The timing of our trip to bring home Miss K makes the holidays even sweeter and more sentimental for our family. Christmas Eve is extra special because it's the day we left for Ethiopia to bring home Miss K, New Year's Eve is extra special because it's the day we left Ethiopia for home, New Year's Day is extra special because it's the day that we were finally together as a family of 5, and Genna is special because it's the first holiday we celebrated together as a family. Last year, some of our Ethiopian friends invited us to a Christmas celebration they were hosting. This year, a bunch of families from the Central Florida Ethiopia Adoptive Families Group packed the Nile Restaurant in Orlando for some Genna fun and fellowship.
Doro wat and injera are as traditionally a part of the Christmas dinner in Ethiopia as turkey and dressing are in America. And Mr. B and I LOVE Ethiopian food. We were so proud of our girls for being adventurous eaters and trying a little bit of everything on our platter--wat, tibs, shiro, veggies. They liked it all, too!
After dinner, we zipped over to Tampa to welcome our friends, the W family, as they arrived home from Ethiopia with their daughter A! It has been such an honor to get to know the W family in their journey to A. They are such a precious family and had a huge turnout of friends and loved ones there to meet them. We are so thankful we got to be part of the crowd! What a beautiful way to cap off the evening--with teary eyes and full hearts, watching another family come together through the miracle of adoption.
Photo courtesy of Erica S
Together at Last!
Photo courtesy of Erica S
Photo courtesy of Erica S
The kiddos! 2 more from Ethiopia will be joining these families as siblings in 2011!
Love this family!
Photo courtesy of Erica S
Looks like so much fun!!! I am a bit jealous that you have such an incredible group of adoptive families living so close to you...How wonderful! The food looked wonderful too...I am planning on making doro wat for dinner this week -wish me luck!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week :)
love the pictures...E was looking with me and said "Where's da Kiya go?" hah I explained to her that you are my sister and those are her cousins. I miss you guys.
ReplyDeleteI love that you celebrate all of the Ethiopian holidays! YOu are a great mama!
ReplyDeletei sit here crying over those airport photos. the expressions on their faces are priceless. what a perfect way to celebrate ganna.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a wonderful celebration!!! How fun!!! Your girls just keep getting more and more beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteWe never did find out the name of the special mother in the picture and I haven't seen her in anyones pics recently, so I dont' know if she is still there or not - thinking about printing a pic out and sending it with a traveling family so they could find out for me! :)
So blessed to know you and have your family in our lives! Adoption is truly a blessing in so many ways, not the least of which is the community you enter into through it! We LOVE the B family!!! Thank you for being there on Saturday, your presence meant so much to us!!
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