After a day in London we'll catch a 9:00 PM flight on Ethiopian Airlines that will make a brief stop in Rome and then head on to Addis Ababa. I think we get in around 8:00 AM on Friday.
We'll spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday experiencing Ethiopia with an amazingly generous family from Pennsylvania that is living in Addis right now. Using some connections at church, we've managed to Mennonite Our Way all the way to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We're very excited for the opportunity to spend a few days seeing Addis before we meet Jeremiah. Hopefully we'll get somewhat adjusted to the time change too before we start taking care of an infant.
On Sunday afternoon/evening we'll check into the Union hotel where AGCI has families stay. I believe there are at least 5 families in our travel group. Monday will be the big day when we meet Jeremiah for the first time and have our embassy appoinment. There will be other activities like shopping and a cultural dinner during the week. I think most families will head for home Thursday evening but we'll be leaving Friday at noon and flying to London. We have an overnight layover in London and then fly out in the morning to Chicago.
That's the gameplan. We're leaving in NINE days! Wow we have a lot to do. On Saturday Monica helped Target get off to a strong start for May sales. We've got a little more stimulating to do to the economy between now and when we leave.
Since we have three bedrooms and will soon have three boys, we've known that we needed to do some combining of rooms so Jeremiah had a place to sleep. The plan has been to put Sawyer and Brennan in the same room. We've known this for awhile but it took some time to figure out what we were going to do for beds. We decided to go with bunk beds and I would make them. It needs to be more of a loft at the beginning so we can just put Sawyer's crib underneath until he's ready for a big boy bed. So this past Saturday, with the help of my father and father in-law, the project took finally got off the ground. Here are some less than stellar shots I took with my cell phone. We're one light sanding and a final coat of poly away from it being done!
10 comments:
That is soooooooooooooooooooo exciting!!!
that's great guys ... praying for safe travels, quick bonding, and an unreal trip.
good work on the bunk bed/loft. I'm not sure if Amber would trust me building one for our kids :)
I'm sure you checked to ensure you could get it in the room, right? I'm sure you did ... I'd be the one that would forget to do that and be taking it apart to get it down the hall and into his room. :)
Oh, I would love to spend a tad bit of time in London and then a couple of days at a guest house in Addis Ababa before checking into the Union Hotel...I love that you guys are doing a similar plan. I will certainly be watching your journey for tips. The bunk bed looks fantastic! I am very lucky to have a wood-worker husband...so I know how much it is appreciated!
Congrats on having your tickets booked and plans rolling...he'll be in your arms before you know it!
Theresa
i'm sooo excited! i bet your house is a solid flurry of activity these days. i know i've said this a thousand times, but it never hurts to reiterate that i NEED TO SEE VISUAL DOCUMENTATION OF THIS STUFF. make sure you take pictures of all your luggage and everything! i'm itching my eyeballs out to be there!
btw -- mennoniting your way to ethiopia is AWESOME!
Wow, that bunkbed is impressive Matt!!!! Good work...
I can't believe you guys leave in NINE days!!! So excited for you...
Let Monica know she is not alone with helping Target start off the month of May strong! They are LOVING the fact we now have two girls... ha. :)
Matt & Monica, I am so excited for you!!! I love your trip plans. Fascinating! I can not even imagine to moment of meeting your new little son. God bless!
It's all so real and exciting!!!!!!!!
Congrats on the trip.
A few words of advice:
- Try to check in as much stuff as possible and travel light on board: especially useful as you plan to go around London (on foot I assume). I did the same thing last year which was a great way to kill the long layover
- Buy a day pass for the tube from Heathrow, that way you don't have to purchase a second ticket to return to the airport
- Be back at the airport, say 2 hours before departure. You will need to go to the Ethiopian checkin counter at Heathrow to get your boarding pass to Addis. Your luggage will have been checked through all the way to Addis at your point of origina (check with the agent)
- Ethiopian is extremely strict on its carry on luggage rules, and rightfully so considering the mounds of stuff people try to bring on. They will weigh your carry on at the check-in desk, tag it, and advise that this is all you are allowed to take in. If your carry on is greater than what is allowed, they will check it in for excess $$$.
- If you get there early enough, ask for an exit row seat, it'd make the trip a little more enjoyable
- On your way to the gate, don't be tempted by duty free items as Ethiopian will have another weight scale at the gate waiting for you to double check your carry-on weight and pieces. Any overages will be checked in for excess $$$.
- Once at the gate, when you see Ethiopian staff taking their positions, try to locate the baggage/load guy behind a desk and ask to check that all of your connecting luggage has been located. They will look this up for you (I always get this done). If by chance, they have not located it, they may be able to tell you whether or not it still is in Chicago. Gives you the peace of mind you need, or an action plan to work on while on the flight.
Enjoy your time in Addis, keep an open mind, and make every minute count.
A few comments regarding the comments:
- Don't worry Troy, the side rails come off the bed so that we can get the bed into the boys room.
- I don't qualify under the term "wood worker". This was made exclusively with 2x4's and 2x6's.
- To Anonymous, Thanks for all the good tips. Do you know if there are lockers available at Heathrow where we could store some of our carry-on items while we go sightseeing?
Matt,
For some reason what I said earlier got lost, so I'll try again.
This is getting really exciting! So glad for you and sure hope all your preps and travels go well. Hope you can sleep on the long flights! In all the times we have been at Heathrow it was always a very busy place! Hope you enjoy the trot around London, and your Ethiopia travels as well. Soak up your little son's culture!
Bless you, and Brennan and Sawyer too, as you leave them behind. They will do well with Grandpas. Something about those long trips, I never enjoyed leaving our children behind, but that's life sometimes.
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