I think we have things all set. Spent last night running some last minute errands then went to dinner at Camarones at the chandler fashion mall. Wow it is really some of the best mexican food we have ever had. We both got vegetarian dishes, and really tasty stuff.  We even went and saw Star trek last night. For those that know us, we rarely see movies at the theatre. Not really sure why, just not our thing. 

Got home kind of late, then spent a few hours packing. In bed by midnight. 

4 big suitcases and 2 carry-ons. All under the max sizes and weights (which was the hard part for carry-ons).

The travel plan:
PHX to LAX via commuter.
LAX to Dubai  (stay sunday night)
Dubai to Addis monday morning.  

Please say a prayer for us. We’ll try and post something on the blog if we get access to an internet cafe somewhere.

Our case was not heard today, even though all the paperwork was in order.  The Ministry of Woman’s Affairs wanted a meeting to clarify why the piece of paper was incorrect last week and they did not have time today to have the meeting.  There is a meeting tomorrow with our agency, the orphanage, and MOWA to discuss our case.  If all goes well, and I am holding onto my last shred of hope that it will, the judge will hear our case sometime after that.  It could be tomorrow, or it could be next week.

Today was not it either.  We might hear something tomorrow, or next week.

10 families did not pass court last Friday, we were the only ones rescheduled.  The other nine families didn’t even have their cases heard.  When I heard why they didn’t pass on Friday I was absolutely devastated for them, and worried for the future of the Ethiopia adoption program.  Unfortunately not all people involved in international adoption act ethically.  They facilitate adoptions where the children are not actually orphans, but rather someone’s child.  Because a few people working in the adoption field in Ethiopia acted unethically, nine families hearts were broken on Friday.  No one from our agency was involved in the alleged acts, but these families were still affected.  Their cases are on hold until the Ethiopian government can figure out how to properly handle the situation.  The government does not want to risk children who are not orphans being adopted, neither do adoptive parents or ethical adoption agencies.  Please pray for these families, their children, and the government of Ethiopia.  I can only imagine the pain of these families, knowing their babies’ faces, but not knowing when the wait will end.  When you adopt, you fall in love at different rates, but most all fall in love before they ever travel.  These families love these children and want what is best for the children, please pray.

For some info and overall feelings on corruption in international adoption you can start with this blog post and click on some of the links if you want.