My Family, My Journey: Re-adoption Day

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Re-adoption Day

I had visions of a family photo on the steps of our historic City Hall, complete with lovely foliage and crisp fall air...

Instead we got this.

Eating raindrops

Even with the rain, it was a beautiful, wonderful day.

The Judge gave the boys twin bunny rabbits, which they named Peanut Butter and Good Boy.

Peanut Butter posing for the camera

The whole thing took no more than five minutes, yet it was more emotional and ceremonious than I expected. It certainly was a happier occasion than our embassy appointment in Ethiopia.

This time we felt like a family and there were only tears of joy.

To celebrate we went out for blueberry and banana pancakes and coffee-milk (really just warm milk, but they call it coffee-milk because the cup looks like Daddy's coffee). Then we stopped at Barnes and Nobel to pick out some new books (thanks to everyone who gave us recommendations last month!!)

The boys got to pick out a toy, too. Here's what they chose...

No, we weren't surprised that he chose a pink princess phone.

One of many accessorized moments

It was a very good day.

The obligatory group shot

On the way out, the Judge said he wanted to see us back next year with the baby sister.

HA....no comment!

15 comments:

The Mrs. said...: Yay! Congratulations sweet family! Looks like a great day.; Thursday, November 04, 2010
Heather said...: congratulations! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the pics in their little yellow raincoats. sooooo adorable.

hey, that judge might be on to something...lil' sister...hmmmmm. ;); Thursday, November 04, 2010
sko3 said...: congrats!; Thursday, November 04, 2010
We Are Family said...: YAY!
I like what the judge said and I agree :)

BLESSINGS!; Thursday, November 04, 2010
Gayla said...: Congratulations!!! :-)

LOVE your family.

But a little bit 'o pink would be sweet!! ;-); Thursday, November 04, 2010
Leah said...: Congrats! So exciting!; Thursday, November 04, 2010
Mika K. Reynolds said...: Big, big congratulations! What a huge milestone!; Thursday, November 04, 2010
Anonymous said...: What a GREAT day!! I was emotional as well at our readopt! I think it is just the last final step to U.S. Citizenship!! Then we went straight to the post ofice for his U.S. Passport!! LOL....

Love,
Carrol; Thursday, November 04, 2010
Rebecca said...: Peanut Butter and Good Boy ... that is hilarious! Super happy that you are officially reofficial and a baby sister doesn't sound so bad. XOXO; Friday, November 05, 2010
Sara said...: Yay! So happy for you all! Love the pink phone. Aiden currently has a purse hanging in his room with all the chapsticks in it that he has stolen from his sister. Love it when kids feel free enough to just be kids!; Friday, November 05, 2010
L said...: Congrats!!; Friday, November 05, 2010
Engendo said...: oh my gosh are you kidding me? STINKING ADORABLE! plus whats with the judge handing out stuffed animals? thats adorable!; Friday, November 05, 2010
Rebecca said...: Congratulations on your "final" step!

Oh, and I laughed VERY loud at the pink princess phone! Love it!; Friday, November 05, 2010
The Busters said...: OMG, the raincoat photos are awesome! I think I will probably get emotional on our readoption today too. Congrats!!! XOXO; Friday, November 05, 2010
Emy said...: Congratulations to your sweet family! We have Eva's court date for the 29th and I get all choked up just talking about it! :o); Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Timeline

