Court Date postponed! Ugh!

The morning of our court date I awoke and ran to my computer to see if there was any news from Ethiopia. Hoping with the time difference we would have already passed court and would be officially declared Tessa's parents!

Sadly, the opposite occured. The email from our social worker said that our court date had been postponed an entire month due to Universal Children's Day....a holiday in Ethiopia! Apparently, a government agency there, MOWA had needed to prepare a specific letter for our case, but this was not done due to the holiday. So, they postponed it. HUGE bummer.

Although, the court date officially makes us Tessa's family, I already love her and know she is my daughter. The courts process really just makes it official so we can go and pick her up ASAP! So, to have more time added onto this wait to have her in our arms is excurciating!

How I wish the Ethiopian government was able to govern its courts with the children's best interests first and foremost! It just doesn't seem like that is the case with such occurences. The irony of the postponement of our court date is that it was due to the holiday there, Universal Children's Day. This holiday was established in 1954 by the UN to bring awareness to children's welfare! Crazy!

The waiting continues....we will hope for the best in December. But realize this could actually happen again. So, we look ahead and focus on the big picture, knowing our daughter is coming.

Court date!!!!

At last.....we have our court date! November 20th!!!! We will wait for this date and hope and pray that it isn't delayed. Delays are always possible in Ethiopia...but I am putting no energy into that and will instead hope for the court to be moved up! ;) When we pass court we will officially have been declared Tessa's parents in the eyes of Ethiopia. At that time we can post a photo of our sweet girl. And then we will be one big step closer to setting our travel plans.

I can't wait!

Here is a photo of the boys trying on their halloween costumes....

Our clown, Bob

While there are many moments of frustration because we still haven't been assigned a court date for Tessa, there are also moments like these photos.  The boys outside with our silly doggy Bob, who is now almost 5 months old.  And then tonight we came home from dinner out to find Bob greeting us at the door with a Halloween basket stuck on his head!  Somehow he managed to loop the handle around his leg and really was stuck!  It was hysterical!  I love a good laugh and boy, did Bob give it to me bumping into things and trying to follow us!  Of course, I had to run and get our digital and video cameras to document the moment!  AFV here we come!!

Mud Puddles!

Jack and I had more fun today than should be allowed!  After preschool we came home to such a rainy day and huge mud puddles in the driveway, which is gravel right now and will be cement by next week.  It was just too tempting!  So, I ran for my camera to capture Jack jumping in puddles.  Clean up was a warm bath...well, worth all the dirty fun!

We are waiting for the Ethiopian courts to re-open in October to be assigned a court date.  I am crossing my fingers that we may get one in later October.  It may be wishful thinking, but why not!  The sooner the better!  Tessa is always on my mind.  I love to look at her sweet photos and can't wait to hold her.  Oh sweet girl we are so excited to know you!  It can't happen soon enough...so lets keep hoping for court to come soon and to be extra lucky for a quick travel date!  More on all of that as the fall progresses...it is the first day of fall!

Life is but a dream....

You know the song   "Life is but a dream"... ?   It is stuck in my head!!

Here are the lyrics...by Dion

Will you take part in my life, my love?
That is my dream

Life is but a dream; it's what you make it
Always try to give; don't ever take it
Life has its music, life has its song of love, love

Life is but a dream, & I dream of you
Strange as it seems, all night I see you
I'm tryin' to tell you just what you mean to me

Wo I love you with all my heart
I adore you & all your lovin' charms
I want you to do your part
Come here to my open arms

Life is but a dream, & we can live it
Oh we can make a love none to com
That is my dreamm (life is but a dream

That pretty much sums up how I feel!  Life is a dream for me and I am so grateful.  To top it off, we are having the most beautiful weather and somehow it feels like it is reflecting just how joyful I am feeling.  

We have now given our sweet girl her first name...drum roll, please......Tessa!  Her name comes from her Ethiopian name Tesfanesh, which means "you are hope".  We had never considered this name before her referral and it is unlike other names I had been obsessing about for years.  Tessa feels like a very beautiful and special name from both us and her Ethiopian name.  What is really wild is that one of the meanings of Tessa in Greek is "fourth child"!  I had already fallen in love with this name, while talking with Marcie, and then looked it up on-line and saw that it was fate!  And as I look at her photos I see a little girl who to me looks like Tessa.  

Life is but a dream...sweet Tessa...sweet Tessa... sweet Tessa....sweet Tessa....sweet Tessa...sweet Tessa

Please join us in celebrating!!!! Referral!!!

Please join us in celebrating the referral for our sweet girl!!!!  Here we are with a referral for a beautiful 10 week old baby girl.  We are blessed beyond measure and over joyed!  She is healthy, healthy, healthy.   She is beautiful...with big brown eyes, baby smooth brown sugar skin, and beautiful long curls.  I wish I could share the 2 photos I have with you but I can not until we pass court and she is officially our daughter.  We feel so much love for her and can't wait to have her in our arms and bring her home.

Her given name is Tesfanesh.  I believe the name is pronounced just as it is spelled.  It is a bit of a tongue twister!  For now, we are calling her "T".  Eventually, we will know what her name will be.  I already have many thoughts, but we haven't decided just yet.  I can say that her name literally means "you are hope".  How perfect is that!?  It amazes me actually....this journey to her has all been about hope!!!

Everything appears to be in order.  No problems with paperwork....no issues that could cause delays.  This is a comfort to us.  We will now wait to be assigned a court date, hopefully this fall, and then after we pass court will make arrangements to travel about 8-12 weeks later.  We are hopeful that she could bring her home when she is 6-7 months old!  

The boys were very excited to see T's photo.  I gave each of them a photo turned upside-down and had them flip it over at the same time.  This photo shows their reactions!   yeh!

Thank you all for your support during this roller-coaster of a journey.  I pray it is smooth sailing from here.  Our hearts are still mending from the heart-break of Tirunesh.    While she is not far from our thoughts or hearts, we are so over-joyed that we have arrived at this place with the referral for our daughter and do not feel that the joy of this has been tainted in any way.  It is just as amazing and joyful!  We will pray for both "T"'s and their adoption journeys to their forever families.  

Art Fair

What an amazing day it was to sit outside at the Northwind perennial garden and show my art work.  I so enjoyed the day with Marcie, who encouraged me to submit my work for the art fair.  We took in all the art, the gardens and goodies all around us.  The weather could not have been better.  It was wonderful!  Marcie's 6 month old sweet baby boy, Max, was such a delight.  He was all smiles and snuggles and even took a nap on a blanket outside.  I got lots of time to hold Max and imagine holding our daughter in the future.  It was a great day to fill myself up with all things beautiful and wonderful...friendship, babies, art and nature!