Bags are packed!

This day has finally come. The bags are packed - and weighed - lots of room to bring home some goodies!!! The lists have been checked and double checked. We are officially ready to roll. Before we know it we will be at the airport and ready to begin this trip of a life time.

Its been so busy getting ready to leave that I am sure it will sink in at some point that we will soon be meeting our son. That is just an amazing concept to me - not sure exactly when it will sink in.

I want to take this time to thank all of you - for your love and support through the years. God has been faithful and we can see His hand in each step of the way (even though we don't always understand the 'why'). Many of you have been part of His plan for us and we thank you. So, keep us in your prayers as we experience this trip of a life time. We look forward to sharing it with you!!!!

Next...

The adoption process is long and complicated. I figured maybe i would connect some of the dots for you all.

So, last week we got our court date. - By the way this court date is 4 years and 5 days since we started our adoption... That story however could be a whole new post. - This means we fly to Ethiopia (in 27 days!) and appear in court there. We stand before the judge and answer a few questions. At this point we become Bedi's parents legally. There is always a chance that we might not pass on the first try. When we go for court a representative from the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) needs to be there and present the judge with a letter to support our adoption. It is common for this letter to not be ready at the time of the court date. This usually results in a conditional pass, you pass when the letter is presented to the court.

After the successful court date, we get to visit our boy. This will be a one time visit for probably a few hours. If we don't pass court we don't get to see our boy :(

During the rest of our trip we plan to do some travelling and site seeing in Ethiopia. We are really looking forward to that.

Then we will come home and wait for the rest of the process. We had talked about staying and waiting for his visa in Ethiopia. This plan has changed. The time line is so uncertain so we have decided that we will be coming home and waiting here.

After our court date, Bedi will be issued a new birth certificate and a new passport. This should take about 2 or 3 weeks.

When those documents are secured, we can then apply for a visa. He will need a visa to travel to Canada. There is one Canadian consulate in Nairobi (Kenya) that services many African countries including Ethiopia. This part can take any where between 2 days and 20 weeks.

While we are very excited to have a court date, we still have a few more hurdles to jump. We are definitely getting closer - the end is in site.

We want to thank you all for the love, support and prayers!! We would have never made it this far without all of you!!!!