Home at last

We got home Friday night or more specifically Saturday morning at 1:30am...but the journey is finally over. Hattie is officially ours, officially a US citizen, and officially home to stay. Connor, Spencer and Graycen love their sister. Thanks to everyone who came to welcome us so late at the airport. It is amazing how well Hattie has adjusted to her new surroundings and new family. She has slept pretty well and is fairly adjusted to the time change already as well.

Still waiting.....

3 more hours until our flight - just passing the time by snuggling and laughing with daddy....

Guess Who's A US Citizen?

We survived the first leg of the journey home..... 16 hour flight from Addis to D.C. Hattie did great! Mimi and Poppy met us in D.C. to welcome Hattie. We are now waiting for our last flight home so we can be reunited with the other kiddos. Ten o' clock cannot come soon enough. Here is a picture of Hattie on her first flight and one of her after becoming a US citizen!!!

Next stop...Washington DC baby!!

Well folks, we made it to the airport a nice five hours early. Got our tickets and have what we are told are bulkhead seats with a bassinet for Hattie. If so, she will hopefully be able to sleep in a little airplane bed for most of the trip. I asked if they had a bed for me as well and they did not. They also did not have a way to avoid a 16 hour flight home. Yep, 16 hours...we pit stop in Rome. Isn't that fun and romantic....nope, we actually don't get off the plane and less you forget we have a 20 month old with us. It just adds a nice three hours to the overall flying time.

Please pray for a safe flight. We are very excited to get back in the states. I am also excited about eating Taco Bell when I get back.

Road Trip.....

Today we made the long trek down to the city where Hattie was first placed in an orphanage. We think the village she was born in was about 15 miles from where we were. The trip was about 3 hours one way and Hattie turned out to be a wonderful little traveler. She took a nap going and coming and spent the rest of the time looking out the window and reading books. It was a really long day, but so worth it to find out a little more about her and see where she spent 3 months of her life. One of the nannies recognized her immediately and was excited to see her again and talked about how much she has grown. It has been about 8 months since she left this orphanage and moved to the transition home our adoption agency runs in Addis. We are back at out guesthouse and all are ready for bed, but we have lots of pictures from the beautiful drive we took today to post later. We should be getting her Visa tomorrow and will be leaving on a jet plane tomorrow night!! Woo Hoo!! We are so ready to see the other kiddos...we have missed them so much. Thanks to the grandparents for watching them this week....

Day 1 with Hattie

Hattie has been with us now for the past 24 hours and she seems to feel comfortable with us. She slept great last night and is taking good naps as well. We went shopping today at a local market and spent some time playing in the room. Hattie likes putting lotion on her face and laughs when tickled. She is starting to talk more (although we can't understand her). She is already picking out her own shoes...yep, another girl in the house for sure. She really has enjoyed the book the Mimi Dorr made for her. We have taken her for a walk to a local park also. I am attaching some pictures below. (click on the pics to see the whole thing, they don't upload cleanly)

Gotcha Day......Finally!!

After hanging out in ET for two full days, we were finally able to see Hattie. We had our Embassy interview this morning and it went very smoothly. We will be able to pick up Hattie's visa on Wednesday!! After the interview, we went back to the transition home to play with some sweet kiddos and Hattie. After lunch, it was time to say goodbye..... Hattie's favorite Nanny came to play with her and we were all in tears by the end. She was so loved at the transition home and we will be forever grateful to those wonderful nannies for loving our baby girl and taking such good care of her. We came back to the guest house and Hattie took a great nap and then used the potty after she woke up. Pretty impressive for a 20-month old! We have been playing this afternoon and will soon be getting ready for dinner. We are still unable to post pictures, but hopefully soon :)

One day closer to Hattie.....

Nothing really to report today.......still waiting and doing a lot of sleeping and reading. One of those days where you count getting out of bed as an accomplishment :) But, tomorrow we have our Embassy interview and will get to spend the day with Hattie!! Please pray that things go smoothly tomorrow.

Made it to Ethiopia!!!

Well folks, a day in Washington DC and a 13 hour flight later and we are back in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Our baggage all arrived which is awesome. The driver was there waiting for us, which was a huge relief. The guest house was expecting us and we have a room large enough to fit a crib which they have set up in the room for us. It is a gorgeous day here in Ethiopia, maybe 70 degrees and sunny. It's Leslie's birthday too....and she doesn't look a day over 25 :)

We were however thrown a curve ball when we called the orphanage. We were supposed to pick up Hattie today and spend the rest of the week together with her. There was a disconnect from our US agency however and our helper here isn't working today or tomorrow. So....we unfortunately will not be able to be united with Hattie until Monday morning. Our Embassy appt is Monday and then we will be able to bring her back with us. It is definitely a bummer.

Please pray that everything stays on this new schedule and that the Embassy appt goes smoothly on Monday morning.

Angry Mussels

We ate at Fords Fish Shack last night. The supposedly ranked top restaurant in Ashford VA. The specialty is Angry Mussels which I ordered. Leslie dry heaved when they arrived at the table. She would not eat one. They were delicious. Leslie's comment to a large one was "that one looks like a bulbous". I couldn't eat that one after she commented and nearly threw up.

The blueberry lemonade and banana pudding were excellent as well.

Boarding the plane in a few minutes

13 hour flight, here we come. They do supply some knee-high mustard yellow socks for the flight though...so that will help. Leslie will be sporting these daily back in Nashville.

Updated flight info

We are actually arriving on United flight 6175 from Washington D.C. At 10:50 pm

We got the call!!!!!

"I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High". Psalm 9:1-2

It is time to go and bring Hattie home!!!!! We just wanted to update everyone on our adoption. We received the call last Thursday that we had cleared the Embassy and on Friday our visa interview date of June 18 was confirmed......now, less than a week later, we are making our second trip to Ethiopia to bring home our sweet girl! We will be leaving tomorrow and returning on Friday, June 22 at 10:50 pm on Ethiopian Airlines flight 500 ( for those of you asking about our flight home). We will pick up Hattie on Saturday, June 16, and she will stay with us while we are in ET. We would soooo appreciate your prayers as we complete this final step in a looooooong process called adoption. Here are some specific requests:

*Travel safety to and from Ethiopia.
*Bonding with Hattie once we pick her up.
*Hattie's little heart because she is going to have her world turned upside down and be leaving some very sweet little friends and some wonderful nannies to whom she is really attached.
*Health and safety for us and for our other kiddos while we are away.
*Energy and patience for the grandparents who will be staying with our kiddos here in the states.
*The transition of another little one into our family.
*Opportunities to share Christ's love with people we meet.
*Special blessings on the nannies taking such good care of these little ones at the transition home.

We are so thankful for all of you..... We will be updating our blog while we are away, so check it out if you want to see how things are going......

Much love,
Ryan and Leslie