We’deshalu. Emet alu.

Shes ours!!! Had to get that out. Anyhow, heres a description of my trip. I havent gotten clearance to post photos even though we passed court- so i may have to wait on that

I made it safe and sound to Ethiopia. I arrived on 4/10 at 7:15 am. Finding my driver was a bit of
a hassle. But i found him and all was great. It has been so super
sunny. I met Kidist for the first time about 9:30 a.m.- she was so
super shy. The kids all know who the new mommy is for when the nanny
singles out a child by name first. So even though Kidist was told
nothing of my coming (she would have been told had Sister Tirhas been there, but she was out for that day due to her sister being in the hospital). Anyhow, the fact her name was called first startled her
a bit. She came, shook my hand with down cast eyes and then went back
to playing. I played with all the kids- 7 older children all together.
I then went back and brought seven or eight new pictures of Kidist and
her sister. She really opened up then and ran and got her secret bag,
hidden form the other kids, and showed me the two small B/W pictures
she had of her sister. She was so happy to have more and I wanted her
to know, that above all else, i valued her relationship with her
sister and wanted her to see that.  We then really began to hit it
off. I got out some crayons and coloring sheets, we did hair, we
played with toy dinosaurs. After her nap she ran up to me with a big
hug. The second day was even better. We watched movies with the other kids and
they did each others hair- we had lunch together, played soccer and i
shared her family book with her. I made her one on Shutterfly. Her
nurse translated and we talked specifically about what adoption is for
her, who her family is and what will happen

It was quite sweet onthe first day-  Kidist and her friend Fantu (the two oldest girls )went to help with the babies and i went with them. I would say shes 7/8. She colors SO WELL- very meticulous about being in the lines. Then Fantu braided my hair for a while- and Kidist tried to join in. I gave Kidist a plastic storage box with all kinds of hair stuff in it. She has put three of the clips in her hair. Fantu has pretty intricate braids. Kidists hair is much more "white/mixed" than you can tell...its pretty. Its not as tight as Sams..

Court was much much better than before. Everyone sits together and one by one goes before the judge all in one very large room. They remodeled the court- opening up the whole waiting room and judges chambers. This just started in Feb. There were many many Italian
families- like 6 of them and half were from Missionaries of Charity. I was one of two American cases. Everyone passed. The questions were very much the same as with Sam and she took the power of attorney but did not even ask for Johns job letter or new addendum for the home study. All early paper work was in order and processed. She is ours!

Kidist took more pictures the last two days with the camera. She got hit in the face with a ball that hit the camera into her nose. No blood but she was crying :( I helped calm er down. It got very busy on Saturday- four more families there plus three doctors for a medical mission. i went out with a HOLT mom who now lives here (Betsy:). We went to Metro Pizza and Kaldisfor  coffee and gelato in celebration of passing court. I met another family- the one thats here for the oldest boy. They are staying at the Hilton. I also
had lunch with the in country director. Oh and by the way- this is the agency Angelina Jolie used. There are pictures of her with the director right here. How crazy! I never knew. The clothes fit- but Kidist isnt too interested in clothes anyway (because here they are all communal- so she doesn’t see it as a gift to her, but as a piece of clothing for all)- so i am going to take
some back home. Her shoe sizes is about 2.5 (the 3’s were too big)

Kidist was just so sweet. Some of the kids were really aggressive to seek out attention. But Kidist didn’t really do that- she very much knew I was there for her and would sit right by me. Instead of being aggressive she would just say “fuc” (yes it sounds bad) It means “Up”- meaning to go upstairs to the guest house.  I am immensely impressed with the care center and have no issues leaving her- unlike Sam where i was just destroyed. Kidist sat with me and we looked through all kinds of family photos on the computer. She knows all about touch screens and loved playing with my camera, phone and computer. We also looked at Sams adoption photos, as well, so she she understands. We also played hide and seek or as they call it "coo-ca-loo" - very cute. We painted nails and she absolutely loved the doll I bought her from the Ethiopian shops.  She didn’t say much when Sister Tirhas translated for her, but she does try and talk a lot to me in Amharic and act out what she wants. She wasn’t sad when I left but did run and give me a big hug and I kissed her on both cheeks. I told her in Amharic “I love you and I will be back”. We’deshalu. Emet alu.