Thrilled to be Home

Where do I start?

Friday and Saturday were a blur with all of our flights from Addis to London to Philadelphia to Dayton.  We traveled for 32 hours striaght and were totally spent by the time we made it home last night.

First and foremost, we cleared customs and immigration in a matter of minutes in Philadelphia yesterday afternoon.  Sofani was fingerprinted (you could tell this was a first), processed and welcomed to the US. 

During our travel day we enjoyed observing his reaction to everything.  London Heathrow airport is enough to overwhelm anyone.  Sofani had his first encounter with escalators and people mover walkways.  The shops at the airport had him in awe – Burberry, Ted Baker of London, new book stores, etc.  It’s a far cry from the markets on the streets of Addis or Mikelle.  He wanted ice cream for dinner (only the second time he’s had it in his life).  How could I say “no?”  We ordered two scoops. 

He got into Staci’s SUV at the airport and was amazed at the TV in the vehicle.  We were going down the interstate and he pointed out the sunroof.  He stood up and stuck his head out of the car at 70 mph.  It was fun listening to him laugh as the wind blew his eyes shut and forced him back into the car.  We were hungry and we had to welcome him to America we had to stop by McDonalds.  He laughed as we talked to a box to order food and promptly devastated a cheeseburger and large fry with no problem.  McDonalds is universal – everyone loves it.

As we turned onto our road he knew we were close because he was following Staci’s navigation system the entire way home.   The excitement was palpable.  He was about to jump out of his skin.  We pulled onto our lane to find that our house had been decorated by our friends.  Welcome signs everywhere.  I’ve never felt so welcome at my own house (if that makes any sense).  I’m sure he felt the love as it clearly showed him how many people were ready to welcome him to our extended family and community.

My grandma, Joan, and Staci’s father, Tom were at the house when we arrived.  They were making the handoff with our 5-year old bundle of blond curls that we missed so much over the past week – our dear Anna.  (By the way – a HUGE “thank you” to my sister Julie and our family in Marion for watching Anna for the entire time we were away.  We owe you!)  Tom and Grandma Joan welcomed him with big hugs and kisses and he was very happy to meet his new sister.  Anna’s job was to show Sofani around the house and that’s what happened next. 

When I say we were blown away by our friends I mean it.  Blown away.  We were so exhausted that the love from our dear group of friends and family who weren't physically here to greet us easily turned into tears.  We could feel your presence.

There were signs everywhere from friends from our community – the staff at church, friends of ours, etc.  Bright, colorful signs welcoming Sofani to his new home and community.  I don’t know how many there are to be exact but they’re everywhere.  The refrigerator was stocked, supplies bought and the pantry was full.  We are so very grateful.  I can’t express how much it means to us to have so many wonderful friends and such a supportive family and community.

Sofani was excited to see his bunk bed which had been meticulously constructed by Paw Paw Tom and decorated by his new loving mother.  He has pictures of himself as a baby, his parents, his aunt, etc. (thank you to Kim, mother to Sofani’s sister Liya in Texas).  He loved his new room and was shocked when he opened the closet door to see all of the clothes.  His name was painted on the driveway on the basketball court along with Jackson’s (thank you to Chris Willis). 

Anna toured him throughout the house and he couldn’t stop smiling.  He couldn’t believe the fresh fruit, the full fridge, the big screen television and the pool.  He made a quick change of clothes and we were swimming until midnight.  Sofani is determined to figure out how to swim.  I think it will be a matter of hours before this happens. 

We finally tucked everyone in and said prayers around 1 AM.  We were exhausted.  Wonder when he woke up?  4 AM.  That’s right.  It was just like Christmas morning at the Buck’s house today.  He showered, went outside to ride his new bike, chasing Anna and Jackson around the house with a toy rifle, playing pool, ate a bowl of Fruit Loops and went out to the pier.  He woke Staci and me up at 7 AM.  Any other day I would have rolled over and begged for a few more minutes of sleep but I couldn’t do it.  He wants to go swimming.  He wants to go fishing.  He is thrilled to be here.  He cannot stop smiling and laughing.  It is the most excited I have ever seen anyone – hands down.

Now we are going to soak it all up. 

I cannot adequately express my sincere thanks to our family, friends, church and community throughout this process.  Never in our lives have Staci and I felt so much love and support.  We have meals coming every evening for the next couple of weeks from members of our church.  It’s unbelievable.  We are truly blessed.

