Whirlwind Trip and Nostalgia

So we packed up the three boys and took a quick trip to Washington D.C. to do some sight seeing and spend some time with our dear friend Ben. Ben has been in our lives for over eight years now and the boys just love anytime they get to spend with him. We really appreciated he and his roommates generosity in letting us crash at their apartment. On Friday e walked from his place to see the White House, the Treasury building, some of the monuments and the Capitol building. The boys were impressed but were more impressed by riding the subway! They couldn't get enough of the "sub" as they called it. I think the subway was one of the big highlights of the trip. On Saturday we did a speedy run through of the Museum of Natural History and believe me when I say the boys were basically running from exhibit to exhibit. We couldn't really read anything and we sure didn't see everything since we had to keep up or lose our children. Mark and I decided we will just have to return without kids or wait until they are quite a bit older. Then it was on to get some lunch, pack up the van and head to the zoo. We covered a lot of ground in two days and our feet were very tired by the time we headed for home. Tristan did marvelously and didn't cry once! It seems that without his little sister to follow him around and annoy him he found some much needed solace.

Speaking of his little sister - this was the first time we have left Eden overnight in the seven months she has been home. I was nervous about leaving her yet I knew she would enjoy Grandma and Grace way more than traipsing around a city. Turns out she had the time of her life!! When we left I went to give her a kiss and tell her good-bye and she didn't want me near her. She thought I was telling her it was time to leave Grandma's house and she didn't want any part of leaving. So, we pulled away with some tears in my eyes and a huge lump in my throat as she waved with a beaming smile! Mark's mom texted me a few pictures of the fun she was having while we were gone and she was definitely in her element. Of course she and Tristan's volatile and explosive relationship was back in full force come Sunday morning when everyone woke up but........such is life!!

For the nostalgia portion of this post. While in D.C. I realized that we were approaching something that for me brings fond memories. Last year, on November 2nd, our dossier arrived in Ethiopia. Last year, also on November 2nd, Eden arrived in the care of Toukoul orphanage system. Two very critical things that needed to happen in order for us to bring home our daughter happened in the same day!!! A year ago we didn't know anything about our daughter - just that all our paperwork had arrived safely and the wait was beginning. What a difference a year makes!