The morning of March 9 we woke up in Ethiopia full of anticipation. I was nervous and excited and ready. We picked up a few more families and then headed to Tikuret, the orphanage our children have been at since last summer. We were with our now good friends Clint and Amanda from Minnesota who would also be meeting their children for the first time. What a blessing it was to share this moment with another family.
As the gates of Tikuret opened and we pulled in, I think I spied Kaleb washing his hands. We were brought into the room I had seen in others photos and we waited. It was decided that our children would come first since they were older while Clint and Amanda took pictures and video for us. Then they came down the stairs. Emnet was beaming and Kaleb was hesitant. It is a moment which is so difficult to describe and yet I believe anyone who has adopted can relate perfectly. Kaleb gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek which I am pretty sure he was told to do, but it was so precious to me. The next two pictures say a lot our about our boy, and I love them. They were taken minutes apart.
We gave them the picture albums I had made and went through all the pictures with them. Neither Kaleb nor Ement set their books down during our time there. Every time Emnet came to a picture of Wingnut, our dog, she said Woosha (Amharic for dog) then hit the picture. That might be an interesting relationship. We brought out the balloons which were a huge hit and we played. Emnet didn't stop moving or smiling although she did give Jeff some sass which I must admit was kind of cute. I will probably feel much differently about that after she is home. Kaleb was fascinated with the I-pod and loved taking pictures with our camera. He said very little during our first visit, but was definitely more comfortable with us towards the end. One of the most special moments for me was feeding Ement and sitting with her as she relaxed into my arms and almost fell asleep.
After a lot of playing and tyring to take in every moment, the drivers came. We knew we would see them again in a couple of days but leaving was hard. It was especially hard on Jeff and Kaleb. And now three months have passed and my heart aches to hold them again, to hug them again, to know them as my children.
These pictures are SO sweet, thanks for sharing:). I realized when I saw these pics that I totally saw your daughter while I was there. She was so funny and just came in and watched me with my son for like 10 minutes. I've been thinking and praying for you yesterday and this morning!
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteWe are a family living in Denmark that adopted a 3 year old boy from Tikuret orphanage in March 2011. We received some photos of Tikuret, where we maybe can recognise your children. Our son is still talking alot about an "Emnet"- he says Emneti- as she was a very good friend of him.
We were told that his friend Emnet is going to the USA, so the girl our son is talking about, could be yours. In that case we also have some photos from the time before we adopted our son (maybe you also got some from Tikuret).
If Emnet is the girl, he is looking for, it could be an important "brickstone" for their time before they got their new families.
Anyway, good luck with your adoption process.
We would look forward to hearing from you (maybe with a closer up picture of your children, so we are sure that it is them).
Greetings
Elisabeth Hoefle
elisabeth_haj@yahoo.com