Family Time

Having my family all together is rare and special.  On Saturday, March 10, after TBK and I had caught up on our sleep a bit, we enjoyed a sunny afternoon together in the backyard and Brad,(http://www.bradwiggins.com/) once again, captured the moments beautifully.

Love from Denver,
--Jen and "Got Milk??"

Our Welcome Home

First of all, Shabbat Shalom from Denver (Hallelujah, Amen!) 

Lots of celebration on Vrain Street tonight.  This is our second Shabbat at home but I feel a bit more more grounded and awake this week and it was lovely.   Ilana Steinberg delivered a magnificent full course meal complete with an extraordinarily delicious homemade challah that was shared by me, my parents and Dorrie and Jacob.  While we ushered in the Sabbath, we also celebrated the eve of Dorrie's birthday.  A St. Patrick's Day Baby--HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAUTIFUL DORRIE!!!

It has been a whirlwind week. Last Wednesday's airport homecoming was something special. As we FINALLY walked out of international arrivals at DIA (2 hours after landing) with the Sarah family, we had a mini army waiting for us all. What a welcome home!!

Bami and I came out first and there was Mom. J Mo's sister, Allison, could barely contain her excitement!

Bami meeting her adoring grandparents, Gimme/Bubbe and Popa Kraft.

Doda Abby and Cousin Oliver came all the way from OR as a surprise to meet TBK and welcome home Dad/Steven.

It was a LONG wait for the passengers but Oli kept active and busy.

So did Jacob:

Abby was SO awesome for encouraging her husband to come to Ethiopia.

Oliver was VERY happy to see his Daddy!

My beautiful G-dson, Jacob.

I THINK Dorrie was happy to see us;)

Dorrie seeing Bami for the first time since meeting her in Addis 3 months prior.

All my emotions came to the surface in Dorrie's arms.

Sister-in-laws!

Uncle Gary called from Aspen to welcome us.  He flew down the next day with Sam (I am holding Shuki here.)

The Sarah family being welcomed by their community of friends and family.

Bami is one lucky girl to have these two boys looking after her!

And this posse:

I feel SO lucky to have shared this amazing adventure with JMo and Tom Sarah ... they live just one mile from us in Denver!

(Thanks to the talented and lovely Brad Wiggins for the above photos: http://www.bradwiggins.com/)


Martha Tenney is an awesome woman and a dear friend who I met years ago through Dorrie.  When I told her last year that I was beginning the adoption process, she VOLUNTEERED to write one of my required letters of recommendation.  I gratefully accepted. 

When we arrived home on Wednesday, Martha was at the airport, video camera in hand and captured the whole thing.  She has edited it down to 14 minutes, so feel free to take a peek.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28178980/JenBami_short_movie_streaming.mov

Of course, part of my heart is still in Ethiopia.  I miss Mengi, Rahel, Azeb and Fitzum very much.  I think about them all the time and talk about them with Bami--especially when she sneezes because no one can illicit a giggle from that girl like a "bless you" from Mengi.  She still smiles whenever she sneezes and I am convinced that she is thinking about him at that moment, just like me.


Also, Shabbat at home is wonderful but without  25 of our closest friends from the Hodes family, it is just not the same.  Maybe I should get some crazy hats and start singing American folk songs???

Fitz has informed me by e-mail that, last weekend, no less than 25 kids enjoyed both Amharic and English movies (their choice) sponsored by two very  nice young boys who live all the way in Binghamton, NY.  Elijah and Isaac were babies when I last saw them and are obviously growing up beautifully...and very fast.

Their mother, Lisa Altman, is instilling in them an awareness of tzedakah (charity or rightousness) and I thank the Altman Knowlton family on behalf of Rick and his houseold for reaching out and making the movie outing possible(25 kids x 45 birr = $65.50).

Back in Denver, Tali Bami is adjusting very well.  The pediatrician says she "is the picture of health" (thank G-d) and she seems to love everything and everyone she meets. 

Today, after a fun bath, we went for a 3 mile walk around our neighborhood lake (Sloan's) in perfect 75 degree sunshine.

I look forward to keeping up the blog as our adventures continue.  Hope you'll join us!!

Shabbat Shalom and Love from Denver,
--Jen and TBK

Home Sweet Home

As many have guessed, I have been off-line in the momentous transition from Ethiopia to Denver and basking in the arms of our wonderful family and community of friends.  I will post pictures and video of our homecoming soon--am still gathering it all.

