family of 3 {court trip - day 2}

On their own, on the run

When their lives have only begun

We started our second day in Ethiopia with a wonderful carb-filled breakfast at our guest home and quickly leaved to spend another morning with our E. When we got to the orphanage he greeted us both with big hugs and smiles. We spent some time with him in what must be the "family room". Kids seem to only get to go in there when their family is there to see them (this breaks my heart as other kids walk by...) We were pleasantly surprised at how much more English he knew than what he seemed to know the day before! I'm sure there was a combination of nerves and a little bit of him protecting himself on the first day, but on the second day he opened up to us like we never imagined. 

These could be our daughters and our sons

We spent a lot of time playing with him and his friends on the second day and it was so special to see how he interacted with the other boys. It is so hard to think about what it is going to do to his little heart when he leaves these boys. They have been his family, and they are an amazing group of boys. There are some a little younger and some a little older. They are all so caring and patient, especially the older boys. They are totally different than how I've seen American boys interact together. Even with the toys and things we brought for E- he would play for them a minute and then hand it to his friend to play with. They are all so sharing, affectionate, patient, and loving. There are a couple older boys who speak very good English so we were asking them to translate some things for us and they were so sweet. 

Let's not forget that he called me "Mommy" for the first time on the second day (no one has to know it was, "Please Mommy??" because he wanted to play a video game on the tablet :)) He has melted our hearts and as if he hadn't already won us over... he got us head over heels.

Just like the first day, the second day ended much too soon. We went back to the guest home with hearts full, thanking the Lord for blessing us with this amazing boy, and praying for the transition and life change that is about to take place.