We're Going to Ethiopia!!!

Finally, finally we have been issued a court date.  Almost four months to the day from when we got our referral, we learned that the MOWYCA letter required to receive a court date was received for our case and we were scheduled for court on March 29^th. 

We actually found out in kind of a roundabout way.  James and I were on our way home from an overnight in Boston.  The day before, we had been invited to attend a AAA Four Diamond Award luncheon as the inn was receiving its 27^th consecutive four diamond status (yeah us!).  James surprised me by having his parents watch the girls while we got to spend an adult evening partying like rock stars in Boston.  Since it was a Tuesday (historically, Tuesdays have been the days on which court dates are assigned), I had all my toes and fingers crossed that we would get our much anticipated call or email right in the middle of the luncheon and would then spend the remainder of the day celebrating.  I’m not sure why I conjure up fantasies like these as inevitably, I am disappointed.  Still, the lack of news didn’t damper our time in Boston.  We even ate at a great Ethiopian restaurant for dinner that evening. 

On our way back to the Cape, I got a message from another adoptive mother who is also working with our agency and is at about the same point as us in the process.  She had just spoken to the social worker at the agency and learned that a court date had been issued.  Since our two families were at the top of the list waiting for dates, she assumed that the family was ours.  But our inboxes sat empty and our phones didn’t ring no matter how much I attempted to will it to life.  Since I was driving, I pleaded with James to send an email to the agency to at least find out if our MOWYCA letter had been received.  The good news was that a court date had been assigned.  This meant the courts had reopened and things were moving.  The bad news was that we were still in the dark about our case.

About an hour later, we pulled into the driveway and were unloading the car.  James’ inbox chime sounded, and I noticed him checking the message.  “Guess what?” he said.  “That court date was ours!!!”  My heart skipped a beat and I did a little happy dance.  “We’re going to Ethiopia!!”  I screamed at the top of my lungs.

But for every step forward, there seems to be a caveat.  The email announcing our court date also instructed not book our flights just yet as they have to check something about our travel dates with the Ethiopian staff.  So, nearly 48 hours later, we are eagerly awaiting the go ahead to book and as each hour passes, we get more and more nervous that there is something wrong.

If all goes smoothly, though, our court date is scheduled for March 29^th.  Since we plan to travel throughout Ethiopia during this first trip, we hope to fly out on the 14^th and include an 8-9 day itinerary to sightsee in the Northern part of the country before returning to Addis to meet our son and proceed with the court hearing.

And so, once again, we wait for an email or phone call officially telling us we are going to meet…..holy cow!  My inbox chime just sounded.  Instinctively, I grabbed my phone and there it was.  An email forwarded to me by James from our agency.  We are cleared to book our flights.  Time to get packing!!  We're finally going to meet Kaleb.