Two Lil' Texans!

Our foreign adoption decree has been officially recognized by the court here in Texas, and today we received original birth certificates for the boys issued by the state of Texas!

They are really neat! It has their new names, and it lists us as their mother and father, and it says they were born in Ethiopia. Not too many people have Texan birth certificates stating that they were born in another country!

Receiving these birth certificates is the last step in "finalizing" their adoptions in the United States. Because they entered the U.S. on an IR-3 visa, they became United States citizens upon entry, so we didn't have to "readopt" them in the U.S. courts. We just had to have a local court officially recognize the adoption decree issued by the Ethiopian courts, and when that happened they were able to get Texan issued birth certificates!

Next stop? Social security office to get them their numbers/cards. And eventually, U.S. Passports!

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On an anecdotal side note, my nephew Sam gave Jeremy a hand-me-down pair of cowboy boots a couple weeks ago. Jeremy loves to wear them and says, "Boots!" I'm thinking he's feeling real comfortable putting down roots in TX!

Introducing Our Sons!

We passed court and are now the proud parents of two wonderful boys!

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We'll be returning to Ethiopia in less than a month for our appointment at the U.S. Embassy to get the boys' visas and will bring them home in early September!

Our heartfelt thanks goes out to all of our dear family and friends who have supported us through this amazing adoption journey. We're especially grateful for the support we've found right here in the blog world from other adoptive families. Somehow, it feels like we've been "in the trenches" together, and the friendships that have formed along the way are true treasures. Thank you!

We met our boys!!!

We met our two beautiful boys this morning, and it was wonderful!

We arrived at the care center around 9:30 this morning, and we went right upstairs to meet our baby. They put him in my arms, and I couldn't stop the tears of joy! He is such laid-back, content baby, and he rewards you with smile after smile! Our 22 month old was not so happy. He was crying before he came in the room to meet us, and he never stopped until he finally fell asleep in my arms from exhaustion. Then I started crying because I was so relieved that he stopped crying, and also because my heart was rejoicing that he was right there in my arms.

I love the both so much! My heart is so full, and I'm so thankful to God for these beautiful children. Court is on Wednesday, and we'll visit them again on Thursday and Friday. Tomorrow, we're going to take a drive outside of the city to see a bit of the countryside and to tour a rock-hewn church. So far, we've been really enjoying out time here. Thank you all for your love and support and prayers. We're feeling them, and we love you! Please pray especially that all goes well on Wednesday for our court date!!! HUGS!

Aaaaaaaand, we're off!

Our bags are packed, and we're off to the airport!

Please pray for safe travels, good health, sweet time with the boys, and that all goes well in court on August 4th!

We don't know what kind of access we'll have to the internet/telephone while we're there, but my sister is on standby to update our blog for us if we can't do it ourselves.

So check in, and hopefully we'll have some good news for you on Aug. 4th!

Love and hugs,

Brian and Tracy

T Minus 3 Days!

Dear R and B,

Ever since we found out that we "passed" phase one of the court process, life has kicked into high gear, and we have been BUSY getting ready to fly around the world to appear in court next week in Ethiopia.

We'll arrive in Addis Ababa on Sunday, and on Monday we'll get to meet YOU! We've been told that we'll have 2 or 3 one-hour meetings with the two of you. The first two will be on Monday and Tuesday, and the possible third one will be on Friday.

Your Dad and I are beside ourselves with joy that we get to meet you and hold you in just six days!

Our court date is Aug. 4th, and if all goes well, this is the day that a judge will interview us and declare that our adoption of you boys is finalized and legal. My birthday will be the next day, and I can't think of a better gift than getting to wake up that morning knowing that I'm your MOM!

See you soon!

Love,

Mama

Amazing Morning!

This morning, I woke up at 3:30, and I thought that maybe God woke me up to pray for our court date. When I glanced over at my cell phone, I saw that my sister had sent me a text message at 3 am. When I checked it, she had written, "My water just broke!"

Of course, I called her right away, and she said that they were waiting for my mom to get to their house to stay with their older child, and then they were off to the hospital. Their new son was born at 7:06 this morning via c-section. He is beautiful, and I'm already in love! I'm so excited that there will be 4 grandsons on my side of the family!

Soon after I arrived at the hospital and met him, my own phone rang with more good news--all went well in court this morning in Ethiopia! Our case worker told us to make our travel plans!

Our official court date is August 4th. We'll be in country from Aug. 1 - Aug. 7!

We're not totally sure where we'll be staying yet, but if you're a traveling family who will be there when we are, let us know where you'll be staying! We're looking forward to getting to know other Gladney families while we're there!

God is good, and He has blessed us this morning. I just feel like I want to acknowledge Him! Thank you all for your prayers for us and for our boys! We would certainly appreciate your continued prayers that all will go well on Aug. 4th, and that we can bring them home as soon as possible! Thank you, dear family, friends and blog friends!

Tonight while we sleep...

...our first court date will occur in Ethiopia. Tomorrow between 10 and 2, we're expecting a phone call from our case worker with news.

We have so many people praying about our court date tomorrow, and it is a blessing to know that we and the whole situation are so covered in prayer. We thank you for your prayers and ask that as you head to bed tonight (if you haven't already) that you pray that all will go well tomorrow in court.

God is in control, and we are trusting Him.

We Have a Court Date!

BIG NEWS! Our adoption agency contacted us this afternoon to let us know that we have a court date scheduled for August 4th. The courts are currently scheduled to close for rainy season on the 6th. Talk about cutting it close.

BUT…we are NOT out of the woods yet.

In order to adopt from Ethiopia, we actually have to “clear” two court dates. Our first court date is July 19th. We do not attend this hearing. IF everything goes as scheduled on July 19th, THEN we fly over for the 2nd court date on August 4th. If there is any kind of “glitch” with the July 19th court date (and unfortunately, this often happens in Ethiopia), the 2nd court date of August 4th may have to be rescheduled…ugh…let’s not go there.

Please pray that all the paperwork is turned in and that all relevant parties (birthmother, court clerks, judges, etc) show up on the 19th so that we can show up in court on August 4th and meet our boys.

…if all goes as scheduled, we should be bringing them home for good sometime in late August or early September.

Riding the emotional roller coaster,

BRIAN