Life As Another Big Sister

Life is definitely different around here. Jeremiah is as crazy as you would think a 3 year old boy would act. Screaming and running around. Acting....... like a boy. I've lived with a sister for 8 years, and with a little boy in the house, it's a change. There are really great parts about it and very difficult parts about it too. Homework is harder now that there is always a distraction close by. Just today he wanted me to hold him instead of mom. That was one of the many blessings of Jeremiah being here. He also has a lot of humor in his little personality. Dancing and singing around the house. It's hard to tell what his future will look like. Will he be a famous entertainer, or a mini Lebron James? :) I know for a fact that there will be many more hurdles along this journey and also many more blessings to follow.

Mallory age 11

yay! for being a big sister

It is  so fun being a big sister to Jeremiah.Before Jeremiah was here I was the youngest it was not very fun to me.Being a big sister is a big responsibility.I remember when I was 6 at the table with my family and my parents told my sister and I that we were adopting I started crying after a few minutes because I wanted to adopt from China  but after a few days I got over it. Gods the one who called us to adopt from Ethiopia and now I'm so happy that he has a real family and will learn to love God.

                               _

                                   Courtney age 8

2 weeks home

It's hard to believe it, but we have been home for 2 weeks! Jeremiah continues to amaze us with how well he has adjusted up to this point. He is still eating great, sleeping great, and generally happy. Of course, he can throw a fit with the best of the three year old out there when he doesn't get his way, but what else do you expect from a 3 yr old?? We have started to get out for a few outings and he seems to enjoy getting out. We have hit Target, Costco, a quick appearance at church last Sunday and lunch with Courtney. He pretty much has "rock star status" at Grassland Elementary. With such a long wait, Mallory and Courtney's classmates have also been waiting to FINALLY get to meet Jeremiah. He really gets excited when he is around other children. While we are at school, he really wants to be around the kids and check out what they are doing. He gives high fives/handshakes to everyone on his own initiative. He was well trained by his nannies in the "greeting" category.

He is repeating a lot of things that we say but is still speaking mostly in Ahmaric. We can understand what he is trying to tell us some of the time but there are many times that we are left scratching our heads. The girls are great teachers and are having fun teaching him words which is nice to have reinforcement. They are also great playmates for Jeremiah. He will play outside with them while I am inside. This really is such a blessing that he feels comfortable enough to do this. Many children at this point wouldn't feel comfortable leaving our side. He likes sticking close to me when we are here around the house together.  He really like sticking close to us when we get too close to our dog, Sam.  Who's afraid of the big bad "woof"??.... yes that would be Jeremiah! We feel like he is making BABY steps of improvement but we still have a LONG way to go.

He calls every van, truck, and or bus a "beep beep" and gets the most excited about seeing the big beep beep in the afternoon that brings the girls home. That is a great time of day, as is the time of day when daddy comes home! Both of those moments each day melt our hearts.... his excitement, the look on his face.... what a gift!

We have taken many pictures and video of Jeremiah. I am hoping this works but we will try to give you a little glimpse into his personality and his dance moves. He keep us smiling and keeps the girls looking for new ways to get him dancing!

Home!

We are home and so thankful to be here and living life as a family of 5! I have been trying to find a moment to update the blog it has taken me until today to find a little window. So many of you have been so kind to check in and make sure we arrived safely so I wanted to let you all know that yes we did!
The flights went so much better than we could have ever hoped. Jeremiah fell asleep before we even took off from Addis and slept somewhere between 6 and 7 hours. He had a very active few hours in his seat, no interest in watching movies, but was never really too upset. His little friend was in the seat in front of him and she would stand up and check in with him every once in awhile. He took one more nap beforer we landed in DC and began our 8 hour layover. He really did great that day and even took a 2 hour nap on a pallet we had made onthe floor of an empy gate area. Another major blessing! The last flight was fine until the last 45 minute when he was "actively" playing with the tray table and some strong opinions about whether he wanted it up or down. When it came time to descend, he wan't happy that it had to be up. As he was melitng down, the flight attendant asked if his ears were hurting. I said "no, he is unhappy about the tray table",. She looked at him and pointed to the tray table and said "NO" and he never uttered another peep. I asked her if she would come home with us (haha).
 We had a great welcoming committee at the airport and were so thankful to see so many loved ones and of course the girls were THRILLED/RELIEVED to see us. It was so surreal to get into the car as a family of 5 and make the drive home. To see him in our car after all the waiting, delays, prayers, etc..... amazing!

We had a great weekend... amazing weather to enjoy and a perfect timing to have the girls at home for 2 days. Our good friends from Birmingham had come up to welcome us home so we were able to spend some time with them on Saturday and enjoy watching Jeremiah explore his new world.  It was a weekend of many firsts.... first time on a tricycle, first ride in a wagon, first time to sleep in his new room,  first time he took a bath without crying, first time he went to the bathroom for us on the regular toilet and not the small one that I have to clean out.. (woohoo) and many others. We continue to be amazed at how well he has done and the strides he continues to make is amazing. He is so happy in the mornings and when he does get upset, it is usually because we have not allowed him to do something or have something he can't have. As I said before... typical 3 yr old behavior.

As I was reflecting about the past week and thinking about how all this has gone so well, I realized that I shouldn't be so shocked. The Lord has answered our prayers and given us the gift of a great first week. At any point in time, Jeremiah could begin to have a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad month. He has been through so many changes this week, but he has demonstrated his childlike faith in us. He falls asleep in our arms, he follows us when we ask him to, he wants to be with us and he doesn't try to run away from us.  I think we can learn so much from Jeremiah about what it looks like to have childlike faith in our heavenly father!

I will try to keep you all updated on how he is doing but until then a few pictures and a big THANK YOU for keeping us in your prayers, for all your support, your encouragement, your excitement and walking with us on this journey to our son. He is a gift from the Lord and all of this has been worth it!

Let's get on that airplane!

