Ethiopia update

Wanted to give you all a quick update so you know the latest Grandstaff family news. Brian left on Thursday to fly to Ethiopia to meet a little girl we were considering for adoption. He arrived last night and got to the orphanage about 5am this morning our time. He called me about 8am from the orphanage on his cell phone (can you believe he had a signal in the middle of NO WHERE Ethiopia) and was in tears. He said he had spent several hours with her and she IS our daughter. Said she is a beautiful girl who lit up a room and is full of joy. She kept talking to him but of course he couldn't understand her due to the language barrier. But the staff at the orphanage said while she was looking at the picture book of our family we sent she was telling people... that is my Mom, that is my Dad and those are my sisters. : ) He had an amazing time with her. Got to put her down for a nap and pray with her before he left. He is physically and emotionally drained but so happy to get to meet her. We are rejoicing with the news. There will be obvious things to overcome. We believe she is about 3.5-4 years old but they don't have birth certificates there so we will never know for certain.

By a miracle our paperwork arrived completed the day before he left. So he hand carried all our documents with him to Ethiopia. They estimate that it will take 2-3 weeks to translate it and then submit to the courts. It usually takes 2-3 months to get a court appointment and if all goes well about 4-6 weeks until we travel to pick her up. We are praying we can be there in March or April. But only the Lord knows. Brian says the orphanage she is in is wonderful. She is in great health and it's a Christian orphanage. She is being well cared for during this wait.

Please continue to pray for his safety, health and stamina as he travels back to the city today and then home late tomorrow night. I feel honored and blessed that the Lord would allow us to be parents again. Thanks for your support and encouragement of our family.

We are loving the journey.