Ati reunites with her friends

In my June post, "10 Days with Oupa & Ouma" I left out a very important event. I wanted to get permission, first, from our friends before sharing any pictures. 


At a small park outside Chicago, more than 7,500 miles from Ethiopia, Ati spent a day with two of her friends from the orphanage...


...Miteku and Tesfanesh.

Tesfanesh, Miteku, and Ati

We met Miteku and Tesfanesh during our first visit to Ethiopia, back in October, 2011. Miteku is about a year older than Ati, and he was one of her best pals at the transition home. It just so happened that the adoptive parents of Miteku and Tesfanesh arrived that week to bring these two home with them. We had a chance to talk to the parents, Kevin and Toni, and found out that they live close to my parents in Illinois! 


7 months later we had a chance to meet up again with this family... only this time it was on the other side of the ocean and the other side of the adoption process!

Swimming in the mud!

I think at first Ati was pretty shocked to see her old friends here in America. It was difficult to know exactly what was going on in her head. But she soon warmed up to her two old buddies.

Ati with Miteku

Kevin and Toni have another daughter whom they had adopted previously: Ellie. She is such a sweet girl and seems to be adapting so well to her new family and life. 

Miles, Ati, Caleb, Ellie, and Tesfanesh

Our friends Don and Sara also stopped by to chat for awhile. They are in the process of adopting twin boys, also from Ethiopia. In fact, they are in country right now, meeting with the American Embassy in order to get clearance to bring their sons home. Check out their blog: 7500 miles.

Kevin, Don, Sara, Charis, and Toni

Goodbyes are never fun, and eventually we had to part ways. But what an amazing gift from God it was for Ati to spend a day with some old friends! We hope to keep in touch with this family so that Ati has another link to her Ethiopian story. 

Ati hugs Tesfanesh as Ellie looks on.