What's Next?

Since announcing our referral for 2 children from Ethiopia, the popular question has been, 

"What's next?" We have a general sense of what the next few months could hold, but timelines can be changed by various factors. At the earliest, we hope to be home with them by early 2014. 

General Timeline

1- Court Filing

We will be filed with the Ethiopian court. 

(we are currently waiting verification that this has happened)

2- Preliminary Hearing

Our case will be heard in Ethiopian court for a preliminary hearing (PH). 

We will then (hopefully) receive confirmation that everything went as planned. 

3-Travel to Ethiopia to meet our children and appear for court 

A few weeks after the PH, we will receive a call letting us know 

we are scheduled for court and may travel to Ethiopia. 

This could be with only a few days notice!! 

After court, Yosef and Genet will be Thorntons!

4-Return home and wait

We will have to leave our children in Ethiopia for up to 3 months. 

During this time, several legal documents (visa, passports, etc) will be obtained. 

5-Embassy appointment

We will return to Ethiopia for our embassy appointment and to bring Yosef and Genet home.

We appreciate your prayers as we move through each of these steps. 

Each are out of our control...quite the uneasy place to be, but we are striving to trust God's timing.