Well, we've been back from Ethiopia for 3 weeks now, and the most frequent question I'm asked is "when are Judah and Addise coming home!??!" I love the question because our community, friends, and family are ready for them to be home, nearly as much as we are. :) I'm becoming a broken record responding to that question. I know my blogging absence is a part of the reason.

What are you waiting on? We are waiting to be assigned our US Embassy date!
What are "they" doing during this time?
Applying for Judah and Addise's Birth Certificates :: ~ a couple weeks after passing court. It's now been 3 weeks for us, and they still don't have their birth certificates. I've been praying all weekend that they'd have them TOMORROW!
Ethiopian Passports :: ~3 or 4 days processing time.
Embassy Physicals :: this is to double check some tests and do a TB test.
Once all the above documents are ready, they have to be submitted to the Embassy on one of our Tuesdays that our agency have appointments AND at least 2 weeks in advance of when we will travel. Therefore, the average time between court and Embassy appointment is about 6-8 weeks.
When's the earliest you could travel? We found out this week that we did NOT get the 12/14 Embassy date. Definitely a disappointment. But there's still a chance that we could get the next date, 12/28 [this is 7 weeks after we passed court!]. If we don't get that Embassy date, the next one isn't until 1/12. That's truly unacceptable to me. That will be 2 months after we passed court. Ugh. Knowing they are growing up without us is heartbreaking.

PLEASE pray with us for that 12/28 Embassy date.
If we get that date, we will most likely leave for Ethiopia on Christmas morning.
The best Christmas gift ever!

Trusting. Hoping. Praying. Attempting to Surrender...

[some of the first photos we received of Judah and Addise!]