Misc. Picture Update

Our friends, Gavin & Amy loaned us their exersaucer for Jeremiah to use. He always wants to stand up and after awhile our arms get tired so this thing is great. He's really enjoyed hanging out in it.


Sawyer likes hanging out around the exersaucer and trying to play with whatever Jeremiah is playing with. Brothers...


Jeremiah keeps finding this really cute kid to look at on the exersaucer.


This is what happens when you watch too much baseball instead of putting your son to bed.


At the beginning of June, Brennan learned to ride bike without training wheels. He's been pedaling like crazy ever since. He loves it! He's been on several "long" bike rides since he learned (2+ miles). He has to take some breaks on the longer rides to look back and see how far he's gone.






Sawyer enjoys the bouncy seat more than Jeremiah does. He's always crawling in the thing. He thinks he's pretty funny. Hopefully it can last at least a few more months.


Sawyer has been a full fledged mama's boy since we've come back from Ethiopia. This picture shows one of the happy moments but there are plenty of annoying "mommy hold you" comments that Sawyer makes along with other whining and screaming when mommy is holding Jeremiah or needing to do something else. This too shall pass...I hope.


We live in the woods and we've got a pretty good crop of wild raspberries right now at various spots in the woods. We've been out picking a few evenings over the last week. Tonight we were all out picking. Sawyer eats them as fast as he can pick them. It's pretty funny. There are a couple good shots of him, post raspberry eating.

Trip - Days 3 & 4

Day 3 - Friday

I finally woke up around the time they were serving breakfast on our flight. We landed right about on schedule. Thanks to all the travelers who have gone before us we knew right where to go for our Visas. We were only the 2nd or 3rd people in the visa line and we got through that very quickly. Then through customs, and then we got our luggage. There were plenty of luggage carts available. We didn’t witness all the baggage helpers who we’ve heard would be trying to help us get our luggage for a price. I think the fact that we were arriving in the morning and weren’t on a flight originating in the US meant less guys hanging around trying to get tips. We were able to easily get our bags off the carousel and onto the luggage carts. From there we got in the line to have our luggage scanned. A kind gentleman pulled us over into the empty line, scanned one of our storage tubs and then let us through.

We walked out and right away spotted the Ralphs waiting there for us. They were amazed at how quickly we had made it through everything (visa, customs, security, etc.). Everything just went really well for us. We traveled back to the Ralphs in their Camry and a taxi. We visited with the them until lunch time and Jim made me my first cup of Ethiopian coffee. It was great! After lunch we laid down for a short nap that turned into a 2-½ hour nap because Monica turned the alarm clock off.


The Ralphs

Friday evening is their pizza/movie night so Jim, Zack, and I went to get pizza. We ate pizza and watched two episodes of Perfect Strangers on DVD. It was pretty funny to flashback to a show from that long ago. After that we sat around talking until our eyes couldn’t stay open much longer. We went to bed around 10:30 and slept until 7:30 in the morning.

Day 4 - Saturday

We ate breakfast at the Ralph’s and then ventured out to see the city. First we drove over to find the Union Hotel so we’d know where to go Sunday. We found that pretty easily. It was a little weird knowing that our son was only a few blocks away. We even saw the famous path that families walk on to go to Hannah’s Hope. After we had spotted the Union, we went to find the bridge where Jeremiah was found. All we had was the name of the sub-city and the name of the bridge. We were able to find it remarkably easily and I got some video clips from the area. Unfortunately I had forgotten to put the battery back in our camera. I felt like an idiot! Thankfully we can capture still images from our video camera.



After spending a little time at the bridge, we went to a restaurant for lunch. They served mostly American and Mexican food. At this point of the trip I was gung ho about eating Ethiopian food so I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any on the menu but by the end of the week when we went out to eat with the Ralphs again, I was very happy to go back to this restaurant. After lunch we went shopping. It was a little overwhelming trying to figure out what to purchase. After walking in and out of many shops we started buying some stuff. We got clothing for each of the boys and for ourselves as well as some coffee mugs and a coffee set and some various other items. We knew we’d get another chance to shop with our travel group later so we didn't have quite as much pressure. It turned out that we came back to the same spot.

