Monday, September 14, 2009

My, Oh Maya!!!

Yesterday we went to the airport to see our friends arrive from Ethiopia with their brand new baby girl, Maya.  It was an experience that I am blessed to have had.  The love and excitement was palpable, friends!!  (And, I apologize... my pics are somewhat out of order, but with MY internet, once you get them uploaded, you certainly don't want to take the time to re-load them!!)

Anyway, here is a picture of 4 kid-o's who were all together at the same orphanage in Ethiopia.  And now they all have forever homes in Texas.  The little girls recognized each other, even though they are so young.  Little Ella (her Dad is holding her there in the back - she's in yellow) immediately said "Sitota!", which is Maya's Ethiopian name.  It was a surreal moment, and so beautiful.)
Here are some of our little "Hamiltonian" kids that made the trip to the airport to welcome their newest friend home.
And here is the little girl we have been waiting for.... Miss Maya Sitota Felton.  She's just as lovely and wonderful as we knew she would be.  Her Mom and Dad said she was fantastic on the plane ride... she slept for the first part, and then was awake, but happy, for the second part.  What a trooper!!  And now she's at home, where God has intended her to be all along.
A few friends and I decided we should make shirts that said "MAYA" to welcome the little one home.  We go there and put the shirts on and started to wait for the family to clear customs.  Sometimes this process can take a little while, and so we started to get creative with our spelling, just to pass the time...






But eventually... we settled down and lined up in the correct order, so that everyone would know who we were here to see.
It was an amazing, incredible, indescribable experience to witness.  I can't even begin to put into words how precious it was to see Carter and Dakota meet their baby sister for the first time, and how special it was to see Keith and Sharon's parents see their granddaughter for the first time... 

Thanks be to God for His indescribable blessings.

1 comment:

Lindsay said...

Wow, tears. I can't imagine the emotion there at DFW yesterday! She is beautiful!