Kids on the move.

We were told this week that our kids have been moved from their care center in South Ethiopia to the capitol city, Addis Ababa.  Typically, the kids are moved as the time for us to pick them up draws near, so we take this as a good sign, for us.  For them, it will be leaving their part of the world for the first time.  The trip to Addis is likely their first trip in a car; it will be the first time they've seen a paved road, buildings, street lights, so many people.  They will also have left behind the village of their birth family and the nannies that have been caring for them for the past 8 months.  We know they are resilient and strong, but our hearts ache for all the change they have had to endure in their little lives.  What a journey for us all.

A decree!

We had unexpected and good news today. We were awaiting a second court date for the adoption attorney in Ethiopia so a final adoption decree could be issued for our family. Today we heard that the letter from the Ethiopian Ministry of Women, Youth and Child Affairs we were awaiting had been sent to the court and the court issued a final decree for our adoption without a second court date. This means that now we are only waiting for new birth certificates, then passports, then an interview with the U.S. embassy. When we get called for an interview with the U.S. embassy is when we make our final trip to Ethiopia to pick up our kids. Hopefully that will be in the next 8-12 weeks, barring a government shut down here or there...

No news is no news

We still don't have any news about a second court date or any progress on our case from the
Ethiopia side. In this case, I don't think no news is good news, it's just no news.

In the meantime we've been working to try and make things as smooth as possible from this end, but it's challenging without having an idea about when the kids will come. Enrolling in school and securing childcare are our biggest tasks but hard to do when we don't really even have a ballpark estimate for when they are coming home. Patience...I'm learning.