Brian and I met Mike and Chelsea when we arrived at the Bole Airport in Addis. We knew there were other traveling families with our agency, so when we jumped in line behind them to get our visas we gave them the eye and started talking. The four of us spent a lot of that first night together because we were staying at the same guest house- which was completely quiet and dark when we got there. We all pulled out every snack we brought and laid them on the table and had a little junk dinner buffet while we played game after game of Uno. We all finally got tired and went to bed and after breakfast the next morning, we met our babies together. To say that this family is special to us is an understatement. They were with us during one of the most exciting times of our lives and shared such special moments with us.. the nervousness before we met Esme, the crying excitement while we were holding her for the first time and then the crazy disbelief that she was actually *our* child to take home with us. The memories of the time we spent in Ethiopia will always include Mike and Chelsea and Gabe. We ate with them, hung out in our room with them, toured Addis with them, and became friends with them. Mike, Chelsea and Gabe came to visit last week and it was so wonderful. I loved the thought of getting Esme and Gabe together again. Of course I was a little nervous of how things would go (would we all still get along? are we going to feel comfortable together? I'm a worrier, I know!) but everything was perfect. We had two great nights with them (which was too short!) but it was awesome. I tried and tried to get a photo of Esme and Gabe together, but didn't really succeed.. these babies move fast ;)
Our snack buffet the first night in Ethiopia
Esme and Gabe in Ethiopia... look how little they are!
Photos from their visit last week (click to enlarge)
Trying to get Aislin to take a picture of the four of us was pretty funny.. we had a LOT of outtakes :)