"Henok is YOURS"
These are the best words we have heard since "It's a girl" more than twelve years ago! Basically that was our "It's a boy" moment. WOW, what a week is all I can say. November 17th was our precious "Meetcha Day"! For months we have been talking about what we would say to Jadon and questioning will he even understand or know who we are. We even wondered will we recognize him immediately because he has been growing so much and his hair was always different when we would receive updated pictures. So THE day was finally here and we were so excited! We were picked up after breakfast and taken to the HOH. We had no idea how we would be introduced to him. Would he be in a crowd of other kids or would we be taken to a special room for him to be brought in? We pulled up in front of the gated doors to the HOH, the driver toots his horn, the guard peeks out and then proceeds to open the doors and as soon as they opened I saw my precious brown eyed, curly haired son jumping up and down smiling and pointing at our van! Unfortunately David missed that moment because he was trying to get our cameras ready because we didn't know to expect him greeting us like that. I started screaming there he is! There's our son! One of the orphanage directors was riding with us and sitting next to me. I just about pushed him out of the van because I couldn't get out quick enough. As soon as I got out Jadon ran straight to me! He became a little shy (which is to be expected) but he was wearing his photo book across his shoulder so I pulled it around in front of him and pointed to my picture and David's telling him we were his mommy and daddy! He also knew who his big sister was and could say her name perfectly! He then quickly gave me a hug and kiss as well as his daddy! This moment was so much more than we could have ever imagined! We then went into a special room they have for visiting families to spend time with their kids to bond. He bonded right away with us! He is so beautiful and this mommy is already wrapped around his pinky! He knows how to work those big beautiful brown eyes! He is so stinking cute and very smart! He is full of energy too! We were able to visit with him twice a day for about 3 to 4 hours each visit. We were able to call Lily during our afternoon sessions just as she was waking up for school. She got to talk with him a few times so you can imagine she was very excited about that especially because he talked back a couple of times. He can't carry on a conversation in English but he could understand a lot and he could repeat English words very easily. Jadon was very ready to come to America with us. He told the HOH director the week before we arrived that he was ready to go to America but if mommy and daddy are not coming soon then take him back to the orphanage where he had been living before the HOH. The HOH is a transition home ran by our agency. While we were there he climbed in the our van and told the driver he was going to America (in his language but we understood the "America" part.
Almost every time at the end of each session he would cry or pout as we left. This was so hard on this mommy and daddy because we knew that Saturday was coming and we would have to say good bye for a few weeks! At the end of our last morning session I was walking him to his little "dining room" for lunch and he was pouting so badly. Our driver was running a little late so I peeked in the room to check on him and he was sitting in his little plastic chair crying the biggest crocodile tears I have ever seen. I went in to wipe his tears and hug him and then joined him in crying! It was heart breaking because I knew that afternoon was not going to be easy when saying goodbye for the last time. We were blessed with being able to go back to the HOH a little earlier than usual so we got almost an extra 2 hours with him on the final day! Also as many of you know my birthday was Sunday so a sweet adoptive couple that is staying in ET currently until their embassy date brought in a cake for me and another girl who was there whose b-day was Saturday. So I got to split a piece of yummy chocolate cake with my sweet boy and then Sunday I got to celebrate with my beautiful daughter who made me my favorite cake ...yellow cake with chocolate peanut butter icing!
Our translator did talk to him and explain what would be happening earlier in the day and he seemed to handle it okay. The dreaded time came for us to say our final good bye but it went better than we expected. He didn't cry but his behavior was different. We could tell it was just his way of handling it. I think he wanted to prove he was a big boy and could handle it. We had been praying for us all three to be strong in that moment and through God's strength we kept it together...atleast in front of each other. I completely lost it once we got in the van and pulled away. His Daddy had lost it the night before when we watched another family say their final good bye and he watched Jadon crying and me crying. Even the Nannies were crying watching all of us crying!
It is so hard to be torn between your kids in two different parts of the world. We so badly missed Lily but we hated having to leave our son! It is good to know he is in good hands. We know God is watching over him and has surrounded him with the most loving people in Ethiopia to take care of him!
We are expected to be back in ET on Dec. 20th at which we will take custody of him and then attend our embassy date of Dec. 23. We would then leave ET on Dec. 24th arriving back home on Dec. 25th! What a Christmas present!
Although it is final we still have some work to do to get him home. Our adoption fund is dry and we need to book tickets asap before the prices keep creeping up as we get closer to the holidays. For David and I to go and bring him home we are looking at about 7k. For Lily to go it would be an additional 2500 for a total of 9500. As much as we would love for Lily to experience this priceless moment in our family we know that it is up to God's will for her and we will trust in him to make that clear one way or the other. We are basically just concentrating on the 7k because what matters most is us getting him home as soon as possible. We realize that it is close to the Holidays but are asking if you would pray about whether you could spare $5, $10 or more to help us get him home. Maybe pray about sharing our story with family and friends and see if they would like to participate in the work God is doing in this precious boy's life... Jadon is no longer an orphan. God has blessed him with a family and now he just needs to be united with them forever. Little is much when God is in it!
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!
