Ethiopia Reunion

Last Saturday our wonderful adoption agency Dillon/ Buckner International hosted a reunion for families that had adopted, or are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia through them.  The honored guests of the event were Tegist- the director of the baby home our child will come from, and her husband Getahun who happens to lead ALL the Buckner programs/ ministry in Ethiopia.  It was amazing to spend time with them hearing their story of how they ended up back in Ethiopia after living in the US for 13 years and being very close to permanent residence.  I think I will share more about that in another post.  Even with our important guests all the way from Africa, let's face it- the kids stole the show!  The children that were born in Ethiopia and are now home with their American forever families were just SO cute (and, ahem, the reason we were all there) that it was fun for me just to watch how happy they were running around with their siblings and fellow Ethiopian friends. 

So I know many of you don't care to see the adults in these pictures since you don't know them, but there are lots of cute kiddos in them that are worth looking at :)  Here are a couple of pics that were taken to commemorate the day.  I think this was a wonderful turn out considering the Ethiopia program is only 3 years old!



All Families with Tegist and Getahun in the middle (and yes, somehow Trace managed to get behind my huge hair!)




Families in the process of adopting their first or second child from Ethiopia

 There were several families that couldn't join us (we are spread out all over the country!) but it did my heart good to spend time with those that were there.  I can't adequately explain the unique bond I feel with these families that are sharing a similar journey with us, but even more than that I think about the deep bond our children will share with each other.  I believe these pictures represent the start of many life long friendships and I'm thrilled that this is just the beginning.