They made it to Ethiopia.

I went to bed last night knowing that my wife was somewhere over the ocean and still had a long flight ahead of her. After I tossed and turned most of the night, Ella woke up at 5:50am and at that exact moment was ready to mark the day off of the calendar that Lorri left for her. She was also itching to find the first of 8 days of hidden gifts that Lorri left for her. I made an unsuccessful attempt to get her to go back to sleep and then I remembered that I set the coffee timer in case of an early riser.

Ella and I went to church and after church Ella decided it was a Chinese buffet kind of a day so I took her up on her desire. I didn't think that I would hear from Lorri until well after lunch because her flight was not set to arrive in Ethiopia until 7pm Ethiopian time (12pm our time). We were walking out of the restaurant and my cell phone went off. It was Lorri calling me at 12:10pm and I could tell by her voice that something was not so good. She said that their driver was not at the airport. I told her to say put and I would make some phone calls and call her back (so glad I put the international plan on our cell phones). I tried every number I had and realized that it was a Sunday on Memorial Day weekend, and I was wasting my time. Lorri called me back and said that she was with several other families and her ride was on the way. She called me back about an hour later and said that they made it to the House of Hope and the director took her straight to Elias. Lorri said that Elias was asleep when she first saw him and the director picked him up and handed him to her. She said that he opened his beautiful eyes and stared at her for a few moments and then wrapped his little hand and arms around her and would not let her go. She said that he is beautiful! I quickly asked her if she could change her terminology around my son...and she again said that he was just beautiful. I asked her if she would just throw in a few words like, baseball, fastball, slider, homerun, and maybe even toss a baseball into his crib so he can begin working on his finger placements. Of course I am kidding ( not about the baseball comments, though)...I am sure he is very beautiful! Lorri said that all of the children and people at the HOH were so precious and kind. She said that she was greeted with hugs from everyone and was so excited to finally be in Ethiopia. We were not able to talk long but she did say that she was able to take a few pictures during her first visit with Eli and hoped to have them sent tomorrow. I will continue to update as I get information and pictures. Please continue to pray for Lorri, Sherry and Eli.