We sit in the boat, sail slowly and listfully into the tunnel; the lights come up with the age old song, Adugna's face beams with a startled smile, wide eyed and starts clapping to the song. Welcome to "It's A Small World." It still amazes and dazzles and I think I saw mom get misty.

Adugna is singing:

3. We went to the Ethiopian Street Fair in Los Angeles over the weekend to celebrate his heritage and the Ethiopian New Year. The aroma of Ethiopian food, the drafts of ancient incense, the vibrant textiles, the complex Ahmaric language from the speakers on stage fill every inch of the street fair. Then the music of Addis pounds out an ancient melody and the band starts singing. I look at Adugna, and he is smiling, singing along as though it were just another day.

Adugna is singing:
1. We walk past a toy store with painted stars on its storefront and he begins to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on queue. Half way through, he stops and looks at me and says, "Those are BIG stars".
2. We tuck Adugna into bed tonight. He starts singing loud enough to hear from the living room. We go in to his room to quiet him and upon opening the door, we see him standing, singing his heart out - with the blanket over his head.

Adunga is talking:
1. After telling mom a story about our adventures, he looks at me and says, "I don't think so".
2. I walk into the living room where he is playing and he says, "Hey man, what's up."
3. After getting our food at the restaurant, he looks at mom and says, "What else you got?"
100% Boy - 100% Two-year old.

Adugna got his first shiner: "I got bonked" in gym class yesterday. You should see the other kid! Badaboom!

It was bound to happen. At the park with Adugna and a young mom notices us and says, "Hello, is that your son or grandson." DOH! I said, "He's my son and we are a little late to the party . . . "

o here's something I wasn't prepared for: removing and washing sand from an Afro! Adugna has learned to make sand angels. So it goes.

've realized that raising Adugna is just like being in college: I stay up all night, wake up feeling hung over - except the poop is in someone else's pants.

Called home today to check on the wife and son. They were on the computer repeatedly watching an elephant jump on a trampoline, a panda bear sneeze, and a dog say "Elmo". The laughter was priceless.

Aliens have abducted my son. At lunch today, "How are you doing, Adugna?" "I'm having the most wonderful day, Daddy!" If he asks to see our leader, who do I send him to? Please advise.

During my "goodnight" ritual in the rocking chair with Adugna (singing and stories), I had instant recall of Ethel Water's record "His Eye Is On The Sparrow". Remembered all the old spirituals I used to listen to from that album. Then Ernest Tubb and the Texas Troubadours came soaring in on memory - "Walking the Floor Over You".

Adugna, "Daddy, can I give you a hug?" Daddy, "Of course, Adugna." Hug. Adugna, "Daddy, I love you." Daddy, "I love you too Adugna." Adugna pauses and looks at me and says, "Daddy, I love your T-Shirt." I'll take it.

We visited dearAunt Alice in Visalia after Christmas. This morning we exit our hotel and Adugna takes a deep breath of Visalia in the morning and says, "Smells like dirty diapers."

‎2 year olds, as I have learned, are prone to nightmares. The other night about 3AM, I responded to his crying. When I get to his crib, he looks at me and says, "Dad, where are your pants?"

Adugna spotted two neighborhood moms having a picnic at the park today. He went over to them, sat down and had a curry chicken burritos and mangos. I'm sure the conversation was delightful and generous. Thanks to the two moms - whoever you were - and send me the bill.

Best Christmas/Grandma story. Lori, Adugna and her folks go to get fish and chips at a favorite local shop. Way to crowded. Lori is in line, Grandma and Grandpa are watching Adugna. Adugna's energy starts bouncing off the walls. 20 minutes to wait in line. Adugna gets louder and louder. Finally, he just starts yelling to everyone around him, "Help Me! Help Me!" at the top of his lungs stopping only to laugh at Grandma and Grandpa's reaction. Cancelled order.

We thought we would start encouraging Adugna to order his meals when we dine out. We told him that when the waiter comes around, just let them know what you would like to eat. All primed and confident, as soon as Adugna saw a waiter come by the table, he yelled out, "HEY, LITTLE MAN, GET ME SOME FRENCH FRIES!"

