WE'RE HOME!!! We're honored that so many of you have been looking for updates from us...here's to Ethiopia--blogspot is blocked by the government so we couldn't post a thing. But...our kids are nothing short of amazing. They are phenomenal--sweet, giggly, snuggly, and beautiful. We'll write more shortly, but I wanted to get up a few photos and a short update as soon as possible! We landed in DC yesterday morning, and Grandma and Opi (my-Leah's- parents) and some friends Susan (Clark) and her mom, MaryZ (Fleming) and Wills, and Jessica (Willis Schick), and Jen Smedley greated us with big smiles, tears, and treats. It was amazing to have family (and practically family) with us right away. We then drove down to North Carolina (in the worst traffic ever) and got in last night. We've had a great morning, the kids continue to amaze us with their great demeanors and sweet faces, and now they are napping. More to come soon. Here's a few pics right away...

Three days and counting!

In three days, we will be on the plane to Ethiopia! In four days, we will be with our kids! We're so excited. Actually, words can't express the feelings we are experiencing, so I won't try. I will tell you that we have learned so much through this experience...and we haven't even met our kids yet! People say parenting teaches you so much--funny how that begins before holding your babies. We have grown as people, as a couple, as Christ-followers, and...in every way. We are so looking forward to holding Jada and Bennett and watching them grow up.

Thanks for all of your love, support, encouragement, prayers, advice..everything. We have been totally humbled by all of you. Thanks.

We'll be trying to update from Ethiopia--with pictures and everything!

Dave and Leah

Wow--I look at other people's blogs and feel very lame on the postings and updates. Alas, we've had a few things going on...

First of all, we passed court on May 8th, so we're officially the parents of two darling 10 month olds! I went to a presentation for work on the morning of the 8th and thought how funny it would be if someone asked me if I had kids. How often does it happen that a woman can give the true response and it is, "maybe." Because Ethiopia is hours ahead and our agency is on the West Coast, we had passed court in Ethiopia, but didn't know it yet!

It was a weird feeling to have children (totally, officially, last names are Simpson), and not be with them. It was then that my feelings changed. I had felt patient (overall) and ok about the process, but all of a sudden I wondered, "why are OUR children living in an orphanage? They should be home with us NOW where they belong!" So although we celebrated the day, I was actually more sad than I had been because I really felt they should just be home. So how long would that take?

Orignally, our agency had said it would be two weeks after we passed court that we would be getting a travel date (I thought), which would be two to three weeks out (5 more weeks of waiting). When Dave spoke to them on our court date, he thought they said it would be FOUR weeks before we heard about our travel time...two weeks doesn't seem so long, but when you're waiting to bring your kids home, it is. We were trying to get more clarity on this time frame, and feeling a bit confused. After about a day of that, I let it go. I reminded myself how faithful God has been in this whole process and how sure HE was of when our kids would be home--that it would be perfect. Well, the 13th we got an email with our travel date! So forget two or four weeks, how about 5 days! Again, as soon as I let it go and trusted God, something moved forward. The lesson continues to be learned...

So, we found out we needed to be in Ethiopia for our Embassy appointment on June 9th. Just yesterday, we got our tickets to Ethiopia, and we leave two weeks from today! Yippee! We'll be gone June 6-13. We're driving up to DC to fly out, but then our flights are relatively direct (a stop, but no plane change, which is awesome). You'd think the bazillion miles we have on different carries would help, but no. Of course, that's all so much less important than bringing our babies home! We'll be landing at Dulles on the morning of the 13th (and welcome visitors at the airport for those of you who have asked :)).

Now we're just preparing...everything. I look up and realize that a one year old would pull over this shelf, or that piece of art, and we're baby proofing. I'm trying to cook meals to freeze. I need to figure out what size diapers they wear, put plugs in the outlets, batteries in the toys, a fence up to keep them out of the water! Really, though, if they were here right now we'd be fine. Most importantly, we're full of love for Jada and Bennett, and we're excited to have them home. Our prayers continue to be that they are healthy and happy, and that we all attach well. We thank you for your prayers, too--you're support and love through this whole process has been amazing. Please put comments on the blog--I'm excited to be able to share this with Jada and Bennett some day as a part of a "baby book" of sorts, and I know your kind words will be so meaningful to them. I have saved every email and can't wait to show them how many people loved them, were praying for them, and were excited about them long before we knew them.

Much love to all of you.

Court date on Thursday!

We're so excited...court is Thursday, and--God willing--we'll be parents! We're thrilled and can't wait. We'll update as soon as we know anything else...

We have a court date!

Most people emphatically say, "Congratulations! That's great!" and then mumble, "What does that mean?" Here's the scoop--the next step is to have a court appointment in Ethiopia (we don't go--a power of attorney goes in our place) where we officially become their parents! It's set for May 8th! Unbelievable. We are so excited. Our agency director says that most people have no problems and pass the first court date, but we still ask for your prayers that everything goes smoothly and the adoption is official on the 8th. Sometimes people have odd delays due to a paperwork issue, etc., and have to go to court again. No reason to expect that to happen, though. Another possible issue is the court not being open on that day, which could happen because power has been out a lot in Ethiopia recently. Apparently, a lot of the power is hydropower, and the rain has been...absent. Either way, it should be official very soon! So, Lord willing, we'll be parents on May 8th.

After that, we wait for the paperwork to be finalized and then get a travel date. Looks like we'll be heading to Ethiopia in the first couple weeks of June! Hooray!

Did we already post their names? I'm not sure...Jada and Bennett. So Jada and Bennett will be home by their first birthday, which is June 30th. What a celebration! Thanks again for all of your continued support and encouragement--we have been truly overwhelmed by the goodness of our friends and family and by the beauty of community. Even though our community crosses many states, we feel your thougths and prayers and can't thank you enough!

Health Update

So our babies are shorties!! Who would have guessed. Maybe that NBA career isn't in the cards. I realize that at 9 months heights don't really mean much, but it's funny to me. We just got a recent doctor's update for both of them, and they are happy, healthy, and progressing normally--yippee! They are both 26 inches (his update was at 8 months and hers at 9--go figure). At those same times, he was 17.5 lbs, and she was 15.5 lbs, both of which are at the low range of "average" for 9 months. Of course, twins are often on the lower range anyway (because they are often born before full-term, they're measurements at this young age often correspond more closely to babies who were full term on their actual birth date--make sense? It all evens out by age two--I'm learning a few things!), so we're pretty thrilled. They both are crawling, pulling to stand, waving bye-bye, and saying "Mama." They are calling out to me, too! (Or at least I'll imagine it to be so--they will very soon!)

Oh, and we learned that her given birth name is not Marta. Aaaah, the idiosyncrasies of adoption. It's Martha. We still haven't chosen the names that we will give them.

The un-update update

We got pictures! Our kids are so cute! They are precious, and smiling, and they look alike. It's a funny thing to look at children that you will raise, love, put bandaids on, send to college, watch get married........and know they are alive and well half way around the world instead of in our home. We can't put pictures here or send them by email (it's illegal at this stage in the process), so you'll just have to trust us--they're cute. Now we wait for a court date. And once we pass court, we get a travel date, and once we get a travel date, we get tickets, and once we get tickets, we wait to travel, and once we travel, we get to meet them. And then, after all this waiting for each other a world apart we come HOME and start our life as the Simpson family of four. Adis Betasab. We can't wait.