I was just thrilled to get a gorgeous photo book in the mail the other day called The Faces of Layla. The pictures were taken at Layla House, which is the children's home in Ethiopia that is run by my adoption agency, Adoption Advocates International.

The photos were taken by professional photographer Emma Dodge Hanson, who is an adoptive mom herself. The book is beautifully done and would be of interest to any adoptive parent from Ethiopia. Along with pictures of the staff and children at Layla, there are street scenes in Ethiopia, and some thoughtful commentary here and there.

The book is especially precious to me because my newly arrived daughters were living at Layla House at the time the photos were taken. I spotted their faces in about 10 places in this gorgeous book. I am very much looking forward to presenting this book to my girls at Christmas so they can tell me the names of the many friends that grace the pages of this book.

There is a hilarious forward by Melissa Fay Greene, who wrote the book There is No Me Without You. Incidentally, if you are adopting from Ethiopia and have NOT read Melissa's book yet, you simply must. If you're not a reader, buy it on CD and listen in your car. You will not regret it, and more importantly you will never forget it.

As blogger I do get some things to review for free, but I was glad to purchase my own copy of the Faces of Layla, and here's why. Most of my money went straight straight to the GRACE FUND, a fund dedicated to giving grants to families adopting older children who have waited a long time for families. Children like Tsion and her siblings. Not everyone is able to adopt older children, but I truly believe that we all can help get kids into families where they belong, thanks in part to wonderful projects like this.