We Passed Court!

Today we woke up early once again to head to Cape Coast for court.  Thankfully the judge was feeling well enough to come into work today and we were the first case called back to her chambers.  We sat on a couch with our new children and waited patiently as they deliberated our case.  It was VERY stressful.  The first words that the judge spoke were, "It says in the law that for cases of adoption the new parents must live in the country for 2 years before the adoption is final."  Adam and I looked at each other and felt a bit of panic.  We were already profusely sweating and this discussion did not make us feel any better.  Thankfully, this is just a normal process of discussion and within 15 minutes our lawyer had everything cleared up and explained to the judge.  Bethany has been so well organized with our paperwork and the proceedings that they felt very confident that we would pass. After the stressful, HOT 15 minutes the judge said, "These children will now be known as Gabriel Thompson and Debora Thompson.  Yay!!!!!  We are so thrilled!!!!!

The other family we were with also passed court for their daughter and we all went and celebrated with a nice meal together.  We all felt very relieved and excited! We drove 3 hours back to the hotel and got to have our first REAL fun of the trip.  We took the kids swimming and we had a blast!!!  I have some awesome pictures to share but I am borrowing a computer from the hotel where we are staying and the pictures are not accessible here.  I promise I will post pictures as soon as I am able.

The best and hardest conversation of the day was this:
Son: "Daddy, will you bring me home to America in 2 weeks?"
Dad: "No, son, it will take a bit longer than that. We have to get your passports and visas."
(Adam took our passports out and showed him what they look like.) "These things take time."
Son: "So 2 weeks you will come back?"
Dad: "It will probably be 6 weeks or a little more but we will come back as soon as we can."
Son: "Well can you go to America and get my bike and bring it back so I can ride it while I wait?"

Sweet boy!!!

Tonight our son did not cry as he said goodbye to us but he did confirm we would be seeing him in the morning and I would be charging my iphone for the night. ;-)  He also squeezed Adam's neck for a VERY long time....there has been a lot of bonding going on.  Today he also taught me a lovely song in the van that I was able to video record.  I will look forward to sharing it on here soon.

For now, we are going to go to bed and enjoy a full night's sleep.  Tomorrow we are hoping to meet up with the children from the orphange where our kids live.  They will be at a nearby beach.  From there, we will go back to the orphanage and meet our children's friends and caregivers.  We are very excited!

We already love these children so much and are very excited to get them home! Thank you so much for you love and prayers!!!  We can feel every bit of them!