48 hours later

We are still confused and hurt. I have been piecing information together trying to make sense of it all. I am in no way saying this is the absolute truth, but I think I have an idea of the timeline and process in which our boys were made originally adoptable and now are not.

June- the boys were placed in the orphanage and on the waiting list with CHI

Aug- Nick and I inquired about the boys background

End of Aug.- the Ethiopian Courts closed

Sept- We accepted the referral (the paper work begins for our orphanage)

Oct.- MOWA has a week of meetings for new guidelines (This is when they changed the relinquishment rules) Then the courts re-opened

End of Oct.-Director of Orphanage passes away (most of the paper work has been completed by him along with the relinquishment from father)

Nov.- New director takes over

Beg of Dec- Paperwork is redone and he brings our boys to HOH.

Beg of Dec- They are turned away because they were missing a piece of paper from MOWA

Last Week- New director is told they are not hearing relinquishment cases

Today- Anger, grief, sadness, faith and yes fear.

The explanation as we understand it:

The MOWA is writing new guidelines or restrictions to the relinquishment policies. While they are writing the policies, the local governing branch has decided to wait for the completion of the new guidelines. The only silver lining is that our boys will still qualify regardless of the guidelines. It's not an IF we can bring them home, its when we can bring them home. So we are just waiting.

There are somethings that are very different in Ethiopia. First, you can not question government officials; you can be thrown in jail. Second, We have been told not to contact MOWA as the boys are not legally ours and we can not represent them. Third, communication between Ethiopia and us seems to be vague. (If a question has not been directly asked, then the info is not divulged.) Fourth, our agency is closed for the next two weeks so we wont know much. Fifth, there is no way for us to contact the orphanage directly.

Thank you for all the support and prayers. They are much needed. It has been very difficult. It is hard to explain the situation to people because I tend to fall apart. We are trying to stay positive. This is easier because we both know with every fiber of our body that God has set a path for these beautiful boys to be our sons. So like I said we wait. In the meantime, Nick and I are taking off for Christmas. We rented a cabin with no other cabins in sight and we are going to hunker down for the holidays. We look forward to playing games, talking, reading, cooking and watching movies together. We need to get away and relax. I have been a big ball of emotions for the last two months and this week has taken everything out of me.

Please continue to pray. Pray for our boys to be safe. Pray that they are brave. Pray that they feel loved. Pray that the Hearts of the government officials are softened and this blows over quickly. Pray that we endure the pain and learn from it. Pray that we continuously look to God for strength. (It's easy to let Satan dissuade us) Pray that Nick and I support each other. Pray for the millions of other orphans that don't have parents who are ready to sell every thing they own just to be with them.