The Trip to Sodo - May 12

Andy and I just got back from Sodo today, a town south of Addis Ababa 7 hours. We both had wanted to go and take pictures for our children and see some of their roots. It is such a blessing because we came early here to go to Sodo for a night, but when we arrived we decided it was best to go meet with the director of our agency to see if we could get things moving with Andrew. So we scratched the trip originally, but now that we stayed, we were able to go. It was incredible. Getting outside of this city was the best thing for our souls. Looking at the Africa plains, mountains, vegetation, huts, people, camels, and so much more. You could just stare out the window for seven hours. The last 2 hours were the bumpiest roads we have ever traveled, but on the return we took a different route, which only took 5. We passed hundreds of camels, donkeys, oxen, and more. You pass families with 5 year olds plowing the fields with oxen. You only see huts that they live in and lots of dirt. It is a lot like the pictures you see and think of in Africa. It was an experience we will treasure.

When we got to Sodo, we went to the Sodo Christian hospital where a friend told us to go to bring some things to her friend who was a doctor there. We knew this woman lived next to the woman who ran the orphanage where our children were brought to. We only met this woman a few weeks before we left at an Georgia Ethiopian get-together and she told us to go. When we arrived, we saw two Americans who showed us the way to their houses.

When I say we met the kindest couple we know, I mean it. Her name is Stephanie and she takes in the children and runs the orphanage there. They invited us to stay for dinner because they had a team of nurses from the states doing a 2 week internship there as well. We were able to sit with the couple and hear all about our child and more. The thing that was most amazing was that she was the one who took our daughter in and kept her at her house for two weeks to feed her and get her healthy again. She prayed over her the night she was brought in and anointed her with oil. What a gift we can give to our child for her to know how loved she was and prayed for. We then were invited to spend the night which was wonderful since the hotels there are 7 dollars a night and you are the only white face around. We stayed with a missionary couple who had been in the African bush for 25 years and they fed us breakfast; their singing was beautiful as they prayed together. It was quite a weekend. We are so grateful for our time here. It is a beautiful thing to see how God's plan is always best.

Tomorrow we will go get Andrew Tarekgn Cook. We decided to leave the name they call him as his middle name. It means forgiveness, reconciliation. We will go out to dinner tonight for a mothers day dinner and start the next week with one more child. We are liking this slow transition. Miss Sydney was a doll on our 7 hour trip; she only cried for 5 minutes. She just looks around, cuddles, eats a lot, and smiles constantly. She is so beautiful, and we are already getting her chubby for the states!