Passed Court!!

We and the Kraus family passed court today!! Gojam is officially our son and Annaliese’s brother : )

 

An extra special treat that we had during our wait for our court appointment was that Gojam came by! He had been in the same area with an AWAA staff member to get some of his medical testing done that is required for the Embassy stage of the process So, they decided to stop by : ) He was a bit apprehensive, as I do not believe he understand exactly where he was, but what a treat to see him right before, and especially right after, we saw the judge and were told we passed!!

He then returned to the TH with the AWAA staff member and we went to a coffee factory for a tour. This was a neat experience, as we know that Ethiopia is considered the birthplace of coffee and it is a very important aspect of Ethiopian culture.

 

 

After the tour - coffee and macchiatos at Robera Coffee Shop.

 

 

We then went to lunch and then the transition home. While there, daddy and Gojam completed their first lego project. It was fun to see how focused on the task he became. I think he and daddy are going to have lots of fun with their lego projects waiting at home : )

 

Other firsts for the day included car races and learning that Gojam likes to dance!!

 

 

We also showed him the card that Annaliese made for him and looked at pictures. The way he says her name is adorable. I think these two are going to make quite the pair : )

 

Day #2 with Gojam

Our second day with Gojam went well!!

I almost enjoy the reaction when you arrive on the second day more than I do on the first day. Having your child run to you at full speed, after you’ve only connected for one day, just gives you this sense that this is all going to work out just fine : ) After the apprehension you feel the months leading up to this week, that’s a pretty amazing feeling!

We spent more time with the soccer ball (it is now permanently deflated – oops!), balloons, dinosaurs, and cars. Although he occasionally wanders off, we notice that he is quick to look back to see a thumbs up or a smile from us, which he responds to with a smile of his own. Melts my heart : )

During the past two days, we have also had the opportunity to meet with the doctor and the psychologist at the transition home. They have been able to give us information that gives us more insight into his past and his current status, which will be helpful as he transitions home.

One thing that we noticed today, that was special, was that while we met with the psychologist, she offered him a chair to sit on. I was still standing at that point and he looked at her, told her that chair was for his mommy, and then rolled it over to me. What a little gentleman : )

Tomorrow morning (as many of you sleep tonight), we will head to court with one other AWAA family. It is a pretty relaxed environment, but still a little nerve-wracking. Once we finish our time with the judge, we will most likely have legally become Gojam’s mom and dad. Of course, we’ve already been that since July, if you ask us : ) Please pray that all goes smoothly.

Once we pass court, we will be able to post pictures!! 

Meetcha Day!!

We met our son today!! He is just as cute as his pictures made us believe that he was : )

We cannot post pictures or video yet, but he ran to greet us and gave us both big hugs, nearly knocking us over.

The bulk of our day was spent playing with the soccer ball, but we also introduced him to a slinky, colored several pictures, and played with dinosaurs. Oh how boys are different!!

We know that this significant time of delay has been challenging for him, but another family that has interacted with him over the past few weeks (they chose to stay between their trips) told us that he was “like a different kid” today. They couldn’t believe how much happier and more playful he was.  

It was a great day and we all left each other exhausted. Can’t wait to get back to the transition home tomorrow : )

On Our Way

Made it safely through our first (long) flight!! I don't know for sure, but I think Tim Hawkins must have been on our flight : )

 

We are currently in Qatar waiting to get on our last flight which will take us to Addis Adaba!!

Grabbed a bite to eat. My addiction is good in any language : )

We should arrive in Ethiopia around midnight, get our visas, head to the guesthouse and try to sleep before our big day tomorrow (Tuesday) : )

Here We Go!

Made it safely to O’Hare! Should be on a plane in about 3 hours. Here we come, Gojam!!

Preparations for Trip #1

The past several days have been filled with quick preparations for our travels – purchasing airline tickets, finalizing in-country itineraries, making plans for Annaliese, etc. This has been anticipated for so long, but neither of us can believe that it is actually happening : )

Annaliese has enjoyed helping us pack and is quite fond of checklists that she can cross off items as she completes them. Hmmm…sounds like someone else I know!! It doesn’t take blood…

 

She would LOVE to travel with us, but unfortunately documentation that we needed for her to obtain a passport did not come through as hoped. She has been offering suggestions as to how it can work anyway. This has been our favorite : )

 

Forward Progress!!!

It has been ages since I posted on this page, and for that I am so sorry.

The last several months have been quite challenging, to say the least. I tended to move between tears, anger, and apathy. I just could not bring myself to write.

As a brief summary, we received a referral for our 8 year old son on July 9, 2014. Over the next seven months, our paperwork processing was delayed by the following: Ethiopian rainy season, staff being out of the office for weeks at a time, requests for new paperwork, and requests for updated paperwork. Each step forward seemed to be followed by at least two steps backward.

As I have said before, my head knew that He was in control, but my heart was having a difficult time catching up.

But, after all the heartache, everything drastically changed on February 3^rd! By 9:30 in the morning, we had received 2 calls from our adoption agency – one to tell us we had finally received the positive recommendation letter from MOWCYA and the second to tell us that we had a court date!! To make matters even more exciting, our court date is scheduled for Thursday, February 12^th! After several contacts back and forth with our travel agency, we determined that we would leave for Ethiopia THIS Sunday!! We will meet our son on Tuesday!!!!

As always, thank you to each of you for continuing to follow our journey. We cannot wait to share more with you in the coming days : )