World Vision Visit...

An experience like no other. That is how i would describe our visit with Habtamu, our World Vision sponsor child. He was so shy. I think the entire day the only word i ever heard him say and only because I forced him to say it was "slinky". We brought one for each of the kids in his family and I know he has never seen one of those before. I think that day for him may have been more amazing than it even was for me. 

Imagine if you lived in a small village your entire life. You never left it and cities with stores etc. are something you had only learned about in school. That was what Habtamu's life was like. Until April 10th, 2009 that is. He and his father were brought on a 2 days journey to the city of Addis Ababa to meet Eric, Juli, and I. World Vision paid for all of this journey. It was so wonderful of them. We were able to spend the whole day with him. First we helped him open his gifts that we had brought. These included clothes, a soccer ball, lots of candy, a few slinkys, a kite, tons of school supplies, and of course a Yankees hat. Then we went outside to play a little soccer. Juli got hit once pretty hard by a ball he kicked. LOL She took it like a bog girl though.

Oh how funny she was with him. She could get close enough to him. Constantly wanting to sit by him or jumping into a picture with him. They could not even speak the same language yet they had little ways of communicating. It was so beautiful to me. To see my daughter love that boy as i did. We talked about him for so long i think she really felt she already knew him.

We also took he and his father shopping for some things for the family. We purchased for them... some pants, a coat for dad, material for mom so she could have some traditional clothes made, a backpack for Habtamu for school, and blankets for their home (i so wonder what that looks like). Then we took them out for lunch and to an arcade. You should have seen him and his dad trying to play the game were you pretend to drive the car in a car race. It was hilarious. And after the game was over, they just sat there still pretending to play. So cute. What a great day! 

We were also told that the family's ox died in December so as soon as we got home we called World Vision to purchase and ox for them and to sponsor the two other siblings in the family that are not sponsored yet. 

Saying goodbye was the hardest. Though we could not speak with each other, before we left Eric went up to Habtamu and his dad and took his cross off of his neck and put it around Habtamu's. Then he tried to tell him in the best way he could that Jesus loves him and to keep him in his heart. And when he said the name Jesus, they all knew exactly what he was talking about. And Eric said that Habtamu was crying a little when he gave him that necklace.

Then, we waved good bye and that was it...one of the days we had waited for for so long was over. And I miss that little boy. I love him as if he were my own child. I wish he were :) He was just so cute and sweet. Below are some pictures of that day. Don't mind the way I look, it was my first day in Africa. LOL Enjoy!

Full Circle

As our journey for Elias comes to an end. I am extremely humbled. In the next few days I will try to catch up on documenting our experience in Africa. It was so extremely hard to even get onto the internet there so I have to "back blog" so to speak. But there is so much to tell that I could write a book, so instead I will try to enter as much of it as i can here.

Humility is a funny thing. I feel in myself it can turn on and off in the blink of an eye. Not by my choosing of course because above all things one of the most strived for virtues in life for me as a Christian is humility. But because of the humanness i suffer from, especially as an American. It is so easy to feel as though we deserve something as Americans. I felt more this way in Dubai as i watched people come and go demanding things and expressing their lack of humility. But when it came to Ethiopia God humbled me to the point where there were times I wanted to fall to my knees and grieve. Grieve for the sadness some of these people live with every day. And grieve because I live this life that to most people in Africa would be a fairy tale come true. A life they could NEVER even imagine in their wildest dreams. And why did i get the gift of being an American? The gift of being able to express who I am and live freely, worshiping the way I choose without discrimination. Experiencing things like foods, travels, lifestyles that others will never even get to see on tv. I still wrestle with the answer to that question. Why me? I am SO BLESSED. If you want to have something to thank God for, go to Africa. You won't doubt Him anymore.

So, as this journey comes full circle and I see the result of all my prayers, tears, joys, trials... I am truly joyous. For I have been given a son that is amazing. He is so full of joy, laughing and smiling almost constantly. And I have experienced a place where God truly is. He loves the people of Ethiopia. I feel it in the air there. And I see all my prayers answered. First the prayer for a son. Second, the prayer that I would conduct myself with grace through the great trials i would face. And I think though at times i struggled, i did that with His help. Thirdly, that we would make this journey with safety, especially when it came to Julianna. She was perfect. There was something about her on this trip that changed. She became so much more mature. It's like God placed it in her heart what He needed her to do and she just did it. I think in the 2 weeks that we were away, she cried maybe 2 times if that...seriously! She just went along for the ride, and NEVER faltered. It was something to see. 

So, in the end, we are blessed. To have seen the works of the almighty God that created our son for us. I wish each of you were there to experience it with me.

 

Pics of Day 2...Dubai

Ok, so i was right. Juli now wants to be a belly dancer for halloween. We had such an amazing time last night! We learned so many crazy things about Dubai. First their biggest sport is camel racing. And until 2 years ago they used 5 and 6 year old children from India and Pakistan as jockeys. Why from Indian and Pakistan? Because their parents would sell them for cheap. So sad. Well, a couple of years ago human rights activists succefully got them to stop using children and now...get this, they use remote controls for them!!!!!! A man drives next to them in a car with a remote control and directs the camel. The catch is that when the race is over a person needs to catch up with the camel and pull on his reigns to stop him because the remote control does not have a stopping mechanism. Otherwise the camel will just keep running on and on and on. LOL So nuts.

So, the safari was great! Our driver was from Africa and picked us up at our hotel around 3:30pm and we drove about 45 minutes to a desert conservation park getting to see so much of Dubai along the way.