What’s next?  This kid has more energy and interest in learning new things than Staci and I will be able to keep up with in the days and weeks to come.  If you’ve ever been one of those people that have said, “Let me know what I can do to help” – your time has come.  We’re going to take all of you up on that offer.  We need people to teach him how to fish, swim, play instruments (he’s a music lover for sure), paint, school prep activities, chase him around the yard, work on his jump shot (he’s a lefty), etc.  We will be more than happy to take you up on any/all offers.  

I'm being summoned to the pool.  Gotta go!

Coming Home

It’s finished.  Sofani is finally ours. 

We had our appointment yesterday at the US Embassy and they approved our case.  We were all very excited and relieved to learn that the adoption is final.

We are packing our things this morning and will be going shopping for some souvenirs this afternoon.  The staff at the hotel found out that it’s Staci’s birthday today, so they’re having a coffee ceremony for her this evening at 7 PM.  We are having dinner with Alemu, our agency representative in Ethiopia, at his home at 8 PM before we head to the airport.  Our flight leaves at 1 AM Saturday (5 PM Friday EST) and we arrive in Dayton after making connections in London and Philadelphia on Saturday evening. 

The past couple of days in Ethiopia have been very low key.  We’ve traveled around the city.  We had meals all across Addis – even found a hamburger and fries last night (Avery and Jackson are going to make me stop at the first Buffalo Wild Wings that we see when we’re back in the states – they’re craving it in a bad way).  We have spent a lot of time with Linda Schrenk and her daughters from Ohio.  We are very fortunate to live so close to them so that Sofani can maintain contact with Meskarem and Hawi – his two buddies from Jane’s House.

We all played “Old Maid” last night and we learned that Sofani is a crafty card player.  He caught glimpses of Staci’s hand to make sure she selected the right cards and won both times that we played.  He’s already scoring lots of points with mom.  Sofani showers and makes his bed each morning.  He’s disciplined.  He even made Jackson get out of bed so he could make it.  Poor Jackson.  Sofani loves to dress up.  We brought several outfits for him and he’s mixing and matching his way through the week.  He loves his sunglasses and enjoys all of his new gear.  He’s proud of his new “stuff.”  He is freakishly strong and he loves music.  We can’t pry him away from the synthesizer in the hotel dining area (the other guest like it when we get him to rejoin us at the table - he needs a few lessons).  He knows the words to all of the Tigrenian songs on the radio and sings them proudly.  We all agree that Sofani is going to be a ton of laughs once he figures out the language.  He’s has a big personality and is super-social. 

Our trip to Jimma with World Vision was cancelled because of the timing of our Embassy appointment – we couldn’t get to Jimma and back safely in time to catch our plane.  We decided that this was probably a good thing in light of it all.  We were planning a 12 hour round trip to and from Jimma in a Toyota Land Cruiser only to board 3 planes over the next 24 hours on our trans-Atlantic journey home.  We did visit the World Vision office in Addis to drop off all of our gifts for Birtukan and to learn more about their work in the project near Jimma.  We were lucky enough to meet with the World Vision Sponsorship Director for all of Ethiopia and gained a lot of information about the Abaya region.  Abaya is the development project through World Vision that our church sponsors 157 children.  We’re in the process of planning a mission trip to this area in 2014 and we gained some valuable information and a key contact to help us with the logistics.  Good stuff!

Avery has been making bracelets over the past year and selling them to raise money for an orphanage in Ethiopia.  We counted the money in her jar before we left and she had $393.  We added $7 to make it an even $400.   On our way to the Embassy Avery told Alemu that she would like to donate it to Jane's House.  Alemu said that they needed $700 for a clothes dryer.  Linda spoke up and said that she brought some extra money in the event that she felt led to donate it and quickly agreed to chip in an extra $300 to pay for the dryer.  Super cool.  Avery knows first hand how many clothes were hanging on the line at Jane's House.  They hang in the only open area where the kids play.  Now the clothes can come down and give the kids some space to move around.

I can’t imagine what Sofani is thinking today.  He spoke with his Aunt last night on the phone and Girmay and Deborah this morning.  He is leaving everything familiar to him in his young life in a matter of hours.  Everything that he owns will be put into a suitcase and he’ll be starting a new life with new parents, siblings, community, church, school, climate, culture, friends, language… it’s hard for me to wrap my head around it.

He just continues to smile and laugh.  He has no idea what he’s in for and I really don’t think he cares.  I think he’s desperate for a father, mother and a family unit.  Nothing else matters to him.  He knows he’s going to have opportunities for education and a shot at the American Dream when he becomes a US citizen tomorrow in Philadelphia, but he’s too young to really know what that means.  He just wants to be a part of a family and we’re so fortunate to be the ones chosen.