Day #2 - US Embassy Appointment

Today all of Group 84 went to the US Embassy and we all made it through our brief interviews in record time! WHFC makes sure you have all the necessary documents with you and filled out correctly before you leave for the Embassy. We were supposed to have our Embassy visits this afternoon, so we stayed busy with all the little ones at Horizon House 1 - I was able to get some photos of some of the kids. However, right before we were all to sit down and eat lunch Sister Tirhas came in and profusely apologized for the inconvenience, but for some reason the Embassy had switched our appointment to this morning and we had missed it! WHFC worked it out with the Embassy and we immediately all boarded the bus and went to the Embassy. We were fed a very tasty lunch when we returned.

What was cute was that we had brought a little "going to the Embassy" outfit for Mesfin (Giovanni) and we gave it to Sister Tirhas to give to the nannies at the big kids house. We didn't know if they would have had time to dress him with the quick Embassy change...but, sure enough when we pulled up outside HH2, out walked our little Mesfin (Giovanni) with his button-down shirt, pants, belt, and new leather sandals! My heart just melted (if that possible from the big meltdown that happened yesterday when we saw him for the first time!)

We have now met all of the children at Horizon House 1 & 2 - and with the exception of one little (and I mean teeny, tiny) boy (who we don't think has been matched with his forever family) all the children look amazingly healthy. There is, of course, the sniffles and coughs (and a couple of fevers) that are indicative of day cares, schools, and orphanages...but we have yet to see any serious health problems. Sister Tirhas is a super nurse and is quick to respond to the childrens needs. And, boy do the kids adore her!! I do think our little Mesfin (Giovanni) may have two little spots of ringworm on his head - harmless, but will get it looked at and treated when we get home.

The families we are traveling with are terrific! A few have already had their birth family visits and have come back with great reviews of the experience. Our birth family visit is on Thursday. Since that is the day most of the families will be going shopping and to the museums - my sister and her son went to the museums today while we were at the Embassy. (I went last year and the one at the university is really worth seeing).

Oh, I forgot to mention that I completely forgot that our almost 5 year old has not had many - if any - stairs in his life. I carried him up to the second floor for our appointment. Then not thinking I was holding his hand as we went downstairs to join the others. I wasn't aware until we were almost half way down that he was going super slow. I then looked down and saw that he was gripping the railing with his free hand in a vice grip and slowly going down the steps like a little toddler learning for the first time. He wasn't afraid and seemed to have the hang of it by the time we reached the bottom. I did make a mental note to work on that with him in the coming weeks!

That's it for now...tonight we are all heading to the Ethiopian restaurant to celebrate as a Group!

Referral Day!

It was a beautiful day - I had just finished having lunch with our Campers - so, I ran down to the village of Craftsbury (no cell phone service for miles and miles) to pick up the mail. When I arrived back at the farm, Tami and Christine ran out of the house and said that the adoption agency had called and that I needed to call Nick right away (Nick is in Florida coaching on the courts) - so, I ran into the house and called him - not allowing myself to even hope that this is the phone call we've been waiting for for SO very long.

Nick said the adoption agency had just called him and that they had some news for us, but he told them that he wanted me to be the first to hear any news (see why I love this man?). So, with my entire family and staff (with the exception of my Dad who was out mowing one of the fields) all standing around me like cheerleaders at a pep rally, I called Maria and she told me she had good news, but was in a meeting and would call me back after 1:00. We were all worthless after that...just walking through and around the office - staring at the phone.

Some time around 1:30 Maria called and said the words I've been waiting my entire life to hear..."we have a little boy for you"!! Everyone cheered, tears flowed and huge hugs were shared! Maria said she would email both Nick and I photos and information on this amazing and wonderful gift from above. I called Nick who was overjoyed and like the rest of us, moved to tears! He was soooo excited and so incredibly happy! Because Nick knows nothing about computers he posted his assistant Karen at her desk like a sentry waiting for the pictures to come through.

Although I'm sure it was probably a matter of 20 minutes or so, it truly felt like hours before little Mesfin's (Giovanni) photos and information finally make it through...but, once they did and I saw our son for the first time...the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "he is beautiful"! Within minutes I had his entire face - his beautiful black lined eyes, his little ears and button nose, his full bottom lipped mouth (like mine!), his pearly white teeth (like his Dad's!) , as well as his chubby fingers, his thin but strong legs, and his gorgeous caramel-colored skin (also like his Dad's!) - absolutely everything memorized!

I called Nick as soon as I got the photos and was on the phone with him when Karen handed the pictures of our little boy to him to see for the very first time...he was overcome with emotion. I believe we actually did the impossible...we hugged each other tight through the phone! Nick couldn't contain himself and started shouting to everyone around him about his new son! I had to tell him that our little boy still had to get approved medically, but I knew there wasn't anything that would stop him from telling everyone he saw about his little boy! And, I still had to find my Dad to tell him the good news!

I printed out the photo of our little boy and ran outside listening for the direction of my Dad's big tractor...I could hear it in the field near the Carriage House...I took off running (something this poor body of mine hasn't done since my high school field hockey days!). When I ran up to his tractor, Dad stopped and shut off the engine. I simply handed him the photo - no words were necessary - he looked at the photo, tears of joy and pride flowed down his cheeks and he asked..."is this my little grandson?". Truly this is one of the happiest days of my life!

The Campers, counselors, staff are all so excited...I am in a complete fog! I don't remember much of anything else that happened today...I did talk to Nick several times...and, had to remind him, myself and everyone else that our little boy - "Mesfin" (Giovanni)- will now have his medical records scrutinized by not one, but three physicians here in the U.S. before we can "officially" accept our referral - but, we already know deep in my heart and no matter what the doctors say - this little boy is ours!