One year May 15, 2011

On May 15, 2011, we had officially been a family of four for one year.  We don't really have a name for it yet.  People often call it "gotcha day" or "family day."  I was calling the day Terefech had to leave Ethiopia and came to be a part of our family but Terefech thought that was a little silly and way too long.  T day was my other offer.  That one might stick.  We'll see.  If we don't ever name it, think we'll be okay.

We gave Terefech the opportunity to plan the day.  We talked about what an important day it was, both happy and sad.  Happy because we love having her as part of our family but also sad because she had to leave everything she knew behind.  In my readings, several times I have read that adoptive families look upon this day as only one of celebration and not acknowledging the loss that their child suffered on that day.  We have spent the last week discussing our trip to Ethiopia, the events that took place there, looking at lots of pictures, and just generally talking about how this all feels.

Terefech chose for the 4 of us to go to Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC for the day.  It has several types of penguins and she loves penguins.  For dinner, we went to one of the Ethiopian restaurants in town.  That always makes her happy!!!  

Notice the butterfly on the hat!

We discussed throughout the zoo that when we go back to Ethiopia we will definitely need to go see the animals that are native to Ethiopia.  

Awesome to see the young giraffe getting a drink by putting his legs out to the side in order to get his neck down there.  He or she got a drink and then looked at us all like, "What are you looking at?"

Declan often reads things to Terefech and was so good at the zoo about telling her facts about the animals.  She hates that she can't read!

Stinky flamingoes

Declan trying to chat with the gorilla.

Drinking Tej, an Ethiopian honey wine.

Terefech's souvenir from the zoo, a Rockhopper Penguin known for their abilities to hop up the rocks.  Pictures by Terefech