Shelley - update #4

Hello again fromEthiopia! Thank you to all of you who have been reading my updates and have been thinking of and praying for my mom, my daughter and me!  Thank you as well for all of you who have donated to help the street children and people ofEthiopia!!!  You have donated now a total of $2,600 with three ongoing sponsorships for schooling which will take 3 boys off the street - PRAISE GOD!!!!!  You have no idea the difference it will make for these boys.

I have had the good fortune of meeting a woman namedSumerand her husband Cory who have come from theUSas volunteer missionaries to support the children living in Korah which has many people with leprosy, HIV and physical disabilities.  There is a summer program starting tomorrow for a couple of months to prepare the children for boarding school in the fall.  The boarding school will provide shelter, schooling, a uniform, food and teachings of Jesus.  The amazing difference this will make in the lives of the children is like the difference between night and day.

I am so excited about the three boys who have now been sponsored from those of you who have responded - THANK YOU!  We have met these boys, touched them, heard their stories and now know that the sponsorship money will go directly for their good - all of it!!

Today, my mom and I were given the great privilege due to your generosity to take 9 girls and their two babies out for lunch and provide them with blankets and tarps to keep them both dry and warm.  They said "God bless you" and I was thinking, we have so many blessings, we want the blessings to come to you.  One 11 year old girl just arrived in the very overcrowded and busy city ofAddisyesterday all on her own.  Her mother told her to come here and do the best she could because they couldn't afford her at home.  She was told that she should beg and that when she is able to make enough, she should send the money home.  She was absolutely beautiful.  Her hands were black from coal or dirt or both.  I thought of my two nieces again and thought about if they had to go to the streets - unthinkable.  She is so vulnerable, so young and so innocent.  How can this be happening?  We had our driver talk to her about boarding school as I was hoping we could sponsor her and get her off the streets but she is unfamiliar with boarding school and does not want to go.  The problem is that the kids have to be very serious about the school program and really want to go to qualify.  When you think about it, and when you see the sheer number of children on the street, this qualification makes sense.

Another lady told our driver that she had been travelling (believe me, the travel here for the Ethiopians is nothing like we are used to) to go to visit family and when she came to Addis, her money was taken.  This lady has come from the countryside and has a 9 month old baby.  We asked if she would want to go back to her husband if she had the bus ticket.  She said yes so on Sunday, we will go and buy her a bus ticket to ensure that the money is not used for other things.  Hopefully this will better her and her baby's chances of safety. We will also buy the young girl shoes as her's are falling apart.

Many street girls are raped and therefore have children to then care for on the street.  There was a group of 7 girls in their late teens early twenties at the lunch.  The one girl had an 11 month old baby who was so cute.  This baby girl is now being cared for by the group of girls but is being raised on the streets.  What chance does she have at life?

We then went to have our translator buy jackets and pants for the 16 boys we have had lunch with twice.  You cannot imagine the open market that the nationals visit.  There are wall to wall people and our driver and translator told us that this area was not the safest for us as foreigners so we had to stay in the van with our driver and not show our cameras.  It is interesting because during our whole trip toEthiopia, we have not felt unsafe and we have been in some very interesting situations.  Our drivers and translators have truly protected and guided us as well as our main driver and translator have allowed the work with the street children to happen.  They have told us many times "do you know that you have done such a good thing?"  We remind them each day that they are just as much a part of this work as we could not do it without them.

As soon as the boys saw our van, the boys, my mom and I were all waving and the boys came running to see us.  We went into the same restaurant as we had lunch the last two days so we could distribute the clothing.  Had we distributed it from the van, it would have attracted many, many street children and it would have been a precarious situation.

My mom, Julia and I went in after all the boys were in the restaurant and as we walked in the boys stood up and clapped!  They were clapping for all of you who have given as well.  They have been so touched by the generosity of our friends and family.

The boys also said thank you for sponsoring Telahun to go to boarding school.  I thought that was absolutely amazing that here were these boys who have literally nothing, all of them who want a better life and they were thanking us for sponsoring their one friend!  I told them through our translator that we so wished we could send them all to school.  I also told them that we are going to buy shoe shinning boxes (this was the idea of Bisrat who has lived an incredible life and most of it in abject poverty and who has worked with street children) that will contain the supplies they need to shine shoes (quite common here in Addis as there is a lot of dust and dirt in this city) so they do not need to beg anymore and hopefully make enough that they could live a better life.  They thought it was amazing and many of them were holding their hands to their hearts looking at us.

