Laughner's Journey to Ethiopia

Here's a list of some of the families that are traveling with us tomorrow and links to their blogs. Britton - http://www.brittona doptionjourney. blogspot. com/ Hammond - http://thewait4you. blogspot. com/ Nunez - http://nunezstory. blogspot. com/ Terwilleger - http://isaacandkath ee.blogspot. com/ Tom

Saturday Nov. 1st -Leave home 10 am drive to Boston Airport -Leave Boston at 2:53 pm fly to Washington/Dulles We will be meeting up with at least two other families in our travel group here... -Leave Washington DC at 9:30 pm (on Ethiopian Air) we will land in Rome for one hour to refuel, restock plane, and clean bathroom (we stay on plane) then it is off to Ethiopia. Sunday Nov. 2nd -We arrive at Addis Ababa at 7:30 pm Ethiopia Time (that would be 12:30 am EST) after obtaining our Visa, passports, and luggage, we meet our drivers and head to the hotel. - We are told at this time to just try to get a good nights sleep. Monday Nov. 3rd -10:00 orientation meeting -lunch at Garden Paradise -coffee at Kaldis (oops I have never had coffee! Thanks Grandpa) -THE MOMENT WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR, WE GET TO MEET OUR CHILDREN AND SPEND THE AFTERNOON WITH THEM!) -Dinner at the Metro Pizza Tuesday Nov. 4th -10 am paper party for US Embassy (fill out papers for Daniel's Visa) -Shopping -Lunch

We started this adoption process in April of 2007. We have been praying for this day, when we would be able to go through the green gates and meet for the first time the precious child that God chose for our family. We are now just 4 days from leaving for Ethiopia to pick up Daniel Fitsum Laughner (his soon to be name). Right now his name is Fitsum Thomas Laughner. We should be entering through those green gates on Monday the 3rd of Nov. Daniel is living at the Transition Home that is behind those gates. He has been living there since June 10. Please pray for him as he prepares to meet his new family and start his new life. Please pray for our family as we fly to Africa to pick him up. Please pray for Michael and Benjamin as they will be anxiously waiting to meet their new brother on Nov. 8th. Thank you to the wonderful Steiger Family for this wonderful photo of the green gates. They took this photo when they went and picked up their beautiful daughter (Daniel's future ET playmate)

We have t-shirts and the large canvas bags left. We are selling these items at a reduced price of $12 each plus shipping. If you live close by just let us know and there won't be shipping. Thank you for all your support. I can't believe we leave in 4 days.

We have been told that we will not have direct access to our blog from Ethiopia. So we need to update through e-mail. This is a test to see if I have it working.... I am also going to attempt to post a photo to see if that works! Well here goes, wish me luck!

Daniel Fitsum Laughner is our son! We passed court! Praise the Lord, God is Great!

I want to say a great big thank you to the Dwight Chapel Pioneer clubbers. They brought in all of these donations tonight for the Orphanage in Ethiopia.

Today is Tuesday, and we know that we have a court date this week. What we don't know is what day this week. This is a really difficult wait. We know that if we pass court that we will be traveling in 18 days! We will get to meet our son in person in 20 days! If the judge does not find favor in our case and does not pass us. Then we wait some more. It could be another month before we get another court date. The hardest thing is not knowing God's timing. I think that I am ready, but it is not about my timing but God's timing. I pray that things go well and we can use the plane tickets that we have on hold. We have learned so much during this journey, and have made new friends.... Now we are just ready to travel with some of those friends meet our son. Please keep praying! yesterday we found out that one of the little girls at the same Transition Home as Daniel passed away from Pneumonia. We are grieving with the Forrest Family who never got to meet their little princess. Ple

We were given tentative travel dates early this month. In order to book our flights and make everything a go.... We need to pass court this week! We have a court date one day next week (we are not told the exact date), we are guessing it is the 16th. Please pray that all the paperwork will be in order and the judge will rule in our favor. If we pass court next week, we can book our airline tickets and POST PICTURES of Daniel. If we pass court we will be leaving to get our son in 23 days! If we don't pass it just makes the wait even longer, it not that we won't pass. It just means that the papers weren't quite right! We want to say thank you for all the prayers that have gotten us this far in the process. Adoption is a long and emotional process. One that does not happen in our timing but in God's! We have learned a lot in this journey and have made some good friends. We are very grateful for this experience! I would also like to say thank you for all the donations and g

We just received our tentative travel dates!!!!!!!!!!! We are part of the November 1st group! Depending on which airline we use we will either fly out on October 31st or November 1st! This means that we should return home on November the 8th. We have a court date in the next couple of weeks, if every thing goes good.... we will have concrete travel plans. Boy do I have a lot to do!!!!!!!! I sent an outfit to Daniel in Ethiopia to see if it would fit, here is the response that I received... So, we got Daniel's outfit yesterday, sent from Duni. We put it on him, and it was a little big. But not too big to wear...we just hike those pants up to his chest and it was great! So, I hope that can help you to determine what size clothes to bring. I'm sure he'll soon fit great in that 18 mo size. Alright since I don't think I want my son wearing pants hiked to his chest.... I guess I am off to buy 12 month pants. OH MY: We are leaving in 29-30 days! Keep praying for Daniel, us

Today we received our October update on our son Daniel: Here is what it says: Daniel is on Bebelac-2 formula, which is for children over 6 months of age. He also eats porridge-like cereal 3 times a day. He also sometimes eats "regular" food such as rice and vegetables and injera. SLEEPING Daniel is a good sleeper and usually wakes once during the night for a bottle, and takes 2 naps during the day. APPEARANCE/DEVELOPMENT Daniel is SO adorable. He has light skin, big eyes, and a great smile. He is now walking everywhere, and climbing on all the furniture. SOCIAL Daniel has a big personality and is so fun. He loves to smile and laugh, and is very easy-going. He is a definite favorite of all the staff! MEDICAL/SPECIAL NEEDS Daniel has been healthy since the last update. MEASUREMENTS Current weight: 20 pounds Height: 76 cm or 30 inches Head circumference: 40.5 We also received a new picture! I can't wait to introduce Daniel to all of you! It is n