Monday, June 20, 2011

Traveling to Ethiopia info session

On Friday, Lucas and I attended a session provided by our adoption agency about traveling to Ethiopia. Of course, we are still many months away (we are guesstimating about 6) from actually travelling, but our agency invited all families who were waiting for matches. We learned a lot from a few couples who have just completed their first trip (remember, there are 2 trips we all must take before we can bring kids home). They had a lot of great information about visiting the orphanages, seeing the kids and their living conditions, where to stay, what to eat, and a little bit of what to expect. We saw pictures and learned a little more about how things are done in Ethiopian orphanages. It made it much more real for both of us. Please feel free to ask us about it, as I'm not sure I'll get to write it all here.

We met new people (couples and single moms), had wine, and ate great catered Ethiopian food from Abyssinia restaurant. We also got to spend some time with a few friends we had met at the first adoption training, and another couple we had met at the Ethiopian cooking class we took back in March. It is so comforting to know we aren't in this alone and we're developing a local support system of friends who are also adopting from Africa.

Monday, June 13, 2011

3rd Time's a Charm

Lucas is having #3 knee surgery today. His last incision became infected, so they are cleaning out the wound to make sure it doesn't spread to bone or blood. The surgeon is optimistic that this will be very minor and it won't disrupt his physical therapy or recovery time. Let's hope this is OFFICIALLY the LAST surgery for him. We've got bigger things to move on to, right!?

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Twins!

Almost there... just a few more pieces of paperwork to gather together and we will officially be put on the waitlist... for TWINS!

After a lot of thinking, and through the thick of the adoption paperwork, Lucas and I seriously began considering adopting 2 children. We discussed with our adoption agency and found that we were only approved for ages 0-2 years through our home study. So, without a lot of extra paperwork to expand the age range so we could find siblings in Ethiopia, we decided to request twins. We thought this could slow the process down for finding a match- but it turns out that there is an abnormally high rate of twins in Ethiopia, and that we could even be matched sooner than waiting for a single child. I won't hold my breath on that, but knowing the wait time wouldn't be significantly different was good news.

Yes, we may be crazy.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Pictures from our Alaska trip - May 2011

cousin Adrienne and her groom Casey!
Lucas' cousin Corey and his wife Defne

Luke's Uncle Craig with his daughter the bride

rugged.

boat faces

Cousin Jerred


starfish in the crab pot

Dungeness crab


Lucas is a sure shot. Shooting driftwood on an island after we reeled in the crab.
Aunt Hilary, with her boys Henry and Bernard


fish sticks guys

Creek Street in Ketchikan AK

BALD EAGLES!!!





on the float plane




The room where we stayed in town. The Preachers House.



The happy couple.