Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Uhhh...thanks Emeril!

So Meris and I have taken to watching "cook shows"on Food Network. I figure it's a great opportunity to eat more (as those of you who know me I love to do) and it's perfect for Mother -Daughter bonding. So in my mind for Mother-Daughter bonding to occur, it only seems natural that your daughter would only love, respect, and adore you more throughout this process and visa-versa as well. So we're snuggled up watching Emeril last night, salivating at the endless possibilities to tempt our pallet. Emeril exclaims, "Bam! And that's how it's done people" and shows off his delicacy of perfectly made and plated food. Meris with eyes wide open in amazement and pure innocence (and honesty certainly) says "Oh Mama, that looks so much better than anything you ever cooked (cooked is pronounced cook-ted)". I pretended to be slightly offended and hurt at such comments (ok maybe I was a little miffed). I then said well he must be a pretty good cook since he has a show. Meris corrected me and said,"Mama he's a good cook because he has a band that plays music while he cooks!" Well my goodness, if only I had a band.

Adoption note: Our homestudy was turned into our agency. It is being reviewed to make sure it is acceptable to the Ethiopian government.

Where we are in the extraordinary process!

So our adoption journey began with a simple application and fee sent to All God's Children International. After much Internet research and a few recommendations, we decided to go with this agency. They are so dang great! We are so grateful for such a professional group of people! From super thorough explanations, patience in dealing with extended amounts of questions, and weekly phone call updates to wonderful bi-weekly email updates, they have the process down pat. We also found friends with the Family Network in Capitola to complete our homestudy. They have been super terrific too. We are just about done with the dossier (the collection of paperwork that must be submitted, birth/marriage certificates, letters of good conduct from the sheriff-as in we don't deal drugs to unsuspecting little children in the neighborhood, letters of recommendation, medical clearances, etc x about 22). Also our homestudy is about done. We will turn in this precious little bundle to our agency, it will be sent to Washington DC to be authenticated and then on to Ethiopia to be placed on the wait list. We will also be frantically checking our mailbox for a very important letter from immigration stating that we are allowed to bring an orphan into the US. We are requesting a healthy infant boy. Meris our eldest (5 years) is very excited to have a baby brother and very keen on the idea of having a baby with brown skin! Kiera (2 years) is still in la-la land thinking she'll always be the baby. Sorry sister! We hope to be on the wait list in late February or March. We have been told that we will wait about 2-4 months for a referral and then fly to pick up our little guy in 3-5 months from acceptance. So there's the synopsis! More to follow.

New to the blog thing

Wow, I feel like I've joined a whole new world here in blogland! I was really inspired by the blogs I've viewed elsewhere. I thought this would be a great format to keep a family history and of course keep everyone up to date on the Fraser news (of course news that is so fantastically exciting that it would cause one to check daily -ha not!). I will keep everyone up to date on things that I find relevant and of course all the details of our adoption.