Headed to Court

Last week we got THE CALL we have been waiting for.  We will be leaving on March 18th for Ethiopia. I have had many people ask me exactly what will happen on this first trip, so this is my attempt at explaining. :)

We will leave on Friday, March 18, from Birmingham, flying to Chicago and then to Washington D.C. (United Airlines).  In Washington D.C., we will spend the night and hopefully see some old friends, Josh and Brooke Ray.  We have a non-stop flight to Addis Ababa that leaves D.C. around noon (Ethiopia Air).  This flight will be about 13 hours long....this may be the hardest part!  In Ethiopia, we will be staying at Yebsabi Guest House...think hotel, with rooms that are very nice, small kitchen and living area.

The main reason for making this first trip is to appear in court before a judge.   He/she will ask us some questions that we will answer and hopefully, we will pass.  If, for some reason we don't pass court, an in-country AWAA employee will appear in court for us at our next appointed time (a couple of weeks later).  Hopefully, this won't happen, but we know that 30% of families do not pass court the first time. Our court appointment is on Wednesday, March 23....Please say a prayer for us Tuesday night.  While you are sleeping, we will be appearing before the judge....Ethiopia is 9 hours ahead of us.

From this point, I'm not quite sure of all the things that will be on our itinerary...Yes, we have an itinerary...Our agency is that good!  We do know that we will spend every afternoon at the Transition Home.  This is our agency's orphanage, in a sense.  Except, the care given is better than in most orphanages in Ethiopia.  There is a pediatrician and counselor on staff, a 1:3 ratio of nannies to babies, and clean facilities.  But, they still have needs, so a lot of the donations we have collected will go here.  We will also deliver 5 care packages that other AWAA families have sent with us.  I just love this about our agency!  What an awesome opportunity to serve other families....to love on their children when their arms won't reach that far, take pictures that will be precious keepsakes, reassure these parents that their children are in good hands.  I know from experience that it is an amazing gift and I am thrilled to be a part of it.

We also will be experiencing some of the Ethiopian culture...traditional Ethiopian meals, coffee ceremonies and shopping in the market.  We will do some sightseeing and tours, and get to know this wonderful country that has so much history.

I know we will visit Kid's Care Orphanage and Kingdom Vision International.  We hope to try to visit AHOPE and Kebebe Tsehaye Orphanage (this is the orphanage that Cooper came from).  We will be taking donations to these four orphanages, also.

We will not be taking Riley with us, this time.  Getting her passport has taken longer than we anticipated, so she will go with us on the second trip.

We will leave Ethiopia on Friday, March 25, and arrive home on Saturday, the 26th....tired, emotional, exhausted, sad and excited.....and, hopefully, just in time to make Walker's baseball game.  Let the craziness begin!