News From Our Agency

As Michael stated in the last post... our international adoption agency, CHSFS, has provided us with some pretty neat resources. We have a list created by a forum they host, that shows where we generally fall in our "wait" compared to other families, and we also will be traveling to Minnesota soon for a "culture conference" that will educate us more on Ethiopian lifestyle and traditions. We are very happy with our decision to use CHSFS for our adoption.

It is also neat to see what our money is going towards. I was excited to see all the humanitarian aid projects for Ethiopia they have recently put into place. In the last newsletter from our agency, they stated that they have (and I quote) a new facility called "Bethzatha" which will provide housing, medical care and education for children with a variety of developmental and medical conditions including HIV/AIDS. Bethzatha will care for approximately 70 children, both eligible and non-eligible for adoption. Also, the "Ottoro School Project" has the intent of providing services to support the Ottoro community in hopes of keeping families together, provide education and clean water. In addition "Hope for Hossana" project is currently in development. It is aimed at helping the people of Hossana and surrounding communities by providing essentials such as healthcare and education. The first phase of this project will be the construction of an elementary school for 300-400 children. Finally, the "Family Development Center" is designed to support vulnerable families who are transitioning to self-sufficiency. Children in the Ethiopia sponsorship program will be eligible for this program as well as many others from the Hossana community and surrounding areas; including but not limited to birth family and birth siblings.

Something else fun for us to see was pictures of the new Family Guest House, which is pictured at the top right corner. This is a new space which was rented for the adoptive parents (us!) and their families to stay at. It looks beautiful... and I hear an added benefit is that it has more "private bathrooms". Sounds like a good perk to me!

The List

So there is a message board through our agency that has an unofficial list of where we stand in line. This list is kept up by the people waiting for referrals to let everyone else know how long the process is currently taking. It is not official because it is not updated by the staff at the agency but it provides a good idea of how much longer we have to wait until we receive our referral.

When we were officially put on the list about 3-4 weeks ago, we started out as number 58. Today we are down to number 46. Most of the people in front of us have only been waiting 3-4 months, and we have been for one. We will update this blog about once a week to show you were we stand on this unofficial list.

California Adventure (And Disney Too)

The 4 Mousketeers!

Annalise & Jonah

"It's a Small World"

Right now I am at my good friend Jen's house in California. We have had quite an eventful past few days together with her two toddlers, Jonah and Annalise. This has included two 8-9 hour car trips, experiencing L.A. traffic to its fullest, doing Disneyland on a holiday weekend and making meals out of goldfish crackers and fruit snacks. But it has been great! Jen has been able to give me some valuable advice on baby needs (from cribs to diaper bags) all the while modeling some pretty remarkable mothering techniques. Who but a mother can operate a portable DVD player and cut up string cheese to safe size pieces at the same time she is driving through the foothills?

I also want to share a link to some pictures of new families that have been formed through CHSFS Ethiopian Adoption Program. You can see many of these smiling faces at: http://www.childrenshomeadopt.org/Family_Photo_Album6.html

Gratitude

During the past two weeks we have experienced a broad range of emotions. We felt anticipation at knowing if our dossier was complete and accurate. Then during the early evening on Monday, January 29th... Michael suggested that I check my email because he saw there was a message from from our social worker at CHSFS. The message stated that our dossier "looked great" and that we had officially obtained the status of a Family Waiting for a Referral. Michael and I had originally planned on celebrating this news by going to Lulu's, an Ethiopian restaurant located here in Milwaukee, but I had already prepared dinner. So we made a toast to reaching the next step and enjoyed a celebratory dinner at home.

An hour later the mood in our home fell, as I received the unexpected news that my Grandma Kremkow had died that day. My heart sank. The next week was spent making travel plans, attending her funeral and grieving with family.

The reason I titled this post "Gratitude" is due to the fact that although I am still in the process of mourning the loss of my grandmother, I celebrate our time we had together. I am grateful for our countless conversations, holiday & summer visits and 32 shared birthdays. I am also thrilled that our upcoming adoption brought her much joy and pride.

The past two weeks have reminded me to be grateful for the path that I have been able to travel on, regarding things I can choose and those things out of my control. And I know that where ever my life takes me I will have a special guardian angel watching over me every step of the way.


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