Goodbye last Tuesday night at the airport in Addis was sweet, sweet sorrow.  A lot of tears were shed as we parted but the emotion included the joy and gratitude that I feel for the incredible relationships we developed there.  I am looking forward to returning with Bami over the years to our Ethiopian family.


Azeb and Rahel giving Bami her last hugs....

Our dear Mengi had an especially hard time saying goodbye to his '"little pastry."  Tashome and Tarike, the two other taxi drivers with us (it took 3 taxis to get us to Bole!) had to console him.

Waiting to enter the terminal--not an easy feat at Bole Airport.  We needed to pay a porter to navigate the crowd/line or we would have missed our flight!

I am still in a bit of shock that we are actually at this moment!!

Waiting to check in for our flight.....

I LOVE this picture of the Sarah family going through passport control in Addis.  They DO look like they are on Could 9!!

I can't say enough about my brother Steven and how incredible he was to be with in Ethiopia and on the long journey home.   I was so proud of how he immediately melded with our Ethiopian family and how totally open and engaged he was during the whole experience.

I seriously underestimated what it would take, both physically and emotionally, to bring home a baby from overseas and Steven, who is a rock star daddy, just stepped right in and was a dream.  He was our bottle sterilizer, packer, diaper changer, vomit mopper-upper, Sherpa, cuddly uncle and organizer. 

I will FOREVER be grateful to him and to Abby and Oliver for their loan....

More later....

Love from Denver,
--Jen and TBK

Road Trip Day 2: Safari and Asebe Tefere

Some of rose with the sun to join a wildlife guide on a mini safari.  The sunrise was beautiful and we enjoyed making some new animal friends.

This is a dik dik.  Here is the skinny from Wikipedia on that bugger....

A dik-dik, pronounced "dĭk’ dĭk", is a small antelope in the Genus Madoqua that lives in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa. Dik-diks stand 30–40 cm (approx. 12–16 inches) at the shoulder, are 50–70 cm (approx. 20-28 inches) long, weigh 3–6 kg (approx. 7-16 pounds) and can live for up to 10 years. Dik-diks are named for the alarm calls of the females. In addition to the female's alarm call, both the male and female make a shrill whistling sound. These calls may alert other animals to predators.

This is an oryx.  It's horns are 75 centimeters long and can spear a lion.  I would like to report that we witnessed something like that but, well, we didn't pay enough for THAT tour. Striking creature.

A summer gazelle.

A wonderful brother.

Breakfast was in a hut on a cliff overlooking the Awash River.   It was fun watching the crocodiles over coffee!



We said goodbye to the local warthogs and headed east for Asebe Teferi.  It was about a 3 hour beautiful drive through rolling hills and tiny villages.  When we got there, we stopped at the Biftu orphange receiveing center where both Bamlak and Shikuri were brought initially when they were each found abandon.

While the gang went to the local (DELICIOUS) watering hole,The Agape, Fitz, Mengi and Steven and I went over to visit Addisalem, Bamlak's founder.   She is doing well and seemed happy for the visit.  We invited her to join the group for lunch.  As we left her home, one of her neighbors was making injera and invited us in to take photos.

During lunch, Bami and Addisalem:

After lunch most of us lounged around, took short walks and the babies got showers while Jen, Tom and Fitsum ventured out to Shikuri's village to do a little digging into his past.  They came back 2 hours later VERY excited and happy about having put more of the puzzle pieces together.

It was a LONG drive back west to Nazareth but most of us slept and enjoyed the scenery and Solomon did a rock star job of getting us there safely.  We did witness a horrible wreck on the way to AT that involved a large truck and two camels.  The truck was still on its side and the camel carnage was still there there following day. 

Nazaret was a treat.  The Hotel Maya was GREAT and the girls and Mengi got to don their new Old Navy swimsuits that Abby bought them and we all played in the water.  It was a perfect ending to a GREAT road trip!!

We made it back to Addis 15 minutes before the Lufthansa office closed so Jen and Tom jumped out and paid for the baby's tickets for the Tuesday evening trip.

We really had a GREAT time.  We had a lot of fun, saw a nice chuck of eastern Ethiopia, and created memories with our friends to last a lifetime.  We (I) am already talking about the Bar/Bat Mitzvah reunion tour in @12 years!!

Now turning to packing and the inevitable...goodbyes.

Love from Addis,