Get Goin'!

Tickets are booked! I leave this Friday, the 10th in the evening! Can you believe it? I can't. I'm a little nervous that we are going to get stuck again... It has been the pattern lately.... Too bad though because I'm getting on a PLANE! Airfare was a lot more than we expected. I've been watching prices and they jumped about $600 in the last two weeks or so because of summer. However, our tickets are purchased. We are so thankful for Cindy, an American in Addis Ababa who is letting Kepler and I stay with her for 2 weeks. Not having to pay $1000 per week at a guest house made our airfare purchase possible. Fwew. I got scared last night thinking about all the unknowns. I hate unknowns. I've been there before but this time I'm staying with someone I don't know. I'm in charge of contacting the orphanage and the adoption agency over there. This means I need to buy a phone and get it working so I can contact Amos and our attorney. It's a bit baffling but I'll do it! I'm just so excited to take custody of Kepler and snuggle with him for a few days and then bring him back to Amos:) My return flight is set for the 24th but this may change. Check out Amos' facebook to see date and time:) Everyone is welcome to meet us at Seatac to welcome us home:)

YES!

Okay readers, hang onto your seats! We are booking tickets to Ethiopia tomorrow!!!! I tracked down the woman who was working on our case at USCIS. She didn't know she was supposed to be working on our case, of course. She was great however and got on it right away. I talked to her twice this morning and the last time she was finishing up our fingerprint transfer request. It was too late to get it in the mail today but they are going out tomorrow! They will arrive at the National Visa Center in 2 days (Thursday the 9th) and be cabled to Addis from there. When I talked to our lady officer, she said everything looks good and my fingers won't be needed in the States any longer! When I talked with our agency this afternoon, they said that our case officer is the BEST and if she says she'll get it done, she will. We are free to book tickets and travel!
It's a tiny bit of a gamble because they could get lost in the mail or something but it's a small chance. They are on their way to the embassy and I'm on my way to Kepler in a couple days!!!!
I'm coming Love!

You would think we would get used to this....waiting.

We are still waiting on our fingerprints to be cabled to Addis. The request has been at the USCIS benefits center for 11 days. I emailed asking about the status of our case 5 days ago. We haven't heard anything yet. Supposedly, they have to respond to our email in 48 business hours....um...that's about a WEEK! I'm going crazy to be honest. To watch another family come home with their little one is so hard. I'm scared that since we did a walk in appointment for our fingerprints, they don't know what to do with our stuff. We don't fit inside normal procedure and I'm afraid our stuff was stuck in the miscellaneous pile for a rainy day. I'm going to try to call tomorrow to see if we can pay to expedite our stuff. I don't know if they'll let us. I read on their website that this is sometimes an option. At this point I would give my right arm to get our stuff to Addis so I can get on that plane and bring Kepler home. I thought we would have Kepler home by mother's day and that came and went. I hope father's day doesn't come and go to with Kepler being an ocean away.

Good Progress

Ok! That's what I'm talking about! I talked with our agency today and found out that 2 of our needed documents have been turned into the embassy! This leaves our updated fingerprints. It's hard to explain but I'll try:) We went to USCIS and did a walk in refingerprinting on May 6th. This is not how they usually do things so our fingerprints didn't get sent onto Ethiopia like I thought they did. I assumed that since they had our case number and our other fingerprints were sent without request, this set would be too. They weren't. So last week I filled out the form requesting them to be sent to Ethiopia. I had to snail mail this form along with copies of our fingerprint appointment slip, case number and the LAST copy of our homestudy to Missouri (yeah, I know?!). I tracked the package and saw that it arrived at their office last Thursday (May 26th). As of today, they have had it for 3 business days. Our agency said that stuff can often times sit on some one's desk for 10 days before it actually gets sent on to the National Visa Center where they cable it to Addis. I sent them an email today asking about our pending case. I hope to hear something back tomorrow. I'm a little nervous because we didn't follow the steps the way they wanted us too but all the stuff should be there. I'm hoping we will get word that our stuff is forwarded to the National Visa Center soon. I'm ready to go but I can't get on that plane until I know that our fingerprints are in Addis and they won't need my fingers again in the States!