IAC Results 328 & 329

The following referrals were issued in IAC session 328 which was held on August 20, 2015:

1) Italian dossier from July 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 1 month

2) Italian dossier from March 2011 referred a female child aged 6 years and 1 month

3) German dossier from March 2011 referred a male child aged 1 year and 5 months with features in health status

4) French dossier from May 2015 referred a female child aged 12 years and 7 months

5) Canadian dossier from June 2015 referred a male child aged 8 years and 10 months with features in health status

6) US dossier from August 2015 referred a waiting child (#2945) with a profile on the MOJ site

7) US dossier from August 2015 referred three waiting children (#2818 & #2819 & #2820) with profiles on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC session 329 which was held on August 27, 2015:

1) Spanish dossier from November 2010 referred a male child aged 2 years and 2 months

2) US dossier from November 2012 referred a male child aged 1 year and 4 months with features in health status and a family history

3) Italian dossier from July 2014 referred a male child aged 9 years and 7 months

4) US dossier from October 2014 referred a male child aged 7 years and 6 months with features in health status

5) US dossier from August 2015 referred a waiting child (#2824) with a profile on the MOJ site

Picture Of The Day

Crazy Hat Day in first grade

Nuggets for Neal & Escrow for Eden

If you look over to the right hand side of your screen, you will see my Nuggets for Neal fundraising thermometer. We never came close to $10,000, but we did raise over $1200.  I am happy to say that this money will soon go to the family who has committed to adopting Neal and is working hard to bring him home.  Neal will have one last Christmas and birthday at his orphanage and come home sometime in 2016.  I am thrilled that Neal's new family lives in an easy driving distance to us and that we will have a chance to see him grow up.  Great things are in store for this little boy who has waited too long.

Soon, a new fundraising thermometer is going to appear on my blog.  Our family is now working on establishing an agency grant fund for a lovely girl very close to our hearts.  One of us considers her a sister and best friend.  To learn about "Eden", please go here.  Stay tuned for more on our fundraising efforts.

Five - Six - Seven

For just a few weeks a year, my kids are each of a different age.  I tried to commemorate this brief period in pictures, but it was a total fail... possibly because they are five, six and seven.

Hello There, Fall

As part of her homework, Ella has to memorize one poem per month from a pre-selected list.  This is her choice for September which we decided could be performed with motions and sign language.

Wordless Wednesday: Love & Attachment

Mail To Armenia

Since Ella has received multiple packages filled with generous gifts from her birth parents, she asked me if she could send them something to return the favor. Of course, I said yes.  We spent some time talking about the fact that shipping internationally is expensive and that we would need to choose items that were small, light, and not fragile.  With that in mind, Ella helped select the gifts: pajamas and socks for her baby brother, a tie for her birth father, and a shirt with her school logo on it for her brother in Kindergarten.  Upon my suggestion, we had a special necklace made for her birth mother.  We also added photos, some of Ella's work from school, and a photo magnet.

Last month, we mailed the package and it arrived in Armenia this week.  Ella's birth mother wrote us a lovely thank you message which included these words, "I want to say that the idea to make such a necklace is wonderful. I am touched. It is the best gift that I got in all my life. It's so invaluable for me to have a piece of my girl.I can't take it in my hands without crying. "

I am very glad that the gifts we chose were well-received as we are building a relationship across the miles with Ella's first family in southern Armenia.  So far, our contact with them has been very positive and helpful for all involved.