Finally I post some pictures!!

Simon my little puppy, isn't he cute..

Simon and Adam

David Wendy and Simon at the Dimitri Hotel in Ethiopia


Ethiopia

Alex, Simon and Adam having a sleep over!

Here we go AGAIN!!

So while we were in Ethiopia we met a beautiful 13 year old girl. She had something special about her from the second we met her. I spent a lot of time getting to know her while we were in Ethiopia. She wasn't in school so she was around all day each day. David and I left the orphanage each day thinking that we needed to find such a special girl a family.
With lots of thoughts, prayers and answers straight from the lord we have decided we are the perfect family to adopt her. The boys are so excited. Its crazy to go from 2-4 children in the house in a years time!!
So our home study is being updated, then we will file a new I600A and then leave it to Abebe in Ethiopia who hopes to have her in Utah before the courts close in August!!

We are so excited!!

Not The Best Blogger

So when I last posted we had just passed our court date. I fell off the blogging wagon I guess you could say! We received our travel date which was April 4-11. It was a crazy week packing and preparing to meet our new son. We flew United Airlines/Ethiopia Air, our travel time to Ethiopia was about 26 hours there and 31 home. We arrived in the evening. My husband said my eye's were as large as silver dollars when we left the airport in Addis Ababa! I guess I could say I was a bit nervous and a bit out of my element. However we were both so excited. We went to our hotel Sunday evening. The Dimitri, which was very nice and I highly recommend to anyone staying in Ethiopia.
Monday morning we went to the orphanage to meet Simon, he was so beautiful and so sweet. I worried he would cry when I first held him. He didn't though he just smiled and sat there so sweet. Within about 2 days Simon only wanted David or I to hold him, it was amazing how quickly the bonding process took place. The trip was a bit of a bitter sweet one, so wonderful to see the orphanage and all the wonderful workers and children, yet we are so spoiled in America. We spent everyday at the orphanage playing with all of the children, we also met another family from Utah that was adopting a 14 year old boy. It was great to get to know them and their wonderful new son.
We went to the Embassy on Wednesday which was very simple, we also visited a Ethiopian hospital while we were out that day. I could not go in, however David did and he came out with tears in his eyes. We were excited though as he was able to get pictures of a little boy for a family. Always a great feeling.
Well we are now home and have been home for over a month. Simon started sleeping through the night 8:30-8:30 two days after being home. He has adjusted so well. He loves his two brothers, and fits in as if we have had him since birth. We have been to an infectuous diseases Dr. and Simon is perfectly healthy, we also just started immunizations, which wasn't so fun for him.
May 12 we celebrated Simon 1st birthday, he was so excited about the chocolate cake, he had it everywhere, I can't say the presents were a hit, but the tissue paper was!!
What a blessing he is to our family, we are so grateful to his mother for doing the best thing for her son.

We Passed!!

Thursday March 5, 2009, we passed our 2nd court date.
What a nerve racking time, we did not find out until Friday the 6th and can I just tell you that was a very hard wait! Thursday night I was up every 15 minutes looking at the clock and counting 10 hours ahead wondering what time it was in Ethiopia. It also didn't help that we were in a hotel in Phoenix for Alex's baseball tournament. Aneata from our Adoption Agency called us at 7:00 am to tell us the wonderful news. We are so excited to soon be bringing Simon home to his forever family.

We now know where we are staying in Ethiopia, "The Dimitri Hotel". Flights are figured out. If you need a great travel agency, Susan Parr has been wonderful so far.

Now to pack and wait just one more time, for our Embassy date. We should find out what our Embassy date is 4-5 days before we travel.

Waiting and Waiting

Well we are 2 weeks from our second court date. This has actually been the worst wait of all. I am told the wait between passing court and travel is even worse!! I can't imagine it being worse than this. What a true test of patience. Simon's bedroom is ready, we have bought clothing, diapers, toys and all sorts of things!! I need to stop spending money....

I was given some advice to read up on attachment between baby and new family, so I have just ordered two books, "Taming the Tiger" by: Nancy Thomas and "Attachment in Adoption" by: Deborah Gray. So I will read to keep myself busy.

I've got our flights figured out for our travel and I am in the process of deciding on where we will stay in Ethiopia. I need a guest house close to Sele' Enat. That is the orphanage where Simon is.

One family from our agency is traveling right now and I am in hopes that they are able to bring a photograph home of Simon. It may not happen as, they are going to a different orphanage. We will see.

I'm hoping the next time I post will be to tell everyone we passed and we are traveling!

Unsuccessful Court Date

Well today January 21, 2009 was Simon's court date and we did not pass. One piece of information was missing from his adoption paperwork. I'm told it used to be very unusual not to pass through court the first go around. Now it is very unusual to pass court the first time. The Ethiopian government is becoming pretty strict about passing adoptions without all of the proper paper work.
So today I have passed through many phases, I have cried, I have been mad and now I know there is nothing I can do about it, but wait until March 5 for our next court date.
This is a true test of patience.