No Court Date Yet

Philip and I outside the Lewis and Clark Caverns in MT

Ok, yes, the title is correct: we have not received our court date yet.  Yes, the Ethiopian courts closed August 6th, and will reopen around October 6th.  We won't receive a court date until sometime after they reopen.

But....

Here's the thing...

Our agency called and said that our case was approved by MOWA (Ministry of Women's Affairs) before the closure-- which is the biggest part.  Now, after the courts reopen, there's a birth-parent interview something-er-other and then they tell us when to travel to court.  Everything we've heard is that those steps go very quickly, and our agency says we are still likely to travel in late October or early November!  Praise God that our process hasn't been set back as much as it might have been and that our kiddos will still likely be home around January.

When we do hear about travel, we may only be given a few weeks (2-3?) to purchase airfare and get ourselves to Ethiopia.  I'm thinking I'll pack in late September and not have to worry about that piece of the equation when the time comes.

Please be praying with us that when we do have a "date", we can find reasonable airfare on short notice.  We've a friend in WA that's a travel agent and scouting out flights/accommodations for us.  Another friend told me about a group that does discount airfare for adoptive families.  God is never caught off-guard by anything, and flights are no different!

On a completely different note, we were given a car-seat carrier, a chair-top hi-chair, and warm fuzzy PJs, which is totally awesome!  And, a friend stopped by and dropped of two brand new pack-n-plays and a baby monitor.  I'm sooooo blessed.  Our kiddos are so loved, it gives me warm-fuzzies.

This past week, some friends came from Idaho to visit my pastor and his family.  Their cousins are from Ethiopia and taught my friend how to sing "Jesus Loves Me" in Amharic (Ethiopian).  Enjoy!