A fun weekend and disappointing news

We took our boys to the Dunes on Lake Michigan this past Saturday. It's not too far from my parents and our boys have never been to the beach so it was ideal. The only bad thing was that Kade and Cole were sick. And still are. (But I won't go off on a tangent about the details and tell you that they had high fevers, terrible sore throats, ear infections, and have just been miserable and how this just isn't right in the middle of summer!) Anyway, we had a great day.

Hiking up the summit. Another sign around the bend said "Warning strenous trail to summit". Not so strenous, but a nice little walk up to a beautiful view.

Here we are at the top. This really doesn't do it justice, but look down by the beach. See those little ants, I mean people!

We took my niece, Emilie along too. Thanks for coming Ems! I think we were going for the scenery here, not the faces....obviously. :)

Playing in the water. It was really cold, but so fun. They loved the waves and it was even better than the ocean because you didn't have to worry about salt in your eyes and mouth.

Again, this doesn't look very high but it was a huge sand dune and the guys had so much fun running and jumping down. Please ignore my commentary.

Then it was back to my parents to celebrate this little guys fourth birthday. A smile even when he's sick. The boys did a lot of this ...
...while I did a lot of this (sitting doing nothing!)....

...and the guys did a lot of this. Adding a screened in porch to thier patio.

We got home Monday night. On Tuesday I get an email from my case worker that said our case is in limbo because the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) closed for training for two weeks. After passing court (2 weeks ago!) the MOWA was suppose to write a letter and submit it to the office who issues Jada a new birth certificate and passport. These have to be done to get an Embassy appointment which is where we appear at the US Embassy in Addis Ababa and get her visa to bring her back to the US. Well, apparantly, the MOWA didn't get our letter done before they closed. So, now we're waiting on them to reopen, write the letter, and then we wait some more for the birth certificate. Once we have her bc we'll get a travel date. I'm guessing it will be late August. So sad. Hope this all makes sense. It just really means more delays.

But, then I got another email from my case worker and got these new pics. Isn't she just a doll?! I hate it that we're being delayed for travel, but she looks really good and she's growing. I'm thankful she's being cared for and loved.