Leavin' on a jet plane

Don't know when we'll be back again.

In about 4 hours, we start our trip back home. Addis to Rome to DC to Denver to Phoenix. I think it is something like 24 hours in planes. Yeeeeeeeeee ha.

We don't get to take our daughter with us. She stays here, in the orphanage, while we go home. Hard to think about, but that's the process. We were able to confirm today that she is our daughter. We met with our lawyer in Ethiopia and got a copy of the signed court decree, and saw the original, declaring that Tufah is legally our child. Given all the hassles of international adoption, neither of us were really willing to believe it until we saw actual documentation (not just a verbal from the lawyer.)

So now we head home, and then back again once the paperwork is complete over here and the US Embassy has reviewed our file. Which could be anywhere between 4 weeks and 12, or virtually any other number drawn from a hat. All depends on the goodwill and speed of bureaucrats (and if you know me at all, you know just how that thrills my heart.)

It's been a great trip, and we've seen God's hand through it all. We found everything we hoped to about our daughter. We didn't get captured by Somali pirates in Harar. We passed court. Our process seems to be moving quickly. We felt more informed about our adoption here than at any other point in this whole process.

While we loved the trip, we are looking forward to getting home. We are figuring we hit Cinnabon in DC, Chilis in Denver (cheeseburger for me, with real American cheese and a club sandwich for Paige, with lettuce and tomato, hold the risk of food bourne illness), and the Flancers in Phoenix for dinner. Think we missed American food?

Oh, and we miss our kids too. ;)

Please God, continue to watch over our baby girl.