Sightseeing

Today we ate strawberry crepes and took the metro to note dame. It was breathtaking. My favorite sight so far. We climbed the 400 steps to the top of the south bell tower. We then walked through the latin quarter and had a meal and then some gelato. We then took the metro again back to our hotel. We have met many nice people. The pace here is very different. In the cafes they will take your order. Awhile later they will bring your food and if you want to see them after that you'll have to go get them! Lots of smoking! Hard to come by free water. A soda can set you back 6 euros. Haven't seen an suv yet. All tiny cars and motorbikes. Parallel parkers will bump the cars in their way. Love. H & D


Here is the view outside our hotel.

At Notre Dame...

The view from the mid-level Notre-Dame tower.

gargoyles...

From the top of Notre Dame.

Thank-you for all of your blessings and well-wishes! I can still receive emails here if you'd like to send anything directly to me as Lauren is forwarding comments from home.

Our First Day in Paris

Today we slept very late after being awake for 26 hours. We left our hotel at 11 (Paris time). We walked down the rue cler and then to the eiffel tower. We didn't climb but we may go back. We walked along the Siene river. We visited the museum Orangerie where we saw works by Picasso, Renoir, Monet and Degas. We had crepës in the park. We had a few funny money scams tried on us....more details later. We saw the grand palais and the petit palais. We ended at the Louvre and saw the mona lisa and the venus de milo before they closed. At this point my great shoes were destroying my feet. Mom was still doing ok. We hopped on the metro and got part way back to our hotel. We walked the rest of the way. We had a great dinner with free water, which is hard to come by.

Paris

We have arrived in Paris by means of limo, airplane, regional train, high speed train and taxi. We have not slept in 26 hours. Paris is amazing. Our room is tiny. We are going to bed and we will see a lot tomorrow!

Leaving in the morning...

I have been counting down the days since mid-January, and finally I leave TOMORROW! Here is a picture of the "pile" that has accumulated over the last few weeks. I have got to get it into the suitcases. I have been putting it off and now I must do it.

All our paperwork is notarized and packed - immunization affidavit, last years tax return, birth certificates, power of attorney from Bret, birth parent meeting agreement, passport, I-600, I-864 and I-864A, letter from Bret explaining why he isn't traveling, etc., etc.

I have donations of clothes, formula, antibiotics, anti-fungal cream, nasal spray, diaper rash cream, Tylenol, Neosporin, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, snacks, toys etc.

Now, I need to pack it all up!

Thank you to everyone for all your love and support. We hope to keep you updated during our travels. Please give Bret and my kids hugs if you see them.

Lauren is amazing! I have included a picture of her after her senior thesis presentation last Wednesday. She has really jumped on board to help and pick up a lot of the slack when I am gone. Thank you, Lauren.

Hopefully I will post sometime tomorrow to announce we have landed in Germany. Now I am getting excited!

Love,

Hollie

New Photos!

Many thanks to Kirsten for taking these amazing photos of Amani while she was in Ethiopia!

She said that Amani was scared of her husband who was taking the pictures, thus the crying pose. He has teeth!

We are just so in love with him and so anxious to bring him home.

2 days until we leave!

Beautiful Africa Jewelry!!!!!

These beautiful sterling silver pendants were designed by my mother, Dianne, to commemorate our Ethiopian adoption. This lovely piece is roughly 1"x1" and comes hanging on an 18" silver chain or an 18" black leather cord. I wear mine everywhere and get so many compliments! A glittering Tavalite Topaz heart sits right over Ethiopia! We are leaving the US on Tuesday, but would love to fill orders before then. The price is $59 plus $2 shipping. If you are interested please e-mail me at:

avonlea@comcast.net

and we will send one right out. My daughter will be available to fill orders when we are in Ethiopia.

Passed Court, Baby Shower and Leaving in 6 days!

I am trying to become a better blogger now that we only have 6 days before we leave the US to go pick up Amani. So much has happened since the last time I posted. The most important news is that we passed court on the 20th and are officially the parents of our precious little guy!

Our embassy date did get bumped back from April 9th to the 16th. We decided that instead of changing all our travel plans we would just change our return date. So, we are flying out next Tuesday, the 31st, and stopping in Frankfurt. We will take the high-speed train to Paris where we will spend some time. We will board a plane on April 6th and fly to Ethiopia where we will meet Amani Alazar for the first time! We will be in Ethiopia with him for two weeks and fly back home on April 21st. While we are there we will be staying at The Ethiopia Guest Home in the capital city, Addis.

I am a mix of excitement and panic right now. I feel that there is so much to get done! I think of a new item to add to my "to buy" or "to do" list every hour. I am also nervous to leave my family behind. My WONDERFUL mother is going to be my travel companion - so that leaves Bret with the kids for three weeks. I have never been gone from Jordan for more than a night! I know they will be fine - but I will miss them so much. The queen of control in me has to let go, and trust that they will be well cared for and have a great time.

My wonderful friends and family through a beautiful shower/ bon voyage for me on Sunday. There was even a cake with Amani's picture on it! Everyone brought a bead and a message for the baby. It was really the perfect party.