UGGHHH!

Ok, can I just say....I'M LOSING MY PATIENCE!! Ok, I feel a little bit better! I know that we are coming up for getting a court date. It looks like we are about #2 on the list for a court date so hopefully we will hear something tomorrow.....I hope....Anyway just wanted to complain for a minute...thanks for listening!

Court is Open!!

Court is finally open and working today!! Wahoo!! Our program director said that they are now working on getting court dates for all families that have received referrals. She is hopeful that w/in the next mo. or sooner (hopefully sooner) all families will have a court date. So, please continue to keep us in your prayers.

September update

Well, we just received our monthly update for September from our agency. Our little guy is so gorgeous, I can't wait until we pass court so I can show all of you his cute little face! He looks like he is doing really well, which makes my heart not hurt as badly. I just can't wait until we are able to go and pick him up. Please, pray for Asher, for him to continue to be healthy, well nourished, well loved and cared for. Please also pray for this for all the children at the transition home that are waiting for their forever families to come and pick them up and for all the nannies and AWAA staff caring for our children and working towards bringing us all together.

AWAA Ohio

Today we met w/several families from our agency adoption or have already adopted from Ethiopia. It was really great to put some faces w/names and wonderful to see everyone's kiddos. We hung out for a little while at the park then went to the Abysinia Cafe for some great Ethiopian food. We had a really good time. There is one family that we met that received their referral about a month before us, so we are hoping that we get to travel together. The above pic. is Ethiopian coffee. It is very strong so they serve it in small cups, about the size of an espresso cup.

Tim's Dinner He had the Doro Watt wich is the chicken leg...very spicy

My dinner, injera, lentils, carots n cabbage, beef tibs, and cheese and collard greens

Micah, Moshe, & Matty

Court opening delayed

We have been expecting the courts to open this week, however, today we recieved this email from our program director:

Dear Timothy & Shanon,
I know you are anxiously awaiting news on court after the long weeks of the closure. The court confirmed today that they will not be reopening until Oct. 12th. Once they begin work it will like take a week or more for them to issue new court dates.
I know this time of waiting can be so hard as you long to be united with your child. I am sorry that we will have to wait more time for any new news. I am hopeful that new court dates will be given for early November but we will not receive any confirmation from the court until they begin work again.
We will continue to pray for your family and will contact you as soon as we have any new information
God Bless,
Anna M. Graham
Director of Programs

This really stinks....in a huge way...we are so anxious to pick up Asher, we are missing so much. However, I know that God will unite us in His timing and it will all work out eventually, however, this is soo hard on my "mommy heart".... Please pray for us and all the families that had court dates scheduled for the time that the courts have extended their closure, as they have been waiting even longer to be united with their children and all will have to be rescheduled, so essentially, they are back to the same stage we are, waiting for a court date. Please also pray for Tim and I as we wait and wait....

Care Package #2

We are sending another care package to Asher tomorrow. The family taking it are the Hamilton's. The family will be heading to Ethiopia to pick up their child on 10/4. The family that took our 1st care package is back and we received some new pics of our little guy and news that he is doing well. He is getting so big, it was so great to get updated pics of him and to see how he is growing, it is also very hard as we are missing so much and can't hold or kiss him. Please pray that Asher will stay healthy, protected, and well nourished. Please also pray that we receive a court date asap, that we pass court the first time and are able to travel right away. On another note, My mom is having a baby shower for us this weekend and I am getting really excited!

Culture Camp

Yesterday, Tim and I went to an Ethiopia Culture Camp that the group we meet with in Mason arranged. It was great! We met a lot of great people at the camp. There is actually a small Ethiopian community here in Cincinnati. They meet for fellowship every week and keep their culture intact. They are all very nice and helpful and will be a great resource for us and our child. It is so awsome that we can continue to learn about the culture and to incorporate it into our everyday lives so that our child will not loose these roots and connections to Ethiopia. We also want to learn Amharic, and were shown some good resources to get us started with this. We are also hoping that someone from the Ethiopian community will help us learn, as well. We shall see how that works as Amharic is a bit intimidating. We attended a coffee ceremony at the camp and it was great. The coffee was really good, nothing like our puny coffee!! I want to get a coffee set while we are in Ethiopia and learn how to do the coffee ceremony. Once I learn I want to do the ceremony every week and invite friends and family to come. I am also thinking that I want to learn how to cook Ethiopian food to serve at least once a week, as well. We will see how that turns out!! We also had dinner with Ethiopian food and some music at the camp. It was really neat and everyone from the Ethiopian community dressed in traditional Ethiopian clothing, many of the children and parents also wore traditional Ethiopian clothing. We also met a woman and her daughter who are part of the Ethiopian community and live right down the street from us. We really enjoyed speaking with them and hope we become friends, so I can rope them into teaching us some things!! It was a great time.