Monday, February 2, 2009

Playing with Geta and Tamene

Today, Geta and Tamene got to come and play with us at the Guesthouse. Tamene, as expected, was not at all happy to see us! He cried most of the bus ride here and then for a ½ hour after we were here. Geta on the other hand was nervous to ride on the bus, but her face lit up when she saw Courtney and the other kids. She laughed and played and practiced English all morning. She is actually pretty good at dribbling a basketball (which made Mike very proud!) We got to eat with the kids and Tamene finally let me feed him. That is a huge milestone! He also played and laughed with us today. His siblings are still a little overwhelming for him, but he sticks close to me and is getting more comfortable. He fell asleep in my lap today as I sang him lullabies. We delivered them back to the care center and to school after lunch time. To be honest, I think both kids are still very relieved to be back in their familiar surroundings. They have bigger smiles when we leave then they do when we arrive, but we make progress with each visit. Tomorrow when we pick them up, they will stay with us the remainder of our time here, so that will be yet another step in the whole process. We will see how much sleep we get tomorrow night!

We have taken lots of pictures, but don't have access to upload them from this shared computer. We will post pictures when we return to the US. Also, we can't see the blog from Africa, so we hope that these posts are working correctly! If you have added comments, please don't think we are ignoring you. We just can't see them!

More later,
Kristen

5 comments:

  1. We are praying for you during this very emotional adjustment period. I have no words for what I'm feeling and it's not even my immediate family. Hang in there. The rewards will be great. Getting there is the challenge. Can't wait to meet my new niece and nephew and check out how my other nieces and nephews are adjusting. Keep up the great work, Kristen and Mike. I'm proud of you!

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  2. Progress, no matter how small, is always something to celebrate...and it sounds like this was a LOT of progress! Thinking of you all and sending warm wishes to Ethiopia.

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  3. I have definitely been following along, although not posting comments. It sounds like both kids are adjusting very well.

    Thank you for posting so much about your trip. It brings back so many memories and also makes me long to return.
    - Betsy

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  4. Great to hear progress! Praying for you all...

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  5. Been thinking and praying for you guys with your first "overnight"! Just as everyone else that knows you and come to love and trust you, so too, will Geta and Tamene. It's an inevitable fact! (Note the use of the big word "inevitable"!) ;-)

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