Get Out the Fireworks, We Got a Court Date!!!!

So two days before we would have missed having our court date before the rainy season and we recieved an AWESOME and UNEXPECTED phone call...We have a court date, August 2nd in Addis Ababa.  And now the moment we have been waiting for for over a year has come.  I'm sure the fireworks on Monday were really for Isaac!!!!

Fireworks from Arrow Point, Coeur d' Alene, ID

It's kind of weird when you adopt.  You immediately start out thinking about the moment you will meet your child, romanticize the moment along with the travel to go get them (forgetting about the long and difficult trip back home) and start thinking of all of the things you will want to take on the trip.  And then you get distracted with a bunch of "busy work" home studies, learning patience, government paperwork, adoption education, agency paperwork, learning MORE patience, fundraising, government processing changes, lots of questions on how the process is going (which requires more patience) and then all of a sudden you have four weeks to get everything together for a trip half way across the world and it just seems surreal. 

Our current flight plan (to be revised in the morning), will take 44 hours and 21 of those hours will be spent in Amsterdam (hoping we can see the Wernars while we are there!).  The cost is about two times of what we budgeted.  So we are trying to check all options a little bit more before we commit.  Eeeeekkk..

Almost an emotional paralysis.  A year ago, I had a list of things to take started, but now I am scouring the internet for a better checklist.  I watched a couple of videos over the weekend where people had seven EXTRA LARGE bags packed.  This did not include the carry-on luggage.  Now I haven't done this go across the world to spend time in court, but somehow, I think this is a bit excessive.  I have traveled internationally with two suitcases and feel that that is excessive so it will be interesting to see how this goes.

We won't be bringing Isaac home this time, but we will be getting to spending time with him, moving him to his new foster home (that will provide more stability, food and care for him and make room for another kiddo in his home region), and then when we come back for the Embassy appointment (we still don't know when), we will be able to see him and start caring for him ourselves immediately.

So, in other words, your prayers are working.  Please keep praying for the little details to work out and for our safety in health in the travel, Isaac's continued safety and health and for those who are caring for him.

Many blessings!