A Special Thank You

Although we had decided to adopt from Ethiopia a few weeks ago we were not officially in the program until our agency received our updated home study. Therefore we did not have the information we needed to begin working on our home study. Also we thought we had to wait to change our i-171h which we have now found out we may be able to wait until we actually receive a referral from Ethiopia. What this mean is that we are now in a mad dash to get our dossier done ASAP and with Christmas just a couple of days away we don't want that to delay anything.

So today Mike and I began contacting people for paperwork we needed. To our amazement all 3 of our references and both our employers completed the letters we need for our dossier in just one day.

I would like to say a very public THANK YOU to these people. We are lucky to have such special friends and family.

Christmas Swap

Yes I know it has been a long time since I posted. First off we did make a decision, we are going to do a dualing adoption with Vietnam and Ethiopia. We have been working on getting our home study updated and paperwork for our dossier. In fact today we just had our home study officially approved and we are now part of both programs. Our next step is to submit our paperwork to UCIS so we can get a i-171h for Ethiopia.

The most exciting reason for posting today however came in the mail today. As part of one of the Vietnam Yahoo group I belong to Mike and I participated in a Christmas swap. I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to Shawn and Carolyn who are currently living in China. The gifts they sent were incredibly special. First they sent a silk baby blanket. It is so soft and beautiful. The symbols on the blanket mean good fortune. Second they recently took a trip to Ho Chi Minh City. While there they went to a quilt shop managed by the French NGO providing jobs for woman. The website is www.vietnam-quilts.org. they are a great cause and worth supporting. From there they bought us a handmade ornament and a 2008 calendar. I am such a sentimental person, that these were just the perfect gifts. We will cherish them always.

Here are the pictures: