Update

Hi Everyone,

First of all we need to apologize to you all for not being able to update our blog while in Ethiopia. The internet connection was problematic and we were never able to post to our blog from the guesthouse where we were staying in Addis Ababa.

We had a good trip over to Addis. The plane left several hours late due to snow in DC. Snow would play a factor in both our coming AND going on this trip.

We met Thomas for the first time on Monday and got him for good on Tuesday. We enjoyed our time in Addis; particularly getting to know the very special couples we met who were there doing the same thing we were. We enjoyed the sights and sounds of Ethiopia together, including a local tribal show, a visit to a coffee factory (Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee if you didn't know that) and several visits to orphanages in the area that brought tears to our eyes.

There are 4 or 5 million orphans in Ethiopia (roughly the population of Addis Ababa where we stayed). We feel like we made a small dent in that number by bringing back one. We would encourage each of you to prayerfully consider if God might have you bring one of these orphans home to join your family.

The trip home was very long (nearly 20 hours sitting in economy) and are flight was pushed back 24 hrs. due to the historic snow storm where we live in Virginia. They did open up Dulles airport for a few international arrivals for which we were thankful. The final leg of our trip included a hike up our lane which was snowed in and impassible by vehicle. It made for a memorable 2nd adoption trip and we were so thankful to finally cross the finish line and return home with Thomas.

Thanks for your prayers. We will try to post a few more thoughts on this adoption in the days ahead and I will post some pictures for you to see what our trip was like.

Steve and Patti

Update from Addis Ababa

Hello all,

Our flight from Ethiopia has been delayed 24 hours due to the monster snowstorm/blizzard in Virginia. We are scheduled to depart 2:15 US Eastern time and arrive Sunday morning 7:30 am. Please pray for Thomas as he is still uncomfortable mainly due to stomach pains. Thanks for your prayers for a safe flight. We hear family in Virginia is doing well and enjoying this winter wonderland. :) Again, thank-you for your prayers.

Steve, Patti and Thomas Gregory

We arrived safely

Hi Everyone,

We arrived in Addis Ababa safely on Sunday evening (Sunday afternoon your time). The trip was uneventful other than being delayed an hour or two due to the snow in Virginia. The flight was not full so we were able to use a few extra seats which is always nice. We are at the guesthouse now and will try to get some sleep even though our bodies are in another time zone. We are tired. Tomorrow we work on paperwork and visit with Thomas for a little while in the afternoon. We will try to post again tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers for a safe flight.

Steve and Patti

Country Information

Addis Ababa is UTC plus 3 hours....so 8 hrs. ahead of Eastern time. The currency in Ethiopia is the "Birr". $1.00 = 12.9 Birr

Ethiopian Airlines

We are leaving Saturday evening at 2030 (1/30) on Ethiopian Airlines flight #501. We arrive in Addis Ababa at 1930 Sunday evening (1/31). No jokes about Ethiopian Airlines please, unless you are going to be praying for us.