12/13/2006 12:40 PM

With Molla staying with the nannies in Center C last night, Em and I got some great sleep! Isayas slept all the way through until 7:00am, which was a blessing! After breakfast, I walked Isayas to school and then came back and we all headed out to shop (2^nd time for us). Em found some beautiful dresses for the girls and we picked up a bunch of artwork for the house. The steal of the day for us was a beautiful, hand painted wooden bowl, with the story of Christ told in several mosaic tiles, that we got for $40, and I haggled the guy into throwing in a statue of King Solomon, which is pretty cool.

When we got back, Em and I napped, so we are feeling quite refreshed. Afterwards, we headed over to the Hilton Hotel again to see if we could get on Friday’s flight out of Addis. Unfortunately, we had no luck, but we are going to call again tomorrow to see what we can get. I am hoping that if people don’t confirm their flights by tomorrow, that they will give the seats to those that they know will be on the flight. If worse comes to worse, we’ll pack up on Friday with everyone else and see if we can get on board with our standby status. Em and I are praying that at least one of us can get on (read Emilee) and then Em can carry Molla for the flight. This way, at least one of us can get home to see our girls and give Vicki a break for a bit (thanks for doing such a wonderful job, Mom! You too Mom!)

Isayas and I headed outside after dinner and played soccer again. I love that! I love playing soccer, baseball, and cornhole (funny name, cool game) with my daughters, but there is something special when a father plays with his sons. I am loving that feeling!

We picked up Molla late in the day, shortly before dinner. I was really beginning to miss him. Em asked the nanny if he got up a lot at night for her, and she said, “Oh yes. We just pick him up and talk with him.” Doh! Well, that explains a lot. So now we have to somehow break that habit, so that he can wake, eat, and then go back to sleep for more than 1 hour throughout the night. That should be fun, since we really can’t start until we get back, with the jet lag and all.

Tomorrow we might head over to the museum (we missed it last week) and then to AHOPE, another orphanage here in Addis that people brought donations for. Later in the afternoon, we will be going to the 2 care centers to have the goodbye celebrations for Moll and Isayas. Up to this point, we have seen 2 of these, but we finally get to partake in this one. There are lots of tears and hugs, thank you’s and prayers. Hopefully, this will help Isayas to understand that we are leaving for home. He was rather confused last week when 3 of his friends left, but he stayed behind.

Please pray for attachment and bonding for Emilee, Molla, Isayas, and I here in Addis. Pray that we can get on the Friday flight. Pray for those around us who are supporting us in this adventure!