An apology to all my readers...

I want to thank all of my loyal blog readers out there...you know who you are! We have relatives, friends from work, brothers and sisters from church, and new friends from our agency. I do want to apologize for such a boring blog lately. Honestly, nothing has been happening. Nothing. Tomorrow will be four months at the same number on the infant girl list.

Our agency posted yesterday that things still have not picked up after the elections. The children that come to our orphanages are from different areas of the country and must have certain paperwork completed by local authorities before they come. This is where the process is stalling right now. There are new rules in place to check more extensively that the children qualify for orphan status. I've read on another blog that they are now required to obtain birth certificates and pictures of their guardians. This, plus other elements we might be unaware of, is slowing everything down. They are not sure when things will return to normal.

In the meantime, Mike and I are trying to take care of items on our to do list so we won't have to rush in the future. We started getting our travel shots and prescriptions for Cipro, collecting donations, sewing the bedding and curtains for her room, and trying to read lots of books. I've gotten a lot more relaxed about checking the blog for updates. It's starting to seem like a dream, but I keep reminding myself that it WILL happen and one day we'll forget about this long wait.

So, please bear with my boring blog. I'll keep posting pictures of the kids and some information about Ethiopia. I do hope that soon the excitement will begin. I can't wait to describe the day we see her picture, the first day we meet her, and the day we bring her home. God knows all the details and we just have to wait for them to unfold.

Entoto Mountain

Sightseeing in Addis - Chapter 1

On our first trip to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, we plan on staying there about a week. It sounds like we'll be able to see our darling a few hours each day before we pass court. This will leave a big chunk of time to go sightseeing and learning as much as we can about our her country. While we wait (and wait), I thought I could start researching some of the places tourists end up in Addis. If you have been to any of these places, please feel free to add any comments. I'd love to hear your input!














At 10,827 feet above sea level, Entoto Mountain is the highest peak overlooking Addis Ababa. On top of the mountain is a village, an art gallery, and several beautiful churches. It was the location that Menelik II built his small palace when he founded Addis Ababa and is considered very sacred. Many come to the mountain for the healing waters and others to wait outside the church to pray when the bells chime.









In the small museum, there are many articles of great importance to Ethiopia. This would include the ceremonial dress of the king and queen, crowns, weapons, and the drum that announced the march of Adwa against Italian invasion.














The mountain is covered in eucalyptus trees and is sometimes referred to as the "lungs of Addis Ababa." It is a very important source of firewood and you can often see women carrying bundles of wood down to the city. While you are in Addis, you may want to ask to be taken to the Women Fuel Carriers Project and Sherameeda,which is a large market of weavers near the American Embassy. Purchases you make there will benefit the women trying to get out from under the burden of wood carrying.

What I've heard about court

If you google Ethiopian court closure, there is not much information except for what you learn from other people's blogs or what our agency has said. I've tried to compile some of the information here to get my head wrapped around this...

Every year, the courts close for about two months. Last year, this closed on August 21st and they started business again on October 12th. I'm not sure if they have officially announced the dates this year, but the buzz on the big yahoo group is that it could close August 10th or the 15th. Last year our agency posted the closing date in July, so it might be a few weeks before we know for sure.

I've heard different reasons for the courts to take such a long break. Here are some of the possibilities:

* To re-group and maybe get new judges.
* This also happens during their rainy season. During the months of July and August, thunderstorms occur almost daily with up to 12 inches of rain per month. The sun only shines around two to four hours a day. I would guess in a country were many do not have cars or electricity, this could greatly effect the way people live.
* On September 11th, it is the Ethiopian New Year celebration. This is a very important religious holiday with lots of singing and a big family meal.
* My guess...they probably need a break from the crazy ferengi "us white folk" who probably bug them constantly to speed things up :)

This court closure does not effect those that are on the wait list. Our agency still passes out referrals during the court closure. It only effects those with a referral and waiting to pass court. It takes about 6-8 weeks from referral to court date, so if we don't receive a referral pronto, then chances are court will close before we can get a date. This means if all things run smoothly, we might have a court date in October or November.

I have only read about one person receiving a court date after the new two trip rule. They explained on their blog that they have been given two courts dates. The first is a preliminary one to make sure all the paperwork is in order. The second date, about three weeks later, will be the one parents are invited to attend. I'm hoping this greatly increases the chance to pass court while we are in the country. That would make for an excellent trip!

There was a time last year where they thought the courts would not close, or only for a short time. It could be a possibility this year too. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Some shopping while you wait

A friend of ours is making Adoption T-shirts and hats and I thought I would give you a little preview in case you are interested. You can find more styles HERE.




We have another long-time friend that is making bows and even has a selection of Ethiopian styles. You can check out her Etsy shop HERE.







Have fun shopping and hopefully we'll be posting a new number soon!

100 days

Huh? Isn't that supposed to be 3? It has been so long that I have posted a new list number on here, I thought I would shake things up a little. Well, I started doing the math and we have been at number 4 for 100 days (since March 1st)! I hope this break-through of triple digit numbers is a new sign of good things to come. It's been a little quite around our agency lately and I'm ready for an explosion! I'm praying for some good families to pass court, others to receive their court dates so they can be the guinea pigs of the new 2-trip rule :), and lots of referrals! I think this 100 day celebration deserves some chocolate. Try putting some M&M's in a coffee mug and microwave for about one minute - YUM!

The Hairdo

Adrian started practicing early to learn how to fix hair for her new little sister from Ethiopia.



...maybe we should wait until the Good Hair book comes in. This could be interesting :)

Books to read while waiting

Hopefully a week or two more and things will really start speeding up! In the meantime, I'm trying to keep busy and learn all I can about adoption and Ethiopia. Here is a book that I finished and highly recommend:

This is the story of Mrs. Haregewoin Teferra, a true account of a woman who helped hundreds of children in Ethiopia. It all started when someone asked Haregewoin to give a girl a home. Then another knock on the door, and then another, until she was running more than one orphanage. This book opens your eyes to what a typical day is like in Addis Ababa. It also talks about AIDS and how this epidemic is effecting the people and being handled by the government. Be sure to grab a BIG box of kleenex because the book is both very happy and very heartbreaking. Note: This book will make you want to adopt 37 children from Ethiopia :)


Here are two more books I just started. I've heard from the IAN yahoo group they were excellent also.


Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis

I'm Chocolate, You're Vanilla by Marguerite Wright (makes me hungry)

Just ordered this one....can't wait to practice on my...uhh...cat?

Memorial Day Madness

What a fun weekend! On Friday, we had a girl's night while Mike rode his bike (yes, bicycle) 85 miles in the Texas heat. Then on Saturday, I took the kids to Dinosaur Valley State Park where I met my sister and we swam in the Paluxy River. Monday was a Memorial Day feast with all the family. Every year, we have a theme for the food and a contest. This year, the theme was "comfort food" and they tried to see who could eat the most. I think we ALL won that one. We sure had a lot of dessert there, yummm!! My uncle informed me what the letters in buffet stands for : Big Ugly Fat Folk Eating Together. Oh, don't make me laugh! I ate too much :)

Here's a few pictures to keep you busy while we wait for big #3: