On Wednesday, we had our farewell ceremony at the Holt Care Center. When we arrived, the staff whisked Josiah upstairs and changed him into his traditional Ethiopian outfit. He was so adorable in it, even though it was a little too big.
They served us the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony: coffee and popcorn.

We loved on the kids, at popcorn, cake, cookies, drank coke and coffee. It was a fun party. The staff took turns saying goodbye to our kids. A few of them said a few words to the whole group.

After lunch, we took our kids back to the center for their naps while we went shopping. I had been looking forward to shopping for the whole week. We went to a small shop and to the Leprosy Hospital. It was so fun to pick out Ethiopian treasures for our home and for our friends. I bought Josiah a larger traditional outfit for when he gets a little bigger, scarves for me and my moms, table runners, wooden crosses for friends, a couple Gebet games (the Ethiopian version of mankala), an Amharic bible, and some toy animals for Caleb and Josiah. I also bought a wonderful Ethiopian coffee pot, probably my favorite thing, but it got crushed in our suitcase on the way home (even though I had wrapped it in bubble wrap). I wish we had spent more time shopping. I had a wonderful time.

On Thursday, we spent most of the day in our hotel room packing to leave that night. Casey took a little shopping trip by himself (with a taxi driver who didn’t speak English) to get a couple pipes for my brothers. I stood by the window for two hours praying he found his way back. He did.

At about six that evening, we loaded up all of our stuff (imagine our luggage times seven) into two vans to head to the airport. We were so excited to be on our way home, but it was also sad to be leaving the place we had fallen in love with. The Holt nannies were standing on the balcony of the Care Center next door to our hotel. They waved goodbye to us as we pulled away.

It took us over 32 hours from the time we left our hotel until we got home. Thirty-two long, hard hours. Our flight home was very, very crowded, and the seats were small and cramped. Despite countless tries, we did not get a bulkhead seat with the baby bassinet. We ended up in the middle row. If you told me right now that I had to get on that plane and do it again I would probably start crying. I would do it, for Josiah, or Caleb, or any other child we may have someday, but I would still cry.

Casey and I took turns holding Josiah the whole way home, feeding him every three hours, changing his diaper about once an hour (he was having some issues) (have you ever changed a diaper in an airplane bathroom?), and changing his clothes almost that often. Every time we needed something for him that we couldn’t hold in our hands, we had to get our suitcase out from the overhead bin. He was a perfect, sweet little baby, but it was still the hardest flight of my life. We flew from Addis to Rome, where we stopped for gas. We sat on the tarmac for an hour while they gassed up our plane and the flight crew changed, but we weren’t allowed to get off the plane. It was hot, and crowded, and I was holding a baby, and I hadn’t slept in 24 hours. This is when I started crying, not just a few little tears, but real crying. I didn’t think I could make it. Casey took over for a little while and I got maybe an hour of sleep, the only hour of sleep I had the whole trip home.

To show you how bad the flight was, I watched the Hannah Montana Movie not once, not twice, but three times on the way from Addis to D.C. It was the only movie available that was even half-way interesting, and, as silly as it is, it felt like home.

When we finally landed in DC, we had more fun times trying to make our way through immigration. The process was actually a lot quicker and easier than we expected, but I did end up changing Josiah’s diaper and clothes (again) on the floor while we waited in line.

Two more commuter flights, one slight delay, and we were home. This is what we saw:

Such a beautiful moment. I will forever be indebted to Zach for taking pictures for us. To see more pictures from our trip and arrival home, click here.

And now that we’re all caught up, I will leave you with this, my favorite two boys, now brothers and great friends.

On Monday morning, we woke up bright and early to make our return trip to Addis. I was sad to leave the beautiful Ethiopian countryside, but so, so anxious to get back to our little boy.

This day was definitely a turning point for me; this was the day when Josiah Marefu became my son and not just a cute baby we were trying to love. After meeting his birth mother the day before and traveling through his beautiful country, I felt like I knew this sweet little boy in the same way I know Caleb.

The ride home was just as enjoyable as the day before. We took a different route back to Addis so that we could see a different part of the country. About halfway home, we made another pit stop. We all bought our usual Coca-colas, which I was pleased to find is available in even the remotest parts of Ethiopia, and then I noticed that they had candy bars too, and not just any candy bars – American candy bars! That Snickers will always be the best I have ever had.

When we got back to the Union Hotel in Addis, I was anxious to run next door and scoop up our little boy, but, unfortunately, it was nap time, so we had to wait a few more hours. Casey took the opportunity to walk up the street to a grocery store. While he was out, he made friends with a little boy, named Danny, who lives across the street from the hotel.

Later that afternoon we walked next door to the Holt Care Center to take custody of our son. I expected a little more formality, a form to sign or something, but we simply walked out the door with him with no fanfare and hardly any notice.

It was so surreal to take him away from the center and back to our hotel room. It reminded me of bringing Caleb home from the hospital. I kept waiting for someone to chase us down saying, “Stop, you can’t just take that baby home with you!”

First thing on the agenda when we got back to our room was a bath for little Josiah Marefu. I scrubbed him down good and rubbed lotion all over him. He smelled so good, and it was so fun to see him in Caleb’s old footy pajamas. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and enjoying our time with our new son.

When we went down to the hotel lobby for supper, it was wonderful to see all of the families with their new kids. I loved seeing the sweet little children, fresh and clean in their new clothes, watching their new mommies and daddies with big, round eyes. They weren’t orphans anymore. It was such a blessing to have a front row seat to watch these sweet little ones become sons and daughters. It reminded me of true redemption. Suddenly we are washed and clean; no longer lonely orphans, we have a family and a future.

On Tuesday we had our visa appointment at the US Embassy. Someone compared it to a glorified appointment at the DMV, which I felt was pretty accurate. This is only the second time I have been to a US Embassy; the US Embassy in Romania was in a beautiful, old building. The one in Ethiopia felt more like a military compound, but it was nice to see a few American faces and hear American English.

The rest of the day was spent at the hotel. We weren’t allowed to take our children out in public, so most of us opted to spend the day in the hotel with them, rather than out touring the city. No tourist sites or experiences could compete with holding and playing with our sweet babies.