Bringing Joel Home--Pick Up Day

(Nov 14, 2011)

We landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, around 8am Monday morning.

A view from the plane--just outside of Addis

We got to Grace Guest House and threw down our things and waited for a few minutes on our driver to take us to the Transition House where Joel has been living for the past year.

Some excited parents!

After some crazy (normal) Ethiopia driving, we made it to the Transition House.

Heading up the stairs to get our Joel

There he is!!!!  Waiting on his mommy and daddy!

Picking him up and never ever leaving him again!

Three of the now FOUR suttons

I was hoping to spend some time with his nanny and take lots of pictures of the two of them together as the nanny had been looking after him for such a long time... but his main nanny wasn't there on the day we picked him up.  This is his other nanny--The lady who was crying with me the last time I was at the transition house leaving my son...  Here she is smiling with me!!!  What a lovely lady!  She really does love my son!

 

Good bye Transition House!  Hello Family!

He fell asleep in the car on the ride to the guest house.

 

After a long rest for all of us, we went out with a couple of other families to a Chinese restaurant.  Tony said it was some of the best Chinese food he's ever had!  The Chinese government has given LOTS of money to Ethiopia to help with things like roads, so there are a lot of Chinese people doing work in the country.  This restaurant was run by a Chinese family.  We had dinner in a room of a nice house.  It was a great way to end our first day of forever with Joel!

Ready for bed!  We were just beside ourselves that the process was finally over!  All of the stress and anxiety and the roller coaster ride of the last year and a half just melted away.  It was like we hadn't waited even one day and that we had been together forever! 

I love how God pursues us when we are not his children.  We don't even know that He's coming after us, and when we finally surrender and become adopted into His family, it is as if we were never orphans.  Like we were always His. 

I would go half way around the world again for this little man.  I would spend all the money I had.  I would take as many 17 hour flights as needed.  I would spend even more years waiting if I had to.

  How much more would God do for me (and you)?

Thanks be to God!