I'm feeling very sleepy!

This Dulles Airport floor is a great place to nap!

First tricycle ride

First Wagon Ride

Tony's wishful thinking!!

Day 2.. another great day!

We had a great night! He slept all through the night. Unfortunately, the time change was not working well for Tony and me.. both of us we a little turned round and didn't sleep great but we are not complaining! We continue to be amazed at this little guy. He woke up, looked over at our bed and just grinned at us. He never seemed upset or scared which just blows our minds. He ate a LARGE breakfast. The boy can eat and it comes to a point where we really have to cut him off.  There are different theories on this but I think some of it has to do with the fact that he is experiencing some fears during this change and he can control himself eating therefore he is going to just eat and eat. Another thought is that he had to fight for toys and turns at the Transitional home. Nothing was his. This may spill over into the food department.... fear that someone might steal what is on his plate.  This is something that many adoptive families deal with so we are not surprised, just have to have some strategy and a plan on our part as parents. 

The boy is Independent... yes with a capitol "I". He can dress himself, feed himself with utensils, brush his own teeth and wants to do everything else on his own. Some of this is normal 3 yr old behavior but he obviously was not babied at the transition home. The nannies have to train them young to do some of these things for themselves. 

Our morning was easy in the Jeremiah category but hard in the emotional category. We went with another couple and their baby to visit an organization called Embracing Hope.  you can read more about it at the link below if you are interested but the basic info is that it is a new organization in Korah that provides daycare for single mothers so that they can go work and provide for her family. Korah is about 30 minutes outside of Addis and is the community where the trash from Addis Ababa is taken. Embracing Hope is just a few blocks from the actual dump so this area would be considered a step up from the actual community next to the trash dump.  We toured the facility and were encouraged by the work that this one ministry is having on this community of women. As result, these women are able to keep their children and they are not forced to give them over to the care of an orphanage. 

Next, we went a few blocks over to visit Project 61. This organization was started by a woman from Tennessee and is partnered with a church in Thompson Station. Tony and I have sponsored a teenage boy for almost 2 years and were hoping to get to meet him. I was very last minute letting them know we were coming out there so unfortunately we weren't able to meet Zelalum. However, what we did see was hard to see. Once you have seen how these children live, it is hard not to want to do something. No one will ever solve poverty but there are so many ways to help one person. Both of these organizations are doing great things and there are many more out there. 

http://www.embracinghopeethiopia.com/tag/korah/

http://www.p61.org/

After lunch, we returned to the guest house for the rest of the afternoon. Jeremiah stayed in good spirits most of the time. We got to play outside in the courtyard with his little friend and they had a blast. There were a few meltdowns this afternoon... the first being bath time... not a fan! Hopefully, this will be better at home once he is more comfortable. The other times can either be chalked up to tantrum because he can't understand us and is upset that we are preventing him from doing something that he wants to do but shouldn't be doing or just plain toddler behavior. We had to play tough a few times and set some boundaries and after a few tears, he was all smiles again. 

Tomorrow is our last day as we prepare to fly out in the evening. I think we are going to go to a museum in the morning and not sure how the rest of the day will go. We are dreading the flight. Please pray that he sleeps and he doesn't have any major meltdowns! 

We are ready to come home and start our life as a family of 5 in our home! 

Out to lunch- he was much cleaner before he ate his spaghetti!

Like my shades?

Someone liked wearing my shoes and posing for the camera!

I'm still smiling! Take my picture!

Putting stickers on your head is so fun... you should try it!

He picked out this shirt and wanted to change out of his pj shirt... he was feeling like he had the super powers tonight!

Day 1 of having a son....

It is really official... we have a son.  The day really was pretty amazing and Jeremiah did great all things considered. Tomorrow may not goes as smoothly as today did so we will take today and be very thankful!
We arrived a the transition home mid morning and he was immediately brought out to us. It seemed like he remembered us from yesterday which was great. We got to play with him for awhile and let him experience his last playtime at the transition home on all of his favorite playground equipment. A few of the nannies came by to say goodbye to him and give him kisses. Once again, there is no doubt that he has been well loved on since he arrived there.  We got to talk to the doctor one more time about his health history. She really is the most amazing woman. She loves the Lord and has such a great perspective on who is the ultimate healer. My favorite quote of hers today is that "we all live in a transitional home..... this is just our temporary home here on earth". God has used the transitional home in Jeremiah's life these past 7 months and now he will be coming to his "permanent" home. We pray the Lord will use our home to prepare him to go to his eternal permanent home.

It was time to leave so we loaded up in the van. The wonderful gift of this week is that there is a family from Oklahoma who arrived today. They are adopting a little girl, about 3 1/2,  and they were with us this morning to pick up their little girl So, as we piled in the van, Jeremiah had a little buddy in the van with him. He seemed curious but not anxious. A familiar face goes a long way! The other good news is that they are on our flight this Thursday night so he will have his traveling buddy for the long flight.

We went to lunch and was able to witness Jeremiah's appetite and love of food for the first time. He had just finished a little carton of goldfish as we arrived to the restaurant so I'm thinking he wouldn't be too hungry.  Well, I was wrong! I really think that had we not cut him off, he would have eaten until he got sick. My favorite thing that he does is use bread as though it is injera. He pulls off a small bite of it and scoops up the sauce on the plate and eats it as though he were eating an authentic Ethiopian meal instead of a pasta dish like he was today.

After lunch we went straight to the US embassy. Security was about what I thought it would be.... no cell phones or cameras allowed and they screen your bags. We made everything official by signing one piece of paper and then on Thursday his VISA will be ready to pick up. Just like that!

We came back to the guest house and spent the rest of the afternoon playing with him in our room. He really was so happy and playful... sometime downright silly! This was the put the mesh laundry basket over your head and them pop out of it trick. Repeated multiple times!