When we go there, we got out for a rest while they took some of the air out of our tires to make the car ready for the sand. Then we got back in and off we went... It was an awesome experience. Of course, toward the end Juli started to get a bit sick so the driver was kind enough to take it a bit easy. 

We stopped once to watch the sunset over the desert and were told if you walked about 2 hours through the desert, we would be in another country of Oman.

Once we were done, we were taken to a traditional bedouin camp in the desert. It was one of the coolest things I have EVER experienced. I felt like i was in Bible times.

We sat at tables on the ground on pillows and ate a traditional Arabian style BBQ dinner, and wine and Juli and I got Henna drawings on ourselves. We took camel rides and Juli got to kiss one! She loved the camels! There were so many! They even haad a section where you could go smoke their tobacco from the golden urns and It was flavored of Apple they said. I guess there are over 25 flavors of tobacco here. Off course we weren't very interested in this, but I was neet to watch. It reminded me of that caterpillar from Alice in wonderland who smoked (or steamed as Juli would say). In fact, had to tell her to be quiet because as we were walking by at one point she yelled out at the top of her lungs..."you shouldn't steam, It's not good for you." Crack up she is.

Well, the finale of the evening was the belly dancer of course. She was from Russia we were told which made her even more intriguing to Juli.  She did a whole number and then was looking for an audience participant. Juli put her hand in the air and she got picked. You should have seen her shake it! She loved every minute of that night and so did we! It was a great family night. 

The next day we headed to the pools again. It was a fun day in the sun until i sliced my foot open on a chair and had to go to the clinic here. They could not put stitches in it because it was in between my toes, so they just bandaged it up and I have to keep it clean and open. That is just perfect...clean and open in Ethiopia. We'll see how that goes. Luckily I had a tetanus shot and have an antibiotic with me just in case. 

In a few hours we get up to head to the airport and off to Ethiopia. We Take off at 8:30am Dubai time. It is a 4 hour flight. We spend the day just getting settled and going to bed early.

Friday we meet Habtamu!!!!! Our World Vision child. We are so excited. We'll take lots of pictures! 

Good Night U.S.A.

Love, Heather, Eric, and Juli

Pics of Day 1

Dubai

Here in Dubai it is 11:45am and Julianna is still sleeping. She awoke last night around 2:30am...woke us all up and we were up playing and eating snacks for about an hour and a half. Her jet lag i guess.

Our flight was steady and as comfortable as 13 hours in one seat can be. We were able to snag the bulk head because since not all the arm rests go up there, people didn't want that section. They want 3 seats in a row that can become a couch to lay across. Our main concern was Juli sleeping, so about half way in, we make a bed for her on the floor at our feet using her sleeping bag which we brought (thank you for this AWESOME idea Marianna). She slept for about 4 hours there so that was a true blessing. The flight attendants were so sweet. They took pictures of her and gave her 5 puppets and a sack of toys to play with. They were sooooo nice. Emirates all the way!!! And Kyla and Bobbie you were right... they feed you constantly!

Once we landed, we discovered that one of our bags full of donations broke open during transit so we had to go take it to "costumer service" and they gave us a whole new suitcase! No charge!

Again...Go Emirates!

Finally, to the Hotel, delivered (Aunt Lora you'll love this) in a BMW 7 series car. The hotel is beautiful. There are pics below.  Our room overlooks the Arabian Sea and the Burj al Arab Hotel which looks like a giant sail sitting out in the sea.

Once we got settled into our room. Juli wanted to go right to the Wild Wadi Waterpark which is part of our hotel. So, that is what we did...exhausted of course. Because Eric and I did not sleep but more than about 20 minutes on the plane. It was such fun though and all the water in the waterpark was sooo warm and salt water. Interesting. 

Juli went down a lot of water slides and we went on one big family slide too which was so much fun!!! 

Once we got back to the room we took naps for about 3 hours before getting up to go to dinner. We got dressed and went down to one of the 25 restaurants in our hotel. This one was italian and close to our lobby. It was so funny to see their version of an Italian restaurant. The food was good, but not what we are used to.

After that we walked along the beach and took some pictures. Juli wanted Miss Arrie to know that we saw a green parrot flying around wild!!!! And he was as noisy and talkative as her birds and Pops was. So funny.

After this we scheduled a desert safari for tonight! We are going to ride through the desert in a 4 wheel drive vehicle and then BBQ traditional Arabian style in the desert, get to ride Camels, and watch a belly dance show. I can see Juli after she watches that. We are all in so much trouble. How much do you want bet she will want to be a belly dancer for halloween for the next 3 months. LOL

Well, today we are heading to the beach. So much fun! We'll tell you how the safari was!

Talk to you all soon!

Love, Eric, Heather, and Juli

Preparations...

Well, as we get ready to go here are some pics.

First, me trying to use the baby sling. Karen, is this right? I used Juli's Baby Bethany. I wish a real baby was this light.
A Picture of some of the donations. The medical supplies couldn't even fit in the picture. LOL

Can the Great Eric the Magician get them all into 2 bags under 50 pounds each? And we still have all our stuff plus things for our World Vision boy and his family!
He mastered the food and medications...

And he did it Tada!!!!!  2 bags. You pet lovers will get a kick out of this... he brings the bags to the vet to weigh them on the dog scale to make sure they are not over 50 pounds! LOL The nurses there think it is so funny. 

Our total number is...

8 - bags 

3 - carry ons 

1 - Eric's computer

1 - 4 year old

and 1 stroller... 

(and a partridge in a pear tree)

Think we can handle it? We'll find out i guess.

Tomorrow morning and we're off!!!!!!!!!!

I will post again before we go to tell you what we are doing!