Dossier Almsot Complete

At last our dossier is just about ready to send to CAFAC. Our

updated homestudy and Territorial approval arrived in the mail today and we just need a recent letter of employment for Ron....the one we had was dated Aug 2007. I can't believe I have been working on all this since August. I actually feel a tad excited now. Although CAFAC stated that we had complete references, I also saw that they don't allow questionnaire type ones. So I have asked 2 people to mail references in to CAFAC to be on the safe side. And then I check and double check that I haven't forgotten a form of signature and then check it all over again. I bet I am not the only one that has done that LOL.

While I was collecting photographs to send to CAFAC, I came across one of Jesse and his very, very best friend. You wouldn't believe they were born just two weeks apart would you?

Food

One of my interests is cooking food from around the world. My all time favorite food is Indian (or as you say in Canada - East Indian). Until we decided to adopt from Ethiopia, I had not realised that Ethiopian food would be something I would problably LOVE. Basically, if it is hot and spicy, I will adore it. Problem: I cannot get many spices in the north of Canada. I normally wait until I go south to stock up. That meant I couldn't make the Ethiopia spice mix Berber. As if I would let that stop me trying something new. Headed over to Etsy and some is on its way to me. I can't wait.



What is your favourite Ethiopian recipe? Or do you have a favourite site for African recipes?

Big Box Arrived

Knock at the door. Parcel delivery. Ron thinks it is from Jesse's bio grandparents for some reason. Still haven't understood why yet :) The box is heavy. Oh my goodness it is from our adoption agency CAFAC. It contains our work-book (very, very thick folder) and all the instructions for our dossier. I glance in the work-book and gulp. Lots to read. We have to answer questions and then mail the replies back to CAFAC. I finished 4 pages of these already last night. I guess that is what you call enthusiasm eh?

My neighbour came over to sign my British passport papers as I just realised it expires in June. She also gulped when she saw how thick the folder was and she is a psychologist who would probably fly through the attachment part of the course.

Canadian passport will have to wait until another copy of my birth certificate arrives from the UK.

My latest concern is that the medicals we did for Haiti don't have tests for hepatitis and TB. Evidently we need that. I will have to wait for our agency contact to come back from Ethiopia and check.

Our social worker is doing another page for our home study so that it can be changed from Haiti. No idea if they are doing it correctly. I will get CAFAC to check that too.

Otherwise, I find the Ethiopian dossier to be much easier than a Haitian one. CAFAC will get it all notarized and sent to the DFAIT in Ottawa and then to the Ethiopian Embassy. Some agencies seem to require you to do that yourselves.

If any body reading this has an Ethiopian adoption blog, let me know and I will link you.

New Country, New Blog

After much thought and research, and after loosing Davidson to another family, we are changing country and will be adopting from Ethiopia. It seems a more stable process. With Haiti there is no rhyme or reason for some people waiting 3 years to bring their child home.

Our home study and Territorial approval arrived last week....and they had managed to mess it up of course. We have been waiting since Aug and Social Services were dragging their heels on everything. So for it to have HAITI mentioned when I asked specifically for it not to mention country, and to have Davidson mentioned when I specifically asked for them to just state a boy...... Needless to say, we aren't happy. Our medicals expire soon and that will mean another $400 to get new ones. We have signed on with the CAFAC agency and hopefully they can help us sort this out.

All we want is to bring another child into our home that we can love.