He fell asleep in my arms and woke up about 45 minutes later. My guess is that he was tired, grumpy and probably a little confused/scared/ upset after he woke up. He had short period of being upset but then recovered pretty quickly. I really can't imagine what is going on in his head. All of this has to be so confusing.

He is asleep right now and I pray that he sleeps all night. Waking up in a strange place with people you barely know is not the best way to wake up in the middle of the night.

We are grateful for a wonderful first day. The Lord has given us strength  and gave Jeremiah the peace that we asked so many of you to pray for. What an answer to prayer....

Back in Ethiopia

It is hard to believe we are finally back. We arrived early this morning and decided that we would visit Jeremiah today, but that since neither one of us slept on the plane, it would be a good idea to get some sleep tonight in order to be ready for tomorrow.  We had lunch with 2 other families here for their embassy trip and then went to the Transition Home to play with Jeremiah for a bit. We were so excited to see him again and were so thankful for the smiles and giggle we got. He also surprised us and was counting from 1-10 in English! Obviously they have been teaching them some English so it was fun to hear something come out of his mouth that we could understand.
We could barely hold our eyes open while we were there (Tony may have fallen asleep in a chair on the porch!) so while we hated to leave him, we were so ready to get back to the guest house and get some sleep. We have napped and are now trying to stay up for a little bit and then return to sleep.
Tomorrow is the big day... please pray that Jeremiah doesn't feel afraid with us as we take him from all he has known for the last 7 months. We feel so grateful to finally be at this place.

I will post more tomorrow but just wanted you all to know that we are here safely!

Cleared!!!! What a beautiful word!!

It still doesn't seem real, but that was the word I read as I opened my eyes at 6:00 am this morning and picked up my cell phone to see if by chance today was going to be the day.... TODAY WAS THE DAY!!
I spent the morning getting our flights scheduled for a quick departure (like 2 days from now quick!) and trying to wrap my head around what needs to happen in the next 48 hours. The girls were thrilled to hear we had cleared and that the wait is really almost over. One week from tomorrow, we officially begin life in the Jones home as a family of 5.

These past 3 weeks have been the hardest by far but God brought us through it. We really had to lean into him and into his promises because quite honestly, how else could we keep perspective after such a long journey. We have felt so loved and supported by our family and friends. We really are truly blessed.

We will keep the blog updated as we can from Ethiopia.... 3 nights in country makes for a quick trip! Please pray for Jeremiah's heart and mind as he is about to experience quite a transition. Perhaps upheaval is really a better word. We know God has all of it, the good and the hard, in his control and for that, we are so grateful.

Silence....

In today's faced paced world, full of noise, silence can often be something that is rarely heard and yet very welcomed. However, silence from the US embassy in our situation is not something we have welcomed in the least. It has been 18 days since we were submitted to the US embassy, therefore it is has been 18 days of living on the edge of our seats. All we have heard from the embassy is that they wanted the phone number of the police officer who did all the investigating of Jeremiah's case. Our agency provided that the following day (August 28th) as well as a taped interview of the police officer. We had hoped that after watching the video and making the call to the officer that we would receive immediate clearance. Easy right? Yes, it could be that easy but not in our case. We do not know if they have called the officer yet, or if they have called, have they been able to get him on the phone. Things in Ethiopia are different than here in America, so perhaps it is not as easy as we think it is to get someone on the phone when you need them. Another factor that might have contributed to the delay is that the prime minister of Ethiopia died almost 3 weeks ago. Last week was the final week of mourning and his funeral. There is some speculation that this has caused a slow down in getting things done in a timely manner.  

Waiting at this stage of the adoption has proved to be the most difficult. Jeremiah is legally our son.  If we were in Ethiopia right now, he could be staying at the Guest House with us.  Many of Jeremiah's little friends are beginning to leave to go home to their forever families. Our bags are halfway packed and we are keeping our calendars cleared. We say "no" to commitments that we would usually say yes to because we so not know if we will be here a week from now.  We are ready to bring him home yet we cannot do that until the embassy says "you are clear".  We have had delays at every stage of this entire process and were hoping for a break on this one but once again, we are faced with delays. There are people who clear embassy in the first week and there are times when it can take a few months.  So, according to our agency, we are still within the normal range. For some reason, that doesn't really bring us much comfort.  Our patience has been tested and continues to be tested. We have been stretched.  It is easy to focus on the numbers...

 

 ~ 675 days since our paperwork was mailed to Ethiopia

  ~193 days since we saw his face for the first time in an email

 ~ 110 days since we said good bye to him in Ethiopia

 ~ 58 days since we FINALLY passed court

 ~ 18 days since we were submitted to embassy

While those numbers can increase our frustration, these facts can easily send us over the edge....

~There are multiple families who met their children in June for their court trip and have already cleared embassy and brought them home. 

~There are already a handful of families who traveled at the beginning of August for court who have already been submitted to embassy- 1 week after we were. 

That is how this works.  There is no timeline that they can give you and obviously there are no guarantees that we will will have him home by any set date. Each case is different and therefore we begin another week of waiting. 

However, while we wait, we keep reminding ourselves that God has a better plan than we do and therefore we have to trust him. Someone sent me a great quote this week from Charles Spurgeon....

"although we cannot see, it is always safe to trust the God who sees all" 

God knows we are ready to go. He knows our hearts are aching and that we are very weary of the waiting.  So we will ask him to help us to endure however many more days we have to wait. We know he will sustain us. 

Into the hands of the US Embassy!!!

Yes, it is true.... WE WERE OFFICIALLY SUBMITTED TO THE US EMBASSY TODAY!!
We are praising him that it was today and not next week because we are more than ready to go get Jeremiah and bring him home. A major praise of this whole thing is that as I have said before, they only submit paperwork on Wednesdays to the US Embassy. One of the items that has to be submitted is a medical report.  Jeremiah's medical report wasn't completed but was to be delivered this Thursday. However, since it was coming on Thursday, the US Embassy allowed our paperwork to be submitted today instead of having to wait another week. WOW! Given how things have gone so far with all the delays, you can see how we were surprised that they didn't make us wait until next week!


