- November 14th Referral
- March 21 MOWA letter
- May 14th Birth Mom court date(Missing orphanage document) Cancelled
- May 26th New Birth Mom court date. Went Great!
- June 11th Court date
6:30 am the phone rings from our adoption agency delivering the news that we have the court date we've been waiting for! We have to be in the country by Sunday June 9th, which meant we must fly out by Friday the 7th. I'm beyond giddy! Not remembering any other words our agent had spoken. I quickly run up the stairs to deliver the news to my sleeping husband. "It's time David!" Randi just called court is the 11th, and we need to be on a plane Friday!!! Then I continued to run down the hall and share the much awaited news with our children.
Awe...Our children, they've been a part of this adoption journey from the beginning. Our youngest daughter Mia started praying for this boy before we even knew who it would be. She would set out an extra plate for him at meals, and not a prayer that was offered was he not mentioned by that precious voice. Off the lips of a child who has great faith! Our other daughter Lexie, my first born, my girl that is full of quiet strength, and great wisdom beyond her young years, was full of questions...Some that I couldn't answer...Even when the wait became so long and faith seemed to waiver our Lexie wasn't shaken. Only for Justice. So it was fitting I share with our first born about this wonderful news before the other children..And not hard to do given the time of morning. Hair and makeup are very important to a junior higher. We crossed paths in the hallway after delivering the news about,we embraced with tears of reality.
Oh my boy by the Bay~ Our son, who knew this adoption would cost his prize position of being the only son. Our giver...He gave gladly, when he knew it would allow an orphan to have a forever family. This little brother will be sharing a room with Dock, who again gladly gave...Gave his space so that he could be the big brother example. Our Dock gave up for a year modern day pleasures. He would say NO to the extras, the little splurges..A soft drink wouldn't be had if it meant the two dollars it cost would go towards bringing an Orphan Home. He sold his most expensive belongings wanting it all to go towards the adoption. I know it touched our hearts, but I believe it opened the windows of heaven to shower down blessings and favor in the eyes of God.
June 4th, still the morning of the call. I really wasn't functioning right...Call it Paralysis by Analysis..Not sure if I even made the kids lunches to take to school. I was full of excitement, and a little anxious of all that needed to happen before we left..so that morning Mia had a talent show. She was performing to Cups. She nailed it! Nothing delights me more than being able to watch my children doing what they love. I went home to get going on all the "new" paperwork to get notarized...Shop for gifts for the kids teachers as it was the last week of school,and to begin packing!
June 5th, More forms to get notarized, lots of laundry, Lists to write for my mama who would be staying with our children. And a house to clean like I was having a Showing...One thing I do not like about me:-) Officially five more days to see our son, and 2days left to accomplish the everyday, plus some.
June 6th, Dock and Lexie have their big day at Silverwood Theme Park, while Mia is enjoying her Fun Day at her school. A great day to get groceries. My mama and I went to go get the Ethiopian staff at the Guest House and at the Foster Home gifts. I can't believe we will be on our way tomorrow!!! SOOOOO many emotions. My sis and niece show up to bless us with bags of treats for travel and the Hoffman family brought us over dinner. So many wonderful people who have invested time, resources, and prayer for this to even happen....Love in action
June 7th, I can't believe it!!!After 17 months of our adoptive journey, TODAY is the day we begin our travel to Sintayehu. My dad drove us to the airport, said a nice prayer for travel mercies..Then we said goodbye to our junior highers who ditched the last day to squeak out an extra hour with us. The painful goodbye surprised me..Very unexpected knowing we would be home in one week. We haven't left our kiddos for ten years maybe that was it;-) Grandmama will keep them very busy and I am thankful it's the first week of Summer for them to play. Still...I wish they were on this part of the journey with us.
Our trip to get to Ethiopia took 30 hours for this non-international girl it felt like forever...Possibly because that nation, our Final destination has the newest member of our family.
June 9th, We arrive at 2:00 am...Once we get our visa, we look for our driver..We quickly find the sign he is holding that reads BOND. David and I were not prepared for what our eyes were about to take in. We witnessed a 3rd world country for the very first time. In my GLAMMED up thinking I never let this reality take form...Mind you it's dark and what we've seen already...Thanking the Lord for the dark of night, to let the process begin...The process where all comfort has to leave, to Look but not look away...We arrive at the Gated guest house lined with barbwire, it is there we are taken to our room and greeted by another American family..Paul and Patty..They quickly fill us in. They are from Arizona and are anxious to meet their two adoptive sons. After a quick introduction we head to bed. I'm tired and yet SO excited, hope to get a few hours of sleep before we meet our boy!!! EEEKKK...This is IT..After 7 months of updates of Sinthayhu Tirit, we get to embrace this child, physically cup his little face into my hands...Hold him...Tell him about his siblings, Tell him about HIM...A mighty, loving, Faithful God who cares about him so much that he is NO longer an orphan...GLORY!
June 10th 8:00am~ We're called down for breakfast. To a beautiful spread of Ethiopian food...We are greeted at the table by Paul and Patty, and also Jeff. He is waiting for his wife to arrive. I love how the Lord has connected our hearts and we felt life forever friends. After we eat our driver shows up and we head over to the Foster Home~ OH MY GOODNESS!!!! THIS IS THE DAY...Just a dream all those months ago...I am now walking in it...It feels like the birth of my other children. As we pull into the gated court yard, my heart is going to explode. David has the video camera out and is already recording! We stood in the court yard waiting for the nannies to get Sintayehu...It felt like several minutes before that door OPENED...There he is!!! Our son. Our beautiful boy! I can not take my eyes off of him! The nanny leans him towards me and I scoop him up..He is much smaller than photos portray. Every feature is beautiful. He has taken our breath away, and forever found a home in our hearts. He is crying very hard with a parade of alligator tears. The sound is beautiful and within minutes he has settled into my arms and is drinking warm milk from a sippy. It is in this moment I know we have bonded as mother and son.
