Reality is not for the faint of heart

we had a great day yesterday at church. it was very encouraging to worship our BIG HUGE GOD with His people/our family this far from home.  He is the same GOD in Uganda as He is in the US but they worship him in a way I have rarely seen on our side because they ACTUALLY need Him to sustain them each day.  We are so self sufficient.  it is amazing how we felt so connected even though we could only understand half of what was being said and sung.  The first 2 songs had me crying...the words were "we serve a miracle-working God" and "Things are already better because the Lord is on the throne...I'm already better...you're already better etc." It was hard to admit, to be honest, since my heart was breaking but I am better knowing that He is in control.  

the pastor prayed with us after the service the God would make the crooked places straight and level all the mountains and that we would find favor in all we do this week and that we'd have peace.  The mother's day aspect of the service was nice but bittersweet really  as I face the Reality of our situation. It does not look good at all.  Most likely we will return this Saturday as originally planned but w/o the boys.  I literally feel physically ill as I type that but I can't pretend that the situation is better than it really is just because I want it to be.  We could be here indefinitely.  Everything that had to do w/the paperwork was false about things being ready for our coming here.  We actually consulted with a new lawyer today who would need to start from scratch with our paperwork, but he is at least competent and professional. A refreshing change from our current situation.  we still don't have a court date but are told it may be possible to be heard in court this week.

There are several adoptive families who have been waiting ahead of us and there is no real reason why we should get to go ahead of them in line.  The government declared today that Thursday will be a national/public holiday --just arbitrarily...apparently this happens a lot-- so the courts will not be open.  Also the political opposition leader who caused all the riots is out of the hospital in Kenya and will be returning to Uganda with as much fanfare as he can muster to disrupt the swearing in of the current president.  so safety is also a concern.  

Every time the boys run up to me and say "Mamma!" or just come up to me for a hug or a kiss I feel worse.  What will they think when we leave them here?  We were discussing their possible accommodations with their guardians today.  We have to face facts. 

pool time. Garak was too scared to go in and Hayden hopped right in and was so brave I had to jump in fully clothed to rescue him

so hungry he ate the plate...jk

along the road

market

the sign says "welcome shmuck"  a priceless description of this place

this says it all. It is a billboard at a major rotary in the capital city. which is obviously not functioning correctly...what a shock...

Garak found his inner rap-star today when he discovered "bling"

happy daddy's boy

biggie smalls??

Saturday's small success

This morning we forced a meeting with our lawyer.  We talked very frankly about our concerns and the fact that we perceived that he hadn't been totally honest about what he was able to do for us.  The short of it is that he says he is 100% sure we can be heard at court on Wednesday.  We will believe that when we have the orders and court documents in our hands.  We beg you to pray to that end!  That being said, we are certain that we will have to extend our trip since we cannot even request a visa until we have the court documents in hand and the US Embassy does not even have office hours at ALL on Thursdays.  Not even for American citizens.  You can't even enter the building on Thursdays.  (I hope you can hear my tone as I type that) Our original departure date was Saturday which leaves us only Friday to go to the Embassy and they do not process visa requests "same day."  All of these changes and extensions will be costly not only with changing airline ticket dates but also time away from work and costs of living here.

bribery at work

playdough aftermath

our dooryard w/Sedris (the maid) and Herbert (the house & grounds manager/guard)

weekend waiting

1st time with playdough.  Even the maid & nanny wanted to play

hours of fun & imagination

Hayden spotted daddy watching

I made homemade playdough.  They had never seen it.

Please pray and ask anyone you know who prays to pray as well.  we are trying to something thank God wants so we know He is on our side.  He, Himself, is the protector of orphans as He says several times in the Bible.  We are aware of all His promises and know that He is good and faithful.  We humans make mistakes and do not always do our best, however. We are beginning to suspect that our lawyer may not be doing his best work on our behalf and we are very disturbed by this news.  We thought that some things were just cultural differences but he may not be able to complete this for us.  We are looking at possibly getting a new lawyer who can take us the rest of the way.  Please stop as you are reading this and just beg God that we can come home with these boys within a week or 2.  Leaving them here seems unthinkable.  Such little progress seems to have been made.  We can only see with limited vision.  God knows what He is going to do on their and our behalf.  God is all we have ever had but we are painfully aware of that right now.  Maybe He wants to show Himself strong to you as you pray and watch Him work through your faith.  We are meeting with our lawyer this AM to hammer out what he can really do and what we must do to move on from here.  Thank you for your support.  Also specifically pray about our health.  The stress is getting to us.

The boys wear 3T right now and size 7 shoes. (5.5 inch long feet)  Hayden is taller by a couple inches but weighs the same as Garak who is obviously chubbier.

photos but little progress

the boys love bubbles. Is Garak's face priceless or what?

catching the bubbles
 on tip-toe

smooshing daddy's face

silly time with daddy. both boys' favorite! as soon as they see daddy they giggle with anticipation

family portrait

our family portrait
 we had this one printed yesterday.

trying on mommy's shoes

shower!

they love shower time
 and I know they will love their bath once we get home. there is no bathtub here but they play with bubbles in that big bucket and wash themselves and each other

happy brothers! the house we are staying in is very nice

we may have court on Tuesday but nothing is for certain.  we will almost certainly be extending our time here. we'll keep you posted on any progress. we're basically in a holding pattern. 

waiting

we may have court tomorrow. pray hard. we are quite discouraged but praying and hoping to be pleasantly surprised.  we are heading to town with the boys to print some photos. hope to write more later.

more delays

we are pretty discouraged.  our original court date was 4/29 which was cancelled and rescheduled to today. we drove to court an hour away, paid for transportation for the others who also had to be there and then found out that the judge simply wasn't coming again today.  very frustrating.  it is a pretty terrible feeling. totally out of control. no idea when anything will actually happen. we are not able to file our visa applications without the court order which can't get bc the judge keeps not coming to work...

the only good news is that the boys are healthy. no TB, no major sicknesses.  and that they are happy with us even though they saw their guardians today they were glad to go with us. 

if and when we are coming home with them remains to be seen.

cool today & court tomorrow

So tired from the heat but all is well here.  We have a break today with the rain for the past few days having cooled things down a few degrees.  Everyone here has coats, hats &scarves and we are finally comfortable!  The nanny here got malaria a few days ago.  She says she is feeling better with the medicine she started yesterday.  Her name is Brenda.  The mosquitos are pretty healthy even though we have nets and spray. 

The boys are doing very well.  They are communicating a bit in English and getting stronger and healthier.  They now complain if they can't be 1st to take their medicine and their skin is healing too.  They just love their daddy.  There is now no fear and they just love to wrestle and tickle together.  They are mostly very well behaved and energetic.  Their favorite thing is still eating but they also sing a lot.  we have some great videos of them dancing and playing but are not sure about getting them on here. 

(Oh and a special note for "Aunty M"--you should bring your dancing music because these babies will love to dance with you!!)

On a serious note: tomorrow is our court date so please block out some time to stop and pray that all goes well.  That we have everything we need for paperwork, that the judge shows up and gives us custody with no stipulations at all, that the caregivers (who will be there) say what they need to say and don't make anything difficult for us, that the boys are not too emotional when they see their caregivers.  Thank you.