So, now we hope and pray that the embassy looks at our paperwork, wants no more information, and gives us clearance to come and get him within the next 2 weeks. Could it take longer? Of course it could! If they want more information, it would take longer to process the information and then give us clearance but we are praying that they have all they need.

One step closer on this very long journey.... we are thankful to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

God is always on time. God is sovereign over all the details. God knows the perfect time to bring Jeremiah home and will do it according to His perfect will.

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, and Happy Birthday!

Yes, we have a lot to celebrate this week! Mallory turned 11 on August 2nd, Jeremiah's birthday is TODAY, and Courtney turns 8 on the 5th! WHEW!  We so wish we could celebrate with him this year but that was not part of the plan. We will celebrate big next year! Tony's sweet grandmother (age 90!) sent Jeremiah his first birthday card ever. Too, too sweet!

Today marks 3 weeks post passing court. It really has flown by since we have been enjoying the last part of our summer and preparing for birthday fun. We received an email from our agency today telling us that that think we will be submitted to the U.S. embassy on either the 22nd or the 29th. (paperwork can only be submitted on Wednesdays) So, once we are submitted, we should find out within 10 days what the embassy will do next. They will either clear us without further action or they will request more information. While we still do not know the exact time we can go, we know we are getting closer and that it will most likely be early September!

We had a great reminder this morning that God is truly in the details....
Tony has a daily bible verse subscription that he receives via email. While I was out running today he forwarded it to me. you'll never guess what verse it was.....

Daily Bible (@The_Gospels) 8/3/12 7:54 AM For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you & not to harm you, plans to give you hope & a future. -Jer 29:11 What a perfect reminder on Jeremiah's birthday that God has all of this in the palm of his hands and that He loves Jeremiah more than we do! Happy Birthday to Jeremiah Jones!

July 13,2012

Today is a day we will remember for a long time. It is the day that that we officially became a family of 5. It is the day that we heard the news that we finally passed court... Oh what a glorious day!!

We got the call bright and early (7am) but unfortunately Tony had left to have breakfast with some friends. So the girls and I decided to make a sign and head to his work. I had told Tony I needed to drop off the girls for 1 hour so that I could go to a visitation. I was going to have the girls standing outside his office with the sign and I was going to call him outside. Well, that plan got thrown out the window because it was pouring down rain. So, as soon as we pulled in the parking lot, he saw us and I waved him towards the car. (He couldn't quite understand why I wasn't just sending the girls inside)  He ran out, hopped in the car,  and he saw the girls in the back seat holding the sign. Once it registered what the sign meant, he was overjoyed!

Needless to say, we are so thankful for this answer to prayer! We have felt so loved and prayed for this week through all of  this by our family and friends. We really are truly blessed!

So, what's next??? ............U.S. Embassy!
It takes an average of 3-5 weeks to get all the paperwork ready to be submitted to the U.S. embassy. It can only be submitted on Wednesdays so if it is completed on a Thursday, they have to wait 6 more days. Then once we are submitted, it takes anywhere from 1-5 weeks to "clear embassy". Once we get the email that says "You have cleared embassy" we will fly out within a few days to pick up Jeremiah Jones!

So that is where we are.... the next phase of waiting!!

But this little guy is worth the wait!!!

                                                   Still trying to see if we can photoshop Courtney into this picture!! :)

 If only we could call him to tell him the good news!!!

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
The King of creation
O my soul, praise Him
For He is thy health and salvation
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near
Praise Him in glad adoration

Praise to the Lord
Who o'er all things so wonderfully reigneth
Shelters thee under His wings
Yea, so gladly sustaineth
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e'er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth

Praise to the Lord
Who doth prosper they work and defend thee
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do
If with His love He befriend thee

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him
All that hath life and breath
Come now with praises before Him
Let the 'amen' sound from His people again
Gladly for aye we adore Him

Court Date..... ! yes I found it in me to use an !

I cannot believe I am typing this but we have a court date for THIS FRIDAY. Yes, Tony was quick to point out that it is on Friday the 13th, but thankfully we are not too superstitious around here! I'll go with "third times a charm" or even "Lucky #13" before I fear Friday the 13th! :)

So.... what does this all mean?? It means that MOWCYA asked for a court date and they got it. 2 days from now we will hopefully hear that MOWCYA did their part and wrote the letter and that we passed court. 

It also means that we are trying our best to guard our emotions and remember that there are definitely not any guarantees that we will pass. 

And finally it means that we will be on our knees praying for good news. We are ready for this step to be behind us and move on to the next stage of waiting. We would love for you all to pray with us that we pass on Friday. 

All of this is for our good, for Jeremiah's good and ultimately for God's glory. May we remember that if we receive good news on Friday and may we also remember it if we receive bad news on Friday. 

Psalm 33:20-22

We wait in hope for the Lord:

he is our help and our shield

In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name

May your unfailing love rest upon us , O Lord,

even as we put our hope in you.

We Are Weary....

Yes it is true, we are weary. We are weary of hearing the same thing over and over from our agency. "The letter hasn't been written. MOWCYA says it will be next week" No letter. "It will be next week" no letter. And then today the message comes that MOWCYA is now requesting that we have another court date scheduled in order for them to write the letter. Not sure why they are requesting it but that is what they have done. So now we wait yet again for another court date. Obviously, it is our hope and prayer that this will be the final court date and that this part of the process will be behind us.  However, our emotions are so trampled on that we struggle to find the hope in passing the next court date.  So, yes, we are weary.

We are weary of telling the same story over and over again. There are days that I feel like the knife is being driven into my heart deeper every time I say "We have no idea when we will pass court and therefore we really have no idea when we will be able to bring him home" We will not celebrate his 3rd birthday with him and yes the girls will  have already gone back to school.
Is this our idea of perfect timing? No.
Is it HIS perfect timing?.... Yes.
Am I struggling to understand this timing?... Yes.

