Count down to court date

We are beginning to focus once again on our court date - now scheduled for October 8 with six other families. Once we successfully pass court, AWAA will immediately request appointments at the US embassy and the consulate to acquire a visa and passport. We are represented in court by our adoption agency, but we will need to be present in Ethiopia when our children are given their passport and visa.

We had a conference call with our adoption agency on Thursday - with all of the families that currently have referrals. The first group travelling in October (our group) will be AWAAs largest travel group so far. Then their are 2 groups scheduled for November and one travel group in December, so far. The conference call covered lots of logistics about travel, what to bring, information about the embassy appointment and general information. It's always great to hear the voices of other families we have gotten to know so well on our chat group and blogs.

Our agency can coordinate travel for us but we are also checking into a more direct travel route with Northwest Airlines that flies from Minneapolis to Amsterdam and then Addis Ababa. Our agency generally books travel with Ethiopian Airlines which flies from Washington Dulles with a re-fueling stop in Rome. Northwest would be a more direct route but I need to verify cost and if the Netherlands require a transit visa for our Ethiopian children.

I stopped at the outlet mall this weekend to exchange some clothes I had bought for the boys. With the court delay, we no longer need shorts and warm-weather-wear until next summer. So I returned several items and picked up the cold-weather version. What a shock our little boys are in for when they arrive in Minnesota just in time for winter!