Wednesday morning was our court appointment. Woudneh had told us he wanted to leave early so that we could get right in and not have to wait a long time. We were all anxious to get it over with. Up until that morning, I hadn't allowed myself to think about not passing. My nervousness was really from not knowing what to expect. I also knew this would decide if we could move on the next step of getting an embassy appointment. When we arrived, we went into this small building and rode the elevator to the third floor. We walked into the room, and it was already full of adoptive couples waiting. We thought we would be there a long time waiting but it went by quickly. The clerk began calling out names for people to go in to see the judge. We just sat there watching them come out one at a time. We noticed that they all came out smiling and celebrating. I was thinking, okay hopefully they don't give out only so many "passes" a day. J/K We also sat there watching birth mothers come in to give up their rights. Wow, I had a hard time holding in all my tears. If any of you know me well, you know I cry a lot. Sad, happy, angry, nervous...It doesn't take much to get me going.
We were the last couple to be called from our group. The Crums and the Veals both received good news, and the clerk came out and called for us. The judge was very young and pretty. She asked us to sit and she began asking us some questions. She had a very gentle tone and smiled. I had already decided that I was going to let Vince answer for us. I was too afraid that once I began to speak, I would begin crying and not be able to stop. She asked us how many biological children we have and if they are happy about us adopting. She also asked if we had studied the Ethiopian culture and had the necessary training. She also asked if we had met our sons. After answering everything, she looked at us and smiled and said "Congratulations, they are yours"! It was such a relief! I immediately began to cry. Such a joyous time! We knew at that point that Yonas and Yosef were officially our children.
The front of the building
Not a very good picture, but we were giving the thumbs up!
Ready to celebrate
We spent all day Wednesday driving all over Addis and was able to see some amazing things. Woudneh was a wonderful host. We had an amazing time with him. Here are some pictures of our day.
Addis University
This was a Christian Orthodox church at the top of a mountain. It is over 150 years old. I didn't get any good pictures from the inside, but it was beautiful. All of the walls were hand painted with pictures from stories and people of the Bible. We had a tour guide that led us through the church and explained a lot of the history.
Vince taking his turn at playing the drums in the church. This was our tour guide along with Eric. He led us in a time of singing and chants and let us play the instruments.
We ate lunch at the Sheraton Hotel. It was very nice!
The food was really good
Ethiopia's take on Starbucks
I don't have any pictures of our shopping that day, but we all enjoyed it. Woudneh knows exactly where to go and helped us with prices dealing with all the people on the street. It is difficult to have people come up to you asking for money knowing that you cannot give them anything. Woudneh told us that our driver could be ticketed if any of us were to give money. It is also not the best thing to do because you will be swarmed with people once they see you give something. I never felt unsafe just sad really. Especially when you see mothers with their children.
That evening we went to Woudneh's home for dinner. We got to spend time with his wife and children. Oh, how we fell in love with them. It was such a special time. I wish I had pictures, but our camera battery decided to give out earlier in the day.
Thursday we were able to spend more time shopping while the Crums and the Veals went back to their orphanage. Woudneh took us around. At one point while we were waiting for Woudneh we went to a cafe called Frullato's. It was fun to sit in there and listen to everyone around us talking, not having a clue as to what they were saying. Hopefully they weren't talking about us!
Later that afternoon, we visited a dentist who is a friend of Woudneh's. His family happened to be there for an appointment, so we did get some pictures. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of his wife.
This was our group with our driver, Yonas. I loved driving around Addis. The following is something I wrote in my journal while riding with him.
"Our driver has been wonderful! He is a very good driver and a bit stubborn. We found that he does not back down. It is thrilling to ride around cars and cutting out in front of traffic. Everyone here uses their horn to let you know they are coming. That means you better watch out! They don't really follow traffic laws, but we did see someone getting a ticket today."
We went back to our hotel to spend some down time before leaving. We enjoyed coffee and having some time to sit down and talk with Woudneh. We were sad to see our time come to an end, but I was so ready to get home to Abby and Gracie!
This is Daniel, one of our servers at our hotel. Vince spent a good amount of time getting to know him. We have been keeping in touch. Hopefully we will be able to see him when we go back. We invited him to come stay with us if he ever makes it to the US.
Finally on our way home.
Kelli