A single girl I know once said she grows weary of going on first dates because she gets tired of telling her story over and over again on first dates. However, she realized that it isn't her story but that it is God's story. It should remind her where He has brought her and how He has worked in her life. So today I am trying to remember that. As much as I am beginning to cringe at my own voice as I listen to myself say the same things over and over again, I need to remember that this is Jeremiah's story too.  God has already woven our hearts to his and all of this painful waiting will be a testimony to him one day of how loved he was by his family (and friends!) before we even had him in our home. It is a reminder that God has woven his story together perfectly even though we cannot see how it is "perfect" quite yet. It is a reminder that we have to lean on Him in all of our weariness because he has promised something for the weary....

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
   his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.

 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;

 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Once we have a court date, I will post again and ask for all of our prayer warriors to join us once again in prayer and petition that we would pass and move one step closer to the day we can bring Jeremiah home.

What will this week bring???

Those of you I have seen over the past few days have asked.... "any new updates?" The only updates we received this week are below... 

As of today, we are still waiting for your family to pass court. The judge ended up needing to take an exam on Monday and Tuesday, so case processing was slow today and we were not able to learn whether a MOWCYA letter was at court for your family. We’ll be back there tomorrow and push to see if you have a MOWCYA letter (and will hopefully hear you have passed).

And then there was this one...

MOWCYA has had several employees in a training this week, so they are not working at full capacity and have not written your family’s recommendation letter. We are hopeful this will be done tomorrow, and I’ll let you know in the morning how things went.

So what will this week bring??? Only God knows!  One minute I think to myself... "THIS could be THE week that we pass court!!!" And then I think about what happened last week and quickly realize that ANYTHING can happen. I really didn't think that we would get to July and still not have passed court. Once again... it hasn't gone as we HOPED, as we PLANNED and I cannot see the purpose in it. So that is why we have to wake up everyday claiming Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the PLANS I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a HOPE and a future.  

He knows when the letter will be written and when we will pass. We will continue to pray that it is sooner than later and continue to try our best not to have a pity party! :)

Headed in the right direction!

What a difference 2 days can make in the world of adoption! What a difference a good phone connection can make!

We have received some great news from our agency today..... NO MORE INFORMATION IS NEEDED!!  Did you hear the "WOOHOO" coming from our home today? We are rejoicing in this great news and are preparing a really big celebration for when we hear that we have passed court and that Jeremiah is officially a "Jones".  So here is the scoop...

MOWCYA (not the judge) was still requesting more information in order for them to write the favorable letter of recommendation which is needed  for us to pass court. Yesterday, our agency went to MOWCYA and sat with them and reviewed our case with them in detail. As we all know, a face to face exchange can be much more insightful than just reading a document. This meeting proved to be just what needed to happen in order for MOWCYA to see that everything that could be done had already been done. So, they told our agency that they will be writing our letter and that the courts would have it in their possession by Monday. Our agency is planning to follow up ASAP and make sure that the document is seen and that all that would need to be done is for the judge to sign off on our case. At that point, we will have officially passed court! Timeline for passing court.... ? Could be as early as next week but the bottom line is we cannot try to predict anymore.

So, as we rejoice in this news, we also remember that any curve ball can be thrown at any point. We are thrilled that we are one step closer to completing this part of the process and still trying very hard to ignore the calendar!  After what happened on Tuesday, we are realizing that we really have to put Jeremiah and this whole process in God's hands and not try to make it fit into our own desires when it comes to the timing of him coming home.

He continues to teach us so many things through this process and for that, we are thankful.
We are also thankful for each of you and for your prayers, emails, texts, and all your support. We feel very loved and Jeremiah has no idea how much is he already loved and how big his fan club is! :)

disappointment

Disappointing news is hard to swallow. When things do not go the way we hoped, the way we desired or according to our plans, it is often hard to take it in stride and go on about your day. Today has been one of those days. We have been waiting most of the day for the phone to ring to tell us the outcome of court. Given that Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of us, it really was making no sense to me that we did not have the information by lunchtime. However, I was trying to be patient and not call the agency since I had called this morning.
So, after getting off the phone with our agency at 2 pm, all the news we have to report is that we didn't pass court because the judge wanted more information. Our agency was cut off from the in country director and she hasn't been able to get in touch with her again so that is all the information she had received before they were cut off.
We are experiencing many emotions right now and until we have the complete story, we just have to wait, to trust, to be patient and to remember who is in control of all of this journey. Our agency has told us that unfortunately we are in this group of people who have had to go through more hoops to get a court date or to pass. There are new processes, a new judge and for whatever reason more difficulties. We know they are trying to protect these children so we are trying hard to remember that.  Perhaps there will be something about all of this that benefits Jeremiah when he is older and trying to understand his story. God knows the whys, so we just have to trust.

I will post whenever I have more updates.

Court Date...June 19th!

We have been given a little bit more clarification and the biggest thing we have to share is that June 19th is our official court date! While this news is very exciting because we have the hope that we finally hear the words we wanted to hear on May 21st (HE IS YOURS!), we also know that we have to be prepared that we may not pass that day for whatever new reason.

So we ask you to pray with us for these specific things...
1) That MOWCYA writes the letter that we need in order to pass court and that it arrives BEFORE the 19th
2) That there are no other NEW PROCESSES created that we have to go through
3) That all of these delays might actually help us clear embassy more quickly so that we could bring him home
4) Pray for all of us to "trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding"

We know he is being well loved and cared for, however, we are ready for him to come home and join our family. It already feels like forever ago that we were there.....

Thank you for encouraging us and praying for us. We will keep you all posted as we know more.

Just when we thought we were almost there....

the finish line for this part of the race has been moved again. 