We made a short stop at a grocery store where Jim and I ordered macchiatos (#2 for me on the day) while Monica and Anna got a few groceries. After that we went back their house to drop things off before heading to supper. We decided to go to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant for supper. I loved it! I really enjoyed the food, especially the dora wat. After we finished eating we had a cup of coffee. I even made Monica take a sip. On the way back we drove past the Sheraton hotel. It is huge! We were going to go in and see it but security wasn’t letting anyone in. So, we headed back to the Ralph’s to call it an evening.






Rare sight of Monica drinking coffee

Trip - Days 1 & 2

Day 1 Wednesday

We left home on Wednesday around noon. A friend from church, Merlin Miller, drove us to the airport. We got to O'Hare airport in Chicago with plenty of time to spare. We were able to bypass the regular check-in line because of the "unusual" size of the two storage tubs we were checking in. Note for future travelers, we used the 25 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck tubs. Technically I think they're a few inches over the L + W + H limit but I'm pretty sure the weight is the only thing they check unless the size is obviously too big. We were able to watch the TSA guys send the tubs through the scanner and then they fastened the zip ties. We then made our way to the gate and had a few hours to kill. After a some anxious waiting, we finally boarded and took off for London on time at 6:00 PM.

We flew on United Airlines from Chicago to London. This flight had the TV's in the seatback right in front of you. Those are great because you can pick what movie you want to watch or you can flip to the flight tracker and see where you are at on the flight path. Another note for travelers, take your own headphones along. The ones the airlines provide you aren't good, as Monica can attest to. The first movie I watched was Taken. Good stuff! After watching a movie and eating supper I started realizing that I better get some sleep or I'd be in trouble the next day.

Day 2 Thursday



Neither of us got a lot of sleep on the flight over, maybe 4 hours +/-. We got into London at 8:00 AM London time which was 2:00 AM at home. After we got through customs, we took the Heathrow Express train into central London. For the rest of the day we took a combination of the Original Red Tour Bus and the Tube (subway) around London. It was sort of like one big final date before we added Jeremiah to our family.

We saw most of the big highlights in London; Big Ben, House of Parliament, Buckingham Palace (we caught a bit of the changing of the guard), and a whole bunch of other things. We also ate two of the staple meals in London. I had fish and chips at a pub. I guess what Monica had would be chicken sandwich and chips. We also had afternoon tea with a scones.


Big Ben


Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace


Fish & Chips


Chicken & Chips

By early afternoon I was starting to hit the wall. We ended up walking around in Hyde Park for awhile. We found this really cool tree that (see picture below). After walking around awhile, we then decided it was time to head back to Heathrow. When we got back to the airport we went over to Terminal 4 and made a reservation at the Yotel for the layover on our way back home. Then we went to Terminal 3 to check-in for our Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa.


Funny Tree


Standing under Funny Tree



We had a mini-scare when we checked in at the Ethiopian Airlines counter. They only allow one carry-on plus a personal bag and the carry-on can't be more than 15 lbs. We each had a duffel bag and a backpack. Somehow my backpack was ok because I had a laptop in it, thus it was deemed a laptop bag. Monica's backpack, while smaller and weighing less than mine, wasn't ok because it didn't have a laptop. Make sense? The woman at the ticket counter thought we would have better luck if Monica's stuff was in a purse rather than a backpack. So we had to do a little rearranging because they weigh your carry-ons when you enter the boarding area. We managed to spread the contents of Monica's backpack between our two carry-on duffel bags, Monica's purse, and my pants. It's a good thing I wore Cargo pants! I don't think my pants would have fit under the 15 lb weight limit if they had weighed them separately. The pockets were stuffed with snacks, a digital camera, and a video camera. I felt fairly stupid (and like my pants were going to fall down)!

