Tuesday in Addis

Tuesday:
He is officially ours, forever!!!
Today was a great, but very long and dramatic day.
Early this morning, we went to the transition home to pick up our
children.  Then we immediately drove to the Embassy to have all of our
official paperwork finalized and to get Silas' visa.  Well, after
waiting about an hour, they told us that they simply weren't ready for
our group yet so we all had to come back later.  Not that big of a
deal, but a little bit of a letdown.  So, we had lunch at a local
place, the Zebra Grill, which was an interesting combination of
Italian & Mexican (as in, a burrito with marinara sauce on top),
pretty good though.  Then, straight back to the Embassy.  After
waiting in line for another hour or so, Amber and I were the first
from our group to be interviewed.  It went great! It only took about 5
min and we were done and Silas' visa was approved.  That meant that
everything was done for us to be able to bring him home...that's an
amazing amount of refreshing right there! Of our 8 families in the
group, 5 passed just fine.  3 are having some pretty big paperwork
issues - PLEASE PRAY FOR THEM!  There were lots of tears and prayers
being said as those 3 families were told that they may not be able to
take their kids home with them.  AGAIN, PLEASE PRAY FOR THEM!
Our day with Silas has been wonderful! He is the happiest child ever!
He is hugging and laughing and playing and...uh, just awesome!  He
wasn't eating so well today as he didn't like our formula.  So, after
only having 1 bottle at 9am, we had to go back to the transition home
to get the specific formula they gave him...we got that at about
6:30pm and he ate it around 8pm.  So, yeah, not much food for him
today, but tomorrow looks to be better!  Even with little food, he was
not grumpy at all.  He didn't much care for the antibiotic we gave
him, but he was still able to take it.

We're missing Gibson & Maya terribly.  We just wish they could meet
their new little brother...soon enough I guess.  Please give them lots
of kisses and squeezes for us!  (thankfully, Amber was able to talk to
them on the phone for a few minutes today!)

Now we are unbelievably exhausted and gonna try to turn in early (it's
about 9pm here).  We love you guys and thank you so much for your
prayers.  You guys are a huge part of getting us here and we will
never forget that!

Hopefully we'll get another update out tomorrow.  G'night...or, for
those of you in the midwest, good afternoon.  :)

phil (and Amber)

Monday in Addis

{sorry for the delayed posts...internet connections in third world countries are apparently a little spotty...who would've guessed? :) }

Monday:
Our first full day in Addis has been amazing!
We started the day with a big breakfast with all of our travel group
(8 couples), then started the process of filling out paperwork.
After that, we headed out for a great lunch at a local restaraunt
called Lucy's.  Amber played it safe with a penne & tomato sauce dish.
I went all out and got the pepper steak. It was amazing!
Then, we got in the bus and started on the drive we'd all been waiting
for...the trip to the Transition Home!
The process was surreal.  We pulled in and were greeted by dozens of
kids running up the bus, giving us 5's, waving hello, etc.  It was
wonderful.  Then, they had us all line up out in front of the building
and started bringing our children out 1 at a time. It was alphabetical
order so that means we, the Wings, were last.
It was amazing to watch the other families just explode with joy at
the sight of their kids. Many of the kids did the same for their new
parents.
Finally, it was our turn.  They brought Silas (Yegermal) to us and our
faces could not smile any bigger! This boy is incredible...he was so
cuddly...and he was kinda sleepy.  We got to hang out with him for a
couple hours, feed him a bottle, play with him on the floor, and take
LOTS of pictures.  I can't even express how great it was. It took him
a little while to warm up to us, but once he did, it was a great time
of fun and bonding.
There is no doubt at all that God has orchestrated
adoption...especially this one.  It just felt so right.  My words
cannot express how warm our hearts are and how excited we are for
tomorrow when we get to keep him FOREVER!

We love you all and can't wait for you to meet our new little man!

THANKS!

phil (and Amber)

We are here!!! After a very long journey with a few delayed flights,
we made it. We haven't slept much so we are very tired and ready for
bed. We are on the third floor, so with the elevation you get to the
top winded! We also were expecting to have a kitchenette and suite in
our room, but we do not have a room like that. Just a bed and bath.
We will make it work, just different than expected. We will have to
come downstairs to the kitchen when we have to make bottles or heat
anything else. There are several other families here from our agency
with the Rwanda program with their kids. One couple here is the first
blog I ever followed from AWAA when they adopted their son from
Ethiopia two years ago. Now they were picking up girls from Rwanda.
Just a fun surprise!
We are off to bed! We have to get up early. We want to be rested and
ready to love on our sweet boy tomorrow!!!

tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

We will be on a plane in 24 hrs...on our way to Silas! We are so excited, but still have plenty of things to keep us busy until we leave. Gibson and Maya will be spending the week by splitting their time with both of our parents. I know they will miss us, but I have a feeling they will be spoiled in a big way while we're gone. :)

I wanted to share the itinerary for our time in country:

Day 1/Sunday

Arrive at the airport. Check into guest house and try to get some sleep!

Day 2/Monday

Morning – Complete paperwork

Afternoon – Eat lunch. Go meet Silas Yegermal! Spend the rest of the day at the Transition Home with him.

Evening: Dinner at traditional Ethiopian dinner

Day 3/Tuesday

Morning- Shopping at the markets

Afternoon- Lunch and then back to Transition Home. Take Silas Yegermal with us for good! It's also my birthday! :)

Evening- Dinner on our own at hotel

Day 4 / Wednesday

Morning- on your own at hotel until we leave for the Embassy

Afternoon – Embassy appointment. Shopping.

Evening – dinner on your own at hotel

Day 5 / Thursday

Morning – Spend the morning visiting Kids Care Orphanage

Afternoon - Lunch and then visit Gelgela Orphanage

Evening – dinner on your own at hotel

Day 6 / Friday

Morning and Afternoon – whatever we want/need to do.

Evening- Airport!

We will be updating as much as possible while we are gone and however time/internet connection allows. You can check here, our facebooks, or Phil's twitter for updates!!!

(find me on fb: Amber Stenger Wing. phil's twitter: twitter.com/philwing)

only a few days away...

It is Tuesday night and we are leaving on an airplane on Saturday afternoon. I can't believe it's so close! I am running around like a crazy lady doing house projects, laundry, phone calls, trips to the bank, lots of Target runs...the list goes on and on. I haven't started officially packing yet, and I probably won't until Thursday. I do have everything set aside and I know what I need to take.

It is so hard to believe that in one week, the 15th, it will be "Gotcha Day" and Silas will be ours forever! It also happens to be my 30th birthday. I can't imagine a better gift!!!

booked!

Our flights are officially booked...and it feels GOOD baby! We leave on Sept. 12 and return on the 19th. I can't believe we will be boarding that plane in 2.5 weeks. After over 2 years, the moment is finally upon us. My arms are so ready to hold this little boy!

But I do have a very long to-do list to attend to before that can happen. :)

WE PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Introducing Silas Yegermal Wing:

The first photo we saw of him on June 5th:

Our latest photo of him:

Yes, he's cute!!! Our tentative travel dates are September 12-19. I cannot wait to go get this little guy!!!

*special thanks to the Clovers, Redds, and Zeunes who took photos/care package and loved on our little boy!