Timeline Tweaks

This is what happens when it's too cold to ride her bike outside.
Also notice the awesome forehead bandaid she rocked for 2 days on
an invisible owie.

Ok, here's our timeline update: a couple weeks to three months.  Sad, I know.  I called the agency this week and had a good chat with the program coordinator (who has been fantastic), and she explained that there are 2 things that have slowed the process.  The first one is that the Ethiopian government processed things really slowly during December and January.  The second is that all adoption agencies working in Ethiopia are required to renew their licenses with the government there.  Apparently during the time where the government agency that oversees all this is going over all the documentation and other whatever that they do, the adoption agencies are allowed to continue processing adoptions as usual.  The snag is that the government hasn't been issuing birth certificates as quickly as they do when the agency is officially relicensed.  And that is exactly where our boys cases are at.  The agency staff have been busy getting all the other necessary documents and paperwork done so that once the birth certificates are issued, the boys cases can be sent right to the embassy.

As frustrating as this delay is, we have been able to see some silver linings.  The first is that in the next couple months we might be able to financially pull this off without any adoption debt whatsoever.  That would be amazing.  The financial blessings that we've had through this process have been miraculous.  Seriously, it's a good thing that the Lord doesn't show us the whole picture all at once, because I would probably have been more than overwhelmed at the price tag that comes with international adoption.

 The next is that if we have to delay having the boys come home, it also delays them having to deal with as much of a Utah winter as possible.  The idea of being able to wrap up in our little house for a month or so, and then have the possibility of starting to go outside, to the park, and working in the garden, is really a happy one.  I dreaded having them go from spending a lot of time each day outside in 70 degree year round weather to months of winter and almost no outside time.  So that's a definite upside.

The more flippant upside is that it will give me more time to become more proficient at cooking good Ethiopian food. :)  So far I feel like I'm doing pretty well.  Our freezer now has freezer bags full of Ethiopian lentils, vegetable stew, and injera.  I feel like I'm starting to master the art of cooking injera, and am now just in a waiting game with the injera "start" (it's like sourdough) to see if the flavor gets a little bolder as I continue to use it or whether I need to go back to the African market and beg them to sell me a start.  I've been making an Ethiopian dinner every couple weeks or so, and we're all getting more accustomed to the flavors.  Even Kate is starting to eat some without too much prodding.  She especially likes helping make the injera.

Anyway, we really are feeling blessed, even if things haven't happened in the time frame we were hoping for.