OK, so I have not become the blogger I had hoped to. Life is so busy & I just haven't made a way to squeeze blogging into it...so to all of you friends & family who had hoped I would keep you in the loop via blogging...sorry! So much has happened since I was last on here - where do I even begin?!!

In about December, we got the phone call from our agency telling us that our court date would be in February. Shortly after that, we found out that Daniel had to have back surgery & would be unable to travel to Ethiopia for court. However, my Dad willingly joined me & it was the trip of a lifetime! I got to meet our precious little Samantha & have 3 visits with her - totaling about 6 hours altogether. The moment I laid eyes on her & her nanny put her in my arms, my heart melted. There was no doubting that she was indeed the child I had been dreaming of for SO long! I am so thankful that I got the chance to meet her & spend time with her when she was only 8 months old. However, leaving her behind in that orphanage was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. There are no words to describe how painful it was to leave her there.

After I returned home, we were very anxious & hopeful that we would be able to return for her within 6-8 weeks. No such luck! There had been some missing paperwork for our file when I had been to court in Ethiopia. Our hope had been for legal custody to have been granted the day I appeared before the judge back in February, however that was not the case. What should have been a short wait, turned into a long one...we waited 10 LONG weeks before our custody was granted! There are lots of details of it all, that would just take me too long to start explaining right now. The good news is that once our custody was finalized, thing started moving again (rather quickly indeed)!

In just 2 days, we are leaving to Ethiopia to go get our little Samantha & bring her home! Daniel will be able to travel to Ethiopia this time...praise God! We are so thankful that he will be able to be a part of the journey & have the opportunity to experience Ethiopia this time! Having already been there once myself, I can tell you it IS an amazing land - there are no pictures or video that could ever fully do justice in describing it.

Even more exciting is that we have decided to bring our oldest son, Jonah, with us as well! We are so thankful to be able to give him this opportunity, which I know he will hold in his heart forever. As if that wasn't cool enough, Jonah will also have the experience of turning 9 in Africa!!! Who can say that they got to have their Bday in Africa? Oh wait, I can!!! I had my Birthday in Africa back in February. My dad had secretly planned for the staff at our guest house to bake me a cake & surprise me with it after lunch! They all sang Happy Birthday to me first in English & then in Amharic...it was awesome! I can't wait to do the same for Jonah! =)

The excitement I am experiencing right now is beyond words. This adoption began as just a little whisper within our hearts many, many years ago. To finally be walking into the fulfillment of this promise that God has given us is AMAZING!!! Thank you to all of you for your support & prayers! We are going to Africa to bring home our baby just in time for her Birthday!!!

We would truly appreciate your continued prayers for our upcoming journey! To those of you in the area, consider yourselves officially invited to the happiest homecoming ever at SeaTac airport on June 4th - we are flying home on Lufthansa & we land at 11:05 a.m. =)

~Christina