Hi everyone,What a week it has been! First we want to thank all of you for your prayers and words of support, we really appreciate it. We appreciate your e-mails too, you have all been so supportive and encouraging. We found out today that we are going to be able to go get Meron next week!! It has been a roller coaster few days. Last Thursday, our agency called and told us that they were trying to expedite our papers for the visa appt. so we could travel early and be home for Christmas. That was an incredible surprise! We were told we would know for sure on Monday, but then on Monday we were told we would know on Tuesday. Then on Tuesday we were told that we wouldn't have a definite answer until Thursday or Friday, because they were waiting on the final papers for Meron's passport to go through. They told us it was still a possibility to go next week, but to plan on going over Christmas. So today we didn't expect to hear anything and were preparing ourselves just to go in two weeks when we got the word that everything was all set and we get to go next week. (Hopefully we will keep our sanity through all of this!) Needless to say we are ecstatic ( if not a little panicked) and the kids are thrilled that we will be home for Christmas. We have been so greatly blessed. We fly out of Indianapolis Monday morning and arrive in Addis Ababa Tuesday morning. It will be a very long flight filled with anticipation! I guess it will give us some time to learn some Amharic phrases though. Hopefully we will meet Meron next Tuesday!! Our visa interview is on Thursday at the U.S. Embassy. Then her travel visa could be ready on Friday, but we have to stay through Monday because sometimes they aren't ready until Monday. We will start heading home on Tuesday and should arrive in Indianapolis on Christmas Eve. We hope to have the opportunity to send out an e-mail or two while we are in Ethiopia. We ask once again for your prayers for Meron, as this transition could be quite traumatic for her. She will be taken away from every security that she knows. We pray that she will quickly bond with us and feel safe and loved. Please also keep us in your prayers for safe travels (I'm not a huge fan of flying). And please keep Ty, Lane and Shelby in your prayers. Even though they are very excited, these next couple of weeks will be quite a roller coaster for them too.
Thanks again for all of your prayers.
Brandt and Michelle
