Fall Is In the Air!!

Hello All
Fall is definitely in the air here in Laramie. The wind has been blowing all weekend and it has been chilly! I can't believe that September is over and this next week should be a little busy with Clint getting back from Boston. It is always very busy when Clint takes time off, we must catch up with patients somehow! It is so good to have him home.
The courts will open this week in Ethiopia!! This should mean that things will move along. I talked with Catherine on Wednesday and she told me that Cheryl had several referrals come in and that one of them should be ours. Cheryl wanted to talk to us personally and so we have been waiting for that call. There was a set back on Thursday though when Cheryl's son Mohammed was admitted to the hospital in Indianapolis. This son was adopted from Ethiopia in 1986. It is an interesting story and you can read more about Mohammed and Cheryl on the AFAA website. Anyway, I feel bad for Cheryl and of course this has meant that many families will have to wait until she is back in the office. We will wait and we hope for a full recovery for Mohammed.

I have started to work on the bedroom again. The "tree" has many leaves and the grass is growing "wild". I will try to include pictures on my next post.

We will let everyone know as soon as we know! Love you all!

Frustrating weeks!!

Hello all! The last couple of weeks have been frustrating to say the least. I have been on the phone many times over the last few weeks getting little information and feeling like the agency does not even know who I am. The main person I had been working with has been on medical leave and finally returned this week and so I am hoping communication will improve. I also was able to gather a little more info through a "google group" for the families of AFAA, that I did not know about until now. It has been helpful and give s me some support from the other families of AFAA and tips for coping with the wait. I also met a women right here in Laramie that is adopting two girls, sisters, from Liberia. She is also from the same agency and this has been great for support and someone to run things by. She will be traveling on Oct 6th to bring her girls home. They are beautiful and can't wait to learn more about her journey and also to meet her new family.

Clint left on Saturday to attend a seminar in Boston. It is offered through Harvard about "Hematological Malignancies". He really needed some time away from the practice. It has been a stressful place lately with many deaths and unsolvable problems. I was glad he could get away but always miss him so much when he is gone!! He will be back on the 28th.

The girls and I had visitors this weekend. My mom and dad came and watched Bailey play volleyball on Saturday. We also went to dinner in Centennial on Saturday night with the girls and their boyfriends. We had such a good time and great food. We woke up on Sunday to cloudy skies and NO wind!! We went down to the river and took great pictures of mom and dad for their 50th Wedding Anniversary. The girls also had to get into the action so maybe we will use them for Christmas cards. The leaves are really turning right now and it is just beautiful fall weather. I am not ready for the snow to fly just yet!!



We will continue to work with the agency we have now and hope that things will move along as soon as the courts reopen in Ethiopia. That has really slowed down the process and it was just bad timing that our adoption timeline was affected by that. In the meantime we will just keep learning and researching better ways to bring our family together and get prepared for travel, etc. We will try to keep posting as things move along. We love you all and we are still waiting...........

Happy New Year!! -2000

Today is New Years Day in Ethiopia-2000. Happy Millenium! I think that makes us 7 years younger when we travel there doesn't it? (wishful thinking)



Anyway, here are a couple of links to the NPR stories out of Ethiopia today. Thought you might find them interesting!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14341783
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14341780


Love you all! Still Waiting.........

September Already

Well I have looked at the calender every day to figure out what day it is and what happened to summer. We had a Labor Day celebration for our office staff and a few close friends, my family and Erica, Dan and their new puppy were all able to come. It was wonderful weather and so great to have everyone at the house, especially family. They do not get to come often enough and my neices and nephews are growing up way too fast. We had about 45 people and it was such fun!

On the adoption front, we are just waiting for the courts to reopen. Referrals should start up as soon as that happens. In the meantime we are working on getting the girls their shots and their passports did come. Actually it did not take long at all, about 4 weeks.

Bailey is busy with Volleyball and Sierra is playing off-season basketball, every night. We miss Aaron, and talk to him often. He is busy with track practice and classes. Erica will start her MCAT course in October. Everyone is doing well and we feel so lucky to have such great kids.
So for now, still waiting!!!!