 We heard from our agency yesterday that the MOWCYA (see previous post) is requesting more information. Our agency hasn't been able to talk with the in country staff yet to find out what exactly they are wanting but all they know is that they have until June 19th to get this information to them. We should be informed by tomorrow what exactly it is that they're wanting. Our agency tells us the soonest we could pass court is June 19th. 

Who wants to be invited to a pity party?? We are considering having a big one but I know that a pity party will not really get us anywhere. So instead, we are trying to remind ourselves of all the positives. We are busy in the here and now with 2 girls, about to enjoy a week at the beach with family, and we still need to finish Jeremiah's room! We will try to keep ourselves distracted with all the fun things about summer while we continue to wait for the day that seems like it will never come!!

God loves Jeremiah more than we do or ever will and He knows EXACTLY when and how it will come to be that he joins our family. So, until then, we pray for Jeremiah's heart, mind, body and soul and still hold out hope that we can celebrate his 3rd birthday with him (August 3) God can work miracles!!

Still waiting... a little Clarification....

After receiving a few emails this morning asking about the "court date"  I had referred to in the last post, I remembered that I had not updated the blog with the little bit of new news that we had. After talking with our agency this week, we learned these few things....

1)the ad has to run until June 6

2)they do not know if we will have to have another court date. They may just pass us after they receive the MOWCYA letter.  The MOWCYA (Ministry of womens,children, youth administration) writes letters of recommendation to the court on behalf of the families once they have reviewed the files and approve everything. In order to pass court, you must have the letter. The letter was supposed to be written by the end of the week (yesterday) but our agency isn't sure if the courts will just go ahead and pass us after the 6th or if they will give another court date. 

So, we will be ecstatic if we hear something on the 6th, realistically it might be more like the 7th or 8th. Please pray that they will just pass us and that we will not have to wait for another court date just for formality sake. We are ready to move past this waiting place and we are past ready to hear "He is yours!" 

Thank you all for praying and thinking of us. We feel very loved and supported!

Home! .... and loosely hanging on to good news

Thank you to everyone for your emails, prayers, calls,texts, etc. We have felt supported and well loved. We got home last night after TOO MANY hours of traveling and it was great to be back as a family of 4 however we still don't feel complete yet since we really are a family of 5!

We have had several conversations with our agency and are feeling more hopeful since the last time I posted. From what we understand, we have been assigned another court date for next Friday (June 1). Meanwhile, the ad has gone or is about to go into the public paper.  It is technically supposed to run for 2 weeks. So, there are 2 scenarios....
1) Our case goes to court next Friday and the judge doesn't pass us because it hasn't been 2 weeks. Another court date will be assigned... perhaps the next week
2)The judge decides to pass us because the ad has been placed and they can put a "check" by that item on the list.
Of course we hope for #2 but at least if we have to wait for the ad to run for 2 weeks, that timeframe is better than we originally feared.

Some of you have asked if this makes us fearful of his mother being found. Actually it does not. The decision for the ad to be run is purely a formality. They had investigated his case thoroughly by interviewing the police in Mekele and other member of the community and there is a good bit of supporting evidence. We wish we knew more about his mom but unfortunately we do not.

So, we loosely hang on to the hope that we will pass court in the next 1-2 weeks. Someone from the in country staff will appear on our behalf so we do not have to return to Ethiopia for our court date.

What happens once we pass court?
The US embassy paperwork begins . The average time it takes to prepare that paperwork is 3-4 weeks. Once it is completed, it is submitted to embassy. Then, the embassy reviews it. Sometimes, they clear you within 24 hours and you can come pick up your child as soon as you can get a flight to ET.  Sometimes the embassy requests more information and there can be a delay in being cleared.

SO..... we wait, we pray and we ask God to give us a peace during this waiting period.  We also are asking God to keep something about us sealed in Jeremiah's little mind. We had an amazing visit with him each time we saw him and we hope when we return, there is something he remembers about us.
thankfully we know we have left him in good hands. He seems very happy with his friends. The nannies love those children well and there will be other families in and out of the transition home over the next month visiting and playing with the kids.

We have so much to process about what we have seen in Ethiopia. To come back to a beautiful place like Nashville with green grass and too many luxuries to list, we are humbled by how richly we are blessed. We are so thankful to have had a safe trip, little to no health issues, no lost luggage, wonderful families to travel with, and a glimpse into another part of this world God created and filled with His people. We appreciate you all praying for us while we were gone and know that you all will continue to join us as we pray Jeremiah home!


            Jeremiah 17:7-8 “ But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 29:11

When we chose Jeremiah's name, one of the first reasons was because of this verse. So, today we are claiming this verse. We did not pass court today nor did the family we are traveling with. After waiting about 1 1/2 hours in the waiting room, it was finally our turn to go in and see the judge. She asked us all the questions we were prepared to be asked and then she told us that they would have to run one more ad in the Mekele newspaper in order to confirm that Jeremiah's mom could not be found. We were taken by surprise by this since our agency had not prepped us for this. We obviously have a laundry list of questions to ask our agency so that we might better understand what happens from here.

We are sad and also feel a little like throwing a tantrum because this little boy has stolen our hearts. Every time we see him he steals more of our hearts. We wanted to hear the words, "He is yours" today yet we didn't. So that is why we have to lean in really hard on our faith and remember that God loves Jeremiah more than we do and that He knows the plans for his life.

Back from Mekele... Time to catch up! Day 3 and 4

Wow! What a whirlwind of a 24 hours it has been! I will start with yesterday which was day 3 here...

