Ethiopia- Part Three: Court

Our court date was on Tuesday, October 12th. We woke up that morning very nervous since we were one of the first families that had to appear in front of the judge.  Luckily there were a couple of families that had gone before us so we knew a little on what to expect. 

We were suppose to meet at the Gladney office in Addis before heading over to court.  However, we got a little stuck in traffic and by the time we arrived at the office, all the other families were getting in their cars to head over to court.  We had missed the meeting! Some of the other families filled us in on the information they received  and some of the questions they were expected to ask us.  There was still apart of me that felt like we had missed something important and was panicking a little inside.:)

We were dropped of at the court house and walked up the stairs to a little room to wait for our turn.  There were about 6-7 other Gladney families with us.  There was a little chit chat here and there but for the most part there was a lot of silence.  I think everyone was a little nervous.  Families were called in one by one.  They were gone for maybe 5 minutes.  When they returned you could see the relief on their faces.  Of course, we were the last family to be called and by that time, I had convinced myself that they had lost all of our paperwork and we were not going to pass!

Have I mentioned that the adoption process can make you a little crazy?  Well, it can. :)

We were finally called back to the judge.  We had decided that Brian would take the lead and answer all the questions. Bad idea.  Not only is Brian a little hard of hearing (he may deny it is true) but Brian also has a very hard time understanding accents. Put these two things together and add a soft spoken Ethiopian judge you get a confused looking Oklahoman leaving a awkward silence after questions. :)

At one point the  Judge asked if we understood that this adoption was final and accepted responsible fully for this child.  Brian just sat there. The judge looked up with a look saying "HELLO!!".  I quickly almost yelled, "YES!".  The judge laughed, thankfully!:)

When she finally said the Engida was officially our son, I was unexpectedly filled with emotion.  I really did not expect my eyes to fill with tears.  All of the months of waiting, and feelings of frustration, anxiety, helplessness had finally lead to this moment.  We were finally officially a family!!!!

Although we had initially planned on waiting a few days and and doing some sightseeing before we took placement, we were way to anxious and excited and decided to take placement ASAP.  We talked to Travis and made plans to take placement the next morning!