Fortunately when we went through the boarding area they didn't say anything about Monica's purse or my backpack. They only weighed our two duffel bags and those both were ok. PTL! The same woman who had given us our tickets when we checked in was the one who let us through the boarding area. Fortunately she was very nice to us. While we were waiting to board the flight, I spotted another couple around our age that was on our flight and I told Monica I thought they were going to Ethiopia to adopt too. More on that couple later...

When we boarded the plane, we hit the jackpot and discovered we were assigned to the exit row. Sweet! We're talking serious leg room people. I fell asleep and never even found out when we took off. Monica woke me later when they were coming around for supper. After supper I went back to sleep and slept right through the stop we made in Rome. Evidently the stewardesses came around when we had landed in Rome and was very insistent that everyone unbuckle their seat belts while they were refueling. Monica managed to unbuckle mine without waking me and then buckled me back in at take-off. Thank you dear!

Update

We've been home for just over two weeks now. It feels longer than that. Having three boys all under the age of 5 has proven to be a lot of work. Shocking revelation I know. I'm sure that will all change this week when Brennan turns five. Fortunately, Jeremiah is a pretty laid back, happy baby. It's the combination of having a baby in the house and two other boys that is wearing us out. More specifically, Sawyer is a handful. I love that little guy but he is a strong willed, stubborn little stinker.



Sawyer's adjusting fairly well to having a new baby brother but he's only 20 months old. You can't expect too much at that age. He has had a lot of changes thrown at him the last few weeks. Most importantly, mommy isn't always available when he "needs" her. Brennan loves his new baby brother and is adjusting very well to having a new baby brother.



So far Jeremiah has been taking it pretty easy on us. Somehow he managed to get his nights figured out right away. He generally goes to bed around 8:00, wakes up once during the night for a bottle, and then goes back to sleep until about 7:00. He also seems to be attaching fairly well, especially to mommy. He does fine with me, but if Monica is right there when I'm holding him he'll often fuss a bit to get over to mommy. I took off work Wednesday afternoon to stay with him while Monica went somewhere and it went pretty well.





We spotted a few uninvited visitors to Beachyville recently.



Monica spotted three of these little guys playing near our swing set a week ago. Yesterday Monica saw one of them again but that's all we've seen of them. Hopefully they can work on the rabbit population in our woods. We have more rabbits than we need hopping around our yard and in the woods.

Someday I will post more about our trip...

Home!

We got home Saturday around 3:00. It's great to be home! More later...

Almost Home

Only one more flight to go to get home. We're overnighting in London right now. We fly out at 7:30 in the morning on a direct flight to Chicago. We're ready to get home. Monica and Jeremiah are asleep beside me on the bed. Tomorrow night we'll be in our own bed with all 3 of our boys in the same house!

We left Addis Ababa around noon Ethiopian time. We got seats in the bulkhead row which meant we got one of the bassinets. That was great. Jeremiah continues to amaze us with his personality. He barely fussed the whole flight. Most of the time he was either sleeping or just hanging out checking out what was going on.

Alright, I should get some sleep...sorry no pictures I'm too tired.

Still Here

We're still here! Sorry for not blogging more. I've heard rumors
that my sister is complaining about my lack of blogging. Keep in mind
that there's no wi-fi in our rooms here. You have to go to the
computer in the lobby and "hope" that they can actually get the
dial-up connection to go through. Even as I type this, I'm not sure
I'll actually be able to post this (It's working!)

Jeremiah Bemnet is doing great! He is such a good baby. He almost
never fusses and is usually very content. Not to mention the fact
that he is stinking cute. To keep the audience happy, I'll try to
include some pictures in the post.

Tomorrow we're going to try and tour the Fistula hospital as well as
possibly visit a government orphanage. In the evening, we'll get to
see the family who hosted us our first few days in Ethiopia. Tomorrow
is our last full day here. We called home today and got to talk to
the boys. We're ready to be home and have our family all together.

We heard that a few families back in the states got some great news
today. We are rejoicing with you in Ethiopia!