We started the day visiting Jeremiah. When we arrived, Jeremiah was in an open air room with some other of the children his age watching some sort of video. They brought him out to us and he greeted us with his normal "fives" but then quickly made a break to get back to his friends. At first we thought "oh great, he is thinking to himself Oh its those people again. We quickly began to put it all together that this was the first day that the toddlers had been at this Transition Home when we arrived. Usually anyone over 2 stays across the street. The other 2 days they had brought him to us from there so his little pack of people weren't in sight. He obviously takes great comfort being with the pack which is very reassuring (for now!) So, after we gave him some space and went in and interacted with his friends, Mallory and Tony finally got him interested in going outside and playing ball. We had some great time with him on the porch looking at the sticker book and playing.  My favorite moment during the morning was when he stood up on the couch on the porch and could peer around the corner and see his friends who were in that open air room with the nannies. They started waving at him then he started waving at them and blowing them kisses. Within a minute, these kids (about 15 of them between the ages of 2-5) came running past the porch and to the playground area. Jeremiah's excitement went to a 10+ and he jumped off the couch to join them. One of his friends took his sticker book and once Jeremiah realized it, he went and got Tony to come help him solve the problem. We loved that he already felt like Tony might be able to help him! We played with all the kids on the playground for awhile. Jeremiah loved the swing (Mallory told him he could swing everyday that he wanted to when he came home). He second favorite was the slide. He wanted my help coming down because it was quite steep and then would grin ear to ear afterwards.
As soon as the nannies started gathering up the children to go back across the street Jeremiah began to run to the line. We were trying to get in a quick goodbye since we would be leaving then too. Tony gave him a little hug and then Jeremiah kissed his cheek. Of course Tony loved that! He was ready to get back to his pack of people where he is obviously very comfortable. We were so thankful to see that he is well loved by the nannies and even his little buddies.

We went to lunch before we headed to the airport. Flying on an inter country flight is quite an experience. Security is very loose yet you have to go though it twice (taking shoes, belts, jewelry, etc off yet you can bring water, food etc on with no problems.) The flight was full of some people who could have used some speed stick or something stronger! Once we landed, we went straight to our hotel. The Axum Hotel is an older hotel that has a newer section which we stayed in thankfully :) We had a great night there with the exception of a very hard bed!

Mekele had a completely different feel than Addis. The population is definitely smaller and the landscape is much different. There is more stone "homes" if you can call them homes..."stone shelters". It reminded just a little bit of Phoenix. The city sits in the valley and the mountains are all around. The weather was amazing, breezy and probably 70 degrees. In Mallory's words, "I like Mekele much better than Addis". Yes, Mekele is not as overwhelming for sure. You still see the poverty, you still see people who look like they are begging on the side of the road, yet the numbers are fewer in comparison to Addis.

This morning we went to the Bana Orphanage. We weren't really sure what to expect since no other American World families had ever been there before.   We were very impressed with this orphanage, as impressed as you can be with an orphanage. It was very small, clean and the children were the sweetest most joyful kids. We were able to see the room Jeremiah lived in for the 3 weeks he was there. Then the orphanage director took us into the room where about 13 kids ages 3-maybe 10 or 11 were sitting watching a movie. They began to perform for us, nothing formal and rehearsed, just spontaneous singing or dancing prompted by the director. Several times he joined them. It seems as though these children really loved him as much he seemed to love them. This is a private orphanage that is supported by other adoption agencies like Gladney and now American World.  We had brought 2 full bags of donations (thanks to our friends!) to this orphanage and he was thrilled to receive all these goodies. We had also brought some toys to play with the children. Balls, jump ropes, bubbles, stickers and silly bands. All the children were swarming Mallory as she was handing out the silly bands(thankfully it was  a small group!)  We ended out time there with a traditional coffee ceremony where they roast the coffee beans in front of you, and serve this extra fresh coffee with popcorn. It is there way of showing hospitality to guests.

After we left the orphanage, Mallory said the she would like to be a nanny at that orphanage when she grows up.  Obviously Mekele and Bana Orphanage was a highlight in the eyes of Mallory Jones. It was for us too!

We are so thankful that we had this opportunity to go and experience the city where Jeremiah was born.  We hope it will be a wonderful gift to him to tell him about this city one day.

Tomorrow is court. Its hard to believe this day is finally here. We feel like we have been here longer than 4 days. We have obviously packed ALOT in these 4 days! We will post as soon as we know if we passed or not! Keep praying!

Day 2

We started our day at the Transition home playing with Jeremiah. It didn't take him long to warm up to us again and he gave us some more amazing smiles. I had several favorite moments today while we were visiting him....
1)Tony was playing a game with him of hiding the ball under Jeremiah's shirt. Jeremiah would smile really big and then lift up his shirt to get the ball, then he would hand it back to Tony for him to repeat it again.
2)We had been playing several things with him (all of us sitting down around him). We had  some crayons and a coloring book, a small book and a match box car all out on the ground. When Tony brought the balls back out, Jeremiah began cleaning up everything and putting the books back into the bag they came in. It was as if he was cleaning up all he had been playing with before he moved on to the next activity. Very smart boy! :)
3)Tony initiated a shoulder ride and was convinced he would be nervous and might try to move off his shoulders. As they rounded the corner, we saw quite the grin on Jeremiah's face. There will be many more shoulder rides in this little guy's future!

After we said our goodbyes we headed to lunch. The restaurants they have been taking us to often have a very appealing menu, however when you are trying to avoid produce items (due to the water they are rinsed in) the menu becomes a tad more limited. So, we have had pizza 2 days in a row for lunch! The good news is that both days the pizza was very tasty!

We met another nice family that joined us today for lunch. They had their court date earlier in the week and are leaving tonight. They had brought 2 of their children ages 11 and 8. It was nice to have another family from America to share the day with. They brought us comfort when they told us that their daughter had not felt well the first day or so since Mallory has been struggling with her stomach. I think the trip/ lack of sleep did a number on her. The good news is that she has turned the corner as of this afternoon!

We came back to rest for a few hours before we went to the traditional Ethiopian restaurant for the famous injera meal and the famous dancing that Mallory referred to in her post. Let's just say that we all tried it and we probably will not be eating injera again anytime soon. Mallory describes the injera as "spongy bread that has a vinegar taste". The dancing was highly entertaining. These men and women move their bodies in a way that makes you think they are double jointed in every joint of their neck, back and shoulders. They always get certain audience members to stand up and dance with them. They pulled up one audience member on the stage and somehow I became that lucky person!  Wasn't prepared to be that person!!

