FINALLY SUBMITTED TO EMBASSY!!

Received this e-mail today!

"HI Donna -Jerry confirmed that your case was successfully intaken at the embassy on Tuesday. Thanks, susan

Yesterday i have submited Abreham Hebert Case successfully on Tuesday."

Here's praying for smooth sailing from here on out! It could be less than a month before Abraham is home!!!!

Made our annual Jib Jab Christmas card, now featuring Abraham with all the Kiddos!

Just when you think nothing else could go wrong.....

We thought for sure that Dec 14th was going to be such a good day, then we got hit with this e-mail:

"Abraham Hebert had a spelling difference in the passport. I am very sorry to have missed that.

JEFFREY was spelled JEFEREY in the passport. I argued this but the embassy would not accept it. Because changing the passport is near impossible and time consuming (immigration does not like to do that) we are sending the birth certificate to be changed and I will resubmit the file tomorrow morning.

Jeferey on the adoption contract and court decision are easy enough to correct as the Amharic is all the same."

So we thought ok......get the documents changed to reveal the misspelling and we should be good to go....right?  WRONG! This morning we received this sad e-mail:


"In the past we have had to change the birth certificate a few times because of mistakes in the passport that the immigration office has not wanted to correct. Because the embassy employee wrote on the form "correct the birth certificate" we made the decision to do that. However this morning the embassy c onfirmed that in this case it cannot be accepted as it is Jeffrey's name which must match his passport and I-600 form. If it was the child's first name then it can be changed throughout without question as it can be translated in different ways.

So this morning we took the old birth certificate back and Abraham has gone back to immigration to get the passport corrected."

According to our agency it is next to impossible to get immigration to issue a new passport and we are talking WEEKS if not MONTHS delays!

This is breaking our hearts..something so minor, an E that should have been an F??  
Our U.S. embassy couldn't just use white out? I mean come on embassy! A child's welfare is at stake here! He NEEDS his family! He does not need to be living in an orphanage, he has had a family since April!!

So here we sit, frustrated, sad, grieving immensely....pray for us..please.

To help pass the time I decided to make another video of him...this helps me smile. The video is on the side.

Dec 14th..embassy intake!

Our agency informed us that they now have the medical papers in hand finally, and so that means our file is 100% complete and ready for being submitted to the US Embassy tomorrow, Dec 14th.

If all goes well Abraham could be home in less than a month! Please pray we pass quickly! Will update when we hear more! In the mean time here's a new picture that a wonderful family took of Abraham opening up another package we sent him....

Another delay....will it end?

With heavy hearts I write this...after rejoicing in the news that our medical was cleared and Abraham's case was finally being submitted to embassy on Dec 7th..we received this news instead on Dec 7th..while we were waiting to hear good news we get sad news: "intake did not happen as medicals were not yet cleared because CDC needed to be contacted for review regarding chicken pox"

We were devastated as Abraham's chicken pox was already gone and other children who had chicken pox also at the same time have already cleared and gone home!

I sat and cried.....what else could I do. I KNOW God is sovereign....but honestly with so many delays and expectations and the let downs, excitement then sadness...I just needed to cry. I know people mean well when they tell me that God's timing is best, but honestly right now that doesn't help me.  Just let me cry for now and wait to hear good news.

Wish this was a better post, but this is reality right now and where we are at.  Please pray that we are submitted Dec 14th.  There is NO CHANCE he will be home for Christmas afte rall...such a disappointment...wanted him here so bad for all the beautiful festivities going on etc...this let down is hard.

For now I am looking to my Father and asking why, and please move us forward..I guess it's OK to ask "how long Oh Lord"  But I also remember the words of the psalmist in Psalm 4:1 "Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!"

Thank you for praying and thank you for letting me cry for now...for I know in time, He will turn my mourning into dancing...I will wait..for I know He is good.

I love you Abraham..someday when you read this you will know how hard the wait was for me too. I know it's hard for you as well as you watch your friends leaving the compound, but you still remain there..we are coming my sweet son. We are coming....

Recent picture of Abraham receiving another package from us.

Still waiting

So here we are, Nov 29th, we had heard back on Nov 17th that MOWA finally released the vital statistic letter that we needed to get his passport and this brings us closer to being able to be submitted to the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, which is the last stage of the journey.  We were hoping to get submitted tomorrow, can only submit on Wednesdays, but the latest update is the doctor who does the medical for our file found a fungal infection on his scalp that she wants to treat before he gets cleared medically, so now submission to embassy will take place Dec 7th if all goes well.

Here's a recent pic of him from another traveling family: she said he was definitely sad and there was longing in his eyes when he received our package for him...she said she could tell he just wants us and we think not the packages anymore...

Still waiting.....

The excitement of passing court has passed and now the agony of waiting to be submitted to embassy continues.  Recently I inquired about our case and our agency informed us that us and 8 other families files are still awaiting 3 documents needed from MOWA to complete our file so we can be submitted to the US Embassy. MOWA has been in meetings and also it is the Ethiopian New Years celebration time so I am sure they have taken some time off to celebrate.

So what does one do while waiting?  Give you a hint....
http://tobuildafamily.blogspot.com/2010/08/injera.html

A dear friend of ours decided that we needed a 'baby shower' for Abraham as we haven't had a little boy for quite some time..Jonathan is 18 now so I guess we don't have those cool things every 7 yr old boy needs to survive...like Legos, cool boy jammies, remote cars, matchbox cars...etc etc....
What a nice way to celebrate our new son coming here.  Some have asked why do it before he comes and the answer is simple..it will be awhile before we really have him in big groups. Everything we have read says to slowly ease them into big crowds as they can get too overwhelmed.  It would be nice for him to come home to having these things already and he will know that many people who have prayed for him for months have graciously given him such wonderful new things for his new life here.

I am excited for the fun day to be able to open gifts for our son and see the love being poured out for him by my dear friends.  Afterall, I have been "EXPECTING' for a very long time, already 5 months into this "pregnancy" and this will be so much fun for our family.  

Recently another family from our agency left to go bring their little daughter home and she graciously snapped this adorable picture of our son in his little traditional Ethiopian outfit.

I miss you my dear boy..everyday I long for your presence...we are coming soon. Hang in there.