February 4 Update “The Agenda” – An Epic Adoption Story
So, here is what has happened in an informal timeline. Just to give you an idea of what we were expecting the information we had prior to our trip was to expect a four to six week stay with a week to ten days in between court dates and another week between Embassy appointments. You won’t be able to appreciate just how “break neck” the speed is unless you’ve been here, but it may still seem like a whole lot has happened in a short amount of time. After all we haven’t even been here a week. In fact, at the time of writing we have only been on Ugandan soil for THREE days. So, buckle your seat belts:
January 27 Thursday
4:30 am We get “The Call!”
5:00 am Email travel agent, and a flight is booked over the phone through Delta in order to reserve the last two seats on a flight out of Lexington on Saturday. It’s actually less than expected.
6:00 am Purchase medical insurance and emergency travel insurance, call family, post it on Facebook, text messages sent to bosses.
6:30 am Wake up the girls and inform them, Baili has awoken with a cough and since Robert had the Flu the previous week a Dr. appointment needs to be scheduled
8:00 am Contact our bank and get money overnighted, $100 bills must be 2004 or later and have no defects in order to exchange we inform local bank of Friday need, and Dr. appointment is scheduled for 9:15 am
9:00 am Contact Travel agent and Delta in order to get the best deal and go with travel agent.
9:15 am Dr., etc.
9:30 am Robert arrives at work
11:00 am Packing begins with some helpers
2:00 pm Meeting with Jill Baker, our adoption agent, to go over everything
3:00 pm Packing continues
7:00 pm Robert home from work and Grandpa Glenn arrives for instructions.
9:00 pm Mallori tucked into bed.
9:30 pm Packing continues and Grandpa Glenn goes home
10:00 pm Everyone is ready to go to bed and Shelbi dislocates kneecap while dancing in her bedroom. A trip to the Emergency Room and Grandpa Glenn returns so Baili can go to bed and Mallori can remain in bed.
11:30 pm Return home from ER with crutches and a brace.
12:00 am Bedtime
January 28 Friday
5:00 am Can’t sleep even though we’re worn out. By chance, or by God, we find the Thompson’s on Skype and get to talk with them and Lucas and Prossy as they are in Busia. Other emails and tracking an important package are on the agenda too.
8:00 am Robert at work
9:00 am A friend volunteers to stay until check arrives so Kristi can go to Bible study
10:30 am Bible Study
4:00 pm Robert has been having some back pain and goes to previously scheduled massage
6:00 pm Dinner with family
8:00 pm Finalize packing by distributing weight in bags to be less than 50 lbs.
9:30 pm Family game
11:00 pm Bedtime
January 29 Saturday
8:00 am Breakfast and prayer
9:00 am Begin saying goodbyes
9:25 am Leave for airport
10:00 am Arrive at airport
10:30 am Kristi is screened and wanded at security…it happens every time. Robert’s Tens unit is an issue in the carry on, but no worries…flight is delayed until 12:45 pm
12:30 pm We are on the plane and arrive an hour before catching flight from Detroit
2:30 pm On plane in Detroit
January 30 Sunday
6:00 am Arrive in Amsterdam
10:00 am On plane to Entebbe, Uganda. Robert develops a slight case of TMJ and takes some medicine and begins to pray that it goes away. By Monday it is gone.
8:00 pm Arrive in Entebbe, Uganda
8:15 pm Visa done look for luggage
8:45 pm Realize luggage is missing
9:15 pm Register luggage and exit airport
9:20 pm Meet Lucas, Prossy, and the kids.
10:00 pm Arrive at Entebbe Flight Motel and get acquainted with children who sleep with us.
11:00 pm Bedtime
January 31 Monday
6:15 am Wake up and get everyone ready, Robert bought wrong adapter and almost burns down hotel as Kristi’s straightener overheats.
7:30 am Breakfast in hotel
8:30 am Leave for appointment with lawyer
9:30 am Arrive for appointment with lawyer
10:30 am Various errands run around Kampala including phone SIM package, a power strip for charging computer, cameras, and phone, wireless internet, & lunch (fried chicken and French fries)
1:30 pm Check out hotel for families of children and purchase rooms
2:00 pm Arrive at our Kampala destination. Tim and Heather Thompson great us with hugs and it’s nice to be finally be with them
3:00 pm Robert leaves to retrieves luggage that was taken by mistake.
4:30 pm Robert arrives to get luggage and has to leave passport in order to get a visitors pass at Aviation Security office.
5:30 pm Robert retrieves luggage and is on his way back to Kampala, but doesn’t realize he FORGOT his passport!
7:30 pm Robert arrives home, traffic was a mess, and eats dinner then realizes passport was left.
8:30 pm Children are bathed
9:30 pm We experience the “second wind” as bedtime becomes time to entertain and realize that the internet stick was not set up properly. Lawrence is a huge help getting that straight.
10:30 pm Children asleep
11:30 pm Parents asleep
February 1 Tuesday
6:30 am Rise and Shine
8:30 am Leave for court and pick up family on the way
9:35 am Arrive at lawyers office with family
9:45 am Leave for court, which is in a different destination than previously anticipated.
10:00 am Arrive at Court of Commerce
10:15 am Called into judges chambers one family at a time for adoption proceedings.
12:00 pm Second case is finished and judge agrees to have ruling done by Monday, February 7th. Our lawyer said it was the fastest ruling he has ever had. We know prayer has been the cause.
12:10 pm Pictures taken with families in court room, and we catch a ride back to our Inn.
1:00 pm Lunch
2:00 pm We Skype the kids for the first time as internet is fixed. Thanks Lawrence!
2:30 pm We, along with the Thompsons, leave for Entebbe Airport so Robert can get his passport, and so he doesn’t feel like a loser, we go to the Entebbe Zoo. We’ll do as much together from this point forward as possible.
6:30 pm We arrive home from the zoo where the Ostrich made the biggest impact. Ostrich came running right up to the fence and the kids thought he was coming to get us. Hillarious moment!
7:00 pm Dinner in the dark. Power went out for a couple of hours and when the lights came on we had a mess to clean up.
9:00 pm Sponge baths and bed.
February 2 Wednesday
6:15 am Rise and Shine
8:00 am Leave to retrieve documents from lawyer so that we can get investigation started at US Embassy
10:00 am Arrive at lawyers because traffic jam is horrible
10:20 am Documents in hand and we have 40 minutes to make it to the Embassy. Needless to say we prepare for the worst.
10:50 am Arrive at US Embassy and get appointment, and God proves once again He is in control.
12:00 pm Appointment completed and check list in hand. We meet another agency doing their first adoption coming into the Embassy who have lots of questions. We are now the experts. J
12:30 pm Lunch and appointment scheduled for Friday at 9:00 am for medical testing.
1:30 pm Afternoon free and so we get caught up on blogs, expenses, Skyping with friends and family, and the kids can do something other than ride in a taxi for hours. Tomorrow will be our first day free of appointments.
SHEW! Thursday We actually have time to reflect…
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