​The usual I-haven't-blogged-in-a-while excuse goes something like, wow it's been so busy, no time to write, so much to say, etc. etc.  This time it's a little more humdrum: not much to report, folks!  But that hasn't stopped many from inquiring and reaching out to say, "hope it's going well, let us know if you need anything."  And for that, we're grateful.  This isn't a road easily traveled alone.



The process of adopting (especially from another country) is inevitably riddled with lag-time, periods of waiting, set backs, and paperwork (and who wants read, much less write, about filling out paperwork??).  The last few months has been one of those periods.  We have our approval from the State of Colorado and from US immigration, and we've gotten all our dossier paperwork together, which is a big hurdle.  The dossier is the part of our application that gets sent to Ethiopia so they can determine if we're eligible by their standards.  (Actually, there's one more personal reference we need for that...if you want to help out and write a reference for us, let us know!)  Once it's processed and approved we'll be placed on the waiting list for a little boy!!



Did you know that good sewing machines cost a couple thousand dollars? I'm not in the market for one, so it never crossed my mind.  But when someone mentioned to me the other day how much they actually cost I was shocked!  As we've talked to people about our adoption I've begun to recognize that it's much the same.  Anyone who has researched adoption for their own family knows that a $30,000 international adoption is actually on the cheap end.  But if you haven't looked into it before that number can be quite astonishing.



So that's where we're at now: grappling with some pretty intimidating numbers.  Though our dossier is just about complete, they won't process it without payment.  I was blessed with a new job at the beginning of the year, and with Gabi working hard we've been able to divert about a third of our take-home pay toward this dream.  We're slowly and steadily digging away at the mountain!  That's been the gist of our adoption effort the first few months of this year - not terribly exciting, but vital none the less.



There are some great financial assistance programs out there which we have been approaching one by one, with a measured amount of success.  Some generous friends have started helping out a little as well - you know who you are, THANK YOU!  We're currently exploring ways to offer tax-deduction receipts for gifts and thinking about fundraising ideas too.



Thanks for reading and stay tuned!



Benj