Day 2

Day 2 Ethiopia

 Monday was the day!  

We spent the morning doing a little shopping around town that we knew 

would be too over stimulating for the boys. 

 I really don't do well in these type of markets. 

 But, Jay helped me get the boys an Ethiopian outfits 

and cute, cute Ethiopian hats! 

We were followed by this beautiful little guy, probably 12 years old. 

 He was sellng homemade toothbrushes - ohhh he had the sweetest smile.

After the shopping we were ready to go get our boys!

We showed up at nap time, 

so we were able to visit with Sister (the nurse) and Joan (our agency CEO who was visiting from Colorado). 

 Nurse took our bag of toys for the kids.  

We had brought little backpacks filled with toys for them. 

 Sister took the time to put the kids names on each bag.  

The kids were sooooo proud of their bags!  

It was adorable!

Donovan and Elijah were able to get out of their rooms to come see us. 

 It was so great bonding again! 

As the other kids began coming out of their rooms, 

one of the older kids was very sad so we got a frisbee out of his pack-

and played. 

His sadness disappeared and he felt loved again.

(This little, big guy is caught in the "system" and because of circumstances he is 

not available for adoption.)

 Elijah, the cuddler, wanted me to hold him as we played.  

The kids got a good laugh at my frisbee (or lack of frisbee) skills!

We began packing our things up. 

 It was time to  get our boys changed into their new clothes. 

 Elijah came wilingly but Donovan didn't understand and began to whine.  

He thought we were leaving without him AGAIN.  

One of the nannies helped me bring him into his room and show him the clothes - his attitude cheered up and he couldn't get his old clothes off quick enough! 

The boys walked out of their room with me - hand -n- hand and headed directly into the van.  

Donovan got in there quicker then lightening! 

 This boy was ready to leave! 

 Elijah giggled and giggled!  

Poor Uncle JB got stuck with all our bags.  

But he wasn't complaining - he was already in love with our boys too!

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by another orphanage on our way to the hotel and I got a peak at my friend Jennifer's little guy -

 ohhhhhh he is sooooo cute!!!

We can't wait for him to come home to Texas too!

When we got back to the hotel plans changed a bit again and we ended up being invited to eat dinner at the hotel with our agency staff, 

CEO and the other families in town.  

It was a nice dinner and the boys did great!  

They were sooo well behaved and soooo hungry! 

 While we waited for our dinner to be served they sat quietly and colored.  

They got pretty hyper after dinner 

so it was my time to take them to the room.  Hyper led to a bit of attitude - 

so we skipped the bath and went straight for the pj's! 

Elijah cried in my arms, and rocked in my arms for about 15 minutes 

and Donovan whinned for about 30 minutes - 

then crawled into bed and whinned a bit as I scratched their backs.  

He finally settled down and both were fast asleep -

 not bad for the first night!

Thank you Jesus!!!

DAY 2 in Texas!

We had a great 2nd day.  

Everyone woke up in good moods.

Elijah had woken up in the middle of the night crying -

so I brought him to sleep  with Bryan and I - 

he snuggled up and slept til 7am!

We all got ready for church and dramatically searched for 

shoes for Donovan to wear.

The shoes I purchased are too small -

we only had one pair that fit him -

and thankfully they were good Sunday shoes! 

The boys did great during worship time,

Jailyn had gone to the donut table to get some donuts for them -

they were shocked that they got a treat!

Then off to Sunday school -

well, that didn't last long! 

Conner tried to stay with them - but neither boys would have 

anything to do with sitting in their classes -

they just wanted to run,

so they ended up sitting with mom and dad.

Only a few arguments during service, 

and a time out for each of them -

but they loved meeting everyone! 

Donovan loved playing after church with the big kids -

the big kids were so sweet to him! 

Quick microwave lunch at home -

feeding Elijah as quick as possible!

Seems the more hyper he gets - means the more tired he is.

Both Donovan and Elijah had seconds and 

thirds on applesauce!

These boys love to eat!

Elijah went down for a nap and slept a good 3 hours!

This is great to give us some one-on-one time with Donovan!

He is such a silly kid!

Conner had youth group and Dad had to coach a soccer game.

I decided to stay home with the little kids -

and play outside! 

Fun times!

I can't believe after all this time -

my boys are finally home

and we are all a family! 

Can you tell we have a few new members of the family?

Love their exploring nature -

and that it is pretty much contained to their playroom -

cause the rest of the house is a mess with laundry and

unemptied suitcases!