Testing Email Post

I understand that blogger may not work while we're in Ethiopia so I'm trying a post via email with a picture attached from Canada Day.  Hopefully this will do the trick and we can keep people updated that way.

Anita

Our Adoption Journey

This is my first attempt at blogging. I've never done it before and am a bit wary about doing this, but have learned so much from others in their journey that I thought I'd give it a try. It's also a great way to keep people updated on our adoption journey, especially while in Ethiopia.

So, how did this all start?

Well...how far back do I go?

• 1996...met Arvid in 2nd year Engineering. He stood out because he got 100% on an exam I (and many others) royally failed...and I thought, I need to meet this guy. :-)
• 1997, 3rd year Engineering...Arvid and I became great friends and joked that if we were still single by the time we were 30, we'd get married.
• 1998, 4th year Engineering. We planned all of our courses and labs together. We were pretty much inseperable...8-5 at school, working on homework or hanging out in the evenings. At a Halloween party we kind of clicked...but decided not to date until after we graduated. It didn't quite work out that way...we started dating on Dec. 27.
• 1999, we both graduated in April from Electrical Engineering. YAH! Work began after one month off. We got engaged on Sep. 3.
• 2000, we got married on June 3 (well under age 30) on a beautiful, sunny day. YAH!
• 2002, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Grace
• 2004, gave birth to another beautiful baby girl, Elizabeth. She was born EXACTLY 2 years, to the day, after Grace. What can I say? We're both engineers and precise! :-)
• 2005-2007, 1 ectopic pregnancy and 3 miscarriages
• 2007, finally decided we wouldn't try for another baby. It took me a while but eventually I accepted being a family of 4 and grew to be perfectly content.
• 2008, attended a Haiti Children's Home fundraiser...saw the picture of orphans, saw the extra bedroom in our house, received an inheritance from Arvid's grandfather, decided to adopt!
• 2008, November...started the adoption process...paperwork and paperwork and paperwork
• 2009, May...our dossier finally makes it to Ethiopia, asking for siblings 0-5 years old.
• 2009, July, adoption agency goes under, then is miraculously revived after a few months
• 2010, May, changed request to allow for a single referral...at that current rate it would have taken decades to wait for siblings.
• 2010, Fall...losing hope...debating pulling out
• 2010, Nov 22 REFERRAL for a beautiful, 4.25 year old girl
• 2011, Feb 11 Court Date #1

What's next? Once we pass court, we wait for our visa...approximately 3-6 months from when we pass court.

We can't wait!