Back from Ethiopia
Friday, July 2, 2010 at 3:27PM No great problems on the trip. Court and meeting girls and meeting birth mother (widow) all went about as well as they could go. Actually, the whole thing went a lot better than I could have possible dreamed.
Will pen something for Monday, maybe.
The key news: Metsewat Akelu and Abebu Akelu are now legally our children, per the court proceedings in Addis Ababa on 30 June. Metsewat is estimated at just over four, but struck me more as 3-and-a-half. Abebu was estimated at just over three but struck me more like 2-and-a-half. The birth estimates carry considerable swag, and we'll have to adjust those--per our best judgment--as we eventually apply to have birth certificates generated here in the US as part of the re-adoption process in US courts. No hurry there.
Their legal names, as we now plan them, will be Metsewat Akelu Barnett and Abebu Akelu Barnett.
Metsewat is pronounced as MET-sue-what and Abebu is pronounced as ah-BAY-boo. We plan the nicknames as Sue and Abby, respectively. Their current last name, to become their middle names, is pronounced ah-KAY-loo.
They are exceedingly beautiful souls, as is their birth mother.
We are currently scheduled to return to Ethiopia in early August for a set embassy date regarding the immigrant visas, but there is some vulnerability there regarding reduced staffing that month (corresponding to reduced Ethiopian government operations that month, as is the custom). We should know more in the next couple of weeks, but we are hopeful the scheduled date will hold.
I am now the father of six children.
Reader Comments (7)
I really admire you and Vonne for growing your family in this way. Your household is truly global. Congratulations on the the girls. I hope everything goes smoothly from here on.
Bruce Sterling says, "real futurists have children." Indeed you are.
Mazel Tov!
There needs to be a like button for stuff like this.
Congratulations! A family that gives meaning to e pluribus unum. May the Barnett family all have a happy 4th of July. Cheers!
wow. God bless you all.
Love the names of the girls! Congratulations to you and your entire family.
When I adopted my 2 Chinese daughters (Shannon FuMin (1996) and Shay SiMin (1997) some people thought I was crazy and others thought I was a saint. In both cases, they would say how fortunate the girls were to have me. That was debatable depending, of course, on my skills as a parent, but what was not debatable was how fortunate I was (am) to have them in my life. They've shown me my best and my worst, and taught me how to become a true world citizen first by looking at China and the U.S. through my own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and eventually expanding my loyalty to the entire human race.
I hope and pray your global family brings you as many blessings as mine has.