7 Wonders of the World

I have discovered one of "my" 7 Wonders of the World. Last weekend while in St. Louis we visited the City Museum and were awestruck by the creativity displayed at this museum. Photos do not do it justice but I've pasted a few here:

This "monstrocity" includes 4' wide slinkies, a couple aircraft fuselages, a fire engine, castle turret, 25' tall cupola - all welded together. It's the most magical, creative, gigantic set of monkey bars anyone could ever dream up. As we crawled through one of the slinkies, several stories above ground I kept wondering how in the world this was up to city code and what was I thinking bringing my 2 and 3-year-olds up here? Chris and I were definitely unnerved, expecting to plummet to the asphalt below at any moment. Claire and Lily --- calm, cool and collected. And this MonstroCity was just 10% of what the museum offers in terms of exploration.

Our City Museum experience was just one part of the lovely weekend we spent in St. Louis visiting Chris' Aunt Annie and Uncle Chuck, and celebrating Chuck's milestone birthday. The weekend was quite the family reunion with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents flying or driving in from various parts of the country. Annie and Chuck went all out hosting this large posse. We were spoiled rotten with all the festivities and enjoyed a special time with family!

Let the Wait Begin!

Friday, June 22, we were notified that our dossier was sent to D.C. for final authentication and that we were officially added to Gladney's Waiting List for a referral. The current wait time for a referral is up to 3 months. So, anyday now!

Snapshot of Open Adoption

Crystal and Lily at the Salt Lick

People often ask us about the open adoption relationship we have with Lily's birthfamily. Crystal, Lily's birthmother, and her parents, Patty and Benny, visited recently from Colorado. We were all excited to have them as it's been about a year since we last had Crystal and Patty here. We wanted to show off our city so we gave them the grand tour. Christopher's mom hosted all of us including my parents and siblings for dinner and swimming one evening. AND Crystal braved the local heat to cheer me on at a traithlon. We had a wonderful time catching up.

Some of the especially sweet moments of our weekend included Lily's proclamation that Crystal had brown hair just like she did, and Claire telling Lily that she was also adopted. As Crystal and her parents were leaving for the airport Lily gave Crystal a big warm hug. For those of you who know Lily, she is very selective on with whom she will share affection. She then turned and put her arms around my neck and buried her little face. She was very still and I asked if she was ok. She was silent. I asked her if she was sad Crystal was leaving and she nodded her head yes several times. I told her it was ok to be sad, that we were sad too, that Crystal was very special to our family and we would miss her until our next visit. Lily bounced right back to her silly self. This last example was an especially profound moment. Although Lily has no confusion over who is her "mommy" and "daddy," and although we don't get to see Crystal often, Lily certainly senses a connection to Crystal that is special. It was a beautiful moment that I will treasure. Christopher and I are strongly committed to this relationship with Lily's birthfamily and feel so fortunate to have them in our lives. Lily's birthfamily is part of who she is and the woman she will become. She has a lovely birthfamily and we want her to be proud of her entire heritage - both birth and adoptive. She has so many who love her!


Crystal, Benny and Heather's mom, Jean



Crystal adding sunblock to our fair-skinned Claire.

Ethiopian Family?

Did you know we have family in Ethiopia? Well, maybe not exactly but there will soon be a few. As most of you know we are in the process to adopt again - this time going a bit different route - to Ethiopia! There are lots of facts that pulled us in this direction - like Ethiopia's FIVE million orphans, the extreme poverty and famine, and an average life expectancy of 42 years. However, we really feel like God has led us down this road and that He has our next baby (or two!, more on that later) waiting for us in this African country.

We chose an agency (The Gladney Center) in mid February. Today we are awaiting our final document from immigration to complete our foreign dossier (big, fat packet of paperwork outlining every detail on our family that is reviewed by the U.S. and foreign country prior to adoption). Once completed we will officially join Gladney's waiting list for a referral. A "referral" will come in the form of paperwork (including a photo!) on a child, including medical/background info. Gladney has told us to expect only a 2-3 month wait for a referral. This is very fast for international adoption. Once we accept a referral, Chris and I will travel 6 weeks later to bring home our baby (or babies). Yes, because we have no idea how to have only one baby at a time we have requested twins under 6 months. We have no guarantees we will be able to adopt twins but we are hopeful. I'm envisioning many of you reading this with you chin on the floor thinking we are insane since our oldest just turned three-years-old. We agree with you. Again, we feel like God has given us a heart for adoption and led us down this road, so we are greatly depending on Him to provide us with sleep and some sort of sanity! We hope to use this blog to keep you posted on our process and of course show off the latest and greatest photos of L&C.