Becoming a Family: June 2009

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Our "Opia" friends

We are very blessed to have a wonderful Ethiopian community in our city. We are even more blessed to have some special friendships within this community. Belachew talks about our Ethiopian friends as his "opia" friends. Friday night we had dinner with another adoptive family who has a sweet 2 year old boy from Ethiopia. Then on Saturday, we had the privilege of welcoming the newest Ethiopians into our community. The father/husband moved to our city several months ago, to find work and get established, and yesterday his wife and two children joined him. We waited at the airport for their arrival, then witnessed the reunion of this beautiful family. They have come to the US in hopes of a better future. It is our small gift to be able to welcome them to our city. We are thankful for our Ethiopian friends and look forward to developing more relationships within this community. Here are a few of our friends.

Guess who he met on vacation?

While we were in Florida, we decided to go to Disney for a day. Belachew LOVED it and it was so fun to try to imagine things through his eyes. As we walked in the gates, a parade began as if to welcome us to the park. Belachew met Mickey and Minnie and waited in line to meet Ariel but got too scared at the last minute. We rode many rides, with Splash Mountain likely being his favorite. He also loved the Mickey's Philarmagic- a 3D short movie that included songs and characters from different Disney movies.

Meeting Mickey