How Can I Possibly Put This Year into Words?

One year ago today, Paul and I began our trip to Ethiopia to bring Atticus and Norah home. Yesterday, we watched a slideshow of pictures with the kids. Whenever one of the myriad of photos we have of donkeys came onscreen, both kids would shout that it was a dog. It was such a tiny thing, but it made me think about how different all of our lives are now. If the kids were growing up in Ethiopia, they would certainly be familiar with donkeys already. We are so, so, soooo lucky to have them in our lives. A year ago, I hadn't ever heard one of my children yell, "Mommy!" and it's become the sweetest sound of all.

When we returned home from Ethiopia last year we were a little too preoccupied to write much about the trip. Since I can't possibly express how grateful I am to have had this year with my children, I'll settle for posting some never-before seen pictures.

This picture doesn't capture it, but flying over the continent of Africa on a clear day was one of the most spellbinding things I've done. This is a look down at Sudan.

Because Paul and I are both middle schoolers at heart, we had to take a picture of this banner in the Addis Ababa airport.

Once we'd cleared customs, we couldn't find out luggage or our driver. It turned out our bags had arrived the day before us and our driver had forgotten to come at all. After figuring out how to call a cab (Answer: Wander around looking lost until a taxi-arranger takes pity on you), we were relieved to get into a taxi driven by a twelve-year-old. Here are some things we saw:

Two views from our hotel room

I'll add more of the story tomorrow!