WELP...

Today we crossed Planetarium off the list and it was pretty disappointing. We were looking forward to, ya know, seeing stars... this was more like a poor quality, low budget, science class movie. Since we were already at Union Station we decided to make the best of it and see some of the free exhibits. It was ok... maybe the solar eclipse this Sunday will make up for it.

oh... we did see a couple families there who had adopted children. I keep seeing families out there that look like we're going to look and it's encouraging.

JUST THE TWO OF US

It's finally sinking in how long this is actually going to take... meaning I'm starting to be ok with how long it's going to take. Don't get me wrong, I still think about that little boy everyday, but for now I'm going to focus on having fun with Aaron while it's just the two of us. This guy is too much fun! It's only been a few years, but we have been on many adventures together...

AFRICA

ST. LOUIS

LUBBOCK :)

KAUAI

EUREKA SPRINGS

CHICAGO

AND FINALLY... BRANSON

and that's just to name a few. Lately I've been thinking of things around the Kansas City area that we can do without spending a lot of money. Here's what I've come up with so far.

PLANETARIUM

ROYALS GAME

BOULEVARD BREWERY TOUR

LOUISBURG CIDER MILL

FRIDAY NIGHT FLICKS

WATCH THE SOLAR ECLIPSE JULY 11

POWELL GARDENS

SCHLITTERBAHN

WESTON BEND STATE PARK

ARBORETUM

SHATTO FARM TOUR

WESTON ANTIQUE SHOW

PICK PEACHES

TOY AND MINIATURE MUSEUM

Any other ideas?

WORLD CUP

Well... it was an amazing effort from Ghana, but they didn't quite make it into the semi-finals. Bummer! These last two games were pretty intense and fun to watch. I'm thinking that cheering for African teams in the World Cup will be something fun for our little family to do together in the years to come!

A COUPLE OF BUMPS IN THE ROAD

This process is lengthy, confusing, expensive, and overwhelming... BUT it's ok because everyday is a day closer to our little boy. We hit couple of bumps in the road, but we're back on track and Aaron and I believe that these little hiccups are only ensuring that, in the end, we are matched with this specific child that we've been praying for.

More great news... there's so much support out there! Today we sent in an application to Show Hope, an organization started by the Chapman family that offers grants to families who are adopting. Also heard about a couple of other organizations that might help us reach our financial goals!

Adoption Resource Foundation

Abba Fund

AND, I recently reconnected with the Ubuntu group at Jacob's well. We got together to watch the World Cup. I think we were the only people in the bar cheering for Ghana last Saturday. Tomorrow they play Uruguay. Can't wait!

Spotted this awesome shirt at Target yesterday :)

MARCUS SAMUELSSON

So inspired by "Top Chef Master" Marcus Samuelsson! He was born in Ethiopia and adopted into a Swedish family after his mother died when he was three. When he traveled back to Ethiopia as an an adult, he grew to love the rich flavor of the the food and culture there. He was inspired to bring African cuisine back to America. I can't wait to tackle one of his recipes.

SLOWLY BUT SURELY WE ARE...

The Home Study is officially done! We've started pulling together documents for the Dossier. Last night when Aaron was looking over some of the details (he's better at details) he found out that a few of our documents have to be redone due to notary expiration dates. BOO! Other than that little set back, we're doing good. Going back to the Police Station tomorrow for fingerprints!

YOU ARE A MYSTERY

Today you are a mystery, little man. I wonder about you. I wonder what you'll be like, what you'll look like. I wonder where you are. What you're doing. The road to you is a long one but we're making progress everyday! I'm always trying to come up with a "rough estimate" of when you might be coming home. It normally goes something like this...

Say it takes us another month to finish and submit our dossier....

From what I can tell the average wait for a baby boy is about 9 months...

Then maybe our court date will be a couple months after that...

Another 6 weeks and your home

So by these calculations, we'll bring you home in July of 2011!

But I don't usually stop there. I like to make it interesting and try to guess how old you are.

Say, you're 5 months old at the time of referral (which would mean that you're in someone's belly RIGHT NOW!!) then we would be bringing you home at about 9 months old! Think of all the fun things you'll be learning!! Someday soon I'll get to know your name and see your face, but today you are a mystery.

photo by esther havens