Milestones are being met...

Thursday morning, I was in the bathroom getting ready for work... Ava was sitting in front of the refridgerator, playing with the Leapfrog letter magnets... A few minutes passed, and I realized that it was eerily quiet.
I peeked into the kitchen, and didn't see her... Panic struck my face, when I looked up to see her perched on the top step, smiling down at me... Proud as punch.

Have you seen our stairs??? Not the best steps to learn on... but she climbed right to the top. Unbelievable.

A few pics from our trip...

Ava, asleep in a make-shift bassinet, while Mimi (another volunteer) and I wrap gifts for the Christmas Celebration...



At the Christmas Celebration, Ava and Hickma...




A retake with Santa...




Christmas Babies...



Coffee Ceremony put on by the older girls...



Leyton's favorite guards...



Eschetu


Asrat

The Kindergarten kids.... It doesn't get much cuter than that!



We had the pleasure of meeting Ava's Uncle Dereje while we were in Addis this time around. It was a great, and humbling experience. I'm so glad that we had this opportunity.





Leyton and his favorite baby... If I couldn't find him, I knew to check the baby room... he just loved her.



Leyton after a long day at Layla.... and our guard cat.




Babies and little kids are so well loved in Ethiopia... One of the older boys, doting on Ava...



Reading a book with Immanuel at Opportunity House.




Another favorite baby...



My favorite part of each of our trips, is being able to see the kids that we sponsor to stay in Ethiopia and go to school. The kids are doing so well in school, I am so very proud of them. This is Leyton and Yeninesh, After her and her brothers chased our car for 1/2 mile, she was left behind.... Leyton went to walk her to the house.



Inside their small home, Yeninesh and Million.



A group shot.... Tefera, Million, Yeninesh and Tilahun.




Leyton and his entourage on our last day, at Layla.




Its very hard to say goodbye...

We're Home...

After two great, but busy weeks, we are home again! I'm glad to see that my email post worked out okay. I wasn't able to log onto the blog from Addis at all. The kids were great on the flights down and back. We spent a lot of time at Layla, and really had a great time. I took a ton of pics, that I will be downsizing and posting over the next few days... I am already planning our next visit.

A Quick Hi From Addis!

Well, we are in Addis, and having a great time. I'm so glad that we decided to make the trip. It has been a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too! I was hoping to be able to post more often, but the internet connection here is shaky, at best. This is the first time, that I have really been able to get on, and stay on. I'm sending this from my email, so hopefully it will post okay.
I've taken a ton of pics, as usual... and I can't wait to get home, and get them downloaded.
Christmas was a great success... and it was worth all the effort that went into it! Thank you all so much for your contributions to the project!
 
The kids and I are scheduled to return home on Sunday. Though it has been a great trip, it would have been nice to have Jon here with us. We are looking forward to getting home, and being able to chat with him online!
 
More to come when we get home!
 
Love,
Mandie, Leyton & Ava
in Addis Ababa for a few more days!

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