10 months home

it was Nov. 24th last year that we stood in front of the high courts of ethiopia--which was really a beautiful lady judge sitting in a tiny little room (the waiting area was bigger than this room) with a bunch of filing cabinets and book shelves.  she asked us a few questions about aregash and what our intentions were as her parents.  and after 70 seconds she quietly said "she is yours".  it was such a sigh of relief and tears flowed as our driver took us back to our guesthouse and played "god is great" on his player.

the first time we saw our baby girl--not as much of a baby as we saw in the pictures :0)

our first family picture

our second day together--look at those chubby cheeks!

 

after our court date--she is officially part of our family

and then we had to say goodbye.  we had no idea how long it would be before we saw her again, but it was typically taking 3-4 weeks to return.  it ended up being twice that.  i held my emotions together throughout most of this process and the wait, but christmas last year was very difficult for me.  i had 3 kiddos to shop for at home, but one kiddo on the other side of the world and i would have given anything to have her home and be a family.

that was a year ago.

and now she's been with us and a part of our family for 10 months.

it all seems soo surreal when i go back to the beginning.

posing for her TOMS (shoes) picture

snuggle time with daddio

sharing zach's birthday treats

when her hair is wet she says, "mommy, my hair is soo BIG!!"--she really wants long hair. :0)

such a treasure

happy 10 months as part of our family

aregash faith dejene chiolis!!!!

we love you!!!!