We took pictures of the boys and were able to tell the youngest boy that my mom and dad would sponsor him to go to boarding school.  We took a picture of him with my mom and as we left, I hugged him and kissed him on the forehead.  When was the last time he was hugged and kissed?   It is an incredible thought to know that this boy's and Telahun's lives will change in the next couple of lives.

What was sad is that when the boys were leaving, three of them gave me hand written notes neatly folded in my hand as they shook my hand.  Each one of those letters explained how and why they came to the streets (in broken English) and that they wanted to receive education.  They addressed them to "sister".  Each one of the letters expressed such gratitude for what we have done for them.  These boys are mostly orphaned or sent out to the streets by their parents because they cannot afford them.

As we were in the van and pulling away, we had attracted a lot of attention and had many other boys wanting shoe shine boxes (the word travels fast even without I Phones, Blackberrys, etc.).  One boy around the age of 15 was pointing at Julia and then pointing to himself with longing eyes.  I believe he was saying that he wanted to come to live with me too.  The destitution, the longing of these children is heart breaking and yet knowing that we have been able to do at least something during this trip along with the joy of the boys especially has been a wonderful opportunity to show God's and your love.

If you are interested in the sponsorship of one of the boys we have served through your donations, it is $700 US a year which would include their schooling, shelter, their uniform, food and teaching of Jesus.  The organization that is doing this work is all volunteer and therefore 100% of the money would go to your sponsored child.

The other opportunity to give would be to donate money to provide the supplies for the shoe shine boxes.  I don't know how much this would be but I would guess at less than $200.  This would give the boys an opportunity to make some money themselves and provide a better life than begging on the streets.

My mom, Julia and I went out of the city yesterday to a monastery and the countryside was absolutely beautiful.  We saw and got up fairly close to many baboons which was really great!  The peacefulness at the monetary was incredible and a stark contrast to the overcrowded, traffic filledAddis Ababa.  This country is truly beautiful.  We also visited the leprosy hospital and their gift shop where they sell the handicrafts that they make.  We were able to see the women weaving and some were without any fingers.

Tomorrow, we are leaving early in the morning to go to an Eco Lodge until Sunday to enjoy the nature of this country and have some quite time together.  I am really looking forward to some time with Julia without needing to go anywhere in the city.

She is doing so well with her English.  Every day she is picking up more words and is amazing us.  Each day we have had a lot of rain as this is the rainy season.  Yesterday as my mom got in the van from the leprosy hospital she said "thank goodness we brought our umbrellas" and later that night I heard Julia saying "thank goodness" with her Woylitian accent.  How cute was that?

My adoption agency treated us last night to a traditional dinner and show.  Two other families were there as well as staff who were visiting fromCanadaand a few staff fromEthiopia.  We had a great time and Julia was able to be reunited with a good friend from the Transition Home.  It was so cute to watch them together.  They sat at times in the same chair to watch the show with their arms around one another.  They laughed and just acted like little girls.

One of the families here through Imagine Adoption is staying at the same guest house as we are and she said that she thinks Julia is attaching very well to me as she was coming back to me often when she was with her friend as to check in and spend a bit of time with me before she went back to sitting with her friend.  That was good to hear as this lady has adopted three other children and now another baby and is very aware of attachment issues in adoption.

Julia is very much recognizing me as mommy and wants to be with me all the time. She wants to sit on my lap most of the time too in the van or when we are sitting at the table for meals. When she is on the toilet, she looks deep into my eyes. In the last two days we have now started to rub noses and then kiss on the lips many times.  I don't think she has kissed people on the lips because in this culture they kiss on the cheek.  She is catching on well and I find these times really special.

She is quite a ham and when we were waiting for Bisrat to buy the blankets (it took quite a long time), she was coloring in the van and said to our driver when he told her she was doing such an excellent job that she was the best and her mommy really didn't know how to color because she just went back and forth with the crayons :)  I explained to our driver that I had just been teaching her her colours by shading in a bit at the bottom of the page the day before.  I then coloured the pictures with her and asked our driver if he could ask her if she thought I could colour now and she said "yes".  She loves to have fun and her giggle is enough to melt you.

We have only had her for 4 and a half days and yet in many ways I feel like I have had her for a very long time.  It feels very comfortable to be with her and to be her mommy. She has told me and our driver that she is happy.

