The Real Blair Family » vacation

First Trip to Ethiopia!

April — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:26:32 +0000

We never thought this day would come, but it’s here. We finally get to travel to Ethiopia to meet our kids!!! We’ve tried to grasp the full meaning of what is coming, but still it all seems so distant. Our kids have been real only in pictures for these last few months that it has seemed like that’s all we’d ever see. We just can hardly believe that we’ll actually be setting eyes on our two little cuties in a couple of days!

We have to endure the long flight first. It’s Salt Lake City to Houston, Houston to Frankfurt, and Frankfurt to Addis Ababa. That’s about 24 hours that we hope goes by quickly. We’ve got books and pillows, so we’ll do our best to pass the time. And we think just knowing what awaits at the end of the trip will make it more bearable than another typical long flight.

Thanks to so many generous friends and family, we’re hauling along some bins of donations for the orphanage and transition home. We’ve seen so many other couples do this and been amazed at the generosity that people show, we thought it would be a great idea. We are also excited to be able to take pictures of many of the kids of waiting families who either have recently received a referral, or else traveled once to see their kids. There are so many adorable kids at the transition home!

If anybody sees this post in the next few days, please pray for us that we’ll pass court and be able to travel soon for the second trip. Other adoptive families have told us how hard it is to leave after the first trip, so naturally we’ll want to get back as soon as possible. Also please pray for the families who have been waiting for their second trip in the midst of delays and lots of unknowns. We hope they get there soon.

We’re off!

Trip to the Carolinas

April — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 17:53:03 +0000

Earlier this month we went on a vacation to the Carolinas. It was our first time there and we loved it. Our friends Jason and Adriane live in Charlotte so we stayed with them. We spent our first day hiking and exploring in Asheville, NC. Asheville is surrounded by beautiful hikes with waterfalls. We were amazed by the never-ending trees. Here are some pictures:

At the top of this mountain/hill was a covered bridge:

Here is more scenery from hikes in the afternoon:

We stayed in a hotel and woke up early to visit the Biltmore Estate. Here are a few pictures:

Our friends let us use their car to take a trip down to Charleston, SC. We only had a day and a half, so we didn’t waste any time. First we went to the Boone Hall Plantation:

We took an opportunity at night to walk around Charleston. The architecture was incredible. We saw old cemeteries, homes, the ocean, the battery, etc.

We took a ferry out to Fort Sumter in the afternoon.

First Post Ever

April — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:47:37 +0000

Well we’ve decided to join the world of blogging. The main purpose of the blog right now will be to document the process of adoption. We recently selected the agency and have contacted the social worker who will conduct our home study. Nate and I worked on some of the paperwork over the break and hope to get the process rolling asap. Today I will be submitting our background check documents (which we had to do twice since we used black ink the first time).

Other than that we are doing really well. We recently finished our fourth semester of school and have two more to go. We both enjoy learning and are happy we chose to go back to school, but we admit that we’ll be glad when it’ all over. We have enjoyed the holidays. We spent Thanksgiving with the Hoopers in Blairsden, CA (thus the sign) and spent Christmas with the Blairs. We’ve enjoyed spending time with family.