Day #... I have no idea. Lost track of time...

I am going to do my best today to just give you the run down of what we
did and leave the emotion out of it. I know that the emotional stuff makes
for better reading, but honestly, I am still processing much of it myself.
By the way, you've got Deanna again :)

Today started with a tour of the city and took video most of the time we
were driving. This is a video that you prospective moms and dads out there
will not want to miss! Driving in Ethiopia is not like anywhere else in
the world. I am sure of it.

After our tour around the city, we ("we" meaning our family and the Hahn
family) went to a lion zoo. That was awesome! The lions were so close you
could touch them. Literally. Not even exagerating. Gary Hahn and his son
both touched the mane of a lion. They got yelled at, but still, it was
cool. Kidus loved the lions. One of them roared at us (because the guide
poked him with a stick) and Kidus jumped just like the rest of us. So much
fun! Kidus also got his first taste of ice cream (Neopolitan) and of
course, he loved it (he is a Norris afterall).

Next stop was the Embassy appointment. While we were at lunch we got a
call that Kidus' uncle had taken the train into Addis Ababa from Debre
Zeit (about an hour, I believe, by car. Who knows how long it took on a
train). We went and met with him for a moment and asked that he wait for
us until we were done at the Embassy. Time was really starting to slip
away from us, and he graciously said he would wait.

Skip ahead to the Embassy appointment... Got there, everything went
perfect, and Gitachu will be picking up Kidus' passport and visa tomorrow
morning. We also met alot of other adoptive parents - all with itty bitty
babies. That was nice. I have attached a picture of Kidus after the
appointment. We tried to get him to hold the flags, but he kept wanting to
poke his eyes out. We like his eyes, so we opted for this instead. That
orange he is holding is his new favorite toy. I know, I am a bad mom for
letting him chew on an orange, but hey, I am in Africa and it makes him
happy. He can't bite it yet, but every once and awhile I get the
refreshing scent of orange zest. Kind of nice.

After the Embassy appointment, we dropped off the Hahns and went to meet
Kidus' biological uncle. We were able to sit with him in a little cafe and
hear all about Kidus' other family, his mother, his life, and his
background. We got it all on tape. Kidus' uncle was a caring, generous man
who we hope to see again when Kidus is older. There. Kept the emotion
right out of it. At some point, maybe I will be able to put into words
what that meeting meant to us, but I just can't yet.

By the way, Kidus is doing great. He has definitly started to bond with us
and is just a joy to be around. He also draws alot of attention since he
so cute... I am not going to lie. He LOVES the attention. I think he will
do wonderful in the U.S. :)

Okay, so this is our last post from Addis. Tomorrow we are going to try
and get to the Enetalem Orphanage (which means "mother of the world" for
those of you that have an interest.) Beth got lots of pictures and video
last time she was there and is pretty sure that she got all your kids on
tape. However, we would like to go back and get specific children to be
sure that we have the right ones and plenty of photos and videos. We know
how much those can mean !

Tomorrow we fly out at 3pm Eastern Standard Time (10pm here). And it looks
like both our families have bassinet seats. Pray that sticks! Also, the
flight is not supposed to be that full, so we are praying for a few extra
seats to stretch out.

Cori: James is freaking out about the bathtub comment. Could you please
give him some peace of mind? He is worried there is yet another thing for
him to fix.

See you all soon!