Day 5 - We passed!!

It was hard to sleep that night. The uncertainty of what the judge might say woke me up super early in the morning to listen to the singing from the mosque and the roosters. She could pass us with the wave of her hand, or say our file does not have all the information and request more documents. This could add weeks or months to bringing our children home.

Since we have spent all of our days at the orphanage, our group decided to take a few hours and go shopping on Thursday morning. We started out at the Friendship Mall. Most of the stores sold items just like you would buy in the U.S. There was a grocery store at the bottom and we were able to buy a bunch of donations. Then we found a store that sold all the good souvenirs that we had been looking for. Each lady had her own display of merchandise and as soon as you walk down the stairs, they start selling! Wow, that was overload! They are all fighting for your business and will chase you down if you start to look at somebody else's wares :)

Then we went to Salem's Place. I highly recommend this for anybody travelling soon. All the items are marked with the price - no haggling. The proceeds go to help organizations like the women at the Fistula Hospital. They also sell items that are handmade by people - like a young man with polio that hand paints bookmarks. On site, they have basket weavers, jewelry makers, and people creating scarfs on big looms. It is amazing to watch and everybody is very friendly there.




Mike called our Ethiopia coordinator twice about our ride to see the kids and forgot to ask if we passed court! The suspense was killing me!! As soon as we climbed in the car, I popped the question. Our coordinator was so calm about it. He said "ummm...sure" Wow!! It was great to pull into the care center and give MY kids a great big hug!!! It was such a sweet moment! All the mounds of paperwork, nights of worrying, and long prayers had just payed off. I was able to look them in the eyes and tell them about their new home.

We had prepared a few gifts for the kids to give them after we passed court. First, we made a book with pictures of our family for our baby girl. It is the type that has a handle to teeth on. We also brought our boy a poster of his new family to hang beside his bed. After we put it up, the boys in the room were chanting something. I'm not sure what, but I would guess by the big smile on Liyon's face, it was that he had a new family. It was precious to see how excited the kids are for each other. Then we also gave Liyon a necklace with our picture on it. I thought it might be a silly gesture at first, but he was SOOO proud of it. I think it helped him realize he was "taken." If the kids would start playing with it too much, he would hide it under his chin. To other travelling families with older children...I highly recommend a neclace, t-shirt, or something that they can wear. It really makes them feel special.

So, now the time you have all been waiting for!! PICTURES!!! Introducing the newest members of our family!!

Here is our adorable baby Kidist!





And here is our beautiful boy, Liyon!