Days 3, 4, and 5

Day 3 (Tuesday) of our trip was our embassy interview. On the way there we stopped at a Christian bookstore to buy Bibles and CD's. I bought Zemma a childrens Bible, a side by side Amharic/NIV Bible, and a worship CD. The music is beautiful! We then went to a nice restaurant for lunch...where we mostly just chased Zemma around and around because she does not like to sit still for any amount of time (really looking forward to the plane ride at this point! :)

The embassy interview was the last stage in the adoption process for us, so it was an exciting day! They just basically asked us a few questions about Zemma's birthfamily and the way that she was relinquished. It was such a joy and relief to know that Zemma Leigh was now officially ours!

Day 4 was shopping day! Enough said. :)

After shopping though, we had to go back to the orphanage for Zemma's farewell ceremony. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to the unknown of how our little one would respond to going back to the place where she was abandoned. It was fine though. She was excited to see her nanny, but came back to mommy with open arms and a big smile on her face!

Day 5, according to my journal was a really good day with Zemma. I wrote that she seemed to be listening better, and a little more calm. We had a nice, quiet day visiting with our new friends at our guesthouse. Then we went to another farewell ceremony at a different orphanage, and to our agencys office to pick up Zemma's Visa.

(This picture is of some of the other families traveling with us, as well as our guide, Abel and our guesthouse hostess, Birtukan.)