last night, and thought it was SO funny. Today he has been imitating him, and the two of them are just cracking up over it. He also likes to hide and jump out and scare us. He has a very funny sense of humor. He also definitely knows what he likes and doesn't like…rice krispie treats got a "this is GOOD mom" and oatmeal got a tongue sticking out, before he even tried it! :)

Today when we went back to the care center he stuck much closer to us, and it was really fun. We got lots of picture and video of all the children and got to play with them lots. We went to the Embassy and everything went well, and the paperwork is DONE! No problem is so nice to hear! Tonight we are going to a big traditional dinner and show at the Crowne Hotel. The orphanage director is taking us and the other families. Tomorrow we have some things to do and Thursday we will make the trip to Assala to meet Ben's grandparents and sisters. I have to say that I love it here…I was prepared for the "third world country culture shock" after being in Vietnam…and it is just wonderful 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…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. Well, I better get off of here and go check on the boys.

I will try to write again before we come 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.