Trains, Planes and Automobiles...

Ok.. so we didn't ride a train while in Ethiopia. Just seemed like a fun title.

DeeDee asked me how our travel went so I thought I would share. We left on Saturday the 16th of Feb from the Knoxville Airport. The Mazons picked us up and took us to the airport. Charlotte kept our kids here at the house so we said good bye and left in the Mazon's car. Avery stood at the garage door and waved until we were out of sight. OH MY (that was tugging at the heart strings). Charlotte was the one that was a mess. She was crying and very emotional. SO SWEET. (Charlotte is my little sister... not by blood but given to me by God.. she's amazing!).

So we got to the airport a few hours early. It was so simple to get checked in. Tyson McGee airport is small and that was NICE! Ted and I had our bags weighed and we were PUMPED that they weighed (drum roll please).. 49 lbs, 48 lbs, 47 lbs and 46 1/2 lbs. For those of you who don't know, you have to pay if you go over 50 lbs. Our packing was so strategic and I was thrilled that we hit the limit! Ted gave me the title of "Master Packer" and I was wearing it proudly :-)

We arrived in Washington DC on time and had about 4 hours until our Ethiopian Air flight took off. We met Jen and Caleb right away. They too were adopting with All God's Children. We went and grab some dinner together. Then when we came back we met Molly and Aaron (also adopting). We boarded the plane around 8pm and took off for a 15 hour flight. I slept the first 5 hours of that flight. Well, I crashed right after they fed us dinner (which was SO GOOD by the way). Then I stayed awake the last 10 hours. I read, crocheted, talked with Jen for hours, wrote thank you notes. It didn't go by super fast but it wasn't miserable either.

We arrived in Addis at 9-something (we didn't have a watch) and the airport there was a little chaotic. Lots of people trying to get through the same lines which led OUT. I accidentally tipped a luggage guy (who didn't even help with our luggage... he just put our bags on the rolly xray machine table thingy) $10. I didn't know my Burr (which is Ethiopian money) just yet and he said "tip tip" and I looked at my money and he said "100" and I handed it to him. Then I realized I had a sign on my forehead that said "AMERICAN"... haha! I realized after we got out of the craziness that I tipped him $10.00. OOPS... oh well.

NOW... this is where the FUN BEGINS! Those of you who have been to Ethiopia know that the transportation is DIFFERENT. I am not sure how the road rules work. This is what I gathered.... Drive defensively ALWAYS. Make sure your horn works because you will use it about 100 times a day. Praise God that you have a GOOD DRIVER like Danny. Praise GOD AGAIN for Danny. Wear your seat belt.. OH WAIT.. there aren't any. For fun, count how many times the passengers say "oh my" because we again are amazed by our driver's sixth sense! Danny will forever be one of my heroes because of his keeping us safe in Ethiopia :-)

Danny our driver is on the left. He is holding one of the couples who adopted ... their little baby. Yohanis (is that how you spell that) is on the right. He came along as well. These guys were so fun. They went with us every where and took care of us. What a blessing they were! and will be to those of you who will be traveling with All God's Children.

On the way home we arrived at the airport at night. Our flight left at 10pm. We got to the airport at about 6:30pm. We got all checked in and then just waited. When we got there we asked for a bassinet seat and we got it! yay! The lady said that Ted could not sit with me but would have to sit behind me. This totally ended up working out because he got the entire row to himself. So we were able to switch out and sleep. Abel had a bassinet and he slept A LOT! I think he slept for 15 of those 17 hours. He did amazing!!!!

This is our row that we had to ourselves :-)


This is the bassinet on the plane. It was great!

When we were on the flight to America, a couple told us they heard that the weather in Washington DC was bad. Ice and freezing rain. When we got to DC we saw one flight after another being cancelled. Ours was on time. When we asked the guy about it he said "I can't promise you anything". OH MY... by this time, I wanted our family ALL TOGETHER. I was a little anxious during this lay over. Our flight did get delayed 2 hours but then when we arrived in Knoxville, a flight attendant told me they canceled all other flights to Knoxville for the day. THANK YOU JESUS! We had made it home.... and what an amazing HOME COMING it was!