update from the summer

First, we are practicing parenting on this one, our four-month old girl puppy, named Piper.


Well, about two months ago, Erin and I drove down to Charlotte to take her to the airport. She was on her way to her first trip to Africa, here are pictures from her trip to Liberia for 3 weeks. We woke up and drove straight to the FedEx office where her passport/visa had hopefully arrived...since her flight was in about 7 hours. Thankfully, that went incredibly smoothly. Then we drove down to Charlotte to wait in line at the absolutely most efficient government office we've ever seen (DMV > please take note and study the Charlotte Office of Immigration Services). We were getting our fingerprints. They had scheduled appointments for us, which were ahead of schedule. We got in and out in 20 minutes, for what we had scheduled as a 2 hour ordeal.

We were told to wait about 7-10 days for this piece of paper, the capstone of our paperwork. Once this piece of paper returns, it is placed into our dossier, our dossier is licked shut, and the embassy checks it out, then its off to Ethiopia. When we get this piece of paper, the clock starts...we are put on the wait-list. 7-10 days was about 2 months ago, unfortunately, the D.C. office is putting in place a new system and we are on the front end of that new system. We check the mail box daily.

In other news, I am beginning to understand why people become increasingly anxious at the end of the process. You know how long it will take and you prepare your mind for the long road. What I was not prepared for, was completely well-intentioned people using adoption as a "go-to" conversation piece, every time they see us. They want the update and there is really nothing to tell them. "We listened to a conference call with advice and projected time-lines based on our agencies referrals?!?" There's not much to tell right now, just eating, sleeping, hanging out with our puppy.

Lastly, coming into the Christmas season we will have some financial partnership opportunities, if you are interested in helping to care for orphans by helping us. Some of the events we've had this year were a huge, fantastic yard sale in June (thanks Alanna!), an awesome benefit concert in May (thanks Sean & Philip), and upcoming we plan an silent auction with arts and crafts, as well as some opportunities with some home brewed beer and an online coffee outpost. We'll keep you posted. Be sure to be a fan of our adoption on Facebook. Much love friends,

AP/EP