Celebrating Gotcha Week...and a fun memory from one year ago today...

We're still celebrating "gotcha week" and today we had some fun with the Ethiopian flag. It is a fun time of year to celebrate Grace's homecoming- lots of American flags everywhere- we can talk a lot about the American flags and about the Ethiopian flag and what it represents to us. Here are some facts we found...

The official flag of Ethiopia consists of three equal and horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands.

The significance of the colors on the Ethiopian flag are interpreted to have a connection to the Holy Trinity, as well as the three main provinces of Ethiopia. The red stripe stands for power, faith and blood. The yellow strip symbolizes peace, natural wealth and love. The green stripe represents the land and hope.

The yellow pentagram on the blue disk, also known as the National Coat of Arms, is a symbol of the current government; it is intended to reflect the desire of the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia, as well as of its religious communities, to live together in unity and equality. The star represents unity of the people and the races that make up Ethiopia. The five rays on the outside of the star represent prosperity, and the blue disk represents peace.

One year ago today, we were in Addis Ababa enjoying the sights and getting to know our daughter. We had an wonderful driver who helped us out in so many ways. He was such a blessing to us. Here are a couple of pictures of him...we introduced him to Reese's peanut butter cups. It was so fun to watch him try one for the first time...