Off to Bisangari Lodge tomorrow for some bonding time and R&R.  I think all three of us need to catch up on some sleep and will really enjoy having this special time together in the beauty of my daughter's birth country.

I am hoping to send my last update on Sunday night because we leave on Monday.  It feels like we have been here for several weeks and it has only been one.  We are looking forward to seeing our friends and family again.

Bye for now,

Shelley

Shelley - 3rd update

Hello from Addis Ababa!! Thank you so much for all your encouraging e-mails and for the generosity of so many. You have no idea how the people here are responding to your love. One of my friends wrote today saying that this trip is about so much more than my adoption and I know that is so very true. God has given me the opportunity to understand so much better the struggles of the people here and to help me put into perspective my own life and the extraordinary blessings I enjoy every day, every hour.

You have given more than $1,000.00!!! Thank you so very much. Last night, we were travelling with another translator for our guest house to buy some supplies for Julia and he was able to share his personal story with us. I have been absolutely amazed at the people we have been able to get to know and to understand that from unbelievable poverty, with support and love, there is hope for the people here. Joseph told us that at the age of 10, he became a street kid because his mom died of AIDS, he did not know his father and there were no relatives to care for him. One of my nieces is 10 and to think that but for the grace of God she is living in our country, this story could be her's.

Joseph lived on the streets until he was 13 and at that time a worker for Christian Children's Fund started to minister to him and then got him into shelter and provided education. Joseph talked about his deep desire to be able to write his sponsor to tell him what a difference he made in his life but that particular organization does not release that information. His appreciation for his sponsor was so very real and obvious that I wanted to share that with those of you who sponsor children. Here was a man before us who through sponsorship from someone in the UShad his life totally turned around.

Joseph sat in front of us, a very well educated man, a man with a wife who has a ministry for street kids, he is a father of a 4 year old boy and he praises God for all things- he was a street kid. He lived a life that was not fit for anyone let alone a 10 year old boy. He said that he stayed with other friends, some girls and some boys who were living on the street together and that he still stays in touch with them. They were some of the fortunate because through sponsorship, they all went on to University and have now a much, much better life.

When we told him about the money that you have donated, he said that first of all, he wanted to show and to express his appreciation for the people of Canada for showing their love. He was touched. I asked him what he would want me to tell the people in Canada about street kids in Ethiopia and he said that first of all these children need love, they need to be hugged and kissed because they are without family and love. We need to provide education so they can have a better life and they also need shelter, cloths and food.

He had just spent the day at the leprosy colony as a volunteer teaching the children and he told us that they are the poorest of the poor with 800 orphans living there. Orphans due to leprosy and AIDS. 800 orphans is more children than any two schools combined I know in our city!

I asked Joseph and Bisrat (our translator that we have had take us to serve the street children, etc.) how they continue here when they have such a burden for the children of Ethiopia knowing and seeing everyday the massive need and the destitution, they both said "we just keep going".

My mom and I through your generosity and the help of our driver and translator took 11 boys out for lunch yesterday and another 13 (some of them the same boys) today. Today we bought 20 blankets and tarps for the boys to keep themselves dry and warm during this rainy season. Each one of the boys were polite, they were so very grateful and wanted us to tell you thank you very much for your love. These boys have absolutely nothing and are hungry every single day and yet they all waited to eat until our translator had prayed. Not one of them came to us asking for more and each one of them said thank you and many of them hugged us. The youngest boys were only 11 and they went up in age to 17.

Today when the boys received their blankets and tarps, you would have thought it was the best Christmas ever. One little boy wrapped it around himself and had the biggest smile. What joy that brought to our hearts and what a privilege we have been given through you to serve these boys. We have taken photos and will send them out later when I get home to show you how right after lunch, the boys were already creating their better shelter with the tarps.

As we were driving after lunch, we had a very old lady and a lady with a baby on her back come to the van to ask for money. We had a few blankets left so we gave them both a blanket.  We also gave blankets to a little girl and her brother who were no more than 6 years old who are on the street with their mother and two younger siblings.  The final blankets were given to another boy and his friend who is blind. I cannot even begin at this point to adequately explain the absolute poverty here.

