Of Cute Boys and Court Dates

It was the annual neighborhood 4th of July kiddie parade...complete with firetrucks, police cars, and at least 100 kids of all ages. It is a great neighborhood event and has been going on for 40 years. Talk about a great tradition! We have several IA families in our neighborhood, so it was really fun to share stories and see how excited everyone is to get this girl home! The boys decked out their bikes and the kids jeep and grabbed candy as they rode (it's a reverse parade, the spectators throw the candy to the kids!) It 's one of those days that makes you really proud to be American!

Tonight, as we all go to sleep, the sun will be rising on Ethiopia and it will be our court date. The last batch that went through had no problems and everyone got through okay. We are hopeful for the same. It is still looking like late Aug or even early September before we will get to travel. I am trying to be okay with that, trying not to think of all the time we are missing out on with sunshine...and instead thinking of all the time we will have together!! We could hear if we made it as early as tomorrow afternoon, or not until Fri or Monday...depends on power outages etc. So cross your fingers and say a prayer!!