One Year Later

The day we first met... ...and exactly one year later.

ONE YEAR!

It's hard to believe, but a year ago tomorrow we met our little girls for the first time. To celebrate I compiled a list of my 10 favorite moments (at least the ones I've blogged about) since the adoption. It’s tough to put them in order, but I’ll try.

10. Hide and Seek – Typical of the type of fun Neti and Meke like to have with Daddy.

9. Sunday Apples – I love the innocence of a little girl trying to impress her Daddy with her ability to count in English.

8. A Night of Significance – This was my first solo flight with the girls in public. Three months of English was just enough to make the communication barrier a bit awkward. You may know this as Potty (part 1) and Potty (part 2)

7. Easy to Buy For – Neti’s standard reaction to her first ever Christmas is priceless.

6. A Lesson in Parenting – Early on we tried to strip Neti of taking on the unhealthy role of being “mom” for her younger sister. However, even before she spoke English she had some great parenting instincts.

5. Traveling With Meke – Rhonda’s sickness forced Meke and I to connect on the long plane ride home from Ethiopia.

4. SNOW! – This magical video has received more comments than any other blog entry.

3. Neti’s Gift – For a little girl struggling with the loss of everything familiar to her, THIS is a “being Dad’s worth it” moment!

2. Meeting Neti and Meke – Here’s a short video I posted from the Ethiopian Hilton the night after our family became complete.

1. Love, Daddy – OK, it’s not a moment but still captures the heart of it all.

Honorable Mention
These didn’t make the cut, but are still worth the mention:

• Just Before Bed – A in-English conversation that amazed me after only three months in America.
• Which nouns are verbs?
• “I Support Orphans” – Dropping your daughter on her head should probably have cracked the top 10.
• Meke Dancing Queen – Ha!
• Hope – This entry seemed to strike a chord with those in the adoption process (or considering it).