Our journey HOME!!!
Packed and ready to go at the guest house! We said our good byes to the wonderful Coffaro and Ewing Families! It was so bittersweet. We were so happy to come home but so sad to leave them! I really wish that we could of all come home together! These families were wonderful and really helped me out, and watched over me since I was there alone! Tamenech really enjoyed her time with their boys! They had so much fun chatting, playing, and taunting each other! I truly have made new friends. A funny thing is the Coffaro family has a daughter that was born at the same hospital as Allison a few days apart 13 years ago. We were both living in Granger IN, but did not know each other. We are now on the east coast and they are on the west coast!
We were picked up around 6:30 and headed to the airport. We were traveling with the Herwehe Family, they were returning from their court trip. I am so thankful that I had their help to make it through the airport! I showed them the way and they helped with Sweet T. It was great to have extra hands and eyes! We made it to the check in counter and through customs (thankfully) before all of the computers went down! We then were headed up to where the gates were! We get to the escalator and Tamenech is scared to death! Thank goodness, Laura Herwehe was there and we both held her hands and lifted he onto it! AS soon as she was standing on the escalator, she started smiling. She now says one, two, three and steps on and off them. She thinks they are fun! We went to a little restaurant with the Herwehe family to kill some time! We had a good time just sharing stories! We then ventured over to the security line to head to our gate! We waited in line, got through security, put our shoes back on and waited in one more line. Then Tamenech says shint. Yikes, there are no bathrooms in the secure area. So we left our bags with the Herwehe family and left the secure area to go back to the same bathroom that we had just left. We then head back to the security line and go through security again.
We find out our flight is going to be delayed by an hour. Well that hour goes by and we are still not boarding. Tamenech is so tired, she is starting to fall asleep. I had to keep her awake as there is no way that I could carry her and all of our stuff on the plane. She was tearing up and the tears weer coming full stream! We still wait....
About an hour after the plane was supposed to take off, we finally started boarding. She got in her seat buckled up and went to sleep before take off! She slept all the way to Rome (for refueling). She was awake for part of that time, and was back asleep before we took off! She slept for a while, had breakfast and played. We then battled it out... She wanted to play but was yawning, I wanted her to sleep. After some time (no tears and no screaming) I won and she fell back asleep. She slept for about 5 more hours. She woke up and had beef and rice for a meal. NO vegetables or fruit. We have some work to do! She then played the last 2 1/2 hours of hour flight. As we are landing she is singing a song about America, mostly in Amharic, but you can hear the AMERICA. She is so excited. I had someone explain to her in Amharic that we would be in DC for a little bit, that she needed to stay right with me, and that we had one more airplane ride before we would see Daddy. We made it easily through customs, baggage, dropping our bags back off, checking in for next flight, and security. We then headed for smoothies. We shared a muffin and a bag doritos. She was very excited to get a little umbrella on top of her smoothie. We wait for our next flight. She is very excited and full of energy! We board our next flight, and we are off to MA. She is chattering the whole flight about Daddy, family, and America. When we land she once again bursts out in her song about America. Everyone on the plane is smiling and laughing. They are cheering her on! We get off the plane and head toward baggage. We meet up with the Steigers, and Tom and the kids. She was shy in the beginning but quickly is running with the kids and beyond excited. We hung out at the airport for a little while and headed to Dunkin Donuts for hot chocolate and a time to visit!
We finally are on the road to home. Tamenech was sad in her seat at first as she had pinched her finger in the door at Dunkin Donuts. She quickly got smiles on her face and starts chatting with the kids. She is carrying on like crazy. She is saying something and Michael says what does that mean? I say I don't know and Tamenech says it means "Zip your lips!" Everyone busts out laughing! They were so loud the whole way home! We pull up at home. She steps out of the van and we show her the snow. She touches it and the look on her face is priceless. She was shocked at how cold the snow felt. We came in the house and she started playing and running around. She had spaghetti and green beans, and garlic bread for dinner. The green beans took some encouragement. After playing some more we headed to bed and she slept from 8 pm to 6 am. She is up playing with the boys this morning.
Everything is going great except for the dog. She is really scared of the dog. This is going to take some time! There is going to be a little jealousy between Daniel and Tamenech also!