Driving to the market area where we took the boys out for lunch, we saw literally at least one hundred people living on the streets. In some areas, there were so many that they were almost lined up. 'There are over 60,000 street people here in Addis. One lady was sleeping on a piece of cardboard right at the side of the sidewalk amidst thousands of cars/vans and people walking by. We saw one disabled young lady pulling herself along the sidewalk and a man with mental illness naked under a burlap bag sitting in the rain.

Most of the street children/people are absolutely filthy with torn cloths and shoes that look like they will fall apart or they have no shoes at all.

At the restaurant that we have fed the street boys for the last two days, the staff told our translator that they wanted to talk to us to tell us how much they love that we/you are feeding the children. They said that they have never seen this before. We have told the boys and the staff that it is through our friends and family in Canada that we can do this and that you wanted to show them love. One waitress hugged my mom and told her that she loved her.

One of the boys today asked to pray and what he said was "dear heavenly father, thank you for this food and thank you for giving us friends who wanted to help us". This 15 year old boy left his home because they couldn't provide for him. When we asked the boys how often they eat, many of them said that they often only eat once a day if at all. We asked how they find their food and one of the ways is to go to restaurants and beg for the throw outs. They said that they have been beaten many times for begging for food.

They want you to know that they want a better life. They want education and a chance at life. The boy who prayed today was special somehow so I asked our translator if he would keep him back after the other boys left to ask him if he would want to go to school if I could provide a sponsorship for him. He was so very humble and spoke very quietly saying that yes, he very much wants to go to school. At our guest house now, there is a missionary family who is serving children from the leprosy colony and dump providing some of them with boarding school to provide shelter, food, clothing and education. Through this missionary and staff of a partner program here in Ethiopia, they are going to find this boy tomorrow and talk to him about the summer qualifying program for school. He very well may be in shelter tomorrow and in their summer program by Wednesday. Sponsorship is $700 US a year and the cost of a bed and bedding (approx. $150 US). Some of your generous donations will go to pay for the bed for Delahunt. From him and me- Thank you!!!!

As for my beautiful daughter, she is definitely becoming more and more comfortable each day and she is quite a ham when she gets going :) She is using more and more English words already and last night, she even corrected a word I was using in Amharic. Imagine that, my 3.5 year old daughter teaching me how to say "you are welcome" properly :) Yesterday on our journeys, my mom asked me if Julia could have gum and I said no and she immediately said "why"! I think she might understand more than we think.

She kissed me and my mom yesterday for the first time and says "come mommy, come". She holds my hand all the time that we are going anywhere and wants to sit on my knee in the van or at the table when she can. We had a nap this afternoon together in her bed. She laughs when I brush her teeth and she has learned to swish and spit. She is so happy and even wakes up with a smile on her face.

This afternoon we were rolling a ball on the floor to each other and she wanted to do it with our eyes closed. She rolled me the ball almost every time in a straight line (could we have an athlete in the making?).

Tomorrow, we are going to see a monastery, a falls and surrounding area as well as visit the leprosy hospital. Tomorrow evening, we are being treated by my adoption agency to a traditional meal and celebration with other families here from Canada with their children. Another very full day.

Motherhood is very, very wonderful and I cannot believe at times that this incredible gift has really happened. How incredibly beautiful it is to have a child look to you for their safety, for their care and for your love.

Signing off for tonight. I will try to write again on Tuesday.

Thank you again everyone for your support and your love.

Shelley

Shelley - 2nd post

Hi everyone! The last two days have been the most incredible experience of my life! My mom and I left at 8:00 yesterday morning and did not arrive at my daughter’s birth mother's village and home until 6:00 p.m. We had a flat tire on the way, my camera wasn't working so we stopped at a few places to find out what was wrong, had lunch and stopped probably 200 times to allow goats, cows, oxen, donkeys and people to clear the way.

Ethiopia is a country of great extremes. The beauty of some of the areas that we have seen is amazing and the poverty is absolutely unthinkable to we Canadians. What you see on TV is true. As you get further south, the country becomes greener and greener and with many hills and a lot of agriculture, grass huts and red soil, it is very beautiful. At the same time, our senses have been absolutely on overload with seeing over and over in a matter of minutes people who are so poor they are wearing no shoes and walking miles, carrying heavy weight on their backs, children ages as young as 3 walking along the road on their own carrying water in no more than a rag of a shirt and people who are constructing roads with picks and shovels and doing the work by hand and using donkeys. I am going to have to spend hours to journal what we have seen, what we have learned and the realities that we have witnessed.

