Thursday May 15th - Going Home

We awoke on Thursday morning excited to be going home that day but we had much to do before we left. We had breakfast and then headed to Hannah's Hope. We were planning to tour Enet Alem (the government run orphanage) and Mother Theresa's Hospital that day but we were leaving the children at Hannah's Hope. We went to Enet Alem first which was very different than Hannah's Hope. I know they are doing their best to care for these children but they are working with limited funds. Then we went to Mother Teresa's. That was a very difficult place to see especially the house with the mentally disabled children. They were desperate for affection but we were unable to have any direct patient contact due to an outbreak of TB. Finally we did some last minute shopping and then headed back to Hannah's Hope. Eyob said good bye to his friends and then we went back to the hotel to pack. Our flight was at 10:15 that night but we left the hotel around 6:00. Eyob was very quiet in the airport until he saw the airplanes then he was very excited. When we boarded he was thrilled with the little tvs in the seats. He fell asleep during take off and slept for the first half of the flight. He was remarkabling good during the flight. We landed in D.C. at 9;30 Friday morning. I was never so happy to set foot on US soil. The flight seemed much longer coming home then going. Walking to our connection we met with an Ethiopian gentlemen who stopped us to ask about the adoption process. We talked a few minutes and as we left he said "you have no idea how much this means to my mother." This seemed to be the sentiment of all the Ethiopians we met. They are very supportive of adoptions and love their children very much.The last thing we did before we boarded was have lunch at a little restaurant next to our gate. To our surprise the entire wait staff was Ethiopian. These ladies were so sweet and it was a nice ending to our trip. We arrived in Pittsburgh at 2:00 but our luggage did not (it came the next day). When we walked through the parking lot, Eyob was so excited to see the "mukeeinas." But he was even more excited to meet his new siblings. It was so great to be home and begin becoming a family of 7. Eyob and his special mothers Danny, Yohannes and Eyob Eyob at the airport in Addis Ababa

Eyob on the plane being silly Eyob and Mommy on the plane to Pittsburgh - the last leg of the journey