Court Post #4 (last)

Loading up the donations

In the courtyard, with our "court clothes" on

Holt office and files

Our court day was here!  We were up and dressed early, had breakfast and were off to the Holt Ethiopia office.  It was fun to meet some more of the staff there, and hear about their side of the process.  My favorite part was seeing our daughters' file.  It was FULL of all the paperwork - theirs, ours (all translated) and some precious pictures we hadn't seen.  We also brought all of our donations to the office, to be distributed as needed to all of the different care centers.  We were so blessed by our friends through a shower given for the care center.  We brought 2, 50 pound bags full.  :)

After our orientation we were off to the High Court of Ethiopia.  Really, just another building with a sign out front.  We were frisked inside (a little more personal than I would EVER want again) and then proceeded upstairs to wait for our hearing.  We were all nervous and emotional.  The waiting room was full of birth families (not ours) and other adoptive families.  It was hard to think about the wide range of emotions in the room.  We were called in after about 90 minutes, as a group.  We were all asked to identify ourselves and then asked several questions.  The judge than reiterated that once finalized the adoption was final and irreversible!  Talk about emotional...  She then told us that none of us would pass that day due to missing letters.  I was as sad for our group as I would have been for us.

Next up, a traditional Ethiopian meal and shopping.  Change gears and keep going!  The meal was great and the conversation lively.  We loved the group.

Traditional meal

Coffee ceremony, Ethiopian style

Our precious group

Shopping was fast and intense.  Beggars, active shop keepers, bartering (which I HATE), and one hour to get it all done!  We got a few things that we wanted and know what we will get next time.  My favorite purchase was the traditional dolls for all 3 girls.

The trip home began that night.  We were at the airport about 10pm, we were shocked as we wrote on our exit paperwork: in to country 6/13/11, out of country 6/15/11.  We sure did a lot for a short time!  We went through security about 10 times before getting home, but the trip was really pretty uneventful.  It was sad to leave, but we were ready to get home and pass the days, so we could return to get our daughters!