We've Got Her!

US time: 7:oo am Monday
Ethiopia time: 4:00 pm Monday

It's Shannon again--so far, Reed and Lee Ann haven't been able to see or access their blog from Ethiopia, so I'm posting what they e-mail me. I've promised them I'll e-mail them the text of any comments you leave, because they are eager for words from home--please feel free to leave them your prayers and good wishes!

This morning, I started my day with the happiest of news when I saw that the following text message had hit my phone at just after 2:00 am:


A few hours later, they sent the following blog post and photos:

Our Compassion visit got postponed till Tuesday, so after breakfast this morning we went to the orphanage to get Tarik. They put us in a room with a few couches and brought her in. It was amazing. We kind of had to slowly let her warm up to us, which was strange to do with a child who has already been a part of our family. It was hard not to grab her and overwhelm her with our love and affection. Instead, we had to do simple little things like let her fiddle with the buttons on Lee Ann’s shirt. But there was no doubt that our love for her, whether we could fully communicate it or not, was already overpowering.

We played with her for about 15 minutes in that room and the first thing Tarik did was mark her territory by spitting up all over Lee Ann. It was exceptionally large as spit-ups go and we like to think she was welcoming herself into the family with it.

She is beyond our expectations in how happy she is and responsive to other people. She squealed when she saw another kid her age and again when she saw one of her caregivers. We have the sweetest, most fun little girl in the world. She is smaller than we thought she would be – she is healthy, but still really small (6 month clothing). Of course, if she were really large, people would think she was adopted!

She fell asleep on the car-ride home in Lee Ann’s arms. As I write this she is lying with Lee Ann on the bed; just a few moments ago she woke up for a bit and Lee Ann got to sing her back to sleep. She is also currently sucking her thumb.

Unlike the rest of our girly swirls, Tarik took an immediate liking to me. Throughout all the paperwork we did at the orphanage, she sat on my lap and played with my watch. She is very curious and playful.

We have nothing to do today and tomorrow but play with and get to know our little girl and meet our Compassion child. We have a US Embassy appointment on Wednesday afternoon and we’ll probably go back to the orphanage to see the kids on Thursday.

We are really happy.

On the Ground In Ethiopia!

(It's Shannon--Reed e-mailed me and asked me to post the following):

US time: 12:30 pm Sunday
Ethiopia time: 9:30 pm Sunday

We made it!

No one wants to be on a plane for 14 straight hours, but if necessity strikes you, fly Emirates Airlines. It was an incredible experience. From hundreds of movies on the plane to an included hotel and meal vouchers for an overnight stay in Dubai, it was very plush. On Sunday morning, as we waited for the plane, we had the pleasant surprise of eating at Cosi – one of our favorite restaurants in Philadelphia.

We got to Addis Ababa around lunchtime on Sunday. We are staying at a guesthouse that will be a wonderful haven for the week. We have a living room, bedroom, kitchenette, and a bathroom. We hired a taxi driver to take us around for the rest of the afternoon and it was incredible to see this exotic place. We went to two museums this afternoon – one of which included the famous Lucy remains, which was discovered in Ethiopia.

Our driver (Sahlu) shared more than his time with us, he told us a lot about what it was like to grow up and work in Addis. We knew the people would be welcoming, but nothing could prepare us for how nice Ethiopians truly are. First of all, if we drove as lawlessly in the States, people would constantly be shooting each other on the roads.

We spent much of the taxi time only inches from other cars and there was absolutely no regard for lanes, intersections, or anything else, but not once did I see an angry look or hear a horn honk in a sinister way. By the end of the day our driver had invited us to a traditional dance festival and called me his brother and Lee Ann his sister. He also took us to a market where some of his friends have a stand and we could trust their prices – we got some wonderful souvenirs.

Of course the poverty was striking. We saw children with deformities out roaming the streets. We saw shantytowns that words simply can’t describe. We certainly hurt for people we didn’t know and could not help. But we love this place. We love the people. We love how different it is from our normal life. We love how beautiful it is – wonderful mountains surround the city. We are so happy that this place will forever be a part of our life.

