An Anniversary Day Approaches!

Two years ago, on November 7, we FINALLY received word that a judge in Ethiopia had declared two orphaned boys in Ethiopia - Wistroms.  And at the same time, that judge declared two orphaned girls - Hutchinsons.  At that moment, all the frustrating and tearful delays melted away .... and we were making plane reservations to bring our children home!  (We received our referral for our boys in June, and were not able to travel until early December!!)

Of all the families across the United States that were in the adoption process with Amercia World at that moment ... everything suddenly narrowed down to two families who by amazing coincidence - lived about 30 miles apart from each other.  Both of us failed court date after court date after court date - due to a missing signature here, a change of rules there, until the annual court closure approached and all of the other families travelled to Ethiopia without us.  Oh the waiting was so hard.

After court re-opened 2 months later, our two families were first on the docket - only to discover that the rules had changed once again, and we faced more delays.  Frustration and sadness again - because we knew our kids were watching family after family arrive to bring their children home.

Finally, our court date came again - and this time, it was good news.  All of the frustration and sadness instantly vanished when we got the "YOU PASSED COURT!!!!" phone call from our agency! 

The Wistroms now had two sons waiting for them in Ethiopia, and the Hutchinsons had two daughters waiting for them.  Two families from Minnesota made the trek to Ethiopia together to bring our children home - and our two families are forever bonded after that.  The highs and lows of adoption are so intense and at times, unexplainable, and our two families travelled that road together ... and we still do.

Here's all of our kids - taken this weekend when the Hutchinsons came to see us!