March Update

Greetings -
One week - One Week ago is when the Ethiopian courts gave their blessing and gave Tariku to us! Now today we get an update from the agency with photos and answers to some questions we sent over! So here are his answers to our questions -

What is his favorite color?- yellow

What does he think is going to happen when we come for him?- he said “ I am happy and I will give you kisses”

Does he like the pictures we sent?- yes

What is his favorite food?-rice

Is he scared or worried to leave Africa? –he said no I’m not scared.

Wishing you a Magical Day~
Courtney

Tariku James Hammons at OneTrueMedia.com

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tonight is Round 2

Greetings -
In a few short hours the Ethiopian courts will open to hear our case for T***** and also another family! We are very excited to wake tomorrow to hear from the agency the good news! In other news a TN family was cleared to travel and it looks like they will be leaving this coming Sat to pick up their little one! Things are starting to move again and it is all in such a good way! Stay tuned for great news!

Wishing you a magical day~
Courtney

The Voices of Haiti

Greetings -
I am super excited any day now I going to receive a print I ordered from Voices of Haiti a daily photo essay by the amazing photographer Jeremy Cowart. I am so excited because the print I ordered is from Day 3 and it represents what I do for a living in such a powerful powerful way. So if you get a chance check out the site! I hope that one picture will move you the way day 3 did for me.

Wishing you a Magical Day~
Courtney

A New Date Has Been Set

Greetings -
We have just received a call from Anna at the adoption agency! The judge has located our file (praise God!!!) and we have a new court date! We will wait for the phone to ring on March 23rd with the news T***** is ours!!! Thank you for the continued support and love it truly means the world to us!

Wishing you a Magical Day~
Courtney

Update Court #1

Greetings -
It has been a glorious day! Although we did not pass this morning we were so blessed and honored by the outpouring of love we received all day. As we know it is to be in God's time. I was so excited today that my dear husband had take off of work so we could be together for the call. We spent the morning with Papa Bill working on T***** closet (almost have it built!!) and eating breakfast. When I saw the 703 area code pop up I yelled for Kenneth to come and hear the news. And what we heard was it just was not God's time yet. We have learned there is a small chance that the courts will hear our case tomorrow and so tonight Kenneth and I pray for a miracle, we pray for our son to rest assured that we are coming soon, we pray for favor from the courts, we pray for the 6 other families that did not pass court today, but most of all we pray for each of you - to thank you for standing with us, for loving us, and reassuring us on what could of been a really tough day. Instead we spent it together as a family (husband and wife) We had the opportunity to meet an new life just brought into this world and simply love the journey we are on.

Court Date #1

Greetings -
Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers. Apparently the Ministry of Women's Affairs was closed today so our letter of recommendation was not presented so we did not pass. Our representative from the agency was asked to appear again tomorrow on our behalf (as the judge also misplaced part of our file) so we will wait until later this week to hear from the agency of a new court date.

Wishing you a Magical Day~
Courtney

Tonight is the night!

Greetings -
So the day (night) has finally arrived! In just a few short (really really long for us) hours the Ethiopian Courts will open and hear our case. Kenneth and I are soo excited for the call tomorrow morning! He took the day off of work to be home to get the call with me. We ask for your prayers today and this evening as you go to bed that God is with the courts as they look at our case. We soooo want to wake up tomorrow morning and hear the words "YOU PASSED" T***** is your son!!! Thank you to all of you that are praying and that have been with us each step of the way! We cannot wait to share his photos with you soon!

Wishing you a magical day~
Courtney

Waiting

What a looooonggg week! I know it has the same hours as last week but really I want it to be Monday night! I want to go to bed so I can wake up and know that T***** is ours forever! I know that 50% of families do not pass court on the first try but I believe in the Lord and his timing! I also believe this is our time!! It has been so many many years of waiting and wanting a child. To have it sooooo close is really the hardest. Tonight I pray for favor from the Ethiopian government. I pray for the families who have not passed court and who will have to wait another day for the words you passed! We received 4 new pictures of our sweet boy today thanks to the Mihnovich's who were able to visit him last week. He looks so happy and loved Elle - I hope he remembers her when he get's here.!

Wishing you a Magical Day~
Courtney

A New Experience

Greetings -
We are brimming with excitement here is the Hammons House today! The Mihnovich's are coming home today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have been in Ethiopia for the last 10 days picking up their 4 newest additions. Kenneth, Papa Bill and I are going to our first airport welcome home party!!!! Cannot wait to see those faces. Check back tomorrow as I am sure we will have some great photos to share of the newest tennessee residents!

Wishing you a Magical Day~
Courtney

All in God's time

Greetings -
So as you know we have been waiting for a court date for close to 3 months! The last time I talked to the agency they said be prepared for a few more weeks! Okay life happens and last week was BUSY!! For some reason I decided to move my emails to a exchange server, prepare for a wedding, and have my first speaking engagement in months! Needless to say I did not have the time to be obsessed with a court date! Now the speaking engagement was a surprise and I only had 23 hours to prepare this also happened on the same day as I lost access to emails!! So there was no way I was thinking about a court date! Well the speech was written and given, the bridal show booth was ready and the wedding was fabulous - and oh no I have not checked my business line in 24 hours for voicemails! So as GOD would have it Saturday evening I got a message from the agency saying they were trying to send us an email! Well this morning I called the agency and GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have a court date and it is next week!!! When we wake up on Tuesday March 9th we pray that T***** will officially be a Hammons! Would I have been able to accomplish all the fabulous work that I did the end of last week had I known about a court date (probably not) So today I thank you lord for reminding me that you have our plan!! Please pray with us this week for favor with the Ethiopian courts and that we can share our sweet boy with the world soon!

Wishing you a magical day~
Courtney