Initially, we were planning to bring Caleb home around Christmas, possibly leaving the day after or in early January. However, there was an unexpected delay and we had to adjust our initial travel plans. Caleb is from the Shashemene orphanage which is in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. There was some investigation being done in that region and adoptions were stopped for the entire area. We had been through Ethiopian court already and this precious little one was ours, but because of the freeze in movement of the children, he was "stuck" and he would not even be allowed to move to the transition home while we waited for resolution. We were extremely nervous as we were being given very little information and we weren't sure when (or in our dark moments, if) we would be be allowed to travel...would it be weeks...or months? During this time, so many of you were faithfully praying for resolution...and God answered quickly...the correct official was tracked down and he approved the movement of the kids who already had passed court and had parents waiting for them. We were thrilled, planned our travel for February and didn't expect to hear much more about the issue. But in God's sweet grace, when we arrived at our guest house in Ethiopia, we discovered that everyone there had adopted children who were "stuck" in Shashemene. It was such a special time and now these children will always have at least some connection with others from their orphanage. Our Gebremedin definitely recognized all of those kids and his little face would light up when he saw them...we are hoping it will be a wonderful connecting point for him as he grows older. This picture is of that first batch of Shashemene kids. (Please keep praying because due to ongoing issues, there are many children who are still unable to be united with their parents...and even one day longer is too much to spend in an orphanage.)
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