Our Ethiopian Adoption Story

Update

2011-08-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I know that no one is really looking at this blog, but I feel
Like I need to get this off my chest. We are waiting for a police form that only the head of the orphanage can get. Problem is the orphanage our boys came from was shut down 4 weeks ago and the head of the orphanage was thrown in jail. He is still in jail. So we wait. I can't believe it has been 9 months since our referral. I am a very patient man but this is trying even my patience. Pray for our boys to come home.

Court Date

2011-04-27T12:05:00.001-07:00

Well, we finally got our court date! It is May 20th. We have our plane tickets and hotel booked. It is now less than 4 weeks and we are pretty excited to meet our boys! Ethiopian government has been making changes around adoption processes and we have seen additional delay because of it. We are still hoping that our immigration date will still come 4-6 weeks after our court date though. That will be a very hard wait after we have met our boys. Praying for them to come home as quickly as possible. Also, once we pass court, they are officially our sons so we will finally be able to share pictures!

Update

2011-02-09T17:57:00.000-08:00

Well, we are in line for a court date. We hope to hear what our date is from the courts in a few days. The anticipation is tough to deal with. Each picture we get of them gets harder and harder to deal with the fact that they aren't with us. We did get some good news. We were really afraid of the thought of going over to Ethiopia, meeting our sons, and having to leave them at the orphanage and not see them again for 4-8 weeks! Our Adoption agency (Adoption Avenues) just opened up a foster home. This will enable us to move our child from the orphanage to this foster home after the court date and until we can pick them up. This is a huge relief. We will have lots of updates and pictures (the orphanages have pretty strict rules for this). We will also get to be in the same building and have tons of access to them during our court date. The orphanage only gives you limited access. We know god has a plan for us and just hope we can bring our babies home as soon as possible!

Referrals!!!

2010-11-15T12:20:00.000-08:00

Well, after about 2 1/2 years it finally happened... yes, I said referrals. We only expected one, but God is placing us with 2 beautiful boys. Micah is just over 1 and Kai is only 1 month old. They aren't blood brothers. We have a lot of information on Micah, who was left at the orphanage by his mother at 9 months. But we don't have any information on the baby, he was abandoned at birth.

We will be traveling sometime in January to sign the court papers (we can then post photos), come home, then return to Ethiopia 3 weeks later to pick them up! I can't wait! A bit nervous too...I don't have anything ready, let alone have 2 of everything!

We just cannot stop looking at Micah's picture! He is beautiful! Can't wait to get a picture of Kai. We are beyond happy.

Thank you to all of you who have purchased our books, prayed for us and have made this dream possible! Without all of you, we wouldn't be able to do this. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Long Wait

2010-09-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we last posted. We have been just trying to patiently wait. It is hard. It is 5 months since our dossier was registered in Ethiopia. We were originally told 4 months but now it is more like 6 or 7 due to changes and court delays (their courts close for the "rainy" season and reopen on October 1st). So we are hoping the we get news after the 1st of October. It will be tough to go through another Christmas without at least a photo.

Dossier in Ethiopia!

2010-04-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

I emailed our adoption agency this week and found out that our Dossier is translated and in Ethiopia! We are officially in the cue! Now we just wait for a picture. Should be about 4 or 5 months before we see our little one. We are really excited!

Dossier Done!

2010-03-10T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well, It's official. We just sent our entire dossier all with state certifications to our adoption agency. It has been a long road and it feels good to finally get over this step. It is out of our hands now. Next our agency will get our paperwork certified by the US Government and then by the Ethiopian Government (after it's translated) and we are officially on the wait list! Should be another 4 or 5 months until we get a picture/referral. Can't wait.

Another Step Closer

2010-02-15T12:26:00.001-08:00

Well, we made another step towards our adoption. We got the I-171H approval from the Department of Homeland Security! So now we have all of our paperwork and our Dossier is complete. I sent it to the State to get authorized and they'll get it tomorrow. Then it goes to our Adoption agency to be translated and sent to Ethiopia. At that point we are officially in the cue. Can't wait!

Train Moves forward!

2009-10-17T06:03:00.000-07:00

Well, we are finally able to move forward again. I got a job at Healthland (they make software for hospitals). Filled out a ton of paperwork this week. We have our classes next week and then our first meeting with our social worker for our home study on Monday the 26th. Can't wait! Thanks to everyone for your prayers.

2009-07-27T05:49:00.000-07:00

Here is our story on Twin Cities Live.

Nutritional Guide and Cookbook

2009-05-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

Maria has made a nutritional Guide and Cookbook where all the proceeds go to our adoption. The below link has a preview. If you order through us, it is $18 (including shipping). Just send us a check with the return address.
Take care,
Craig

Click here to see a preview

Our Address:
W11945 757th AVE
River Falls, WI 54022

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T11:11:00.000-08:00

Nothing like great family to ring in the new year. Here is to a new year that makes our dreams come true.

Some pictures

2008-12-23T11:00:00.001-08:00

Here is our new baby! She is 8 weeks old and a sweetheart.

Here is Maria opening a baby present at Mark's house.

And here I am filling out some of the adoption forms.

Christmas surprise

2008-12-23T09:41:00.000-08:00

We got a big surprise at the Wojcik Christmas party. Everyone brought out these presents with no names on them. They then told us that thy were for us. It was a little baby shower. Maria and I had a tough time holding back our emotions. It has been a pretty tough time for us recently and this was pretty amazing. Right when we were feeling so lonely, our family shows us that we are not alone and raises our spirits and hopes again that everything is going to work out. We cat thank you enough. The best part was a little baby doll that Taylor picked out. It is a little African American baby. So cute.

Christmas

2008-12-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

Craig and I keep dreaming of the day that our kids will jump on our bed to wake us up for Christmas. We hope this will be our last Christmas alone. Not to disappoint anyone, but we will not be mailing out a Christmas card this year. So no uncle Eddie, no Ivory-billed Woodpecker, no over-sized Cedar... We will make up for it next year. We are just cutting back in many ways. I heard a great quote last week, "If you want to hear God laugh, just tell him your plans." I used to be so disappointed when things wouldn't happen the way I wanted them to, but now I believe that there are better things in store for us.

Jamie's Great Idea

2008-11-20T04:28:00.000-08:00

Our great friend, Jamie Souza, mentioned she would like to help us put on a 5K race in the Hudson area. She has experience and equipment to do it and said she would like to help us raise money. What an awesome idea. I was thinking Willow River State Park would be a beautiful run.

Baby Names

2008-11-02T05:28:00.000-08:00

Craig and I are trying to decide on baby names. I like Lila, he likes Malia. I mentioned to him that Malia is one letter away from my name - too close for me. Boy names are tough... we can't think of any. We would love your suggestions for boy and girl names:)

Paperwork

2008-10-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well, not that our excitement has diminished or anything, but we have been filling out tons of paperwork for the last couple weeks. It really is kind of crazy the amount of paperwork that you have to complete to adopt. We are pretty much through all of it now. The last thing we needed was the water test since we are not on city water. So now we have our home study and the classes at the adoption agency left. Once we do that, our packet of info goes to Ethiopia and the clock starts. Thanks again to all for your support.
Craig

Wow

2008-09-18T04:09:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking that my excitement will calm down and I will be able to sleep, but it doesn't. I think about her all the time. I'm going to be a mom.

Welcome!

2008-09-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

We are setting up this blog to tell the story of our Adoption. We have recently applied to adopt a Ethiopian baby. Please feel free to leave a message for us.
God Bless,
Craig and Maria