WHFC Reception on Saturday

On Saturday, Steve and I drove to Boston to attend a reception for Dr. Tsegaye (pronounced Suh-guy), the director of the WHFC orphanage and three representatives of the Ethiopian government. It was billed as a reunion for the many families who have adopted from Ethiopia and to show the government officials how the kids are doing now. Prospective parents like us were also invited.

We didn't get too much out of the "official" program. Dr. Tsegaye and the officials spoke but the poor acoustics combined with a lousy PA system made hearing almost impossible. However, it was great to see all of the kids there, ranging in age from 4 months old to 13 years old. They are all so beautiful.

We met another couple from Maine who brought their son Sean to the gathering. Sean is 20 months old and came home when he was about 11 months old. He is DARLING! Cyndi and Matt live about 15 minutes from us. I peppered them with questions about everything from where they stayed in Addis to who cuts Sean's hair. They were extremely gracious in answering all of my questions. We found out we have much in common-they attend church in Freeport and are sending Sean to a preschool in our church in South Freeport. I hope we can keep in contact with them.

We met another couple who are in the same stage of this "paperwork pregnancy" that we are. They had driven up from Connecticut. It is possible that we could all travel at the same time to Ethiopia to pick up our kids--that's an amazing thought.

We also reconnected with Sarah, our Wide Horizons caseworker. We had met her at the first informational meeting back in April. She made sure we met Cyndi and Matt and answered more of my questions.

Even though we don't have our homestudy yet, I sent in our paperwork to Citizen and Immigration Services for the visa. My thought was that at least they can get started on the paperwork. We need the final visa approval from them before we can send in our dossier to Ethiopia and get a referral. The visa approval could take 7-8 weeks. More waiting !!!