May 16, 2010 - Gotcha Day

Sunday morning I woke up bright and early. I spent the morning emailing home, taking pictures around the guest house, eating breakfast, and sitting outside. The weather was perfect!!

The guest house is surrounded by these brick walls, barbed wire, and gardens! I think this picture describes Ethiopia very well. Beauty mixed with poverty and the fear that desperation brings.

The front of the Ritmo Guest House where we stayed. We spent many hours sitting in those chairs visting and watching the boys playing!

The Ritmo Guest House kitchen. The cooks made some delicious meals in here!!!

At 10 a.m. Gail (the American director of AAI) came to pick us up and take us to Layla to meet our children. We were sitting outside in the chair when she pulled up. I can't explain the nerves that were running through me as we introduced ourselves to her and her daughter. We all piled in her car and pulled up at the famous blue gates.

The AAI sign hanging outside on the road. You could hear the children playing and the music piped over the loud speaker from outside.

Lincoln and I took a minute to pose in front of the gate before entering for the first time!

Whew, I was nervous!!

We walked in and Gail just started yelling "Bizayehu, Sintayehu"! There were kids playing everywhere and my eyes just kept darting around wondering if I would recognize them from pictures. Eventually a few workers pushed them in our direction and we knelt down to finally see and touch our sons in real life! Just a few moments later we headed to Wanna for Sheryl to meet her new son! Just a few minutes after meeting each other.

Lincoln stayed outside the Wanna House with the boys while I went in with Sheryl and Joanna to take pictures.

Sheryl holding Mintesinote for the first time! She's such a good momma!

After about 10 minutes of "knowing" us, the boys grabbed our hands and walked out of Layla gates with us. They had no way of knowing if they could trust us, or where we would be taking them, but they just grabbed our hands and followed us! We walked back to the Ritmo where we would start getting acquainted!

Lincoln and Silas Sintayehu walking back to the Ritmo Guest House.

As soon as we got back to The Ritmo we "showered" the boys in our room (if you can call the water pressure a shower...) and changed their clothes into ones that we had brought with us. The boys were happy with their new clothes.

We were expected to bring the clothes and shoes they had on back to Layla, so we folded them up and put them in my bag. As I folded their pants dozens of brightly colored plastic beads fell out of one of their pockets. We laughed and scurried around on the floor trying to gather them all.

Sheryl soaked up some of the African sun while her newest baby napped peacefully on her. I'm sure she watched our chaos and was thankful for her sleeping babe! You can see one of the guest house guards sitting in the background of this picture. His job is to open and close the gate as people come and go and to generally watch out for the guest's safety. All of the Guest House workers were so very helpful and kind! They often played with the boys and helped us retrieve balloons from the roof. They were all soft spoken and tried to stay "out of the way" and let the new families bond. The afternoon was filled with soccer, football, and basketball. The boys loved watching in the video camera and taking pictures with the still camera. I did get a minute to shoot this email home. We stopped back by Layla on our way to dinner. The boys "showed off" their new Mom and Dad to their friends and the workers at Layla House. Everyone celebrated with them!

It was then that I met this beautiful little girl. I fell in love with her at that moment, and never stopped praying for her. I was told she had a little sister and that they were not referred at the time. I couldn't believe it! Eight months later, this beauty and her sister at home, safe and sound with a family who loves them dearly...and I couldn't be happier!

For dinner we went to The Caribou (as we had the night before) and it was the boys' first time at a restaurant - EVER. Bizayehu ordered a chicken salad club sandwhich with french fries. I think he was a little confused about what was in it, and wasn't going to eat it. The waitress came over and showed him that there were eggs in it and force fed him a bite, and the rest was history. He ate every bite on his plate!

Silas ordered fish, rice, potatoes, carrots, and green beans. I don't know if he liked it or not, but he didn't argue one bit and ate every bite on his plate as well.

After dinner we went back to the guest house and CRASHED. It was like an out of body experience to tuck my new children into their beds that first night. Giving them those kisses was something that I had dreamed of for so long... It had been a very long, emotional, and draining day!