Most Recent Ramdomness

1) I've been directed to a really cool guest house in ET. There's a link under the websites I like on the right but here it is in case you want to check it out. Ethiopian Guest House was begun by a family who adopted through our agency. It's super swank.

2) Rienne mowed the lawn today under her dad's direction. The kid was amazing! Dustin took photos of the momentous occasion. It's such a big kid thing to do. Where did our little baby go?She's super motivated to help us around the house to earn extra cash. She wants her own iPod. She's got a LONG way to go to save up for one of those.

3) 2 out of 3 kids had ears pierced last Sat. Number 3 goes tomorrow. I will post pics of the proud little girls tomorrow.

4) Dustin and I are praying like crazy that we can have Jonas home before Christmas. It would be such a sweet Christmas gift to be able to spend the holiday finally together as a family. We'll see. All my nerves are on hold until I see the courts reopen. But, once the courts reopen the anxiety and sense of urgency will come flooding back with a vengeance (not that I don't feel the deepest sense of urgency to have my son home with me... it's just that I've accepted that nothing can happen during the closure and made peace with it.) I will be interested to see what kind of progress happens in Oct. The first group of families w/ our agency have court dates Oct 8th. I am hopeful they will pass immediately w/ no complications. Last year there were some hold ups which AWAA took responsibility for. They are confident such will not be the case this year but there is uncertainty about what to expect because international adoptions in ET have exploded since last year. We are told that there are now 71 adoption agencies licensed to facilitate adoptions in ET. They all want to get their people pushed through courts as well. It will be interesting to see how the courts handle the influx of cases. I pray God's hand will move these cases swiftly along and get these kids out of institutional care in into their homes!

The girls are growing more anxious to get their hands on Jonas too. Rienne has broken down in tears a few times wishing her brother could be here. The wait is getting to her now that she has seen his photos. She's such an incredibly sweet and caring girl and having the photo has helped her to really experience the reality of her little brother's existence (not much unlike her mom int hat way ;)). Rory and Ally talk about the big plans they have for him. Plans to read him books and play games with him. Poor Jonas will have 4 mothers to deal with I am afraid.

That's all I can think of for now.