12 days and counting . . .

I can hardly believe in 12 days we will be getting on a plane for an experience of a lifetime. Throughout this whole adoption process it seemed like the end would never actually be here and now as we prepare to bring our two little boys home it seems that we are so close to the end. Mark and I have counted our blessings many times throughout this adoption, it has been an amazing journey. We have met many people that have become friends along the way, our court date went smooth (our hearts go out to those whose have not went as smoothly as ours) and we have two darling little boys waiting for us in Ethiopia.

Mark and I will be unable to attend the next get together as we will be beginning our journey on that day. We will be thinking about all of you that are waiting for your referrals, or waiting to travel or waiting to get the completed I-171H form and knowing that there will be an sweet little one waiting for you at the end of your journey. We know that is just the beginning of a life fully of new and exciting experiences for both our little boys and us and we can't wait.

During Beth and Deanna trip to pick up their little ones they took pictures of our boys and that made a tremendous difference while we waited. If I can do that for you that are waiting please let me know.

Sorry to keep this so short however I have a lot of cleaning, childproofing our house, and packing to complete.

Answer to Questions

To answer some of the questions I have been receiving we are flying in and out of Detroit.

To answer questions about the length of our stay. Since our embassy appointment is on Thursday, November 15 and the boys' VISA won't be ready until Monday we have to stay throught the weekend. Ethiopian Air has flights to Addis 5 days a week however they are not flying on Sunday, November 12 so the earliest we could get into Addis Ababa if we did not fly out on Saturday is Tuesday night. Then on the return trip we would have left on Monday night however Ethiopian Airlines does not have a flight leaving for Dulles on Monday. Hence we choice to get to Addis Ababa on Sunday night and get our children on Monday at this point I just want to hold my boys and a couple of extra days in Ethiopia isn't the end of the world. We will have several days were we can just relax - maybe even go to the Hilton pool?

At this point we are hoping to stay at the New Flower Guest House, I guess we will see about that on Monday.

If you have any questions along the way please let me know I will be more than happy to give you any insight I have. And yes I plan on updating my blog from Ethiopia so you can all follow along if you wish.

Leaving on November 10

Ok our travel arrangements are firm we are leaving Detroit on Saturday, November 10 for ETHIOPIA and arriving HOME on Wednesday, November 21.

That's it for now! Now I can begin making my packing lists, and start packing!

How exciting, we will be leaving 3 weeks from tomorrow.

Home for Thanksgiving . . . . . . . .

Well it appears that Mark and I will be leaving to pick up our boys sometime between Friday, November 9 and Monday, November 12. Our US Embassy appointment will be on Thursday, November 15, however since the US Embassy now needs 2 business days to get the VISA complete we will not be able to leave Ethiopia until Monday, November 22 depending on when Ethiopian Airlines schedule is. Wow, I have a lot to do prior to then. I guess I will have another busy weekend.

My prayers are extended out to all families that have upcoming court dates!

FINALLY we are going to Ethiopia . . .

I don't know exactly when but soon, our case made it through court today. Now we are waiting to hear back from Kurt on what day we can leave. Without waiting any longer here are our sons: Isaac and Kaleab.

No News . . . . . . .

Well if you wanted news about the court date check back on Monday. I was hoping the first pictures that I posted on this blog would have been of our two boys but since I have not heard about the court date I will wait until Monday to post their pictures.

Instead I will post a few pictures of the care packages that we sent to Kaleab and Yitbarek. The boys should have these by now, however that has not been confirmed. For all of those who sent care packages out did you get confirmation that they arrived??

Besides that the Adoption Shower went well. Kaleab and Yitbarek will be the best dressed boys in town. I counted and Kaleab has 19 pairs of size 3T pants - when will he get a chance to wear them all? Besides clothes we did get dipears, and toys. I can tell already Aunt Tammy, Grandma and Grandpa will spoil these kids rotten.

I got to get going as Mark and I have a very busy weekend planned getting everything ready for the boys.

We have a COURT DATE!!!

Our court date is Friday, October 12!!! If everything goes smoothly we will be leaving 4 weeks later.

I will write more later.