All is good. Love to all and thanks for praying us home. The peace that I felt traveling alone was amazing!
Thank you God for the many blessings. Thank you for Sweet T and the families that we met along the way! Adoption is great and the journey is long but very worth it! This morning there is one less orphan in the world!!! Thank you God!!!
We were picked up around 6:30 and headed to the airport. We were traveling with the Herwehe Family, they were returning from their court trip. I am so thankful that I had their help to make it through the airport! I showed them the way and they helped with Sweet T. It was great to have extra hands and eyes! We made it to the check in counter and through customs (thankfully) before all of the computers went down! We then were headed up to where the gates were! We get to the escalator and Tamenech is scared to death! Thank goodness, Laura Herwehe was there and we both held her hands and lifted he onto it! AS soon as she was standing on the escalator, she started smiling. She now says one, two, three and steps on and off them. She thinks they are fun! We went to a little restaurant with the Herwehe family to kill some time! We had a good time just sharing stories! We then ventured over to the security line to head to our gate! We waited in line, got through security, put our shoes back on and waited in one more line. Then Tamenech says shint. Yikes, there are no bathrooms in the secure area. So we left our bags with the Herwehe family and left the secure area to go back to the same bathroom that we had just left. We then head back to the security line and go through security again.
We find out our flight is going to be delayed by an hour. Well that hour goes by and we are still not boarding. Tamenech is so tired, she is starting to fall asleep. I had to keep her awake as there is no way that I could carry her and all of our stuff on the plane. She was tearing up and the tears weer coming full stream! We still wait....
About an hour after the plane was supposed to take off, we finally started boarding. She got in her seat buckled up and went to sleep before take off! She slept all the way to Rome (for refueling). She was awake for part of that time, and was back asleep before we took off! She slept for a while, had breakfast and played. We then battled it out... She wanted to play but was yawning, I wanted her to sleep. After some time (no tears and no screaming) I won and she fell back asleep. She slept for about 5 more hours. She woke up and had beef and rice for a meal. NO vegetables or fruit. We have some work to do! She then played the last 2 1/2 hours of hour flight. As we are landing she is singing a song about America, mostly in Amharic, but you can hear the AMERICA. She is so excited. I had someone explain to her in Amharic that we would be in DC for a little bit, that she needed to stay right with me, and that we had one more airplane ride before we would see Daddy. We made it easily through customs, baggage, dropping our bags back off, checking in for next flight, and security. We then headed for smoothies. We shared a muffin and a bag doritos. She was very excited to get a little umbrella on top of her smoothie. We wait for our next flight. She is very excited and full of energy! We board our next flight, and we are off to MA. She is chattering the whole flight about Daddy, family, and America. When we land she once again bursts out in her song about America. Everyone on the plane is smiling and laughing. They are cheering her on! We get off the plane and head toward baggage. We meet up with the Steigers, and Tom and the kids. She was shy in the beginning but quickly is running with the kids and beyond excited. We hung out at the airport for a little while and headed to Dunkin Donuts for hot chocolate and a time to visit!
We finally are on the road to home. Tamenech was sad in her seat at first as she had pinched her finger in the door at Dunkin Donuts. She quickly got smiles on her face and starts chatting with the kids. She is carrying on like crazy. She is saying something and Michael says what does that mean? I say I don't know and Tamenech says it means "Zip your lips!" Everyone busts out laughing! They were so loud the whole way home! We pull up at home. She steps out of the van and we show her the snow. She touches it and the look on her face is priceless. She was shocked at how cold the snow felt. We came in the house and she started playing and running around. She had spaghetti and green beans, and garlic bread for dinner. The green beans took some encouragement. After playing some more we headed to bed and she slept from 8 pm to 6 am. She is up playing with the boys this morning.
Everything is going great except for the dog. She is really scared of the dog. This is going to take some time! There is going to be a little jealousy between Daniel and Tamenech also!
All is good. Love to all and thanks for praying us home. The peace that I felt traveling alone was amazing!
Thank you God for the many blessings. Thank you for Sweet T and the families that we met along the way! Adoption is great and the journey is long but very worth it! This morning there is one less orphan in the world!!! Thank you God!!!
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