One month since court

Hello Miss Grace Yeabsira

Today marks one month since we passed court and you became a Bowen forever.

Tomorrow will be ten business days since our case was opened at the Embassy.  We are hoping it is really good news.  We are coming as soon as we can!

Love you 

Mommy and Daddy

Submitted

May 21st is a great day Miss Grace Yeabsira!!

Our case was submitted to the US Embassy!

This was in our email this morning!

Dear Bowen  family :

Congratulations!  Your adoption case has been submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Your authorized agent, Adoption Avenues  , submitted the case to us on May 21,2012. 

It has only been 2 weeks and 4 days since we passed court and you became a Bowen!  

It is normal for it to take 3 to 6 weeks after you pass court to submit to Embassy.

We still do not know when we are coming to get you but it is getting close.  

So what does this mean? and why are we so excited? 

First the Embassy will look at our case in the next ten business days.  At this point they will let us know if our case is clearly approvable.  If it is "not clearly approvable"  our paperwork will be forwarded to the USCIS Field Office in Nairobi, Kenya. This higher level will be able to clear Grace Yeabsira.   Since the sweet little Bowen was abandoned we are expecting this step.

Once we are clearly approvable we will schedule our interview at the embassy and we will hop on a plane and come get you!

  

There is no way to know how long this will take.  It could be a couple weeks or a couple months.  We of course are praying for the shortest but preparing for the longest!

Either way this is the last step and soon Baby girl will be home with us!!

Pink Elephant Baby Shower

Dear Grace Yeabsira

Today was your first shower!!  It was beautiful!

Your Mimzy and Aunts made it such a special day for me and for you!  

Everyone loved the pictures and videos of you!!

We are very blessed and lucky to have such wonderful family and friends to shower us with wonderful gifts!!

Love you 

Mommy and Daddy

and your Mimzy and Grandpa A and Grandma B and Grandpa B, and your many Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Fairy Godmothers

Last Day

Dear Grace Yeabsira

This day was yucky!  We knew it was coming but it did not make it easier.  We started the day as always but now we had friends in our little room.   Two new families had come to start their amazing with with their children.  The world being so small one of the families name was Bowen.  So that morning you got to bring a couple friends with you to play.  We had a great morning, you were cute as always!  The other two couples adopted two children and each had one parent to play with.  You had your mommy, daddy, and your mimzy all to love you so so much!
We went to lunch, picked up some new outfits for you at the post office and got some amazing coffee.  Tafese brought us back to see you first and then went to get the other Bowens.  We enjoyed every moment with you.  We were watching the clock and as it got closer to five I started trying to figure out how to change the flights and never leave you.  I was not sure I could do it.  Your mimzy was the first to say good bye.  She held you and gave you tons and tons of kisses to hold you over until you see her at the airport. Then she handed you to your daddy.  I will remember all my life you Dad holding you and he held you even tighter and just the saddest sound of a cry.  Even as I write this now I am crying again.   You were so sweet, you were the strong one as we cried you smiled at us, as if to say it's ok.  Five o'clock came and Tafese took the other Bowens back to the house.  Normally every nurse and nanny would smile and say hi to us and to you when they walked by but now they all just pretended to look the other way not worrying at all what time it was.  But eventually Tafese had to come back ( I am sure he circled the block at least five times)  One of our favorite nannies came in and was also crying she hugged us and promised us we would be back very soon.  We hugged and cried and kissed you good bye one last time.  Tafese was the only one keeping it together.  I promise we are coming as fast as we can!
  We went back to the house and and by now it was almost six.  We had to leave for the airport at 6:30.  We quickly got our plane clothes on Tafese started loading the car and we worked on our good byes at the house.
Tafese brought us to the airport and then it was constant busy of immigration, customs, security, delays, more delays, more immigration, and finally home with almost everything.  Just missing you
The flight will be so much better next time because you will be with us!!

Love you so much baby girl
Mommy and Daddy

Court

Dear Grace Yeabsira

May 3, 2012 was a big deal in the Bowen house because if we were really lucky by the end of the day you would be a Bowen too! 

Court has been a morning event but the day we got there the judges switched and the new judge wanted to have court in afternoon.  Sounds good until court day and then you have to wait until two to go to court.  Upside we got to see your beautiful face in the morning have quick lunch and then Eshetu drove us to the court house and our lawyer Tafese met us at the door.  We rode up in a dark elevator and walked down the hall to a room the size of a small classroom full of people.  It was a true melting pot families from all over the world hoping to pass court, birth families being so brave to give testimony.  It is a tense room with Silence signs everywhere.

Everyone who has a court date of May 3rd arrived at 2pm and then waits their turn to be called.  The clerk would open the door  say one word in Amharic and a lawyer would jump up talk to the judge and then call in the family.  Some would walk out smiling some did not.  A little after two hours our orphanage was called and our lawyer walked in.  He then motioned us in.  We handed our passport to the clerk and were seated.  

The judge is young, beautiful and very smart.  She started asking us questions.  

Do you have other children?

Have you met Yeabsira?

Have you been trained in international adoption?

Do you know other adoptive families?

Do you see them often?

Do you plan to teach her about Ethiopia?

Do you understand and have resources if she has questions about why she was adopted?

Do you understand this will be final and there is no way to reverse it?

 On the edge of our seats we said yes in unison!

Then the best words I have ever heard  -- It is done she is yours!!

That was it GRACE YEABSIRA you official became

YEABSIRA DANIEL BOWEN

We were ecstatic!  It was 4:15 we had until five to see you! Eshetu picked us up and asked what the program was:  We said go see the newest BOWEN.  

He made the trip in ten minutes and we got to spend a half hour with you!!  

Great Great Great day!!

Love you so much your

Mommy and Daddy