"A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world. ~Lois Wyse

This past weekend was a blast!  Let me back up a bit and mention that from November 7-18, this home is full of hope and anticipation.  A month ago, we were told that our daughter's paperwork was insufficient and would be forwarded to Nairobi, Kenya.  At that time, they told us it would take 1 to 2 months for our file to travel the African terrain before anyone in Kenya looked at it.  We were devastated (just read the post below and you'll have a fully picture of that).  Then something amazing happened.  In our sorrow, God revealed that He would  provide a nation, a group of now 60+ families who would sadly receive the same email.  Feel the same grief. Email the same dozens upon dozens of Senators, Congressmen, and many other government entities.  And come together to support, guide and love one another.  We formed a group and began "meeting" other AP mom's and dad's from many different agencies.  We shared funny stories, scripture and virtual shoulders to hoist one another up as we waited.  Then we learned that US Immigrations caught wind of the growing number of families stuck in this process and they decided to go to Ethiopia themselves.  Files would be held and not sent to Kenya.  Instead, Nairobi was moving into Addis.  The dates: November 7th thru 18th.
And so here we are.  And boy is the anticipation building in our home.  What we know is that US Immigrations will either review our family's file and state that we have cleared (oh was a JOY that would be!) or we will receive an email that says we are being investigated further by the Nairobi team.  Regardless of the outcome, we are prepared to hear sometime before Thanksgiving.  This is what has been communicated to us by multiple government entities and so we wait.  Trying throughout the day to surrender any anxiety back to the God who restores, gives strength, and who allows me to come back time after time and soothes my soul best.
In preparation for this week, a group of 5 of us "Waiting Momma's" went on a random adventure, drove/flew into Baltimore this past weekend, and shared 36 hours of wonderful, joyful time together!  Random??  Totally!  Worth it??  Absolutely!  Some of us had meet in Ethiopia on our first trip to court, but all of us have formed an incredible community of support and friendship during this process.  Here are a few pictures from our weekend of "therapy" :)  It was a blast!  Now we're ready to hear about our case and all the other waiting families!!