October 31-November 1 (Day 17-18)

Halloween in Ethiopia, Church at the IEC, massage, doctor, play dates,

October 31, (Day 17)

The morning started off by attending a church service at the International Evangelical Church. We (The Plumbs, Joanna and I) attended the service in english and it was wonderful to see the racially diverse congregation...the service and music was similar to how our church at home worships. It was packed so if you go you might want to get there early to get a seat. After church we headed back to the Lime Tree for lunch as we had an appointment to get a massage at the Boston Spa which is downstairs from Lime Tree. The massage was nice, but be aware that they massage the front (stomach)...it was a little surprising. We all walked out and wished that we had made a hair appointment as well because our hair was full of oil as they also do a scalp massage. The massages are less than $10 US for an hour. Then it was time to play with the boys.

 (John dressed in his Halloween gear)

 John, Solomon, Tate

 (Trying to get them to smile)

 Cute Tate!!

 Happy Boy!!

(Hard at work playing)

November 1 (Day 18)

The day started off by going to the Gladney doctor. He didn't work on the weekends so we asked to go first thing in the morning as Solomon was still fussy and not sleeping well...I thought maybe he was teething and just wanted to get him checked out. So glad Gladney has a doctor that you can use while you are in ET!!! We saw Dr. Makias (not sure how to spell) at the Gladney foster home...he was a nice man along with another woman (maybe his assistant???) She had pictures of Solomon on her phone from when he was a bit younger that she showed me. Always heartwarming to see pictures of your baby. Turns out Solomon had a double ear infection and throat infection!! I felt horrible that he had been sick and I really had no idea except for the fact that he was cranky. Glad that I took him.

(Hanging outside of the Gladney foster home waiting to see the doctor)

We then went to the pharmacy to get Solomon's medicine.  Our driver Solomon was so helpful with everything and I don't know what I would have done without him. After the pharmacy our driver Solomon let us know that the Ayat House was close by and did we want to see it...sure why not. Ok Gladney families the Ayat House is seriously 3 houses down from the Gladney Foster homes. Ayat 1 and 2 are across the street from each other. We saw this sweet family who was staying there (can't remember which Ayat is 1 and which is 2) and met their beautiful girls while playing in their front yard. I really enjoyed the Ayat House and think it would be a nice place to stay for your second trip while bonding. Nice outside area and out of the city. We then headed over to the Ethiopian guesthouse to see 2 Gladney families: this family and the Friedrich family who had a 5 year old girl and baby boy. The Ethiopian guesthouse is way out there!

October 28-30 (Days 14-16)

Lunch with Gladney people, IEC church bazaar, Sabahar

October 28, (Day 14)

My first day "alone" with Solomon. Joanna and I got a phone call from Travis letting us know that other Gladney families (some who we had not met yet) were getting together for lunch at Island Breeze so we decided to go. It is always interesting meeting people from all over the US :) When we got back from lunch Solomon was pretty fussy and clingy. That night he didn't sleep very well.

October 29, (Day 15)

The next day was spent at the guesthouse hanging out with Solomon. He continued to be fussy and wanting to held anytime he saw me standing up. Below is a picture of our driver Solomon. He was wonderful and loved the boys. He would bring us lunch and dinner if we needed it on days we stayed in.

 (Solomon, Solomon, and John)

 (Showing off those pretty teeth)

October 30, (Day 16)

The day started off at Lime Tree for breakfast with Joanna. We then headed over to the IEC church for a bazaar. They had tons of rooms and outside space full of Ethiopian crafts. This shopping is something that you don't want to miss. I got coffee bean necklaces, bowls, ornaments, a pillow for Solomon's room,  and some handmade cards...stuff that you couldn't find at the souvenir shops.  I think it is the last Saturday of the month. After shopping we headed to the Lion zoo again as Solomon our driver wanted Joanna to see it. We then went to the silk factory Sabahar.  They have an area where you can see people actually weaving the silk..but they weren't there when we were. You can also see the caterpillars...kind of neat. The day ended with getting dinner at Lucy's.

(Solomon practicing with his sippy cup and John playing with a favorite toy of both boys an empty puffs container) 

October 26-27 (Days 12-13)

AHOPE, Kechene, Mercato, Matt leaves

October 26th - The morning started off by going to Khaldis. Yum Yum!

 Joanna and I

 Matt and Travis-making fun of sugar that is everywhere!

We had arranged to go to AHOPE- an organization that cares for orphans who are HIV positive. The home was well cared for and the children were very sweet. They have a website that includes their list of needs which I wish I had known about.

When we got back to the guesthouse this was in our "backyard". We took the boys to see the cows.

Later that night we went to Yod Abyssinia for a traditional dinner and dancing with the Lovins and Plumbs. The dinner and show start around 7pm, but we were so tired being new parents that at about 8:30 we were ready to go home.

 Joanna and Travis Lovin

 Me and Matt

 Brain and Shannon Plumb

October 27th - The morning started off by going to the Gladney office for what we thought was an appointment for the boys - unfortunately there was a mix up and after an hour we were told we actually did not have an appointment. Remember to always be flexible while in Ethiopia:) We decided to go back to Kechene government orphanage and visit with the children. Matt and Travis both connected with some of the children and wanted to go back to see them before they left. While we were there, a preschool was letting out and there were hundreds of little kids who all wanted to shake our hands..it was so cute. We then drove through the mercado..our driver told us that we were not allowed to get out and walk around as he didn't think it was safe for us. There were people everywhere!

We then headed back to our guesthouse. It was time for Matt to pack up and leave. I tried not to really think about Matt leaving because I wasn't sure how I was going to be a "single mom" and be without him. For the last 3 hours or so that Matt was there the power was off..something that happened frequently we were told due to the BNB being more outside of the city. Luckily he was on the same flight with Travis to Germany so they got to be together.

October 25 (day 11)

met birthmother, shopping

I am so glad that we were able to meet with Solomon's birthmother. She traveled about 6 hours and spent the night in order to meet us. She came in the room and I knew it must be his mom because she had similar big wide set eyes like him. She shook Matt's hand and gave me the biggest hug...I will always remember that hug. I was very grateful that Solomon let her hold him and love on him. Throughout our time with her she let us video tape and take lots of pictures for Solomon to have. Here are a few questions that we asked her that I can remember off the top of my head.

Where she lived and what it was like, what kind of work she did, did she like it, family history, medical information, favorite meal, favorite color, why she gave Solomon up for adoption, about his father, asked who Solomon looked like, what was Solomon like as a baby, what did she want for Solomon, her favorite holiday, favorite time of year, we heard she loved to sing and asked her what her favorite song and she began to sing a song for us..such a treasure to have

Now I think of tons of things I should have asked her..such as about her childhood..did she go to school, what did she like to do as a child, I wish I had asked more questions about Solomon's birthfather and how they met.

The most important part for Matt and I throughout the whole morning with Solomon's birthmother was finding out that she was a Christian and how important her faith is to her.


After that emotional morning, we all went to eat with the Plumb family at Island Breeze. This restaurant has the most americanized food (I thought they had the best pizza). SIncethe hubby's were leaving soon, we decided to do some more shopping...we went to Tomoca for coffee, got some baskets, went to a map store. Our driver-Solomon- is the best haggler there is. 

October 24 (Day 10)

October 24- We went to the Kuriftu resort with the Lovins, Travis, and another Gladney family Lisa and Andy. We got to take Solomon with us and it was nice to have him out of the guesthouse...and get our first look at what it is like out of the city of Addis.  The resort had a lake, beautiful gardens and the dinner was good. I would recommend going.

 (traveling in the van)

 (Love this face)

 (some of the buffet food)