Home For (Almost) Three Weeks

I've been gently reminded that I haven't updated my blog since we've been home....So, here goes:

Here are some pictures because I know that's what you really want.

Daddy came to Ethiopia for Tariku's embassy appointment and to fly home with us!

Tariku loves "helping." His favorite thing to help with is dishes.

Feed the ducks at City Park

Tariku LOVES music. There are a couple of movies that he really likes and he calls them by the name of songs that are in them. Right now his favorites are "Life is a Highway" (Cars), "Goin' Down the Bayou" (Princess and the Frog) and "I like to Move It, Move It" (Madagascar).

One afternoon my sister Rachel and I came home from the gym to find Dad, Tariku and Uncle Tyler sitting in the church's van, rocking out.

He says everything with the cutest little accent. It's hard to get it on video, though. Every time I pull out the camera or the flip he stops whatever cute thing he's doing and wants to be the camera operator.

It really has been a great three great weeks. Eli Tariku has adjusted marvelously. There were only a couple of mornings that we were up at 4am because of jet lag :)

A Few Really Great Things....

 Things That Are Great:
1. Tomorrow we get on a plane, when we get off, we meet our little man!
2. Our flight actually leaves at 11:30am, not 7:30am like we had in our head - we'll take a couple of extra hours of sleep.
3. Our awesome family, church family and friends - we've truly been OVERWHELMED by the support and prayers.

Things You Can Pray For:
1. Little Man (you can do this for the rest of your life, actually)
2. Safe Travel
3. Our first interaction with Eli Tariku! Monday,1pm Addis time, 5am Central time
4.COURT DATE - FEB. 9TH, 3 pm Addis Time, 7 am Central Time - All of the right documents need to be in place in order to keep the process moving.

Check out this sweet smile!

Can't wait to see it in person!
 
Okay - sorry we've been so slow to post...I know you guys are all just on the edge of your seats waiting for an update ;)


Here's the latest news:


1. We fly to Washington, D.C. on Feb. 5 (a week from Saturday!!) Dear Burglars, there will be people staying at house and they will be packin'...

2. We fly out of D.C. the next morning - straight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! When we land it will be 7am on Monday morning (their time)

3. We will get to meet Little Man!! we'll probably freak him out big time...after all, we've been preparing for him for OVER A YEAR (and we may be a little excited), and he doesn't even realize we're coming!

4. February 9th is our court date - please pray that all of necessary paperwork is in place so that the court date doesn't have to be rescheduled! If all goes well, we'll officially be a family of 3!

5. At some point after court, Eli transitions fully into our custody! Yay!

6. Jon's flies home on Feb. 15, Anna and Eli hang out in Ethiopia until the American Embassy finishes Eli's paperwork and issues him a visa to come home. The expected wait time is 6-8 weeks, but we're really hoping for something sooner. Anna's mom will fly over at the end of the trip, stay for about a week and fly home with them! 


We appreciate your prayers. We have a lot do before we leave - especially since Anna is preparing to be gone for so long. Please keep Little Man in your prayers. Pray for continued health and safety and a smooth transition.