It's officially official!

Today was an amazing day. We started off the morning with a tour of the CHSFS care center. At every turn I am utterly amazed at what great care our children have received here. Those who have cared for Hanna have thought of everything and are some of the most caring, loving and sacrificial people whom I have ever met. They truly have loved on Hanna.

As a side note to this, yesterday while we were touring the CHSFS womens hospital we saw a nanny who started saying something in Amharic which we couldn't make out, but we did catch the word, "Hanna." We found someone who could translate and as it turns out this nanny has been one of Hanna's nannies back at the care center and she recognized us from our picture we had sent for Hanna back a couple of months ago. It was another affirmation about how loved these children are. It also has been wonderful to know that for many of those who have been caring for Hanna, the love that they share with her comes from a deeper place as many of them are believers who have been praying for her and who will continue to pray for her.

This morning we had a teary goodbye ceremony which was so touching. It was a great opportunity to thank the nannies for all they have done. After the ceremony, Hanna came into our care full time!

After lunch we headed to the American Embassy for an interview. We had to pass through a number of levels of security to reach the Consulate Office and then waited for a few hours for our names to be called. We were asked a series of questions about Hanna and our ability to care for her and then the Embassy official said those wonderful words, "Congratulations, Hanna's visa has been approved." Tomorrow we receive all of our paperwork and Hanna's passport and we'll be ready to travel home on Thursday.

Tonight we had an amazing time sitting around with her and watching her bloom more and more as we played and laughed. We even got to see her crawl a bit. She is something!

Joshua has been so amazing on this trip. He has such a great servant heart and has been a huge help. Its also been great to see this very special bond developing between he and Hanna.

All along the way we have sensed God's grace and have known His Presence with us. It has been incredible to experience the practical care of our loving Father in very small and at other times extremely huge ways throughout this trip. It has been the trip of a lifetime.