Happy Halloween

We got a little jump start to Halloween this year when JT and Gavin headed to their first Halloween party held at The Little Gym, where they both take a gym class. They had fun dressing up and looked at each other like they were nuts. Neither one of them really liked wearing the hoods to their costumes but were pretty good about putting them on when we told them too. They enjoyed some games and some cookies.

JT enoyed his 2nd Halloween. He did go last year as a turtle and seemed to enjoy himself. This year he loved Trick-Or-Treating, running around to the houses, he waited patiently for his candy and had fun going with our neighbor Justin. Justin goes out with JT early, then joins his friends for the real fun! Estelle and Al joined us as well and Al did a good job with the video camera.

JT liked his costume but wasn't too fond of the hood. He looked wonderful in his Peacock outfit and showed off his sexy legs in his orange tights. These pictures will be good blackmail for later on in life! Enjoy.

It has arrived and we are officially "waiting"!!!

So I guess when they something will take 9 weeks to arrive, they mean 9 weeks! Yesterday our fingerprints from immigration finally came. Kevin faxed them over to our agency in Mass. They can now send everything over to Ethiopia and all the paperwork gets translated to Amharic.

Our official application date to Ethiopia was October 7, 2008. The estimated wait time is 14-22 months. We got a nice letter welcoming us to the program.

So, why the long wait? There are 4-6 million children in Ethiopia in need of homes. Only a small percentage are legally freed and available for adoption. Many are older children and sibling groups. There are over 70 worldwide agencies. 25% of those are in the US. 120-160 families apply to Wide Horizons (our agency) for the Ethiopian program a week! With that all being said, we will be waiting for a long time!

We are glad our part is done with. We will have to re-do our fingerprints next summer but that is all. We are excited!

Good Buys, Apple Picking and Cox Farms

Saturday morning started early when I went with my neighbor Lisa to the yard sales in Kirkpatrick Farms. I bought a piano where JT can practice his Elton John interpretation. I bought a wagon for $5 and the best buy was the moon bounce that sells for $200 and I snatched it for $40. It's as good as new!(Those are our neighbors jumping while JT was sleeping.)

We then headed off to Stribling Orchard. For the last many years, we have been apple picking with Nicole and Mike. Jenn and Tommy had joined us several times in the past and this time we were joined by Heather, Bobby and their two kids, Darden and Parker. This was also JT and Gavin's first time. We never made it last year. Kevin and I continued the tradition of never even buying apples and just eating as we went along! We did enjoy the fresh white bread they make and had that for lunch. Kevin did his yearly entertainment of juggling, while munching on an apple at the same time. The pigs were still there, rolling around in mud and eating the apples we threw at them. We will be back again next Fall.

On Monday we went to Cox Farms.JT learned how to milk a cow. JT and Kevin went down a big slide. We ate apples and had apple cider, which JT didn't like. JT made friends with a baby cow and stuck straw up his nose. And the best thing of all, is that JT made a new friend. JT found the lonely gray goat at the bottom of the hill and found a corn cob. He was nice enough to share and they hit it off. After a nice morning, JT came home and took a nice long nap.

As for adoption stuff, still no word! I am pretty annoyed that we still haven't gotten our fingerprint papers back but I am emailing them today to see what the deal is. Hopefully they will be here soon.

Another Summer Gone By

We have decided that we will try once a month to write a post with updates, not just about the adoption but with the family as well. This way, our "child to be" will know what his family was doing while we were WAITING. We did get a phone call saying all of our paperwork was done correctly and nothing had to be redone. The paperwork for the fingerprints has not come to us yet and until that is done our paperwork sits on a desk in Mass. When we get the fingerprint approval, then the dossier gets sent to Ethiopia. Then we will officially get put on the wait list. So for now, we wait. We will be doing a lot of that, so I guess it's good practice.

Another summer has come and gone. We did some home improvements and spent most of the time relaxing. Well, at least JT and I did! JT learned how to sweep the floors and enjoyed playing in the sprinkler and alligator pool.( He makes a great plumber!) We headed back to Ocean Isle for about the 30th year. This was JT's 2nd beach trip. Of course on the way down we stopped at McDonald's. He met Ronald and ate his first grilled chicken sandwich. He had a great time at the beach with his cousin Taliya. She kept him very busy. They enjoyed the sand and the water. JT ran around like a mad man. We are hoping next year, he will want to sit for a few minutes and build a sand castle and we can relax a little.

I have started school. I am working in the mornings, Tuesday-Friday. Kevin continues to sell people insurance and won a trip to NJ for selling so much life insurance. Thanks to all my friends that had babies! JT spends the mornings with his babysitter Stephanie. He loves her and she loves to play with him all day, so they make a good match.

That's all for now. When we get our fingerprints back, we will be sure to let you know.

Hopefully an A+

Today we went to get our fingerprints taken for the US. We did this already for the state and for some reason they can't just send them over. Everything has to be so difficult. The prints are good for 15 months and so we have a feeling we will be taking them again next year.

The good news is we have finished the Dossier. The Dossier consisted of...

1. Power of Attorney Documents- State Seal Required
(This says we allow Dr. Tsegaye to act as our lawyer in Ethiopia)
2. A Statement of Reason for Adopting an Ethiopian Child
3. Photo Pages
4. Employment Verification Letters
5. Financial Statement
6. Original Birth Certificates
7. Original Marriage Certificates
8. Health Forms
9. Police Clearance Letters
10. 2 Letters of Reference
(Thanks to Lisa and Tracy!)
11. Obligation of Post-Placement
12. US Approval of Petition for an Orphan
13. Home Study Approval

We got the form sent to us today with the state seal on it. We got an approved Home Study two weeks ago. Kevin headed to Kinko's and made the 4 copies of all the papers needed and we will send it all in tomorrow. Hopefully they will call and tell us that there are no mistakes. So far, we have gotten 2 calls saying we have done great with all the other paper work. We need just one more! We think after everything is approved, we fill out an application specifically for Ethiopia. Then we get put on the waiting list. Right now we just want a phone call saying we got an A+ on our Dossier. We think we were good students and followed all the directions. We will keep everyone updated.

Welcome

Hi Everyone,
We are starting a blog, really for us to keep track of our "adoption journey." Some of you are well aware of what we have been up to and many have asked questions. We figured this was a good way for us to keep track and keep family and friends informed. Everyone who knows Erin was not surprised when we told them we were starting the adoption process. Erin always wanted to adopt and for some reason always wanted a child from Africa. Maybe it was from her love of safari animals? So there wasn't really any decision making that had to be made when picking a country to adopt from. Ethiopia it is.
We started our paperwork back in February. Our Home Study has been completed and we are currently working on our Dossier. (The important paperwork.) We will have this all completed by September. Then comes the waiting game. As of now the estimated wait time is 14-18 months. By then JT will be over two and ready for a sibling. Tzeli will be 10 and Zeus will almost be 6. Kevin will be 42 and Erin a young 31 year-old! We will all be ready. We are not going to be crazy "bloggers." We will update this as information arrives and when there is news to share. We already need to thank our friends Jen and Tommy, Mike and Kate, Julie and Brian and Nicole and Mike. They had to fill out a many-paged referral on our behalf. Nicole even met with the social worker and put in a good word for us. Thanks everyone for helping. Thanks for reading.


- Kevin, Erin, JT and the Dogs