Three weeks ago, we departed for the trip of our lives. There are so many wonderful memories from our time in Africa, that I honestly don't know where to begin! I just want to share all of it with you...the sights, the sounds, the smells of Ethiopia...truly indescribable...but I will do my best. It is my hope to chronicle each day with a new post. So, let's start at the very beginning....
Sunday, July 18th - Monday, July 19th
Well, I thought the packing would NEVER end. I started the process at least one week in advance--days and nights-- and almost ran out of time. Packing for a four month-old for a week in a foreign country with totally different weather than summertime in North Carolina (it was "cold" and rainy in Ethiopia...more on that later) is very, very difficult...especially when you've never packed for a baby before! Thanks to all of my friends with babies who answered my phone calls and questions such as, "How many outfits do I need per day?" and "How many bottles do you think I need?", etc. Between packing for Judah, Jeff, myself, and getting all of our humanitarian aid items together, I thought it was an impossible task. But with the help of Gran'ma, Jeff and I got it done and this was the end result.
Our flight departed on a Sunday afternoon, and I just remember feeling giddy when I woke up that Sunday morning. I get terribly sentimental when leaving something behind or when saying good-bye. Although I knew we were coming back to our house, I also knew that it would be totally different with a new little member of the family moving in (in a good way, of course). Still, I closed the door with a tear especially when I said good-bye to Allie (our sweet little dog) because I knew my relationship with her wouldn't be quite the same when I returned. (Side note for all who are wondering: Allie is doing great with Judah now, but she totally ignored him for the first three days...very interesting, but we are thankful she came around. She even gives him kisses now!) Here is the moment I said good-bye to Allie.
And obviously, the sentimental moment didn't last too long because look how happy we were to be heading out the door to the airport!
The feelings I had at the airport were an unfamiliar mix of excitement and peace....never really anxious or worried, which is totally unlike me! This is a testament to all of you who were praying for us. I love this picture (not staged, by the way) of me smiling and looking out the window at Dulles at our gigantic Ethiopian Airlines flight...that took us all the way to Addis Ababa nonstop.
Once on the plane, the excitement continued. I just couldn't believe that we would be meeting our son in one day...ahhh!!!
Jeff and I were fortunate enough to sleep many hours on the loonggggg flight from DC to Addis, but when we arrived over Africa I was awake enough to catch moments like this....
And I seriously thought I would jump out of my seat when I saw on the screen in front of us that the plane was over Addis and we were getting ready to land!
Welcome to Ethiopia!
This was taken right when we stepped off the plane at the airport in Addis. At this point, it was Monday evening (in Ethiopia). Crazy to think we started this trip Sunday morning, but we made it! We arrived at our guesthouse around midnight and between the two of us, we got very little sleep knowing that we would FINALLY meet our sweet angel the very next morning....
