One Year Anniversary

On May 17th , 2009 my dad and I flew into Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. My dad had never been to Africa and I was so excited for him to meet this place that i loved so very much. I couldn't wait for him to see the stars in the sky when we landed around 9pm. I couldn't wait to smell the scents of that place again. To step out into the African air that wraps itself around me like my favorite blanket. I just couldn't wait for him to see everything...mostly to see Neema! That night we checked in to our hotel and I called her uncle to tell him we had arrived. We planned to meet the next day at noon. In all of my exhaustion of the 20 hour plane ride, I couldn't sleep, I was restless I just could not wait to see her tiny little face again. I wondered would she remember me? It had been about 4 months since I had last held her, snuggled her, breathed her. I remember waking up that morning and not even being able to have my quiet time. I just could not focus on anything. The clock was dragging.....finally around 11 my dad and I started the journey to be reunited with Neema. A year later, here we are in America and a dream has come true. A promise fulfilled. A blessing given.

May 18, 2009

I decided that every year on our anniversary we would go and do something fun just the two of us! We started the day at J. Christophers for a big breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, coffee, and juice. I told Neema about all of my favorite memories over the past year. Then we went to the Atlanta Zoo. It was really fun for us, because despite the fact that we are totally spoiled and have been on several REAL African safaris, we got to see the animals really close and Neema was like a little safari guide telling me all about each animal.

Swahili!!! :)

We finished off the night with some home made stir-fry a popular dinner choice of ours in Arusha. I had so much fun today celebrating the heck out of this girl!
I pray for many more special May 18ths.