12/9/2006 12:36 PM

Saturday. A day of rest and relaxation. A day of winding down from a long week of work. Except when you are a parent.

We woke up nice and early, with me getting up with Molla at 4:15am and Em getting up to a wet Isayas at 5:00 am. Most everyone else in the house had jet lag, so they were already up, so Isayas’ semi-frequent screams of delight while playing didn’t bother anyone.

We had a breakfast of scrambled eggs and sandwiches, and then it was playtime! I took Isayas and headed outside to the driveway, where we played cars and soccer with the guard. Meanwhile, Emilee did dishes, washed some clothes, and took care of Molla (I definitely had the short-end of the stick on that one! J) All the while, the new parents who arrived last night headed out to see their children for the first time! Exciting!

Lunch was fun, full of good conversation about their first meeting with their new kids and about tomorrow when they head down to Hosanna to hopefully meet the relatives of their new adoptees. While this great conversation was going on, Emilee happened to look over at Isayas to see how he was doing on his meal, when she noticed that he was asleep, with the table in his mouth to keep him upright! Hilarious and devishishly cute! He ended up sleeping about 3.5 hours!

Tonight, some of us headed over to the pizzeria for our 2^nd dinner (they serve soup here for dinner every night. While it’s great and tasty soup, sometimes you get a little sick of it!) Isayas thought it was the best thing ever! It was his first time in a restaurant and of course I forgot to take pictures! But he and I shared a margarita pizza and I bought him a Marinda (orange pop) that he slowly savored over the course of his 1.5 pieces of pizza. Mind you, this was after he had about 3.5 bowls of soup! This kid can eat.

We are planning on taking a taxi tomorrow to the Orthodox Evangelical Church here in Addis. I guess that starts at 9:00am. Should be interesting! The rest of the day we’re not sure what we are going to do. Maybe take a trip to the Hilton for something different. They have a pool there. And pastries! And there’s a park right across the street. Everyone else will be going to Hosanna, and that’s a 9 hour car drive total, and they spend about 3 hours in Hosanna. So they won’t be back until around 5pm.

Moll and Isayas are doing well. Both are a little sick still, but Isayas is getting much better with his tantrums. Or maybe we’re just getting better at handling them, as we have changed strategies a bit. Thanks to each of you for your prayers. We can see the fruits of them already!