Week 25

Week 25: Court Closure

The Ethiopia courts are closed effective yesterday, Aug 21, 2009 until the end of September, for the rainy season. There had been conflicting information over the past few weeks from various sources as to whether the courts were going to close or not this year. For families waiting on court dates, those dates will be scheduled after the courts reopen. Referrals should continue while court is out, however many things do slow down in Ethiopia when the courts are closed; therefore no court dates can be given for those families who would receive a referral, until it reopens. Families whose adoptions have been finalized in the court before court closed will still be able to travel to pick up their children even though the courts are closed. The courts remained open longer this year as generally they close at the beginning of August, however with so many abandonment cases that were held up over the past several months, they remained open longer to process those children.

PS Due to my recurrent negligence, the last couple "Fun Fact Fridays" have actually been "Fun Fact Saturdays." Turns out probably no one notices, but still, it sort of makes the name less accurate. Better luck next time. Happy Saturday.

Encounters of the Sweetest Kind

The nephews stopped in for a visit, on their way between Hither and Yon. It was so fun to see them!


"Yogi"


Andrew

As highlights, we went out to lunch, played on the swings, and made homemade ice cream.

Come on back anytime, boys! (Oh, and feel free to bring your parents.) :)

Week 24

Week 24: Adoption Process

1. Apply to Agency
2. Home Study
3. Gather Remaining Dossier Pages
These include:
a) Letter stating reason adopting from Ethiopia
b) Photos of applicants and home
c) Employment Letters
d) Medical Letters
e) Financial Statement
f) Birth Certificates
g) Marriage Certificate
h) Police Letters
i) Three signed references
j) Letter of Obligation for Post-adoption
k) Passort ID Pages
l) Qualification for Naturalization
m) Passport Photos
4. USCIS (Immigration) approval to bring an orphan into the country (this includes fingerprinting and such.
5. Parenting and Adoption Education (this can be done simultaneously with aforementioned document-gathering)
6. State Certification (Once you have all of the above documents, they must be certified in their state of origin)
7. National Certification
8. Certification at Ethiopian Embassy
9. On the Waiting List (currently wait times have been around 11-12 months.)
10. Get a referral.
11. Pass Court (usually about 3 months after referral)
12. Travel for visa appointment and pick up the baby! (A few weeks after court)
13. Come home and Live Happily Ever After.

The *Revised and Now Officially* Official Unveiling of the Kitchen.

I am so pleased to introduce to you... The New and Improved Kitchen! (Now without dead fruit!)

(Click on a picture to see it bigger.)

Before:


And After:


Before:


And After:


Also note the unbelievable cuteness of my curtains!

(The others across the room are the same, but with yellow as the under-color. You can see them each in their original habitat in the above pictures if you look closely.)

And my favorite (and currently only) piece of decor!


As seen here on the otherwise naked walls:

Because I Know You All Find It So Terribly Exciting

Here are more earth-shattering pictures of goings-on in my yard.


She Lives Indeed.


And my pet Hummingbird.
Ok, not a pet. But still a hummingbird. He likes my feeder.

Home Grown.

Well, my tomatoes plants are very tall, but all the actual tomatoes are still very much green. Hopefully with a few hot days here that'll change...