*PAPER CHASE/5.5 MNTHS*
6-27-08: Register for orientation with local agency
7-16-08: Attend orientation with local agency
8-19-08: Decide to adopt from Ethiopia through Gladney. Best decisions ever!
8-28-08: Attend orientation with Gladney
8-28-08: 1st Home Study interview
9-25-08: Home study interviews completed & all Gladney paper work submitted
9-30-08: CIS fingerprints
10-2-08: FBI clearance
11-12-08: Home Study report completed
11-25-08: Gladney approval
12-4-08: CIS approval
*WAIT FOR REFERRAL/13 MNTHS*
12-11-08: Wait list!!!!!!!
4-21-09: Increased our age preference hoping to speed things up (HA!)
8-29-09: Heidi's medicals updated
9-15-09: Mark's medicals updated
9-20-09: Travel Immunizatons
11-10-09: Sent in request for CIS fingerprint updates
11-11-09: Gladney calls to review our age preference
11-17-09: Gladney calls again and tells us about twin boys who *might* become available. We agree to increasing our age preference in order to pursue these boys.
11-21-09: Receive CIS fingerprint appointment
12-16-09: Have CIS fingerprints taken
1-4-10: Referral!!!!!!! 28 month old twin boys!!!!!
*WAIT TO PASS COURT/4 MNTHS*
1-19-10: Start home study update
2-18-10: CIS fingerprints cleared
3-4-10: Home study update completed/sent CIS extension request
3-30-10: File submitted to courts!
3-31-10: Received court date!
4-22-10: Received CIS approval extension
4-23-10: 1st court date
4-28-10: 2nd court date
5-05-10: 3rd court date
05-06-10: 4th and final court date! We're a family!
5-12-10: Receive travel dates!
5-18-10: Travel!
6-1-10: Home as a family of SEVEN (four humans, three puppy dogs!)

Fun Facts About Ethiopia

•Ethiopia has been around for a very long time. The country's Rift Valley is known as the cradle of humanity - fossils of the oldest known upright hominid (4-million years old) were found here in 2005, surpassing the famous 3.5-million-year-old 'Lucy', which was discovered in the same region back in 1974.

•A thousand years before Christ, the Queen of Sheba, we are told, traveled to Jerusalem where she met King Solomon, married him, and had a son, Menelik. When Menelik reached maturity, it is said he left Jerusalem and took with him the Ark of the Covenant, containing the original 10 commandments, back to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church says it still has the ark in its possession. No one else makes such a claim...

•Ethiopia's official religion is the 1700 year old Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church. The Jews of Ethiopia, Beta Israel, are said to have been there for 3000 years. And its Muslim adherents have practiced Islam for 1300 years. Ethiopia is split religiously, with official statistics of 35% to 40% Ethiopian Orthodox primarily in the north, and 45% to 50% Muslim, primarily in the South.

•Ethiopia is the only country in Africa never to be under colonial rule, other than a brief occupation by Italy during WWII. You can visit many restaurants in Ethiopia today due to the influence of Italy during the occupation.

•Traditional Ethiopian food consists of various vegetable or meat dishes, usually a wat or thick stew, served atop injera, which is a large crepe-like sourdough flatbread made from fermented teff flour. One does not eat with utensils, but instead uses a piece of the injera (always with the right hand) to scoop up the sauces.

•The Ethiopian calendar is very similar to the Egyptian Coptic calendar – each have 13 months, 12 with 30 days each and the 13th month at the end of the year with 5 or 6 days, depending on whether it is a leap year. The year starts on September 11th (12th in a leap year). The Ethiopian calendar is 7 years behind the Gregorian calendar, so Ethiopia recently celebrated their millennium on September 12, 2007.

•Coffee can be traced back to the 9th Century where it is believed a shepherd discovered coffee beans in the highlands of Ethiopia, namely the Kaffa region. The Ethiopian people are very proud of their coffee and they show this in their well known coffee ceremonies. The Coffee Ceremony is a very important part of socializing in Ethiopia and to be invited to a coffee ceremony is always considered a sign of respect and friendship.

•There are multiple tribes with different subcultures and over 80 languages in Ethiopia. The Amharic language is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia and is the official working language for Ethiopia.

•Family in Ethiopia includes immediate and extended relatives, neighbors, and friends. Faith and family are the foundation of the Ethiopian culture. Ethiopians are very respectful and loving. The elderly are considered very knowledgeable and as a very important part of the family structure. Children are usually raised in a large community that includes extended family and neighbors, and siblings are expected to help take care of each other.