Our last blog post told you that we were waiting for a court date, well, we got one. Truth be told, we have had our court date. It's actually been a couple of weeks ago that we had our court date. We flew to Ethiopia on July 18th. We met our son on the 20th and on the 21st a very nice judge met with us for all of about one minute and then said, "That's it." We had to ask to confirm, but apparently "That's it" means, "Congratulations! You passed court! You are now the parents of Abel Raymer!"
So there you have it, we are the parents of a wonderful young 15 year old boy. He is ever the gentleman who is intelligent, kind, and very compassionate. We had the privileged of spending most of the week with Abel. It was a true joy getting to know him. He like his Father (remember, that's me!) enjoys history and he played our tour guide as he took us to some of Ethiopia's museums. Although, this was our second trip to Ethiopia, it was amazing to see this beautiful country, with it's rich history (by the way, there is much more to Ethiopia than just the famine of the 80's) through my son's eyes.
Our time in Ethiopia was wonderful and we left with only one regret - we couldn't bring Abel home. We have to wait for the US Embassy to finish their paperwork and then we will go back to Ethiopia for just a few days. This time though Abel will be coming home with us. Which is a very good thing. I don't believe Dottie or I want to go through another day like the last one when were in Ethiopia. At one time or another, knowing that we would have to leave our son for another month or so, we both broke down.
We are hoping to be back in Ethiopia in just a couple of weeks. Of course, this does mean one big thing - money. Yes, we still need money to finish all of this. I know that it seems that we are asking but it's the only way to bring our son home. I'd like to take this opportunity to again ask, if you are able to give anything at all to help with the enormous cost of this adoption, to help us bring our son home, please give now. Again, you can send a donation through the mail using the address to the left or you can give online using the "ChipIn." Thank you for your help and God bless you.
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| Outside the church on Entoto Mt. |
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| Abel's first ever bite of pizza! |
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| Outside the Natural History Museum |
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| Our Son! |
