Finished and approved!

Our adoption of Zerihun and Melaku was officially approved by the court in Ethiopia back in March, and at that point we were told it would take about 6 weeks for the U. S. Embassy process, until we could go pick up the boys. But 6, 7 and 8 weeks came and went, and we had no word at all about what was happening - frustrating to say the least! Apparently, even though we had passed court, they the would not release the official adoption decree right away; I think they wanted more information or documents. And until this adoption decree is released, the agency can't get birth certificates and passports for the boys, and turn the file in to the U.S. Embassy for them to process it.

But this week, we finally got the great news that our case is finally "finished and approved" by the Ethiopian court and the adoption decree was received:

We got the court decision today for Melaku and Zerihun Philips. We should have the translated court decision sometime next week as well as the birth certificates. Possibly we will be able to submit the file to the embassy by June 1st. We will keep you updated.

We still can't plan the trip to bring them home, because the Embassy has to review the file once they receive it, but we are closer to that point. This is what they told us the process is once the file is submitted to the Embassy:

It typically take the embassy 1-2 weeks to review the file. At that point, the embassy may ‘clear’ the case, or they may ask for clarifying information. Of course, AAI must answer any questions the embassy may have concerning any given case. Once the embassy ‘clears’ the case, they will email your family directly to inform you the case has cleared and will request that your family select three possible dates that would be acceptable for your family to complete the visa interview process. Then the embassy will respond by confirming one of the three dates. At that point, you make travel arrangements.

So, we are encouraged, and trying to still be patient. Please pray that the file will be submitted quickly, and that the Embassy will review it quickly and have no issues. We will also need to raise more funds for this trip, as flight prices have gone up quite a bit, so pray for all the funds we need to come in.

Hopefully these two awesome boys will be here soon!

(Pictures taken by my awesome friend Mandie, who has been a big support to me through this whole process; she took the pictures when she delivered all the Christmas presents to all the kids at Layla House. :))