Wednesday, April 30, 2008

travel news...

Samantha and Celeste met on Tuesday... they have since had their embassy appointment and all is well. They are falling in love more and more every moment. (hope Samantha is OK with my semantics)
short and sweet...
and I know (as a blog reader) that all posts are better with a picture. So, since I do not have any pics from Samantha in Ethiopia, I will give you one taken last September. Samantha, Marina, and I on our annual trip to the LA county fair. We always have sooo much fun. We go into the petting zoo and have lovely adventures. Celeste will surely be in this year's picture.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

On her way...


Greetings. I am Monica... one of Samantha's friends. I will be your blog operator until Samantha gets back from Ethiopia. Last night Fernando and Marina dropped her off at the airport for a red eye flight to New York (to meet with her brother). They'll leave tonight for Dubai, and then Ethiopia!! She is uber excited, as am I. I will post something as soon as I hear from her.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Here is the first or our bags

Pay not attention to the mess in our garage. It is an ongoing project that never ends. Any way, a dear colleague of mine donated 7 boxes of kids clothes, so this is where all those clothes are now. I guess I'll put the rest of the humanitarian aide elsewhere. This weekend I need to start taking the malaria medication. I am still debating weather or not this is truly necessary, but my brother keeps insisting that we should.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Something in Common


We finally received the report on Fenit’s biological family. I am happy to report that our little “beauty queen” (soon to be re-labeled “smart, talented imaginative, creative youngest princess”) has two mothers that like to play in the kitchen. That makes me very happy.
On another front, I’ve been packing up a storm. We purchased an army duffel bag at our local Army Navy store. The bag was only about $25 and is the biggest thing I’ve ever seen. I know I’ll not be able to lift it, but who needs to lift when you can drag. I take a picture of it once it is all filled up.
I will be meeting my brother in NY and we will travel together to Ethiopia. For all of those soon to be parents out there, please know that I will be happy to take pictures or any little keepsake you want to send to your little loves, just e-mail me and we will make arrangements.
The work of art posted is one of Marina’s homage to her fish, Chiquitina. She was a female Beta that who died while Marina was in Barcelona with her father. Here she is waiting for Marina to feed her. The other picture is the real place where Chiquitina used to reside.
Oh! I almost forgot, we had been told that Fenit’s birthday was the 4th of July, 2007. It turns out that it is actually the 31st of May 2007. Regardless of her birthday, she will not begin school until she has turned 6 years old so that means she will be more developmentally ready for the rigors of social and academic life.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

I figured it out! ...sort of



I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us through this, very difficult, journey; and to invite those of you who are still waiting, to email us with your babe's information if you would like for us to take pictures or send them a little something on your behalf. Fernando and I sent mem cards to other traveling parents while we waited, and it seems that those precious images helped us get through the rough spots.

Friday, April 11, 2008

We are complete

Here she is... our little love. If you have been in this adoption rollercoaster, you know how we feel. We are so elated. At 6:30 am we received a call from Jessica B at Gladney telling us the good news. It is nice to know that Gladney will let you know as soon as they know. It made the news so much better because it was what woke me. We've booked our flights and our hotel. It seems that it is all going according to plan. I hope I'm not jinxing myself. I will post more pictures later, when I figure out how to do a slide show. In the mean time; enjoy this one. We are bursting at the seams. I was just telling one of our friends how this whole experience makes you feel so bipolar; with its high peaks and its low valleys. Well, boy are we on a tall peak today!