Hello All! I guess it's time for a quick update.
We are currently just awaiting an embassy appointment so we can go pick up our two beautiful children. As mentioned earlier (by my sisters updates while we were actually IN Ethiopia) we passed court on our last trip and they are officially "our" children as far as Ethiopia is concerned. Now, at this point, we're just waiting on the U.S. side of things.
Embassy appointments are given out on certain days/times of the month according to ones agency. Our agency has embassy dates every other Thursday. Our paperwork was turned in to the U.S. embassy (in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) on the 23rd of December. So, it is looking like the SOONEST we would get an appointment at this point is February 3rd. Now, there is plenty of opportunity for delay in this... so, while we are "hoping" for a Feb. 3rd appointment, we aren't expecting it.
That's all the news for now. We are in the ending stages of "Operation Re-organization." We decided to not just fix up the kids room - but to also use this opportunity to go through EVERYTHING we own. We have sorted until we are blue in the face. We are not only making room in our lives and apartment for two small children - but we are also getting rid of much of the unnecessary "stuff" /clutter that is so easy to hang on to. It is quite freeing actually. It is nice to go through things and "remember when"... and keep some things you just can't part with - and to other things say "why the crap have I held on to this for 25 years???" and promptly find a better home for it.
As we reorganize things, rearrange exisiting (or get new) furniture, and paint/decorate our place we are seeing it develop into something entirely different right before our eyes. We used to wonder how in the world we were going to fit all of our stuff PLUS 2 kids (and all their stuff) in our apartment. Now, we are amazed at how much space we had previously wasted and how going through and revamping a couple walk-in closets and hallway storage can make a HUGE difference. Things are shaping up nicely. Gone is the 1950's style round bar height table and bar stools. A real (red!) dining room table and chairs take its place. We're ready for family dinners with the kids... no more eating dinner on the couch while watching the CSI's or Criminal Minds. It's kind of disturbing eating during some of those shows anyhow! ;-)
Well, I'll stop rambling for now. Hope to be updating this again soon with news of our embassy date.
Have a great week everyone!
Sean
