Thursday, October 28, 2010

One WEEK FROM TODAY WE BEGIN OUR JOURNEY TO ETHIOPIA!!!


7 days left!!!!!!!!!!!

We have plenty to keep us busy until we leave from still trying to recover from the yard sale, our house is still messy and the garage is still full! We are slowly, but surely, recovering!! :) We are washing clothes for the orphanage, packing toys for Daniel Mamo, packing a bag for him (in hopes he stays with us a few nights:)! The kids are going to be staying with grandma (Phil's mom) and Memaw and Papa (my parents). Phil is trying to learn a little about Skype so that we can all see each other and they can meet their new brother/grandson. One thing I learned on the last trip though, is that Ethiopia technology is not always turned ON. LOL We will see how that plays out. We hear that there IS an Internet Cafe very close to where we are staying, so I should be able to Blog this trip! Hurray!!

So here is what is going on right now in Ethiopia...
There is a nice lady also adopting from CCI, that is there RIGHT now, at the same orphanage as Mamo! She took over a musical card for us with a photo from us and a message that reads "We are coming soon- Love Mom and Dad"! I wish I could see him open the card! :) I think all of the kids will love it... it plays the Lion King song or something like that!! :) There is another lady who is en route (she left yesterday), who will also be at his orphanage and has promised to pass along some HUGS and KISSES to him! This is VERY important because now, he will see some other mommies and daddies come in and out of the orphanage. Up until now, there has been little movement at this orphanage with the courts being closed! Now that they are reopened...Here WE ALL COME!!!

I am also so excited to return the favor of hanging out with these special families children on our visit over! We have gotten to know many families adopting from here and it is amazing the friendships we have formed over Strabucks coffee, from email exchanges, from cell phone conversations and Yahoo chat! We are obviously so excited to see our Mamo, but also so excited to meet all of the other children too!!! :)

So, here is what we think the week will look something like next week.... We leave next Thursday evening and fly to Washington (Dulles). We stay the night there. :) Friday morning we leave Dulles at 8:30am and arrive Saturday morning in Ethiopia at 8:30am! We are staying at the New Flower Guest Home, and can't wait to meet our Buffalo, NY friends who are also adopting from our son's orphanage, and who are also staying there! :) Where we are staying is supposed to be close to a lot of restaurants, an internet cafe and believe it or not some type of mall. I laugh at that, because I can't wait to check that out... we definitely didn't see any type of "malls" where we stayed and where we visited last trip! I promise to get pics! :)

So, from there we guess we will check in, hopefully shower, then head over to see/meet our little guy!! :) Oh, how we can't wait! We initially thought we would get him and bring him back to our guest home with us, but as things often happen in Africa, there have been some modifications to this plan. We are going to be allowed to go to his orphanage and play with him everyday, but we cannot bring him back with us. Our court date is Wednesday, November 10th, so please being praying that several things happen. #1 that his father shows to court and does the necessary paperwork and #2 that the judge overseeing our case approves our case and makes him a PAYNE! #3 This will be the day that we are allowed to meet with his father, if he will meet with us, to learn of some of his history and how to keep a relationship with him!
****If #1 and #2 happen, then we can go back to the orphanage and spend the rest of the trip with Daniel Mamo at the Guest Home! BUT, we have to officially make him a Payne first (Then, I also legally can also show all of you his handsome pictures!!)!



:)OK, prayer warriors, we got 13 days left to pray for God's favor for this adoption of this sweet little angel! :) He's Almost Ours!!! :)


On the financial front, things continue to look promising! We are still selling Uganda Beads (Great Christmas gifts, great teacher gifts, etc...) and remember their purchase touches 3 different ministries! (Daniel Mamo's adoption, 147 Million Orphans and Amazima ...aka Katie Davis)! Get your beads soon! If you are thinking you are going to get some for Christmas presents, can you please get them SOON??? :)

We are also still selling our CHOSEN adoption T-shirts...we will sell them until they are all gone! Better get yours soon!!! (We have contemplated a re-order so if you want a size not on here, let us know and we will consider it)!
Shirt Inventory that we have left are:
Ladies small(4), Ladies Medium(10), Ladies Large(4),kIDS 18-20 (2), Mens/Adult Small (1), Mens/Adult Medium(1), and Mens/Adult XL (2)!! (If you have already emailed us, then we have already pulled back your shirts for you!!)

We are sooo close to our goal!!

We know HE funds what he favors, and he has constantly provided for this adoption! Thanks to all of you who have supported us, and thanks to those of you who choosing to help us bring this little boy, from half way around the world, and into our arms! It means so much to have all of you helping, sacrificing, giving yourselves and praying for our family and this little boy!

No comments:

Post a Comment