Lunch at CHI

On Monday, Kevin and I had our fingerprint appointments with CIS! So - that is one major thing we could check off our list. We were told to expect "the results" within one month. During that time we are working on our dossier - which means compiling paperwork - having it all notarized - and then having the notarizations certified by the state department. We're also working on our Hague approved education (which most agencies are requiring although Ethiopia does not require it yet) and we both passed our first online test. :) Our plan is to have our doss & education complete before we get the results - aka 171-H (I think) from CIS so we can send our dossier off to the next step (which is Washington DC). Once it arrives in Ethiopia we'll wait for news on our children!!

The timing of having our appointment on Monday was perfect because it just so happened that our agency was having an Ethiopian lunch for their staff and for any local families who could make it. We were the only family there (a lot live a bit further away) but it was great to meet other CHI staff and we were able to sit and talk during lunch with the agency's Executive Director Dwyatt Gantt. It was so great because he is very excited about the new Ethiopia program. He spoke to us about his visit there and about the exciting news that CHI has secured a foster home for the children that will be adopted by CHI families! He even got up to go print out some pictures of the home for us to take with us (which was SO nice!). I've been staring at those pictures because it is a real place in Ethiopia that we might visit, or a place that our children might even stay before we can get there! Our In-Country Coordinator in Addis is Tsegay and he has been working tirelessly to first acquire the license and now to set up this foster home for all of the CHI families' children. I cannot wait to meet him in person and thank him. We also got to spend some time with our Program Director, Sharon, and our SW, Erin, who are both equally excited about getting this program going. We are so fortunate to have our adoption, and our experience of becoming parents for the first time, surrounded by such supportive and caring people.

Okay... now that my ode to our agency is finished (I really do love it!), I'll end this (superlong) post by saying that things are moving along and we'll keep everyone posted (hah! pardon the pun).

I'd also like to add that Monday's lunch was also when we first learned of the horrific shooting at Virginia Tech. While our adoption generally keeps us distracted, our thoughts and prayers have been with the families of the victims from that day.