These are the best words we have heard since "It's a girl" more than twelve years ago! Basically that was our "It's a boy" moment. WOW, what a week is all I can say. November 17th was our precious "Meetcha Day"! For months we have been talking about what we would say to Jadon and questioning will he even understand or know who we are. We even wondered will we recognize him immediately because he has been growing so much and his hair was always different when we would receive updated pictures. So THE day was finally here and we were so excited! We were picked up after breakfast and taken to the HOH. We had no idea how we would be introduced to him. Would he be in a crowd of other kids or would we be taken to a special room for him to be brought in? We pulled up in front of the gated doors to the HOH, the driver toots his horn, the guard peeks out and then proceeds to open the doors and as soon as they opened I saw my precious brown eyed, curly haired son jumping up and down smiling and pointing at our van! Unfortunately David missed that moment because he was trying to get our cameras ready because we didn't know to expect him greeting us like that. I started screaming there he is! There's our son! One of the orphanage directors was riding with us and sitting next to me. I just about pushed him out of the van because I couldn't get out quick enough. As soon as I got out Jadon ran straight to me! He became a little shy (which is to be expected) but he was wearing his photo book across his shoulder so I pulled it around in front of him and pointed to my picture and David's telling him we were his mommy and daddy! He also knew who his big sister was and could say her name perfectly! He then quickly gave me a hug and kiss as well as his daddy! This moment was so much more than we could have ever imagined! We then went into a special room they have for visiting families to spend time with their kids to bond. He bonded right away with us! He is so beautiful and this mommy is already wrapped around his pinky! He knows how to work those big beautiful brown eyes! He is so stinking cute and very smart! He is full of energy too! We were able to visit with him twice a day for about 3 to 4 hours each visit. We were able to call Lily during our afternoon sessions just as she was waking up for school. She got to talk with him a few times so you can imagine she was very excited about that especially because he talked back a couple of times. He can't carry on a conversation in English but he could understand a lot and he could repeat English words very easily. Jadon was very ready to come to America with us. He told the HOH director the week before we arrived that he was ready to go to America but if mommy and daddy are not coming soon then take him back to the orphanage where he had been living before the HOH. The HOH is a transition home ran by our agency. While we were there he climbed in the our van and told the driver he was going to America (in his language but we understood the "America" part.
Almost every time at the end of each session he would cry or pout as we left. This was so hard on this mommy and daddy because we knew that Saturday was coming and we would have to say good bye for a few weeks! At the end of our last morning session I was walking him to his little "dining room" for lunch and he was pouting so badly. Our driver was running a little late so I peeked in the room to check on him and he was sitting in his little plastic chair crying the biggest crocodile tears I have ever seen. I went in to wipe his tears and hug him and then joined him in crying! It was heart breaking because I knew that afternoon was not going to be easy when saying goodbye for the last time. We were blessed with being able to go back to the HOH a little earlier than usual so we got almost an extra 2 hours with him on the final day! Also as many of you know my birthday was Sunday so a sweet adoptive couple that is staying in ET currently until their embassy date brought in a cake for me and another girl who was there whose b-day was Saturday. So I got to split a piece of yummy chocolate cake with my sweet boy and then Sunday I got to celebrate with my beautiful daughter who made me my favorite cake ...yellow cake with chocolate peanut butter icing!
Our translator did talk to him and explain what would be happening earlier in the day and he seemed to handle it okay. The dreaded time came for us to say our final good bye but it went better than we expected. He didn't cry but his behavior was different. We could tell it was just his way of handling it. I think he wanted to prove he was a big boy and could handle it. We had been praying for us all three to be strong in that moment and through God's strength we kept it together...atleast in front of each other. I completely lost it once we got in the van and pulled away. His Daddy had lost it the night before when we watched another family say their final good bye and he watched Jadon crying and me crying. Even the Nannies were crying watching all of us crying!
It is so hard to be torn between your kids in two different parts of the world. We so badly missed Lily but we hated having to leave our son! It is good to know he is in good hands. We know God is watching over him and has surrounded him with the most loving people in Ethiopia to take care of him!
We are expected to be back in ET on Dec. 20th at which we will take custody of him and then attend our embassy date of Dec. 23. We would then leave ET on Dec. 24th arriving back home on Dec. 25th! What a Christmas present!
Although it is final we still have some work to do to get him home. Our adoption fund is dry and we need to book tickets asap before the prices keep creeping up as we get closer to the holidays. For David and I to go and bring him home we are looking at about 7k. For Lily to go it would be an additional 2500 for a total of 9500. As much as we would love for Lily to experience this priceless moment in our family we know that it is up to God's will for her and we will trust in him to make that clear one way or the other. We are basically just concentrating on the 7k because what matters most is us getting him home as soon as possible. We realize that it is close to the Holidays but are asking if you would pray about whether you could spare $5, $10 or more to help us get him home. Maybe pray about sharing our story with family and friends and see if they would like to participate in the work God is doing in this precious boy's life... Jadon is no longer an orphan. God has blessed him with a family and now he just needs to be united with them forever. Little is much when God is in it!
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!
P.S. Please excuse the typos and anything that doesn't make sense - it's the jetlag!
Lots of tears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see him!
ReplyDeleteHard to discribe what you feel when you see them for the first time isn't it? Much love to your family during the final stages of your journey.
ReplyDelete