26 weeks and I-fest!

Today is the passing of one more week and we find ourselves still waiting at 26 weeks. Normally, Fridays always seem a little disappointing since it marks the end of another week without our referral. However, this Friday we were especially looking forward to because we were inviting to join the Gladney staff at the Blue Nile restaurant in downtown Houston! We received an email a couple of weeks ago asking if we would like to meet them and some other families in the Ethiopia program and we were thrilled to have this opportunity tonight! The Gladney staff was in town to attend I-Fest or the International Festival. Every year, I-Fest spotlights a different country and this year, the theme was called "Out of Africa"! The festivities spanned over 2 weekends, I believe, with the festival concluding this weekend. We arrived at the restaurant a little late (no surprise to most people who know us!), we had never been to the Blue Nile before, and we had never seen nor met any of the people there! When we walked in, we were trying to get oriented to where we needed to sit, who was who, etc., when a bright, smiley Natalie walked up and introduced herself! She was so sweet and they all "scooched" down to make room for Brad, Brittany, the kids and myself! The kids were painfully shy at first but very soon warmed up after a while chatting up about their new dog, their new "brother and sister", and many other things!

I was able to not only meet Natalie, but Mary, Tonia, Anne, and Jessica were all there! It was nice to be able to put faces with names finally! I had great time with them all but had the wonderful opportunity to share sweet conversation with Natalie and Mary. We were able to share our hearts with each other and it made me feel even more grateful for all the priceless work they are doing on our behalf! These women truly have a heart for bringing home our children and they are so invested in their work, you can see the pure joy on their faces when they speak of adoption and how they feel honored to be a part of it all!

L to R: Mary, Tonia, Natalie, Anne, & JessicaThe dinner was a traditional Ethiopian meal that we all shared family style. The kids were a little bewildered where their plates and forks were, but when we told them that they use their hands to eat with, Elijah began to "dig in"! He was grabbing the injera, tearing off HUGE pieces and helping himself to everything on the plate! He loved every bit of it which was encouraging since he will be going with us to Ethiopia! Isabella, on the other hand, may have a difficult time eating the food in Ethiopia! She was making faces I have never seen her make before! She cried when she took her first bite of injera and refused to eat anything else. Brad promised her a cheeseburger when we left the restaurant, so that kept her quiet for a while. I was expecting to only tolerate the food, but was surprised that it was actually pretty good!

After the meal, the waitresses began to roast the coffee beans and the smell was absolutely amazing!!! They then ground up the beans and made the coffee in a traditional coffee ceremony at the end of the table! They served the coffee in little tiny espresso cups along with popcorn! I am not sure why they had popcorn but I have heard of that being served in Ethiopia as well and I am sure it has some signficance. The coffee was very strong but absolutely delicious!

There were 3 couples (including us) who are in the process and 2 couples who had already brought home their beautiful babies from Ethiopia! That was truly a joy to be able to see these precious children and for us, it served as confirmation that we, too, would one day be able to wrap our arms around our children! Since we have been waiting so long, doubt sometimes sets in, so it was nice to have the reality check of these children!! We got to know some of the couples and we were so encouraged that there were indeed other families in the Houston area who we will be able to keep in touch with and hopefully our children will have as an extended "family" of sorts as they grow up!

The whole experience was wonderful for our family and it just made our hearts more anxious to travel to the beautiful country rich in culture that is home to our precious children!