Wow. I'm way behind on posts. Sorry. I'll make this quick and factual rather than take the time to make it too touchy feely. Rest assured that there has been an abundance of emotion as we have been overwhelmingly blessed with another AMAZING daughter!!


Okay. Here goes...
We arrived in ET on Sunday evening and spent Monday afternoon at the Transitional Home with Jadyn. Meeting and holding her for the first time was definitely one of the top 5 moments of my life. There's really no way to describe it. Once God had put that "mommy love" in my heart for Jadyn back in October, being apart from her became torturous. It wasn't like waiting to have a biological baby as some would assume. It felt as though someone had taken my child away to another country, and I had to wait indefinitely to get her back. Our hearts were torn apart as we waited and waited for the moment that we could hold our precious daughter. That actual moment brought with it long awaited, much anticipated, indescribable joy. Our treasure was finally in our arms! It was SO AMAZING! I wish I could adequately describe it, but it's just not possible.

We were given special permission to keep her with us the rest of the trip, but we weren't allowed to go anywhere touristy once she was with us. We really didn't care--we just wanted to be with Jadyn. Dh had spent a day with her in November, so that may have been why she was allowed to come back to the hotel with us a day early.


Our older daughter travelled with us, and the two acted like sisters/best friends from the first few minutes. We ate dinner at a traditional ET place, went back to the hotel, showered, and went to bed. The girls started a movie in bed, but both conked out within three minutes.



On Tuesday we went back to the Transitional Home and spent a good part of the afternoon there. We were able to meet a couple of Jadyn's relatives and spend time with our friends' kids who are waiting for their parents to come and get them. It was a fun but emotional day. As we pulled away that afternoon, the children at the transitional home all swarmed our van to say goodbye to their friends who would soon be on their way to America. There were tears from one friend, but mostly smiles and well-wishes from the others as Jadyn waved goodbye for the last time.



Before I forget, we travelled with the awesome Martin family. They added so much to our trip! Vince, Alisa, and Baby Micah were a huge blessing to our family as we experienced the miracle of adoption together on the other side of the world. We all enjoyed them so much!



We also had the pleasure of visiting with a missionary family that we'd been hearing about for months. They are the sister, brother-in-law, nieces, and nephews of the sweet couple who kept our other kids a lot of the time that we were in Ethiopia. What a precious family!

I'll sign off for now, but will hopefully have some time in the not too distant future to finish the story. I will try to get some pics up.

In His Mighty Grip,
Holly