We have also met people like Bisrat and Eyob who are outstanding believers in Christ and who are inspirational. Eyob is the director of Kingdom Vision International. Their organization has several orphanages, a child sponsorship program, a woman empowerment program and a program which serves families. Eyob is only 32 and yet his passion for children and Christ have led him to give his whole life to serving children and the people ofEthiopia.

I want to share with you something he said yesterday "In Ethiopia we do not have enemies, our #1 enemy is poverty and our gun powder to fight our enemy is our hearts and our passion". WOW!!! He went on to say "My desire is to follow God's vision and direction . I don't like to think of myself as the director but as a person who obeys God. This will be my work "God's work" from the beginning to the end".

His staff at the orphanage in Wolyata waited for us all day to arrive and spent until 9:30 at night to allow us to meet with my daughter’s birth mom and family and then to provide us with dinner and a coffee ceremony.

These people have so, so, so very little and yet their hearts are the size of my house. They want for so little except to create a better life for children like Julia!!!

I am not going to give all the details of my visit with my daughter’s birth mom because I really want to share that personal story with Julia. However, I will tell you that we travelled down a very rough road for many miles and then came upon the dirt path that we had to walk down to meet with her family. I passed by one farm home and then very close by, I entered the area that Julia’s birth mother, grandmother and grandfather live. I saw her birth mother right away and asked the translator if I could give her a hug. We sat in chairs outside and the translator allowed me to ask her questions that I can share with my daugther as she gets older. About 10 people including children seemed to appear out of nowhere to hear about Julia and to meet with us. I gave Belaynesh a book of pictures of Julia and my family and when she opened it and saw a picture of her birth daughter, she immediately kissed the pictures and hugged the book to her chest.

As our van left, Belaynesh walked beside, we held hands and we looked at each other until the van had to leave.

I will never, ever forget this time in my life. She has given me the most precious gift anyone could give out of a selfless love for her daughter.

Today, we went to pick up my most precious daughter and she has now been with us for 7 hours. I took pictures of her caregivers, said thank you and witnessed how much she has meant to them all. I gave them a book the other day and asked the head nurse if she would ask the staff if they would write a note to her. The notes are so precious and they are all consistent that she is a loving, special and sweet girl. I could tell from the first day that (Julia) has been one of their special children.

Thank you for your prayers for Julia’s adjustment and comfort because she has done so incredibly well!! As the minutes passed, she opened up more and more and by the time dinner came, she was laughing with us when we would do something funny, she was talking to us (a few words in English and some in Amharic) and saying mommy when looking at the pictures that I sent to her months ago. She also can point out her family members in the album so she already knows who her gramma, grappa, Auntie Lisa, Uncle Paul, Aunt Laurie, Katie and Carly are.

She smiles so much, laughs, holds on to my hand, sits in my lap, unbelievable considering the change she has just gone through. The head nurse told me that she started to ask when I was coming to pick her up the first thing this morning :)

I brushed her teeth with her new Dora toothbrush (which she can already say Dora from today) and she learned how to spit and laughed a few times through the process. She is so very easy to please. When we were singing This Little Light of Mine at dinner, I started to clap my hands and showing her to clap hers and she put her hands over mine and made my hands clap.

We read a book together at bed time that I plan to read every night for a long time and then we prayed and then I rubbed her back until she fell asleep.

I am a mommy and my little girl knows that I am her mommy and we have just started a beautiful journey together. My tears are flowing as I write this. The last four days have been unbelievable, miraculous, life changing and a complete gift and blessing from God.

I want to also share with you that many of you have responded to my question about the street children/leprosy colony and you have committed to $840.00!!!! We are going tomorrow morning with Bisrat to buy shoes and cloths for as many street children as we can - thank you from Ethiopia!!!!!!!!!

I will write soon and hopefully I will have pictures on my website very shortly.

Love,

Shelley -first update

Wednesday, June 9, 2010 Dear family and friends,

Yesterday evening, my mom and I arrived inAddis Ababa and since that time, we have experienced and seen so very much.  There is so much to tell and I will be starting to journal each day to create a document to help me remember my feelings and experiences for the rest of my life.

