Waiting......

We never thought it would be so difficult! Each day we find ourselves racing home to check our messages and email, simply hoping to receive some sort of news to let us know that we are one step closer to completing our family.

If we could compare the waiting to anything it's almost, like waiting for Santa Clause to arrive, when your 5 years old...... it's a tremendous amount of excitement and emotion. We both know, that once our wait is over and our family is complete it will be the most amazing gift!

Mar.10th 2009

We received a Country update from our adoption Agency.

Here is some additional information about the country and why wait times are increasing!

Adoption from Africa is open, and gaining in interest. Adoptions to both the U.S. and Canada have increased notably. In the U.S. the numbers were 1,725 in 2008, vs. 1,255 in 2007.
In Canada the 135 African children adopted into Canada in 2007 (latest year available) represented 74 more than the year before, an increase of 121%. "Some estimate that, because of AIDS and catastrophic drought,there may be 5 million African orphans by 2010."

Mar. 8th, 2009

We had the pleasure of attending a International adoption event at one of the local churches. Many thanks to the organizers. It was a great opportunity to be able to meet other families that were in all stages of the adoption process.(those thinking about starting their adoption journey, those that were waiting and families that had arrived back in Canada with their adopted child/children) It was nice to speak with other families that are adopting, about the adoption process and some of the challenges that we face. We found the support and shared experiences very helpful. Many families were fortunate to have completed the entire adoption process in an average of 15 months or less. (since the time of approval from the country) Therefore, we are keeping our fingers crossed, that it will happen soon for us!

It was great to see the families that had already travelled and were safely home. They were able to share some of their experiences from when they travelled to the country, what to expect, their arrival back in Canada, Immigration and health issues.

There was probably about 12 families at the event and approximately 15-18 children. We learned that several families had adopted more then one child. It was great to see the children running, playing hockey, chasing one another and laughing. The children were so very very very cute! We also meet the set of twin girls that were place last summer.....they were absolutely precious!