And Friday and Saturday We Came Home

Friday morning we had our own special, private appointment scheduled at the embassy to try again to get Davis' visa. We took another just-us bus ride over and went through the checkpoints and waiting rooms again before gaining access to the visa processing area. There were a few tense moments for us when our guide, Robel, had to talk one checkpoint monitor into letting us up, since Friday was not the usual day for handling adoption stuff, but aside from that everything went smoothly. We had to wait a little while before our interview, and I remember talking to Robel during that time about how cool it is that he is a part of the story of so many kids all over the U.S. (He also does some wonderful work with children in Addis that you can read more about here.) Then we breezed through our interview and got our treasured papers. So much for all the high drama of earlier in the week. Obviously, I wasted some worry on that one.

Later on in the morning we rejoined our group for a tour of a coffee plant (see photos here) and went to a restaurant called the Lemontree. Then we went back to the guesthouse to pack and get ready for our evening flight. I had some teary moments on our bus ride to the airport, as I did feel sadness over Davis losing his original homeland on top of all the other losses he had experienced in his first few months of life. It is a strange place, this adoption place. Someone at an adoption conference we went to called it the intersection of light and darkness, and I was feeling that very strongly as we were leaving Ethiopia.

We had a long wait for our flight, but we were so very happy that our travel had not been delayed by the paperwork issues that this was no problem at all. And then we boarded our plane. Some families had bassinettes near them for their babies, and we had an empty seat between us that made this long 16-hour flight manageable. Davis slept most of the time, sometimes on the seat between us, and David and I were able to sleep some as well. We had a few hours lay-over in D.C. before boarding our last plane. That flight seemed to take no time at all and finally we were at the airport and so close to home.

At the airport I changed Davis into the outfit I had chosen for his homecoming, and we made the walk down the long wide hallway that led to the baggage claim area. It was at the end of this hallway where we could see our friends and family waiting.

Faith had had a wonderful time at my parents house while we were away, but there were definitely signs that she was missing us. The last few times we called her she refused to talk to one or both of us, and there was no bribe sweet enough to tempt her into a conversation. She told my mom, "I'll talk to them when they get here." I guess this was her way of coping. We had told friends and family to let Faith be the first one to greet us, and I could see her at the front of the pack as we were walking towards those who had gathered to see our son. She began walking towards us, and then I saw her expression kind of freeze and she turned and ran a short distance behind the others. Since she was supposed to be the first to come to us, everyone hung back a few beats before coming closer to us to see our baby boy. We were so proud of our son, and so happy to share this long awaited homecoming with our friends and family.

After a little while, Faith was still hanging out behind everyone and sitting on her own. I went over to speak with her, and she started crying and then yelling, "NO! NO! NO!" when I picked her up. Not exactly how I had envisioned our happy homecoming, but I understood that she was just overwhelmed. I held her tightly for a few moments and took her to an out-of-the-way spot by some vending machines and spoke calmly to her until she quieted down. After that she was her regular happy self again and excited about her brother and about being a big sister.

I was proud of her for having done so well during the long week without us, and I was so glad that we were together again!
A big "Thank You!" to Carrie for taking these photos.