It's official - We Have a DAUGHTER !

Last May 19, 2008, our adoption agency gave us a call at 11 am to congratulate us on our successful adoption of our daughter ANGELA CHRISTINA (born April 3, 2007).

The adoption was ratified on May 19 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

We started working on this adoption Fall of last year. For those interested in timelines, below are some milestone dates:

Nov 5, 2007 - Acceptance to the Ethiopia Program of Dove Adoptions
Nov 27, 2007 - Filed I600A
Jan 4, 2008 - Got I600A Approval
Jan 25, 2008 - Mailed dossier to Dove Adoptions
Jan 29, 2008 - Dove sent email confirming receipt of dossier
Feb 8, 2008 - Our dossier was sent to Ethiopia
Mar 18, 2008 - Phone call and email of referral of Tarikua
May 19, 2008 - Court date
June 12, 2008 - Embassy Appointment, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

After bringing Ben home, we felt that it would be good for our family if Ben had a younger sibling. They could be playmates and they could be each other's buddy. Since Matt had served with the Peace Corp in Zimbabwe in the early 1990s, we initially looked at adoption in Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, they didn't have an established adoption program so we decided to look at Ethiopia. Since we already had a boy, we requested for a girl younger than Ben.

Below is Angela's referral picture.



We are very excited to bring her home. Matt, Ben and myself will be leaving on June 8 for Ethiopia. We hope to see her on the morning of June 10. We have our Embassy appointment on June 12 and we will stay there for a few more days before we fly home on June 16. Hopefully, we can see some sights in Addis and the surrounding areas.

We would like to thank our immediate family for all their love and support with our 2nd adoption. We would also like to thank our special friends (you know who you are) who helped us in completing our homestudy. We are very grateful for your help.

Till the next update.

Weekend Trip To Houston

Last May 9-11, we flew to Houston for the weekend.

Our primary purpose of going there was to see the traveling exhibit of Lucy's Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The exhibit introduces the visitor to the wonderful and culturally-rich country of Ethiopia, also known as the Cradle of Mankind. It is also the first-ever display of the 3.2 million year old hominid known as Lucy, outside of Ethiopia. We are very much interested in the culture and history of Ethiopia because somebody very special to us was born there.

Secondary purpose of the trip was to visit my cousin and her family. Last time we saw them was in Denver in July 2004 when they came for our wedding. That was close to 4 years ago so it was nice to visit with them and catch up on things.

Some highlights -

Since Ben is already 2 years old, we had to get him his own seat in the plane. He had his milk and his blanket so he was quite happy during the trip.

Matt's birthday was the 10th so my cousin surprised him with a yummy birthday cake.

During our stay at my cousin's house, Ben was able to bond with their dog, Max. Ben was not comfortable at first but by the time we left, he was petting and playing with Max.

Below are the pictures from our trip.

Enjoy!

Ben's 2nd Birthday Parties

Ben celebrated his 2nd birthday last April 15. Since it was a school day, we had a little party at school. I brought cake and ice cream for the Toddler class. The 2 year olds were also invited. Nana and Papa drove from California to be with us for his birthday.

Then on April 19, we had a party at the Treehouse Museum. We invited the kids from the Church's Mothers' Group. Here are the pictures from both parties.