The whole family together!

This was the first moment that Craig and Laura met Zamara

Daddy and Daddy's little girl

"This pic is of Zamara's main nanny. She cried probably 5-6 times over the 2 days we were at the transition home knowing Zamara would be going home with us. She really loved her and cared for her. We are so grateful to her!"

The four babies being adopted today.

Grandma, Momma, and Baby

This is from Craig and Laura:

"Hi Friends and Family! Greetings from Africa.

We are having Craig's sisters update our blog for us. We will blog all about our trip when we get home on Monday So, here is what we have been doing:
We got here on Sunday night around 7pm Ethiopia time (9am AZ time!). We checked into the hotel and promptly went to sleep. On Monday we had orientation with the 3 other adopting families and then we headed over to the Transition Home to meet Zamara. It was the most amazing experience when they brought her out to us. I cannot even begin to describe it to you. We were able to spend about 5 hours with Zamara and the 45 other children at the Transition Home. We had to leave her there over night due to the agency's policy on transitioning kids to their new parents (just meeting us for the first time must have been shocking enough!).
Today (Tuesday) we went back to the Transition Home and picked up our little mocha cub. I am sitting in our hotel room right now with her lightly snoring over my left shoulder. It took her a while to fall asleep, but she has been so great putting up with us new parents. She has allowed us to fuss and fiddle with her. We even gave her a bath in the hotel sink--quite fun except for the 2 (yes, I did say 2) times she poopied in the bath. She is very laid back and is making the transition well...so far. She has a little cold and some congestion, so please keep her in your prayers.
Well that is about it. Thanks so much for checking in. I hope you enjoy the pictures...
Love, Laura and Craig"

Craig and Laura are unable to access their blog in Ethiopia, so if you have comments or want to congratulate them, we're sure they would love to hear from you at craig.ducommun@gmail.com

Getting ready to leave...

Hi everyone!

So this is it!!!! We are making our final preparations for our trip. It has been a stressful week. We have had a lot of trouble with our plane tickets, BUT I think it is worked out now. It seems like it has been one thing after another concerning this trip. Airline seats have been cancelled inexplicably, names have been misspelled, etc..., etc...

In talking with my mom and the other families going to pick up their children in Ethiopia, we all feel like there is some spiritual warfare going on concerning this trip. I am not the kind of person who goes looking for this kind of stuff, but it does seem like there is some opposition to us going to Ethiopia to pick up our daughter. We ask for your continued prayers as we make our final preparations for the trip.

We appreciate all of your support through all of this. WE COULD NOT HAVE MADE IT THROUGH ALL THIS WITHOUT ALL YOUR PRAYERS, LOVE, AND SUPPORT.

We are leaving Flagstaff on Friday morning as we had planned. This will probably be my last post until we reach Ethiopia. Check in on Monday or Tuesday. If we can get a good internet connection, I will post and also put some pictures up (maybe even video?!?).

Love, Laura

WE HAVE PLANE TICKETS!

We officially have our plane tickets. It was a bit stressful this week waiting to hear about our travel plans, but the tickets have been purchased...we are REALLY going to Ethiopia. I am still in shock right now. We've got so much to do in the next week to get ready. It is happy exhaustion though.

It is funny how each step of the way we said, "once our dossier goes to Ethiopia we won't be stressed, " or "once we get our court date we won't be stressed", etc..., etc...I know it must seem like we are always anxious about some part of this adoption. I have come to the realization that each step is stressful. Even now that we have our tickets confirmed, I am now anxious about getting everything packed and ready to go. I am sure once we leave I will be stressed about making the right connections for travel.

My goal over this next week (as well as the week we are in Ethiopia) is to slow down and try to enjoy each moment. This trip is a blessing. The chance to see Zamara's home and to learn about her culture is an unbelievable gift. I really do want to savor every moment. I am asking all of you to help Craig and I be accountable to this!

Ok, so here are all the details...

We will drive down to Phoenix on Friday August 8th and pick up my mom from Sky Harbor Airport. She is flying in from Portland and will be going to Ethiopia with us. We are all staying at a hotel in Phoenix on Friday because our plane to Ethiopia leaves at 7:30am. We have a short lay over in Washington DC then it's on to Ethiopia!!! We will arrive in Ethiopia Sunday evening.

Keep checking the blog because we will post blogs and pictures (and video! if we can get a good enough internet connection) while we are in Ethiopia.

9 days until we travel!

Hello everyone! We have tentative travel dates for next Friday. Please keep this in your prayers because we do not have our plane tickets yet. Our adoption agency is currently working on this. We are so excited about our daughter and appreciate all your support of her. We cannot wait to hold her in our arms! We will let you know as soon as we hear about confirmed travel plans.

Laura

Zamara's first video...

WE PASSED COURT! ZAMARA IS OFFICIALLY OURS!

Yes, it is true.  I got a call at 7:10am this morning from KP Moles.  She wanted to know if we had received the email yet from our family coordinator Duni? We hadn't looked at our email, but as soon as I got off the phone I checked our email and there it was...AN EMAIL FROM DUNI!  

WE PASSED COURT!  

Here are the first pictures of our daughter Zamara Liyana Ducommun.  (we will put up a video in a few hours...when I figure out how to do it!)  This is Craig now...Laura did an amazing job on putting the video together.  It makes both of us cry every time we watch it so come back this afternoon and you can see it too and celebrate along with us!  It has tons of pictures of our daughter over the last few months.  

Court date in 2 days!!!

Our court date is in 2 days...Thursday July 24th. Hopefully we will have some GOOD news to share in just a couple of days. Please check in again on Thursday or Friday. If Zamara passes court successfully we will post some pictures and a video of her that we have been working on.

Please pray on Wednesday that all will go well. Our family coordinator, Duni, is in Ethiopia as I type this. Please keep her in your prayers as she navigates the court system over there.

Have a great night everyone!
Laura