Post Script

Hi All:
What a journey it has been to get to the joy and laughter that you see in the photos. Our journey to Addis to receive our son started off with narrowly missing the volcanoe clouds with a late minute change in air reservations which took us to Dubai directly from Los Angeles, via the north pole and south over Russia and Iran. Getting to Addis was actually quite uneventful as our anticipation overspilled with nervousness and expectations.

MONDAY AFTERNOON
Our reservation at the Ethiopian Guest House turned out to be much more rudimentary than we had been led to believe (think youth hostel with cinder blocks). We were placed in another building due to other travelers who could not leave Addis because of the volcanoe travel cancellations. We had chosen this Guest House in hopes of bringing Adugna home with us overnight as a way of bonding with him.
Our agency picked us up and brought us to the orphanage. We were ushered in immediately to the nursery and our introduction to Adugna was abrupt and bewildering. He was roused from a nap, without diaper, smeared in Camomile lotion in an attempt to quench a full-blown case of the chicken pox. His little lungs were rattling horribly, vibrating as you held him close. Our hosts left "because we have to get to a meeting". The one moment that we had dreamed about was dashed into a million anti-climatic pieces as we sat there, the three of us, wondering what the heck just happened. We spent some time with him and then had to leave to go back to our Guest House. Isolated and in shock at his condition, we had to quickly recalibrate through the fog of jet-lag, in a third world country, and unsure what the week would hold.

TUESDAY
We decided to hell with the Guest House, let's get to the Sheraton Hotel. We knew we couldn't take Adugna out of the orphanage and risk his illness and exposure to other guests and kids staying at the Guest House. We needed the tourist bubble to make sure that we were not spending an ounce worrying about whether the toilets would flush, if we had hot water, needed room service at 3AM because of jet lag. Daddy needed his Gin and Tonics and Mommy needed her internet. We continued to visit Adugna in the mornings, leave for lunch during his naps and then return in the afternoon. We allowed him to slowly get to know us and to trust us. We took the opportunities to feed him his bottle, change a diaper or two, and to play with him in familiar surroundings.

WEDNESDAY
We were off to the US Embassy for our final interview. All the families traveled together and it was good to see and meet so many of the folks who were there to receive their new families. We were first up to the window and everything went incredibly smoothly - until the last page of the medical report revealed new medical information that we had not been told. The specifics I'll leave for later, but the implications for us were severe. We had no knowledge of the reported conditions and the test results were troubling. Worse, the information was revealed several weeks earlier and the agency had not reported these findings to us. Long story short, we dropped Lori off at the Sheraton so we could start getting facts off the internet as I accompanied Adugna back to the orphanage and to speak with their physician.
At the end of the day, I returned with more details and not much hope, Lori's investigations online were even more disheartening. This was not how we planned or dreamed our week would be. I finally headed down to the internet cafe at the hotel to just get distracted - when (spoiler alert, it's a God thing), our pediatrician in Manhattan, NY was online (3am in the morning her time). I fired off an instant message to her explaining the medical information that had been communicated to us. Her response, "relax and calm down". The tests and medical information is often false positive, not relevant or just plan wrong. Other than that, "whatever is wrong, we have a pill for it - relax." Those words of comfort hit like a two-by-four. Daddy and Mommy had a great meal, couple of Gin and Tonics and we slept soundly.

THURSDAY
Just a normal day at the orphanage. We spent all the time we could with Adugna, had a nice lunch with Ivy, one of the staffers and went back to the Hotel. No drama, no news, no problem.

FRIDAY
We traveled out to the clinic where Adugna had been tested for the Embassy to speak with that physician and to understand her tests, results, and diagnosis. She qualmed our fears and reiterated what the pediatrician in the US had said. More relief. We traveled back to the orphanage and attended their weekly "Going Away" party for the newly adopted kids. Adugna went immediately to sleep so Lori and I attended with the other families. The Great Grantini appeared and brought some fun to the chaos.