We are back at the hotel preparing for our trip tomorrow to Mekele. I am not sure what kind of internet connection we will have so if you do not here from us we will update on Sunday night. We are hoping that everything goes smoothly with our travels. We already feel like we haven't even begun to absorb Addis and now we are about to do a whirlwind 24 hours in another city. We are glad to be going to help us understand a little more of Jeremiah's past....another adventure to add to the ones we have already had here!

We have more priceless pictures that we will post as soon as we pass court! Keep praying that all goes smoothly on Monday!

My Day (MJ)

We visited Jeremiah today at the Transition Home. As I watch the videos of him with that big smile across  his face, it makes me smile to think that very soon this little guy will be in our house. Thank you ( Amesage 'Nallo' ) for all your sweet prayers for me and my whole family. I am feeling much better with my stomach issues and tiredness. For dinner tonight we are going to a restaurant were they do head dancing. From what i have heard it is supposed to be amazing. If anyone is interested in ''head dancing''
look up on google '' Ethiopian head dancing ''. Please pray for me that my dad doesn't try the head dancing at this restaurant !!! Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!

Day 1- a marathon

We left American soil at 11:00 am and settled in for our long flight. It was great to fly Ethiopian airlines because we were seeing many friendly Ethiopians on the flight. Mallory even made a new friend, Kaye, a 12 year old from Nashville who was born in Nashville but her parents are from Ethiopia. Ironically, her mom is from the Tigray region where Jeremiah is from. I tried to speak with her mom but her accent is still thick therefore I was having a difficult time understanding her. After a 13 hour flight with no sleep for any of us, we landed in Ethiopia. We got our visas in a room that looked  like something that was from the 60's in America and everything was done by hand writing in a book, even using carbon paper to duplicate! Then we had success at baggage claim (praise the Lord! since we had had to disperse clothing from our carry on luggage to our checked bags since ET airlines had a 20 lb weight limit for all carry ons!) Thankfully customs was a breeze. We had been prepared that we might get stopped, but we didn't even have to put our luggage through screening. Once we got outside, it took us a minute to find Job, our guide, but once we did, all our luggage was whisked to the top of the van and we piled in. Within seconds of leaving the airport, the sights of poverty were  everywhere. I was telling Tony that it really is too much to take in and process. In one block, there are so many sights you see that run the gamut of "that is so heartbreaking", "that is really odd", to "did I just see what I think I saw?" When you are riding in a car, it is almost more to take in than your brain can handle.

We were taken straight to the guest house to unload, shower, and regroup for 2 hours before lunch. While we were thankful to get to come here to shower and try to regroup,  we were so tired that we didn't really want to sit in one place too long! While Tony and I were exhausted, Mallory had hit a different level. We let her take an almost 2 hour nap which was probably the best decision, yet no one ever wakes up from a 2 hour nap when they are that sleep deprived in a really good place. It was touch and go for her but she made it and seeing Jeremiah gave her a second wind!

We ate at an Italian restaurant which was yummy but sitting was reminding us all how tired we were! I may have mentioned this in another post but we are traveling with another family from Omaha Nebraska.They are adopting a baby girl who is also from Jeremiah's hometown. We will all be leaving tomorrow for the trip to Mekele, so it is nice to have another family to walk through all of this with.

As soon as we finished lunch, it was time to go to the Transition Home. I think we were in this survival mode given everything that we had been through to get to that point that we still hadn't really processed what was about to happen. However, it all became very real the minute I saw an American World sign on the side of the building and the gates to the Transition Home being opened. I think we all took a deep breath and the emotions began to flood over us. As soon as we got there, they told us to stand to front of the home and that they would be bring us the children. We all got our cameras ready and thought the baby would be first. Soon, they told us the baby was asleep so it might take a minute but that Jeremiah would be right out. Then it switched again and out came the other family's baby. We snapped pictures for them and watched them meet their little girl for the first time. Then within minutes, they told us "Jeremiah" would be coming  in the gate. He lives at the Transition Home across the street since all children over 2 live there.  So, we all turned around, swapped cameras and then the gate opened and there he was. He walked right in and waved to us.... serious face but yet he was greeting us. We all crouched down and then he began his greeting that Tony initiated of giving us all five. He would give each of us several "fives" almost like he was patting our hands and sometimes he would just leave his hand in our hand.  He studied us and really was taking it all in. Tony said, "I would love to know what his little brain is thinking right now". Mallory was so sweet with him, rubbing his back and talking to him. After a few minutes we went and grabbed our backpack of surprises for him. Fist we gave him a bouncy ball. That was an immediate hit and he shows a love of playing ball! Then we blew some bubbles, did a little coloring and then played with a matchbox car. He was very interested in all of it and engages more easily than either of us anticipated.  We saw grins that we never anticipated seeing and he was even saying some words to us.... would have loved to have known what he was saying!

For those of you all who know Tony, you may know many things about him but his love for children and his way with kids is one of his many strengths. He always knows how to get a smile or a laugh from a child even when they are hard to crack. As we greeted Jeremiah today, we knew going into it that this was going to be an overwhelming moment.... 3 strangers staring at him giving him so much attention.   He has already lived through some difficult transitions, so for him to be suspicious of us would be a given.  Yet in that moment, Tony worked his magic, and within short minutes, this little guy was smiling and playing ball with him. I am so thankful that this little guy is going to have such a great daddy. We don't know how long it will take for this guy to really trust us but we will give him all the time he needs.

We head back to see him this morning and then we will be doing some shopping after lunch today. We will finish the day with a traditional Ethiopian meal. We are all turned around on our sleep (all of us up at 4am. The barking dogs and the rooster crowing during the night can make it challenging to sleep even with Ambian!) We are so thankful for how well our first meeting with him went. God exceeded our expectations!