November, 2005

Well, after installation and some tweaking, I think I've finished setting up the new photo albums for the site. You can check them out via the Photo Albums link at the left. This system allows Danielle to add and edit photos and their captions much more easily than the old system, so hopefully we'll be getting more pix up here, and more often. If you have any problems with the photos (or any other part of the site), please drop me an email , so I can fix them (or at least try!).

Good morning everyone and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! It is a beautiful day here in east Tennessee... sun shining, baby sleeping :-)... what more can you ask for?

Well, Miriam finally slept through most of the night last night. One of the main reasons Danielle and I haven't posted anything on the website the past few days is our lack of sleep. Last night, though, Miriam slept from midnight to 5am, after a block from 9pm to almost midnight. That allowed Danielle and I to get nearly the same amount of sleep ourselves. We are all in much better moods today.

Well, we're here in Addis Ababa. We have our daughter now. She seems to be adjusting okay to us--we're not adjusted to waking up every hour or so. :-) We're scheduled to go to the embassy this afternoon for our visa appointment. We've taken pictures and video which we'll edit and post after we get back to the States. Just thought I'd let you know we made it okay. Oh, and Miriam is just as cute as (if not cuter than) her pictures! :-)

Well, after a day trip in London, we made it safely to Kenya. We came out to visit our friends (www.ejoka.com) in the Turkana desert. Our visit with them was very relaxing for us and them. We were surprised that they have a well that puts forth clean, drinkable water. Today we're in Nairobi, staying with some other friends. We fly from Nairobi to Addis Sunday night (local time) and will receive Miriam Monday morning.

Today we received an email from our agency with two new pictures of Miriam--one of her being given a bath, and one of her being held by one of the caregivers there. The email also included more information about Miriam's development, her daily schedule, her likes and dislikes, etc. It sounds like she's doing very well, right on target with her developmental milestones. She's still a bit on the small side, but sounds and looks like she's very healthy and happy otherwise.

Well, the last few days have been a whirl of activity as we get all the paperwork in order, pack for the two different climates (Kenya and Ethiopia), and trying to figure out what we will need for a 5 month old with no Walmart near by. :-)
We are 36 hours out from starting our trip and the beds are covered with "stuff" I have laid out to pack. Brian has been running around getting last minute things, finding tax returns, calling people to set up house sitters and rides.