Day #3 - The Dream Comes True

We just returned to the hotel from meeting our son, Eli Habib for the first time! There are no words, no language to describe the emotions that we have felt over these past few hours. We are so, so, so, so blessed. We are overcome with joy. Habib is absolutely beautiful. He is a sweet, sweet boy with a smile that will utterly melt your heart. There are just no words...but I'll try...We were picked up at about 10:30 and driven out to the orphanage. It only took about 10 minutes, but to us it seemed like an eternity. The momentary pause to let the herds of goats go by didn't help either. :)We were welcomed warmly by the staff and guided to a room with palms on the floor, snacks on the table and room temperature Cokes in the old fashioned bottles. We could tell this was a special celebration for all of us. We waited in the room for a couple of minutes, and then two adorable little children were guided in to meet us and another family. Habib was timid at first, but walked right over to me and stuck out his hand. I held it. It was a moment. THE moment. He then reached out to Joel. ANOTHER moment. We cried. He looked at us. We were overcome. He kissed me on the cheek. I am sure he was instructed to do so, but I didn't care. It was a wonderful moment.He had the bag we sent to him and he began getting things out of it to show us. He loves the stuffed monkey and carries it around with him. Together we looked at the book we made for him, showing him Nate, Edie and Zoe. He smiled as we pointed to each picture. Joel sat down with him and immediately the two started drawing pictures. Eli is very good at drawing rectangles! :) We clapped. He smiled. We clapped. He smiled. It was wonderful. We enjoyed a traditional coffee ceremony to celebrate. Coffee beans were roasted over a fire in the room and then made into coffee. We were honored to participate in this ancient tradition. The coffee proved to be very strong, but Joel was a trooper and downed his share! What a guy!We soon got the stickers out and Eli LOVED to put the stickers on his papers. He loved even more to put them all over his body after watching his dad place one on his forehead. It was pretty funny. After a couple of hours we were given a tour of the house and met the other children. Eli was definitely big man on campus, running back and forth from the bedrooms to the ceremony house with his stickers. Soon, all the kids had stickers on their foreheads and BIG contagious grins! Very fun. Luckily all of the children at the house will have families to go to soon. Joel was very glad to hear this, as I poured over these precious beings. We left the house after a quick 3 hours there. Eli gave us big hugs and kisses as we left him for his nap. We will return tomorrow when the children will celebrate Christmas! How fun is THAT!!!!???We have some down time now. We are going to a museum in about an hour. Of course that will be interesting, but it is really just passing time until we get to see Eli again. What a day. This email really doesn’t do the day justice. We are so incredibly blessed and overwhelmed by this experience and by becoming Eli’s parents. We can’t wait for him to meet you. Another “moment” to look forward to. Here’s to all the “moments” that lie ahead! We love you all!

Stickers are fun!

Great smile!

Skipping along...

Isn't that a great face?

Smiles with mom.

Look dad, I'm an artist too!

Drawing together.