Still Waiting...

Wanted to update everyone on where we are with Sitota's adoption. We have all our paperwork in Ethiopia and have been filed for court. This is GREAT news!! The bad news is that the courts have decided to remain closed until October 13th. This means that we will not hear anything about when our court hearing will be until after the 13th. The court dates are expected to be about 4-8 weeks out when they do start issuing them. That would have us traveling in December or early January to bring home our Princess! Please pray for a speeding and successful court date!!! Melissa

SIX

Most brilliant child ever!!

"She is very sweet...."

We got the most wonderful new pictures of Sitota last night from a family that just got back from picking up their new little bundle of joy. She also said the following about her time with Sitota:
"She is very sweet. I was blowing bubbles with the kids and holding the wand so they could blow. So it was really hard to get them to take turns and she was helping me by pointing out who was next and was telling me their name and then telling the others to wait. She's very happy and wanted to show me her High School Musical shirt. I would point to a child and try to remember their name and she would giggle and tell me the right name. I'm glad you're close to being filed for court. She will be very excited to come home."
I can not wait to go and bring our little girl home!!!!!! Melissa

On the Way

We got word today from BFAS that our updated home study is officially on its way to Ethiopia as of yesterday!! Yippee. That is the last document that was needed to file us for court. There is still some confusion as to when the courts are going to re-open...they either opened yesterday or are going to open on October 6th. The office in MN is waiting to hear back from the staff in ET as to when the courts are open. What we do know is that we are one HUGE step closer to bringing home our little princess!! We have gotten some GREAT pictures recently from families that have traveled and are going to be getting more soon!!! YEAH!!! Melissa

Our Forever Family T-shirt design!

Happy Day

Today is a very special day in the Troedel house. It is Scott's 35th birthday...that's right, he is half way to 70 :) It also happens to be Ethiopian New Year, so it is now the year 2002! The Ethiopian calendar is based on the beliefs of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and therefore differs from the calendar used in western countries (such as the U.S.). A notable difference is that the Ethiopian calendar is approximately seven years and eight months behind the western calendar - January 1 according to the Ethiopian calendar falls on our September 11. So if we lived in Ethiopia Scott would only be 28 today :). Micah surprised Scott by learning to say Happy Day Da-da and also made him a special present (something he has worked on for 3 weeks now!). Micah also wanted to buy his daddy a pizza for his birthday (it is Micah's favorite thing), but I talked him into getting him Dots instead. He also got a new netbook! Happy Birthday Luvey!!! Melissa

Email that changed our lives!

It was one year ago today that we received the email that would change our lives forever. It was our referral for Muse (Micah)! It was LOVE at first sight! Who would have thought that just 3 months later we would hold our son for the first time. What a year this has been...who could ask for anything more?!!??! Melissa