Tomorrow (Monday) is the big day. We meet our Compassion child in the morning and then it is off to the orphanage to pick up Tarik. With all the fun we had this afternoon it is amazing to think that tomorrow is really it, the culmination of a year of work, hope and prayer. But it is; and we will tell you all about it.

Saturday Night

This is Shannon, Reed's sister. He and Lee Ann gave me the log-in info for their blog while they're away. They're hoping to be able to post updates while they're gone, but they're not sure yet how reliable the internet access will be.

In the meantime, I knew many of you would be eager for an update. They made it safely into Dubai early this morning (our time), and Reed just wrote from the airport that they're waiting to board for the last leg of the journey to Addis Abada. Please join us in praying that they will miraculously feel rested.

Let's hope the next update will be directly from them! Thanks so much for your prayers.

PRAYERS

Tonight we sat down with the girls and prayed for Tarik. It was like our normal bedtime routine in that half of their prayers were for things that don't exist or toys they won't get. But there was one difference... the next time we pray with the girls for Tarik, she will be in the next room!

Tomorrow the girls go with the grandparents so this has been a week of "lasts" as a family of four. No last is more powerful than praying. For so long prayer is all we had. At first there were prayers for the generic "little sister". We didn't know anything about her. Then came the news of severe drought -- our prayers became pointedly about her having enough food. And to see her chubby cheeks is a testimony of the power of prayer. Then there was the outbreak of pneumonia and orphans were dying -- again we prayed every night with the girls. In September we found out who she was and the prayers finally became personal. Don't think we are raising spiritual giants, the prayers for Tarikwa Teka (the girls typically call her by her full name) were mostly sandwiched between pleadings for Christmas presents and petitions to be fairies or mermaids. But still, prayer has been all we had. We couldn't hug her, protect her, or play with her -- we could only pray for her. There were times we didn't think that was enough and I always thought I could do a better job taking care of her than God, but we rejoice that our prayers have been answered and "little sister" will be home soon.

STRESSED!

The pressure is on at the Dunn household. We have a million things going in a million different directions. Maybe for pity, certainly for prayer, I thought I would let everyone know what we are up to. Here's to hoping that writing it down helps...

- Getting Frank (the dog) ready to be in Tulsa
- Getting the girls packed to be in Benton half the trip then Tulsa for the rest
- Packing for ourselves
- Packing clothes for Tarik (when we don't fully know her size)
- Packing enough toys to help with the 24 hour plane flight
- Packing gifts that go to our Compassion Child that we'll get to see
- Packing things that go to the orphanage to fill general needs
- Packing and organizing care packages that go to the children of waiting parents
- Getting super important documents like immigration papers in order
- Oh, and savoring our family of four in our last few days as such

Please pray for our peace of mind... we are just a bit overwhelmed.

OUR NEWEST LITTLE SWIRL

We can't wait to meet our new little beauty. We leave a week from Friday.

TRIP UPDATE

We have bought plane tickets and even started packing... here is what we'll be doing.

We'll depart Tulsa on Friday, Jan 23 and fly to Houston then on to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. We'll actually spend Saturday night in a hotel in Dubai (on the Persian Gulf!).
Sunday morning we'll get up and take a four hour flight from Dubai to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (pictured).

WHILE WE ARE THERE (Sunday through Saturday)...
- SUNDAY: some sightseeing.
- MONDAY morning we'll meet the 6 year old girl we sponsor through Compassion International.
- MONDAY afternoon we'll meet Tarik and actually take her with us to our guest house.
- TUESDAY: mostly paperwork and playing with Tarik.
- WEDNESDAY: an important day at the US Embassy in Addis Ababa.
- THURSDAY: don't really know.
- FRIDAY: finalizing documents we think.
- SATURDAY: fly out for Dubai.

We will try to spend time at the orphanage and other things like that -- the above is just stuff we know about.

Our return flight will look about the same. One night in Dubai and the next morning (Sunday) a direct flight to Houston. Lord willing, we'll get back to Tulsa late Sunday evening (Feb 1).

We are excited about an exotic trip and even more so about meeting a daughter we love but don't know. We have a lot to get done in the coming couple of weeks to say the least. Thanks for your interest and especially your prayers.