We Passed...Again!

We had our court date in Indiana yesterday. The kids sat quietly and the judge was very kind. Now the birth certificates are what is standing in the way--they're telling us that we have to wait 90 days. (With Ana's we went right after court and picked it up, so we know this is not true!) If that is the case, we'll just use the wrong, misspelled names on the passports and change them later.

The Trail Ride

Here's "my" horse Annie.

The woods were quite beautiful and would be STUNNING in October when all the leaves have changed color. This picture also shows Annie leading which was a major milestone as she is a true follower!

This picture shows why Grandma got a smaller horse!

I debated with Fred and Betsy what to call this post. I thought about entitling it "My IN-Laws Just Tried to Kill Me," or "Death by Trail Ride." They said I should call it "We Told You to Get Off the Horse," or "Isn't This So Much Fun?"

We started out Friday morning and drove almost three hours down to the campground in southern Indiana. After getting settled, we went for a "short" ride. The horses did great even though we went up and down some large hills AND a deer jumped across the path in front of us.

The night was interesting as none of the horses liked the horse behind them and didn't sleep most of the time. Annie laid down and her head hung out the stall (normal stalls being much too small for such large horses). Every time she lifted her head she hit the gate. How do I know? Because I was sleeping in the truck and could see through the windshield! F and B slept in the trailer on a deflated air mattress.

The next day we rode for seven hours--that was the killer part. Not only were the horses, who normally stand out in the field and eat all day, dying, but their riders were quite sore too! It was quite interesting to see all the different horses and riders out on the trail. (This is the largest ride with over 220 horses there.)

That night was the auction and dance. Although I attended neither I can attest they lasted well into the night!

Thanks for taking me F and B. It was an experience that will not be soon forgotten!

Granpa's New Purchase

So, I'm skipping a lot of posts for this, BUT I know all you Eilers are dying to see Grandpa's new purchase. The funniest thing was when the horses ran up to check them out!!

We're Going!

It turns out that the embassy was not taking ANY appointments the week we wanted to travel. So we either had to go next week or wait until the beginning of October. Thankfully, they still had appointments for next week and I will probably leave on Monday--Yikes! Appreciate your prayers for a calm, peaceful spirit as we do some last minute things!

In Martinsville...

we celebrated Grandpa's birthday with an ice cream cake

and lunch at Steak 'n Shake,

and a party for Ana's birthday,

and we played dominoes with Great Grandma Allen.

Misc. from Memphis

Here's how pecans look on the tree. They weren't quite ready yet, but we cracked a couple open so that Ana could see the nut inside.

There are LOTS of spiders in the south. This one had a really interesting web, but you had to stay far away as he is pretty aggressive.

This black and yellow garden spider was the largest spider I've ever seen outside of a container! They are harmless and very interesting to watch.

We loved all the new things we learned at Grandma and Grandpa Clark's house!

New Info.

Mitike's documents were submitted in Ethiopia on Thursday--so should hear sometime next week!

Quick Update

Sorry I haven't been posting--been really busy and Ana sleeps in the room where the compute is preventing me from posting at night.
Good News! We have been cleared to pick up China. Mitike's paperwork is being translated. After it is turned in we should hear something in less than a week. Pray that they accept her paperwork as easily as China's!
I'm going on a trail ride this weekend and Ana is staying with the cousins. She's very excited!

The Ongoing Saga

So, the social worker came back to Addis Ababa (after a two week trip). She was able to get the necessary registration number. Our agency was then to pick it up and take it to the US embassy. The embassy will then take up to a week to decide whether it is acceptable or not. You can pray with us that it is--they have been asking for a lot of "clarifications." (One family had FOUR clarification requests!)
In other news we're heading back to Indiana tomorrow. It's been interesting scouring the house trying to find all Ana's stuff that she's put in various bags, coolers, and suitcases. I think we've been successful. We found a pair of shoes that had been missing for three months!