Another Good Update

It has been another rollercoaster of a day in our house. First of all, because I am stuck in bed sick. Sick again. My stress level during the last few months has seriously compromised my immune system. I have never been sick this much. I feel like I'm catching every single thing I'm exposed to. I am so lucky to have a wonderful husband who took the day off to take care of me and our kids. Thanks hunny!

The day started out by finding out that some adoption friends of ours received their long awaited travel clearance! They traveled for court a week before us, and even though they had NOT been selected for investigation, were still waiting.  Their daughter is a good friend of our little L. Luke and Megan, we are so happy for you!!! Go get your little girl!!! :-)

The news we were waiting for today was whether or not the Vice Consular Cheif went down to our daughter's birth area to work on our case. We knew that he was supposed to go there this week, but with all the holidays in Ethiopia this week, we were starting to doubt that he would go. The embassy was closed on Monday for MLK Jr. Day. Closed a half day Tuesday and all of Wednesday for the Ethiopian Epiphany celebration, Timkat. Today was their only full day in the office this week because Friday is always a half day for them. So you can imagine, each hour that ticked away this morning discouraged us a little more.

Finally around noon, we received word that the Vice Consular Cheif is in our daughter's birth area right now! (Please pray for the work he's doing). He will wrap up his investigation tomorrow, and return to the office next week. I'm assuming on Monday.  We are very hopeful that this means we are nearing the end of these investigations. It is not out of the question that we will find out we've been cleared for travel next week, though I'm not getting my hopes up. My hopes have been crushed too many times over the past few months, and I am guarding my heart this time.

Another bit of good news that came out of today is the embassy schedule. Normally, the embassy gives each ASP (adoption service provider) one embassy appointment every two weeks. At each of these appointments, only 10 children can appear for their visas.  This is usually enough to get all families through in a timely manner, but at the moment, most ASP's have a huge backlog of families waiting for embassy. To remedy the situation, the embassy is working on making changes to their schedule. We don't know any concrete information yet, but it sounds like they are planning to open up more dates for families to travel. This will get kids home sooner and clear the backlogs faster. Good news for everyone who is currently anywhere in this process!

So there you have it! Another good update! I'm having a hard time getting too excited, but I'm finally starting to feel like we may be in the home stretch.

Please pray for:
*The Vice Consular Cheif as he wraps up his investigations in Southern Ethiopia
*The embassy workers to process his findings quickly
*Patience for our family and others as we wait to hear more news next week
*That our news next week will include a TRAVEL CALL!