People ask, "why Ethiopia?"...Here are some of the reasons

Ethiopian Orphans from Simon Scionka on Vimeo.

Capella Gala

Christina and I attended the annual Capella Gala celebration at the Walker Art Center. Christina was awarded a Red Carpet Award for her leadership on revamping the enrollment application process. The Walker Art Center also shows the best of the British TV commercials during December in peridic showings. We attend it with my mom every year and it never disappoints.

Christina and I are having some of her college friends over for a pork rib meal tonight. We boil them in four liters of Coca Cola and they never disappoint.

Sam

Biometrics...

Have you ever wondered what biometrics is? Well it is the measurement and analysis of unique physical or behavioral characteristics (as fingerprint or voice patterns) especially as a means of verifying personal identity. This is a part of the adoption process, specifically a step in getting your I-600A approval. Yesterday Sam and I received our biometric appointment via mail. It is scheduled for Nov. 30th to go to St. Paul and we will get our fingerprints taken. This is a different type of fingerprinting than the ones that we did for the Adam Walsh Background Check as it is much more of a thorough and investigative check on your background.

If you are wondering again what is the I-600 for, it is a set of forms used to officially request permission from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to classify a child in a foreign country, who fits the definition of an "orphan," as an immediate relative of its intended adoptive parents, so that there can be an expedited processing and issuance of a visa to that child, allowing it to be brought into the United States, either after having been adopted abroad, or in order for it to be adopted in the United States.

If you are wondering how the heck do I know about all of this?  There are two things, 1) we are learning as we go and, 2) Lets be honest people, cut and paste is a beautiful feature!

Dove should have received all of our letters of reference this week. They needed 5 letters of reference from non-relatives. Thanks to Kathie Stiles, Elisha Engelen, Angela King, Dave Aune and David Gunderson for taking the time to write a letter of reference for us!  Our next step is to have a phone interview with Dove. From there they will help us compile our Dossier, which is one of the lasts steps in the process!  We are still hoping to be on a waiting list by Dec.!

Halloween's Creepy Crawlers...More like Cute Crawlers

Sam and I decided we are officially old. We opted to not go out for Halloween this year, but rather be entertained by the trick or treaters! We had so many that we even ran out of candy! I wanted to share a few of the cuter costumes:-)

Reese King as a butterfly...

Big sister Avery as a butterfly too!

Yum yum pumpkin pie...Stella!

Miss Bella proud as a pumpkin!

Roy Boy bustin' at the seems!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A quick adoption update for you...Sam and I have a meeting on Thursday afternoon with our adoption counselor to review our homestudy for the first time. We should be on pace to be on a waiting list by December!