The Latest on L

I haven't posted about L in a while, so here's the latest. First, we are not exempt from the new two-trip rule (travel for both the court date and to pick up L) even though we've met L before because we'll still have to testify in court. It's definitely a big expense we weren't planning for, but we'll find a way to make it happen. :)

Second, we were officially approved by our adoption agency over a week ago. It was an exciting day because I wasn't expecting it/wasn't thinking about it, plus we got to hear L's full story. We learned things like his last name and that he loves Chelsea and Drogba. (I had to Google this, haha! Chelsea is apparently a soccer team and Drogba is a player for the team from the Ivory Coast. We have so much to learn!) We also learned just how badly he wants a family. From what I understand, he was pretty devastated when he had to move to the older boys' orphanage because he thought there was little hope he would get a family then.

As far as our dossier goes, the only piece of paper we're still waiting for is our USCIS approval. Please pray that this will come quickly! Once we have this, we'll get all our paperwork authenticated and sent to Ethiopia to be translated. This should take about a month. Then our adoption agency will submit our file for a court date. Our caseworker is hopeful that we'll get a July court date.

Also once we receive our USCIS approval, our adoption agency will begin the process to tell L he's getting a family. We will write him a letter and an in-country worker will share it with him and begin to prepare him for what's about to happen. Please pray for L through this. The new two-travel rule will probably be confusing for him. From past experience, he's seen families come and take their children home the first time they visit. We will meet him and then have to leave him for several weeks (hopefully not longer). Because he previously had an adoptive family that fell through, he's already been through a lot. We pray he will know we mean it when we're saying we're coming back for him.

I'm really praying that we receive our USCIS approval this week. The rainy season court closure (August to early October) is a little close for my comfort.

I can't close this out without showing you Myles's Easter picture. He really does get cuter every day, if that's possible.