SATURDAY
Lori and I had a one hour excursion trying to shop for something that would be meaningful for Adugna and us as the years go by. We scurried back to the hotel, got a cab, picked up Adugna and left for the airport. Our flight back home was surprisingly uneventful. Adugna loves business class and was quite the world traveler. He fussed only once during the 32 hour ordeal and arrived to see Grandma Carol, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Kathy, Cousins Laura, Breanna and Molly and Uncle Bill - fast asleep and quite happy.

POST SCRIPT
Our week at home was great. We lacked sleep - couldn't figure out what time it was, should we feed him now? later? learned about the many variations of poo, got sick, got well, laughed, played and went on walks. The stress and emotions are starting to even out as we take on the roles of mommy and daddy. We're as good as we can be - which for Adugna seems to be working. Adugna has seen his regular pediatrician twice - with great feedback and then yesterday we received an "A" from our international pediatrician. He found Adugna behaviorially exceptional, sharp, curious, developing way ahead of other adopted kids that he sees. So impressed that the pediatrician recommended a six-month return visit as opposed to the normal three-month. We have lots of blood work and medical baselining still to go but we are happy, pooping and sleeping through the night.

THANKS
The prayers of family and friends exceeded our expectations and our faith grew as a result. There were days that Lori and I both felt surrounded by your prayers, lifted by the saints and protected by the Love of God. Thank you. Kathy Grant has been an exceptional mothering coach and was able to give us great advice, guidance and instructions. The Eigenbrodts supplied us with amazing homemade lasagna and enchilladas. To all and for all we are overwhelmed with your grace and goodness.

Kipling's Ageless Words

Do you remember reading or even memorizing this poem as a child. I do. I fell in love with Kipling's stories of adventure. They still evoke an emotion of adventure, the possibilities of life and the innocence of boyhood. Not sure if this will make sense to you but it finally makes sense to me - so here it is - one of my favorite of his works.

If
If you can keep your head when all about you 

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; 

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, 

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, 

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; 

If you can meet with triumph and disaster 

And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken 

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings 

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew 

To serve your turn long after they are gone, 

And so hold on when there is nothing in you 

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run - 

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, 

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

On the Eve of Our Africa Departure

Our minds are burning with thoughts as we try to mentally put all the pieces together. The last week has been a whirlwind of lists, last minute changes, logistics confirmed and now, volcano eruptions - go figure.

On the eve of our journey to Africa to receive our son, it’s worth noting a couple of things that have helped us us to keep our focus and faith.

An enormous net. Lori and I come from huge extended families with lots of aunts and uncles, cousins, nephew and nieces, brothers and sisters and incredible parents. Together we carry a legacy and heritage that has proven itself through love - love of family - through the years. The support and love from everyone has been incredible and uplifting at the toughest moments and at the easiest moments.

Prayers of the faithful. The blessing of our families is that they represent an incredibly diverse family of faith - from holy rollers, to faithful catholics, to our extended family of the Jewish faith and Islamic brothers and sisters. We have been blessed to hear you reflect back our struggles within the context of your faith journey. It gives us strength, reinforces our faith and brings us all closer to the unconditional Love of God. The prayers have been felt - physically by Lori and myself and we wanted you to know that we are blessed because of faithful prayers.

A boy in Addis Ababa. Of course, the purpose of all this is not the glory of our journey so much as it is the victory of a little soul that lives, plays, cries, sleeps and is just a boy. We measure our lives by the positive impact we have on the lives around us. Jackson Adugna Grant has blessed us and he doesn’t even know us. He has blessed you and gives you reason to pray, to support and to focus your love. Because in the end, it is all about Love. The greatness of God is that He uses the smallness of his blessedness - the children - to bring life and love to our lives. In the end, we are blessed.

I will try and send blogs on our progress as we travel. Forgive me if they are erratic due to internet access, but we will do our best so that you can keep up to date with us.

With gratitude and our blessing to all.
Chris and Lori