Home

We are finally home and getting settled in. We ended up renting a car and driving from New York to Chicago and a friend picked us up in Chicago for the rest of the journey home. We arrived home at 4:30 am on Monday. Yesterday was long and hard, but we all had a good night sleep last night and are taking it easy today. The girls LOVE their brother and are being very helpful. I will post more later, but wanted to let everyone know we are home and safe. Thank you all for your prayers. We felt them!

Still Stuck

Standby flight for tonight didn't work. Did get a hotel, but there are no other forms of transportation available either. Hopefully tomorrow brings better news.

Getting Home

All day today we watched their flight numbers, hopeful whenever we saw they were still on. Dismayed when watching national news and seeing video of Detroit with ice and snow. Got the text from the previous post, and prayed. This afternoon Curt sent a message saying they were on standby for an 8:30 flight tonight, and confirmed for an 8:30 flight Saturday. We prayed they could make the earlier flight. Curt called and spoke with the girls on speaker phone to let them know. We had not told them about the chance of the delay so as not to worry them too much without need. They took it well, though with some more behavior issues this evening, most likely not just from the change in plans, but from not having an entirely consistent life the last 10 days, and from being snowed in for most of that! Emma changed her journal for today from "Mom and Dad coming home with Zion" to "NOT" to "MAYBEE!" after the phone call. Abi is "monkey mad" at the weather, Emma just wants to slam a door maybe to make her feel better.

We all went out to dinner tonight - both sets of Grandparents, the girls, and me (Mandy!) Curt called while we were eating and said they had found a hotel and would be staying the night and next day for the 8:30 flight Saturday. They should arrive in Chicago around 10:30, where Curt's brother will pick them up and deliver them to us. Please pray that no more weather disrupts their travels, and that their spirits will be lifted. Pray that Emma and Abi remain the angels they have been in the face of missing mom and dad. Thank you for your support of this wonderful family - they can feel your prayers and most certainly covet more for the future - in their immediate travel needs, and in their transition to a family of five.

Stuck

Curt's Text reads:
...flights cancelled everywhere. Mean people. Please pray.

We received about a foot of snow last night here in Southern Wisconsin, and it is moving through, messing up travel in Chicago and Detroit, meaning that while Curt, Kelly and Zion are safely in the country, they can't really go anywhere right now. Will update more when I hear what the next plan is.

Coming Home Soon...

It has been a wonderful adventure, but we can't wait to be home now. Yesterday we went shopping at local shops. That was fun. We also went to the leprosy and TB hospital and Kelly bought a lot of hand made items (1,590 birr worth). The money goes to support the hospital. Amazingly it was very difficult to find my traditional soccer jerseys I get on trips. We had to drive to a special shop to get them. Pray for our flights and that Zion Degamo does well. He is very happy today and smiling a lot. He is a super fun baby and he feels like ours, which we were worried about. But why worry when God is in control? Silly us. OK, see you all soon. Miss you all tons.

Love,
Curtiss...

To the Embassy and Beyond

We had our visa appointment today and we are all official now! It was very intimidating (the place) but the process itself was quite easy. We had Degamo in our room over night last night. He took a bottle for us and slept well and we were quite encouraged. He did very well during the Visa hearing today and even slept in his sling. After the visa hearing, we went to a Golf Club for lunch and relaxing, he was not loving the fact that we have thrown off his whole schedule. When we returned to the Hotel this afternoon, he spent most of an hour screaming and then finally took a nap. He woke up from his nap and took a bottle, but was still fussy. We think he may be teething and his tummy is having a hard time adjusting to different formula. We are just relaxing in our rooms for the rest of the night and taking turns listening to him fuss and holding him (it is Curt's turn right now). Hopefully he returns to his happy self soon. All of the nannies are always telling us how happy he is, so I feel like we ruined him already! Keep praying for us, all are tired, but happy and excited to be heading home in just over 48 hours. Tomorrow (Wednesday) they are having a going away party for the kids (I am bringing lots of kleenex) and in the afternoon, we are going shopping. We fly out at 11 pm (here) on Thursday.

We will be in contact as soon as we are back in the states, which is suppossed to be 10 am in New york on Friday.

love you all
Kelly

Sunday

Last night we spent at the traditional restaurant. The food was good, a little spicy, but good. The dancing and music was amazing. We have some video we will have to show you all. Today we did not get to see Degamo because they wanted to give the nannies a break on Sunday. We went to an Ethiopian church that Dr. Fikru goes to this morning. It was very similar in style and order of service to Living Word, but we didn't understand a word, yet our spirits still connected with the service and the people. We were the only white people there. After church we went to a resort southwest of Addis. Kelly took a lot of pictures and I rode in the "yak yak" (kayak) around the lake all afternoon. It was a very beautiful place and we got to see some of the more rural areas on the drive there and took some pictures. The food at the resort was also very good. I ate Nile perch that was huge and amazing. We are looking forward to tomorrow when we can play with Degamo again and he get to come back to the hotel and spend the night with us.

Love you and miss you all. If you are caring for the girls give them extra hugs and tell them how much we miss them.

see you all soon.
Curt

Saturday Update

Spent more time with Degamo today. The babies were out on the balcony when we got there, they were all naked and getting rubbed down with vaseline and sunning themselves. They were so happy and we said we are going to have to get a sun lamp cuz there is not nice warm sun in Wisconsin right now. He smiled when he saw us this morning and let Curt hold him for quite a while. We went to the National Museum this afternoon, very interesting. Tonight is a traditional meal and show. We are really feeling the time change today. Keep praying for us.

Meeting the Baby

Newest update from Curt & Kelly:
We met Degamo this morning. He is so sweet and wonderful and perfect (of course). We got to snuggle and play for about 2 hours this morning and then went back this afternoon for another hour or so. The nannies love him so much and made it abundantly clear that he is a favorite. Everyone is very friendly and accomodating. We will hang out with him tomorrow morning and then we are doing some touring in the afternoon. It is sunny and mid 80's but not humid. Feels so good. The other family that is here adopting as well is very nice and we have enjoyed getting to know them. So far so good on food, I had spaghetti for lunch (real daring, I know, but it was some of the best spaghetti ever). We are done for the day, and are going to crash in our room. Love you all and miss you. We are waiting for the phone to be delivered, so we will try to call once it is here.

Curt, Kelly and Degamo.

Travel Update

Sister Mandy here! The ice/snow Tuesday did not delay any travel plans - original flight from Chicago to Minneapolis was cancelled, so they flew to Detroit and waited 4 hours. I texted Curt all day while they were waiting (I was bored too...)

When the girls and I got back from piano lessons today, I had an email from Kelly:
We are here, alive and well and tired. It is just after 11 pm, so hopefully we will sleep. We get to meet Degamo around 10 am tomorrow. All of our luggage arrived fine and we did not miss any flights. Love you all. Miss you tons.

I will update more when I hear anything.