A Beautiful Friendship

It didn't start out the way I would normally meet a person.  We didn't meet at an event, we didn't meet at the store, we didn't even meet face to face.  It began like many modern friendships these days, with the help of a computer.

Almost a year ago now, I posted a message on our agency's yahoo group board, she responded, and that was that.  Even from the first few e-mail exchanges it was apparent we had much in common.  Not only had we both been through the same grueling court process with our kids, she was the first person I've ever met that actually had heard of the small burg in Germany where I had grown up.  She knew what it was like to be from a military family and she was a rock and absolute wealth of information when it came to raising a family and adoption.  To this day, if I have any questions, I ask her first.  Instant friends. 

Up until the very last minute, we had no idea whether we would be able to meet each other in Ethiopia. I think it was literally 48 hours before Daddy O and I boarded the plane that she e-mailed me with the good news. We were all staying at the same guesthouse and made a pact that (since we arrived at different times) we would make sure that someone wouldn't forget us at the airport, no matter how late it was. 

If I remember correctly, Daddy O and I arrived in Ethiopia very late at night (or very early morning) and she along with staff and another fabulous lady were there to greet us and show us the ropes.  With very little sleep, the next morning arrived too quickly and we traveled together and took pictures of her meeting her son and daughter and she in turn was there to take pictures of us meeting our two boys.  She was there to see us elated to meet Boy O and she was there to see us confused and discombobulated when meeting a very sick Baby O.  It's hard to believe that we only spent a little over 72 hours in each other's company-honestly the only way I can explain it is a suspension of time-the highs and lows we went through during that time felt like a lifetime.

We have kept in touch this past year via blogs and e-mails and finally got our families together this past weekend.  I felt like I already knew everyone and can't express how amazing it was to see her two kiddos that we had met in Ethiopia and four more that I had only read about.  We played, we talked,  her daughter watched and chased Baby O (thank you D! You are amazing by the way!) as he investigated every corner of their house and  Daddy O was graciously welcomed by her husband (and spent the ride home talking about snowmobiles).  Thank you to the girls for putting up with Baby O dumping out their legos for the hundredth time and for B standing by while Boy O demolished his lego plane.  The afternoon felt like 15 minutes and we were back in the car, headed for home.

 How beautiful is this?

I think they are talking about politics or baseball, probably superheros.

Baby O was EVERYWHERE!

Say Bunny Rabbit!

Bunny Rabbit!

No less than 10 minutes after we got in the car to go home:

Andrea, the spirit of family you and your husband displayed during our visit was inspiring. We will always think of you with love and hope to see you sooner rather than later!

Migration

Wow.  My description of the moment in my previous post was 'whirlwind'.  I'm having a tough time trying to find the right words to illustrate this past week.  Each day has presented a new, unforeseen challenge.  From overlooked immigration documents, an extra 30 lbs of donations on our doorstep, to the news that chicken pox has been making its rounds through the Layla House once again, I have felt at times as though my heart had jumped out of my body.  I am grateful that we have somehow managed to extinguish the fires with relative ease and recover our senses by the end of each day.  As our travel date draws closer, the butterflies in my stomach are still trying to migrate somewhere (I think they must be monarchs), but I have stopped obsessing over minor details and am finally concentrating on the big picture. 

This is really happening.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support and generosity-we will carry all your warm wishes with us to Ethiopia.  I will probably not have the time or computer access to update you from the road but I assure you that I will be writing down our experiences and will share our day to day adventures with you soon.  Much love and peace to all.

To Infinity and Beyond!

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of events-dotting i's and crossing t's as we prepare for the trip of a lifetime.  Have we packed enough? Have we packed the right things? Should I bring the bugspray? Pampers or Huggies? 

With so many questions and thoughts spinning through my mind and finding my day to day focus fading, I am trying to concentrate on those two beautiful faces in the many pictures people have been so kind to take for us.  I can close my eyes and finally say-next time this month, these boys will be running and crawling all over this house and the rooms will hopefully be filled with laughter.  It gives me great comfort but is also a  little scary.  In two weeks things will have changed completely and life as we know it will be a distant memory.  Don't get me wrong-I am definitely looking forward to it and we have been planning on this for a LONG time, but I am anxious!  Excited and also nervous at the same time.  And as a side note-I'm really hoping that they go easy on us in the sleep department (I know several of you are laughing at that statement right now!).

This whole process makes me feel like I'm 9 years old again, climbing up the ladder to the high dive for the first time, feeling every rung on the way up.  I remember walking out to the end of the board and looking down and then slowly taking a step back, only to hear the kids lined up below telling (or was it more like shouting?) me not to look down and to just jump.  I can honestly say that instead of closing my eyes and holding my nose this time, I am taking a running leap with my eyes wide open and I'm going to enjoy every moment before the big splash!