Our Michigan Road Trip

Last weekend, Andrew and I flew into Grand Rapids, Michigan to begin our Michigan road trip! We began with a visit to St. Joseph--right on Lake Michigan--to our friends who were on the first Ethiopia trip with me and my parents. Larry and Suzanne and their biological son, Patrick are great folks! I'm really hoping that we will keep in touch with them and see them regularly, as their adopted daughter, Sophia, is just 2 months older than Andrew and was from the same orphanage as well as the same birth town. It will be great for them to have each other as they grow up. It was so fun to see the two of them together. After a couple of days with this great family, we headed to Battle Creek to meet my good friends Rodney and Dorinda, who live in Ann Arbor. We went to a wonderful zoo there--Binder Park...where we saw a lot of cool animals and even fed the giraffes! The Africa exhibit at this zoo is really terrific. If you're ever near Battle Creek, you should make a visit to this zoo! After the nice day, Andrew and I hopped into the car and drove to Wayland to visit with another adoptive family. Marcy and Doug were on our second trip to Ethiopia (it was their first). They have three biological kids and they adopted two from Ethiopia--Bizu, 7 and Dahlki, 5. We had dinner with their family, played, and enjoyed their wonderful company. What a fun family--I hope we see them again as well. The following morning, Andrew and I went to Adoption Associates-the placing agency we worked with to meet Jane, the Director and Sally, our main case worker.

It was a jam-packed trip...but a really good one....and I must say, Andrew is an excellent traveler! He stays happy and flexible. He is such good company. He makes me laugh and knows how to give and receive love. Even when our flight home got cancelled, and we got stuck in Chicago for an extra night with no luggage and only 3 diapers left, Andrew stayed in a good mood! He makes me a better person.