Lamentations 3:21 "This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope"

I can definitely see how memory is a two edged sword. If I spend time remembering the promise of watching my 3 children swim and play together this summer I could quite easily become bitter and angry. Right now I am choosing instead to remember God's work in our lives and have hope. The way He brought Y and E to us so unexpectedly, allowing me to meet them in October, grafting them so thoroughly in my heart so that I do feel the pang of each day without them, providing them with water when none seemed possible...These are tangible memories I have already seen come to pass. I cannot wait to add a passed court date to this list, I have great hope our time will come soon.

Check out these sweet pictures of our memorial weekend get-away. We are hoping to bring 4x as many children next year!

We have new information about our children. Please pray for a speedy investigation into the alleged abandonment issues in Addis. We are very blessed to know our children's birth stories and to have seen pictures and been there in person. I am confident our children's relinquishment was done in an ethical way and for that we are beyond grateful. At this point we will not be "heard in court anyday" We will have to wait and see what happens with this situation.
I am glad the government is investigating when they see red flags, I only hope they have enough manpower to do it quickly.
We are really missing them...

I know there are some people who follow this blog because they too have ethio-american families. This is a website you can follow right now that will give updates as to the current situation in Ethiopia. We honestly don't know if our case is being held up because our children were abandoned or because they are just lost in a sea of open cases. We also don't know yet the name of the orphanage where little Y is staying in Addis...

Some photo-heavy posts!

While we were in Florida we surprised John Harvey's cousins at Disney World. Meeting Mickey was definitely a highlight!

Seeing Woody...Priceless!

at the parade

By mid day John Harvey was exhausted, but I am so glad we stayed for this parade! So many characters came up to "us" to say hi.

John Harvey on the roller coaster at Disney

We had such a fun trip to disney 2 weeks ago. John Harvey's FAVORITE ride was definitely this roller coaster. I couldn't resist snapping pics of his face to bring home and show Ben. He was not afraid at all. The darker rides scared him a bit...snow white and peter pan especially.

We received another update...which doesn't tell us much.
What we know:

1. We should have all of the right paperwork to pass court
2. Open cases are ALL heard on Wednesdays.
3. Our agency alone has 30 open cases (some open since Feb)
4. There are many, many agencies in Ethiopia
5. Some of the open cases are being reassigned court dates in July
6. Once we do pass we will be able to travel in 6 weeks

All of this sounds so daunting. I am tempted to look at this situation and see a lot of human error and an overwhelmed system. The truth is Ethiopia just has sooo many adoptions going on right now and I guess that does make me sad. Last night I was so angry with the knowledge it could take weeks for someone to look favorably on us and hear our case. And the truth is nobody can tell us exactly what is going on. Today I am just sad when I realize the "backlog" is actually hundreds of children unable to be raised by their first families in their first country. I have such great assurance that God will redeem our children's losses. Trusting that this wait will be worthwhile and for His glory comes with more difficulty

Thanks for wanting an update. We truly appreciate all of your prayers and concerns for our family. JH and I had a fabulous time in Florida. he loved the beach too much and I will upload pics as soon as we get our new computer in a week or two.
Our latest family update is to tell you Ethiopia has temporarily suspended the hearing of all adoption cases for children abandoned in Addis. Our children were abandoned in Nazaret, but as of now they seem to be part of the group. We trust God to be the same faithful God we have always depended on. They will be coming home in His perfect timing, but definitely affected by this broken world and broken system.

Wow. I really promised to update everyday! Right after I posted that my computer got a terrible virus. Not great for our computer, but a sweet time for me personally. I have felt such freedom knowing I couldn't check other's court cases or obsess about an email on ours.
We just heard from our agency on Saturday. They have the "missing papers" now and are planning to submit our case to court again on Wednesday. This is the day they have set aside to hear the open cases, so I hope we get heard and I really hope they pass! If we do pass, we hope to travel to get them the week of June 2nd.
JH and I are off to Florida tomorrow...