i'm gonna make this place your home

hold on to me as we go

as we roll down this unfamiliar road

and although this wave is stringing us along

just know you're not alone

cause i'm gonna make this place your home

We have been home 29 days. Some tiring, some hard, but mostly beautiful and full of joy and laughter. 29 days and a few hours ago, we finally landed in Austin after 32 long days in Ethiopia. I don't even have words to describe how I felt when the plane touched down in Austin, it was such a relief. I guess I'll fill you in on how our trip home went and go from there. To be honest, this blog is more helpful for me than it is to anyone else, because it forces me to write things down so I can remember this stuff in the future!

We departed Addis mostly without a hitch. Eliyas got the biggest kick out of the escalator. He got on it just fine so I thought he must have known what it was, then once it started moving he got the strangest look on his face and said, "I don't like!!" Then when we got to the top he said again that he didn't like it, he preferred to use his legs! We were pulled off to the side and questioned for 15-20 minutes about all the jewelry we were bringing home with us (14:Hope) and then found out that our seats were not together, after we were assured by the lady at the Ethiopian Airlines office the day before, and the lady at the ticket counter at the airport that we were. We all had middle seats, so the people who we forced into our middle seats so we could sit next to Eliyas weren't very happy... It is a 17 hour flight after all. I took 3mg melatonin, put on my eyemask and earplugs and all in all, slept probably 14-15 hours of the flight. It was quite wonderful. Chase and Eliyas weren't so lucky, but Eliyas did amazingly well. He watched movies or played games on the tablet and never complained or got antsy. I couldn't believe it! We had a long layover at Dulles and he and his traveling buddy, Mulualem, got to have their first American meal, Wendy's. It was fun having the Walkers at the airport with us, and fun for Eliyas to have Mulualem to talk to and hang out with as he was experiencing America for the first time. He may or may not have tried to speak Amharic to the first African American person he saw. :) We wondered if he would do that! 

Just landed at Dulles! America's newest citizens!!

settle down, it'll all be clear

don't pay no mind to the demons

they fill you with fear

the trouble it might drag you down

if you get lost, you can always be found

We had a beautiful reunion in Austin with our family and closest friends. Eliyas made his rounds meeting his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and made quick friends with Nahom and Dagne, our Ethiopian friends. It was such a blessing to have them there, for Eliyas to be able to feel a little bit of normalcy and speak his language in the midst of all these crazy Americans. After a quick meal at Chuy's, and it was better than I remembered, we made it home. As we walked around showing Eliyas everything, it felt like he has always been here, like he had just been away for a while and was finally back. I cannot imagine this house without him. I can't imagine going to sleep without checking on him or waking up without his, "Good morning, honey!" as he has started this week. :) Our days have been filled with learning how to ride his bike, playing soccer, basketball, watching movies (loving Cinderella!), running errands with mom, meeting new friends and family, and our daily visit from the health department nurse for TB meds. In general, he is easy going and happy, but he definitely has an opinion about things, especially clothes!! All these cute outfits I had planned for him... he won't wear any of them. :) He is kind and caring and gives lots of hugs and kisses. His smile and laugh bring me so much joy. 

He is doing amazingly well. I know this is our honeymoon phase, but we are praying that things stay this easy. He seems to be attaching very well, we are so thankful for that. He has started telling us things about his life in Ethiopia, and little stories of when he was younger. We're so thankful he is trusting us with his past and love learning about the years we missed with him. We are both aware that we might have some rough days ahead as he starts grieving what he has lost and everything sinks in... but for now we are soaking up the laughter and smiles and praying for his sweet heart as he transitions. His English is getting SO good. It's a little sad though, because we know he will probably soon lose his Amharic, speaking it anyways. They say they will be able to understand it, but won't be able to speak it very well after as little as 6 months. He already told me he is forgetting how to write it and it seemed to make him a little sad. :( Poor guy. Even these little things are such a reminder of all he has been through in his short life. 

just know you're not alone

cause i'm gonna make this place your home

I'll share some of our favorite cute & funny sayings:

- "Good morning, my honey!" He has started calling me honey this week, "Thank you honey!" "Hello, my honey!" He just melts my heart 10,000 times a day!
- things are "strong" if they are too hard, too hot
- upstairs and downstairs are used to describe a lot of things. When he wants the sunroof in my car opened, "Mom, upstairs!" When he wants to go to the park that is further away, rather than the one a couple houses down, "Park downstairs."  Same with backyard and frontyard.
- E: Mom, talk to me. Don't just drive. 
Me: Okay, what do you want to talk about?

E: Love. Like family. You, me, dad, family. Family is love.

- "All of us day" = all the time, every day

- "You no smile me" = don't laugh at me

- "working" = cooking, "Mom, you work my food?"

- "Thank you God, forgive us, have a nice lunch," as he fell off his bike :)

We are thankful every day for this blessing God has entrusted us with. We cannot believe we get to be his parents. This time last year we were still waiting to send off our dossier, I think we had just received our finalized home study at the beginning of December. We never imagined he would be in our lives already. We were thinking we had 2-3 years of waiting ahead of us as we waited for a 0-2 year old. I am so thankful that God opened our hearts to the older child, he is the biggest blessing we have ever experienced. (Not to mention... there are no diapers, no sleepless nights, no potty training... :)) I am kinda loving my 9 hours of sleep a night... at this point I don't know if we will ever do the baby thing!! At first, I was hesitant to adopt an older child because we had never been parents before. How in the heck are we supposed to know what to do with a 9 year old?! But, hey, you gotta start somewhere. We wouldn't know what to do with a 6 month old either. While it definitely has its different challenges, I think in some ways we are lucky because we have no one to compare him to. He doesn't have older siblings who did or didn't do this at the age of 9, so we all have a clean slate. To be honest, there are hard times, as there are with any child. The first 3 weeks in Ethiopia were rough. We turned a corner at 3 weeks and things have been completely different since then. And I know we might turn another corner, but no matter what happens or how hard it gets, this is what God has called us to. He will see us through. Nobody every promised it would be easy, parenting biological or adopted children.

Would you believe me if I told you I'm ready to go back to Ethiopia? I'm not sure if I'm missing it mostly for Eli's sake, as in, I want to take him to experience the comforts of his home, or if I'm missing the macchiatos, the simplicity of things, being together as a family 24/7. Maybe it's the "chiggaryehlem" ("no problem" in Amharic) way of life. Probably a combination of everything, but if someone offered us free plane tickets tonight, I would be on a plane in a heartbeat. Maybe just for a week or 10 days this time, but I am ready. :) I thought it would take 5 years before I would think about going back. I don't know how many times I said, "We will NEVER be coming back here," during those final days... never say never! 

I will leave you with some airport pictures below... I will try to post some other pictures soon! They're kind of hard to come by... he refuses to take pictures 99% of the time. We cannot thank you all enough for your support and prayers!