Feb 9

UPDATE: MIke sent me, Scott (Mike's brother), an email that he would like to share --

It is 6pm on Tuesday and we just finished with the US Embassy and Bereket is officially ours!!! It was a very simple process and went well. Sunday we traveled to Durame and met Bereket's birth mother. It was a 5 hour drive through the county and it is absolutely beautiful. We saw Baboons and a herd of camel with a group of nomads, some of us walked out into the field to get a better view and some of them started towards us asking why we were taking pictures of their camels, we left before they got to us. Bereket's mother is beautiful, she is very sweet and very shy. I think she was very intimidated by us as were the other parents that were there. She wrote note for us to give Bereket, we had it translated and it is very sweet and loving towards her daughter. The trip is going very well, and we are having a great time with Bereket. We got to bring her to our room this morning and she really opened up and isn't as shy as we thought, she is lots of fun and her smile and laugh melts our hearts. She loves to hold and look at flowers! She also loves shoes and has thrown a couple fits when we had to take them off. She will get to stay with us tonight and we do a farewell ceremony tomorrow and then shopping. We leave at midnight, here, on Thursday and are excited to be home on Friday. See you all soon! Sorry no pictures, internet is not working fast enough.
Isaac and McCord we miss you very much and can't wait to see you and for you to see your sister.
Mike, Annie, and Bereket.