We were met at the airport by Bisrat the translator for the Guest Home.  He told us a lot about his life in a short time and said that he had been raised in a monastery as a younger boy because his parents were both blind and were monks.  When Bisrat became a believer in Christ, he was thrown in jail for 3 days without food and water.  He was thrown out of jail and was made to ride on the rack of a vehicle so he wouldn't contaminate the others in the vehicle. He then went to stay at the Leprosy Colony where they live right by the dump and eat the food that others throw out.  Bisrat then became involved with ministering to the street kids inAddis Ababaand has recently been employed by the owner of this guest home.  He is so very much in love with Jesus and so thankful for what he has and yet in our eyes, he has so very little (material things). He is very willing and wanting to be of help to us and has made us feel welcomed in a foreign land.

When we told him why we were inEthiopia, he said "You have obeyed God's plan for your life to adopt Zinash. You could have gone toCaliforniabut you chose to obey Him and come to the poorest country in the world to give a girl a family".  WOW!!  What a way to start our journey inEthiopia.  God sure is an awesome God to give us Bisrat and his wonderful spirit and deep love for Him.

On Tuesday night, my mom and I prepared for our trip to meet my daughter for the first time.  What to take, are the cameras ready, will she be shy, how will she feel about meeting us, .....?

At 8:30 this morning, Solomon, the driver for my adoption agency came to pick us up and about 40 minutes later, my mom and I sat in a room waiting to meet Julia. Before I knew it, there she was, holding on to the hand of the nurse and she was coming down the little hall.  I held myself together because I didn't want to scare her with my tears but the sheer delight I felt was incredible.  There she was before me, in seconds, I would be able to hold her and start my relationship as mother and daughter.

She is just as cute in real life as in her pictures.  Her smile is priceless and her eyes are beautiful.  She was very quiet but the nurse Hanna told me that Julia has been ready for me to come and she is ready to go with us in the next day or so.

I took with me today a game and a book that has icons you press to play little tidbits.  Julia loved both and it was a great way to make a connection with her.  I was able to hold her and to hold her hands and then to hug her when I was leaving.

I would love to say that I have pictures and/or a video to post on my website but unfortunately (and my mom and I just about died laughing tonight at the video), we have my mom's face for the first time to see Julia since she didn't know what end of the camera to point at Julia.

We did do the video over (what a great first impression of her gramma and her mom being totally dense when it comes to technology) but we will have to edit it before we post it on the website.  It is coming so please stay tuned.

Tomorrow morning, my mom and I are going with another driver about 4 hours south to meet Julia's birth mother at her home.  This will be a very hard day for sure and I just ask God to give me the grace and wisdom to know what to say and to show her birth mother that I thank her for Julia, that I will love her daughter with all my heart and to show love and compassion for the circumstances that she is in.

We will spend one night in Wolyata and then head back on Friday morning when we will go and pick up Julia to come and spend the rest of her life with me, my family and friends.  I know that she will take some time to adjust and to warm up and bond with me but hopefully each day we will see that she is opening up and becoming more comfortable.

Bisrat is going to arrange to buy some cloths and shoes for street kids he knows who do not have an agency caring for them.  My mom and I will go and buy the cloths that Bisrat picks out (he told us there is a second hand store that the cloths will be good and very reasonable) for 20 children and then we will take, with Bisrat, 10 children out for lunch at a time.

If you have any interest in doing a one-time sponsorship of a child in this way or if you would like us to buy some rice/beans/supplies to take to those living in the Leprocay Colony, please let me know how much you would like to donate and I can get the money from you when I get home.  I will take a picture of the children to give you if you would like to see who you have helped.

The poverty here is unbelievable and yet we are told that the Ethiopian people are happy.

When we were pointing out to Bisrat the flowers we knew from Florida and the flowering bushes and trees, he said that he has never noticed them before because most people in Ethiopia are thinking about what will come next and how they will get the food they need to eat.  He was not saying that by us noticing the flowers that we were wrong or not caring and that is what is so honestly amazing.  Bisrat told us as a matter of fact that many people inEthiopiamay dress okay but they go home and sleep on the floor. He as a boy would only eat one meal a day!!  How incredibly blessed we are to have three meals a day and snacks and to have the beauty of our country.

The next two days are going to be tremendously emotional, difficult and yet an important part of my adoption journey.

I will write more on Friday and let you know how Julia is doing but for now, she is a delight, an absolutely sweetheart and her smile and eyes have already (they did in pictures too) melted my heart.  I love this little girl and feel so very blessed to be her forever mommy.