The photo above was taken at the Pier on Sanibel Island, Florida and you can see thousands of "minnows" swimming through our shadows. This is a family vacation that we have taken in June for the last 9 years straight. My parents along with my brother and sister - and their families - spend a week together after school is out. It has become a favorite family tradition, and one that the kids look forward to each year. It is a week of relaxation for the adults - and uninterrupted play-time for the 8 kid cousins. (Next year there will be 2 more!) Now that our family lives a state away from everyone else, this is a wonderful treat for all of us! We love Sanibel Island!!Just before we left for Sanibel, we received our referral for our 2 boys in Ethiopia. A "referral" means that our adoption agency has matched our family with a specific child or children from an orphanage in Ethiopia. Our agency recommends that we review the referral information with a physician that is familiar with the types of medical concerns typical to Ethiopia so that we can make an informed decision. The University of MN Adoption Clinic offers this service and they were quick to respond and extremely thorough.
After this consultation, we immediately accepted our referral, and now our agency is processing the appropriate paperwork and petitioning the Ethiopia courts for a court appointment. The courts close for 2 months each year, in August and September, and initially it seemed that there would be plenty of time between our referral date of June 3 and the court closure in August. Families within our agency that our one month ahead of us in the process just received their court date for July 15 - which is wonderful news for them, but does not bode well for us. If we continue with that kind of time frame, that would put us well into August for a court appointment - the courts will be closed which would put us on hold until October or later. And our little boys would have to spend a few months more in Ethiopia. Your prayers for an expedited court date in JULY would be very appreciated!!
Here's the whole crew vacationing on Sanibel Island, FL. (June 2008)
4 comments:
We hope you have a speedy court date! Congratulations on your referral for the two boys! We are asking for two as well so I am always encouraged when I see others! Sometimes they don't seem too optimistic about our request but we keep praying anyway...
Blessings!
Hilary
We will be praying that you will receive a court date before the closure. Your did a great job on your blog.
Lindsey
just found your link in the yahoo group. i can't wait to see their sweet faces! praying for a fast court date that passes through the first time!
wingadoption.blogspot.com
Karen and family,
I loved reading a little piece of your story. I will be praying for a miracle--we know they're possible!--and peace no matter what the outcome, for your family here in the States...and in Ethiopia.
Blessings,
Danielle
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