Our Final Day

On Our Way....

It is so hard to believe that the time to travel to pick up our boys is FINALLY here. We are all checked into our hotel, and have a 4:00 am wake-up call. I doubt will will sleep much, so its not a big deal.

We leave in the morning about 6:30 am and fly to Minneapolis then onto Amsterdam, and finally arrive in Addis about 22 hours after we leave Oregon.

Our schedule for our time in Africa will be as follows:

Friday: Meet our boys and spend the day with them

Saturday: Time with the boys, as well as sightseeing around the city and visit to some important places.

Sunday: Travel to Durame and meet the birth Mom

Monday: Travel back to Addis and then see the boys

Tuesday: We have our Embassy interview, and officially take custody of the boys

Wednesday: Stay in the hotel with the boys, and shopping

Thursday: Pick up their US visa's and begin the long flights back

We will not be able to update this blog or our facebook, simply because outside the major hotels, electricity is not a constant, and the internet is dependent upon electricity! We will be going to some internet cafe's, but the speed there is dial-up, so we can not do much!

Thanks for all your prayers and support. We will be posting pictures to photobucket.com/ransomfamily

Feel free to look there once we get back! It so hard to imagine the next time we post, we will have the boys!

5 more days

We are getting close now, only 5 more days. I really hope they don't go to slow, I don't think I can take much more waiting. I think it will be okay though, this week has gone by really fast, so I am confident the last few days will as well.

We are all done packing, and I am so proud of myself and Renee. We have everything we need in 2 forty-five pound suitcases.  We pride ourselves on traveling light, and even with a lot of stuff for the boys we have done it again.

A friend of ours called us the other day, she and her husband has picked up their daughter in China a few months ago, and she asked is we were ready and if everything was done, but then she said, "Wait, look who I am asking, of course you are done." So I guess we have a bit of a reputation, but we have waited for this time for so long, and we are so ready. We are a little scared about actually having the kids, and being parents; but excited to begin this journey.

I will post a picture of us and our luggage later today. Its early and Renee has not even woken up yet. I will also update after we have the conference call with the people we are traveling with.

New Clothes

We saw these today, and just had to have them So cute!

My Mom made these for the boys, they will love them. We are bringing these with us, so they can enjoy them immediately.

Getting Closer

Today we got to speak at Portland Metro which is also the home to Portland's Ethiopian Church. It was so exciting to pull up to the church and the first thing we hear is Ahmaric being spoken. It is getting so much closer, and we are so excited.
On a side note, we discovered that we are saying our youngest' Ethiopian name wrong. We met an Ethiopian man in Salem, and he told us the correct way to say it. We had been placing emphasis on a vowel, when it should have been on a constant. It was close, but we are glad to know the correct way.

Tomorrow we plan to bake our injera, we will post pictures, no matter what the result is!

Closer and Closer

The count down is officially down to 12 days till we leave PDX, 11 till we leave our house. Everything is pretty much done, and while it seems so far away, we will make it.

My Mom has a tradition of making a blanket for each Grandchild. She just finished ours. They have the boys name on them, and are so cute...

The Countdown Begins

Adoption Books

We got some highly recommended adoption books today. We were crying as we read them, only 20 more days!

   

Flight Plans

We got our tickets today as well. We fly from:

Sept. 30th

Portland to Minn. to Amsterdam to Addis Ababa,

October 8th:

Addis Ababa to Amsterdam to Portland

So excited!

FINALLY

We got the most amazing email today, one that we have been waiting for, for the past 5 weeks. We have to be in Ethiopia on October 1st, and have our Embassy interview on October 6th.

This means that within the next 30 days, we will have official custody of our boys!

Once again we have been reminded of how amazing God is. Just yesterday, we were at the point where we could go no longer. We all know that God will not give us more than we can handle, and we were truly at our breaking point. Last night, we went on a walk and just prayed for peace and patience. Its truly exciting to see how God knows when and where we need Him. We are once again reminded that He is in complete control. We are thankful and excited for this new amazing gift!

First Presents

Yes, the boys have gotten presents before, but only from family. But today, I had to go to the Post Office to pick up a package that we were not home to receive yesterday. It was from a childhood friend of Renee's and it contained the boys very first Texas Longhorns, and matching shirts. I guess by marrying a Texas girl, I automatically became a Longhorn fan...who knew! Anyway, we are excited and ready for them to come home!