Back in the Waiting Game....Take 2

Greetings Everyone!

I can no longer blame it on jet lag, but still adjusting to "home" this week. Last weekend my brother and his family came for a visit. We were able to share some of the photos and videos from the trip, which was wonderful, but also really put me back in Africa....a place which I miss so much now.
I have officially become a "nester" this week as I was caught :) by some friends at Target purchasing clothes for Isaiah. I am still cautiously optimistic that we will be making a return trip in May, but I also know at some point this will be a realization so going out and buying things for a preparation for what to come isn't to crazy (especially with the fact we may only get 7-10 days notice for trip two).

Here are some of the updates:

• Of the 11 families who traveled we were one of four that passed court on the first go around-Praise God! This is a hurdle that many families are hitting right now and it ends up being an additional month or two of delay between trips (families we traveled with do not go back to court until April).
• We are now in the process of waiting for the Ethiopian Birth Certificate-we have been told it is approximately 2-4 weeks after court approval.
• After the Birth Certificate is reviewed and approved by the agency and Rob/I, we then go into the list for Embassy Appointments--hopefully the last waiting stage in this process.

Prayers and Praises:

• We continue to pray for Isaiah-we hope he has traveled to the Capitol City by now and has been introduced to his new "family" (during our visit we were not allowed to identify ourselves as mom and dad-however we left a photo album for the nannies to review with him once court was passed).
• Prayers to families, like ours, in this waiting stage. There has been some significant changes in some of the processes in the Ethiopian Adoption. Lots of rumors at this point, but a significant slow down is certainly a possibility. We know God has a plan for when our family will be together, regardless of these changes-but strength and a renewed sense of trust in His timeline (not mine) is a frequent reminder for me.
• Finances: our last fundraiser was able to give us the money for Isaiah's ticket home (yeah!) We continue to tuck funds away to now prepare to purchase last minute tickets for all three of us, as well as another round of donations.

I hope to have pictures/videos done this weekend-after the half marathon saturday.

Thank you all again for support, encouragement, and prayers.

Jess