What a whirlwind!  After 32 hours of packing, arranging, scheduling, preparing we left our house to take the kids to grandma and grandpa's house.  Torrey still had a Calculus test and work near Indy yesterday so I had to pack all by myself and try to ready the kids for a quick departure.

So, how did I end up here at the DC airport waiting to board my flight to Ethiopia?  On Friday we heard that there was a mix up with our court decree the previous day and when the agency went on Friday to get it the power was out so they couldn't print the decree.  This is when we heard that we would not make it for the June 18^th embassy date.  In order to receive an embassy date the child must have their passport  one week before the embassy date so that the embassy has tine to do a physcial and get bloodowrk back to confirm that the child is healthy.  In order to get  a passport you need to have a court decree, which you use to get a birth certificate, which you use to get the passport.  Each of these can take days to a week to obtain.   I called on Monday asking if by chance there was some kind of miracle…half joking….just checking….coving all my bases….no new news.  Torrey calls on Tuesday to see if there is any progress and BFAS had not yet obtained the BC but they said there is a chance that if they get it by Wednesday that they can see if the embassy would take Sifan with the BC and a photo ID or perhaps they could pull a few strings and get the passport done more quickly.  All of this seemed very doubtful though so we talked about if it was possible would we be ready.  I (the optomistic….read non-realistic) one said sure…we can make it work still.  But neither of us really believed that  it would happen.  That night I prayed for God's will because waiting had its perks but meeting Sifan early would be a true GIFT!  Wednesday we went to Wildcat, lunch at the park, catch up on facebook, and then the CALL from AGITU!  She called to say that we would be going!!!!  We still had not changed our tickets from the original June 12^th flight but Wednesday was the last day before we had to change them.  When I heard the news I JUMPED up and down and SCREAMED!!!  Called Torrey and told him the news in a high pitched, super fast, indecipherable tone……calmed a bit and repeated that we were a Go!!!      When the kids found out we were leaving so soon they were super excited!!!  Noah ripped down the paper chains and had a HUGE grin, Carter as excited about going to Grandpa Keiths early, and Wubi was excited but anxious about mommy leaving.

So began CRAZY packing!  Thanks to everyone who helped me remember what to bring!  In the end our suitcases were too small so we repacked everything in grandma and grandpa's suitcases….the awesome thing was that the suitcases still had the hot pink luggage tags from our trip to pick up Wubitu!!  T & I got a bite to eat and off to Walmart for last minute nessesities, then off to the airport at 1 am.  We arrived a bit early and slept in the car for an hour or so…well I slept and T was wired so he investigated the airport.  I was glad he was there when I woke up because I couldn't think straight so early in the morning.  I easly checked my 2 huge suitcases and a stoller for Sifan and brought along my "Cars" backpack and purse.  The lady who checked my bags asked if I was traveling with a baby….and I got teary eyed as I said I wll be traveling back with one  J.  Leaving  T it finally started to sink in….I was leaving to go get SiFAN…..to bring her home forever!!!!!!!!  I hadn't been able to wrap my mind around that previously amist the  business…..but at that moment I finally realized that this is REAL…..oiur journey to bring Sifan home was almost over and in a few short days she will be standing in our living room, sleeping in her castle bed, being snuggled by Noah, being carried around by Noah, being "taught" (read: bossed around) by Wubitu, being doted on by daddy, and being loved so deeply by mommy!