Sunday:
Hi everyone!We made it safe and sound to Addis. Our flights were pretty easy. Sleep has been more of an on and off sort of thing :) We arrived to find out that we are not staying at the Union asexpected, but at a different guest house. It is very nice and the front desk guy is letting me use his blazing fast Internet connection...a good surprise. Another huge surprise is that today (Sunday here) is not a "free" dayfor us. We have several things scheduled including meeting our little girl for a three hour visit! We thought we were going to have to wait until tomorrow. Happy day! We meet our daughter in just over 6 hours. Gotta run to breakfast. I'll try to write soon to tell you all about her. Love to you all, Joanna & Mark

Monday:
Sorry I haven't been able to email sooner. Our schedules have been pretty packed. We got to see Maeve Dename this morning for a couple of hours this morning too, but let me tell you about our meeting.I'm sitting here not know how to even begin, there is so much that can't even be put into words and so much that I can probably not put into words right now...so I'll tell you all about it in person and just be a little brief for now. We recognized her the moment we saw her with the nanny coming down the stairs. She is just as beautiful as ever. She was pretty scarred and cried at first, maybe for about 30 seconds. She calmed down pretty quickly and had about three hours with her playing and "talking" to her. She is such a joy and blessing! She is very curious and aware of everything going on around her. She stares at you and just studies every little thing. Anytime a baby cried, she whipped her head around to see what was going on. She was very concerned about them. We realized that we are probably going to be in trouble because this little girl is crazy smart. She figures things out very quickly. As I mentioned, she is stinking cute. She has her two middle bottom teeth and the two up top are almost in. She has a little bit of hair, tiny black curls. It's longer and thicker on the top. Her eyes are amazing and I'm totally jealous of those lashes she has. She has long thin fingers and feet, so we're wondering if she might out grow Mommy...and maybe Daddy. Oh, she says Da-Da a lot. We're know it doesn't mean anything, but it melts our hearts just the same. At the end of our visit, Mark was holding her when the nanny came to take her. She started crying and threw her arms around Mark's neck. The nanny said,"Dename?!", surprised that she preferred him already :). Today was a much shorter visit, lunch time feedings and some playing. She fell asleep on my chest. I could have stayed like that for days. I cannot tell you what a blessing she is. Her kind spirit, mixed with a little spunk, is a perfect fit for us. I can't imagine it being any other child. We have our court hearing tomorrow and then a very short visit to say goodbye. I don't think leaving will be as hard as I thought. It's another milestone to bringing her home. We've seen for ourselves how well loved and cared for she is. It's just a matter of time. I feel very much at peace. The void has been filled and we are so grateful!

Tuesday:
Just have time for a quick update. We're going to dinner and then to the airport to come home. It's been a very long emotional day and we are all very tired.We had our court appointments this morning. All for families passed with no problem at all! We were only in her chambers for 3 mins! The judges last questions were. "Have you met her? Do you still want to adopt her?" Us: "Yes!" Judge: "Then she is yours!" The sweetest words we have ever heard. Now we have to wait for the official court order to be issued in a couple of weeks and then we are legally the parents of the most amazing little girl.Saying good bye was very hard, but we left her in her crib smiling and playing up until the last second. It's a great final image to have in our minds. Of course, we have lots of pic and videos as well. :)

We can't post photos or video until she is home, but if I see you in person , I'll be happy to show you.
We hope to travel again at the end of November.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. God is good!