We arrived home on Saturday afternoon at about 3pm. The next morning we woke up to snow, quickly followed by rain, hail, wind and sun-a very Seattle area March day! Here is a picture of my three long haired boys...It is wonderful to be home.
Our house feels SO huge. I just don't know what to do with myself-all these rooms, different places to place the children and let them explore, ROCKING CHAIRS (SO comfortable to feed the boys in vs the plastic chairs we had in our room in Addis), any food we want, high chairs for the boys, so much help, water pressure, clean tap water-I'm just taking it all in and feeling quite randomly tearful throughout the day as I am reminded what God has done, how Great He is, how he has made our family complete. I also though am thinking about how much stuff we have in the US, it is excessive and I will try my best to keep our lives simple despite this.
On the way home there was one more miracle that I must share:) As we arrived at the airport check in stand at the Addis airport (with our 7 bags to be checked and two carry-ons and 2 infants) the clerk kindly informed us that because we were going through Germany the boys required a transit visa and she could not allow us on the flight without this visa (US citizens to not require the visa but they were not US citizens until they entered the US, even though their parents are US citizens...crazy). We had been told that this was not required if did not leave the airport and that several families had been through Germany without this visa. We explained this to the clerk and she said she was sorry but this was incorrect and we would have to rebook our flights for next WEDNESDAY after we obtained these visas...Both of our hearts just sank and we began wondering how we would even contact our guesthouse as we had just given away our last birr in tips to the baggage handlers and no longer had our cell phone. I began praying, oh Lord, PLEASE open this door as you have opened the other doors. Sean stayed calm and began exploring options, could we change airlines and get on a flight directly into the US? No this flight was full...finally the clerk asked her boss if anything could be done. We waited and waited as she said her boss was seeing what she could do. About 20 minutes later I saw Sean talking to the clerk (I was standing with our huge pile of luggage) and he got a big smile! The boss had called Luftansa airlines in Germany who gave us special permission to fly without these visas. PRAISE GOD once again.
I thank so many of you for praying us home...We are all adjusting well. The boys did great on the plane and seem to be switching time zones very well. I think we can relax now and settle into life here with our new family...
Our house feels SO huge. I just don't know what to do with myself-all these rooms, different places to place the children and let them explore, ROCKING CHAIRS (SO comfortable to feed the boys in vs the plastic chairs we had in our room in Addis), any food we want, high chairs for the boys, so much help, water pressure, clean tap water-I'm just taking it all in and feeling quite randomly tearful throughout the day as I am reminded what God has done, how Great He is, how he has made our family complete. I also though am thinking about how much stuff we have in the US, it is excessive and I will try my best to keep our lives simple despite this.
On the way home there was one more miracle that I must share:) As we arrived at the airport check in stand at the Addis airport (with our 7 bags to be checked and two carry-ons and 2 infants) the clerk kindly informed us that because we were going through Germany the boys required a transit visa and she could not allow us on the flight without this visa (US citizens to not require the visa but they were not US citizens until they entered the US, even though their parents are US citizens...crazy). We had been told that this was not required if did not leave the airport and that several families had been through Germany without this visa. We explained this to the clerk and she said she was sorry but this was incorrect and we would have to rebook our flights for next WEDNESDAY after we obtained these visas...Both of our hearts just sank and we began wondering how we would even contact our guesthouse as we had just given away our last birr in tips to the baggage handlers and no longer had our cell phone. I began praying, oh Lord, PLEASE open this door as you have opened the other doors. Sean stayed calm and began exploring options, could we change airlines and get on a flight directly into the US? No this flight was full...finally the clerk asked her boss if anything could be done. We waited and waited as she said her boss was seeing what she could do. About 20 minutes later I saw Sean talking to the clerk (I was standing with our huge pile of luggage) and he got a big smile! The boss had called Luftansa airlines in Germany who gave us special permission to fly without these visas. PRAISE GOD once again.
I thank so many of you for praying us home...We are all adjusting well. The boys did great on the plane and seem to be switching time zones very well. I think we can relax now and settle into life here with our new family...
12 comments:
We cannot wait to meet the boys!!! Welcome home.
Welcome Home!
Welcome Home Rachel and the boys!!!
So glad you're back safely. You have been such an inspiration. So much fun to read your blog - yes, God sure works in misterious ways.
Enjoy being home with the boys and keep us posted when u get a free minute.
Alida
Yay!!!!! Welcome home! And yes, welcome back to the sun/hail/snow/rain weather!
Glad to hear you made it without too much trouble. I've been hearing frequently that the German visa issue is an issue to try and avoid. :) I'm so glad everything worked out like it needed to!
Thank you again for posting and keeping us up on your trip. I hope you share more as time allows.
Good luck expanding back into your home. You are absolutely right on the excessive part. :)
I love this picture! They are your babies and they are home! I have the box of clothes ready to ship and will HOPEFULLY make it to the post office tomorrow.
I'm glad you were able to figure out the visa thing without having another delay. I'm sure the time you spent in Ethiopia will be so valuable to share with the boys as they grow, but for now it must be wonderful being home! As you said-the small things (water pressure!)are just so nice.
Have fun settling in! I'm looking forward to reading updates!
Welcome home! Don't you just love those people that actually go out of their way to help other people? It must have felt amazing to finally be home in your house with the boys. They look so happy and just squeezable.
Oh, Welcome home!! I can't even imagine how surreal it must be to be in your own house WITH YOUR BOYS!! We're rejoicing with you!!
So happy to hear you made it home!!
It was so nice to meet you and your family in Ethiopia!
What an awesome airport story! Praise God.
Julie
welcome home :) So glad you made it through without the visas....love how God works.
Welcome home. The boys don't seem to mind the cold too much. Hope everything is going great!
Welcome home!! I love that picture of your little men. :) So sweet. Amazing post, God is SO so good.
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