DTE

dossier  \ˈdȯs-ˌyā, ˈdäs-; ˈdȯ-sē-ˌā, ˈdä-\
(n.) a file containing official paperwork on a person or persons

to \tə, tu̇, ˈtü\
(prep.) used as a function word to indicate movement or action

Ethiopia \ˌē-thē-ˈō-pē-ə\
(n.) Officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with an approximate population of 73 million people (2005) in just over 471,000 square miles in Northeast Africa. Bordered by Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Solmalia to the east and southeast, Kenya to the sourth, and Sudan to the west. Adis Ababa is the nation's capital and largest city. As of 2006, UNICEF says there are over 4 million orphans living in Ethiopia - of those, over 800,000 were orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS.

On September 7, 2012 our adoption agency Fed Ex'ed our dossier to Ethiopia. Last I checked - and I'm checking every time I pick up my phone- our little pile of paperwork was in transit to Memphis, TN.

Our agency doesn't do an offical waitlist. It makes sense, there are too many different sorts of requests, and their people working in Ethiopia know the kiddos really well and get to have voice in which kiddos get placed with which waiting families, and I'm sure they have lots of other reasons, too, but those are the two that make the most sense to me. Anyway, even though there isn't an official waitlist, there is a group of waiters who share information and keep an un-official waitlist. So, unofficially, we are anywhere from #88 to #15. So, who knows how much longer we'll actually wait, but at least we know that the part we could control is on its way to stand in line for us. Next up, our referral.... at which point we will begin to gladly announce that our baby is cuter than your baby :)

Love,
Jimmy and Celeste

What a Week!!!

This is the week that I've been waiting on for at least the last three years-  the first week of the last year that ECP is growing into a full-fledged middle school. I couldn't have dreamed up a better week if I had tried. Getting to be part of a team of AHmazing and joyful first-year and veteran teachers (for added fun, Jimmy and I are on the same teaching team this year) and receiving notice that our dossier is under one last staff review with an estimated date of 9/7 to be sent off to Ethiopia are just two outstanding memories of this monumental week.

Looking ahead, the next BIG week at ECP will be the week when we end our offical middle school journey with the class of 2017 (Garbs, can you believe we've been with these kiddos since fifth grade and they're leaving?!!?!?) and send them all off to high school.... the next BIG step of our adoption journey should be when we recieve our call from the 703 area code to let us know that they have a referral for us.... still, waiting patiently and enjoying both of these journey; we couldn't feel any more hopeful and excited about the year ahead.

 Here's hoping your week was as eventful as ours :)